ngs and began to fly. And all the time he pointed with his bill
straight ahead and with his feet straight behind, as if to say, "Follow
me; this is the way home."

"I just believe that _is_ the way home!" said Little White Fox. "His
mother had her nest right down on our tundra last summer, and I believe
he is going there right now!" So he picked up his feet lively and ran
along behind Widgeon Junior but he couldn't near keep up! It wasn't any
time at all before he was so far behind that he couldn't see Widgeon
Junior at all! And before long he was just as badly lost as before. But
he trotted on cheerfully, "For," he said to himself, "I'll see some one
else I know very soon."

And sure enough, all of a sudden there was a clap, clap of wings, and
some one that looked just like Who-Who, the big white owl, went soaring
over his head. But when Little White Fox shouted "Hello" in his very
best voice, the great white owl never answered a word, but went flapping
on till he lit on the top of a whalebone which one of Omnok's relatives
had put up to mark a grave.

"Well," said Little White Fox to himself, "I guess that isn't Who-Who,
but anyway, it is one of his cousins, and he is very wise. All the Owl
folks are. He will tell me the way home."

So he hurried over to the foot of the whalebone and said, "Please, Mr.
White Owl, won't you tell me the way home?"

The big white owl never answered a word, but he winked his eye very
cunningly, as much as to say, "Look, I'll show you." Then he flapped his
great, white wings, and away he flew, and away after him, as fast as
ever he could trot, came Little White Fox, never once looking this way
or that to see where he was going, so proud was he to be able almost to
keep up with this new friend. He ran and ran and ran until he was out of
breath, when he saw the big, white owl spread his wings out straight and
light on a whalebone sticking right out of the ground and looking for
all the world like the one he had flown away from just a little while
before. Little White Fox ran up to the whalebone and looked up at the
big white owl.

The big white owl closed one eye and winked very knowingly as if to say,
"Am I not a very wise old owl?"

Little White Fox looked all around at the tundra and the hills, and sure
enough, that was the very same whalebone, sticking up out of the ground!
The big white owl had led him a long way, all around in a circle! You
may be sure Little White Fox was disg