Prince, too, had been on and trail nearly all winter, and had grown hungry for a blissful week of cabin life.
'Interpose the black , and force the king. No, that won't do. See, the next move-'
'Why advance the two squares? Bound to take it in , and with the out of the way-' 'But hold on! That leaves a hole, and-' 'No; it's protected. Go ahead! You'll see it works.' It was very interesting. Somebody knocked at the door a second time before Malemute Kid said, 'Come in.' The door swung open. Something staggered in.
Prince caught one square look and sprang to his feet. The horror in his eyes caused Malemute Kid to whirl about; and he, too, was startled, though he had seen bad things before. The thing blindly toward them. Prince edged away till he reached the nail from which hung his Smith & Wesson.
'My God! what is it?' he whispered to Malemute Kid.
'Don't know. Looks like a case of freezing and no grub,' replied the Kid, sliding away in the opposite direction. 'Watch out! It may be mad,' he warned, coming back from closing the door.
The thing advanced to the table. The bright flame of the slush lamp caught its eye. It was amused, and gave voice to eldritch cackles which mirth.
Then, suddenly, he—for it was a man—swayed back, with a to his skin trousers, and began to sing a chantey, such as men lift when they swing around the capstan circle and the sea snorts in their ears: Yan-kee ship come down de ri-ib-er, Pull! my boys! Pull! D'yeh want—to know de captain ru-uns her? Pull! my bully boys! Pull! Jon-a-than Jones ob South Caho-li-in-a, Pull! my bully. He broke off , tottered with a wolfish to the meat shelf, and before they could was tearing with his teeth at a of raw bacon. The struggle was fierce between him and Malemute Kid; but his mad strength left him as suddenly as it had come, and he weakly surrendered the spoil. Between them they got him upon a stool, where he with half his body across the table.
A small dose of whiskey strengthened him, so that he could dip a spoon into the sugar caddy which Malemute Kid placed before him. After his appetite had been somewhat , Prince, as he did so, passed him a mug of weak beef tea.
The creature's eyes were alight with a , which blazed and with every mouthful. There was very little skin to the face. The face, for that matter, sunken and , bore little to human
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