KAZAN
by
JAMES
OLIVER
CURWOOD
KAZAN SAVES THE LIFE OF HIS MISTRESS AND THEN DE
CIDES TO BID HER FAREWELL FOREVER
Kazan Is a huge and vicious Alaskan sledge dog, one-quarter gray
wolf. He saves bis master’s life and Is taken along when the master
goes to civilization to meet his bride and return with her to the fro
zen country. Even the master is afraid to touch the dog, but Isobel,
Kazan's new mistress, wins his devotion instantly. On the way
northward MeCready, a dog-team driver. Joins the party and Kazan
tries to attack him. Even Isobel finds It hard to quiet the dog. Knznn
knows that McCrcudy Is bad all through. The others do not.
CHAPTER lll.—Continued.
Later, after Thorpe and his wife
had gone into their tent, it began to
snow, and the effect of the snow upon
McCrendy puzzled Kazan. The man
was restless, and he drank frequently
from the flask that he had used the
night before. In the firelight his face
grew redder and redder, and Kazan
could see the strange gleam of his
teeth as he gazed at the tent in which .
his mistress was sleeping. Again and
again he went close to that tent, and
listened. Twice he heard movement.
The last time, it was the sound of
Thorpe’s deep breathing. MeCready
hurried back to the fire and turned his
face straight up to the sky. The snow
was falling so thickly that when he
lowered his face he blinked and wiped <
his eyes. Then he went into the gloom
and bent low over the trail they had
made a few hours before. It was al
most obliterated by the falling snow.
Another hour and there would be no
trail —nothing the next day to tell who
ever might pass thnt they had come
this way. By morning it would cover
everything, even the fire, if he allowed
It to die down. McCrendy drank again,
out in the darkness. Low words of an
Insane Joy burst from his lips. His
head was hot with a drunken fire. His
heart beat madly, but scarcely more
furiously than Kazan’s when the
dog saw that MeCready was returning
with a club! The club he placed on
end against a tree. Then he took a
lantern from the sledge und lighted It.
lie approached Thorpe’s tent-ilup, the
lantern In his hand.
“Ho, Thorpe—Thorpe!” he called.
There was no answer. He could hear
Thorpe breathing. He drew the flap
aside a little, und raised his voice.
“Thorpe !*•
Still there was no movement Inside,
and he untied the flap strings and
thrust in his lantern. The light flashed
on Isobel's golden hbid, and MeCready
stared at it, his eyes burning like red
coals, uutll he saw that Thorpe was
awakening. Quickly he dropped the
flap and rustled it from the outside.
“Ho, Thorpe—Thorpe I” he called
aguin.
This time Thorpe replied.
,r Hello, MeCready—ls that you?’*
McCrendy drew the flap buck a lit
tle, and spoke in a low voice.
“Yes. Cun you come out u minute?
Something's happening out in the
woods. Don’t wake up your wife!”
He drew back aud waited. A minute
later Thorpe came quietly out of the
tent. MeCready poiuted into the thick
spruce.
“I’ll swear there’s someone nosing
around the camp,” he said. “I’m cer
tain that I saw a man’out there u few
minutes ago, when I went for a log.
It’s a good night for stealing dogs.
Here—you take the lantern! If 1
wasn’t clean fooled, we’ll tind u trail
in the snow.’
He gave Thorpe the lantern and
picked up the heavy club. A growl rose
in Kazan’s throat, but he choked It
back. He wunted to snarl forth his
warning, to leap at the end of his
leash, but he knew that If he did that,
they would return and bent him. So
he lay still, trembling und shivering,
and whining softly. He watched them
until they disappeared—and then wait
ed—listened. At last he heard the
crunch of snow. He was not surprised
to Ree MeCready come bock alone. He
had expected him to return alone. For
tie knew what a club meuut!
McCready’s face was terrible now. It
was like u beast’s, lie was hutless.
Kazan slunk deeper In his shadow ut
the low horrible luugh that fell from
his lips—for the mun still held the
club In a moment he dropped that,
and approached the tent, lie drew buck
the flap aud peered in. Thorpe's wife
wus sleeping, und us quietly us a cut
he entered und hung the lantern on a
nail In the tent-pole, ills movement
did not uwuken her, und for a few mo
ments he stood there, staring—staring.
Kazan watched MeCready as he en
tered, and suddenly the dog wus on his
feet. Ills back tense and bristling, bis
limbs rigid. He suw McCready's huge
shadow on the cunvus, und u moment
later there came u strange piercing cry.
In the wild terror of that cry ho recog
nized her voice—-aud he leaped toward
the tent. The leaßh stopped him,
choking the snarl In his throat, lie saw
the aliudows struggling now, and there
came cry after cry She was calling to
bis master, and with his master's name
Ac was calliug him!
-Kazan—Kazan—”
, He leopad again, and was thrown up
on his back. A second and n third
time he sprang the length of the leash
into the night, and the bnblche cord
about his neck cut Into his flesh like
a knife. He stopped for an Instant,
gasping for breath. The shadows were
still fighting. Now they were upright!
Now they were crumpling down I With
a fierce snarl he flung his whole weight
once more at the end of the chain.
There was a snap, as the thong about
hie neck gave way.
In half a dozen bounds Kazan made
the tent and rushed under the flap.
With a snarl he was at McCready’s
throat. The first snap of his powerful
Jaws was death, but he did not know
that. He knew only that his mistress
was there, and that he was fighting for
her. There came one choking gasping
cry that ended with a terrible sob; it
was MeCready. The man sank from
his knees upon his back, and Kazan
thrust his fangs deeper Into his
enemy’s throat; ho felt the warm Mood.
The dog's mistress waa calling to
him now. Bhe was pulling at hla shaggy
neck. But he would not loose hla hold
—not for a long time. When he did,
his mistress looked down once upon
the man and covered her face with her
hnads. Then she sank down upon the
blankets. She was very still. Her face
and hands were cold, and Kazan muz
zled them tenderly. Her eyes were
closed. He snuggled up close against
her, with his ready jaws turned toward
the dead man. Why was she so still,
he wondered?
A long time passed, and then she
moved. Her eyes opened. Her hand
touched him.
Then he heard a step outside.
It was his master, and with that old
thrill of fear —fear of the club—he
went swiftly to the door. Yes, there
was his master In the firelight—and In
his" hand he held the club. He was
coming slowly, almost falling nt each
step, and his red with blood.
But he hud the club! He would bent
him again—beut him terribly for hurt
ing McCrendy; so Kaznn slipped quiet
ly under the tent-flap and stole off into
tile shadows. From out the gloom of
tlie thick spruce he looked buck, and
a low wlilne of love and grief rose and
died softly In Ills throat. They would
beat him always now—after that. Even
she would beut him. They would hunt
him down, und beut him when they
found him.
From out of the glow of the fire he
turned his wolfish head to the depths
of the forest. There were no clubs or
stinging lushes out in that gloom. They
would never find him there.
For another moment he wavered.
And then, us silently ns one of the wild
ereutures whose blood wus partly Ills,
lie stole uwuy Into the blackness of the
night.
CHAPTER IV.
Free From Bonds.
There was a low inouning of the
wind in tlie spruce tops ns Kazan slunk
off into the blackness and mystery of
the forest. For hours ho lay near the
eump, his red and blistered eyes guz-
Ing steadily at the tent wherein the ter
rible tiling had huppened n little while
before.
He knew now whnt death was. lie
could tell It farther tliaii man. lie
could smell It in the air. And he knew
that there was death all about hint,
and that he wns the cause of It. Ho
Iny on his belly In the deep snow and
shivered, nmf tile three-quarters of him
that wus dog whined In a grlef-strlcken
wny, while the quarter that wus wolf
still revealed Itself menacingly In Ills
fangs, anil lu the vengeful glure of Ills
eyes.
Three times the man—llls master —
came out of the tent, und shouted loud
ly, “Kiizun—Kazan—Kazan I"
Three times the woman came with
him. 11l the firelight Kazan could sec
her shining hair streaming about her,
ns lie hud seen It lu the tent, when ho
hud leuped up and killed the other
man. In her blue eyes there was the
■ same wild terror, und her face wus
i white as tlie snow. "Kuzan —Kazun—
' Kazan I”—nnd all thnt part of him that
wus dog, and not wolf, trembled Joy
. ously lit the sound of her voice, nnd he
almost crept In to take Ills bentlng. But
1 fear of the club was the greater, nnd
, lie held back, hour after hour, until
' now It wns silent ngnln In the tent,
> and he could no longer see their Blind
i owv, nnd the fire wns dying down.
i Cautiously he crept oat from the
thick gloom, working his way on his
belly townrd the packed sledge, end
• what remained of the burned logs. Be
IHX GILPIN OBBEBVXR.
yond that sledge, hidden In the dark
ness of the trees, was the body of the
maa he had killed, covered with a
blanket Thorpe, his master, had
dragged It there.
He lay down, with his nose to the
warm coals and his eyes leveled be
tween his forepaws, straight at the
closed tent-flap. He meant to keep
awake, to watch, to be ready to Blink
off Into the forest at the first move
ment there. But a warmth was rising
from out of the gray ash of the fire
bed, and his eyes closed. Twice—three
times —he fought himself back Into
watchfulness; but the last time his
eyes came only half open, and closed
heavily again.
In his sleep he was leaping again at
tlie end of his chain. His Jaws snapped
like castanets of steel —and the sound
awakened him, and he sprang to his
feet, his spine as stiff as a brush, and
hhs snarling fangs bared like Ivory
knives. He had awakened Just In time.
There was movement in the tent His
master was awake, and If he did not
escape—
He sped swiftly into the thick spiUce,
and paused, flat and hidden, with only
his head showing from behind a tree.
He knew that his master would not
spare him. Three times Thorpe hud
beaten him for snapping at MeCready.
The last time be would have shot him
if the girl bad not saved him. And
now he had torn McCready’s throat.
He had taken the life from him, nnd
his master would not spare him. Even
the woman could not save him.
Kazan was sorry that his master had
returned, dazed and bleeding, after he
had torn McCready’s Jugular. Then he
would have had her always. She would
have loved him. She did love him. And
he would huve followed her, and fought
for her always, and died for her when
the time came. But Thorpe had come
In from the forest again, and Kazan
had slunk away quickly—for Thorpe
meant to him what all men meant to
him now: the dub, the whip and the
strange things that spat fire and death.
And now—
Thorpe had come out from the tent.
It was approaching dawn, and in his
hand he held a rifle. A moment later
the girl came out, and her hand caught
the man's arm. They looked toward
it Was Kazan’s Farewell to the
Woman,
the thing covered by the blanket. Then
she spoke to Thorpe and he suddenly
straightened and threw buck Ills head.
“11-o-o-o-o Kazan Kazan Ka
zan 1" he called.
A shiver ran through Kazan. The
mun wus trying to Inveigle him back.
He Imd in his hand the thing that
killed.
“Kaznn—Kazan—Ku-n-a-a-zun 1” he
shouted agutn.
Knznn sneuked cautiously back
from the tree. He knew thnt distance
meant nothing to the cold thing of
death that Thorpe held In his hand. lie
turned his head once, and whined soft
ly. nnd for an instant u great longing
filled his reddened eyes us lie suw the
lust of the girl.
He knew, now, that he was leaving
her forever, nml there was nil ache In
his heart that had never been there be
fore, a pain that wns not of tlie club or
whip, of cold or hunger, hut which wns
greater than them nil, and which filled
him with a desire to throw hack his
lieiul mid cry out Ills loneliness to the
gray emptiness of the sky.
Bnck In the cump the girl's voice
quivered.
"He la gone.”
The man's strong voice choked a lit
tle.
"Yes, ho Is gone. He knew—and I
didn’t. I'd give—u year of my life—lf ]
hadn't whipped him yesterday and last
Ulght. lie won't come buck.”
Isobel Thorpe's hand tightened on
Ills arm.
"He will I" she cried. "He won’t
leuve me. He loved me, If he wns sav
age nnd terrible. And lie knows that I
love him. He'll come hack—”
"Listen 1”
From deep In the forest there came
■ long walling howl, filled with a plain
tive sadness. It was Kazan's farewell
to the woman.
Kazan’* real Ilf* itery begin*
with the next Installment. Just
a* the qood and bad In man ara
constantly In conflict, so the
dog and wolf strains ar* con
stantly In conflict In Kazan.
(TO BB OOMTUTOBOJ
Beneath the
Mistletoe
The origin of this Christmas
custom,much in favor among tht
lovelorn, goes back to dim past aria
is lost in traditions of the Druids "
(By IDA M. BRUCE In Utica Globe.)
HEN a young man at a
Christmas party leads,
with an attempt at non
chalance, some charming
young lady beneath a
bough of mistletoe In or
der to win a “mistletoe
kiss” he Is of the opinion
W
that he Is Inring the young lady Into
a situation where, by the decree of an
ancient custom, she must forfeit the
aforesaid kiss.
Frankness compels me to confess
that tlie luring Is done by the young
lady. For their Christmas parties they
secure and suspend the mistletoe and
she Is Indeed a most sedate and rather
chilling young person who will not,
during the festivities, allow herself to
be “lured" beneath the mistletoe. And
all this Is quite within her rights. It
Is n custom she Inherited from ances
tors who dwelt In. Britain or Scandi
navia. centuries ago. Today the mis
tletoe and the mistletoe kiss are as
sociated only with Christmas. But,
In truth, mistletoe had its significance
centuries before the birth In Beth
lehem which gave us Christmas.
Scandinavians claim that mistletoe
customs originated with them, but
there Is an English legend antedating
those of Scandinavia, which tells how
the girls of semlbarbaric Britain, In
the golden age of the Druids, did them
selves hang up boughs of mistletoe
and lure young men Into their em
brace.
According to this legend Chelm, an
ancient high priest, had a great temple
In the forest where he taught young
men- to become priests. So popular
did this temple become that half the
young men of the countryside were
leaving their homes and people, and
becoming Druid priests.
There was great need of the young
men In the camps to hunt nnd fish and
to plant, and, above all, there were so
many more maidens than young men
left that they decided something must
be done to reclaim them. The girls
sought an ancient witch and asked her
help.
"Pick yonder mistletoe that grows
without roots upon the trees, go to
the edge of the forest round about the
tree temple of Chelm nnd hang It
there nil around and about the forest.
Stand In waiting there, well hidden,
until the young men coming forth from
the forest each night to bring food to
the temple, nre under the mistletoe,
then step forth. They will clasp you
and kiss you whereupon do you screnm
right lustily and the young men shall
be yours.”
How the Qlrls Won Back the Men.
The maidens followed thlß advice
and hung the mistletoe In festoons
about the edge of the forest. Stand
ing under It, the young men felt Im
pelled to kiss the maidens who stepped
forth to greet them. The maidens,
as Instructed, screamed lustily and
Chelm nnd other of the old Druid
prleßts rushed forth, fearing their
young men were being murdered.
When the good old Druids saw the
young men embracing the maidens
they drove them away, for they would
have no one nmong them who had
ought to do with women.
And so. through the peculiar Influ
ence of the mistletoe, the maidens
won hack the young men, but the cus
tom of hanging up mistletoe was kept
up. Later after the Introduction of
Christianity, the custom was added to
the Christinas festivities.
Christmas Festivities.
From Scandinavian mythology comes
the weird hut Interesting story of the
origin of mistletoe, thnt pale-berrled
parasite of the forest. One of the bear
of these legends Is that of Baldur, son
of Wodln, In the duys when those
strange goda nre said to have walked
and talked with the mortals on earth,
as did Jupiter and Apollo and Diana
and Latonln nnd tho other gods and
goddesses of Olympus.
Baldur wns the Scandinavian god of
sunshine and summer and was nat
urally beloved liy all except Lokl, the
god of hearth fires. For, while the
people rushed out of doors to see Bal
dur when he brought the summer sun,
they had no use for Lokl until the
next winter, consequently Lokl dis
liked Baldur.
Nonna, goddess of the blossoms and
wife of Baldur, dreamed terrible
dreams of the death of Baldur, and
she went to the great god Wodln, her
father-in-law, and told him and he was
greatly troubled. But messengers
ware sent forth throughout the world
ODDS AND ENDS
Now tongs for sugar or candy ar*
monnted at the end of a tubular han
dle and are operated by a spring con
trolled plunger.
The Philippine Islands have about
(0,000 square miles of virgin forest
tnd about 20.000 square miles of see
rad growth timber.
Scientific experiments have damon-
Itrated that the yellow color of cream
ind butter Is not necessarily an Indl
•aUon of their richness.
and had everything swear T”""
to do Baldur no barm. Ev
erything animate and In- | ■
animate, the animals and
men and fish and birds, H*
the water and earth and rocks and
trees, the winds and clouds and rain
and snow, all agreed never to harm
Baldur.
“Go forth and weep no more, daugh
ter,” said Wodln to Nanna, “no harm
can now come to your husband, my
son,” and Nanna went forth happy.
After that all the gods used to
amuse themselves hurling stones nnd
axes and spears at Baldur and he
stood and laughed at them, because
neither wood nor petal nor anything
could harm him. It was great sport
for everyone. One dny while at this
sport an old woman asked Nanna why
they were trying to kill Baldur.
“Everything has promised never to
harm him,” she explained.
"Everything?” queried the old wom
an.
“Except the mistletoe, what can that
little shrub do?” Nanna laughed scorn
fully.
The old woman hurried away. Of
course It was Lokl in disguise. She
got a twig of mistletoe and hardened
It by charring the outside before the
Are, fitted the point to a lance and
hurled it at Baldur, whereupon It
pierced his heart and he fell dead.
Dedicated to Love and Affection.
As a peace offering the gods dedi
cated the mistletoe to love and affec
tion and peace Just so long as It never
touched Lokl'B territory, the ground.
Ever since then the mistletoe has
grown without roots, far away from
the ground, and even to this day it Is
used by suspending It above the-floor
or ground.
And so It Is that both nnclent Brit
ain and Scandinavia lay their clntm to
mistletoe customs and the origin of
suspending a branch of it beneath
which youth may kiss. There Is little
doubt but what the custom was In use
a thousand years before the origin of
Christmas. While the etory of the
maidens who lured back to their
camps, and to themselves, the young
men who were about to become Druid
priests, gives good account of our cus
tom of kissing beneath the mistletoe
today, to Scandinavia also belongs
much credit. When those brave nnd
romnntic Scandinavians looked for
ward to Valhnlln as their heaven, and
worshiped the gods Thor nnd Wodln
on Thor’s day and Wodin's dny (which
Is where we get our Thursday nnd
Wednesday), they used to have cer
tain great feast days for their gods.
It became the custom, on observing
Thor's day, to build great fires. These
were called “Juul” fires. As everyone
knows, the Scandinavian “J” Is pro
nounced quite like our pronunciation
of the letter “Y," consequently those
fires were spoken of ns “Yule” fires.
The brighter the fires, the higher
the Unmet towered through the for
ests where the Scandinavians used to
gather to pay honor to tlie grent god
Thor, the greater pleased wns Thor,
nnd so It became necessary to pick
out the best of wood tc burn.
Then men would go Into the forest
looklug for “Juul” logs, and they soon
learned that the trees upon which
much mistletoe clung would give Ac
brightest fires. They did not know
the reason for this, and believed that
It was due to the work of the great
Thor himself who caused the mistle
toe to grow on those trees without
roots solely as a means of letting his
people know which trees were best
for burning In his honor.
And so whenever anyone met under
tlie mistletoe In the great forests, no
matter how great enemies they were,
thsy dropped their weapons and greet
ed each other kindly, nor would they
take up arms against each other until
the eunrlse of another day. This was
their tribute In memory of Thor.
A Fetish of flood Luck.
They began to tuke bits of the mis
tletoe Into tlielr homes and hang It
over the doorways, nnd If any enemies
came, they could not enter the houses
beneutli the mistletoe without becom
ing friends to the people Inside so long
as they remained there. From this
came the habit of greeting people who
stepped under the mistletoe with an
ombrace or a Mss, and ut great Indoor
feasts the mistletoe was hung up In
the room and the people greeted each
other with kisses.
Later this mistletoe hanging at
feasts came to be put In use only at
the Christmas feaat and from that
grew the custom of hanging up the
An expedition of Norwegian scien
tists is studying the native flora und
fauna of almost unknown regions of
Northern and Central Asia.
Experiments In the Philippines in
crossing native and Connecticut tobac
co have produced a variety selling for
more than twice the price of the na
tive.
Por producing decorative light ef
fects rubber balloons have been In
vented Into which electric lamps can
be Inserted and the balloons dlstsodsd
with air.
mistletoe In order thnt any standing
beneath It might be kissed by tha
first person who caught her there.
Few If any growing things are tha
subject of as many ancient legends,
customs and beliefs as the mistletoe.
The fact that the ancient Celts in their
druldlcal religion had two great festi
vals, one in June and the other tn De
cember, the latter being equivalent to
our Christmas. In botfl of these great
festivals the gathering of the mistle
toe was a sacred rite.
Pliny in his Natural History de
scribes the ceremony. Speaking of
the Druids’ worship of the oak, he
says: "They believe that whatever
grows on these trees Is sent from
heaven and Is a sign that the tree has
been chosen by the Ood himself. The
mistletoe Is very rarely to be met
with, but when It Is found they gather
It with solemn ceremony. This they
do especially on the sixth day of the
moon, because by the sixth day the
moon has plenty of vigor and has not
run half Its course.
“After the preparations have been
made for a sacrifice and a feast under
the tree they hall It as the universal
healer and bring to the spot two white
bulls whose horns have never bees
bound before. A priest, clad In a
white robe, climbs the tree and with
a golden sickle cuts the mistletoe,
which Is caught In a white cloth. Then
they sacrifice the victims, praying that
Ood may make his own gift to prosper
with those upon whom he has
bestowed It.
“They believe that a potion pre-'
pared from mistletoe will Increase
their flocks and that the plant Is e
remedy against all poison.”
It was believed to be a remedy for
many ills nnd this belief is still to be
found In many remote places In Eu
rope. In Holstein, for example, the
mistletoe Is regarded as a healing rem
edy for wounds und In Lncnune,
France, It Is ulways administered by
the native people as an antidote for
poison. They apply the plant to the
stomach of the patient and give him
a solution of It to drink as well. The
Gaelic word for mistletoe Is “an t’nll
loc,” which means “nil healer,” and
this Is probably what the Druids
called It In ancient times.
In the northeast of Scotland people
used to cut withes of mistletoe at the
March full moon; these they bent In
circles and kept for a your to cure hec
tic fevers aud other troubles. In
some parts of Germany the mistletoe
Is especially esteemed as a remedy foi
the ailments of children, who some
times wear It hung around the neck
as an amulet.
In Sweden on midsummer eve mis
tletoe is diligently sought after, tht
people believing It to be possessed of
many mystic quulltles, and that If s
sprig of It Is uttuched to the celling of
the dwelling house, the horse’s stall
or cow’s crib, the “trolls" or evil spirits
will then be powerless to Injure elthoi
muu or beast. Brunches of the plant
nre commonly seen In farmhouses
hanging from the celling to protect
the dwellings from all harm, but es
pecially from fire, and persons a fillet
ed with the falling sickness think thsy
can ward off all attacks of the malady
by carrying about with them a knlfs
which has a handle of mistletoe.
A Swedish remedy for other com
plaints Is to bang u sprig of mlstletos
round the sufferer's neck or to maks
him wear on hla finger a ring mads
from the plant. Moreover they fash
ion divining rods of mistletoe or of
four different kinds of wood, one ai
which must be mistletoe. The treas
ure seeker places the rod on ths
ground after (uudown and when It
rests directly over the treasure ths
rod begins to move as If It were alive.
Like their Swedish neighbors, many
German peasants oonslder the mistle
toe a powerful charm against evil spir-
Experimenting with simple appara
tus, a California doctor has sent wire
less messages through the ground far
distances up to (0 miles.
Worn deflated under the coat, a
French Inventor's life preserver la In
flated and made ready for use by In
serting a capsule of highly compressed
Patent* have been granted a Chica
go woman for candy made and
wrapped In the form of artificial flow
ta\^L C,D * *•*“ aft " “"H*