The Hennessey Clipper (Hennessey, Okla.), Vol. 32, No. 35, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 2, 1921 Page: 5 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
f fii ttBftftlSBBY 0LIPP11
| of the Ick
By Edison IWll
(Copyright, 111 JO, Little,
(Continued from five) N
• ii s our house," Sn( told film.
"And father can't get
She spoke very qi perhaps
the most terrible trutl|fe are al-
ways spoken in that suiet voice.
Then both of ttiein stt^xoss the
snow as fast as their Idy snow-
shoes would permit.
"He can crawl a lit nn called
to her. "Don't give Snowbird
mine. I think he'll be
They mounted u> tp ,ff the
ridge; and the long s\if the for-
est was revealed to thfhe house
was a singular tall pillflame, al-
ready glowing that-dreref from
which firemen, despalrim away.
1 hen the girl seized <nds and
danced about him in a circle.
Iles alive! she crfYou can
see liiiu—jusl a dot on low. He
crawled out to safety."
She turned and s^ied i-eakneck
pace down the ridge. Di to race
to keep up with her. Bi«sn't en-
tirely wise to try to mufast. A
dead log lay beneath thr with a
broken limb stretched t to its
surface, and it caught owslioe.
The wood cracked slmrpi she fell
forward in the snow. Iwasn't
burt, and the snowshoe in spite
of a small crack in tlie vy-as still
serviceable.
^Haste makes waste,">ld * her.
"Keep your feet 011 ti e ^ Snow-
bird j the house is gonedy and
your father is safe. Itetr what
lies before us."
The thought sobered aied her.
She glanced once at the face of
her companion. Dan cot under-
stand the strange light tddenly
leaped to her eyes. Perhe her-
self couldn't have explain wave
of tenderness that swept her—
with 110 cause except the 1 Dan's
earnest gray eyes and ti s that
cut so deep. Since tin* wois ne«v,
it has been the boast of t test of
men that they looked their in the
face. And tills is no mean g. For
fnte Is a sword from the [ess, a
power that reaches out of (stery,
and cannot be classed wijits of
human origin. It burns 01 eyes
of all but the strongest me|t Dan
was looking at his fate n,(] bis
eyes held straight.
They walked together do the
ruined house, and the thr them
sat silent while the tire I red.
Then I-ennnx turned ti/ thfth- a
half-smile.
"You're wasting time, yo," he
said. "Remember, all our fc*;one.
If you start now, and walk may-
be you can make it out."
"There are several thin do
first," Dan answered simpl;
"I don't know what they ntsnji,
going to lie any picnic, Drrtman
can travel only so far wlthod to
keep up his strength, partlcvover
such ridges as you have to It
will lie easy to give up_nm? It's,
the test, man: M's the test."
"And what about you?" ligh-
ter asked.
"Ob, I'll lie all right. Hei-lt'i
lie only thing that can b«. I
can't walk, and you can't ca? on
your backs. What else r_eui I'll
stay here—and I'll scrapether
enough wood to keep a tire, you
can bring help."
lie kept Ms eyes averted he
lalUed. lie was afraid for Msec
tliein, knowing that be could the
lie in them. #
llow do you expect to find—
in 1 his snow?" Dan asked hliivlll
laic four days to get out you
think you could lie here untie
villi a fire for four days, and our
days more that It will take 111^
I.ark? Vou'd have two "ch< to
burn green wood that I'd elliott
before I left, or the rain-soakid-
wood under the snow. You n't
keep either one of them bnriinil
you'd die In a night. Besides Is
ti, 1 time for an unarmed mabe
alone in the hills."
Lennox's voice grew pleadldie
sensible, Dan!" he cried, at
Cranston's got us, and got int.
I to only one thing more J, catut
and that is that you pay the 1
can't hope to get out myself.ay
Hint I can't even hope to. Hujit
bring my daughter through—ai*n
spring conies, pay what we to
Cranston—I'll be content, lis.
sou—I've lived my life. The o-k
leader dies when his time comil
so docs n man." •
Ills daughter crept to him al-
tered his gray head agalnri
breast. "I'll stay with you, thee
cried.
"Don't be a little fool, .iuo-'
be urged. "My clothes are \l
toady from the melted snow, ki
lung a way—It will be loo hard I,
nd children—I'm old and tlredl
don't want to make the try—It
mil cold; and even If you'd stne
anil grub wood, Snowbird, tlieyl
us both dead when tlioy came In
a week. We can't live without,
iinl work and keep warm—and-
Isn't a living creature In 'the I
"Except the woIvm." Dan reminded
him.
"Kxeept the wolves," I.eiinox
echoed. "Remember, we're uunrnied—
and they'd find It out. You're young,
Snowbird, and so is Dan—and you
two will.be happy. 1 know how tilings
are, you two—more than you know
yourselves—and In the end you'll be
happy. But me—I'm too tired to
make tlie try. I don't care about It
enough. I'm going to wave you good-
hy, and smile, and lie here and let the
cold come down. You feel warm I11 a
little while—"
But she stopped his Hps with her
hand. And he bent and kissed It.
"If anybody's going to stay with
you," Dan told them in a clear, firm
voice, "it's going to be me. But aren't
any of the cabins occupied?"
"You know they aren't." Lennox an-
swered. "Not even the houses beyond
the North Fork, even If we could get
across. The nearest help is over sev-
enty miles."
"And Snowl/rd, think! Haven't any
supplies been left in the ranger sta-
tion?"
"Not one thing," the girl told him.
"You know Cranston and bis crowd
lobbed tKe place last winter. And the
telephone lines were disconnected
when the rangers left."
"Then the only way Is for me to
stay here. You can take the pistol,
and you'll have a fair chance of get
ting through. I'll grub wood for our
camp meanwhile, and you can bring
help."
"And if tiie wolves come, or If help
didn't come In time," Lennox whis-
pered. passion-drawn for the first
time, "who would pay what we owe to
Cranston?"
"But her life counts—first of all."
"1 know it does—but mine doesn't
count at all. Believe me, you two.
I'm speaking from my own desires
when I say I don't want lo make the
fight. Snowbird would never make it
through alone. There are the wolves,
and maybe Cranston too—the worst
wolf of all. A woman can't mush
across those ridges four days without
food, without some one who loves her
and forces her on! Neither can she
stay here with me and try to make
green branches burn In a fire. She's
got three little pistol halls—and we'd
all die for a whim. Oh. please,
please—"
But Dan leaped for his hand with
glowing eyes. "Listen, man !" lie cried.
"I know another way .vet. I know
more than one way; but one. if we've
got the strength. Is almost sure. There
Is an ax in the kitchen, and the blade
will still he good."
"Likely dulled with the fire—"
"I'll cut a limb with my jnckknife
for the handle. There will be nails
in the ashes, plenty of them. We'll
make n rndf sledge, and we'll get you
out too."
Lennox seemed to he studying his
wasted hands. "It's a chance, but It
Isn't worth It." he said at last. "You'll
have fight enough without tugging at
a heavy sled. II will take all night
to build It. and it would cut down
your chances of getting out by pretty
near half. Remember the ridges.
Dan—"
"But we'll climb every ridge—be-
sides. its a slow, down grade most of
the way. Snowbird—tell him he must
do It."
Snowbird told lilni, overpowering
him with her enthusiasm. And Dan
shook his shoulders with rough hands.
"You're hurting. hoy!" Lennox
warned "I'm a bag of broken bones."
"I'll tote you down there If I have
to tie you In," Dan Failing replied.
"Refore. I've bowed to your will; but
this time yon have to how to mine.
I'm not going to let you stay here and
die, no matter If you heg on your
knees! It's the test—and I'm going
to bring you through."
lie meant what he said. If mortal
strength and sinew could survive such
a test, he would succeed. There wan
nothing in Ihese words to suggest the
physical weakling that both of tbetn
had known a few months before. The
eyes were earnest, the dark face in-
tent, the determined voice did not
waver at all.
"Dan Failing speaks!" Lennox re-
plied with glowing eyes. He was re-
calling another Dan Falling of the
dead years, a boyhood hero, and bis
remembered voice had never been
•iiore determined, more masterful than
this he had Just heard.
"And Cranston didn't get his pur-
pose, after all." To prove his words,
Dan thrust Ids hand into his Inner
coat pocket. He drew forth a little,
tlat package, half as thick as 11 pack
of cards. He held It up for them to
see. "The thing Bert Cranston burned
the house down to destroy," he ex-
plained. "I'm learning to know this
mountain breed. Lennox. I kept it In
my pocket where I could fight for it,
at any minute."
Cranston had been mistaken, after
all. In thinking that in fear of himself
Dan would be afraid to kee; the
packet on his person, and would crav-
enly conceal it in the house. He would
have been even more surprised to
know that Dan had lived In constant
hope of meeting Cranston 011 the
ridges, showing him what It contained,
and fighting him for It, hands to
bands. And even yet, perhaps the day
would come when Cranston would
know at last that Snowbird's words,
after the fight of long ago, were true.
The twilight was falling over tin*
snow, so Snowbird and Dan turned to
the toll of building a sled.
The snow was steel-gray In the
moonlight when the little party made
their start down the long trail. Their
preparations, simple and crude as they
were, had taken hours of ceaseless
labor on the part of the three. The
ax, Its edge dulled by the (lame and
Its handle burued away, hud been
yi >
Jl■ ■■ a i
"The Thing Bert Cranston Burned
the House Down to Destroy."
cooled in the snow, and wirn one
sound arm, Lennox laid driven the hot
nails that Snowbird gathered from
the ashes of one of the outbuildings.
The embers of the house Itself still
glowed red in the darkness.
Dan had cut the green limbs of the
trees and pinned them with his ax.
The sled had been completed, handles
attached for pushing it, and a piece of
fence wire fastened with nails as a
rope to pull it. The warm mackinaws
of both of them as well as the one
blanket that Lennox bail saved from
1 he lire were wrapped about the old
frontiersman's wasted body—Dan and
Snowbird hoping to keep warm by the
exercise of propelling the sled Ex-
cept for the dull ax and the half-
empty pistol, their only equipment
was a single charred pot for melting
snow thai Dan bad recovered from
the ashes of the kitchen.
The three had worked almost in
silence. Words didn't help now. They
wasted no sorely needed breath. Rut
they did have one minute to talk when
they got to the lop of the little ridge
that bad overlooked the house.
"We'll travel mostly at night." Dan
told them. "We can see in the snow
and bv taking our rest in the daytime,
when the sun is bright and warm, we
can save our strength. We won't have
to keep such big fires then—and ill
nighl our exertion will keep us as
warm as we can hope for. Getting up
all night lo cut green wood with this
dull ax in the snow would break us to
pieces very soon, for remember that
we haven't any food. I know how to
build a fire even In the snow—es-
pecially if I can find the dead, dry
heart of a rotten log—hut il isn't any
fun to keep it going with green wood.
We don't want to have to spend any
more of our strength stripping off wet
hark and hacking at saplings than we
can help; and that means we'd better
do our resting In the heal of the day.
After all. It's a fight against stnrva
tion more than anything else,"
"Just think," the girl told them, re-
proaching herself, "if 1 had shot
straight at that wolf today we could
have gone back and got Ills body It
might have carried us through."
Neither of the others as much afi
looked surprised at these nmnxing re
grets over the lost unsavory flesh of
a wolf. They were up against reali-
ties. and they didn't mince words.
Dan smiled at her gently, and bis
great shoulder leaned against the j
traces.
They moved through 11 dead world.
The ever-present manifestations of
wild life that had been such a delight j
to Dan in the summer and fall were
quite lacking now. The snow was
trackless. Once they thought they
saw a snowshoe rabbit, a strange
shadow 011 the snow, but be was too
far away for Snowbird to risk 11 pis-
tol shot. The pound or two of llesh
would be sorely needed before the
Journey was over, but the pisiol car-
tridges might be needed still more,
she didn't lei her mind rest on certain
possibilities wherein they might be
needed. Such thoughts stole the cour-
age from the spirit, and courage was
essential beyond all things else lo
bring them through.
As the dawn came out, they all
stood still and listened to the wolf
pack, singing on the ridge somewhere
behind them.
It was a large pack. They couldn't
make out Individual voices—neither
the more shrill cry of the females, the
yapping of the cubs, or the low, clear
O-helow-tnlddle-C note of the males.
"if they should cross our tracks—"
Lennox suggested.
"No use worrying about thai now—
not until we come to It," Dun told
him.
The morTilng broke, the sun rose
bright In a clear sky. But still they
trudged on. In spite of the fact thai
the sled was heavy and broke through
the snow crust as they tugged at It
they had made good time since their
departure. But now every step was
n pronounced effort. It was the dread
ftil beginning of fatigue that only
food and warmlh and rest could
rectify.
"We'll rest now," Dan told them lit
ten o'clock. "The sun Is warm enough
so that we won't need much of 11 tire.
And we'll try to get five hours' -sleep,"
"Too long, If we're going lo make It
out," Lennox objected.
"That leaves u workday of nineteen
houlfs," Dan persisted. "Not any too
little. Five hours It will he."
He found where the snow had drift-
ed against a great, dead log, leaving
the white covering only a foot In
depth on the lee side. He'began to
si^ape the snow away, then hacked at
the log with his ax until he had pro
cured a piece of comparatively dry-
wood from Its center. They all stood
breathless while he lighted the little
pile of kindling and heaped It with
green wood—the only wood procur-
able. But It didn't burn freely. It
smoked fitfully, threatening to die our.
and emitting very little heat.
But they didn't particularly care.
The sun was warm above, as always
In the mountain winters of southern
Oregon. Snowbird and Dan cleared
spaces beside the fire and slept. Len-
nox. who had rested 011 the journey,
lay on Ills sled and with his uninjured
arm tried to hack enough wood from
the saplings that Dan had cut to keep
the fire burning.
At three they got up, still tired and
aching In their bones from exposure.
Twenty-four hours had passed sim e
they had tasted food, and their utile
plenlshed systems complained. There
Is no better engine in the wide world
than the human body. It will stand
more neglect and abuse than the finest
steel motors ever made by the bands
of craftsmen. A man may fast many
days if be Iles quietly in one place
and keeps warm. But fasting is a
deadly proposition while pulling
sledges over the snow.
Dan was less hopeful now. Ilis face
told what his words did not. The
lines cleft deeper about his lips and
eyes; and Snowbird's heart ached
when he tried to encourage her with
a smile. It was a wan. strange smile
that couldn't quite hide the first sick-
ness of despair.
The shadows quickly lengthened—
simply leaping over the snow from the
fast-falling sun. The twilight deep-
ened, the snow turned gray, and then,
in a vague way, the journey began to
partake of a quality of unreality. It
was not that the cold and the snow
and their hunger were not entirely
real, or thai the wilderness was 110
longer naked lo their eyes. It was iust
that their whole effort seemed like
some dreadful, unburdened journey in
a dream—a stumbling advance under
difficulties too many and real to lie
true.
The first sign whs the far-off cry
of the wolf pack. It was very faint
simply a stir In the eardrums, yet it
was entirely clear. That clear, cold
mountain air was a perfect telephone
system, conveying a message distinct-
ly, no matter how faintly. There
were no tall buildings or cities to dis-
turb the ether waves. And all three
of litem knew at the same Instant It
was not exactly the cry they had
heard before.
They couldn't have told just why-
even If they had wished to talk about
It. In some dim way. il had lost the
strange quality of despair it had held
before. It was as If the pack were
running with renewed life, that each
wolf was calling to another with a
dreadful sort of exultation It was 1111
excited cry, too—not the long, sad
song they bad learned to listen for. It
sounded immediately behind them
They couldn't help hut listen. No
human ears could have shut out the
sound. Rut none of them pretended
that they had heard. And this wns the
worst sign of all. Each one of the
three was hoping against hope in his
very heart; and at the same time, hop-
ing that the others did not understand.
For n long Mine, as the darkness
deepened about tbetn. the forests were
still. Perhaps. Dan thought, he had
been mistaken after all. Ilis shoulder#
straightened. Then the chorus blared
again.
The man looked back at the girl,
smiling Into her eyes. Lennox lay as
If asleep, the lines of his dark face
curiously pronounced. And the girl,
because she was of the mountains,
body and soul, answered Dan's smile.
Then they knew that all of them knew
the truth. Not even an inexperienced
ear could have any delusions about
the pack song now. It was that old-
est of wilderness songs, the hunting-
cry—that frenzied song of blood-lust
thai the wolf pack utters when It is
running 011 the trull of game. It had
found the track of living flesh at last.
"There's no use stopping, or trying
to climb a Iree," Dan told them sim-
ply. "In the first place, Lennox can't
do It. In the second, we've got to take
a chance—for cold and hunger can get
up a tree where the wolf pack can't."
He spoke wholly without emotion.
Once more he tightened the traces of
the sled.
"I've heard that sometimes the pack
will chase a man for days without at-
tacking," Lennox told them. "It nil
depends on how long they've gone
without food Keep on and try to for-
get 'em. .Maybe we can keep 'em
bluffed."
But as the hours passed, It became
Increasingly difficult to forget the wolf
pack. It was only a matter of turning
the head and peering for an Instant
Into the shadows to catch a glimpse
of one of Hie creatures. Their usual
fear of men, always their first emo-
tion, had given way wholly to a hunt-
ing cunning; an effort to procure their
game without too great risk of their
own lives. In the desperation of their
hunger they could not remember such
things as the fear of men. They
spread out farther, aud at last Dun
looked up to find one of the gray
beasts waiting, like 11 shadow himself,
in the shadow of a tree not one hun-
dred feet from the sled. Snowbird
whipped out her pistol.
"Don't dare!" Dan's voice cracked
(nil to her. He didn't speak loudly; yet
the words ctune so sharp and com-
manding. so like pistol fire Itself, that
titty penetrated Into her consciousness
KEEP up your appearance by
having vour shoes repaired
at the O.K. SHOE SHOP.
We specialize on Quality Work.
Zenzal is Guaranteed
Zenzal is guaranteed to give satisfaction in every
case. If it does not give relief in the treatment
of Eczema and all skin troubles your money will
he refunded. One small jar is sufficient to con-
vince. Sold and guaranteed by
C\
&
ft
ts4-
"Maybe We Can Keep Them Bluffed."
and choked back the nervous retlexes
that In an Instant might have lost
theni one of their three precious shells.
She caught herself with a sob. Dan
shouted at the wolf, and It melted into
the shadows.
"You won't do It again, Snowbird?"
he asked her very humbly. But his
meaning was clear. He was not as
skilled with a pistol as she; but if lier
nerves were breaking, the gun must
be taken from her bands. The three
shells must be saved to the moment of
utmost need.
"No," she told him, looking straight
into Ids eyes. "I won't do It again."
He believed her. He knew that she
spoke the truth. He met her eyes with
a half smile. Then, wholly without
warning, Fate played its last trump
Again the wilderness reminded them
of its might, and their brave spirits
were almost broken by the utter re-
morselessness of the blow. The girl
went on her face with a crack of wood.
Her snow shoe had been cracked by
her fall of the day before, when run
nlng to the fire, and whether she
struck some oilier obstruction In the
snow, or whether the cracked wood
had simply given way under her
weight, mattered not even enough for
them to Investigate. As In all great
disasters, only the result remained.
The result In tills case was that her
snowshoe, without which she could uot
walk at all In the snow, was Irrepara-
bly broken.
"Fate lias stacked the cards against
us," Lennox told them, after the first
moment's horror from the broken
snowshoe.
But no one answered him. The girl,
white-faced, kept her wide eyes on
Dan. He seemed to he peering itilo the
shadows beside the trail, as if he were
watching for the gray forms that now
and then glided from tree to tree. In
reality, he was not looking for wolves.
He was gazing down Into his own soul,
measuring his own spirit for the trial
that lay before him.
The girl, unable to step with the
broken snowshoe, rested her weight on
one foot and hobbled like a bird with
broken wings across to him. No sight
of all this terrible Journey had been
more dreadful In her father's eyes
than tills. It seemed to split open
the strong heart of the man. She
touched her hand to bla arm.
"And never come buck!" the girl
cried.
"Maybe not. But at least every-
thing Unit can be done will be done.
Nothing will lie left. No regrets. We
will have made the last trial. I'm not
going to wuste any time, Snowbird.
The sooner we get your lire built the
better."
"Father and I are to stay here—T"
(Continued to last page)
(Clipper)
LARGE FEET ARE NOW
AN EXPENSIVE LUXURY
Martin's Kerry, Ohio.—Large feet
are a joke 110 longer. They are an
expensive luxury. Local shoo dealers
have been notified that extra charge
will lie made on men's shoes above
the twelve sire and of woman '1 lar
get- than eights.
H'NOARDIA is "without a rival"
in ordinary or deep seated Coughs
and Colds, difficult breathing, and
for the relief of Whooping Cough.
The winderfiil results following its
use will astonish yon and make you
its life-long friend. Your money
back if you have ever used it's
equal. Danger lurks where there is
a Cough or Cold. Conquer it quicklv
villi LUNOABDIA. Safe for all
ages, lit) ets and $120 per bottle.
.Manufactured bv Luugardia Co ,
Dallas, Texas.
For Sale By
F. A. DINKLER, The Druggist
hides and furs
We pay the highest
CASH PRICE
D. R BREWER
••"'si Side of South Main Street
Don't Forget
Howard & Son
the old reliable produce firm,
when you market your
Poultry, Cream
and Eggs
i ley sot the pace in prices,
always paying the very
highest market
prices
Phone No- 9S
PERMANENTLY LOCATED
Or. Stanley L. Owings
Dentist
OFFICES IN FIRST NATIONAL
BANK BUILDING
I'lniiies: Office 191; Residence, 147
oimtem
LAWYERS
kingfisher.okla.
DR B I TOWNSEND
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Office ia Building formerly occupied
\T Dr Wagner on East Oklahoma A\e
Telephone 122
DR. A DIXON
PHYSICIAN AND SU.RC,RON
O'.t ice nt Cullum Bdg., South Main St.
Hi 1 bicnco 3rd door south on Main St.
Offlco phone 53; Residence 214.
Calls answered day and night
MARY OLIVE ELLIOTT, D 0.
The Chiropractor
Licensed by State of Oklahoma
Hennessey, Okla.
South Main Street Phone No. 5
HARMON, CROWE & CROWE
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Enid, Oklahoma
IS L'l Oklahoma State Rank Building
Phone 466
JOHN DUFFY
rxal ESTATE. FARM LOANi
AND INSURANCE
Ontly Bnlldlar ■snneswj Ok'*.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Hennessey Clipper (Hennessey, Okla.), Vol. 32, No. 35, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 2, 1921, newspaper, February 2, 1921; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc102128/m1/5/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.