orth once more to
their feast.

And here is where Makoki, the old Cree runner, would have emphasized
the presence of the Beneficent Spirit. For day followed day, and night
followed night, and Ahtik's flesh and blood put into Neewa and Miki a
strength and growth that developed marvellously. By the fourth day
Neewa had become so fat and sleek that he was half again as big as on
the day he fell out of the canoe. Miki had begun to fill out. His ribs
could no longer be counted from a distance. His chest was broadening
and his legs were losing some of their angular clumsiness. Practice on
Ahtik's bones had strengthened his jaws. With his development he felt
less and less the old puppyish desire to play--more and more the
restlessness of the hunter. The fourth night he heard again the wailing
hunt-cry of the wolves, and it held a wild and thrilling note for him.

With Neewa, fat and good humour and contentment were all synonymous. As
long as the meat held out there was no very great temptation for him
beyond the dip and the slope. Two or three times a day he went down to
the creek; and every morning and afternoon--especially about sunset--he
had his fun rolling downhill. In addition to this he began taking his
afternoon naps in the crotch of a small sapling. As Miki could see
neither sense nor sport in tobogganing, and as he could not climb a
tree, he began to spend more and more time in venturing up and down the
foot of the ridge. He wanted Neewa to go with him on these expeditions.
He never set out until he had entreated Neewa to come down out of his
tree, or until he had made an effort to coax him away from the single
trail he had made to the creek and back. Neewa's obstinacy would never
have brought about any real unpleasantness between them. Miki thought
too much of him for that; and if it had come to a final test, and Neewa
had thought that Miki would not return, he would undoubtedly have
followed him.

It was another and a more potent thing than an ordinary quarrel that
placed the first great barrier between them. Now it happened that Miki
was of the breed which preferred its meat fresh, while Neewa liked his
"well hung." And from the fourth day onward, what was left of Ahtik's
carcass was ripening. On the fifth day Miki found the flesh difficult
to eat; on the sixth, impossible. To Neewa it became increasingly
delectable as the flavour grew and the perfume thickened. On the sixth
day, in sheer delight, he rolled in