m them it
was that we first learned for certain that it was only a burnt district,
and that there was part of the world which had escaped. So we pushed on,
until one morning, when daylight came, we saw in the distance a
hill-top on which the trees still stood with all their leaves
unconsumed. And how good and cool it looked!

We did not stop to sleep, but travelled on all through the day, going as
fast as we could along the rocky edges of the stream, which was now
almost wide enough to be a river, when suddenly we heard strange noises
ahead of us, and we knew what the noises were, and that they meant man
again. Men were coming towards us along the bank of the stream, so we
had to leave it and hurry into the woods. There, though there was no
shelter but the burnt tree-stumps, we were safe and all we had to do was
to squat perfectly still, and it was impossible even for us, at a little
distance, to distinguish each other from burnt tree-stumps. So we sat
and watched the men pass. There were five of them, each carrying a
bundle nearly as big as himself on his back, and they laughed and talked
noisily as they passed, without a suspicion that four bears were looking
at them from less than a hundred yards away.

As soon as they had passed, we went on again, and before evening we came
to places where the trees were only partly burned; here and there one
had escaped altogether. Then, close by the stream, a patch of willows
was as green and fresh as if there had been no fire; and at last we had
left the burnt country behind us. How good it was--the smell of the dry
pine-needles and the good, soft brown earth underneath, and the delight
of the taste of food that was once more free from smoke, and the glory
of that first roll in the green grass among the fresh, juicy undergrowth
by the water!

That next day we slept--really slept--for the first time since the night
in the beavers' pool.

CHAPTER V.

KAHWA.

We soon found that the country which we were now in was simply full of
animals. Of course it had had its share of inhabitants before the fire,
and, in addition, all those that fled before the flames had crowded into
it; besides which the beasts of prey from all directions were drawn
towards the same place by the abundance of food which was easy to get.
We heard terrible stories of sufferings and narrow escapes, and the
poor deer especially, when they had at last won to a place of safety
from the flames, were gen