kLondon
Themanhadfallenintothecreekandhadsrainedhisankle。
Hecalledtohisfriend,
"Isay,Bill,waitthere。I&aos;vesrainedmyankle。
"
Therewasnoanswer。Billhaddisaearedinthedamfog。AlthoughitwasstillAugust,theCanadianwildernesslaycoldandlonelyintheweaklightoftheafternoonsun。Everywherewasthedullskyline。Thehillswerealllow-lying。Therewerenotrees。Therewasnothingbutdesolationthatsentfearintotheman&aos;sheart。
"Bill!
"hecalledagain。
"Bill!
"Therewasnoanswer。
Themanrosetohisfeet,shakingasifhehadafever。Hefoughtagainstthefearinhisheart。Hefoundhisgunwherehehaddroeditinthewater。Thenhecontinuedhiswayslowly。Thegunwasnowuseless,forhehadnoammunitionforit,buthedidnotleaveit。
Heshiftedhisacktohisleftshouldersoastofavorhisrightankleandhurriedtothetoofahill。Fromtherehesawabroadvalley,emtyoflife。
Thebottomofthevalleywassoftandswamy。Heushedon,tryingtofollowthetracksofhiscomanion。
Thoughhewasnowalone,hewasnotlost。Fartheralongheknewwheretofindthetrail。Hewouldfollowituntilitcametotheriver,wheretheyhadlefttheircanoe,weighteddownwithrocks。Underthecanoewasacacheofammunitionforhisemtygun,fishhooksandlines,andasmallnet。Hewouldalsofindsomeflour,bacon,andbeans-notmuch,fortheyhadtakenmostoftheirfoodwiththemontheirtriintothenorthcountrylookingforgold。
HeknewBillwouldwaitforhimthere;thentheywouldaddledowntherivertoaHudsonBayComanyost,wheretherewouldbewarmshelterandlentyoffood。
Thesewerethethoughtsofthemanashelimedalongthetrail。ThenhebegantothinkthaterhasBillhaddesertedhim。Themanhadnoteatenfortwodays,andnowwastheaddedfearofstarvation。Hehadstoedafewtimestoeatsomewildberries,buttheyweremostlyseedsandbitter。Hishungerincreasedbythehour。
Alreadythesunhadsliedbeyondthehorizon。Suddenlyhestruckhistoeonarockyledgeandfell。Helaystillforsometimewithoutmovement。Thenhesliedoutofhisackstrasanddraggedhimselftoasittingosition。Itwasnotyetdark,andinthelingeringtwilighthegatheredsomemoss。Whenhehadagood-sizedile,hebuiltafireandsetasmallailofwateroverthefiretoboil。
Heunwraedhisack,andthefirstthinghedidwastocounthismatches。Thereweresixty-seven。Hecountedthemthreetimestomakesure。Hedividedthemintothreesmallacks,wraingtheminoilaer,uttingonebunchinhisemtytobaccoouch,anotherbunchintheinsidebandofhishat,andthethirdbunchunderhisshirtonhischest。Hewasafraidthatifhefellintothewateragain,allofhismatcheswouldbecomewetanduseless。
Hedriedhisfootgearbythefire。Thewetmoccasinshadbeencuttoieces。Thesockswerewornthroughinlaces,andhisanklehadswollentothesizeofhisknee。Hetorealongstrifromoneofhisblanketsandboundtheankletightly。Hetoreotherstrisandboundthemabouthisfeetforfootwear。Hewascold,andheknewthattherewouldsoonbethedangerofsnowandfrost。Afterthewaterheated,hedranksomeofit;thenhewoundhiswatch,andcrawledbetweenhisblankets。Hesletlikeadeadman。
Atsixo&aos;clockheawoke,lyingonhisback。Hegazedstraightuintothegrayskyandknewthathewashungry。Asherolledoveronhiselbow,heheardaloudsnortandsawacariboulookingathimstrangely。Theanimalwasnotmorethanfiftyfeetaway,andinstantlythemanhadthoughtsofacaribousteakfryingoverafire。Hereachedforhisemtygun,aimed,andulledthetrigger。Theanimalsnortedattheclickoftheemtygunandranaway。
Themancursedandgroanedaloudashedraggedhimselftohisfeet。Slowlyherolledhisacktogether。Helookedatthemoose-hidebagthathecarriedinhisack。Itwasextraweight,andhebegantowonderwhatvalueitscontentshadnow。However,herolledittogetherwithhisaceandstartedout。
Theaininhisanklewasterrific,butitwasnoworsethanthatinhisemtystomach。Thehungerhadbecomefrightful。Inalittlewhilehecameuonavalleywheresomebirdsroseonwhirringwings,
"Ker。。。ker。。。ker,
"theycriedastheyflewaway。Hethrewstonesbuthecouldnothitaone。Helacedhisackonthegroundandbegantostalkthebirdslikeacat。
Thesharrockscutthroughhisantslegstillhiskneeswerescratchedandbleeding,buthewasnotawareofhishurtsashishungerwassogreat。Hecursedthebirdsandmockedthemwiththeirowncry。
Asthedayworeon,hecameintoavalleywheregamewasmorelentiful。Aherdoftwentycaribouassedbywithinriflerange。Hefeltlikerunningafterthem,butheknewsuchaneffortwouldbesenseless。Oncehesawafoxwithabirdinitsmouth。Hecalledloudly,hoingtofrightenthefoxintodroingthebird;butthefox,leaingawayinfright,didnotdrothebird。
Hewaswearyandoftenwishedtorest-toliedownandslee,buthewasdrivenonbyhishunger。Hesearchedlittleondsforfrogsanddugutheearthwithhisfingernailsforworms,thoughheknewthatneitherfrogsnorwormslivedthatfarnorth。
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