A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, February 1950 — page 40: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

40 A. MERRITT’S FANTASY woolly coat that makes even the sheep of western Scotland look like naked wretch- es. Besides that, they can be used for beasts of burden, I know. So, altogether, it was a good sight to me, when I saw that fine, handsome herd. Five hundred—yes, there were more, many more, for when I came nearer, getting on a little eminence, I could see _ over the next low ridge another shallow valley dotted over with at least an equal number of the oxen! It was a splendid sight, but it made me unlimber my rifle. I did not want to do random, reckless murder, but I wanted to get a good crack at some beef. The seals had been kind to me for eight months, I admit, and when a man is hungry, there is plenty of nourishment in the flesh and oil of a seal. Nevertheless, back on my molars _ and the root of my tongue there was a desire to get the taste of real beef, once more. It was simple, of course, I walked up, and when, to my amazement, the musk- oxen did not get into their charmed circle, I went close to a fine, plump yearling, and gave it a bullet behind the Shoulder. The herd scattered at the explosion; and my yearling coughed blood, and dropped to its knees. Then it rolled over | dead. I took time to skin it. That much leather was not to be thrown away at the end of nowhere; I had an idea that I could cure it by the heat of a fire, perhaps. Then I cut up the carcass, and I had got about half way through that job when Murder, still harnessed to the sled, became agitated and began to talk to me. He had a style of conversation all his own, consisting of a series of whimpers, and whinings and muttering that ran up and down a long scale. I knew a lot of his words. I knew whole phrases of his as clearly as though he had spoken them. Among other things, he could say dis- tinctly, “Look out! Trouble ahead!” And that was what he said now, as plain as day. “Bad Business! Let’s run!” I looked up and saw the reason why. The musk-oxen, after the sound of the gun, had gone clumsily running, huddling over the next divide, and now, across the same low ridge, a.dozen dogs came pour- ing, each one the twin of Murder. WE they looked like his twin broth- ers, all right, but it was perfectly ap- parent that they also looked like trouble of the blackest sort to him! The way those dog ran, I guessed that, like their cousin Murder, they might have had some practice in running men for a game of blood to please their masters or themselves. Obviously, I couldn’t run fast enough to get away from them, so I got Murder out of his traces in a twinkling, and prepared to use the rifle. Old Murder played up true blue. First he danced wideward, saying clearly, “Come on! Let’s go.”’ But when he saw me standing still, he came skulking back and stood in front of me, and lowered his snaky head. But the white devils who were charging us did not mind that. They came all the harder and faster, it seemed to me, until I got one of them firmly on a bead, and cracked him in the middle of the skull. He jumped twenty feet into the air, and came down with a decisive flop and lay still, while the rest of the dogs split right and left and gave us a wide berth. Murder, the rascal, turned his head and looked up to me with the biggest, widest, reddest laugh that I ever saw. The white dogs, taking their distance, sat down on their haunches and lolled out their long red tongues, and obviously seemed to think that although I had the edge, now, their turn would come before long. I wondered whether I ought to drop a few more of them or not, but ammu- nition was precious—it was lifeblood to me, and I did not want to spend it useless- ly. Finally, I decided that I would take the choice cuts of the dead musk-ox, and leave the remnants to draw off the dogs. But when I was about to go on with my - butchering, I saw something that stopped me short. It was a gleam of light over the rim of the hill, and the gleam grew up- ward into a tall spear, and beside the spear stood a big man well hooded and wrapped in furs. And off to his right and left, in ex- actly the same manner, grew up two more men. And as I turned, I saw others. A dozen of them, one as like the other, as peas from the same pod, stood motionless in a great circle around me, posted on the higher ground. They looked like business. They looked COMicaoo® <S) (© iin