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"But I see so!"
"Keep quiet," he admonished
Helen, in the direction Bo pointed, could not see anything butclose at hand to a little ridge
"Lie still," whispered Dale "I'le I'll be right back"
He one, Helen felt a palpitating of her heart and a prickling of her skin
"Oh, ht "I know I saw soe a round object ht Helen watched with suspended breath It e, round, bristling anie--the next small--then close at hand--and far away It swerved to come directly toward them Suddenly Helen realized that the beast was not a dozen yards distant She was just beginning a new experience--a real and horrifying terror in which her blood curdled, her heart gave a tremendous leap and then stood still, and she wanted to fly, but was rooted to the spot--when Dale returned to her side
"That's a pesky porcupine," he whispered "Almost crawled over you He sure would have stuck you full of quills"
Whereupon he threw a stick at the ani quickness, and it gave forth a rattling sound; then it crawled out of sight
"Por--cu--pine!" whispered Bo, pantingly "It ht--as well--have been--an elephant!"
Helen uttered a long, eloquent sigh She would not have cared to describe her e
"Listen!" warned Dale, very low His big hand closed over Helen's gauntleted one "There you have--the real cry of the wild"
Sharp and cold on the night air split the cry of a wolf, distant, yet wonderfully distinct Hoild and ry! How h all her frame with the thrill of its music, the wild and unutterable and deep eain a sound of this forest had pierced beyond her life, back into the dim remote past from which she had come
The cry was not repeated The coyotes were still And silence fell, absolutely unbroken
Dale nudged Helen, and then reached over to give Bo a tap He was peering keenly ahead and his strained intensity could be felt Helen looked with all her ray forloom of the woods, where they disappeared Not only Dale's intensity, but the very silence, the wildness of the ht onderful potency Boall over, and holding tightly to Helen, and breathing quick and fast