[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
there were some worth trying. What he needed most of all was a good, safe
hideout. Once in such a place he could remain still, and if he made no tracks
he would leave none. He could just wait them out.
Page 183
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
For that he must have a place with a water supply. He must have meat enough to
survive for weeks if need be.
They were coming in force and the search would be thorough, yet it was Alekhin
he feared, Alekhin or the chance discovery of some blundering soldier who just
happened upon him.
Down below there where the soldiers would be coming, their walking channeled
by the country itself, he had taken the time to prepare some traps. These men
would not be the same as those others, so he had used some of the same
devices.
At a place where a wide step was needed to cross a small stream, he had left
some sharp stakes hidden by leaves and snow. A man taking the long step
necessary to step over the stream would drive his foot into the angled stake,
placed to receive him.
At other points he had arranged cords made of roots to trip a follower and a
sharpened stake to meet him when he fell. He had also arranged some deadfalls
of heavy logs. None of these would stop pursuit, but they would arouse caution
and slow the soldiers down, make them less eager to try to find him.
At another point, a natural lockout into the canyon, he had undermined a flat
rock slab and then propped it in place. A quick step and the slab would fall
into the canyon, taking whoever stepped on it.
The canyon he had reached was either that of the Kolyma or the Indigirka, and
he suspected the latter, although his map was not clear enough, considering
what little he knew of the country. But the canyon was at least a mile deep
and probably more. It was wild, lonely, and picturesque. Now to find a place
to hide.
Joe Mack was familiar with canyons. He had spent time in both the Snake River
and the Salmon River canyons in Idaho, deeper canyons than those of the
Colorado. He had spent months wandering their few trails, climbing down their
rock walls, taking refuge in caves.
He found himself on a high, wild plateau, swept by icy winds. There were
scattered cedars, very little snow, and much broken rock, as well as scattered
boulders and uptilted slabs. Careful to step on no fallen sticks, he moved
across the flat rock, working his way toward the edge of the canyon itself.
Fortunately, he had time.
From a projecting ledge, he studied each side of the canyon, and far down,
perhaps a thousand feet from the top he saw a small cluster of cedar among a
grove of aspen. The trees seemed to be growing on a level area. A small
waterfall dropped off the side nearby. As the air was very clear, he knew the
place was farther away than it appeared to be. To the usual eye it was but one
of many outcrops where trees had found a lodging.
He moved slowly ahead, searching for animal tracks. Soon he found those of a
goral and followed them. They wandered off into the forest, and he looked for
others. Finally, he found what he wanted, the tracks of a mountain goat and
later those of a small bear. Their trail followed a narrow, tree-clad ridge
until they suddenly dropped off into a snow-choked hollow. He followed, and
then going around a huge old cedar, the tracks dropped over the edge of the
cliff. He could see the river, running with white water, a good two thousand
feet lower. The path was narrow, and he edged along carefully, facing the rock
for a dozen yards at a time, clinging to mere fingerholds. When he could
Page 184
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
glance down, he saw fringes of ice in some of the tiny coves, but the river
itself was unfrozen.
Twice he crossed small open areas scattered with trees, picked up the trail
again, and worked his way further along. Twice he went across acres of
scattered rock fallen from the peaks and cliffs above. Then through a
crevasse, along the bottom of which water trickled. Then ducking under a
projection of rock, he emerged on the cliff face once more. For a moment he
stood there, scanning the rim opposite and the sky; then he looked back to the
vantage point from which he had chosen his destination.
Nothing. Nobody in sight. He edged out on the trail, but found he could walk
easily. The edge was perilously close, but he had spent much of his boyhood in
such places.
When he came to the area he was seeking, just on the chance it would provide
what he wanted, he found himself almost cut off by the rushing stream that
provided the waterfall he had seen.
Searching, he found a place where he could cross, and soon he was standing in
a small hanging valley, its walls covered with stone pine and cedar, its basin
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]