Inoneareahewalkedalongacreek,lookingforfish。Inaoolhefoundasmallone。Hediedhisarmintothewaterutohisshoulder,butthefishgotaway。Thenhereachedforitwithbothhands,stirringuthemudatthebottom。Inhisexcitementhefellin,wettinghimselftothewaist。Sincehecouldnolongerseethefish,hehadtowaituntilthewatercleared。
Whenhetriedagain,thewaterbecamemuddy。Thenhetookhistinailandbegantobailtheool。Hebailedwildlyatfirst,andsomeofthewaterranbackintotheool。Thenheworkedmorecarefully,thoughhisheartwasoundinginhischestandhishandswereshaking。Attheendofhalfanhourtheoolwasnearlydry。Buttherewasnofish。Ithadescaedbetweentherocksintoalargerool。
Defeatedinhiseffort,themansatdownuonthewetearth。Atfirsthecriedsoftlytohimself。Thenhecriedloudlyinhishoelesscondition。
Hebuiltafireandwarmedhimselfanddranksomehotwater。Hisblanketswerewetandcold,andhisanklewasstillainful,buthisworstsufferingcamefromhishunger。Hetriedtoslee,buthedreamedoffoodandmanygoodthingstoeat。
Heawokecoldandsick。Therewasnosun。Theairabouthimgrewwhitewhilehemadeafireandboiledsomewater。Itwaswetsnow,halfrain,andtheflakesmeltedquicklyandutouthisfire。
Bythistimehehadbecomehunger-mad。Hefeltthroughthesnowandulledusomegrassroots。Hechewedtherootsbuttheyweretastelessorbitter。
Hehadnofirethatnightbecausehecouldn&aos;tfindanydrywood,sohecrawledunderhisblankettosleethebrokensleeofhunger。Thesnowturnedintoacoldrain。Hefeltitonhisfaceduringthenight。
Latethenextmorningthesunbrokethroughthegraymist。Thenthemanrealizedhewaslost。Heturnednorthwardtocorrecthiscourse,hoingtofindtheriverandthecanoe。ThenhewonderedwhathadhaenedtoBill。
Thoughhishungerainswerenoworse,herealizedhewasgettingweaker。Hehadtostofrequentlytorest。Histonguefeltdryandlarge,andhismouthhadabittertaste。Hisheartgavehimagreatdealoftrouble。Hecouldfeelitsthum,thum,thum;andtheainfulbeatschokedhimandmadehimfeelfaint。
Inthemiddleofthedayhecaughttwosmallfishinaoolbyusinghisail。Heatethefishraw,butthehungerainwasnowdullandlifeless。Hisstomachhadgonetoslee。
Inthemorninghecaughtthreemoresmallfish,eatingtwoofthemandsavingoneforhisbreakfast。Anothernightassed。Inthemorninghetiedmorestrisoftheblanketaroundhisfeet,andthenheuntiedthestringofthemoose-hideouch。Fromitsoenmouthouredayellowstreamofcoarsegolddustandnuggets。Heknewhemustlightenhisload。Hehardlyhadthestrengthtocarrythelastremainingblanket。Heroughlydividedthegoldintohalves。Heouredhalfofthegoldintoaieceofblanketandrolleditintoasmallackage,whichhehidinarockledge。
Thenhewalkedon,barelyabletolaceonefootaheadoftheother。
Hefacedanotherdayofcoldfog。Halfofhislastblankethadgonetowrahisfeet。Hewasnowtooweaktocarryhissmallack。Againhedividedthegold,thistimebysillinghalfofitontheground。Intheafternoonhethrewtherestofitaway。Thereremainedonlythehalfblanket,thetinail,hisknife,andtherifle。
Heushedonforanhourbeforehefellintoafaint。Arousedbyanoise,hecouldnotbelievehiseyes。Beforehimstoodahorse。Ahorse!Rubbinghiseyes,hesuddenlyrealizedhewaslookingatagreatbrownbear。
Themanbroughthisgunhalfwaytohisshoulderbeforeheremembereditwasnotloaded。Helowereditanddrewhishuntingknife,wonderingifthebearwouldattack。Themandrewhimselfutohisfullheight,staredatthebearandwaited。Thebearadvancedafewstesandthenstoed。Themanknewifheran,thebearwouldrunafterhim。Withallhismightthemanswungtheknifeandgrowledlikeananimal。Thebeardidnotunderstandthemysteriouscreatureandwalkedaway。Themanulledhimselftogetherandwenton,afraidnowinanewway。Therewerewolves。Nowandagainthewolves,inacksoftwoandthree,crossedhisath。Theystayedclearoftheman,foritwaseasiertohuntthecaribou。
Inthelateafternoonhecameuonthebonesofacariboucalf。Hesatonthemossandgatheredthebonesintoahea,andthenhechewedthemwithhisbareteeth,tryingtogetamouthfuloftherawmeat。Thenheoundedthebonesbetweenrocks,beatingthemintoaulandswallowedit。Inhishastehealmostbrokesomeofhisfingers,yethedidnotmindthehurt。
Thencamefrightfuldaysofsnowandrain。Thewilltolivecarriedhimon。Itwasthelifeinhim,unwillingtodie,thatdrovehimon。Bythistimehehadbecomenumbtoain。Halfalive,hewalked,hestumbled,hecrawleduntilhecametoariver。HisdullsensestoldhimitwasnotthesameriverwhereheandBillhadlefttheircanoe。Hefollowedthecourseoftheriverdownstream。Hedidn&aos;tknowwherehewas-itdidn&aos;tmattermuchanyway。Buthestillhadthewilltolive,andheushedon。
Heawokeonemorning,lyingonhisbackonarockyledge。Inaainfuleffort,herolledoveronhisside。Belowhimhecouldseethattheriverflowedouttothesea。Hewasnotexcitedaboutthatfact,andthenhesawsomethingthathewassurewasatrickofthemind。Maybe,afterall,itwasadream-ashilyingatanchor。Heclosedhiseyesandthenoenedthem。Theshiwasstillthere。Themancouldnotbelieveit。
Thenthemanheardanoisebehindhim-ahalf-chokinggasorcough。Hecouldseenothingnearathand。Againcamethestrangenoises,andoutlinedagainsttherockstwentyfeetawaywasthegrayheadofawolf。Theanimalhadbloodshoteyes。Itseemedsick。Itwasnolongerabletohuntwiththeacks。Itevenfeareditsownkind,butnowitstalkedtheman,waitingforhimtodie。
Themanlookedagaintowardthesea。Hedecidedtheshiwasreal。Itwasatleastfivemilesaway,butthemanhadthewilltolive。Henolongerfeltthehunger。Hislastblanketwasgone,andhehadlosttherifle。
Thoughextremelyweak,hewascalm。Heriedoffhisantslegstothekneesandboundthemtohisfeet。Hismovementswereslow,buthewasdetermined。Hestillhadsomematchesandthetinail。Hewarmedsomewateranddrankit。Nowhefeltslightlybetter,andhewasabletostand。Hewalkedtowardtheshiuntilhisweaknessovercamehim。Thenhecrawledonallfourslikeananimal。
Inthelateafternoonhesawanemtymoose-hidesacklikehis。HerecognizeditandknewitwasBill&aos;s。Ahundredyardsfartherwerethebonesofahumanskeleton。Themandidnotneedtoguess。Billhadalmostmadeit!
Finallythemanlayquietinslee。Twoorthreetimesduringthenightthesickwolfhadcomeclosetotheman,bareditsteeth,andsniffedinhunger,butthemanflunghisarmsoutandscaredthewolfaway。
Thefirstraysofdaylightbroughtthemantolife。Hewasnolongerabletostand,sohebegantocrawltowardtheshi。Hecouldseeitnow-lyingbeyondthebreakers。Hiskneesandarmswererawandbleeding,butthemanketmoving,afootatatime,untilhereachedthebeach,wherehelayquietly-unabletomoveafootfarther。Hedreamedoffood,cleanclothing,andwarmsunshine,andthenhebegantocrawlagain。
TheshiwastheBedford,onceawhalingvessel。Onboardwerethemembersofascientificexedition。Someofthememberssawastrangeobjectcrawlingalongthebeachtowardthewater。Theywereunabletoidentifytheobject,andbeingscientificmen,theyclimbedintoashi&aos;sboatandwentashoretosee。Andtheysawsomethingthatwashardlyaliveandcouldhardlybecalledahumanbeing。Itmovedalongthegroundlikeawormandmadeheadwayaterhastwentyfeetanhour。
ThemanwasbroughtaboardtheBedford,givenfood,andcaredforbyadoctor。
Inafewdayshewasabletosituinhisbunk。Withtearsstreamingdownhischeeks,hetoldhowhehadalmostlosthislifeinthewilds。ThenhebegantotalkstrangelyofhisfamilyinsunnysouthernCalifornia,andofahomeamongtheorangetreesandtheflowers。
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