sed himself close to the ground!--a great dog-fox went
slinking to windward, spilling the musk of his murderous self into the
telltale air.

For some time after the fox had disappeared, the cub crouched where he
was, too terrified to stir. Then, bit by bit, his courage came to him
again, and he went cautiously on his way.

He had just reached the end of the thickets, where the forest proper
began, and was plucking up heart to enter the shade of the giant trees,
when a new terror presented itself, and he crouched low as before. But
this time it was no fox, lynx, or other four-footed enemy that
threatened him. It was a creature that stood on two hind feet, with its
fore-paws by its side, and an eagle feather in its hair.

The cub narrowed his eyes till they were as good as shut, with only the
tiniest slit between their lids through which it could see the strange
adornments the creature wore on its feet. He hoped, if he lay as
motionless as a stone, that the creature would not notice him. When
hunting was afoot, absolute stillness would often serve to hide you as
effectually as a cover of leaves. In his utter ignorance of the world,
he could have no idea of an Indian's piercing sight.

There was a swift movement, noiseless as the swoop of an owl's wing, and
before he could open his eyes, he felt himself seized by the back of the
neck and swung into the air.

When the mother-wolf reached the den for the sixth and last time, her
fine sense told her in an instant that something was wrong. She entered
the den with misgiving. As she feared, it was empty. Her nose found the
trail immediately; but it was growing a little stale, for the sun was
high now, and it had been made in the dawn dew. Nevertheless, the
mother-passion within her sharpened the keenness of her scent, and off
she went at a swift trot. Every time the cub had stopped, she sniffed
eagerly, as if to drink his very body through her nose. When she took up
the fainter trail of his movement, an uneasy light glittered in her
eyes. Woe to the creature, whatever it was, which had dared to harm him,
if she should find a second trail!

Where the maze of the thickets ended and the forest began she stopped
dead, her hair bristling, her eyes alight. Here was the spot of the
cub's capture! Here was the second trail! As she sniffed, and learnt the
record told in smell, her anger rose. But with the anger went misgiving,
and the uneasiness of fear; for here she recognized ag