Newspaper Page Text
i mw www The Voice of the Pack By EDISON MARSHALL SYNOPSIS. Warned by his- physician that he has not more than six months to live, Dan Falling sits despondently on a park bench, wondering where he should spend those six months. Memories of his grandfather and a deep love for all things of the wild help him in reaching a deci sion. In a large southern Oregon city he meets people who had known and loved his grandfather, a famous frontiersman. He makes his home with Silas Lennox, a typ ical westerner. Tfce only other members of the household are Lennox's son, "Bill," and daugh ter, "Snowbird." Their abode is In the Umpqua divide, and there Failing plans to live out the short span of life TOfrlch he has been told is his. From the first Failing's health shows a marked Improve ment, and in the companionship of Lennox and his son and daughter he fits into the woods life as if he had been born to it. By quick thinking and a remarkable display of "nerve" he saves Lennox's life and his own when they are at tacked by a mad coyote. Lennox declares he Is a relrfcarnatlon of his grandfather, Dan Failing I, whose fame as a woodsman is a household word. Dan learns that an organized band of outlaws, of which Bert Cranston is the leader. Is making trouble in the vicinity. Landry Hildreth, a former member of the gang, has been Induced to turn state's evidence. Oe CHAPTER III—Continued. He looked up, and the whole weird picture was thrown upon the retina of his eyes. The coyote was still racing straight toward Dan, a gray demon that In his madness was more terrible than any charging bear or elk. Fof there Is an element of horror about the Insane, whether beasts or men, that cannot be denied. Both men felt :lt, with a ' chill that seemed to pene trate clear to their hearts. The eyes flamed, the white fangs of Qraycoat caught the sunlight. And Dan stood erect in his path, his rifle half raised to his shoulder; and even in that first frenzied instant in which Lennox looked at him, he saw there was a strange lmpasslveness, a singular Im perturbability on his face. "Shoot, man 1" Lennox shouted. ""What are you waiting for?" But Dan didn't shoot. His hand Whipped to his face, and he snatched off his thlck-lensed glasses.' The eyes that were revealed were narrow and deeply intent And by now, the fren zied -coyote was not fifty feet distant, i All that had occurred since the ani mal charged had possibly taken five seconds. Sometimes five seconds Is just a breath; but as Lennox waited for Dan to shoot, It seemed like a period wholly without limit. He won dered If the younger man had fallen Into that strange paralysis that a great terror sometimes Imbues. "Shoot!" he screamed again. , But It Is doubtful if Dan even heard his shout At that instant his gun slid Into place, his head lowered, his eyes seemed to burn along the glitter ing barrel. His finger pressed back against the trigger, and the roar of the report rocked through the summer air. The gun was of large caliber; and no living creature could stand against the furious, shocking power of the great bullet. The lead went straight home, full through the neck and slant ing down through the breast, and the coyote recoiled as if an irresistible hand had smitten him. It Is doubtful if there was even a muscular quiver after Graycoat struck the ground, not twenty feet from where Dan stood. And the rifle report echoed back to find only silence. Lennox got up off the ground and moved over toward the dead coyote. He looked a long time at the gray body. And then he stepped back to where Dan waited on the trail. "I take it all back," he said simply. "You take what back?" "What I thought about you—that the Falling line had gone to the dogs, ril never call you a tenderfoot again. But tell me one thing. I saw the ■way you looked down the barrel. I could see how firm you held the rifle —the way you kept your head. And that Is all like your grandfather. But why, when you had a repeating rifle, did you wait so long to shoot?" "I just had one cartridge In my gun. I didn't think of It until the coyote charged." ♦ Lennox's answer was the last thing In the world to be expected. He opened his straight mouth and uttered a great, boyish yell of Joy. His eyes seemed to light. The eyes of the two men met, and Lennox shook him by the shoulder. "You're not Dan Failing's grandson —you're Dan Falling himself 1" he shouted. "No one but him would have •had self-control to wait till the game was almost on top of him—no one but him would have kept his head In a time like this. You're Dan Falling himself, I tell you, come back to earth. Grandson nothing! You're a throwback, and now you've got those glasses off, I can see his eyes looking right out of yours. Step on 'em Dan. You'll never need 'em again. And give Sp that Idea of dying In four months right now; I'm going to make you live. We'll flght that disease to a finish— and win 1" And that is the way that Dan Fall ing came Into his heritage In the land of his own people, and In which a new spirit was born In him to fight— and win—and live. BOOK TWO The Debt. CHAPTER I. September was at Its last days on the Umpqua divide—that far wilder ness of endless, tree-clad ridges where Dan Falling had gone for his last days. Everywhere the forest people were preparing for the winter that would fall so quickly when these gold en September days were done. The Under Plane of the forest—those smaller peoples that live in the dust and have beautiful, tropical forests In the ferns—found themselves digging holes and filling them with stores of food. Of course they had no Idea on earth why they were doing It, except that a quiver at the end of their tails told them to do so ; but the result was entirely the same. They would have a shelter for the winter. * But the most noticeable change of all, In these days of summer, was a distinct tone of sadness that sound ed throughout the forest. Of course the wilderness note Is always some what sad ; but now, as the leaves fell and the grasses died, It seemed par ticularly pronounced. All the forest voices added to It—the wall of the geese, the sad fluttering of fallen leaves, and even the whisper of the north wind. Of course all the tones and voices of the wilderness sound clearc-at at night—for that Is the time that the forest really comes to life— and Dan Falling, sitting In front of Lennox's house, watching the late September moon rise over Bald moun tain, could hear them very plainly. It was true that In the two months he had spent in the mountains he had learned to be very receptive to the 7 w z? y \ The Lead Went Straight Home. voices of the wilderness. Lennox had not been mistaken in thinking him a natural woodsman. He had imagina tion and insight and sympathy; but most of all he had a heritage of wood lore from his frontiersmen ancestors. Two months before he had been a resident of cities. Now the wilder ness had claimed him, body and soul. These had been rare days. At first he had to limit his expeditions to a few miles each day, and even then he would come in at night staggering from weariness. He climbed hills that seemed to tear his diseased lungs to shreds. Lennox wouldn't have been afraid, in a crisis, to trust his marks manship now. He had the - natural cold nerve of a marksman, and one twilight he brought the body of a lynx tumbling through the branches of a pine at a distance of two hundred yards. He got so he could shatter a grouse out of the air in the half of a second or so in which Its bronze wings glinted In the shrubbery; and when a man may do this a fair number of times out of ten he Is on the straight road toward greatness. Then there came a day when Dan caught his first steelhead In the North Fork. There Is no more beautiful thing in the wilderness world than a steelhead trout In action. He simply seems to dance on the surface of the water, leaping again and again, and racing at an unheard-of speed down the ripples. He weighs only from three to fifteen pounds. But now and again amateur fishermen without souls have tried to pull him -in with main strength, and are still somewhat dazed Dy the result It might be done Copyright 1920. by Little. Brown & Co. with a steel cable, but an ordinary line or leader breaks like a cobweb. When his majesty the steelhead takes the fly and decides to run, it can be learned after a time that the one thing that may be done is to let out all the line and with prayer and humble ness try to keep up with him. Dan no longer wore his glasses Every day his eyes had strengthened. He could see more clearly now, with his unaided eyes, thiln he had ever seen before with the help of the lens. And the moonlight came down through a rift In the trees and showed that his face had changed, too. It was no longer so white. The eyes were more intent. The lips were straighter. "It's been two months," Silas Len nox told him, "half the four that you gave yourself after you arrived bere. And you're twice as good now as when you came." Dan nodded. "Twice ! Ten times as good ! I was a wreck when I came. Today I climbed halfway up Baldy^ withln a half mile of Snowbird's cab in—without stopping to rest." Lennox looked thoughtful. More than once, of late, Dan had climbed up toward Snowbird's cabin. It was true that his guest and his daughter had become the best of Companions in the two months; but on second thought, Lennox was not In the least afraid of complications. The love of the moun tain women does not go out to phys ical Inferiors. "Whoever gets her," he had said, "will have to tame her," and his words still held good. The mountain women rarely mistook a ma-« ternal tenderness for' an appealing man for love. It wasn't that Dan was weak except from the ravages of his disease; but he was still a long way from Snowbird's Ideal. Although Dan had courage and that same rigid self control that was an old quality in his breed, he was still a long way from a physically strong man. It was still an even break whether he would ever wholly recover from his malady. But Dan was not thinking about this now. All his perceptions had sharpened down to the finest • focal point, and he was trying to catch the spirit of the endless forest that stretched In front of the house. His pipe had gone out, and for a long time Lennox hadn't spoken. He seemed to be straining too, with ineffective senses, trying to recognize and name the faint sounds that came so tingling and tremulous out of the darkness. As always, they heard the stir and rustle of the gnawing people; the chipmunks in the shrubbery, the gophers who, like blind misers, had ventured forth from their dark burrows ; and per haps even the scaly glide of those most-dreaded poison people that had lairs in the rock piles. Don felt that at last the wilderness Itself was speaking to him. He had waited a long time to hear its voice. His thought went back to the wise men of the ancient world, waiting to hear the riddle of the universe from the lips of the Sphinx, and how he himself—more in his unconscious self, rather than conscious—had sought the eternal riddle of the wilderness. He had asked questions—never In the form of words but only ineffable yeanlings of his soul—and at last It had responded. The strange rising and falling song was Its own voice, the articulation of the very heart and soul of the wilderness. "It's the wolf pack," Lennox told him softly. "The wolves have just Joined together for the fall rutting." "Then this means the end of the summer?" Dan asked. "In a way, but yet we don't count the summer ended until the rains break. Heavens, I wish they would start ! I've never seen the hills so dry, and I'm afraid that either Bert Cranston or some of his friends will decide it's time to make a little mon ey fighting forest firps. Dnn. I'm sus picions of that gang. I believe they've got a regular arson ring, maybe with unscrupulous stockmen behind them, and perhaps just a penny-winning deal of their own. I suppose you know about Landy Hildreth—how he's prom ised to turn state's evidence that will send about a dozen of these vipers to the penitentiary?" "Snowbird told me something about It." In the next installment of "The Voice of the Pack" the outlaw band's activity de velops, resulting in the merder of a former member of the gang who turned state's evi dence. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Folly Came Home to Him. When Charles V abdicated his throne and retired to the monastery of St Juste, he amused himself by trying to learn watchmaking. After- some time he remarked one day : "What an egregious fool must I have been to have squandered so much blood and treasure In an absurd attempt to make men think alike, when I cannot eve» make a few watches keep tiiue to uetber." T. V. O'Connor, former president of the International Longshoremen's un ion, who recently was elected vice president of the new shipping board. Mr. O'Connor Is a resident of Buffalo, N. Y. He will have charge of the labor affairs of the board. Danish Trade Unions. The total number of workers or ganized in unions in Denmark was 360,010 at the end of 1919. Of these, 277,392 were affiliated with the asso ciation, as compared with 255,150 at the end of 1918. Of the affiliated or ganizations the growth of membership has been largest In the Danish Gen eral Workers' union, with an Increase of 5,454 ; In the Textile Workers' union with 2,754, in the Agricultural Workers' union with 2,000, in the Municipal Workers' union with 1,628, the Smiths' and Machinists' union with 1,231, and the Railwaymen's union with 1,202. Among the non affiliated organizations the telephone workers record an Increase from 3,209 to 5,300 members, the mercantile clerks from 19,800 to 29,770.- The Bricklayers' union shows a decrease in membership from 8,024 to 6,124. Victory for Telegraphers, The Order of Railroad Telegraphers won a victory before the United States Railroad Labor board whén the board handed down a decision holding that Its previous decision to terminate Its control over the national agreements July 1 did not terminate the agree ment of the Order of Telegraphers with the carriers. The labor board held It could not In clude In Its decision any matter which was not property before It as a dis pute. "Changes In such rules or agree ments, however, may be made after the required notice either by a mem ber of the parties or a member of this board after conferences between par ties," the decision read. Strikers Agree to Arbitrate. Striking employees of the Spanish Pulp and Paper company's mills at Sturgeon Falls and Espanola, Canada, notified their International union that they had decided to accept an arbitra tion proposal for settlement of the wage dispute that caused the plants to shut down May 11. The company proposed selection of a board of seven, three to represent employees, three the employers and a seventh to be chosen as chairman by both sides. The board's findings will be retroactive. Steel Strengthened by Oil. Cincinnati Is one of six places In the world where steel is strengthened by being boiled In oil. At a plant In Car thage a steel shaft weighing 30,000 pounds, the- largest piece ever subject ed to the new method, has gone through the process of being strength ened. The great shaft was suspended In an upright furnace until heated to just below the melting point. A crane then picked It up and dropped It Into the huge well of oil, where It boiled and sputtered, throwing out clouds of oily mist. Puddlers' Wages Reduced. Bi-monthly settlement between the Western Bar Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Plate Workers resulted in an other reduction in the rate of pay for puddlers and other bar Iron workers. Pay Is based on the price of Iron dur ing May and June. During the next two months the workers will receive $12.62 a ton. During the last two months the rate was $13.76 and last January the wage was $16.76 a ton. Saving by New Power System. A saving of 310,000,000 tons of coal annually, representing $150,000,000 In value and the labor of more than 30, 000 miners, and the release of vast railroad-carrying capacity for oth'er freight, are among the possibilities to result from the projected eastern in dustrial region super-power electric system. New Rail Wage Scale In Force. As 1,500,000 railway employees throughout the country reported for work July 1 at a reduced wage more than 1,000 of their union leaders were attending conferences at Chicago, re lied upon to keep transportation wheels turning. - • .— yuiv&lj Sick H eadache Rarely takes over 15 minute« for all pala and nausea to disap pear. One Dose does the work. Ii yen «offer from occasional or chronic attacks ol sick headache, yon will be glad to know tbat Ware's Black Powder has quickly relieved many thousands of suffer ers from this annoying and dangerous form of stomach distress. Purifying and sweetening the stomach and intestinal tract, this remedy rapidly ab sorbs the gases and neutralizes the poisons that cause the trouble, bringing quick and lasting relief if directions are followed. Ware's Black Powder it equally good lor other disorders of the stomach and bowels. Contains no harmful drugs. Is not a pur gative. 60c and $1.20 the package at all druggists. Send for Dr. Ware's booklet on treatment of the stomach and bowels—free, ÏHB WARE CHEMICAL CO, Dallas Not Only For Chills, Fever and Malaria BUT A FINE GENERAL TONIC » It m * m M br rot «nwsM. ai*. Âtûm Htm ft Oh. L m M».. Sr. ■ Not Capable. Five business men compose the Terra Haute school board. Their du ties are manifold, but still there are a few things they cannot da Even the public recognizes that, as this little story will prove. A teacher, who has a very uncouth child In her room, sent the mother a note, telling her that If she did not have the child cleaned up and her hair trimmed 8he would report her to the school offi cials. The next morning the child returned clean, and with her hair bobbed. She also carried a note which read : "Dear Miss—This is to certify that the school board did not bob my child's hair. I had a respectable barber do It."—Indianapolis News. • REST YOUR TIRED FEET ALLEN'S FOOT=EASE, the antiseptic powder to be shaken Into the shoes, stops the pain of corns and bunions, and gives quick relief to sweating, callous, tired, ach ing, tender feet, blisters and sore spots. It rests the feet, keeps them cool and oomfort able. Shoes and stockings wear twice as long when you walk in comfort. Probably So, Probably So. George, seven years old, Is one of a family of children. A neighbor found them home alone one day and asked George where his mother was. "She's downtown, I guess," said George. "Your mother's getting to be an awful gadabout Isn't sheî" said the neighbor. "Well, don't you s'pose she gets tired of us kids sometimes?" explained George. Important to Mothers Examine carefully évery bottle of CASTORIA, that famous old remedy for infants and children, and see that It Bears the Signature of In Use for Over 30 Years. Children Cry for Fletcher's Caetoria The Dull Season. "It's kinder dull around the old home place,' remarked the sleepy looking native. "Why, you have a swarm of children and at least a dozen dogs," said the tourist "Yep, but I guess tb' warm weather has sorter taken all th' pep out of th' young varmints. They ain't had a flght In nigh onto a week an' there ain't been a tramp In these parts In so long th' dawgs ain't gittln' th' exercise they need.'—Birmingham Age-Herald. Smartyl Post—"Onions speak words." Parker—"Yes, will tell."— Judge. louder than and thyme NEW U. S. ARMY WAGON COVERS Sold Us by the Government FOR LESS THAN HALF THE ORIGINAL COS' We Pay the Charges on All Qoods at Prices Quoted Having purchased these brand new covers from the Government for 1 than half the original cost, we offer a wonderful buy. Size of cover: - LONG. Made of the This O. D. Duck FEET 6 INCHES WIDE; 14 FEET 8 INCHES grade U. S. Army Duck, double weave, double fill. $3. $3= withstand any climate, no matter bow moist. Durable, strong ffl A and manufactured especially for the U. S. Army. We offer at.... «y 1U ALL-WOOL TROUSERS: New U. S. Army, civilian cut We formerly sold these at $6.45. We offer, per pair ALL-LEATHER MARCHING SHOES: Brand new; durable and made of the very best material. We offer at, per pair U. S. NAVY RAIN SUITS: Brand new. Will protect you against the hardest downpour. Made very best watershedding cloth. These suits do not become stii should not be compared with slicker suits. Suit consists of blouse and pants. Per suit .-a . U. S. ARMY NEW GRAY WOOL BLANKETS U. S. ARMY O. D. WOOL RECLAIMED BLANKETS.. U. S. ARMY NEW BLUE SUITING BLANKETS AT... BRAND NEW U. S. NAVY BLANKETS: Worth 112.50. We offer at AH goods guaranteed absolutely as represented and money will be refunded if not satisfactory . Send us your check or money order. MUELLER DISTRIBUTING CO. 221 E. Commerce St. • San At "After ether medicine brought quick and tag relleT says Louisiana . Mrs. P. D. Morgan of Wtnnsboro, La.. 1* now a firm believer, in Ware 's Baby Pow der. She writes, on May 6th, 1920 j "My twin boys suffered from stomach and bowel trouble, and nothing would agree with them. I was nearly frantic, and consulted various physicians without result. Then X tried Ware's Baby Powder and was gratified to see almost instant relief, and shortly my babies were -entirely welL I do not believe they would have lived had it not been (or Ware's Baby Powder." This simple, harmless remedy is eqnsjly effective in cases of teething and summer complaint. Given to babies X» liquid form, mixed with sugar and water, they love to take it At all druggists for 60c and $1.20 the package. THX WAKE CHEMICAL CO., Dalla« Old Cemetery Mystery. "Ifs surprising," said the policeman on the New Bowery beat, according to the New York Sun, "how long people can live In a place and know nothing about it. See that lot over there?" and he pointed to a square patch of ground 50 feet from Chatham square, per haps 40 feet each way, hemmed In on three sides by tenements, whose clotheslines made a tangled maze across the face of the lot "It's a cemetery. When I first came on this beat If I asked one person what that cemetery was I asked a hundred; some didn't know. Some hardly knew It was there. I looked it up In the library and read that It was an old Jewish cemetery, consecrated In 1656, used as a fort during the Revolution ary war and one of the first cemeteries laid out in the city." Cuticura Soothes Itching Scalp On retiring gently rub spots of dan druff and Itching with Cuticura Oint ment Next morning shampoo with Cuticura Soap and hot water. Make them your everyday toilet preparations and have a clear skin and soft white hands. In a Thirsty Place. A countryman was Inscribing the name of a highly respected, recently departed deacon on a tombstone. The stone rested on an empty beer barrel In his shop. 'A friend of the late worthy called In to see how the sculptor was pro ceeding with the work, and objected to his friend's tombstone resting on a beer barrel, remarking: "Do you know, John, that my dear departed friend never drank a drop of beer in his lifer "Well," replied John. "I bet he would give something for a pint now !" —Chicago American. COCKROACHES EASILY KILLED TODAY BY USINQ THE GENUINE Stearns' Electric Paste Also BUKE DEATH to Waterbogs, Ants, and Mice. These pests are the greatest carris disease and MUST BE KILLED. Thej both food and property. Directions In U languages in every bos. Beady tor n«e—two Blies 86o and ftM. V. S. Government bur* it. W. N. U. ( HOUSTON, NO. 30--1921.