Part 32 (1/2)

And then, it seemed to Abel, in his waking dream, they shudderingly gathered together what they saw to cast into the ready-dug grave--the shaft in which he and Dallas had so laboriously but hopefully delved, in search of the magnet which had drawn them there--the gold.

He made a wild effort to drive away the horrible fancy, and at last with a weary sigh sank upon his bed, his last thought being:

”Would those at home ever know the whole truth?”

”How long have I been awake?”

It must have been one long stupor of many, many hours, for the fire was very low, shedding merely a soft warm glow through the place.

He was stupefied, and felt unable to move, but the fancy upon which he had fallen asleep was there still in a strange confused way, and he felt that the dog was not in the spot where he had left it.

He lay with his eyes half-closed, conscious now of some sound which had awakened him. For there beyond the glowing embers, where all was made indistinct and strange, the dog was hard at work tearing a way out of the hut. The wood snapped and grated as it was torn away; then there was silence, and he was half disposed as he lay there helpless to think it was all a dream.

But as this fancy came the noise began once more, and at last he caught sight of the great dog, strong and st.u.r.dy now, crawling through a hole it had made into the hut--what for he could not make out in his feverish state. Why should it have done this to get at him when already there?

He knew it was all wrong, and that his brain was touched; but one thing was plain reality: There was the great beast, magnified by the light of the fire, creeping forward while he lay paralysed and unable to stir.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

DAL'S WELCOME BACK.

And yet it was strange, for just then the embers fell together, a soft, lambent, bluish flame flickered up, making the interior of the hut light, and he saw that the dog still lay in its old place, fast asleep.

What was it then--bear, wolf--which had torn a way through or half under the wall of the place?

A bear, for it suddenly raised itself up on its hind-legs, and as he lay stupefied with horror, Abel could make out its s.h.a.ggy hide.

Still, he could not move to reach for the rifle which stood ready loaded in the corner close by, but lay half paralysed in the strange dazed state into which he had fallen, till the object which reared up, looking huge, moved a little, and seemed listening.

Just then there was a bright gleam.

Eyes--teeth? Impossible, for it was low down, and Abel shook off his lethargy and uttered a low, hoa.r.s.e cry, as he made an effort to spring up and reach a weapon.

But he was tight in the skin-lined sleeping-bag, and this fettered him so that he fell back, and the next moment his nocturnal visitant sprang forward, coming down heavily upon him, at the same moment making a deadly blow at him.

The strange feeling of helplessness was gone. Something to call forth the young man's flagging energies had been needed, and it had come. He had lain down as one who had given up all hope, who had lost all that bound him to life; but that was but the dream of weakness, the stagnation of his nature, brought on by suffering, loneliness, and despair.

Face to face now with this danger, confronted by a cowardly ruffian, Nature made her call, and it was answered. The strong desire for life returned, and with another hoa.r.s.e cry he flung himself aside, and thus avoided the blow aimed at him.

The next moment he had thrown himself upon his a.s.sailant. In an instant his hands were upon his throat. And now a terrible struggle ensued, in which a strange sense of strength came back to Abel; and he kept his hold, as, failing to extricate himself, his a.s.sailant retaliated by seizing him in the same way, and kept on raising and beating the fettered man's head against the floor.

For in their struggle they had writhed and twisted till they were approaching the fire; and as they strove on in their fight for the mastery, Abel was conscious of hearing a loud yelp. Then his breath grew shorter, there was a horrible sensation of the blood rus.h.i.+ng to his eyes, as he gasped for breath--a terrible swimming of the brain--lights bright as flashes of lightning danced before his eyes, and then with his senses reeling he was conscious of a tremendous weight, and then all was black--all was silent as the grave.

”Two days late,” said Dallas, as he paused for a few moments to rest and gain his breath, before shooting into collar again, when the trace tightened, the sledge creaked and ground over the blocks of ice, and glided over the obstruction which had checked him for the moment, and the runners of the heavily loaded frame rushed down the slope, nearly knocking him off his feet. The young man growled savagely, for the blow was a hard one.

”If you could only keep on like that I'd give you an open course,” he said; ”but you will not. Never mind; every foot's a foot gained.

Wonder how old Abel is getting on?”

He shot into the collar once more, the trace tightened, and he went on for another hundred yards over the ice and snow.