anything else. A score of times he had
crouched in this same place and waited for his chance. But the marten
is larger and stronger every way than the weasel, and, though shyer,
almost as savage in a fight. And Kagax was afraid.

But to-night Kagax was in a more vicious mood than ever before; and a
weasel's temper is always the most vicious thing in the woods. He
stole forward at last and put his nose to the foot of the leaning
tree. Two fresh trails went out; none came back. Kagax followed them
far enough to be sure that both martens were away hunting; then he
turned and ran like a flash up the incline and into the den.

In a moment he came out, licking his chops greedily. Inside, the young
martens lay just as they had been left by the mother; only they began
to grow very cold. Kagax ran to the great spruce, along a branch into
another tree; then to the ground by a dizzy jump. There he ran swiftly
for a good half hour in a long diagonal down towards the lake,
crisscrossing his trail here and there as he ran.

Once more his night's hunting began, with greater zeal than before. He
was hungry now; his nose grew keen as a brier for every trail. A faint
smell stopped him, so faint that the keenest-nosed dog or fox would
have passed without turning, the smell of a brooding partridge on her
eggs. There she was, among the roots of a pine, sitting close and
blending perfectly with the roots and the brown needles. Kagax moved
like a shadow; his nose found the bird; before she could spring he was
on her back, and his teeth had done their evil work. Once more he
tasted the fresh brains with keen relish. He broke all the eggs, so
that none else might profit by his hunting, and went on again.

On some moist ground, under a hemlock, he came upon the fresh trail of
a wandering hare--no simple, unsuspecting mother, coming back to her
babies, but a big, strong, suspicious fellow, who knew how to make a
run for his life. Kagax was still fresh and eager; here was game that
would stretch his muscles. The red lust of killing flamed into his
eyes as he jumped away on the trail.

Soon, by the long distances between tracks, he knew that the hare was
startled. The scent was fresher now, so fresh that he could follow it
in the air, without putting his nose to the ground.

Suddenly a great commotion sounded among the bushes just ahead, where
a moment before all was still. The hare had been lying there, watching
his back track to see what wa