a wild-cat wakes, 'n' sniffs the air; 'n' then he yawns, 'n' purrs, 'n'
gits up 'n' walks with soft, padded feet ter look out on this silence.
He sniffs the air, 'n' purrs agin, then lays his ears down flat 'n'
sends a cry a-tearin' 'crost the space. I've seen 'im; I've heerd 'im;
I've laid back outen the wind 'n' watched 'im. He crouches 'n' waits.
Soft, but nervous-like, his claws dig in 'n' out the airth. Then an
answer comes, floatin' like a far-off cry of a child in pain. With ears
still tight ag'inst his head, he freezes closter ter the ground, lashin'
his stumpy tail from side ter side, 'n' purrin' deeper. Then he cries
agin, 'n' waits. Purty soon, from out that mist, the answer comes agin,
'n' like a flash he's gone. Has he done wrong?"

He paused, still looking at her; and she, too strangely fascinated to
turn away her eyes, stared back with parted lips.

"When the fu'st red bars of dawn flash up the sky," he went on, in the
same mysterious voice, "showin' folks down in the valley that a day has
come, a bird pulls his head out from his wing, 'n' blinks. I've seen
'em; I've laid 'n' watched 'em 'most a thousand times. He blinks agin,
'n' finds hisse'f a-lookin' squar in ter a pair of twinklin' eyes that
seems ter've been awake all night, jest a-watchin', with sly longin',
from 'tween two leaves. Maybe he'd seen those eyes afore, but not jest
like this. Maybe only yestidday he passed 'em by--or even drove 'em away
from food;--but somethin' strange is in 'em now, somethin' strange that
happened in the night. So he gives a jump at 'em, jest like a spring he
didn't know was in his legs had been let loose; 'n' she laughs 'n' flies
away, I've seen it happen 'most a thousand times. From tree ter tree,
from bush ter bush, he follers. He stops; she stops. But when he tries
agin, she flies. The next day they're buildin' a nest. Have they done
wrong?"

He paused, but she did not take her eyes from his face. She might not
have known his voice had ceased by the way she looked deep into his
pupils--deep into the realm of his fancies. When he did speak again his
words were scarcely audible:

"Whether I'm in this misty valley, or up in those scarred rocks 'n'
crags--wherever I happen ter be--'n' send my call out ter space, I
reckon I've got ter go when the answer comes floatin' back ter
me:--whenever a dawn brings two eyes that have been watchin' fer no one
else but me, I reckon I've got ter follow in jest that very way! W