THE GATE CITY JOURNAL, NYSSA. OREGON, Synopala. - W a r n e d by his p h y s i­ cian th a t lie has not m ore than nix m on th s to live, Dan F a ilin g aits d esp on d en tly on a park bench, w o n ­ d erin g w h ere he should spend those six m onths. M em ories o f his g r a n d ­ fa th e r and a deep lo v e fo r a ll th in g s o f the w ild h elp him In re a c h in g a decision. In a la rg e southern O regon c ity he m eets people w ho had know n and loved Ids gra n d fa th e r, a fa m o u s fr o n ­ tiersm an. H e m akes his h om e w ith blla s L en n o x , a typ ic a l w estern er. T h e o n ly o th er m em bers o f the household a re L e n n o x ’s son, ' ‘B ill/ ' and d a u gh ter, "S n o w b ird .’ ’ T h e ir abode is in the U m pqu a divid e, and th ere F a ilin g plans to liv e ou t the short span o f life w h ich he has been told Is his. F ro m the first F a ilin g s health sh ow s a m arked im p ro vem e n t, and in the co m p a n ­ ionsh ip o f L en n o x and his son and d a u gh ter he tits in to the w oods life us i f he had been born to i t Hy qu ick th in kin g and a rem a rk a b le d isp la y o f " n e r v e " he sa ves L e n ­ nox s life und his o w n when th e y a re a tta ck ed by a m ad coyote. I^ennox d eclares he Is a re in ca rn a ­ tion o f his gra n d fa th e r, D an F a l l ­ in g 1. w hose fu m e as a w oodsm an in a household w’ord. D an learn s th a t an o rgan ize«! band o f o u tla w s, o f w hich B e rt C ranston is the leader, Is n etting fo rest tires. Iain - d ry H ildreth , a fo rm e r m em b er o f the ga n g, has been Induced to turn s ta te 's evidence. C ranston sh oots H ild reth and le a v e s him fo r dead. W h is p e rfo o t, the m ountain lion, sprin gs on H ild reth and finishes him. CHAPTER II—Continued. — 9 — And its for Whisperfoot—the terror that choked his heart with blood be­ gan t«i wear off In a little while. The ni»m lav so still In the thicket«. Be­ sides. there was a strange, wild smell In the air. Wlilsperfoot’s stroke had gone home so trueelhere had mot even been ti fight. The darkness began to lift around him, and a strange exulta­ tion n rapture unknown before In all his hunting, began to creep Into his wild blood. Then, as a shadow steals, he went creeping hack to his dead. • • • * • • • • • Pan Falling had been studying na­ ture on the high ridges; and he went home hy a hack trail that led to old Bald mountain. The trail was Just a narrow serpent In the brush; and It had not been made hy gangs of laborers, working with shovels and picks. Possibly half n dozen white men. In all, had ever walked along It. ft was Just the path of the wild crea­ tures, worn down by hoof and paw and cushion since the young days of the world. It was a roundabout trail home, hut yet It had Its advantages It took him within two miles o f Snowbird’s 'ookout station, and nt this hour of day he had been particularly fortunate In finding her at n certain spring on H ip mountain side. It was rather a sin­ gular coincidence. Along about four he would usually And himself wander­ ing up that way. Strangely enough, *t the same time. It was true that she had an Irresistible Impulse to go down and sit In the green ferns beside the same spring. They always seemed to he surprised to see one another. In reality, either of them would have been considerably more surprised had the other failed to put In an appear­ ance. And always they had long talks, ns tin* afternoon drew to twilight. “ But 1 don’t think you ought to wait so late before starting home,” the girl would always say. “ You're not a human hawk, ami It is easier to get lost than you think.” And this solicitude, Dan rightly fig­ ured, was a good sign. There was only one objection to It. It resulted (n an unmlstnkhle Inference that she considered him unable to take care of himself—and that was the last thing «»n earth that he -wanted her to think He understood her well enough to know that her standards were the standards of the mountains, ruining strength and self-reliance •hove all things. He didn't stop to question why, every «lay, he trod so many weary miles to be with her. She was as natural as a fawn; and many times she had quite taken away his breath. And once she did It liter ally. He didn't think that so long as death spared him he would ever be able to forget that experience. It was her birthday, and knowing of It In time he had arranged /or the delivery of a certain package, dear to a girlish heart, at her father’s house. In the trystlng hour he hail come trudging over the hills with It, an«! few experi­ ences In his life had e v «f yielded such unmitigated pleasure as the sight of her, glowing white and red. as she took off Its w rapping paper. It was a Jolly- old gift, he recollected—and when she bad seen It. she fairly leaped nt him. Her warm, round arms around his neck, and the aofteet. loveliest Ups In •be world pressed hi*. But In those fa vs he didn't have the strength that b ffe fait be could endure him. But because Dan had learned the lesson of Mtamilng »till, because hls ollve-drub sporting clothes blended softly with the colored leaves, Crans­ ton did not detect him. lie turned and strode on down the trail. He didn’t move quite like a man with Innocent purposes. There was something stealthy, something sinister In hls strhle. and the way he kept such a sharp lookout In all directions. Yet he never glanced to the trail for »leer tracks, as he would have done had he been hunting. Without even waiting to meditate on the matter, Dan started to shadow him. Before one hundred yards hail been traversed, he could better understand tlie Joy the cougar takes In his hunt­ ing. It was the same process—a cau­ tious, silent advance In the trail of prey. He had to walk with the same caution, he hud to take advantage of the thickets. He began to feel a curi­ ous excitement. Cranston seemed to be moving more he same experience again with no carefully now, examining the brush HER EXACT WORDS. embarrassment whatever. Hls flrst Im­ 'along the trail. Now and then he pression then, besides abounding, In­ glanced up at the tree tops. And all Bill— So you asked the sweet little credible astonishment, was that she at once he stopped and knelt In the thing to marry you? had quite knocked out hls breath. But dry shrubbery. Gill— Yes, I did. let It be said for him that he recov­ At first all that Dan could see was “And she said ‘yes,’ I suppose 7” ered with notable promptness. Ills the glitter of a knife blade. Crans­ “No, she didn’ t.” own arms had gone up and closed “Oh, she said ’no/ did she?” ton seemed to be whittling a piece of around her, and the girl had wriggled dead pine into fine shavings. Now "Not exactly.” free. he was gathering pine needles and “ Well, what did she say, then?” “ But you mustn’t do that!” she told small twigs, making a little pile of "She said: ‘Nothin 'doin’. ' ” him. them. And then, just as Cranston “ But, good Lord, girl! You did It drew hls match, Dan saw hls purpose. Evidently, Not by the Senses. to me I Is there no Justice In women?” Cranston was at hls old trade— set­ An American was with a gushing en­ “ But I did It to thank you for this ting a forest fire. thusiasm describing hls new enr to an lovely gift. For remembering me— “ It runs so smooth­ For two very good reasons, Da a English visitor. for being so good— and considerate. didn’t call to him at once. The two ly.” he said, “ you can't feel It. Not You haven’t any cause to thank me.” reasons were that Cranston had a rifle o bit of noise, you can't hear It. Per­ lie had many serious difficulties In and that Dan was unarmed. It might fect Ignition, you can’t smell It. And thinking It out. And only one con­ be extremely likely that Cranston speed, why, It simply whizzes, you clusion was obtainable— that Snowbird would choose the most plausible and can’t see It.” kissed as naturally ns she did any­ effective means of preventing an inter­ “ My word I” exclaimed the aston­ thing else, and the kiss meant exactly ruption of hls crime, and by the same ished Britisher. “ How do you know what she said It did and no ni"* *re. token, prevent word of the crime ever the hnlly thing Is there?"— Boston But the fact remained that he would renchlng the authorities. The rifle Transcript. have walked a good many miles far­ contained five cartridges, and only one ther If he thought there was any pos­ was needed. Telephone Nightmares. sibility of a repent. But the idea of backing out, unseen, Church— I understand an arrange­ But all at once hls fantasies were never even occurred to Dan. The Are ment has been patented so that when suddenly and rudely dispelled hy the would have a tremendous headway be­ a person Is talking on the telephone Intrusion of realities. Dan had been fore he could summon help. Although the face of the person one Is talking walking silently Tomself In the pine It was near the lookout station, every to is reflected on a mirror in front of needles. As Lennox had wondered at condition polnte»l to a disastrous fire. them, even If the person being talked long ago, he knew- how hy Instinct; The brush was ----- o — o — <3— o — o ---- o — d — g r It’s So Easy to Make the Change T h ere’s no both er a n d no sa crifice in turning away from the ills w h ich some­ times come from tea and cof­ fee, w h en y ou decide o n P ostum C ereal T h en you have a r ic h , full-bodied table beverage which fully satisfies the taste — and there’s no ingred­ ient to harm nerves or digestion . Thousands have changed to Postum as the b e tte r yneal-tim e d r i n k a n d th e y d o n t tu rn b a c k . S u p p o s e y o u try the chang'e for ten d a y s a n d note the result. There s a Reason for Postum Hade by Pas cum Cereal Co., Inc., Battle Creek Jixi.