diff options
Diffstat (limited to '24489.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 24489.txt | 2278 |
1 files changed, 2278 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/24489.txt b/24489.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2720336 --- /dev/null +++ b/24489.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2278 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends, by Roy J. Snell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends + +Author: Roy J. Snell + +Illustrator: George F. Kerr + +Release Date: February 2, 2008 [EBook #24489] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WHITE FOX *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +LITTLE WHITE FOX AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS + + + + +[Illustration: "Such ugly, bent noses I never saw before in all my life, +either." FRONTISPIECE. _See Page 21_] + + + + + LITTLE WHITE FOX + AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS + + + BY + + ROY J. SNELL + + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + GEORGE F. KERR + + + [Device] + + + BOSTON + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + 1916 + + + + + _Copyright, 1916_, + BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. + _All rights reserved_ + + Published, September, 1916 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. LITTLE WHITE FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY 1 + + II. LITTLE MISS PTARMIGAN FOOLS HIM 9 + + III. HE GETS HIS HEAD THUMPED 19 + + IV. WHEN LITTLE FOXES QUARREL 27 + + V. LITTLE WHITE FOX MEETS BARRED SEAL 34 + + VI. LITTLE WHITE FOX HELPS HIMSELF 41 + + VII. LITTLE WHITE BEAR AND LITTLE BLACK BEAR 48 + + VIII. TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR 54 + + IX. LITTLE BLACK BEAR'S DISCOVERY 61 + + X. FUN FOR TWO LITTLE BEARS 67 + + XI. BIG WHITE BEAR MEETS HUSKIE 74 + + XII. LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES HUNTING 83 + + XIII. BIG WHITE BEAR'S KITCHEN 89 + + XIV. BIG WHITE BEAR FINDS LITTLE WHITE FOX 95 + + XV. LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES FISHING 101 + + XVI. LITTLE BROWN SEAL'S NARROW ESCAPE 108 + + XVII. A STRANGE JOURNEY 115 + + XVIII. LITTLE WHITE FOX COMES HOME 122 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + "Such ugly, bent noses I never saw before in all + my life, either." _Frontispiece_ + + "Now," he said, when he had finished fishing, "we + will have dinner." PAGE 38 + + Little White Bear knew right away what he had done. " 52 + + "I am going to make your teeth chatter so you can't + call your master." " 81 + + Big White Bear popped right up out of the ocean! " 119 + + She was going back to his own dear beach. " 128 + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENT + + +Six of the Little White Fox Stories appeared serially in the +_Continent_, to whose publishers my thanks are due for permission to +publish them in book form. + + + + +LITTLE WHITE FOX AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +LITTLE WHITE FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY + + +Little White Fox was very, very much worried, for something dreadful had +happened, something he couldn't account for at all: Tdariuk, the +reindeer, was dead! + +Tdariuk was not related to Little White Fox. And he wasn't a bit in the +world like him. He was many times bigger than Little White Fox would +ever be, and he was quite different from him in every way. But all the +same, Little White Fox loved him. If you had asked him why he loved the +big reindeer, he would probably have told you that, for one thing, +Tdariuk, in spite of his huge body, was very gentle and kind. None of +the little animals of the tundra was afraid of him. Little Mrs. +Ptarmigan calmly hunted for dry blueberries and weed seed right beside +him while he cropped his moss. And when he drew close to the shore by +the sea, Little Brown Seal never thought of such a thing as slipping off +his rock and hiding in the water. Even if there were no other reason, +wouldn't Tdariuk's gentleness alone make Little White Fox love him? + +Now when Little White Fox discovered that his big, kind friend was dead, +he ran home as fast as his legs could carry him to tell his mother the +sad news. + +"Mother! Mother!" he called tumbling into his home under the great rock, +"Tdariuk is dead!" + +"Tdariuk dead!" cried Madam White Fox. "Who could have been mean enough +to kill him?" + +"I don't know who killed him, but he's dead, I know that," said Little +White Fox, the tears running down his cheeks. + +"It must have been Old Man Gray Wolf, or Omnok, the hunter," said Madam +White Fox, wiping her eyes with her paw. "For my part, I could easily +wish them both dead themselves. None of us is safe as long as they are +about. But who told you Tdariuk was dead?" + +"No one told me. I found it out for myself," boasted Little White Fox +proudly, quite forgetting his sorrow in thinking what a wise young chap +he was. + +"_You_ found it out!" exclaimed his mother. "Pray, tell me how?" + +"Why, you see," explained Little White Fox, with an air of deep mystery, +"I was down on the tundra, at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain, looking +all around to see what I could see. And all of a sudden I came right on +one of Tdariuk's great, fine antlers lying there in the snow. Now, what +do you think of that? And when I went on a little farther, there was the +other one! And then I knew, of course, that Tdariuk was dead." + +When Madam White Fox heard that, she smiled a little and stopped wiping +her eyes. But all she said was: "Keep your eyes wide open, my son, and +one of these days you will see something very strange." + +Little White Fox thought that a queer way to answer him. Why, she hadn't +even told him he was smart to discover about Tdariuk. + +"What do you mean, mother? What will I see? Tell me what I will see! +_Please_ tell me what I will see!" teased Little White Fox. + +But not another word would Madam Fox tell him. Little White Fox +wondered why she dried her tears for Tdariuk so quickly, but he +couldn't find that out, either. + +And so every day and all day, Little White Fox went peering curiously +about everywhere, just as his mother had told him to do, trying to find +the something that was "very strange." He looked all around among the +sand dunes by the ocean, but there was nothing strange there. He went in +and out among the big rocks at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain and came +near falling into one of Omnok's cruel traps, but there was nothing +strange there. He went here and there, and back and forth, all over the +tundra, but there was nothing strange there. + +Hunt as he would, Little White Fox could find nothing strange anywhere. +He had grown quite discouraged, when one day, when he was searching +down among the scrub willows by the river, his ear caught a familiar +sound, "Ark! Ark! Ark!" + +Little White Fox couldn't believe his ears. + +"Why, that's queer!" he exclaimed. "It sounds just like Tdariuk, the +reindeer. But it can't be Tdariuk. How could it be Tdariuk, when +Tdariuk's dead?" + +Then he heard it again, much louder this time and quite close: "Ark! +Ark! Ark!" + +Little White Fox, for once in his life, was too astonished to say a +word. He just held his breath and waited. And in just another moment out +walked Tdariuk, as big and gentle as ever, and very much alive indeed. +And--on his head he wore a brand new pair of antlers, bigger than the +others and all covered with velvet! My! how handsome those antlers +were! + +Little White Fox didn't stop to ask a single question. He just gave +Tdariuk one long look and then whirled around and ran home as fast as he +could travel. + +He burst breathlessly into the cave and started to tell his mother that +Tdariuk wasn't dead. But it wasn't news to her; she had known it all the +time. Little White Fox, however, had found out the something very +strange that she had hoped he would find, and had done it all by +himself. Therefore Madam Fox was very happy as she curled down on the +floor for her afternoon nap. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LITTLE MISS PTARMIGAN FOOLS HIM + + +When Little White Fox saw that he had really found out about Tdariuk, +the reindeer, all by himself, he became very wise. The next time one of +his friends disappeared from the tundra, he didn't say a word about it +to his mother, but went searching, searching, everywhere, every day. + +This time it was Little Miss Ptarmigan who had disappeared. Probably you +don't know Miss Ptarmigan, for she lives only in cold lands where there +is plenty of snow. But she is a very interesting young person. She is a +bit larger than Madam Partridge and not quite so large as Madam Prairie +Hen. And a very dainty little lady she is, too, for all winter--and +that's just the time Little White Fox had known her--she had worn a +perfectly white gown, quite as white as the coat he wore himself. And if +she hadn't worn pink shoes and stockings, he probably would never have +been able to find her in the snow at all. + +Now, if Little White Fox had been as old as his mother, he would have +been trying all the time to catch Little Miss Ptarmigan and carry her +off to his home for mincemeat. That is what grown-up foxes do to the +Ptarmigan folks when they get a chance. But Little White Fox was a very +small chap, and didn't give much thought to mincemeat. All he thought +about was having a good time, so almost every day he hunted up Miss +Ptarmigan, and they had a grand game of hide and seek. It was always an +exciting game, too, on account of Miss Ptarmigan's white dress, and the +only way Little White Fox could find her was by watching for her pink +shoes and stockings as she hid away in a snow bank. And when she sat on +her feet, he could almost never find her at all. + +"You just wait, Miss," cried Little White Fox one day. "When summer +comes, I'll get you!" + +"You will, will you!" replied Miss Ptarmigan. "How will you do it?" + +"Why, in the summer the snow will be gone, and the ground will be all +brown. Then I will be able to find you anywhere!" Little White Fox gave +a hop, skip and jump that ended in a somersault, so tickled was he with +his own smartness. + +"Oh, indeed!" said Miss Ptarmigan, looking very wise and mysterious. + +That was all she said, but Little White Fox wasn't fussed. He hadn't +lain curled up on the grass mat in his home thinking about it night +after night for nothing. + +One day when the snow was nearly all gone, Little Miss Ptarmigan +suddenly disappeared. Little White Fox didn't believe she was dead. He +remembered how he had been fooled by Tdariuk, and he remembered, too, +how she had looked when he talked about catching her. Also, he +remembered how he had found out the truth about Tdariuk. Therefore, +being a wise youngster, as I have said, he didn't say a word about it +to his mother. He just went quietly about, looking, looking everywhere +for Miss Ptarmigan. + +In the meantime, Miss Ptarmigan had been making trouble for herself. +Silly old Mrs. White Owl had been telling her all winter how very well +white suited her complexion. And now summer had come, and Mother +Ptarmigan had forbidden her to go outdoors at all till her new brown +summer suit was finished. Miss Ptarmigan hated indoors, and she couldn't +understand what difference her dress made, anyway. But she never thought +of disobeying till one fine, warm day when her mother was away from +home, Little Miss Ptarmigan grew very lonesome. + +"I want to go out in the sunshine," she kept saying to herself. "There +can't be a bit of harm in it. I am sure I would see Old Mrs. White Owl, +and she would say something nice about my white dress." + +Down at the foot of the mountain was some one else, a some one who +didn't think much about the sunshine and the flowers. It was Master +Black Fox. He was thinking of his sausage grinder. It hadn't been used +much of late, and he was afraid it might get lazy. "A plump chub of a +Ptarmigan would grind nicely," he said to himself, smacking his lips, +"but they all wear brown dresses these days, and one cannot tell them +from the weeds and grass." + +Just then his eyes opened wide. "Can I believe it?" he whispered. "Is +that one of them going down the mountain this minute--and with a white +dress on? Yes, sir, it is!" + +Then Mr. Fox looked all about him very sharply, this way and that, for +his own coat was black as coal, and could be seen quite well against the +brown grass when he moved. But when he lay quite still, you couldn't +tell him from a stone. He was not afraid that Little Miss Ptarmigan +would see him. He knew where she was, and could hide behind rocks until +he came close to her. + +After Mr. Fox had looked all about him very sharply, this way and that, +he began to creep around this rock and that one, all the time drawing +closer to innocent, foolish Little Miss Ptarmigan, whose white dress +showed plain as day against the brown earth. And presently he was right +behind a big rock she must pass in just another minute. And then he was +so close that it seemed almost as if she could hear him breathe. + +But she didn't. She just walked along, thinking about the fine things +Madam White Owl had said to her, till zing! something sprang at her. She +gave a frightened scream and flew to one side, but she was too late. +Something sharp and cruel closed down on the toe of her pink shoes. It +was the teeth of Mr. Black Fox's sausage grinder. But he closed them +down a little too hard, for it cut the toe right off the pink shoe, and +the tips of Little Miss Ptarmigan's pink toes besides, and away she +flew, screaming with pain, toward a white snow bank in the valley. +There each little hurt toe left a red spot on the white snow, and my, +how they did ache! + +One day quite a while later, when Little White Fox was over among the +brown rocks at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain, he heard a scratch, +scratch! among the dry grasses behind him. He turned around, and there +stood a little stranger dressed all in brown. She looked wonderfully +like Miss Ptarmigan. She was just about the same size, and her shoes and +stockings were just the same shade of pink. + +"Hello, Little White Fox!" she cried. "I thought you said you could find +me when summer came and the ground was all brown. You have been looking +for me a whole week, and I have been out here all the time. You saw me +yesterday, but you didn't know me, because I had put on my summer +clothes. Oh, Little White Fox, you are a very wise fellow! A very wise +fellow, indeed!" + +It was Miss Ptarmigan. She had changed her white gown for a brown one! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HE GETS HIS HEAD THUMPED + + +"Who put all those rocks there, I wonder?" mused Little White Fox, +scratching his head and looking puzzled. "They are white and all the +same size. How queer!" + +Little White Fox had climbed almost to the top of Cape Prince of Wales +Mountain. He had crept around among the rocks until he was way out on a +ledge looking out over the great blue sea. And here he had found these +strange rocks, all gathered in one little pile by themselves. As he +looked around, he presently saw more piles here and there, and all just +the same size. "Now, what do you think of that!" he said to himself, +scratching his head again, and more puzzled than ever. + +He was still rubbing his head thoughtfully, when a sound behind him made +him look around, and his bright eyes fell on a group of the strangest +little people any small fox ever came across. There were seven of them. +They all stood in a row, and each was as straight up and down as the big +whalebone over the grave Omnok, the hunter, had made for his father. +Little White Fox had seen some of these strange folks when he was with +his mother a few days before. She had told him that they belonged to the +Sea Parrot family. "There is a very large family of them," she had said. +"They live almost anywhere on the ocean most of the year, but they make +Alaska their summer home." + +These seven little black sea parrots all stood up stiffly in a row, and +not one word did they say, either to Little White Fox or to one another. +But Little White Fox felt that they were looking at him, and he didn't +like it a bit. "What business is it of theirs if I walk around here and +see what I can see?" he thought to himself. "They are very ugly little +people, anyway. Look at their faces! They are nearly all nose! And such +ugly, bent noses I never saw before in all my life, either!" + +Just then a strange, pleasing smell came to Little White Fox's quivering +nostrils. Could it come from those strange, round rocks? He would see. +He walked up to one of the piles, and, putting his nose down close, gave +a big, long sniff. Yes, sir, that's just where it did come from! "How +queer!" thought he. "I never saw such rocks before. Guess I'll push one +of them around and see what will happen." At that, he stretched out one +of his front paws, and began to roll one of the rocks about. Bing! +something struck him an awful blow right on the top of his head. + +"Ouch! What was that!" cried Little White Fox, peering about and rubbing +his head. + +The seven strangers were standing still stiff in a straight row. Not a +word did they say, but they had moved quite a bit closer to Little White +Fox. + +"I wonder," said Little White Fox. Then he began to roll the rock again. +Bing! something struck his head, harder than before. Little White Fox +whirled about quickly this time. One of the strangers was straightening +up. + +"What has she been doing?" he said to himself. "I shouldn't wonder if +she had been hitting me with her ugly face. I have a great mind to bite +her! What business is it of hers if I come up here and roll these little +stones around? Don't all the stones in the world belong to anybody who +wants them?" + +He gave the rock a vigorous push this time. It rolled over a small +ledge, gave a little squash! and broke in two in the middle. Little +White Fox could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the inside of the +stone spread out on the ground, all yellow and white! And _Ah-ne-ca!_ +how strong it smelled! But the smell was the most delicious that Little +White Fox had ever sniffed. + +"I'll just taste some of that good smelling stuff," said Little White +Fox happily, and was about to poke his small nose right into it, when +ouch! something hit him a terrible whack right on the top of his head. +My, how it hurt! It made his head ache so he could hardly think +straight. And this time he knew who had done it. It was one of those +ugly Parrot people. + +"Now, I _will_ bite her!" cried Little White Fox, and straight at that +stiff row he dashed. And then at last the strangers found their +tongues. Such a screaming and chattering Little White Fox had never +heard before. But he found he couldn't bite them, after all, for every +time he jumped at one of them, she leaped right over his head and hit +him with her ugly face. So by and by Little White Fox was glad to run +away home and leave the strange rocks to the ugly little people who were +so savage and so bold. + +Mother White Fox laughed and laughed when she heard of her son's strange +adventure. + +"But, mother," said Little White Fox, looking very much puzzled, "What +did they care about those old rocks?" + +"Care, child!" cried his mother, holding her sides, "those things were +not rocks; they were their eggs. And the ledge you were on was their +home. By and by those eggs will turn into little Sea Parrots, and when +their wings and feet are strong, the babies will go swimming and flying +out over the shining sea." + +Little White Fox was far too young to understand all this, but he could +understand how his head had been thumped. So you may be sure it was a +long, long time before he went back to that cliff. When he did so, the +Sea Parrots were all gone, and so were the strange things he had thought +were rocks. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WHEN LITTLE FOXES QUARREL + + +There apparently were more little Foxes together on the tundra that +afternoon than there ever had been before. Little White Fox had just +come around a bunch of muckluck grass and spied them, all very much +interested in something they had found. + +"Ha! Ha!" chuckled Little White Fox to himself. "They'll get their heads +pecked good and hard pretty soon!" For those little Foxes there on the +tundra had found some of those same round objects that Little White Fox +had thought were stones and later learned were eggs. The only +difference was that these were much larger and were out on the tundra +near one of the salt ponds. + +The young Foxes had been playing happily together when they found the +eggs. There were the Silver Fox twins, the Black Fox triplets, Reynard +Red Fox, Violet Blue Fox, and Baby Cross Fox. Rather a large gathering +of Foxes, I admit, but there are more of the Fox family in Alaska than +in any other part of the world. + +Little White Fox slipped behind the muckluck grass and listened. His +relatives were quarrelling over who should have the extra egg. You see +here were eight little Foxes and nine eggs, so the question was who +should take the extra egg? + +"We should have the egg," said the Silver Fox twins boastfully, "because +we belong to the most aristocratic branch of the family. Our mother's +coat alone is worth three hundred dollars." + +"You have no more right to hold up your heads than we have," one of the +Black Fox triplets answered him. "Our mother's coat is worth quite as +much as any Silver Fox's that ever lived." + +"Fie! Fie! you are both wrong," reproved Reynard Red Fox. "The best +known should always be considered first. Now my father is known all over +the world. Whole books have been written about our family." + +"I should have it, because I am a baby," wailed Baby Cross Fox. + +"I'd like to see any of you get it," cried Violet Blue Fox, seizing the +egg and attempting to carry it away. But the greedy miss, while trying +to carry it, let go of the one she already had, so she was not a whit +ahead. + +The fact of the matter was that one of those eggs was all any little Fox +could carry, and it certainly was all he could possibly eat. But of +course not one of them had thought about that. + +Now Little White Fox had lain hid behind the muckluck grass nearly +splitting himself with laughter at the thought of the whacking their +heads were going to get after awhile. But when he had waited a long time +and no one had come to molest his cousins, he began to want one of those +eggs for himself. It happened that this was the nest of Old Mrs. Long +Neck, the widgeon duck. And Omnok, the hunter, had captured her two days +before, so she would never come back to protect her eggs. + +Little White Fox stood it as long as he could, and then he came marching +boldly out from his hiding place. + +"If you don't mind," he said very importantly, "I'll take the extra egg, +and that will settle the difficulty." + +But that only started the discussion going faster than ever. "You +didn't!" "I did!" "You can't!" "I can!" "I will!" "You won't!" and so on +and so on they went. Probably they would be quarrelling yet, if Little +White Fox had not caught sight of a very tall person coming through the +muckluck grass. It was the dreadful Omnok, the hunter! + +"Look out!" he cried. + +But he was too late. Bang! went the hunter's terrible gun, and a hot +bullet whizzed by his ear. The Foxes scattered in every direction, +Little White Fox making for his home as fast as his legs would carry +him. And his heart beat so fast that even when he had been for half an +hour safe under the big flat rock, his breath still came pantingly. + +"_Ah-ne-ca!_" cried Omnok, out on the tundra. "What did I shoot at them +for? Their coats are not worth a penny till old winter gets at them and +makes them thick and strong. My, but they were a fine bunch! If I can +catch half of them next winter, I can buy a whole herd of reindeer and +become a reindeer man. But what have we here? Ho-ho! So this is what +they were making such a fuss about! Old Long Neck's nest! Well, I guess +nine good eggs will be fine eating for my wife and the children." + +With that Omnok put the eggs in his hunting sack and went stalking +away. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +LITTLE WHITE FOX MEETS BARRED SEAL + + +Little White Fox was running all over the ice that covered the ocean. It +was spring, and the sun was shining its best all the time, but there was +plenty of ice left. When there is two miles of ice out on the sand bar, +and it is all six feet thick, you may easily guess it takes the sun a +long time to loosen it up. + +Well, Little White Fox was skipping about here and there to see what he +could see, and was not paying much attention where he was going when, +_Ah-ne-ca!_ down he went! Down! Down! and splash! right into the icy +water! My! he was frightened! How was he ever to get out of that place? +Six feet of ice wall, straight as the sides of a house, was all about +him. But what was this he saw on one side. It seemed to be a sort of +little shelf. And, yes sir! as Little White Fox swam over to that side +and began to climb up, his feet caught on a ledge, and before he knew it +he was sitting in as neat a little room as you ever saw, and all made +out of ice! walls, floor, and ceiling! + +"Now I wonder who lives here," said Little White Fox to himself. +"Whoever it is, I suppose I shall have a great quarrel with him when he +comes home." + +But no one came, and very soon his coat was quite dry and he found +himself very comfortable in this strange little ice palace. But how was +he ever to get out and go back to his mother and friends? + +Just when he was thinking about that, he saw the water get black all at +once, and in another moment he was looking right into the face of a +stranger who had popped up out of the water, as if by magic. + +"Who are you?" asked Little White Fox, shaking all over with fright. + +"I have many names." The stranger grinned so broadly Little White Fox +quite lost his fear at once. "Some call me Barred Seal," the stranger +continued, "and some call me Ring Seal. Others call me Rainbow Seal, and +still others call me Northern Lights. You may call me what you like. +But say, there's room for us both up there, isn't there? I am tired!" + +"But," said Little White Fox, when they were both comfortably seated, +"you look very much like Little Brown Seal." + +"Yes," said the other, "he is my cousin, so is Spotted Seal and Oogrook, +the big seal, and Little Light Brown Seal, and goodness knows how many +more! We are a large family. I am told that we have cousins living down +in the Aleutian Islands who are very aristocratic indeed. They go by the +name of Hair Seal. Why, their coats, I am told, are so valuable that +Omnok, the hunter, would risk his life to get one of them! For my part, +I prefer this simple coat which no man would steal, unless he needed it +to make a pair of boots. But you must be hungry, and so am I. Just wait +a minute." + +Master Barred Seal disappeared in the water, reappearing from time to +time with a fish in his mouth. + +"Now," he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will have dinner." +Before Little White Fox was spread the most tempting array of fish he +had ever seen. + +"This is the finest home in the world," said Barred Seal proudly. "Your +dinner comes right to your front door. Look!" + +Little White Fox looked, and sure enough, there in the water were plenty +more fish swimming round and round. + +"But what if Omnok, the hunter, should find us here?" Little White Fox +shivered suddenly. + +[Illustration: "Now," he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will +have dinner." _Page 38_] + +"What if he should?" repeated the other. "There are four feet of solid +ice between us and the top. He will not come down in the water to get +us, so what could he do?" + +"But very soon, Mother tells me," said Little White Fox, "the ice will +all melt, or the wind will blow it out to sea." + +"Oh, well, in that case," replied Barred Seal, smiling, "there is still +the wild, free ocean to live in as always." + +"Not for me!" said Little White Fox, turning white in the face and +losing his appetite all at once. "How can I get out of here?" + +"You don't want to go so soon," answered Barred Seal. "Stay with me +awhile. I rather like you. And, as you see, we have plenty of good fish +to eat." + +"I thank you," said Little White Fox very politely, "but I'd very much +rather go back home." And at that moment he had a frightful vision of +all that ice going out, out to sea. + +"Very well," said Barred Seal, "I'll go in the water and stand on my +tail; then you can climb out on my back. Only don't dig in your toe +nails." + +In another moment Little White Fox was out in the bright sunshine, and +you may be very sure he was glad to be there. "I guess the world was +made about right," he said to himself. "And I am glad the hills, the +tundra, and my own little home are just as they are, and I am glad I am +Little White Fox." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +LITTLE WHITE FOX HELPS HIMSELF + + +Little White Fox was hungry again, and it was the hard, cold, winter +time, when all of the little folks of the tundra have to hunt far and +wide for food. He had asked Tdariuk, the reindeer, to invite him out to +dinner. Tdariuk was very nice about it, but said he had only some +lichens, which men call reindeer moss, to eat. When Little White Fox +tasted them, he said they were not one bit good. The truth is they are +very bitter, and taste good only to Reindeer and Caribou folks. + +So Little White Fox went scratching away over the tundra and hillsides +to see what he could find. He was half way up the side of Cape Prince of +Wales Mountain when he came on the tracks of a stranger. "He must have +come down from the higher mountains," said Little White Fox to himself. +"I wonder who he is. I don't believe he is any bigger than I am, for his +tracks are very close together." + +He followed the tracks, very curious to know who this newcomer might be. +Pretty soon he came to a tunnel right into the snow. There were several +tracks in and out of this, so he could not tell whether the stranger +were at home or not. Little White Fox knew now that the other fellow was +not so large as he, for the tunnel was almost too small for him to +enter. But he gathered his coat close around him and crowded in. He +rather hoped that he would not find the stranger at home, but that the +table would be set for dinner. + +And that was just the way it was! Little White Fox knocked at the door, +and when no one answered, he walked right in. No,--the table wasn't set, +but in the storeroom there was plenty of food. Little White Fox did not +make the least fuss but set the table himself. + +Now you might think that Little White Fox would eat only fresh eggs and +fish, but if you think so you are mistaken. He likes berries and roots, +and that is just what he had to eat that day,--blueberries from the +hillsides and nice juicy roots and bulbs from the tundra! My, they +tasted good! + +He had just finished eating when something disturbed him. He had been +listening to the noise the wind made blowing across the entrance to the +tunnel. Now the wind didn't make any more noise,--not so he could hear +it, anyway. That meant that some one had entered the tunnel. + +Now Little White Fox was not wishing to see any one just then. "Guess +I'd better find the other door to this house and go home," he said to +himself. But there wasn't any other door. Little White Fox wasn't +afraid, but then,--he just humped himself all up in a corner and wished +he didn't have to meet the stranger, that was all. + +Well, sir! he had to laugh when he saw the stranger come in at the +door. He was the oddest little fellow you ever saw! He looked just like +Thunder, the big white rabbit, only his ears were short, his coat was +yellow, and he was ever so much smaller. Little White Fox knew who he +was right away, for he had heard his mother speak of the Lemming family. +And this was one of the Lemmings! There could be no doubt of it. And the +Lemmings are great fighters, if they happen to be in the mood for it. +Why, they have been known to jump right into the ocean and try to swim +across it. + +"Now I wonder what I'd better do," thought Little White Fox to himself. +But just because he couldn't think of anything at all to do, he did +nothing. And that was the very wisest way to behave just then. All +bunched up the way he was, he looked very large and strong. The longer +Mr. Lemming looked at him, the more sure he became that Little White Fox +was some relation of his. And we must be very kind to all our relatives, +especially when they are bigger than we are! + +Mr. Lemming moved over to one side of the room as if to say, "You may go +out if you like." + +Little White Fox moved half way to the door and then stopped, which +meant, "I'd like you to move a little farther away." + +Mr. Lemming went back to the other side. + +Little White Fox went to the door, but even then he did not go out, not +right away, he didn't. He turned and looked at Mr. Lemming, which meant, +"You won't bite my heels, will you?" + +Mr. Lemming didn't make a move. + +Little White Fox put his head out of the door. Then you should have seen +him get out of that tunnel! I don't believe Little White Fox ever went +faster in the world. When he was out on the snow, he looked around and +felt foolish, for Mr. Lemming was not coming after him at all. + +That night Mr. Lemming closed up the tunnel to his house and made a new +one under a rock, where he thought Little White Fox would not be able to +find it. + +Of course Little White Fox should have waited until Mr. Lemming came +home, and then asked him for something to eat. But, you know, he was +very hungry, and besides he was only a little white fox, after all. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LITTLE WHITE BEAR AND LITTLE BLACK BEAR + + +Little White Bear stepped out from behind a great boulder that was black +as black could be against the whitest of all white worlds. And my! It +was a lonesome world! His mother had left him alone, years and years +ago, it seemed to him, to find something to eat. At last he was so +lonesome he just had to get out into the sunshine and see if there was +any one in all the wide, white world who would play with a little white +bear. + +"I wonder! I do wonder if there is any one!" he said to himself. + +"Chee! Chee!" said a very small voice right close to him. He looked and +looked, and at last he spied Little Snow Bunting balancing herself on a +salmon-berry bush. + +"What does she mean by that?" thought Little White Bear. "Does she want +to play with me?" But when he came closer to her, she said "Chee! Chee!" +so loudly and saucily he felt almost sure she didn't, and when she +spread her snowy wings and flew far, far away, he was quite sure she +didn't. + +"My! What a world!" said Little White Bear. "I wonder--" But just then +he heard a strange sound,--crack--crack--crackety, crackety, crack! What +could it be? In just a moment Tdariuk, the reindeer, came trotting +around the point, and Little White Bear knew it was Tdariuk's heels he +had heard cracking. But Tdariuk didn't give him time to say a word. He +just caught one whiff of bear smell, and away he went faster than +ever,--crack--crack--crackety, crackety, crackety! Crack! Crack! + +Down by the ocean things were no better. When Little Brown Seal saw him +coming, he tumbled right into the ocean without so much as saying "How +do you do." + +Little White Bear looked this way and that, and suddenly he spied some +little black things going up and down, up and down, over a little snow +hill. Sometimes there were four, sometimes three, sometimes two, and +sometimes none at all. "Must be Jim Raven and his crowd," said Little +White Bear. "Well, _they_ won't get away from me! I'll just slip up to +that little hill and then jump right over it so quick they won't have +time to fly away!" He slipped up very quietly, Oh! just as quietly as +any little bear could. He crept round this little hill and that little +salmon-berry bush until he was right under the snow hill. "Now," he said +to himself, "Now's the time!" He couldn't see the black things going up +and down, but he knew they were there, so he gave one big, big spring +and then, "Oh! Oh! Ow! Wow! E-e-e! Let me go!" he cried, and bounded +away as fast as he could. What could have scratched him so? Where had +Jim Raven and his crowd gone? Pretty soon he looked around, and right +there in the snow where he had jumped was a little bear just about his +own size and a great deal like him, but black as black could be! + +"What'd you jump on my stomach for?" said the stranger. Then Little +White Bear knew right away what he had done. The black things he thought +were Jim Raven and his crowd were not those people at all, but they were +Little Black Bear's feet sticking up over the hill, as he rolled around +on the snow, having a frolic all by himself. + +"Well," said Little White Bear, "where did you come from?" + +"Oh! My home is just a little way up in the hills," said Little Black +Bear politely. "We have a great many cousins in this cold country; there +is Little Brown Bear and Big Barren Ground Grizzly Bear, and I don't +know how many more, but we seldom get to see any of our white cousins. +How are you? I am glad to see you." + +[Illustration: Little White Bear knew right away what he had done. +_Page 52_] + +"I think I shall be very fine when I get over my scratches," smiled +Little White Bear. "You must have very sharp claws." + +"They are quite sharp," said Little Black Bear slowly. "I am sorry I +scratched you. Let's find something to play, and you will forget all +about it." + +"All right!" said Little White Bear gleefully, and away they went, +looking for some adventure in the great, white world. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR + + +"Come on," cried Little White Bear, almost standing on his head in his +eagerness to be at play with this new friend. + +"Let's go exploring," said Little Black Bear. "That's the most fun of +all!" + +"All right," shouted Little White Bear, turning a handspring. And away +they went,--two little bears out to see what they could find in the +great, white world. + +They went down by the lakes and saw where Widgeon had made her nests in +the warm summer time; they wandered over the hills and said "Woof +Woof!" in the doorway to Little Mrs. White Fox's home; they went here +and there, but at last they came upon something really very strange. + +"What can it be?" said Little White Bear, standing on one foot and +looking very wise. + +"What _can_ it be!" said Little Black Bear, scratching his head. And +what indeed could it be? It was right down at the foot of the mountain. +There was a big, black, square thing right in the snow, and in the +middle of that there was another little square that was brown. Did any +one in the wide world ever hear of finding such a strange thing in a +great white wilderness? There wasn't a square thing anywhere else on the +whole tundra. Things were round and crooked and made of little angles, +but who ever saw a square thing in real tundra land? + +The two little Bears walked round and round it and tried to think what +it could be. At last Little Black Bear put one foot on it very timidly. +"There!" he said bravely, "I stepped on it! Do you dare?" + +"Of course I do!" said Little White Bear, walking right out on the big +square. "See me!" he shouted and went racing right across the thing. +That is, he started across, but just when he was on the little brown +square, he felt his feet begin to sink. There was a rip--ripping of +something, and down he went, till he struck kerwhack! on something far +below. He jumped to his feet very quickly. Where was he? There were +brown walls all about him, like the walls of the cave where his home +was. And look as he might, Little White Bear could see no way to get out +except to climb back up through the hole he had made when he fell in. +And that was far, far above his head. He could never get out that way. +And what was worst of all, as he began to look around, he was more and +more sure of one dreadful thing. And that was that he was in the house +of Omnok the hunter. My! That was a terrible thought. But it was true! +They had been playing on Omnok's roof, and Little White Bear had fallen +right through the window in the roof. Omnok had made a curtain out of +the coats of many eider ducks, and this was the brown square that Little +White Bear had started to run across. + +Well, there wasn't a thing he could do. He just wandered round and +round, but he couldn't find the least little place where he could get +out. "What a strange place to live!" he thought to himself. "How does he +ever get into it himself?" + +But Little White Bear wasn't the least bit doubtful that Omnok would be +able to get into his house when he came home. And you may be very sure +he wasn't a bit happy. He just went way over in the corner under Omnok's +bed and sucked his thumb while he wished he was at home in his own dear +cave. All of a sudden he heard a noise. Omnok was coming! Little White +Bear heard his voice, very big and very angry, outside! "Who has stolen +my 'pooksack'?" Omnok growled. "Who has broken my window?" + +How poor Little White Bear trembled. He crouched down under the bed just +as far as he could. Now he could hear Omnok come closer to his house. +And then he saw Omnok's face at the side of the wall. Ah! Yes! There was +a little curtain there! Why had he not seen it! But suddenly a happy +thought came to Little White Bear. Just when Omnok was standing up, with +his terrible gun in his hand, Little White Bear rushed right at him and +tumbled against his feet so hard that Omnok went sprawling to the floor, +and his terrible gun went clattering after. + +Little White Bear bounded out of the little door. But there was just a +little alley and then another room with a window high up in the wall. He +looked quickly, and saw a little shelf, like Omnok's bed, only higher +up, right under the window! Little White Bear jumped up but tumbled +back. He tried it again and fell back. But the third time he found +himself on the shelf, and in another minute he was out in the fine old +world, running as fast as ever he could for home. And you may be very +sure he was glad to be with his mother safe in their cave that night. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LITTLE BLACK BEAR'S DISCOVERY + + +What was Little Black Bear doing all the time Little White Bear was down +in Omnok's house, and what about Omnok's "pooksack"? Well, Little Black +Bear looked down into Omnok's house and wished his little playmate would +hurry out, so they could discover some more things. But when he had +waited what seemed a long, long time, he went on a little exploring trip +all by himself. And he discovered something right away. It had four legs +like Tdariuk, the reindeer. But it was ever so much larger than +Tdariuk, and its legs were straighter. Little Black Bear wasn't long in +finding out that this was not really any one at all, but just a rack +Omnok had made on which to keep his meat. And there was meat up there! +Oh! strips and strips of it! But it was all high out of reach. Little +Black Bear sniffed and sniffed, and My! It did smell good! But even when +he stood on his tiptoes he couldn't reach the least little mouthful. +There _was_ one thing closer to the ground. And such a strange thing as +it was! It looked like a coat that had belonged to one of Little Brown +Seal's cousins, but he couldn't be in the coat right then, for the +collar was tied up tight as could be, and so were the sleeves. + +"If there was any one in that coat, he would smother right away," said +Little Black Bear, scratching his head. "But there is something in it! +See how its sides bulge out! I'll just give it a good poke and see what +happens." + +Now that strange thing was just hung up by one string, and it swung +about very easily. When Little Black Bear gave it a great poke, it went +up in the air quickly! It came down quickly too, and it hit Little Black +Bear square on his nose. He spun about and tumbled down in the snow, and +at first he had a notion to be angry. + +When the thing had stopped swinging, he stood on his tiptoes and smelled +of it. "E-ee-ee! How good it smells," he cried. "I just believe that is +Omnok's 'pooksack' of seal oil which mother has been talking about!" +Little Black Bear's mouth began to water and water, for his mother had +told him there was nothing half so good in the world as fine, rich seal +oil. + +Now how was Little Black Bear going to get that oil out of that +"pooksack"? He thought and thought and thought. At last he remembered +the sleeves which were tied up. They were tied way down at the ends, and +there must be seal oil right down to the very tips. His mouth was too +small to bite the "pooksack", but one of these sleeves,--that was the +very thing! He would bite one of those, hard! with his sharp teeth, and +the oil would come right out into his mouth! + +He had to stand on his tiptoes to reach, but at last he set his teeth +hard and _Ah-ne-ca!_ How good that seal oil did taste! It went gurgle, +gurgle, right down his throat so fast he could hardly get time to +swallow. + +But very soon he began to feel as if he had had quite enough. How was he +going to stop the seal oil from coming out? Well, he couldn't do that. +He would just have to open his mouth and dodge right out of the way +quick. "That will be easy," he thought to himself. Anyway, he took two +or three more swallows, then he opened his mouth wide, and _Ah-ne-ca!_ +before he could move one bit, that seal oil shot him right in the eyes +and ears and began to run down his back so fast he couldn't even give +one grunt. You should have seen that little bear! He was oil from head +to foot! And as for his fine, silky, glossy, black coat, he was just +sure it was ruined! He didn't stop a minute to see if Little White Bear +was out of Omnok's house, but ran home as fast as ever he could. + +"Why! Why!" cried his mother, as he came into the house. "Where have you +been?" + +Little Black Bear couldn't say a word. He just crawled over in one +corner and looked down at his toes. + +And was his coat really ruined? Ask puss if her coat is ruined some day +when she comes in out of the rain, and see what she will say. Mother +Black Bear cleaned that coat up that very night so it looked better then +new, but how she did it I wouldn't pretend to say. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FUN FOR TWO LITTLE BEARS + + +Little White Bear and Little Black Bear met at the snow hill next day, +but Little White Bear didn't jump into Little Black Bear's sharp claws, +and you may be very, very sure they didn't go exploring around Omnok's +house! They did go way, way out on the white roof of the ocean. There +were splendid hills of ice to hide behind, and everywhere were great ice +boulders over which they could play leap-frog. + +Little White Bear had just started to leap over one fine, large boulder, +and Little Black Bear was coming right after him, when all of a sudden +Little White Bear turned a backward somersault and tumbled right into +Little Black Bear. + +"Wow!" howled Little Black Bear. "What's the matter?" + +"Shish!" whispered Little White Bear. "I saw something!" + +"On the ice?" asked Little Black Bear, beginning to be frightened. + +"Right out there a little bit farther," whispered Little White Bear. +"And it was the biggest thing! Oh! My! I can't tell how big it was!" +Then Little Black Bear was frightened! What could it be, way out here on +the ice, miles and miles from shore? Little White Bear hadn't seen it +move, but how could it get way out here if it weren't alive? Trees and +things like that couldn't grow on the roof of the ocean. + +They lay crouched down behind that big ice boulder until Little White +Bear's foot had gone to sleep, and Little Black Bear was catching cold +from sitting on the ice. + +"I am going to peek round and see if it has moved," said Little White +Bear bravely. He looked, and it hadn't moved one little bit, so it +seemed as if it couldn't really be alive! Perhaps it was something that +Omnok had left there. They crept up toward it, little by little, until +they were right up to it, and what do you think? It was nothing but +Omnok's big whaling boat he had left on the ice. + +They looked all around to see if Omnok were about, then they tumbled +right into that boat for a frolic. There were a great many things in the +boat, but the most interesting of all was a great, long "pooksack." It +wasn't full of seal oil. If it had been, I am quite sure Little Black +Bear would have had nothing to do with it. It was just full of air. +Omnok had used it for a sled when he drew his boat over the roof of the +ocean. And what a splendid football it did make, and how they did knock +it about! First Little White Bear would give it a boost with his big, +clumsy paws, then Little Black Bear would boost it right over Little +White Bear's head! Then there would be a scramble to see who would get +to it first. But one time Little Black Bear kicked it right over Little +White Bear's head so high that it tumbled off the roof of the ocean and +down into the great dark sea. And Little White Bear tumbled right into +the ocean after it! Yes, sir! Right into the water, and you never saw +water so cold in all your life! Little White Bear didn't scramble out as +fast as ever he could! He just climbed up on that "pooksack", happy as a +clam, and wanted Little Black Bear to come in too! Little Black Bear, +however, had a notion that the water was cold, so he touched it with his +toe and "Um-m-m! Um-m-m!" he didn't want any swim that day. But Little +White Bear wouldn't come out of the water and play, so all Little Black +Bear could do was to skip along home and tell his mother that he was +quite sure that Little White Bear would freeze to death that very night. + +"Oh, no!" said Madam Black Bear, looking very wise. "Little White Bear +won't freeze to death." + +"Why," said Little Black Bear, opening his eyes wide, "I'm sure I'd +freeze right away." + +"So you would," said his mother. "You were a wise young fellow to try +the water before you ventured in. But Little White Bear is quite +different. He has a very warm coat and is very fat. He is used to the +cold water and will live in it all winter. But just you wait," she +added, with a sly wink. "You will have a surprise for him some day! When +he comes to look for you some cold, cold time, won't he be surprised to +find you snugly tucked away in bed and sleeping all day and all night? +Won't he, though?" + +Madam Black Bear laughed a big bear laugh, and Little Black Bear laughed +a little bear laugh, so together they were after all two of the happiest +bears in all the world. + +When Omnok went out on the roof of the sea to get his big boat, he saw +what Little White Bear and Little Black Bear had done. He was very angry +when he saw that his "pooksack" was gone. He thought Big White Bear had +been there. + +"I'll go hunting for him to-morrow morning," he said to himself. "And +I'll take Huskie, my Malemute dog, along!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BIG WHITE BEAR MEETS HUSKIE + + +"Now, I'll tell you," Omnok said to Huskie, "Big White Bear is a great +big bully. He likes to fight all the little folks of the tundra and sea +because he is so big. It would be a good thing if we could show him that +he isn't so awfully big, after all. Wouldn't it?" + +"Ki, yi, yiyi," said Huskie, which meant he thought it would. + +"Well, then, this is what you must do. Go running about on the ocean ice +everywhere and hunt for him. I will be hunting too. If you find him +first, run away, then call me. I will shoot him. Do you see?" + +"Ki, yiyi," answered Huskie again, meaning this time, "I do." + +Huskie ran up and down, in and out among the ice piles, until his feet +were sore. He was very anxious to find Big White Bear. Whenever a little +fellow has a chance to harm a big fellow he thinks is a bully, he always +wants to do it. Did you ever notice that? + +So Huskie ran on and on, even if his feet were sore. + +"Hello!" He had just gone around something he thought was an ice pile +when he heard a voice. + +Looking up, he saw the face of Big White Bear. What he was going around +wasn't ice at all. It was Big White Bear. And, my! What a monster he +was! Huskie had to look away off at Cape Prince of Wales Mountain and +look again at Big White Bear before he could tell which was the larger, +bear or mountain. + +He wanted to run away. But Big White Bear was so very near he didn't +dare to, so he just said "Hello!" But to himself he said, "Big White +Bear is a big, big bully, just as Omnok said. I am glad he is going to +get killed." + +"Who are you?" asked Big White Bear. + +"I'm Huskie, the Malemute dog. Who are you?" + +"I am a Polar Bear. Where did you come from?" + +"My home's over there on the shore," said Huskie, pointing his nose +toward shore. "Where'd you come from?" + +"I came from far, far North. I've never been here before. Didn't mean to +come this time. Last night I went to sleep on a corner of Old Ocean's +blanket. Old Ocean put up his knee in his sleep, and my corner of the +blanket slid right down here. What do you think about that?" + +"Very strange." + +Now Huskie is a great fighter himself, for a little fellow. And great +fighters like fight stories. He was just itching to know all about Big +White Bear's big fights. + +"Who'd you kill last?" he asked. + +"Who did I kill?" said Big White Bear, opening his eyes very wide. + +"Yes, was it a very bad fight?" + +"A bad fight?" + +"Yes, you don't seem much scratched up for a great fighter. Look at me; +one leg bent, nose split, and scarred up all over," said Huskie proudly. + +"Do you think I'm a great fighter?" + +"Of course you are. Omnok says--" Huskie caught himself just in time. If +Big White Bear knew all about Omnok, he'd run away. + +"Why, I never fight anybody," said Big White Bear gravely. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Huskie. "That's a good story. You never fight any +one. What a fib!" + +"It's the truth." + +"The truth? Ha! Ha! Of course that's not true. You're a bear. All bears +are fighters, and great big bullies, besides! Why! I bet you've got +claws three inches long." + +"You think so?" Big White Bear put out his front paw which was as big as +the trunk of a small tree. Huskie dodged. + +"Look," said Big White Bear. + +Huskie looked at Big White Bear's claws. They were not as long as his +own. They were broad and blunt, just sharp enough for climbing over the +ice. + +"I don't know why they name me Bear," said Big White Bear; "Old Buster +Grizzly, Buster Brown, and Buster Black, now, are very distant relatives +of mine. Indeed, they have long claws and are great fighters. But my +nearest relative, Tusks, the Walrus, is no fighter at all, and believe +me, neither am I." + +But Huskie was a very quarrelsome and suspicious fellow. + +"That will do to tell," said he; "but I know it is not true. As for +those claws of yours, I can guess how that is. They look very harmless +now. But when you want to fight, you run them out like a cat's." + +"It's no such thing," said Big White Bear. + +"Oh, yes, it is. Omnok says it is. I am going to tell him now, and he'll +fix you!" Vain boast! Huskie had forgotten himself. + +In another instant, before he could dodge, Big White Bear had grabbed +him and hugged him tight. Huskie could not call out at all. His voice +became the tiniest little squeak. + +"Let me go! Let me go!" he squeaked. "I won't tell! I won't tell! Oh! +Oh! Please, Mr. Bear, let me go!" + +[Illustration: "I am going to make your teeth chatter so you can't call +your master." _Page 81_] + +But Big White Bear only grinned, and said "Huh?" + +"Oh, I'll not kill you," said Big White Bear finally. "It's just as I +have told you. I am no fighter. I never hurt anybody, unless I am driven +to do so. I'll not kill you, but I am going to make your teeth chatter +so you can't call your master." + +At that, Big White Bear dropped right down into the cold, cold water +with Huskie in his arms. + +Now Big White Bear lives half the time in water, and he does not mind it +a bit. But poor Huskie! When Big White Bear put him back on the ice, he +couldn't have said a word to save his life. + +"Now, go and tell your master that you have seen Big White Bear," said +Big White Bear, grinning. "But you don't know where he is just now." + +Then he dropped into the water and disappeared. + +Huskie did not wait to hunt up his master. He ran home as fast as he +could go. Try as he might, Omnok has never been able to get him to go +hunting for Big White Bear again. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES HUNTING + + +Little White Fox went hunting for Big White Bear! And he didn't have a +gun or a spear or a bow and arrow! Now what do you think of that! You +see, it was this way. It was winter time, and food was becoming very +scarce on the hills and the tundra. All the delicious roots were frozen +hard in the earth, and the berries were all gone. Little White Fox was +very hungry, and he told Little Mrs. White Fox about it. + +"Well," said his mother, "I guess we will have to go and find a Big +White Bear." + +"Find a Big White Bear!" cried Little White Fox. "Why, he'd eat us!" + +"But you mustn't let him do that," said Mrs. White Fox. + +"But what do we want to find him for?" said Little White Fox, scratching +his head. + +"Listen," said Mrs. White Fox very mysteriously. "Big White Bear is a +very wasteful fellow. He has a big, big kitchen, and he has the greatest +amount of food stored there. Oh! piles and piles of it! He doesn't like +to eat his food in his kitchen. He brings some out every day and always +leaves plenty. Now, if we can find him, we will just follow him about +until his dinner hour. When he is gone, we will have plenty to eat. +See?" + +Little White Fox did see and, though he was half afraid of Big White +Bear, he was also very hungry, and so he was anxious to go on the hunt +right away. + +"You go one way, and I'll go the other," said Madam White Fox. "When you +find Big White Bear, you come right back to this rock. I will come back +too, and we will follow him about for weeks and weeks and have plenty to +eat." + +Away went Little White Fox, looking, looking everywhere for Big White +Bear! He looked behind the cliff on the mountain. But Big White Bear +wasn't there. He looked on the sand bars, but he wasn't there. He went +peering all around the little lakes, but he wasn't there. + +And where do you think Big White Bear was? He wasn't in very good +business, I assure you. He was over on the other side of the mountain. +Tusks the Walrus had just climbed out of the water and had gone to sleep +on the beach close to the mountain. Tusks was a great, good natured +fellow, with a monstrous, heavy body and a pair of terrible looking +tusks, which were not really terrible at all, for Tusks never used them +except for digging clams. Big White Bear was up on the rocks, way, way +above Tusks, and he had a great rock in his powerful paws, as big a rock +as he could lift! He was going to throw it right down on Tusks and kill +him. He had plenty to eat at home, but he thought this would be a fine +chance to get some fresh meat. + +Just when he was getting ready to throw it, something happened. Little +White Fox came round the corner of the hill, looking here, there, and +everywhere for Big White Bear. He came on round and round till he was +just above Big White Bear, and then all at once he saw him! He was so +glad he had found Big White Bear, that he stood right up on his two feet +and gave one big, big laugh, "Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Yak! Yak! Yak!" just like +that. + +There was never a worse scared bear than Big White Bear in all the +world! He had a guilty conscience, for he knew it was not right to throw +a rock on poor, tired Tusks, and when he heard Little White Fox laugh, +he didn't know who it was. It might be some one very big and dangerous. +It might be Omnok, the hunter, with his terrible gun! Big White Bear +just trembled and trembled, and the rock fell from his powerful paws and +went splashing into the water without hurting Tusks at all. But when he +looked around to see who had laughed at him, he couldn't see any one at +all. Little White Fox knew a whole lot better than to let Big White Bear +see him just then! But just after that Little White Fox did a very +thoughtless thing. He was so hungry and wanted so much to see where Big +White Bear had his kitchen, that he forgot all about his mother telling +him to come back to the big rock, and away he went, after Big White Bear +all by himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +BIG WHITE BEAR'S KITCHEN + + +"I mustn't lose Big White Bear," thought Little White Fox, "and I +mustn't let him see me. Oh! My! No! I mustn't do that, for he is a big, +big fellow and who knows what he might do to me?" So he slipped along +behind very slyly, hiding behind this rock and that one, behind this +snow pile and that one, very carefully indeed. + +But Big White Bear was nearly as badly frightened as Little White Fox. +"What was that great big laugh?" he kept thinking to himself. And every +time he thought of it, he looked behind him, and I am sure he really +expected to see Omnok, the hunter, step right out with his terrible gun. +But by and by, when he had gone down the mountain and across the tundra +and over the little lakes, he was not so much afraid, and he began to +grow hungry. Now that was just what Little White Fox hoped would happen, +for he was very hungry himself and very curious besides to see where Big +White Bear kept his pantry. Where would it be? Would it be in the tall +mountains, or on the tundra, or out on the roof of the sea? How +interesting it would be to know! + +Pretty soon Big White Bear began to go straight ahead, without turning +to one side or the other. Then Little White Fox was sure he had started +for his kitchen, and he was glad as could be! Big White Bear went right +out on the roof to the ocean and on and on and on, till Little White Fox +was good and tired. When he came to the dark, dark waters of the ocean, +Big White Bear didn't stop one moment. He just tumbled right into the +water and disappeared all at once! + +"My!" said Little White Fox, opening his eyes very wide. "He will surely +be drowned." And then all at once he thought of the fine dinner he had +been expecting to get and how far it was back to the great rock where +his mother was to wait for him. And then, of course, he remembered what +his mother had said about coming back to call her. How sorry he was now +that he had forgotten all about that. Oh! if they could only find Big +White Bear's kitchen! Just then Little White Fox heard a scratching on +the ice and bounded behind an ice boulder before he was seen. Big White +Bear had come right up out of the ocean with the biggest dinner you have +ever seen. His kitchen was right down in the water under the roof of the +ocean, and he had brought his dinner out on the ice to eat it in the +sunshine. + +Little White Fox thought Big White Bear would never, never get through +eating, but he finally did. And there was quite a big dinner left for +Little White Fox. When Big White Bear was fast asleep on the ice, taking +his after-dinner nap, Little White Fox crept up and began to eat his +dinner too. "He didn't ask me," said Little White Fox, "but then I +didn't give him a chance, I am sure he would if I had." It was a very +good dinner and how Little White Fox's sides did stick out when he had +finished! But he didn't stay to say thank you, so I guess he wasn't very +sure that Big White Bear would have invited him. He just hid behind an +ice boulder and waited for Big White Bear to wake up. He mustn't lose +Big White Bear. He began to think about that fine dinner he had just +eaten and about how he had found Big White Bear all by himself and how +he had frightened him. It made him feel so good he just wanted to laugh. +The more he thought, the more he wanted to laugh, and the first thing, +before he knew it, he was laughing right out loud, "Ha! Ha! Yak! Yak! +Yak! Yak!" + +Just that minute Big White Bear woke up, and he didn't stop to see who +was laughing! He tumbled right into the ocean and went paddling away as +fast as ever he could. He didn't stop till he was almost out of sight, +then he looked back once for just a moment and went paddling on and on, +till he was way out of sight. Little White Fox had lost Big White Bear. +All the fine dinners he was to have in the future were lost, just +because he had laughed at the wrong time. + +I don't know what Little Mrs. White Fox had to say to him when he came +home, for I wasn't there, but there are some very fine switches made out +of reindeer moss lying all over the tundra. However, Little White Fox +was a very young fellow and had a great many things to learn, so perhaps +his mother did not punish him very hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BIG WHITE BEAR FINDS LITTLE WHITE FOX + + +When Omnok returned from hunting Big White Bear he sat down and began to +think. "White bears about," he thought to himself. "There must be white +foxes about too, for they always stay close to white bears. I must go +out and set some traps." And that is just what he did the very next +evening. He threw the cruel looking traps, with their ugly steel jaws, +over his shoulder and went out to look for a good place to set them. At +last he came to a place where there were many white bear tracks. "I +guess this will do," he said to himself. He took out his great knife +and cut out a cake of snow that was nearly as hard as ice. He cut this +up into four little snow boards, very square and very smooth. Then he +made a little hole in the snow and put a trap there. Next he made a thin +shingle of snow,--so thin that the least touch would break it right in +two. He put this over the trap and smoothed it over so carefully that no +one in all the world could tell there was a trap hidden there. Then he +made a little house over it with the four boards,--a very fine looking +house with a roof and three sides, and with one side left open for the +door. He put some nice pieces of meat inside of the house, so when any +little fox came to live there he wouldn't have to go away hungry. +Finally he spilled a few drops of delicious smelling seal oil around the +house and went away. + +Now who should happen by that way, almost right away, but our own Little +White Fox, looking, looking everywhere for Big White Bear. Right away +the west wind blew a little whiff of the rich seal oil in front of his +nose, and almost before he knew it, Little White Fox was standing in +front of the little house that Omnok built, wondering how it came there +and how there happened to be such delicious looking meat inside of it. +He wasn't quite sure it was safe to go inside, so he just licked up all +the drops of seal oil around the outside. It was very good, but it was +only a taste, and it made him hungrier than ever. + +"I just believe I am going to have that meat!" he said to himself. He +was about to put his paw on the little snow shingle that was so thin and +would break so easily, when he heard a great, gruff voice right behind +him. + +"Here! What you doing there?" Little White Fox just tumbled a back +somersault away from the little house and ran as fast as ever he could, +for there, right behind him, was Big White Bear! It's one thing to be +looking for some one very much larger than yourself, but quite another +thing for that big person to be looking at you. Little White Fox didn't +take any chances. But when he was a long distance away, and Big White +Bear wasn't following him, he turned around to see what would happen to +the little house. He wished Big White Bear would go away, so he could +get all that delicious meat. + +But Big White Bear did not go away. He bent his long neck and put his +great nose right up to the little house and gave a great "Woof!" The +little house was far too small for Big White Bear to enter, so he put +out one of his ponderous, powerful paws and sent the little house flying +every way. But his ponderous, powerful paw went too deep. It touched the +thin shingle, and Snap! the trap came down on Big White Bear's paw. Came +down hard too! Ow-e-e-e! How it did hurt! How Big White Bear roared! One +might have thought he was being killed! He ran limping to the ocean, +dragging the little fox trap after him. When he got there, he stuck his +paw up in the air, and moved it round and round, round and round, till +the chain on the trap went Ziz! Ziz! Ziz! just like that. All of a +sudden the trap came loose and tumbled into the sea, and I think +Steadfast Starfish's children are playing with it still. + +Little White Fox ran straight home to tell his mother how he had found +Big White Bear and all the things that had happened. + +"Well," said his mother, "I think Big White Bear has found you, and I am +sure it is a good thing he did!" Then she sat down and told Little White +Fox all about the dangers of nice smelling meat and the little houses +that Omnok builds. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES FISHING + + +Little White Fox was hungry again. It would seem that a little white fox +is hungry most of the time. He went wandering all over the tundra, +looking for something to eat. At last he came to the bank of the river. +He was sniffing about there when he spied a door right in the ground +near the ice roof of the river. "Hello!" said he, stopping short, "I +wonder who made that door in there." He looked into the door but could +see no one. It was too dark. He shouted into the door, but no one +answered. He crept part way down the stairway. Then he stopped and +listened. He heard nothing, so he ventured on, and almost before he knew +it, he found himself in one of the biggest caves he had ever seen. It +was as wide as half the river and as long as he could see in each +direction. It had an ice roof and a good solid floor. Only the floor +stopped pretty soon, and then there was water. + +"I don't believe anybody in the world could build a house like this!" +said Little White Fox. "I guess it just happened to be here, and some +one has discovered it. I wonder who it could be?" + +He walked down close to where the water was, and there he found tracks. +Oh! hundreds and hundreds of them! But he could not tell whose tracks +they were. He had never seen such tracks before. + +"Anyway, I believe there is something good to eat in that water," he +said to himself. "If there wasn't, that fellow wouldn't come down here +and stand around so much. It is nice and warm down here out of the wind, +and I guess I'll stand around a little myself and see what will happen." + +Meanwhile, down below in the river, two of the little river people were +having a talk all by themselves. They were Unfortunate Flounder and Mr. +Salmon Trout. Salmon Trout is a very graceful fellow who always holds +himself erect in the water. When he swims, he goes so swiftly that you +can hardly see him. But Unfortunate Flounder goes floating around on one +side all the time, and looks more like a dead leaf than any member of +the fish family. + +"Why do you not stand straight up in the water as I do?" said Salmon +Trout. + +"Well," said Unfortunate Flounder, "it's only a little my fault. Can't +you see that my eyes are on one of my flat sides and my stomach on the +other? It wouldn't be very pleasant to go about looking one way and +going another, would it? When I was going south, I'd be looking west; +don't you see?" + +"How does it happen that you are that way?" + +"I was born that way. All my children are the same, and so were my +parents before me. You see, it's really a matter of ancestry. Way back +somewhere, one of my great grandparents found out it was easier to lop +around sidewise in the water than to stand straight up as you do, so he +lopped around all his life long. His son followed his example and lopped +around a little worse. So it went on, until to-day we could not +straighten up if we were to try. At least, it would take whole +generations before we could balance ourselves as well as you do. As for +me, I don't see as it matters much, for, after all, I quite agree with +my great grandfather that it is best to be comfortable, even if it does +make you ugly, ungraceful, and slow." + +But just then Unfortunate Flounder learned what an unhappy thing it was +to be slow. Little White Fox from his station on the bank had been +watching, watching very sharply two dark spots that had appeared in the +water. He had watched them come closer and closer. At last he thought he +could reach out and grab one of them without getting in the water. + +"Look out!" cried Salmon Trout, as he glided swiftly away. But poor +Unfortunate Flounder was too slow, and he felt Little White Fox's sharp +teeth close down on him. + +Just then something happened. "Here! what are you doing in my fishing +house?" demanded an angry voice. It frightened Little White Fox so badly +that he dropped Unfortunate Flounder back into the river and looked +around. + +It was Mr. Golden Marten, and this was his fishing house. At least, he +called it his, for he had made the stairway down to it. It took Little +White Fox only a moment to discover that while Golden Marten was not +quite as large as he was, his teeth were very sharp. The door to the +stairway was quite close to him, and before Golden Marten could stop him +Little White Fox was out of the door and racing for home as fast as his +little legs could carry him. + +"All the same," he said to his mother that night, after he had told her +of the cave, "when I am as old as you are, I am going to have a fish +house all my own!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +LITTLE BROWN SEAL'S NARROW ESCAPE + + +One day Little White Fox was out in front of his house sunning himself. +He and his mother were living off the bounty of Big White Bear these +days, so there was nothing to worry about. He just stretched himself out +there on the white snow and looked away at the wide, white world, as +contented as could be. But all at once he saw a strange, strange thing. +Out on the roof of the silent sea, Little Brown Seal was sunning himself +too, right close to the door of his home. He was taking little "cat" +naps. You see, Little Brown Seal could not sleep down in his house in +the ocean. It was far too damp down there. So he was lying there by his +door, sleeping just two or three minutes at a time, then looking up to +see if there was any danger near. + +Now that wasn't such a strange thing. Little White Fox had seen Little +Brown Seal do that nearly every day, but the strange thing was that +there was some one else out on the ice who seemed to be doing the very +same thing that Little Brown Seal was doing,--taking "cat" naps. And +stranger still, he did not seem to be one of Little Brown Seal's +relatives! He was too long, and he didn't wiggle his body right! + +Little White Fox could see all that, but Little Brown Seal was so low +down on the ice that all he could see was the stranger's head. He might +have known even then that it was not one of his cousins, if he had had +as sharp eyes as Little White Fox. But he didn't, for his eyes were very +poor. So Little Brown Seal thought it was one of his own cousins taking +a nap now and then, just as he was. Once it looked to Little White Fox +as if he were beginning to understand that the stranger was not one of +his cousins, for he stayed awake a long, long time and looked and looked +and looked. The stranger seemed to be sleeping a long time, and that +made Little Brown Seal suspicious. But just then the stranger bobbed his +head and looked all around this way and that way, just as any real, +wise seal would do, and Little Brown Seal decided it was all right, that +this stranger was one of his really truly cousins. + +And who do you think the stranger, who acted so very much like a seal, +was? It was Omnok, the hunter, with his terrible gun sliding right along +beside him! He had learned how Little Brown Seal took his "cat" naps, +and he was going to slip right up to him and kill him. He kept creeping +up closer, closer, closer. But Little Brown Seal had made up his mind +that it was one of his cousins, and so he didn't ask himself any more +questions about it. He just kept on taking his little "cat" naps and +waking up to look all around, this way and that way, but never paying +any attention to this stranger who was coming nearer all the time. + +"My," Little White Fox thought to himself, "he will surely be killed. +Yes, sir! I am very, very sure Little Brown Seal is going to be killed!" + +But just when Omnok was getting very close, and just before he was going +to raise his terrible gun and kill Little Brown Seal, a strange thing +happened. I don't know how it happened. Perhaps Little White Fox was +sorry the sun was going down so soon that day, or perhaps he was +lonesome for his mother. Perhaps he was sorry for Little Brown Seal, +because he was going to get killed in just another minute; but whatever +it was, Little White Fox began to feel bad all at once. He wanted to +cry, and he _did_ cry! He lifted his pink little nose into the air and +cried, "Ah! Ah! Ah! Yak! Yak! Yak!" + +Now Little Brown Seal may not have very good eyes, but he has very good +ears, and he had just wakened from a "cat" nap when he heard that +lonesome wail from Little White Fox. And he didn't wait one minute, nor +one second! He tumbled down into his house in the ocean as quick as a +wink, just as Omnok the hunter was getting ready to shoot him! + +Perhaps you think Omnok wasn't angry! But he had heard Little White Fox +cry. He would get Little White Fox's coat. Then he would be even. But +Little White Fox was nowhere about when Omnok climbed the hill. No, you +may be sure he wasn't! He was way under the great rock in his own +little home, where Omnok couldn't get near him. So all Omnok could do +was to put his terrible gun over his shoulder and go back home. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A STRANGE JOURNEY + + +Little White Fox went on a strange journey one day, and when he arrived +at its end, he didn't know where he was! You see, he had been living for +a long time with his mother off the bounty of Big White Bear. Now the +snow had almost all gone from the mountains and the tundra. Little Mrs. +White Fox had gone over to the land and told Little White Fox to watch +sharp and see if Big White Bear came up out of his kitchen and left +anything for them to eat. She was going over to see if she could find +any perfectly good blueberries which had been hidden all winter under +the snow. + +Little White Fox loitered about on the roof to the ocean and dreamed, as +little folks will in the springtime. The weather was fine, and the sun +was shining now, all day and all night. A great deal of the roof to the +ocean had floated mysteriously away, one night, but there was a great +deal of it left, and Little White Fox felt very safe. But all of a +sudden, Scratch! Scratch! he heard Big White Bear come up out of his +kitchen. Then he knew that there was going to be a feast, just as there +had been so many times before. He waited and waited until Swish, Swish +he heard Big White Bear tumble back into the water and swim away. Then +such a feast as he did have! Well, Little White Fox ate so much and the +sun shone so brightly, that he began to feel very, very sleepy, and +almost before he knew anything about it, he was curled up on the roof to +the ocean fast asleep, dreaming as hard as ever a white fox dreamed. + +I don't know how long Little White Fox slept; hours and hours I imagine. +But when he awoke and looked about him, all he could see was the dark, +deep ocean everywhere. He jumped to his feet and peered this side of him +and that side, but it was all the same dark, deep water. There was +nothing but ocean everywhere. The big waves had come along and carried +off the part of the roof to the ocean that Little White Fox was sleeping +on! + +What was Little White Fox to do? He could not swim very far, and it was +a long way to land; in fact, he could not see any land at all. Besides, +the water was very, very cold. He couldn't think of a thing to do. He +just curled up in a heap and shivered and shivered and shivered, he was +so lonesome and frightened. + +"Hello!" shouted Tusks the Walrus, sticking his head out of the water. +He looked and looked. "That's strange," he said to himself. "I thought I +saw Little White Fox over here on a piece of the ocean's roof. Guess +not, though. I don't see him now." And away he swam for a frolic with +one of his cousins. + +"Hello!" cried Little Brown Seal, turning a somersault in the water. +When he turned the somersault, he looked at the piece of the ocean's +roof. "My! My!" he sighed. "These eyes of mine must be getting very bad +indeed! I thought I saw Little White Fox on that piece of roof." And he +too went paddling away to play. + +[Illustration: Big White Bear popped right up out of the ocean! +_Page 119_] + +And all the time Little White Fox was hiding his nose in a little snow +bank, and closing his pink eyes because he was so very much afraid of +every one, even his best friends, out here on the silent, lonesome sea. +Very soon he was nearly frightened to death. Big White Bear popped right +up out of the ocean! He climbed up on one end of the piece of roof and +tipped it up so Little White Fox thought he would surely be tipped into +the sea. But he dug in his toes and hid his nose, and closed his eyes +very tight. Pretty soon Big White Bear thought of something he wanted +to do and tumbled back into the sea. + +Little White Fox floated on and on, for hours and hours and hours, over +the silent sea. But by and by when he was very, very hungry and very +sure that he would never see his dear home and his dear mother again, +there came a dreadful storm. Little White Fox had to dig his toe nails +in tight, again, and once the piece of the roof broke right in two and +nearly threw him into the sea! But finally he felt a bump. His piece of +roof had struck something hard. Bump! Bump! He nearly stood on his head, +and in a minute the piece of roof was perfectly still. Little White Fox +looked up, and right by the piece of roof was the finest sandy beach +you ever saw. He gave one big run and jumped on the beach, and scampered +away, as fast as ever he could, just before a big wave came and carried +the piece of roof back to sea. + +It wasn't any time at all until he was up on the edge of the finest +hill, eating the richest, juiciest blueberries that had ever been kept +under a snow bank all the long winter through. And pretty soon he was +all dry, and feeling fine and not hungry at all. + +"But where in the world am I?" thought Little White Fox, scratching his +head. "I'll have to see if I can find some of my friends who can tell me +how to go home. It must be a long, long way." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LITTLE WHITE FOX COMES HOME + + +When Little White Fox looked all around him very carefully, this way and +that, and didn't see a thing he had ever seen before and not a person +who knew him in all this new tundra and all these new hills, he felt +very blue, you may be sure. But he didn't cry about it. He was too happy +at being off that bit of roof to the great ocean for that. So he looked +as far as he could see in every direction, and at last he spied some +little lakes way down on the tundra. "I'll just go over there and see if +there is any one I know," he said to himself, and went trotting away as +fast as ever he could. He came right down by the lakes and at last he +saw some one he had met in his own home land. It was Mr. Widgeon Junior, +a son of Old Mrs. Widgeon Duck, who was killed by Omnok the hunter. + +"Hello," said Little White Fox. + +Widgeon Junior looked up quick, in a frightened sort of way, but he +never said a word. He just stretched out his long neck and flapped his +strong wings 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 disgusted. He would never ask another +thing of a big white owl again, if he lived a thousand years! But away +he trotted toward some other little ponds he had seen some time before. + +He was slipping along as quietly as he could in the grass when he heard +a splash, splash in the water, and there was Mrs. Swan. Of all the +people in all the world, besides his own dear mother, Little White Fox +liked Mrs. Swan best! Her white gown was always so smooth and tidy, her +neck so graceful, and she seemed so kind, that Little White Fox thought +she was just the most perfect lady that ever was! To be sure he had been +tempted once to steal one of the big eggs out of her great nest, on the +beach the summer before, but he hadn't done it, and now, you may be very +sure, he was glad he hadn't, for perhaps she would tell him the way +home. + +"Please, Mrs. Swan," he said, making a very graceful bow, "will you tell +me the way home?" Mrs. Swan looked at him very kindly but never said a +word. Very soon she flapped her great, white wings, and putting her bill +right out before her and her feet straight behind, out she went flapping +away to the northward. Then Little White Fox knew that was the way home, +for she was going back to his own dear beach to make a new nest and to +hatch out some more little Swanfolks. + +[Illustration: She was going back to his own dear beach. _Page 128_] + +I wish I had time to tell you of all the adventures that befell Little +White Fox on his way home, but I haven't. Perhaps some other time we +will hear all about that. But one day, when the sun was shining brightly +and the flowers were beginning to bloom, who should little Mrs. White +Fox see come trotting up the path by the big rock but her own long-lost +son, Little White Fox. And you may well believe that she was glad to see +him! She had thought she would never see him again. And the things he +had to tell her! How she did listen, and how the other little Foxes, +Violet Blue Fox and Little Cross Fox and the Silver Fox twins and all +the rest, how they listened! Oh, Little White Fox was quite a person in +his family that evening! But when he had been given a good dinner with a +piece of blueberry pie such as only Little Mrs. White Fox can make, and +had curled himself up on the moss cot by the side of the great rock, he +went to sleep thinking that after all there was no place in all the +world like his own home under the big rock, and no one in all the world +quite so good as his own mother; and he felt very, very sure that he +would be careful in the future and not let anything carry him away from +her. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Little White Fox and his Arctic Friends, by +Roy J. Snell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE WHITE FOX *** + +***** This file should be named 24489.txt or 24489.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/8/24489/ + +Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |