g at us. Oh, he hates us
because he hates everything except his own kind and very often he hates
that. He wants our food because he's hungry--he's always hungry--and he
would try to eat us too if he were not so much afraid of us."

"Tayoga, one needs only a single glance to tell that this animal you're
talking about is a wolf."

"It is so, Dagaeoga. A very hungry and a very angry wolf. He is cunning,
but he does not know everything. He thinks we do not see him, that we do
not know he is there and that maybe, after awhile, when we go to sleep,
he can slip up and steal our food, or perhaps he can bring many of his
brothers, and they can eat us before we awake. Now, I will tell him in a
language he can understand that it's time for him to go away."

He picked up a heavy stick and threw it with all his might into the
bushes on their right. It sped straighter to the target than he had
hoped, as there was a thud, a snarling yelp, and then the swift pad of
flying feet. Tayoga lay back and laughed.

"The Spirit of Jest guided my hand," he said, "and the stick struck him
upon the nose. He will run far and his wrath and fear will grow as he
runs. Then he will lie down again in some thicket, and he will not dare
to come back. Now, we will wait a little."

"Anything more looking at us?" asked Robert after awhile.

"Yes, we have a new visitor," replied Tayoga in a low tone. "Speak only
in a whisper and do not move, because the animal that is looking at us
has no malice in its heart, and does not wish us harm. It has come very
softly and, while its eyes are larger, they are mild and have only
curiosity."

"A deer, I should say, Tayoga."

"Yes, a deer, Lennox, a very beautiful deer. It has been drawn by the
fire, and having come as near as it dares it stands there, shivering a
little, but wondering and admiring."

"We won't trouble it, Tayoga. We'll need the meat of a deer before long,
but we'll spare our guest of tonight."

"He is staring very straight at us," said Tayoga, "but something has
stirred in the brushwood--perhaps it's another wolf--and now he has
gone."

"We seem to be an attraction," said Willet, "and so I suppose we'd
better give 'em as good a look as we can."

He cast a great quantity of the dry wood on the fire, and it blazed up
gayly, throwing the red glow in a wide circle, and lighting up the
pleasant glade. The figures of the three, as they leaned in luxurious
attitudes, were outlined clearly and sha