Page 127 (1/1)

"He's not there yet," Dale whispered, and he stepped forward very slowly Helen and Bo began to coainst thin dead branches that were invisible and then cracked Then Dale knelt down, seeround

"You'll have to crawl," he whispered

How strange and thrilling that was for Helen, and hard work! The ground bore twigs and dead branches, which had to be carefully crawled over; and lying flat, as was necessary, it took prodigious effort to drag her body inch by inch Like a huge snake, Dale worhtened They were nearing the edge of the park Helen no a strip of open with a high, black wall of spruce beyond The afterglow flashed or changed, like a diht, and then failed Dale crawled on farther to halt at length between two tree-trunks at the edge of the wood

"Come up beside me," he whispered

Helen crawled on, and presently Bo was beside her panting, with pale face and great, staring eyes, plain to be seen in the wan light

"Moon's corizzly's not there yet, but I see coyotes Look"

Dale pointed across the open neck of park to a di apart some little distance from the black wall

"That's the dead horse," whispered Dale "An' if you watch close you can see the coyotes They're gray an' they move Can't you hear thes, presently registered low snaps and snarls Bo gave her aree!" she panted, and drew a long, full breath of unutterable excitement

"Keep quiet now an' watch an' listen," said the hunter

Slowly the black, ragged forest-line seehtened under some invisible influence; slowly the stars paled and the sky filled over Soue blurred patch grew a little clearer

Through the tips of the spruce, now seen to be rather close at hand, shone a slender, silver crescentuntil its exquisite sickle-point topped the trees, and then, ically, it cleared them, radiant and cold While the eastern black wall shaded still blacker, the park blanched and the border-line opposite began to stand out as trees

"Look! Look!" cried Bo, very low and fearfully, as she pointed

"Not so loud," whispered Dale