Latest / Last of the Plainsmen / 11 - Last of the Plainsmen by Zane Grey

Transcript

11 - Last of the Plainsmen by Zane Grey · Last of the Plainsmen

0:00
Speaker 1: Success and failure. At last, the marble in the north dimmed,
0:05
Speaker 1: the obscure gray shade lifted, the hope in the south brightened,
0:09
Speaker 1: and the murcury climbed reluctantly with a tyrant's hate to
0:13
Speaker 1: relinquish power. Spring weather at twenty five below zero on
0:18
Speaker 1: April twelfth, a small band of Indians made their appearance
0:21
Speaker 1: of the Dog tribe. Were they an off cast of
0:25
Speaker 1: the great slaves, according to Ray and as Motley, staring
0:29
Speaker 1: and starved as the yellow knives. But they were friendly,
0:32
Speaker 1: which presupposed ignorance of the white hunters, and Ray persuaded
0:36
Speaker 1: the strongest brave to accompany them as guide northward after
0:39
Speaker 1: musk Oxen on April sixteenth, having giving the Indians several
0:44
Speaker 1: Cariboo carcasses and assuring them that the cabin was protected
0:48
Speaker 1: by white spirits, Ray and Jones, each with sled and
0:51
Speaker 1: train of dogs, started out after their guide, who was
0:54
Speaker 1: similarly equipped, over the glistening snow towards the north. They
0:58
Speaker 1: made sixty miles the first day and pitched her Indian
1:01
Speaker 1: teepee on the shores of Artillery Lake. Traveling northeast, they
1:05
Speaker 1: covered its white waste of one hundred miles in two days.
1:09
Speaker 1: Then a day due north over rolling monotonously snowy plain
1:12
Speaker 1: devoid of rock, tree or shrub, brought them into a
1:15
Speaker 1: country of the strangest queers. Little spruce trees, very slender,
1:19
Speaker 1: and none of them over fifteen feet in height, A
1:22
Speaker 1: primeval forest of saplings. Tchin Nietschula said the guide land
1:28
Speaker 1: of stycks little translated Ray. An occasional reindeer was seen
1:32
Speaker 1: in numerous foxes and hares trotted off into the woods,
1:36
Speaker 1: invincing more curiosity than fear. All were silver white, even
1:41
Speaker 1: the reindeer at a distance, taking the hue of the north.
1:45
Speaker 1: Once a beautiful creature, unblemished as the snow. It trod
1:48
Speaker 1: ran up a ridge and stood watching the hunters. It
1:51
Speaker 1: resembled a monster dog, only was inexpressibly more wild looking.
1:58
Speaker 1: Oh ho, there you are, cried Ray, reaching for his
2:01
Speaker 1: winchester puller, wolf them the white devil will have hell
2:05
Speaker 1: with As if the wolf understood, he lifted his white
2:09
Speaker 1: sharp head, and under a bark or howl that was
2:12
Speaker 1: like nothing so much as a haunting, unearthly morn. The
2:16
Speaker 1: animal then merged into the white, as if he were
2:19
Speaker 1: really a spirit of the world, whence his cries seemed
2:22
Speaker 1: to come. In this ancient forest of youthful appearing trees,
2:26
Speaker 1: the hunters cut firewood to the full carrying capacity of
2:29
Speaker 1: the sleds. For five days, the Indian guide drove his
2:33
Speaker 1: dogs over the smooth crust, and on the sixth day,
2:36
Speaker 1: about noon, halting in a hollow, he pointed to tracks
2:39
Speaker 1: in the snow and called out, egger eggatear egatar. The
2:43
Speaker 1: hunters saw sharply defiant hoofmarks, not unlike the tracks of reindeer,
2:48
Speaker 1: except that they were longer. The teepee was set up
2:50
Speaker 1: on the spot and the dogs unharnessed. The Indian led
2:54
Speaker 1: the way with the dogs, and Ray and Jones followed,
2:57
Speaker 1: slipping over the hard crust without sinking in and traveling swiftly.
3:01
Speaker 1: Soon the guide pointed again and let out a cry
3:04
Speaker 1: a deer at the same moment, loosing the dogs. Some
3:08
Speaker 1: few hundred yards down the hollow, a number of large
3:11
Speaker 1: black animals, not unlike the shaggy humpy buffalo, lumbered over
3:14
Speaker 1: the snow. Jones echoed Ray's yell and broke into a run,
3:18
Speaker 1: easily distancing the puffing giant. The musk oxen squared round
3:23
Speaker 1: to the dogs and were soon surrounded by the yelping pack.
3:26
Speaker 1: Jones came up to find six old bulls, uttering grunts
3:29
Speaker 1: of rage and shaking ram like horns at their tormenters.
3:33
Speaker 1: Notwithstanding that this for Jones was his cumulation of years
3:37
Speaker 1: of desire, the crowning moment, the climax and creation of
3:40
Speaker 1: long harbored dreams. He halted before the tame and helpless
3:44
Speaker 1: beasts with joy not unmixed with pain. It will be murder,
3:48
Speaker 1: he exclaimed, like shooting down sheep. Ray came crashing up
3:53
Speaker 1: behind him and yelled, get busy. We need fresh meat,
3:56
Speaker 1: and I want the skins. The bulls succumbed to well
3:59
Speaker 1: directed shells, and the Indian and Ray hurried back to
4:02
Speaker 1: camp with the dogs to fetch the sleds, while Jones
4:05
Speaker 1: examined with warm interest the animals he had wanted to
4:07
Speaker 1: see all his life. He found the largest bull approached
4:11
Speaker 1: within a third of the size of a buffalo. He
4:14
Speaker 1: was of a brownish black color and very like a
4:17
Speaker 1: large wooly ram. His head was broad with sharp, small ears.
4:21
Speaker 1: The horns had wide and flattened bases and lay flat
4:25
Speaker 1: on the head to run down back of the eyes
4:28
Speaker 1: then curved forward to a sharp point. Like the bison,
4:31
Speaker 1: the muck Skowks had short, heavy limbs covered with very
4:35
Speaker 1: long hair, and small, hard hoofs with hairy tufts inside
4:40
Speaker 1: the curve of bone, which probably served as pads or
4:43
Speaker 1: checks to hold the hoof firm on ice. His legs
4:46
Speaker 1: seemed out of proportion to his body. Two musk oxen
4:50
Speaker 1: were loaded on a sled and hauled to camp in
4:52
Speaker 1: one trip. Skinning them was but a short work for
4:56
Speaker 1: such expert hands. All the choice cuts of meat were saved.
5:00
Speaker 1: No time was lost in broiling a steak, which they
5:02
Speaker 1: found sweet and juicy, with a flavor of musk that
5:06
Speaker 1: was disagreeable. Now Ray for the calves, exclaimed Jones, and
5:10
Speaker 1: then we're homeward bound. I hate to tell this redskin,
5:14
Speaker 1: replied Ray. He'll be like the others, but it ain't
5:19
Speaker 1: likely he'll desert us here. He's far from his base
5:23
Speaker 1: with nothing but that old musket. Ray then commanded the
5:26
Speaker 1: attention of the brave and began to mingle the great
5:29
Speaker 1: slave and yellow knife languages. Of this mixture, Jones knew
5:33
Speaker 1: but a few words Agatyer Nietzsche, which Ray kept repeating
5:39
Speaker 1: he knew, however, meant muskos a little. The guide stared,
5:43
Speaker 1: suddenly appeared to get ray'sed meaning, and vigorously shook his
5:47
Speaker 1: head and gazed at Jones in fear and horror. Following
5:50
Speaker 1: this came in action as singular as inexplicable. Slowly rising,
5:55
Speaker 1: he faced the north, lifted his hand, and remained statuesque
5:59
Speaker 1: in his immobility. Then he began deliberately packing his blankets
6:03
Speaker 1: and traps on his sledge, which had not been unhitched
6:06
Speaker 1: from the train of dogs. Jackaway di Johola, he said,
6:11
Speaker 1: and pointed south. Jackaway to Jehola, echoed Ray. The damned
6:18
Speaker 1: Indian said, wife sticks none, He's going to quit this.
6:23
Speaker 1: What do you think of that? His wife's out of wood, Jackoway,
6:27
Speaker 1: out of wood, and here we are two days from
6:29
Speaker 1: the Arctic's ocean. Jones, the damned heathen, don't go back.
6:34
Speaker 1: The trapper coolly cocked his rifle. The savage, who plainly
6:38
Speaker 1: saw and understood the action, never flinched. He turned his
6:41
Speaker 1: breast to Ray, and there was nothing in his demeanor
6:44
Speaker 1: to suggest his relation to a craven tribe. Good Heavens, Ray,
6:49
Speaker 1: don't kill him, exclaimed Jones, knocking up the leveled rifle.
6:54
Speaker 1: Why not, I'd like to know, demanded Ray, as if
6:58
Speaker 1: he were considering the fate of a threatening beast. I
7:01
Speaker 1: reckon it'd be a bad thing for us to let
7:04
Speaker 1: him go. Let him go, said Jones. We are here
7:08
Speaker 1: on the ground, we have dogs and meat. We'll get
7:11
Speaker 1: our calves and reach the lake as soon as he does,
7:14
Speaker 1: and we might get there before m Maybe we will,
7:19
Speaker 1: growled Ray. No vacillation attended the Indian's mood from a
7:23
Speaker 1: friendly guide, He who had suddenly been transformed into a dark,
7:26
Speaker 1: sullen savage. He refused the musk ox meat offered by Jones,
7:31
Speaker 1: and he pointed south and looked at the white hunters
7:33
Speaker 1: as if he asked them to go with him. Both
7:36
Speaker 1: men shook their heads in answer. The savage struck his
7:38
Speaker 1: breast a sounding blow, and with his index finger pointed
7:42
Speaker 1: at the white of the north and shouted dramatically, Nasa, Nasa, Nasa.
7:49
Speaker 1: He then leaped upon his sled, lashed his dogs into
7:51
Speaker 1: a run, and without looking back, disappeared over a ridge.
7:55
Speaker 1: The musk Ox hunters sat long, silent. Finally, Ray shook
7:59
Speaker 1: his shaggy lie roared o ho jock away out of wood,
8:04
Speaker 1: jack away, out of wood, jack away out of wood.
8:07
Speaker 1: On a day following the desertion, Jones found tracks to
8:10
Speaker 1: the north of the camp, making a broad trail, in
8:13
Speaker 1: which were numerous little imprints that sent him flying back
8:17
Speaker 1: to get Ray in The dogs. Musk Oxen in great
8:20
Speaker 1: numbers had passed in the night, and Jones and Ray
8:23
Speaker 1: had not trailed the herd a mile before they had
8:26
Speaker 1: it in sight. When the dogs burst into full cry.
8:29
Speaker 1: The musk oxen climbed a high knoll and squared about
8:32
Speaker 1: to give battle. Calves calves, calves, cried Jones, hold back,
8:38
Speaker 1: well back, that's a big herd, and null show fight.
8:41
Speaker 1: As good fortune would have it, the herd split up
8:43
Speaker 1: into several sections, and one part, hard pressed by the dogs,
8:47
Speaker 1: ran down the knoll to be cornered under the lee
8:50
Speaker 1: of a bank. The hunters, seeing a small number, hurried
8:53
Speaker 1: again upon them to find three cows and five badly
8:56
Speaker 1: frightened litle calves backed against the bank of snow. The
9:00
Speaker 1: small red eyes fastened on the barking, snapping dogs. To
9:04
Speaker 1: a man of Jones's experience and skill, the capturing of
9:08
Speaker 1: the calves was a ridiculously easy piece of work. The
9:12
Speaker 1: cows tossed their heads, watched the dogs, and forgot their young.
9:16
Speaker 1: The first cast of the lasso settled over the neck
9:18
Speaker 1: of a little fellow. Jones hauled him out over the
9:21
Speaker 1: slippery snow and laughed as he bound the hairy legs.
9:24
Speaker 1: In less time than he had taken to capture one
9:27
Speaker 1: buffalo calf. With half the effort, he had all the
9:30
Speaker 1: little musk oxen bound fast. Then he signaled his feet
9:33
Speaker 1: by peeling out an Indian yellow victory buff We got him,
9:37
Speaker 1: cried ray, and now, for the hell of it gettin'
9:40
Speaker 1: them home. I'll fetch the sledge. You might as well
9:43
Speaker 1: down that best cow for me. I can use another skin.
9:48
Speaker 1: Of all Jones's prices of captured wild beasts, which numbered
9:52
Speaker 1: nearly every species common to western North America, he took
9:56
Speaker 1: greatest pride in the little musk oxen. In truth, so
9:59
Speaker 1: great had been his passion to capture some of these
10:02
Speaker 1: rare and inaccessible mammals that he considered the day's work
10:06
Speaker 1: the fulfillment of his life purpose. He was happy. Never
10:10
Speaker 1: had he been so delighted as when the very evening
10:14
Speaker 1: of their captivity the musk oxen, evincing no particular fear
10:18
Speaker 1: of him, began to dig with sharp hoofs into the
10:21
Speaker 1: snow for moss. And they found moss and ate it,
10:24
Speaker 1: which solved Jones's greatest problem. He had hardly dared to
10:28
Speaker 1: think how to feed them, and here they were picking
10:33
Speaker 1: sustenance out of the frozen snow. Ray Will you look
10:36
Speaker 1: at that? Ray? Will you look at that? He kept repeating,
10:40
Speaker 1: see their hunting for feed? And the giant, with his
10:43
Speaker 1: rare smile, watched him play with the calves. They were
10:46
Speaker 1: about two and a half feet high and resembled long
10:50
Speaker 1: haired sheep. The ears and horn when are undiscernible, and
10:53
Speaker 1: their color considerably lighter than that of the matured beasts.
10:58
Speaker 1: No sense of fear of man, said the life student
11:01
Speaker 1: of animals, but they shrink from the dogs. In packing
11:05
Speaker 1: for the journey south, the captives were strapped on the sleds.
11:08
Speaker 1: This circumstance necessitated a sacrifice of meat and wood, which
11:12
Speaker 1: brought grave doubtful shakes of raised great head. Days of
11:17
Speaker 1: hastening over the icy snow, with short hours of sleep
11:20
Speaker 1: and rest passed before the hunters awoke to the consciousness
11:23
Speaker 1: that they were lost the meat they had packed, had
11:26
Speaker 1: gone to feed themselves and the dogs. Only a few
11:29
Speaker 1: sticks of wood were left. Better kill a calf and
11:34
Speaker 1: cook meat while we've got a little wood left, suggested Ray.
11:38
Speaker 1: Kill one of my calves. At star first, cried Jones.
11:42
Speaker 1: The hungry giant said no more. They headed southwest. All
11:47
Speaker 1: about them glared the grim monotony of the Arctics. No
11:51
Speaker 1: rock or buoysh or tree, mid welcome mark upon the
11:54
Speaker 1: hoary plain, wonderland of frost, white marble, desert, infinitude of
11:59
Speaker 1: glen aming silences. Snow began to fall, making the dog flounder,
12:04
Speaker 1: obliterating the sun by which they traveled. They camped to
12:08
Speaker 1: wait for clearing weather. Biscuits soaked in tea made their meal.
12:12
Speaker 1: Had dawn, Jones crawled out of the teepee. The snow
12:15
Speaker 1: had ceased, But where were the dogs? He yelled in alarm.
12:19
Speaker 1: Then little mounds of white scattered here and there became animated.
12:23
Speaker 1: He rocked and rose to fall to pieces, exposing the dogs.
12:27
Speaker 1: Blankets of snow had been their covering. Ray had ceased
12:31
Speaker 1: his jackaway out of wood or a reiterated question, where
12:36
Speaker 1: the wolves lost? Replied Jones in hollow humor. Near the
12:41
Speaker 1: close of that day, in which they had resumed travel.
12:43
Speaker 1: From the crest of a ridge, they described a long, low,
12:47
Speaker 1: underlating dark line. It proved to be the forest of
12:50
Speaker 1: the Little Sticks, where, with grateful assurance of fire and
12:54
Speaker 1: of soon finding their old trail, they made camp with
12:58
Speaker 1: four biscuits left in enough tea for one drink each,
13:01
Speaker 1: said Ray, I calculate we're two hundred miles from Great
13:06
Speaker 1: Slave Lake. Where are the wolves? At that moment the
13:13
Speaker 1: night wind waved through the forest a long haunting morn.
13:16
Speaker 1: The calves shifted uneasily, the dogs raised sharp noses to
13:20
Speaker 1: sniff the air, and Ray, settling back against a tree,
13:23
Speaker 1: cried out, O ho again. The savage sound, a keen
13:27
Speaker 1: wailing note with the hunger of the Northland in it,
13:31
Speaker 1: broke the cold silence. You'll see a pack of real
13:34
Speaker 1: wolves in a minute, said Ray. Soon a swift pattering
13:38
Speaker 1: of feet down afore slope brought him to his feet
13:41
Speaker 1: with a curse to reach a brawny hand for his rifle.
13:44
Speaker 1: White streaks crossed the black of the tree trunks, then
13:48
Speaker 1: indistinct forms the color of snow swept up, spread out,
13:52
Speaker 1: and streaked to and fro Jones thought the great gaunt,
13:55
Speaker 1: pure white beast, the spectral whirlolds of Ray's fantasy, for
13:59
Speaker 1: they were silent, and silent wolves must belong to dreams only. Oh, yell, Ray,
14:07
Speaker 1: there's green fire eyes for you. Buff Hill itself ain't
14:11
Speaker 1: noth into these wide devils. Get the calves into teepee,
14:14
Speaker 1: and stand ready to lose the dogs, for we've got
14:17
Speaker 1: to fight. Raising his rifle, he opened fire upon the
14:20
Speaker 1: white foe. A struggling, rustling sound followed the shots, but
14:24
Speaker 1: whether it was a threshing about of wolves dying in
14:27
Speaker 1: agony or the fighting of the fortunate ones over those
14:30
Speaker 1: shot could not be ascertained. In the confusion. Following his example,
14:35
Speaker 1: stones also fired rapidly on the other side of the teepee.
14:39
Speaker 1: The same inarticulate, silently rustling rustle succeeded his volley. Wait
14:44
Speaker 1: cried ray be's barren of cartridges. The dogs strained at
14:49
Speaker 1: their chains and bravely bade the wolves. The hunters heaped
14:52
Speaker 1: logs and brush on the fire, which, blazing up, sent
14:55
Speaker 1: a bright light far into the woods. On the outer
14:58
Speaker 1: edge of the circle moved the white rustle, gliding forms.
15:02
Speaker 1: They're more afraid of fire than us, said Jones. So
15:05
Speaker 1: it proved when the fire burned and crackled, they kept
15:09
Speaker 1: well in the background. The hunters had a long respite
15:12
Speaker 1: from serious anxiety, during which time they collected all the
15:15
Speaker 1: available wood at hand. But at midnight, when this had
15:18
Speaker 1: been mostly consumed, the wolves grew bold again. Have you
15:23
Speaker 1: any shots left for the forty five ninety besides what's
15:25
Speaker 1: in the magazine? Asked Gray? Yes, good handful, Well, get
15:30
Speaker 1: busy with careful aim. Jones emptied the magazine into the gray, gliding,
15:35
Speaker 1: groping mass. The same rustling, shuffling, almost silent strife ensued Ray.
15:42
Speaker 1: There's something uncanny about those brutes. A silent pack of
15:46
Speaker 1: wolves oh rolled the giant's answer through the woods. For
15:51
Speaker 1: the present, the attack appeared to have been effectually blocked,
15:54
Speaker 1: The hunters sparingly adding a little to their fast diminishing
15:57
Speaker 1: pile of fuel to the fire to lie down for
16:01
Speaker 1: much needed rest, but not for sleep. How long they
16:04
Speaker 1: lay there, cramped by the calves, listening for stealthy steps,
16:07
Speaker 1: neither could tell. It might have been moments, and it
16:10
Speaker 1: might have been ours. All at once came a rapid
16:13
Speaker 1: rush of pattering, feet, succeeded by a chorus of angry barks,
16:17
Speaker 1: then a terrible commingling of savage snarls, growl, snaps and yelps.
16:22
Speaker 1: Out yelled Ray, they're on the dogs. Jones pushed his
16:27
Speaker 1: cock trifle ahead of him and straightened up outside the teepee.
16:30
Speaker 1: A wolf, large as a panther and white as the
16:32
Speaker 1: gleaming snow, sprang at him. Even as he discharged his
16:36
Speaker 1: rifle right against the breast of the beast. He saw
16:38
Speaker 1: its dripping jaws, its wicked green eyes like spurts of fire,
16:42
Speaker 1: and felt its hot breath. It fell at its feet
16:46
Speaker 1: and writhed. In the death struggle, slender bodies of black
16:49
Speaker 1: and white, whirling and tussle together sent out fiendish uproar.
16:54
Speaker 1: Ray threw a blazing stick of wood among them, which
16:56
Speaker 1: sizzled as it met the furry coats and bread another
17:01
Speaker 1: he ran into the thick of the fight, unable to
17:04
Speaker 1: stand the proximity of fire. The wolves bolted and looked
17:07
Speaker 1: off into the woods. What a huge brute, exclaimed Jones,
17:12
Speaker 1: dragging the one he had shot into the light. It
17:16
Speaker 1: was a superb animal, thin, supple, strong, with a coat
17:19
Speaker 1: of frosty fur, very long and fine. Ray began at
17:23
Speaker 1: once to skin it, remembering that he hoped to find
17:25
Speaker 1: other pelts. In the morning. Those wolves remained in the
17:28
Speaker 1: vicinity of camp, none ventured near. The dogs moaned and whined.
17:33
Speaker 1: Their restlessness increased as dawn approached, and when the gray
17:37
Speaker 1: light came, Jones found that some of them had been
17:39
Speaker 1: badly lacerated by the fangs of the wolves. Ray hunted
17:43
Speaker 1: for dead wolves and found not so much as a
17:45
Speaker 1: piece of white fur. Soon the hunters were speeding southward.
17:50
Speaker 1: Other than a disposition to fight among themselves, the dogs
17:53
Speaker 1: showed no evil effects of the attack. They were lashed
17:56
Speaker 1: to their best speed, For Ray said the white range
18:00
Speaker 1: of the north would never quit their trail. All day,
18:03
Speaker 1: the men listened for the wild, lonesome, haunting morn, but
18:06
Speaker 1: it came not a wonderful hail of white and gold
18:10
Speaker 1: that Ray called. A sun dog hung in the sky
18:13
Speaker 1: all afternoon and dazzling only bright over the dazzling world
18:17
Speaker 1: of snow, circled and glowed a mocking sun brother of
18:21
Speaker 1: the desert mirage, beautiful Lucian, smiling cold out of the
18:25
Speaker 1: poortar blue. The first pale evening star twinkled in the east.
18:29
Speaker 1: When the hunters made camp on the shore of Artillery
18:32
Speaker 1: Lake at dusk, the clear, silent air opened to the
18:35
Speaker 1: sound of a long, haunting moan. Oh ho, call Ray.
18:40
Speaker 1: His hoarse, deep voice rang defiance of the foe. While
18:46
Speaker 1: he built a fire before the teepee. Jones strode up
18:48
Speaker 1: and down, suddenly to whip out his knife and make
18:51
Speaker 1: for the tame little musk oxen now digging in the snow.
18:56
Speaker 1: Then he reeled abruptly and held out the blade to Ray.
18:59
Speaker 1: What for We've got to eat, said Jones. And I
19:02
Speaker 1: can't kill one of them. I can't, So you do it.
19:06
Speaker 1: Kill one of our calves, roared Ray. Not till hell
19:09
Speaker 1: freezes over. I ain't commenced to get hungry. Besides, the
19:13
Speaker 1: wolves are going to eat us calves, and all nothing
19:17
Speaker 1: more was said. They ate their last biscuit. Jones packed
19:20
Speaker 1: the calves away in the teepee and turned to the dogs.
19:24
Speaker 1: All day they had worried him. Something was amiss with them,
19:28
Speaker 1: and even as he went among them, a fierce fight
19:31
Speaker 1: broke out. Jones saw it was unusual for the attacked
19:34
Speaker 1: dog showed craven fear, and the attacking once, a howling
19:38
Speaker 1: savage intensity that surprised him. Then one of the vicious
19:42
Speaker 1: brutes rolled his eyes, frost at the mouth, shuddered and
19:45
Speaker 1: leaped in his harness, fented a horse howl, and fell back,
19:49
Speaker 1: shaking and wretching. My god, Ray, cried Jones, and horror.
19:54
Speaker 1: Come here, Look that dog is dying of rabies hydrophobia.
19:59
Speaker 1: The white wolf wolves have hydrophobia. If you ain't right,
20:03
Speaker 1: exclaimed Ray, I've seen a dog die of that once,
20:06
Speaker 1: and he acted like this, and that one ain't all
20:08
Speaker 1: look buff look at him green eyes, didn't I say
20:12
Speaker 1: the white wolf would? Hell, we'll have to kill every
20:15
Speaker 1: dog we got. Jones shot the dog, and soon afterwards
20:19
Speaker 1: three more that manifested e signs of the disease. It
20:23
Speaker 1: was an awful situation. To kill all the dogs meant
20:26
Speaker 1: simply to sacrifice his life and raise it meant a
20:29
Speaker 1: banding hope of ever reaching the cabin. Then to risk
20:33
Speaker 1: being bitten by one of the poisoned, maddened brutes, to
20:36
Speaker 1: risk the most horrible of agonizing deaths, that was even worse. Ray,
20:42
Speaker 1: We've got one chance, cried Jones, with pale face. Can
20:45
Speaker 1: you hold the dogs one by one? While I muzzle them,
20:49
Speaker 1: oh replied the giant. Placing his bowie knife between his teeth.
20:53
Speaker 1: With gloved hands, he seized and dragged one of the
20:55
Speaker 1: dogs to the campfire. The animal whined and protested, but
20:59
Speaker 1: showed no spirit. Jones muzzled his jaws tightly with strong cords.
21:04
Speaker 1: Another and another were tied up. Then one, which tried
21:08
Speaker 1: to snap at Jones, was nearly crushed by the giant's grip.
21:11
Speaker 1: The last, a surly brute, broke out into mad ravings
21:15
Speaker 1: the moment he felt the touch of Jones's hands and
21:19
Speaker 1: writhing frothing, he snapped Jones's sleeve. Ray jerked him loose
21:22
Speaker 1: and held him in the air with one arm, while
21:25
Speaker 1: with the other he swung the bowie. They hauled the
21:28
Speaker 1: dead dogs out on the snow, and, returning to the fire,
21:32
Speaker 1: sat down to await the cry they expected. Presently, as
21:35
Speaker 1: darkness fastened down tight, it came the same cry, wild
21:39
Speaker 1: haunting morning, but for hours it was not repeated. Better
21:43
Speaker 1: get some rest, said Ray, I'll call you if they come.
21:47
Speaker 1: Jones dropped asleep as he touched his blanket. Morning dawned
21:51
Speaker 1: for him to find the great, dark, shadowy figure of
21:54
Speaker 1: the giant nodding over the fire. How's this? Why didn't
21:57
Speaker 1: you call me, demanded Jones. The wolves only fought a
22:01
Speaker 1: little over the dead dogs. On the instant, Joanes saw
22:06
Speaker 1: a wolf sunking up the bank. Throwing up his rifle,
22:09
Speaker 1: which he had carried out of the teepee, he took
22:11
Speaker 1: a snap shot at the beast. It ran off on
22:13
Speaker 1: three legs to go out of sight over the bank.
22:17
Speaker 1: Joanes scrambled up the steep, slippery place, and upon arriving
22:20
Speaker 1: at the ridge, which took several moments of hard work,
22:23
Speaker 1: he looked everywhere for the wolf. In a moment, he
22:25
Speaker 1: saw the animal standing still some hundred or more paces
22:29
Speaker 1: down a hollow. With the quick report of Jones's second shot,
22:33
Speaker 1: the wolf fell and rolled over. The hunter ran to
22:35
Speaker 1: the spot to find the wolf was dead. Taking hold
22:38
Speaker 1: of a front ball, he dragged the animal over the
22:40
Speaker 1: snow to camp. Ray began to skin the animal when
22:43
Speaker 1: suddenly exclaimed, this fellow's hind foot is gone. That's strange.
22:48
Speaker 1: I saw it hanging by the skin as the wolf
22:50
Speaker 1: ran up the bank. I'll look for it by the
22:53
Speaker 1: bloody trail on the snow. He returned to the place
22:56
Speaker 1: where the wolf had fallen, and thence back to the
22:58
Speaker 1: spot where its leg had been brought oken by the bullet,
23:01
Speaker 1: He discovered no sign of a foot. Didn't find it,
23:04
Speaker 1: did you, said Ray? No, it appears odd to me.
23:08
Speaker 1: The snow is so hard the foot could not have
23:11
Speaker 1: sunk well, the wolf eighty's foot, that's what returned Ray.
23:15
Speaker 1: Look at him, teeth marks. Is it possible? Jones stared
23:21
Speaker 1: at the leg. Ray held up, Yes, it is. These
23:25
Speaker 1: wolves are crazy at times. You've seen that, and the
23:28
Speaker 1: smell of blood is nothing else. Mind you, in my opinion,
23:31
Speaker 1: made him eat his own foot. We'll cut him open.
23:35
Speaker 1: Impossible as the thing seemed to Jones, and he could
23:39
Speaker 1: not but believe further evidence of his own eyes. It
23:43
Speaker 1: was even stranger to drive a train of mad dogs.
23:47
Speaker 1: Yet that was what Rae and he did, and lashed them,
23:51
Speaker 1: beat them to cover many miles of the long day's journey.
23:55
Speaker 1: Rabies had broken out in several dogs, so alarmingly that
23:58
Speaker 1: Jones had to kill him at the end of the run,
24:01
Speaker 1: and hardly had the sound of the shots died when
24:04
Speaker 1: faint and far away, but clear as a bell bade
24:07
Speaker 1: on the wind. The same haunting morn of a trailing wolf.
24:11
Speaker 1: Oh ho, where are the wolves? Cried Ray, A waiting, watching,
24:17
Speaker 1: sleepless night followed again, the hunters faced the south hour
24:22
Speaker 1: after hour, riding, running, walking, they urged the poor, jaded,
24:26
Speaker 1: poisoned dogs. At dark they reached the head of Artilbery Lake.
24:31
Speaker 1: Ray placed the teepee between two huge stones. Then the
24:35
Speaker 1: hungry hunters, tired, grim, silent, desperate, awaited the familiar cry.
24:40
Speaker 1: It came on the cold wind, the same haunting morn,
24:43
Speaker 1: dreadful in its significance. Absence of fire inspired the were wolves.
24:48
Speaker 1: Out of the pale gloom, Gaunt white forms emerged, agile, stealthy,
24:53
Speaker 1: slipping on velvet padded feet. Closer, closer, closer. The dogs
24:58
Speaker 1: wailed in terror into the teepee, yelled Ray. Jones plunged
25:03
Speaker 1: in after his comrade. The despairing howls of the dogs
25:08
Speaker 1: drowned in more savage, frightful sounds knelt one tragedy and
25:12
Speaker 1: foretold a more terrible one. Jones looked out to see
25:15
Speaker 1: a white mass like leaping waves of a rapid bump
25:20
Speaker 1: led into that cried rag rapidly. Jones emptied his rifle
25:25
Speaker 1: into the white fray. The mass split gaunt wolf leaped
25:28
Speaker 1: high to fall back dead. Others wriggled and limped away.
25:31
Speaker 1: Others dragged their hind quarters. Others darted at the teepee.
25:36
Speaker 1: No more cartridges, yelled Jones. The giant grabbed an axe
25:39
Speaker 1: and barred. The door of the teepee crashed. The heavy
25:42
Speaker 1: iron cleaved the skull of the first brute, crash and
25:45
Speaker 1: lame the second. Then Rays stood in the narrow passage
25:49
Speaker 1: between the rocks, waiting with uplifted axe. A shaggy white
25:52
Speaker 1: demon snapped his jaws sprang like a dog. A sodden
25:55
Speaker 1: thudding blow met him, and he slunk away without a cry.
25:59
Speaker 1: Another rap beastnched his white body at the giant like
26:03
Speaker 1: a flash. The axe descended in agony. The wolf fell
26:06
Speaker 1: to spin round and round, running on his hind legs,
26:09
Speaker 1: while his head and shoulders and forelegs remained in the snow.
26:13
Speaker 1: His back was broken. Jones crouched in the opening of
26:16
Speaker 1: the teepee, knife in hand. He doubted his senses. This
26:20
Speaker 1: was a nightmare. He saw two wolves sleep at once.
26:24
Speaker 1: He heard the crash of the axe. He saw one
26:26
Speaker 1: wolf go down and the other slip under the swinging
26:29
Speaker 1: weapon to grasp the giant's hip. Jones heard the rend
26:32
Speaker 1: of cloth, and then he pounced like a cat and
26:35
Speaker 1: drove his knife into the body of the beast. Another
26:38
Speaker 1: nibblefol lunged at Ray to sprawl, broken and limp from
26:42
Speaker 1: the iron. It was a silent fight. The giant shut
26:46
Speaker 1: the way to his comrade and the calves. He made
26:49
Speaker 1: no outcry. He needed but one blow for every beast magnificent,
26:53
Speaker 1: he wielded death and faced it silent. He brought the
26:57
Speaker 1: white wild dogs of the north down with lightning blows,
27:00
Speaker 1: and when no more sprang to the attack. Down on
27:03
Speaker 1: the frigid silence, he rolled his cry, Oh, Ray, Ray,
27:09
Speaker 1: how is it with you? Called Jones, climbing out torn coat.
27:14
Speaker 1: No more, my lad. Three of the poor dogs were dead.
27:17
Speaker 1: The fourth and last gasped at the hunters and died.
27:22
Speaker 1: The wintery night became a thing of half conscious past,
27:26
Speaker 1: a dream to the hunters, manifestingness reality only by the stark,
27:30
Speaker 1: stiff bodies of wolves white in the gray morning. If
27:34
Speaker 1: we can eat, we'll make the cabin, said Ray. But
27:37
Speaker 1: the dogs and wolves are poison. Shall I kill a calf?
27:41
Speaker 1: Asked Jones, Oh, when a hell freezes over if we must.
27:46
Speaker 1: Jones found one forty five ninety cartridge in all the outfit,
27:50
Speaker 1: and with that in the chamber of his rifle. Once
27:52
Speaker 1: more struck south spruce trees began to show on the barrens,
27:56
Speaker 1: and cariboo trails roused the hopes and the hearts of
27:59
Speaker 1: the hunters. Look in a spruces, whispered Jones, dropping the
28:03
Speaker 1: rope of his sled. Among the black trees, gray objects moved.
28:08
Speaker 1: Cariboo said, ray, hurrischute, don't miss. But Jones waited. He
28:13
Speaker 1: knew the value of the last bullet. He had a
28:16
Speaker 1: hunter's patience. When the caribou came out in an open space,
28:20
Speaker 1: Jones whistled. It was then the rifle grew set and fixed.
28:25
Speaker 1: It was then the red fire belched forth at four
28:29
Speaker 1: hundred yards. The bullet took some fraction of time to strike.
28:33
Speaker 1: What a long time it was. Then both hunters heard
28:36
Speaker 1: the spiteful spat of the lead. Caribou fell, jumped up,
28:40
Speaker 1: ran down the slope, and fell again to rise no more.
28:44
Speaker 1: An hour of rest with fire and meat changed the
28:46
Speaker 1: world to the hunters. Still glistening, it yet had lost
28:50
Speaker 1: its bitter cold as death. Like clutch. What's this, cried Jones.
28:55
Speaker 1: Mocks and tracks of different sizes, all towing north arrested.
28:58
Speaker 1: The hunters pointed north. On what that means? Ray plodded on, doubtfully,
29:04
Speaker 1: shaking his head. Night again, clear, cold, silver, starlet, silent night.
29:11
Speaker 1: The hunters rested, listening ever for the haunting morn. Day again, white, passionless, monotonous,
29:18
Speaker 1: silent day. The hunters traveled on on on, ever, listening
29:22
Speaker 1: for the haunting morn. Another dusk found them within thirty
29:27
Speaker 1: miles of their cabin, only one more day now. Ray
29:31
Speaker 1: talked of his furs, of the splendid white furs he
29:34
Speaker 1: could not bring. Jones talked of his little muskocks and
29:37
Speaker 1: calves and joyfully watched them dig for moss in the snow.
29:40
Speaker 1: Vigilance relaxed. That night, outworn nature rebelled and both hunters slept.
29:45
Speaker 1: Ray awoke first, and, kicking off the blankets, went out.
29:48
Speaker 1: His terrible roar of rage made Jones fly to his side.
29:52
Speaker 1: Under the very shadow of the teepee where the little
29:54
Speaker 1: muskoxen had been tethered, They lay stretched out pathetically on
29:58
Speaker 1: crimson snow stone. Cold dead moccasin tracks told the story
30:03
Speaker 1: of the tragedy, Jones leaned against his comrade. The giant
30:08
Speaker 1: raised his huge fist jack away out of wood, jack awaite,
30:13
Speaker 1: out of wood. Then he choked. The north wind blowing
30:18
Speaker 1: through the thin, dark, weird spruce trees moaned and seemed
30:22
Speaker 1: to sigh. Naza Nasa nasa. End of chapter ten.