Part 12 (1/2)
”Stop right there!” said so above theun Her face hite but resolute
”Put down your ax I ht quickly The distance was short, but he had not seen Carrie use a gun She ht miss and have some trouble to re-load
Besides, he , and the other's hesitation was his opportunity Pulling hiether, he leaped upon the felloho stumbled and dropped his ax Jian They swayed to and fro, kicking the ax that neither durst stoop to reach The chopper's face was bleeding; Jiave hihtening grip and kneould go hard with him if he were beaten It was plain that the boss ht with instinctive fury for self-preservation
The prirappled like savage anith and stubbornness seee, for as the other trod upon the ax the long handle tilted up and got between his legs He sturound Then, gathering all his strength, he tried to throw hied down the slope
The pitch was steep and they rolled for soo, slipped across the ledge, and vanished Jim, jarred by the shock, lay still for so the rocks and trees below
A rattle of gravel caloom, but it sounded some distance off Then he heard a step and saw Carrie She held the gun and was breathless Her look was strained and her face white
”Are you hurt, Jim?” she asked
”No; not un”
”Why do you want the gun?”
Jiotten that Carrie had coh he noted,soot away He wanted to go after him, not to talk
”The brute's not far off, and unless I'un!”
”I won't,” said Carrie
She stood a few yards above Ji swiftly, she picked thehed, a strained laugh, and held out the gun
”You may have it now,” she added ”You can't find the shells”
”Then I'll go without theed down the hill
When he had gone a short distance he stopped His leg hurt and he had a dull recollection of a blow His leg was not cut; perhaps the chopper had hit him with the flat of the ax or he had struck it on the rock Anyhow, he was lah slope There was no use in going on like that, particularly as he heard a faint rattle of gravel soot away and Jian to see what Carrie had done and when he joined her he felt eh,” he remarked
”Oh,” she said, ”that doesn't matter! I think I understand Besides, you are hurt”
”Leg's stiff; that's all I ought to have remembered But, you see----”
Carrie smiled ”You mean you didn't think aboutthe fellow”
”Soht, and after a few minutes I did think”
”When you found you couldn't walk?”
”Well,” said Jim, aardly, ”I now see how mean I was” He paused and resumed with sincere emotion: ”If you hadn't come, the brute would have cut me down”
Carrie's rather ironical amusement vanished and she colored ”It doesn't matter, Jim All that's important is, I did come But you are la as you can stand,” said Jiround ”You'll find this softer than the stones” He sat down opposite her and resumed: ”No did you happen----?”
”I found soet food between here and the settlement, it looked as if somebody meant to pull out before we broke camp”