Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 92: what you’re looking at

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

658 was plentiful, and in the deep snow easy to- track and slay, so that he felt no lack of food, and despite his arduous labors grew stronger day by day. To be sure, there were also beasts of prey which must be guarded against, but Ku-ro was well enough trained in woodcraft to care for himself in the forests and on the plains. So day after day, he struggled on, mak- ing all possible haste lest the Sur, falling upon his trail, overtake him ere he could reach the Valley of the Ta-an and lay his message before the great chieftain. Leaving the high hills, he had left behind the evergreens which grew on their lower slopes, and now found himself journeying through woods of oak and maple, birch and beech; with here and there the somber form of a cedar to give a change in the white and blue and gray of snow and forest—& cedar or a fir, strayed by chance from the higher levels into these fruitful and pleasant lowlands. One day, toward evening, just as Ku-ro was beginning to think about food, he caught sight of a round hole in the snow some paces ahead, and grinned to himself, for he recognized it at once—a partridge lay below. It was a trick of the bird, he knew, when hotly pursued by hawk or eagle, to dive into the snow on a long slant, folding its wings as it shot downward, lying hidden at the end of the gallery thus made till the danger had passed. He looked about, but could see no place where the partridge had broken out, so stepped forward cautiously, locating the di- rection of the dive, and following on, slow- ly and carefully, every sense alert, every muscle poised. It was a trick he had often practised, this of catching a snow-hidden bird, and one which few among the Ta-an could ac- complish, skilled hunters though they were. He had made but three or four steps when the startled bird broke cover with a loud whir, scattering the snow broadcast. Instantly, with a panther-spring, Ku-ro dove forward full length in the snow, hands outstretched and clutching, to rise a mo- ment later with the bird held fast—he had caught it in mid air! But as he got to his feet a treacherous ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY.. stone beneath him turned, he lost his bal-. ance—flung out his arms—and rolled ovet and over, not, however, releasing his prey. Striving to rise, a frightful pain shot through: his leg, and he realized that he had onc: more turned the ankle which had been it jured the day Tu-sen died. .t Cursing, Ku-ro killed the partridge, thi. set about to repair the damage as best. te might. Moving on hands and_ knees, hé cleared a space in the snow at the foot. of a huge oak, then gathered firewood and built a fire. A little brook ran_near by, and from the bank he got several good-sized stones, placing them on the fire to heat while he stripped a sheet of bark from a birch-tree. This bark he fashioned into a sort of rude trough, pinning the ends with twigs, then filled it with water and dropped hot stones in—handling them with two sticks—till the water was hot. Into this hot water ht plunged his foot and ankle, from time te time adding more stones from the fire, and occupying himself while the ankle soaked in plucking and gutting the partridge, spit ting it on a stick, and cooking it before the fire. The bird eaten, he withdrew the foot from the hot water and rubbed it dry, a length rolling in skins and lying down by the fire to sleep. 2 | But as he was dozing off a thought struck him. It was tke snow that held-him back, impeding his journey—and he had more than once seen partridges walk on top of the snow. Could he but do likewise, how much more quickly he could reach the Val- ley of the Ta-an! Would it be possible fora man? Wings would npt be needed—it might be! | Long he lay awake, staring up through. the bare branches at the yellow stars that twinkled in the blue sky, trying to recullect what made it possible for the bird to do what he could not. Was a partridge web- footed, like a frog? No, he remembered distinctly the separate toes of the bir. What then? : , And at length the question so bothered him that he rose, took a blazing branch from the fire, and went to search for the feet of the partridge which he, had cut off and thrown away. Finding them, the mat comicloookks CO