d strewn
with rocky hillocks. Here he could not see where he was going and it
was almost dark in the hollows, but he had found that chance sometimes
favours the hunter as much as careful stalking. Stopping for breath a
moment, half way up a steep ascent, he started, for a shadowy object
unexpectedly appeared upon the summit. It was barely distinguishable
against the background of trees, but he saw the broad-tined horns in an
opening and knew it for a caribou.

There was no time to lose, since the swift creature would take flight
in an instant, and almost as he caught sight of it the rifle went up to
his shoulder. For a moment the foresight wavered across the indistinct
form, and then his numbed hands grew steady, and, trusting that nothing
would check the frost-clogged action, he pressed the trigger. He felt
the jar of the butt, a little smoke blew in his eyes, and he could make
out nothing on the crest of the ridge. It, however, seemed impossible
that he had missed and next moment he heard a heavy floundering in the
snow among the rocks above. He went up the slope at a savage run and
plunged down a precipitous hollow, on the farther side of which a
half-seen object was moving through the gloom of the trees. Stopping a
moment, he threw up the rifle and after the thin red flash the deer
staggered and collapsed.

Running on in desperate haste, he fell upon it with his hunting knife;
and then stopped, feeling strangely limp and breathless, with the long
blade dripping in his hand. Now the caribou lay dead before him, the
strain of the last few minutes made itself felt. Surprised when
exhausted and weak from want of food by an opportunity he had not
looked for, he had forced upon himself sufficient steadiness to shoot.
It had cost him an effort; the short fierce chase had tried him hard,
and now the reaction had set in. For all that, he was conscious of a
savage, exultant excitement. Here was food, and food meant life.

His first impulse was to light a fire and feast, but as he grew calmer
he began to think. He was a long way from camp and feared that if he
rested he could not force himself to resume the march. Besides, there
were the wolves to reckon with, and he could not escape if they
followed him in the dark. Prudence suggested that he should cut off as
much meat as possible, and after placing it out of reach in a tree set
off for camp at his best speed without taking any of the raw flesh to
scent the