s were so nearly closed that his vision was bad, and the fifth
time he stumbled he lost sight of Neewa entirely, and sent out a
protesting wail. Neewa stopped and began prodding with his nose under a
rotten log. When Miki came up Neewa was flat on his belly, licking up a
colony of big red vinegar ants as fast as he could catch them. Miki
studied the proceeding for some moments. It soon dawned upon him that
Neewa was eating something, but for the life of him he couldn't make
out what it was. Hungrily he nosed close to Neewa's foraging snout. He
licked with his tongue where Neewa licked, and he got only dirt. And
all the time Neewa was giving his jolly little grunts of satisfaction.
It was ten minutes before he hunted out the last ant and went on.

A little later they came to a small open space where the ground was
wet, and after sniffing about a bit, and focussing his one good eye
here and there, Neewa suddenly began digging. Very shortly he drew out
of the ground a white object about the size of a man's thumb and began
to crunch it ravenously between his jaws. Miki succeeded in capturing a
fair sized bit of it. Disappointment followed fast. The thing was like
wood; after rolling it in his mouth a few times he dropped it in
disgust, and Neewa finished the remnant of the root with a thankful
grunt.

They proceeded. For two heartbreaking hours Miki followed at Neewa's
heels, the void in his stomach increasing as the swelling in his body
diminished. His hunger was becoming a torture. Yet not a bit to eat
could he find, while Neewa at every few steps apparently discovered
something to devour. At the end of the two hours the cub's bill of fare
had grown to considerable proportions. It included, among other things,
half a dozen green and black beetles; numberless bugs, both hard and
soft; whole colonies of red and black ants; several white grubs dug out
of the heart of decaying logs; a handful of snails; a young frog; the
egg of a ground-plover that had failed to hatch; and, in the vegetable
line, the roots of two camas and one skunk cabbage. Now and then he
pulled down tender poplar shoots and nipped the ends off. Likewise he
nibbled spruce and balsam gum whenever he found it, and occasionally
added to his breakfast a bit of tender grass.

A number of these things Miki tried. He would have eaten the frog, but
Neewa was ahead of him there. The spruce and balsam gum clogged up his
teeth and almost made him vomit because of it