Connie Morgan in the Fur Country

a few moments he rose and opened the door, only to slam it immediately as an icy blast, freighted with a million whirling flakes of snow, swept the room. Resuming his seat, he proceeded ve

ilence during which he had watched his young partner, Conni

sked the boy, wi

that gun was as clean when they come out as when they went i

-covered table: "Looks like winter has come in earnest," he said. "Listen to

fer a

hing for

ome, what yo' goi

ut and get t

Yo' mean

: "No. I'm going to c

e, an' he recollects that he heard tell of a monstr'us big wolf er dog, he cain't recollect which, so he splits the difference an' makes him half-dog an' half-wolf, an' he adds a big ruff onto his neck fer good measure, an' tells it 'round. After that yo' kin bet that every tin-horn that gits within twenty mile of Spur Mountain will see him, an' each time he gits bigger, an' his ruff gits bigger. It's like a stampede. Yo' let someone pan out

n plenty of 'em, and so have you. And

esitation know'd that if I said they was colour heah it was heah.

didn't pay any attention when I first heard it. But, Dutch Henry saw him yest

ey say he was as big as a cabin an' a ru

d he has got the big ruff, all right-and he was running wit

ime do yo' want of him? If he was runnin' with wolves he's buildin' him up a pack. He's a bad actor. You ta

im. I want to make a

an' if you could, you

that after I've had a tr

going

up with anyone, and anyone I could h

eat y

If he ever gets that

he Bill. "Howeveh, if I was bettin

nach'lly cain't set by an' take things easy," he said; "heah's yo', with mo' money than yo' kin eveh spend, gittin' ready to hike out an' live like a Siwash in the bush when yo'

as I have-and I don't notice you sitting arou

d to stay heah in the cabin. When my laig went bad on me an' I had to go outside, you hit out an' put in the time with the Mounted,

paid, di

ey, but in what yo' learnt. But you don't neveh take things

hat will make all the others look piking. I'm going over and have

t oveh a thousan' miles oah so, an' only about fifteen er twenty mountain ranges to cross. The trail ought to be right nice an' smooth an' plain marked. An' when yo' git theah yo' sho' oug

and copper," d

Black Jack Demeree

"No, I read abou

now'd they was gold an' coppeh up theah they'd be foolin' away theah time writin' books about it, does it? No s

te the book didn't kn

ow enough about gold to make 'em a livin' diggin' it-so they write a book about it. They's

. It's that book up there on the shelf with the green cover. You

s blankets, Connie smiled to himself to see his big partner take the book from the shelf, l

hat protrudes into the valley of the Ten Bow, for all the world like a giant spur. The creek doubles sharply around the point

ng the base of the spur toward the main range. He had covered the fifteen miles slowly, b

or shoulder, protected from every direction by the ridge itself, and by the thick spruce timber. The early darkness had settled when he finished making camp and as he a

s fighting his sleeping bag, as the hair of his scalp seemed to rise like the quills of an enraged porcupine, and a peculiar tickly chill ran down his spine. The silence of the night was shattered by a sound so terrible that his blood seemed to chill at the horror of it. It was a wolf cry-but unlike the cry of any wolf he had ever heard. There was a swift rush of dark bodies and Connie's four dogs dived into the tent, knocking him over in their haste, their feet scratching up a shower of snow which caused the glowing coals of the littl

s were visible at a distance of several hundred yards against the background of new-fallen snow. Drawing a heavy parka over his mackinaw, he fastened on his snowshoes, caught up his rifle, and

hour passed and the boy was thankful he had thought to bring his parka. Mushing a hard trail, a man can dispense with his parka at twenty degrees below zero, but sitting still, even at zero, the heavy moosehide garment is indispensable. For another hour Connie divided his attention between watching the fantastic changes of pale aurora and scanning the distant reach of the ridge. He shifted his weight to his other hip to stretch a cramped leg; and suddenly became motionless as a stone. Far down the ridge his trained eye had caught a blur of moti

early opposite to the boy's hiding place, and distant not more than fifty yards, when suddenly the huge leader halted in his tracks. So sudden was his action that the wolves running behind him were unable to stop until they had carried six or eight yards beyond. One or two jostled

conspicuous even than his great size was the enormous ruff of long hair that covered the animal's neck and shoulders-a feature that accentuated immeasurably the ferocious appearance of the pointed wolfish muzzle and gleaming eyes. Every detail of coat, of muzzle, of eyes, of ears, or of legs bespoke the wolf breed-but there were other details-and the heart of the boy leaped as he noted them. The deep, massive chest, the peculiar poise of the head, and the over-curl of the huge brush of the

resently another wolf emerged from the thicket, dragging himself on his belly, ploughing the snow. As Connie watched curiously he noticed that the wide, flat trail left by the slowly crawling wolf showed broad, dark streaks and blotches. The waiting wolves knew the meaning of that darkened trail and the next moment they were upon him. Connie shifted his position for a better view of this midnight tragedy of the wild, wh