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diff --git a/28530-h/28530-h.htm b/28530-h/28530-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..401ff2a --- /dev/null +++ b/28530-h/28530-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8548 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kings in Exile, by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts</title> +<style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + @media screen { + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none;border-top:thin dashed silver;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + } + @media print { + hr.pb {border:none;page-break-after: always;} + .pagenum { display:none; } + } + h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size:1.2em;} + hr.p20 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:20%} + .figcenter {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;} + hr.p10 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:10%} + p.tp {font-size:1em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em; text-align:center;} + .caption {font-size:.8em;} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + h1 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size:1.6em;} + h1.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size:190%;} + h2 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size:1.4em;} + h3.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size:110%;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kings in Exile, by Sir Charles George +Douglas Roberts</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Kings in Exile</p> +<p>Author: Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts</p> +<p>Release Date: April 7, 2009 [eBook #28530]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINGS IN EXILE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-cvr.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 296px; height: 460px;' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<h1>KINGS IN EXILE</h1> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='figcenter' style='margin-bottom:0em;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-emb.jpg' /> +</div> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.9em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.7em;margin-bottom:0.5em;'>NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br />DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.9em;'>MACMILLAN & CO., Limited</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.7em;margin-bottom:0.5em;'>LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br />MELBOURNE</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.9em;'>THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.7em;'>TORONTO</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a> +<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 314px; height: 434px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 314px;'> +“The Gray Master.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:2em;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:2em;'>KINGS IN EXILE</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:10px;'>BY</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:120px;'>AUTHOR OF “THE BACKWOODSMEN,” ETC.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-style:italic;margin-bottom:120px;'>ILLUSTRATED</p> +<p class='tp' style=''>New York</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> +<p class='tp' style=''>1912</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-top:0.8em;margin-bottom:20px;'>All rights reserved</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-top:20px;font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:1em;'>Copyright by Perry, Mason & Co. (1907), The Curtis<br /> +Publishing Co. (1908-1909), The Associated Sunday<br /> +Magazines (1908), The Red Book Magazine (1908).</p> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;'>Copyright, 1910,</p> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;'>By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.</p> + +<hr class='p10' /> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;'>Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1910. Reprinted<br />June, 1910; July, December, 1912.</p> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-top:50px;'>Norwood Press<br />J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.<br />Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span style='font-size:small;'> </span></td> + <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Last Bull</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LAST_BULL'>1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The King of the Flaming Hoops</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_KING_OF_THE_FLAMING_HOOPS'>25</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Monarch of Park Barren</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_MONARCH_OF_PARK_BARREN'>69</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Gray Master</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_GRAY_MASTER'>105</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Sun-Gazer</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_SUNGAZER'>137</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Lord of the Glass House</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_LORD_OF_THE_GLASS_HOUSE'>173</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Back to the Water World</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#BACK_TO_THE_WATER_WORLD'>191</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Lone Wolf</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LONE_WOLF'>237</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Bear’s Face</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_BEARS_FACE'>269</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Duel on the Trail</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_DUEL_ON_THE_TRAIL'>289</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em 4em;'> +<col style='width:80%;' /> +<col style='width:20%;' /> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small'>FACING PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“The Gray Master.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_1'><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Last Bull, standing solitary and morose on a little knoll in his pasture.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_2'>6</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Only to be hurled back again with a vigor that brought him to his knees.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_3'>10</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“When the grizzly saw her, his wicked little dark eyes glowed suddenly red.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_4'>32</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Almost over his head, on a limb not six feet distant, crouched, ready to spring, the biggest puma he had ever seen.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_5'>64</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“He reached the tree just in time to swing well up among the branches.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_6'>72</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“For perhaps thirty or forty yards the bull was able to keep up this almost incredible pace.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_7'>90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Then the second puma pounced.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_8'>134</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“He launched himself on a long, splendid sweep over the gulf.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_9'>144</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“After this the eagle came regularly every three or four hours with food for the prisoner.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_10'>160</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“And the writhing tentacles composed themselves once more to stillness upon the bottom, awaiting the next careless passer-by.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_11'>176</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Without the slightest hesitation he whipped up two writhing tentacles and seized him.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_12'>188</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='LAST_BULL' id='LAST_BULL'></a> +<h2>LAST BULL</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span></div> +<h2>Last Bull</h2> +<p>That was what two grim old sachems +of the Dacotahs had dubbed him; and +though his official title, on the lists of the +Zoölogical Park, was “Kaiser,” the new and +more significant name had promptly supplanted +it. The Park authorities—people of imagination +and of sentiment, as must all be who would +deal successfully with wild animals—had felt +at once that the name aptly embodied the tragedies +and the romantic memories of his all-but-vanished +race. They had felt, too, that the two +old braves who had been brought East to adorn +a city pageant, and who had stood gazing stoically +for hours at the great bull buffalo through +the barrier of the steel-wire fence, were fitted, +before all others, to give him a name. Between +him and them there was surely a tragic bond, +as they stood there islanded among the swelling +tides of civilization which had already engulfed +their kindreds. “Last Bull” they had called +him, as he answered their gaze with little, sullen, +melancholy eyes from under his ponderous and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span> +shaggy front. “Last Bull”—and the passing +of his race was in the name.</p> +<p>Here, in his fenced, protected range, with +a space of grassy meadow, half a dozen clumps +of sheltering trees, two hundred yards of the +run of a clear, unfailing brook, and a warm shed +for refuge against the winter storms, the giant +buffalo ruled his little herd of three tawny cows, +two yearlings, and one blundering, butting calf +of the season. He was a magnificent specimen +of his race—surpassing, it was said, the finest +bull in the Yellowstone preserves or in the +guarded Canadian herd of the North. Little +short of twelve feet in length, a good five foot +ten in height at the tip of his humped and +huge fore-shoulders, he seemed to justify the +most extravagant tales of pioneer and huntsman. +His hind-quarters were trim and fine-lined, +built apparently for speed, smooth-haired, +and of a grayish lion-color. But his fore-shoulders, +mounting to an enormous hump, +were of an elephantine massiveness, and clothed +in a dense, curling, golden-brown growth of +matted hair. His mighty head was carried +low, almost to the level of his knees, on a neck +of colossal strength, which was draped, together +with the forelegs down to the knees, in a flowing +brown mane tipped with black. His head, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span> +too, to the very muzzle, wore the same luxuriant +and sombre drapery, out of which curved viciously +the keen-tipped crescent of his horns. +Dark, huge, and ominous, he looked curiously +out of place in the secure and familiar tranquillity +of his green pasture.</p> +<p>For a distance of perhaps fifty yards, at the +back of the pasture, the range of the buffalo +herd adjoined that of the moose, divided from +it by that same fence of heavy steel-wire mesh, +supported by iron posts, which surrounded the +whole range. One sunny and tingling day in +late October—such a day as makes the blood +race full red through all healthy veins—a +magnificent stranger was brought to the Park, +and turned into the moose-range.</p> +<p>The newcomer was a New Brunswick bull +moose, captured on the Tobique during the +previous spring when the snow was deep and +soft, and purchased for the Park by one of the +big Eastern lumber-merchants. The moose-herd +had consisted, hitherto, of four lonely +cows, and the splendid bull was a prize which +the Park had long been coveting. He took +lordly possession, forthwith, of the submissive +little herd, and led them off at once from the +curious crowds about the gate to explore the +wild-looking thickets at the back of the pasture. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span> +But no sooner had he fairly entered these thickets +than he found his further progress barred +by the steel-meshed fence. This was a bitter +disappointment, for he had expected to go +striding through miles of alder swamp and +dark spruce woods, fleeing the hated world of +men and bondage, before setting himself to get +acquainted with his new followers. His high-strung +temper was badly jarred. He drew off, +shaking his vast antlers, and went shambling +with spacious stride down along the barrier +towards the brook. The four cows, in single +file, hurried after him anxiously, afraid he might +be snatched away from them.</p> +<p>Last Bull, standing solitary and morose on a +little knoll in his pasture, caught sight of the +strange, dark figure of the running moose. A +spark leapt into his heavy eyes. He wheeled, +pawed the sod, put his muzzle to the ground, +and bellowed a sonorous challenge. The moose +stopped short and stared about him, the stiff +hair lifting angrily along the ridge of his massive +neck. Last Bull lowered his head and +tore up the sod with his horns.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a> +<img src='images/illus-006.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 297px; height: 455px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 297px;'> +“Last Bull, standing solitary and morose on a little knoll in his pasture.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span></div> +<p>This vehement action caught the eyes of the +moose. At first he stared in amazement, for +he had never seen any creature that looked like +Last Bull. The two were only about fifty or +sixty yards apart, across the little valley of +the bushy swamp. As he stared, his irritation +speedily overcame his amazement. The curious-looking +creature over there on the knoll +was defying him, was challenging him. At +this time of year his blood was hot and quick +for any challenge. He gave vent to a short, +harsh, explosive cry, more like a grumbling +bleat than a bellow, and as unlike the buffalo’s +challenge as could well be imagined. Then he +fell to thrashing the nearest bushes violently +with his antlers. This, for some reason unknown +to the mere human chronicler, seemed +to be taken by Last Bull as a crowning insolence. +His long, tasselled tail went stiffly up +into the air, and he charged wrathfully down +the knoll. The moose, with his heavy-muzzled +head stuck straight out scornfully before him, +and his antlers laid flat along his back, strode +down to the encounter with a certain deadly +deliberation. He was going to fight. There +was no doubt whatever on that score. But he +had not quite made up his wary mind as to how +he would deal with this unknown and novel +adversary.</p> +<p>They looked not so unequally matched, these +two, the monarch of the Western plains, and the +monarch of the northeastern forests. Both +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span> +had something of the monstrous, the uncouth, +about them, as if they belonged not to this +modern day, but to some prehistoric epoch when +Earth moulded her children on more lavish and +less graceful lines. The moose was like the +buffalo in having his hind-quarters relatively +slight and low, and his back sloping upwards +to a hump over the immensely developed fore-shoulders. +But he had much less length of +body, and much less bulk, though perhaps eight +or ten inches more of height at the tip of the +shoulder. His hair was short, and darker than +that of his shaggy rival, being almost black except +on legs and belly. Instead of carrying his +head low, like the buffalo, for feeding on the +level prairies, he bore it high, being in the main +a tree-feeder. But the greatest difference between +the two champions was in their heads +and horns. The antlers of the moose formed a +huge, fantastic, flatly palmated or leaflike structure, +separating into sharp prongs along the +edges, and spreading more than four feet from +tip to tip. To compare them with the short, +polished crescent of the horns of Last Bull was +like comparing a two-handed broadsword to a +bowie-knife. And his head, instead of being +short, broad, ponderous, and shaggy, like Last +Bull’s, was long, close-haired, and massively +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span> +horse-faced, with a projecting upper lip heavy +and grim.</p> +<p>Had there been no impregnable steel barrier +between them, it is hard to say which would +have triumphed in the end, the ponderous weight +and fury of Last Bull, or the ripping prongs and +swift wrath of the moose. The buffalo charged +down the knoll at a thundering gallop; but +just before reaching the fence he checked himself +violently. More than once or twice before +had those elastic but impenetrable meshes given +him his lesson, hurling him back with humiliating +harshness when he dashed his bulk against +them. He had too lively a memory of past discomfitures +to risk a fresh one now in the face +of this insolent foe. His matted front came +against the wire with a force so cunningly +moderated that he was not thrown back by the +recoil. And the keen points of his horns went +through the meshes with a vehemence which +might indeed have done its work effectively +had they come in contact with the adversary. +As it was, however, they but prodded empty +air.</p> +<p>The moose, meanwhile, had been in doubt +whether to attack with his antlers, as was his +manner when encountering foes of his own +kind, or with his knife-edged fore-hoofs, which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span> +were the weapons he used against bears, wolves, +or other alien adversaries. Finally he seemed +to make up his mind that Last Bull, having +horns and a most redoubtable stature, must be +some kind of moose. In that case, of course, +it became a question of antlers. Moreover, in +his meetings with rival bulls it had never been +his wont to depend upon a blind, irresistible +charge,—thereby leaving it open to an alert opponent +to slip aside and rip him along the flank,—but +rather to fence warily for an advantage +in the locking of antlers, and then bear down +his foe by the fury and speed of his pushing. +It so happened, therefore, that he, too, came +not too violently against the barrier. Loudly +his vast spread of antlers clashed upon the steel +meshes; and one short prong, jutting low over +his brow, pierced through and furrowed deeply +the matted forehead of the buffalo.</p> +<p>As the blood streamed down over his nostrils, +obscuring one eye, Last Bull quite lost his +head with rage. Drawing off, he hurled himself +blindly upon the barrier—only to be hurled +back again with a vigor that brought him to +his knees. But at the same time the moose, +on the other side of the fence, got a huge surprise. +Having his antlers against the barrier +when Last Bull charged, he was forced back +irresistibly upon his haunches, with a rudeness +quite unlike anything that he had ever before +experienced. His massive neck felt as if a +pine tree had fallen upon it, and he came back +to the charge quite beside himself with bewilderment +and rage.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a> +<img src='images/illus-010.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 294px; height: 454px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 294px;'> +“Only to be hurled back again with a vigor that brought him to his knees.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span></div> +<p>By this time, however, the keepers and Park +attendants were arriving on the scene, armed +with pitchforks and other unpleasant executors +of authority. Snorting, and bellowing, and +grunting, the monstrous duellists were forced +apart; and Last Bull, who had been taught +something of man’s dominance, was driven off +to his stable and imprisoned. He was not let +out again for two whole days. And by that +time another fence, parallel with the first and +some five or six feet distant from it, had been +run up between his range and that of the +moose. Over this impassable zone of neutrality, +for a few days, the two rivals flung insult +and futile defiance, till suddenly, becoming +tired of it all, they seemed to agree to ignore +each other’s existence.</p> +<p>After this, Last Bull’s sullenness of temper +appeared to grow upon him. He was fond of +drawing apart from the little herd, and taking +up his solitary post on the knoll, where he +would stand for an hour at a time motionless +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span> +except for the switching of his long tail, and +staring steadily westward as if he knew where +the great past of his race had lain. In that +direction a dense grove of chestnuts, maples, +and oaks bounded the range, cutting off the +view of the city roofs, the roar of the city traffic. +Beyond the city were mountains and wide +waters which he could not see; but beyond the +waters and the mountains stretched the green, +illimitable plains—which perhaps (who knows?) +in some faint vision inherited from the ancestors +whose myriads had possessed them, his +sombre eyes, in some strange way, <i>could</i> see. +Among the keepers and attendants generally it +was said, with anxious regret, that perhaps +Last Bull was “going bad.” But the head-keeper, +Payne, himself a son of the plains, repudiated +the idea. <i>He</i> declared sympathetically +that the great bull was merely homesick, pining +for the wind-swept levels of the open country +(God’s country, Payne called it!) which his imprisoned +hoofs had never trodden.</p> +<p>Be this as it may, the fact could not be gainsaid +that Last Bull was growing more and more +morose. The spectators, strolling along the +wide walk which skirted the front of his range, +seemed to irritate him, and sometimes, when a +group had gathered to admire him, he would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span> +turn his low-hung head and answer their staring +eyes with a kind of heavy fury, as if he +burned to break forth upon them and seek vengeance +for incalculable wrongs. This smouldering +indignation against humanity extended +equally, if not more violently, to all creatures +who appeared to him as servants or allies of +humanity. The dogs whom he sometimes saw +passing, held in leash by their masters or mistresses, +made him paw the earth scornfully if +he happened to be near the fence. The patient +horses who pulled the road-roller or the noisy +lawn-mower made his eyes redden savagely. +And he hated with peculiar zest the roguish +little trick elephant, Bong, who would sometimes, +his inquisitive trunk swinging from side +to side, go lurching lazily by with a load of +squealing children on his back.</p> +<p>Bong, who was a favored character, amiable +and trustworthy, was allowed the freedom of +the Park in the early morning, before visitors +began to arrive who might be alarmed at seeing +an elephant at large. He was addicted to +minding his own business, and never paid the +slightest attention to any occupants of cage or +enclosure. He was quite unaware of the hostility +which he had aroused in the perverse and +brooding heart of Last Bull. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span></p> +<p>One crisp morning in late November, when +all the grass in the Park had been blackened +by frost, and the pools were edged with silver +rims of ice, and mists were white and saffron +about the scarce-risen sun, and that autumn +thrill was in the air which gives one such an +appetite, Bong chanced to be strolling past +the front of Last Bull’s range. He did not see +Last Bull, who was nothing to him. But, +being just as hungry as he ought to be on so +stimulating a morning, he did see, and note +with interest, some bundles of fresh hay on the +other side of the fence.</p> +<p>Now, Bong was no thief. But hay had always +seemed to him a free largess, like grass +and water, and this looked like very good hay. +So clear a conscience had he on the subject +that he never thought of glancing around to see +if any of the attendants were looking. Innocently +he lurched up to the fence, reached his +lithe trunk through, gathered a neat wisp of the +hay, and stuffed it happily into his curious, narrow, +pointed mouth. Yes, he had not been +mistaken. It was good hay. With great satisfaction +he reached in for another mouthful.</p> +<p>Last Bull, as it happened, was standing close +by, but a little to one side. He had been ignoring, +so far, his morning ration. He was not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span> +hungry. And, moreover, he rather disapproved +of the hay because it had the hostile man-smell +strong upon it. Nevertheless, he recognized it +very clearly as his property, to be eaten when +he should feel inclined to eat it. His wrath, +then, was only equalled by his amazement when +he saw the little elephant’s presumptuous gray +trunk reach in and coolly help itself. For a +moment he forgot to do anything whatever +about it. But when, a few seconds later, that +long, curling trunk of Bong’s insinuated itself +again and appropriated another bundle of the +now precious hay, the outraged owner bestirred +himself. With a curt roar, that was more of a +cough or a grunt than a bellow, he lunged forward +and strove to pin the intruding trunk to +the ground.</p> +<p>With startled alacrity Bong withdrew his +trunk, but just in time to save it from being +mangled. For an instant he stood with the +member held high in air, bewildered by what +seemed to him such a gratuitous attack. Then +his twinkling little eyes began to blaze, and he +trumpeted shrilly with anger. The next moment, +reaching over the fence, he brought +down the trunk on Last Bull’s hump with such +a terrible flail-like blow that the great buffalo +stumbled forward upon his knees. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span></p> +<p>He was up again in an instant and hurling +himself madly against the inexorable steel +which separated him from his foe. Bong +hesitated for a second, then, reaching over +the fence once more, clutched Last Bull maliciously +around the base of his horns and tried +to twist his neck. This enterprise, however, +was too much even for the elephant’s titanic +powers, for Last Bull’s greatest strength lay +in the muscles of his ponderous and corded +neck. Raving and bellowing, he plunged this +way and that, striving in vain to wrench himself +free from that incomprehensible, snake-like +thing which had fastened upon him. Bong, +trumpeting savagely, braced himself with widespread +pillars of legs, and between them it +seemed that the steel fence must go down +under such cataclysmic shocks as it was suffering. +But the noisy violence of the battle +presently brought its own ending. An amused +but angry squad of attendants came up and +stopped it, and Bong, who seemed plainly the +aggressor, was hustled off to his stall in deep +disgrace.</p> +<p>Last Bull was humiliated. In this encounter +things had happened which he could in no way +comprehend; and though, beyond an aching in +neck and shoulders, he felt none the worse +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span> +physically, he had nevertheless a sense of having +been worsted, of having been treated with +ignominy, in spite of the fact that it was his +foe, and not he, who had retired from the field. +For several days he wore a subdued air and +kept about meekly with his docile cows. Then +his old, bitter moodiness reasserted itself, and +he resumed his solitary broodings on the crest +of the knoll.</p> +<p>When the winter storms came on, it had +been Last Bull’s custom to let himself be +housed luxuriously at nightfall, with the rest +of the herd, in the warm and ample buffalo-shed. +But this winter he made such difficulty +about going in that at last Payne decreed that +he should have his own way and stay out. “It +will do him no harm, and may cool his peppery +blood some!” had been the keeper’s decision. +So the door was left open, and Last Bull +entered or refrained, according to his whim. +It was noticed, however,—and this struck a +chord of answering sympathy in the plainsman’s +imaginative temperament,—that, though +on ordinary nights he might come in and stay +with the herd under shelter, on nights of driving +storm, if the tempest blew from the west or +northwest, Last Bull was sure to be out on the +naked knoll to face it. When the fine sleet or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span> +stinging rain drove past him, filling his nostrils +with their cold, drenching his matted mane, +and lashing his narrowed eyes, what visions +swept through his troubled, half-comprehending +brain, no one may know. But Payne, with +understanding born of sympathy and a common +native soil, catching sight of his dark +bulk under the dark of the low sky, was wont +to declare that <i>he</i> knew. He would say that +Last Bull’s eyes discerned, black under the +hurricane, but lit strangely with the flash of +keen horns and rolling eyes and frothed nostrils, +the endless and innumerable droves of the +buffalo, with the plains wolf skulking on their +flanks, passing, passing, southward into the +final dark. In the roar of the wind, declared +Payne, Last Bull, out there in the night, listened +to the trampling of all those vanished +droves. And though the other keepers insisted +to each other, quite privately, that their +chief talked a lot of nonsense about “that there +mean-tempered old buffalo,” they nevertheless +came gradually to look upon Last Bull with a +kind of awe, and to regard his surly whims as +privileged.</p> +<p>It chanced that winter that men were driving +a railway tunnel beneath a corner of the +Park. The tunnel ran for a short distance +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span> +under the front of Last Bull’s range, and passed +close by the picturesque cottage occupied by +Payne and two of his assistants. At this point +the level of the Park was low, and the shell of +earth was thin above the tunnel roof.</p> +<p>There came a Sunday afternoon, after days +of rain and penetrating January thaw, when +sun and air combined to cheat the earth with +an illusion of spring. The buds and the mould +breathed of April, and gay crowds flocked to +the Park, to make the most of winter’s temporary +repulse. Just when things were at their +gayest, with children’s voices clamoring everywhere +like starlings, and Bong, the little elephant, +swinging good-naturedly up the broad +white track with all the load he had room for +on his back, there came an ominous jar and +rumble, like the first of an earthquake, which +ran along the front of Last Bull’s range.</p> +<p>With sure instinct, Bong turned tail and fled +with his young charges away across the grassland. +The crowds, hardly knowing what they +fled from, with screams and cries and blanched +faces, followed the elephant’s example. A +moment later and, with a muffled crash, all +along the front of the range, the earth sank into +the tunnel, carrying with it half a dozen panels +of Last Bull’s hated fence. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span></p> +<p>Almost in a moment the panic of the crowd +subsided. Every one realized just what had +happened. Moreover, thanks to Bong’s timely +alarm, every one had got out of the way in +good season. All fear of earthquake being removed, +the crowd flocked back eagerly to stare +down into the wrecked tunnel, which formed +now a sort of gaping, chaotic ditch, with sides +at some points precipitous and at others brokenly +sloping. The throng was noisy with excited +interest and with relief at having escaped so +cleanly. The break had run just beneath one +corner of the keepers’ cottage, tearing away a +portion of the foundation and wrenching the +structure slightly aside without overthrowing +it. Payne, who had been in the midst of his +Sunday toilet, came out upon his twisted porch, +half undressed and with a shaving-brush covered +with lather in his hand. He gave one look at +the damage which had been wrought, then +plunged indoors again to throw his clothes on, +at the same time sounding the hurry call for +the attendants in other quarters of the Park.</p> +<p>Last Bull, who had been standing on his knoll, +with his back to the throngs, had wheeled in +astonishment at the heavy sound of the cave-in. +For a few minutes he had stared sullenly, not +grasping the situation. Then very slowly it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span> +dawned on him that his prison walls had fallen. +Yes, surely, there at last lay his way to freedom, +his path to the great open spaces for which he +dumbly and vaguely hungered. With stately +deliberation he marched down from his knoll to +investigate.</p> +<p>But presently another idea came into his slow +mind. He saw the clamorous crowds flocking +back and ranging themselves along the edge of +the chasm. These were his enemies. They +were coming to balk him. A terrible madness +surged through all his veins. He bellowed savage +warning and came thundering down the field, +nose to earth, dark, mountainous, irresistible.</p> +<p>The crowd yelled and shrank back. “He +can’t get across!” shouted some. But others +cried: “He can! He’s coming! Save yourselves!” +And with shrieks they scattered wildly +across the open, making for the kiosks, the pavilions, +the trees, anything that seemed to promise +hiding or shelter from that onrushing doom.</p> +<p>At the edge of the chasm—at this point +forming not an actual drop, but a broken slide—Last +Bull hardly paused. He plunged down, +rolled over in the débris, struggled to his feet +again instantly, and went ploughing and snorting +up the opposite steep. As his colossal front, +matted with mud, loomed up over the brink, his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +little eyes rolling and flaming, and the froth flying +from his red nostrils, he formed a very nightmare +of horror to those fugitives who dared to +look behind them.</p> +<p>Surmounting the brink, he paused. There +were so many enemies, he knew not which to +pursue first. But straight ahead, in the very +middle of the open, and far from any shelter, +he saw a huddled group of children and nurses +fleeing impotently and aimlessly. Shrill cries +came from the cluster, which danced with colors, +scarlet and yellow and blue and vivid pink. +To the mad buffalo, these were the most conspicuous +and the loudest of his foes, and therefore +the most dangerous. With a bellow he flung +his tail straight in the air, and charged after +them.</p> +<p>An appalling hush fell, for a few heart-beats, +all over the field. Then from different quarters +appeared uniformed attendants, racing and +shouting frantically to divert the bull’s attention. +From fleeing groups black-coated men leapt +forth, armed only with their walking-sticks, and +rushed desperately to defend the flock of children, +who now, in the extremity of their terror, +were tumbling as they ran. Some of the +nurses were fleeing far in front, while others, +the faithful ones, with eyes starting from their +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +heads, grabbed up their little charges and struggled +on under the burden.</p> +<p>Already Last Bull was halfway across the space +which divided him from his foes. The ground +shook under his ponderous gallop. At this moment +Payne reappeared on the broken porch.</p> +<p>One glance showed him that no one was near +enough to intervene. With a face stern and sorrowful +he lifted the deadly .405 Winchester which +he had brought out with him. The spot he covered +was just behind Last Bull’s mighty shoulder.</p> +<p>The smokeless powder spoke with a small, +venomous report, unlike the black powder’s +noisy reverberation. Last Bull stumbled. But +recovering himself instantly, he rushed on. +He was hurt, and he felt it was those fleeing +foes who had done it. A shade of perplexity +darkened Payne’s face. He fired again. This +time his aim was true. The heavy expanding +bullet tore straight through bone and muscle +and heart, and Last Bull lurched forward upon +his head, ploughing up the turf for yards. As +his mad eyes softened and filmed, he saw once +more, perhaps,—or so the heavy-hearted keeper +who had slain him would have us believe,—the +shadowy plains unrolling under the wild sky, +and the hosts of his vanished kindred drifting +past into the dark.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_KING_OF_THE_FLAMING_HOOPS' id='THE_KING_OF_THE_FLAMING_HOOPS'></a> +<h2>THE KING OF THE FLAMING HOOPS</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span></div> +<h2>The King of the Flaming Hoops</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>The white, scarred face of the mountain +looked straight east, over a vast basin of +tumbled, lesser hills, dim black forests, and +steel-blue loops of a far-winding water. Here +and there long, level strata of pallid mist +seemed to support themselves on the tree-tops, +their edges fading off into the startling transparency +that comes upon the air with the first +of dawn. But that was in the lower world. +Up on the solitary summit of White Face the +daybreak had arrived. The jagged crest of the +peak shot sudden radiances of flame-crimson, +then bathed itself in a flow of rose-pinks and +thin, indescribable reds and pulsating golds. +Swiftly, as the far horizon leapt into blaze, the +aërial flood spread down the mountain-face, +revealing and transforming. It reached the +mouth of a cave on a narrow ledge. As the +splendor poured into the dark opening, a +tawny shape, long and lithe and sinewy, came +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +padding forth, noiseless as itself, as if to meet +and challenge it.</p> +<p>Half emerging from the entrance upon the +high rock-platform which formed its threshold, +the puma halted, head uplifted and forepaws +planted squarely to the front. With wide, +palely bright eyes she stared out across the +tremendous and mysterious landscape. As +the colored glory rushed down the mountain, +rolling back the blue-gray transparency of +shadow, those inscrutable eyes swept every suddenly +revealed glade, knoll, and waterside where +deer or elk might by chance be pasturing.</p> +<p>She was a magnificent beast, this puma, massive +of head and shoulder almost as a lioness, +and in her calm scrutiny of the spaces unrolling +before her gaze was a certain air of overlordship, +as if her supremacy had gone long unquestioned. +Suddenly, however, her attitude +changed. Her eyes narrowed, her mighty +muscles drew themselves together like springs +being upcoiled, she half crouched, and her +head turned sharply to the left, listening. Far +down the narrow ledge which afforded the +trail to her den she had caught the sound of +something approaching.</p> +<p>As she listened, she crouched lower and +lower, and her eyes began to burn with a thin, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span> +green flame. Her ears would flatten back +savagely, then lift themselves again to interrogate +the approaching sounds. Her anger at +the intrusion upon her private domain was +mixed with some apprehension, for behind her, +in a warm corner of the den, curled up in a soft +and furry ball like kittens, were her two sleeping +cubs.</p> +<p>Her trail being well marked and with her +scent strong upon it, she knew it could be no ignorant +blunderer that drew near. It was plainly +an enemy, and an arrogant enemy, since it made +no attempt at stealth. The steps were not those +of any hunter, white man or Indian, of that +she presently assured herself. With this assurance, +her anxiety diminished and her anger increased. +Her tail, long and thick, doubled in +thickness and began to jerk sharply from side +to side. Crouching to the belly, she crept all +the way out upon the ledge and peered cautiously +around a jutting shoulder of rock.</p> +<p>The intruder was not yet in sight, because +the front of White Face, though apparently a +sheer and awful precipice when viewed from the +valley, was in fact wrinkled with gullies and +buttresses and bucklings of the tortured strata. +But the sound of his coming was now quite intelligible +to her. That softly ponderous tread, that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +careless displacing of stones, those undisguised +sniffings and mumblings could come only from +a bear, and a bear frankly looking for trouble. +Well, he was going to find what he was looking +for. With an antagonism handed down to her +by a thousand ancestors, the great puma hated +bears.</p> +<p>Many miles north of White Face, on the +other side of that ragged mountain-ridge to +which he formed an isolated and towering outpost, +there was a fertile valley which had just +been invaded by settlers. On every hand awoke +the sharp barking of the axe. Rifle-shots +startled the echoes. Masterful voices and confident +human laughter filled all the wild inhabitants +with wonder and dismay. The undisputed +lord of the range was an old silver-tip grizzly, +of great size and evil temper. Furious at the +unexpected trespass on his sovereignty, yet well +aware of his powerlessness against the human +creature that could strike from very far off with +lightning and thunder, he had made up his +mind at once to withdraw to some remoter +range. Nevertheless, he had lingered for some +days, sullenly expecting he knew not what. +These formless expectations were most unpleasantly +fulfilled when he came upon a man +in a canoe paddling close in by the steep shore +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +of the lake. He had hurled himself blindly +down the bank, raging for vengeance, but when +he reached the water’s edge, the man was far +out of reach. Then, while he stood there +wavering, half minded to swim in pursuit, the +man had spoken with the lightning and the +thunder, after the terrifying fashion of his kind. +The bear had felt himself stung near the tip of +the shoulder, as if by a million wasps at once, +and the fiery anguish had brought him to his +senses.</p> +<p>It was no use trying to fight man, so he had +dashed away into the thickets, and not halted +till he had put miles between himself and the +inexplicable enemy.</p> +<p>For two days, with occasional stops to forage +or to sleep, the angry grizzly had travelled +southward, heading towards the lonely peak of +White Face. As the distance from his old haunts +increased, his fears diminished; but his anger +grew under the ceaseless fretting of that wound +on his neck just where he could not reach to +lick and soothe it. The flies, however, could +reach it very well, and did. As a consequence, +by the time he reached the upper slopes of +White Face, he was in a mood to fight anything. +He would have charged a regiment, +had he suddenly found one in his path. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span></p> +<p>When he turned up a stone for the grubs, +beetles, and scorpions which lurked beneath it, +he would send it flying with a savage sweep of +his paw. When he caught a rabbit, he smashed +it flat in sheer fury, as if he cared more to +mangle than to eat.</p> +<p>At last he stumbled upon the trail of a puma. +As he sniffed at it, he became, if possible, more +angry than ever. Pumas he had always hated. +He had never had a chance to satisfy his grudge, +for never had one dared to face his charge; +but they had often snarled down defiance at +him from some limb of oak or pine beyond his +reach. He flung himself forward upon the +trail with vengeful ardor. When he realized, +from the fact that it was a much-used trail and +led up among the barren rocks, that it was +none other than the trail to the puma’s lair, his +satisfaction increased. He would be sure to +find either the puma at home or the puma’s +young unguarded.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a> +<img src='images/illus-032.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 298px; height: 455px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 298px;'> +“When the grizzly saw her, his wicked little dark eyes glowed suddenly red.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span></div> +<p>When the puma, at last, saw him emerge +around a curve of the trail, and noted his +enormous stature, she gave one longing, wistful +look back over her shoulder to the shadowed +nook wherein her cubs lay sleeping. Had +there been any chance to get them both safely +away, she would have shirked the fight, for +their sakes. But she could not carry them +both in her mouth at once up the face of the +mountain. She would not desert either one. +She hesitated a moment, as if doubtful whether +or not to await attack in the mouth of the +cave. Then she crept farther out, where the +ledge was not three feet wide, and crouched +flat, silent, watchful, rigid, in the middle of the +trail.</p> +<p>When the grizzly saw her, his wicked little +dark eyes glowed suddenly red, and he came +up with a lumbering rush. With his gigantic, +furry bulk, it looked as if he must instantly +annihilate the slim, light creature that opposed +him. It was a dreadful place to give battle, +on that straight shelf of rock overhanging a +sheer drop of perhaps a thousand feet. But +scorn and rage together blinded the sagacity +of the bear. With a grunt he charged.</p> +<p>Not until he was within ten feet of her did +the crouching puma stir. Then she shot into the +air, as if hurled up by the release of a mighty +spring. Quick as a flash the grizzly shrank +backward upon his haunches and swept up a +huge black paw to parry the assault. But he +was not quite quick enough. The puma’s +spring overreached his guard. She landed +fairly upon his back, facing his tail; but in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span> +fraction of a second she had whirled about and +was tearing at his throat with teeth and claws, +while the terrible talons of her hinder paws +ripped at his flanks.</p> +<p>With a roar of pain and amazement the +grizzly struggled to shake her off, clutching and +striking at her with paws that at one blow could +smash in the skull of the most powerful bull. +But he could not reach her. Then he reared +up, and threw himself backwards against the +face of the rock, striving to crush her under his +enormous weight. And in this he almost succeeded. +Just in time, she writhed around and +outward, but not quite far enough, for one paw +was caught and ground to a pulp. But at the +next instant, thrust back from the rock by his +own effort, the bear toppled outward over the +brink of the shelf. Grappling madly to save +himself, he caught only the bowed loins of the +puma, who now sank her teeth once more into +his throat, while her rending claws seemed to +tear him everywhere at once. He crushed her +in his grip; and in a dreadful ball of screeching, +roaring, biting, mangling rage the two plunged +downward into the dim abyss. Once, still +locked in the death-grip, they struck upon a +jutting rock, and bounded far out into space. +Then, as the ball rolled over in falling, it came +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +apart; and separated now, though still very close +together, the two bodies fell sprawlingly, and +vanished into the blue-shadowed deeps which +the dawn had not yet reached.</p> +<p>Upon this sudden and terrible ending of the +fight appeared a bearded frontiersman who had +been trailing the grizzly for half an hour and +waiting for light enough to secure a sure shot. +With something like awe in his face he came, +and knelt down, with hands gripping cautiously, +and peered over the dreadful brink. “Gee! +But that there cat was game!” he muttered, +drawing back and sweeping a comprehensive +gaze across the stupendous landscape, as if +challenging denial of his statement. Obviously +the silences were of the same opinion, for there +came no suggestion of dissent. Carefully he +rose to his feet and pressed on towards the +cave.</p> +<p>Without hesitation he entered, for he knew +that the puma’s mate some weeks before had +been shot, far down in the valley. He found +the kittens asleep and began to fondle them. +At his touch, and the smell of him, they awoke, +spitting and clawing with all their mother’s +courage. Young as they were, their claws drew +blood abundantly. “Gritty little devils!” +growled the man good-naturedly, snatching +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span> +back his hand and wiping the blood on his +trouser-leg. Then he took off his coat, threw +it over the troublesome youngsters, rolled them +in it securely, so that not one protesting claw +could get out, and started back to the camp with +the grumbling and uneasy bundle in his arms.</p> +<p>Three months later, the two puma cubs, sleek, +fat, full of gayety as two kittens of like age, and +convinced by this time that man was the source +and origin of all good things, were sold to a +travelling collector. One, the female, was sent +down to a zoölogical garden on the Pacific coast. +The other, the male, much the larger and at the +same time the more even-tempered and amenable +to teaching, found its way to the cages of +an animal-trainer in the East.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>“King’s kind of ugly to-night, seems to me; +better keep yer eyes peeled!” said Andy Hansen, +the assistant trainer, the big, yellow-haired +Swede who knew not fear. Neither did he +know impatience or irritability; and so all the +animals, as a rule, were on their good behavior +under his calm, masterful, blue eye. Yet he +was tactful with the beasts, and given to humoring +their moods as far as convenient without +ever letting them guess it.</p> +<p>“Oh, you go chase yourself, Andy!” replied +Signor Tomaso, the trainer, with a strong New +England accent. “If I got to look out for King, +I’d better quit the business. Don’t you go +trying to make trouble between friends, Andy.”</p> +<p>“Of course, Bill, I know he’d never try to +maul <i>you</i>,” explained Hansen seriously, determined +that he should not be misunderstood in +the smallest particular. “But he’s acting curious. +Look out he don’t get into a scrap with +some of the other animals.”</p> +<p>“I reckon I kin keep ’em all straight,” answered +the trainer dryly, as he turned away to +get ready for the great performance which the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span> +audience, dimly heard beyond the canvas walls, +was breathlessly awaiting.</p> +<p>The trainer’s name was William Sparks, +and his birthplace Big Chebeague, Maine; but +his lean, swarthy face and piercing, green-brown +eyes, combined with the craving of his audiences +for a touch of the romantic, had led him to +adopt the more sonorous pseudonym of “Signor +Tomaso.” He maintained that if he went under +his own name, nobody would ever believe that +what he did could be anything wonderful. +Except for this trifling matter of the name, +there was no fake about Signor Tomaso. He +was a brilliant animal-trainer, as unacquainted +with fear as the Swede, as dominant of eye, +and of immeasurably greater experience. But +being, at the same time, more emotional, more +temperamental than his phlegmatic assistant, his +control was sometimes less steady, and now and +again he would have to assert his authority with +violence. He was keenly alive to the varying +personalities of his beasts, naturally, and hence +had favorites among them. His especial favorite, +who heartily reciprocated the attachment, +was the great puma, King, the most +intelligent and amiable of all the wild animals +that had ever come under his training whip.</p> +<p>As Hansen’s success with the animals, during +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +the few months of his experience as assistant, +had been altogether phenomenal, his chief felt +a qualm of pique upon being warned against +the big puma. He had too just an appreciation +of Hansen’s judgment, however, to quite +disregard the warning, and he turned it over +curiously in his mind as he went to his dressing-room. +Emerging a few minutes later in +the black-and-white of faultless evening dress, +without a speck on his varnished shoes, he +moved down along the front of the cages, addressing +to the occupant of each, as he passed, +a sharp, authoritative word which brought it to +attention.</p> +<p>With the strange, savage smell of the cages +in his nostrils, that bitter, acrid pungency to +which his senses never grew blunted, a new +spirit of understanding was wont to enter +Tomaso’s brain. He would feel a sudden kinship +with the wild creatures, such a direct and +instant comprehension as almost justified his +fancy that in some previous existence he had +himself been a wild man of the jungle and +spoken in their tongue. As he looked keenly +into each cage, he knew that the animal whose +eyes for that moment met his was in untroubled +mood. This, till he came to the cage containing +the latest addition to his troupe, a large +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span> +cinnamon bear, which was rocking restlessly to +and fro and grumbling to itself. The bear was +one which had been long in captivity and well +trained. Tomaso had found him docile, and +clever enough to be admitted at once to the +performing troupe. But to-night the beast’s +eyes were red with some ill-humor. Twice +the trainer spoke to him before he heeded; but +then he assumed instantly an air of mildest subservience. +The expression of a new-weaned +puppy is not more innocently mild than the look +which a bear can assume when it so desires.</p> +<p>“Ah, ha! old sport! So it’s you that’s got +a grouch on to-night; I’ll keep an eye on you!” +he muttered to himself. He snapped his heavy +whip once, and the bear obediently sat up on +its haunches, its great paws hanging meekly. +Tomaso looked it sharply in the eye. “Don’t +forget, now, and get funny!” he admonished. +Then he returned to the first cage, which contained +the puma, and went up close to the bars. +The great cat came and rubbed against him, +purring harshly.</p> +<p>“There ain’t nothing the matter with <i>you</i>, +boy, I reckon,” said Tomaso, scratching him +affectionately behind the ears. “Andy must +have wheels in his head if he thinks I’ve got to +keep my eyes peeled on <i>your</i> account.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span></p> +<p>Out beyond the iron-grilled passage, beyond +the lighted canvas walls, the sharp, metallic +noises of the workmen setting up the great performing-cage +came to a stop. There was a +burst of music from the orchestra. That, too, +ceased. The restless hum of the unseen masses +around the arena died away into an expectant +hush. It was time to go on. At the +farther end of the passage, by the closed door +leading to the performing cage, Hansen appeared. +Tomaso opened the puma’s cage. +King dropped out with a soft thud of his great +paws, and padded swiftly down the passage, his +master following. Hansen slid wide the door, +admitting a glare of light, a vast, intense rustle +of excitement; and King marched majestically +out into it, eying calmly the tier on climbing +tier of eager faces. It was his customary privilege, +this, to make the entrance alone, a good +half minute ahead of the rest of the troupe; +and he seemed to value it. Halfway around +the big cage he walked, then mounted his +pedestal, sat up very straight, and stared blandly +at the audience. A salvo of clapping ran smartly +round the tiers—King’s usual tribute, which +he had so learned to expect that any failure of +it would have dispirited him for the whole performance. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></p> +<p>Signor Tomaso had taken his stand, whip in +hand, just inside the cage, with Hansen opposite +him, to see that the animals, on entry, went +each straight to his own bench or pedestal. +Any mistake in this connection was sure to lead +to trouble, each beast being almost childishly +jealous of its rights. Inside the long passage +an attendant was opening one cage after another; +and in a second more the animals began +to appear in procession, filing out between the +immaculate Signor and the roughly clad Swede. +First came a majestic white Angora goat, carrying +high his horned and bearded head, and +stepping most daintily upon slim, black hoofs. +Close behind, and looking just ready to pounce +upon him but for dread of the Signor’s eye, +came slinking stealthily a spotted black-and-yellow +leopard, ears back and tail twitching. +He seemed ripe for mischief, as he climbed reluctantly +on to his pedestal beside the goat; +but he knew better than to even bare a claw. +And as for the white goat, with his big golden +eyes superciliously half closed, he ignored his +dangerous neighbor completely, while his jaws +chewed nonchalantly on a bit of brown shoe-lace +which he had picked up in the passage.</p> +<p>Close behind the leopard came a bored-looking +lion, who marched with listless dignity +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +straight to his place. Then another lion, who +paused in the doorway and looked out doubtfully, +blinking with distaste at the strong light. +Tomaso spoke sharply, like the snap of his +whip, whereupon the lion ran forward in haste. +But he seemed to have forgotten which was his +proper pedestal, for he hopped upon the three +nearest in turn, only to hop down again with +apologetic alacrity at the order of the cracking +whip. At last, obviously flustered, he reached +a pedestal on which he was allowed to remain. +Here he sat, blinking from side to side and +apparently much mortified.</p> +<p>The lion was followed by a running wolf, +who had shown his teeth savagely when the +lion, for a moment, trespassed upon his pedestal. +This beast was intensely interested in the +audience, and, as soon as he was in his place, +turned his head and glared with green, narrowed +eyes at the nearest spectators, as if trying +to stare them out of countenance. After the +wolf come a beautiful Bengal tiger, its black-and-golden +stripes shining as if they had been +oiled. He glided straight to his stand, sniffed +at it superciliously, and then lay down before it. +The whip snapped sharply three times, but the +tiger only shut his eyes tight. The audience +grew hushed. Tomaso ran forward, seized the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span> +beast by the back of the neck, and shook him +roughly. Whereupon the tiger half rose, opened +his great red mouth like a cavern, and roared in +his master’s face. The audience thrilled from +corner to corner, and a few cries came from +frightened women.</p> +<p>The trainer paused for an instant, to give full +effect to the situation. Then, stooping suddenly, +he lifted the tiger’s hind-quarters and deposited +them firmly on the pedestal, and left +him in that awkward position.</p> +<p>“There,” he said in a loud voice, “that’s all +the help you’ll get from me!”</p> +<p>The audience roared with instant and delighted +appreciation. The tiger gathered up +the rest of himself upon his pedestal, wiped his +face with his paw, like a cat, and settled down +complacently with a pleased assurance that he +had done the trick well.</p> +<p>At this moment the attention of the audience +was drawn to the entrance, where there seemed +to be some hitch. Tomaso snapped his whip +sharply, and shouted savage orders, but nothing +came forth. Then the big Swede, with an +agitated air, snatched up the trainer’s pitchfork, +which stood close at hand in case of emergency, +made swift passes at the empty doorway, and +jumped back. The audience was lifted fairly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +to its feet with excitement. What monster could +it be that was giving so much trouble? The +next moment, while Tomaso’s whip hissed in +vicious circles over his head, a plump little drab-colored +pug-dog marched slowly out upon the +stage, its head held arrogantly aloft. Volleys +of laughter crackled around the arena, and the +delighted spectators settled, tittering, back into +their seats.</p> +<p>The pug glanced searchingly around the +cage, then selecting the biggest of the lions as +a worthy antagonist, flew at his pedestal, barking +furious challenge. The lion glanced down +at him, looked bored at the noise, and yawned. +Apparently disappointed, the pug turned away +and sought another adversary. He saw King’s +big tail hanging down beside his pedestal. +Flinging himself upon it, he began to worry it +as if it were a rat. The next moment the tail +threshed vigorously, and the pug went rolling +end over end across the stage.</p> +<p>Picking himself up and shaking the sawdust +from his coat, the pug growled savagely and +curled his little tail into a tighter screw. Bristling +with wrath, he tiptoed menacingly back +toward the puma’s pedestal, determined to wipe +out the indignity. This time his challenge +was accepted. Tomaso’s whip snapped, but the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span> +audience was too intent to hear it. The great +puma slipped down from his pedestal, ran forward +a few steps, and crouched.</p> +<p>With a shrill snarl the pug rushed in. At +the same instant the puma sprang, making a +splendid tawny curve through the air, and +alighted ten feet behind his antagonist’s tail. +There he wheeled like lightning and crouched. +But the pug, enraged at being balked of his +vengeance, had also wheeled, and charged again +in the same half second. In the next, he had +the puma by the throat. With a dreadful +screech the great beast rolled over on his side +and stiffened out his legs. The pug drew off, +eyed him critically to make sure that he was +quite dead, then ran, barking shrill triumph, +to take possession of the victim’s place. Then +the whip cracked once more. Whereupon the +puma got up, trotted back to his pedestal, +mounted it, and tucked the pug protectingly +away between his great forepaws.</p> +<p>The applause had not quite died away when +a towering, sandy-brown bulk appeared in the +entrance to the cage. Erect upon its hind legs, +and with a musket on its shoulder, it marched +ponderously and slowly around the circle, eying +each of the sitting beasts—except the wolf—suspiciously +as it passed. The watchful eyes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span> +of both Signor Tomaso and Hansen noted that +it gave wider berth to the puma than to any of +the others, and also that the puma’s ears, at the +moment, were ominously flattened. Instantly +the long whip snapped its terse admonition to +good manners. Nothing happened, except that +the pug, from between the puma’s legs, barked +insolently. The sandy-brown bulk reached its +allotted pedestal,—which was quite absurdly +too small for it to mount,—dropped the musket +with a clatter, fell upon all fours with a loud +<i>whoof</i> of relief, and relapsed into a bear.</p> +<p>The stage now set to his satisfaction, Signor +Tomaso advanced to the centre of it. He +snapped his whip, and uttered a sharp cry +which the audience doubtless took for purest +Italian. Immediately the animals all descended +from their pedestals, and circled solemnly around +him in a series of more or less intricate evolutions, +all except the bear, who, not having yet +been initiated into this beast quadrille, kept his +place and looked scornful. At another signal +the evolutions ceased, and all the beasts, except +one of the lions, hurried back to their places. +The lion, with the bashful air of a boy who gets +up to “speak his piece” at a school examination, +lingered in the middle of the stage. A +rope was brought. The Swede took one end +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +of it, the attendant who had brought it took +the other, and between them they began to +swing it, very slowly, as a great skipping-rope. +At an energetic command from Signor Tomaso +the lion slipped into the swinging circle, and +began to skip in a ponderous and shamefaced +fashion. The house thundered applause. For +perhaps half a minute the strange performance +continued, the whip snapping rhythmically with +every descent of the rope. Then all at once, +as if he simply could not endure it for another +second, the lion bolted, head down, clambered +upon his pedestal, and shut his eyes hard as if +expecting a whipping. But as nothing happened +except a roar of laughter from the seats, +he opened them again and glanced from side +to side complacently, as if to say, “Didn’t I +get out of that neatly?”</p> +<p>The next act was a feat of teetering. A +broad and massive teeter-board was brought +in, and balanced across a support about two +feet high. The sulky leopard, at a sign from +Tomaso, slouched up to it, pulled one end to +the ground, and mounted. At the centre he +balanced cautiously for a moment till it tipped, +then crept on to the other end, and crouched +there, holding it down as if his very life depended +on it. Immediately the white goat dropped from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +his pedestal, minced daintily over, skipped up +upon the centre of the board, and mounted to +the elevated end. His weight was not sufficient +to lift, or even to disturb, the leopard, who kept +the other end anchored securely. But the goat +seemed to like his high and conspicuous position, +for he maintained it with composure and +stared around with great condescension upon the +other beasts.</p> +<p>The goat having been given time to demonstrate +his unfitness for the task he had undertaken, +Tomaso’s whip cracked again. Instantly +King descended from his pedestal, ran +over to the teeter-board, and mounted it at the +centre. The goat, unwilling to be dispossessed +of his high place, stamped and butted at him +indignantly, but with one scornful sweep of his +great paw the puma brushed him off to the sawdust, +and took his place at the end of the board. +Snarling and clutching at the cleats, the leopard +was hoisted into the air, heavily outweighed. +The crowd applauded; but the performance, +obviously, was not yet perfect. Now came the +white goat’s opportunity. He hesitated a moment, +till he heard a word from Tomaso. Then +he sprang once more upon the centre of the +board, faced King, and backed up inch by inch +towards the leopard till the latter began to descend. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +At this point of balance the white goat +had one forefoot just on the pivot of the board. +With a dainty, dancing motion, and a proud +tossing of his head, he now threw his weight +slowly backward and forward. The great teeter +worked to perfection. Signor Tomaso was kept +bowing to round after round of applause while +the leopard, the goat, and King returned proudly +to their places.</p> +<p>After this, four of the red-and-yellow uniformed +attendants ran in, each carrying a large +hoop. They stationed themselves at equal distances +around the circumference of the cage, +holding the hoops out before them at a height +of about four feet from the ground. At the +command of Tomaso, the animals all formed +in procession—though not without much cracking +of the whip and vehement command—and +went leaping one after the other through the +hoops—all except the pug, who tried in vain +to jump so high, and the bear, who, not knowing +how to jump at all, simply marched around and +pretended not to see that the hoops were there. +Then four other hoops, covered with white +paper, were brought in, and head first through +them the puma led the way. When it came +to the bear’s turn, the whip cracked a special +signal. Whereupon, instead of ignoring the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span> +hoop as he had done before, he stuck his head +through it and marched off with it hanging on +his neck. All four hoops he gathered up in this +way, and, retiring with them to his place, stood +shuffling restlessly and grunting with impatience +until he was relieved of the awkward burden.</p> +<p>A moment later four more hoops were handed +to the attendants. They looked like the first +lot; but the attendants took them with hooked +handles of iron and held them out at arm’s length. +Touched with a match, they burst instantly into +leaping yellow flames; whereupon all the beasts, +except King, stirred uneasily on their pedestals. +The whip snapped with emphasis; and all the +beasts—except King, who sat eying the flames +tranquilly, and the bear, who whined his disapproval, +but knew that he was not expected to +take part in this act—formed again in procession, +and ran at the flaming hoops as if to jump +through them as before. But each, on arriving +at a hoop, crouched flat and scurried under it +like a frightened cat—except the white goat, +which pranced aside and capered past derisively. +Pretending to be much disappointed in them, +Signor Tomaso ordered them all back to their +places, and, folding his arms, stood with his +head lowered as if wondering what to do about +it. Upon this, King descended proudly from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span> +his pedestal and approached the blazing terrors. +With easiest grace and nonchalance he lifted +his lithe body, and went bounding lightly +through the hoops, one after the other. The +audience stormed its applause. Twice around +this terrifying circuit he went, as indifferent to +the writhing flames as if they had been so much +grass waving in the wind. Then he stopped +abruptly, turned his head, and looked at Tomaso +in expectation. The latter came up, fondled +his ears, and assured him that he had done +wonders. Then King returned to his place, +elation bristling in his whiskers.</p> +<p>While the flaming hoops were being rushed +from the ring and the audience was settling +down again to the quiet of unlimited expectation, +a particularly elaborate act was being prepared. +A massive wooden stand, with shelves +and seats at various heights, was brought in. +Signor Tomaso, coiling the lash of his whip and +holding the heavy handle, with its loaded butt, as +a sceptre, took his place on a somewhat raised +seat at the centre of the frame. Hansen, with his +pitchfork in one hand and a whip like Tomaso’s +in the other, drew nearer; and the audience, +with a thrill, realized that something more than +ordinarily dangerous was on the cards. The +tiger came and stretched itself at full length before +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span> +Tomaso, who at once appropriated him as +a footstool. The bear and the biggest of the +lions posted themselves on either side of their +master, rearing up like the armorial supporters +of some illustrious escutcheon, and resting their +mighty forepaws apparently on their master’s +shoulders, though in reality on two narrow +little shelves placed there for the purpose. +Another lion came and laid his huge head on +Tomaso’s knees, as if doing obeisance. By this +time all the other animals were prowling about +the stand, peering this way and that, as if trying +to remember their places; and the big Swede +was cracking his whip briskly, with curt, deep-toned +commands, to sharpen up their memories. +Only King seemed quite clear as to what he had +to do—which was to lay his tawny body along the +shelf immediately over the heads of the lion and +the bear; but as he mounted the stand from the +rear, his ears went back and he showed a curious +reluctance to fulfil his part. Hansen’s keen eyes +noted this at once, and his whip snapped emphatically +in the air just above the great puma’s +nose. Still King hesitated. The lion paid no +attention whatever, but the bear glanced up with +reddening eyes and a surly wagging of his head. +It was all a slight matter, too slight to catch the +eye or the uncomprehending thoughts of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span> +audience. But a grave, well-dressed man, with +copper-colored face, high cheek-bones and +straight, coal-black hair, who sat close to the +front, turned to a companion and said:—</p> +<p>“Those men are good trainers, but they don’t +know everything about pumas. <i>We</i> know that +there is a hereditary feud between the pumas +and the bears, and that when they come together +there’s apt to be trouble.”</p> +<p>The speaker was a full-blooded Sioux, and a +graduate of one of the big Eastern universities. +He leaned forward with a curious fire in his deep-set, +piercing eyes, as King, unwillingly obeying +the mandates of the whip, dropped down and +stretched out upon his shelf, his nervous forepaws +not more than a foot above the bear’s head. +His nostrils were twitching as if they smelled +something unutterably distasteful, and his thick +tail looked twice its usual size. The Sioux, +who, alone of all present, understood these signs, +laid an involuntary hand of warning upon his +companion’s knee.</p> +<p>Just what positions the other animals were +about to take will never be known. King’s +sinews tightened. “Ha-ow!” grunted the +Sioux, reverting in his excitement to his ancient +utterance. There was a lightning sweep of +King’s paw, a shout from Hansen, a <i>wah</i> of surprise +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span> +and pain from the bear. King leaped +back to the top of the stand to avoid the expected +counter-stroke. But not against him did +the bear’s rage turn. The maddened beast +seemed to conclude that his master had betrayed +him. With a roar he struck at Tomaso with +the full force of his terrible forearm. Tomaso +was in the very act of leaping forward from his +seat, when the blow caught him full on the +shoulder, shattering the bones, ripping the whole +side out of his coat, and hurling him senseless +to the floor.</p> +<p>The change in the scene was instantaneous +and appalling. Most of the animals, startled, +and dreading immediate punishment, darted for +their pedestals,—<i>any</i> pedestals that they found +within reach,—and fought savagely for the possession +of the first they came to. The bear fell +furiously upon the body of Tomaso. Cries and +shrieks arose from the spectators. Hansen +rushed to the rescue, his fork clutched in both +hands. Attendants, armed with forks or iron +bars, seemed to spring up from nowhere. But +before any one could reach the spot, an appalling +screech tore across the uproar, and King’s +yellow body, launched from the top of the stand, +fell like a thunderbolt upon the bear’s back.</p> +<p>The shock rolled the bear clean over. While +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +he was clawing about wildly, in the effort to +grapple with his assailant, Hansen dragged +aside the still unconscious Tomaso, and two attendants +carried him hurriedly from the stage.</p> +<p>Audience and stage alike were now in a sort +of frenzy. Animals were fighting here and +there in tangled groups; but for the moment +all eyes were riveted on the deadly struggle +which occupied the centre of the stage.</p> +<p>For all that he had less than a quarter the +weight and nothing like a quarter the bulk of +his gigantic adversary, the puma, through the +advantage of his attack, was having much the +best of the fight. Hansen had no time for sentiment, +no time to concern himself as to whether +his chief was dead or alive. His business was +to save valuable property by preventing the +beasts from destroying each other. It mattered +not to him, now, that King had come so effectively +to Tomaso’s rescue. Prodding him mercilessly +with his fork, and raining savage blows +upon his head, he strove, in a cold rage, to +drive him off; but in vain. But other keepers, +meanwhile, had run in with ropes and iron bars. +A few moments more and both combatants were +securely lassoed. Then they were torn apart +by main force, streaming with blood. Blinded +by blankets thrown over their heads, and hammered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +into something like subjection, they were +dragged off at a rush and slammed unceremoniously +into their dens. With them out of the +way, it was a quick matter to dispose of the +other fights, though not till after the white goat +had been killed to satisfy that ancient grudge +of the leopard’s, and the wolf had been cruelly +mauled for having refused to give up his pedestal +to one of the excited lions. Only the pug +had come off unscathed, having had the presence +of mind to dart under the foundations of +the frame at the first sign of trouble, and stay +there. When all the other animals had been +brought to their senses and driven off, one by +one, to their cages, he came forth from his hiding +and followed dejectedly, the curl quite taken +out of his confident tail. Then word went +round among the spectators that Tomaso was +not dead—that, though badly injured, he would +recover; and straightway they calmed down, +with a complacent sense of having got the value +of their money. The great cage was taken +apart and carried off. The stage was speedily +transformed. And two trick comedians, with +slippers that flapped a foot beyond their toes, +undertook to wipe out the memory of what had +happened.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>The show was touring the larger towns of +the Northwest. On the following day it +started, leaving Tomaso behind in hospital, +with a shattered shoulder and bitter wrath in +his heart. At the next town, Hansen took +Tomaso’s place, but, for two reasons, with a +sadly maimed performance. He had not yet +acquired sufficient control of the animals to +dare all Tomaso’s acts; and the troupe was +lacking some of its most important performers. +The proud white goat was dead. The bear, +the wolf, and one of the lions were laid up with +their wounds. And as for the great puma, +though <i>he</i> had come off with comparatively +little hurt, his temper had apparently been quite +transformed. Hansen could do nothing with +him. Whether it was that he was sick for +Tomaso, whom he adored, or that he stewed +in a black rage over the blows and pitchforkings, +hitherto unknown to him, no one could +surely say. He would do nothing but crouch, +brooding, sullen and dangerous, at the back of +his cage. Hansen noted the green light flickering +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +fitfully across his pale, wide eyes, and +prudently refrained from pressing matters.</p> +<p>He was right. For, as a matter of fact, it +was against the big Swede exclusively, and +not against man in general, that King was +nursing his grudge. In a dim way it had got +into his brain that Hansen had taken sides with +the bear against him and Tomaso, and he +thirsted for vengeance. At the same time, he +felt that Tomaso had deserted him. Day by +day, as he brooded, the desire for escape—a +desire which he had never known before—grew +in his heart. Vaguely, perhaps, he +dreamed that he would go and find Tomaso. +At any rate, he would go—somewhere, anywhere, +away from this world which had turned +unfriendly to him. When this feeling grew +dominant, he would rise suddenly and go +prowling swiftly up and down behind the bars +of his cage like a wild creature just caught.</p> +<p>Curiously enough—for it is seldom indeed +that Fate responds to the longing of such exiles +from the wild—his opportunity came. +Late at night the show reached a little town +among the foothills. The train had been delayed +for hours. The night was dark. Everything +was in confusion, and all nerves on edge. +The short road from the station to the field +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +where the tents were to be set up was in bad +repair, or had never been really a road. It ran +along the edge of a steep gully. In the darkness +one wheel of the van containing King’s cage +dropped to the hub into a yawning rut. Under +the violence of the jolt a section of the edge +of the bank gave way and crashed down to +the bottom of the gully, dragging with it the +struggling and screaming horses. The cage +roof was completely smashed in.</p> +<p>To King’s eyes the darkness was but a +twilight, pleasant and convenient. He saw +an opening big enough to squeeze through; +and beyond it, beyond the wild shouting and +the flares of swung lanterns, a thick wood dark +beneath the paler sky. Before any one could +get down to the wreck, he was out and +free and away. Crouching with belly to the +earth, he ran noiselessly, and gained the +woods before any one knew he had escaped. +Straight on he ran, watchful but swift, heading +for the places where the silence lay +heaviest. Within five minutes Hansen had +half the men of the show, with ropes, forks, +and lanterns, hot on the trail. Within fifteen +minutes, half the male population of +the town was engaged in an enthusiastic +puma hunt. But King was already far away, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span> +and making progress that would have been +impossible to an ordinary wild puma. His +life among men had taught him nothing about +trees, so he had no unfortunate instinct to +climb one and hide among the branches to +see what his pursuers would be up to. His +idea of getting away—and, perhaps, of finding +his vanished master—was to keep right +on. And this he did, though of course not +at top speed, the pumas not being a race of +long-winded runners like the wolves. In an +hour or two he reached a rocky and precipitous +ridge, quite impassable to men except +by day. This he scaled with ease, and at the +top, in the high solitude, felt safe enough to +rest a little while. Then he made his way +down the long, ragged western slopes, and at +daybreak came into a wild valley of woods and +brooks.</p> +<p>By this time King was hungry. But game +was plentiful. After two or three humiliating +failures with rabbits—owing to his inexperience +in stalking anything more elusive than +a joint of dead mutton, he caught a fat wood-chuck, +and felt his self-respect return. Here +he might have been tempted to halt, although, +to be sure, he saw no sign of Tomaso, but +beyond the valley, still westward, he saw mountains, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +which drew him strangely. In particular, +one uplifted peak, silver and sapphire as +the clear day, and soaring supreme over the +jumble of lesser summits, attracted him. He +knew now that that was where he was going, +and thither he pressed on with singleness of +purpose, delaying only when absolutely necessary, +to hunt or to sleep. The cage, the stage, +the whip, Hansen, the bear, even the proud +excitement of the flaming hoops, were swiftly +fading to dimness in his mind, overwhelmed +by the inrush of new, wonderful impressions. +At last, reaching the lower, granite-ribbed flanks +of old White Face itself, he began to feel curiously +content, and no longer under the imperative +need of haste.</p> +<p>Here it was good hunting. Yet, though well +satisfied, he made no effort to find himself a +lair to serve as headquarters, but kept gradually +working his way onward up the mountain. +The higher he went, the more content he grew, +till even his craving for his master was forgotten. +Latent instincts began to spring into life, +and he lapsed into the movements and customs +of the wild puma. Only when he came upon a +long, massive footprint in the damp earth by a +spring, or a wisp of pungent-smelling fur on +the rubbed and clawed bark of a tree, memory +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span> +would rush back upon him fiercely. His ears +would flatten down, his eyes would gleam green, +his tail would twitch, and crouching to earth he +would glare into every near-by thicket for a +sight of his mortal foe. He had not yet learned +to discriminate perfectly between an old scent +and a new.</p> +<p>About this time a hunter from the East, who +had his camp a little farther down the valley, +was climbing White Face on the trail of a large +grizzly. He was lithe of frame, with a lean, +dark, eager face, and he followed the perilous +trail with a lack of prudence which showed a +very inadequate appreciation of grizzlies. The +trail ran along a narrow ledge cresting an +abrupt but bushy steep. At the foot of the +steep, crouched along a massive branch and +watching for game of some sort to pass by, lay +the big puma. Attracted by a noise above +his head he glanced up, and saw the hunter. +It was certainly not Tomaso, but it looked like +him; and the puma’s piercing eyes grew almost +benevolent. He had no ill-feeling to any man +but the Swede.</p> +<p>Other ears than those of the puma had heard +the unwary hunter’s footsteps. The grizzly had +caught them and stopped to listen. Yes, he +was being followed. In a rage he wheeled +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +about and ran back noiselessly to see who it was +that could dare such presumption. Turning a +shoulder of rock, he came face to face with the +hunter, and at once, with a deep, throaty grunt, +he charged.</p> +<p>The hunter had not even time to get his +heavy rifle to his shoulder. He fired once, +point blank, from the hip. The shot took effect +somewhere, but in no vital spot evidently, for it +failed to check, even for one second, that terrific +charge. To meet the charge was to be blasted +out of being instantly. There was but one +way open. The hunter sprang straight out +from the ledge with a lightning vision of thick, +soft-looking bushes far below him. The slope +was steep, but by no means perpendicular, and +he struck in a thicket which broke the full +shock of the fall. His rifle flew far out of his +hands. He rebounded, clutching at the bushes; +but he could not check himself. Rolling over +and over, his eyes and mouth choked with dust +and leaves, he bumped on down the slope, and +brought up at last, dazed but conscious, in a +swampy hole under the roots of a huge over-leaning +tree.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a> +<img src='images/illus-064.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 297px; height: 457px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 297px;'> +“Almost over his head, on a limb not six feet distant, crouched, ready to spring, the biggest puma he had ever seen.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span></div> +<p>Striving to clear his eyes and mouth, his +first realization was that he could not lift his +left arm. The next, that he seemed to have +jumped from the frying-pan into the fire. His +jaws set themselves desperately, as he drew the +long hunting-knife from his belt and struggled +up to one knee, resolved to at least make his +last fight a good one. Almost over his head, +on a limb not six feet distant, crouched, ready +to spring, the biggest puma he had ever seen. +At this new confronting of doom his brain +cleared, and his sinews seemed to stretch with +fresh courage. It was hopeless, of course, as +he knew, but his heart refused to recognize the +fact. Then he noted with wonder that not at +him at all was the puma looking, but far over +his head. He followed that look, and again his +heart sank, this time quite beyond the reach of +hope. There was the grizzly coming headlong +down the slope, foam slavering from his red +jaws.</p> +<p>Bewildered, and feeling like a rat in a hole, +the hunter tried to slip around the base of the +tree, desperately hoping to gain some post of +vantage whence to get home at least two or +three good blows before the end. But the moment +he moved, the grizzly fairly hurled himself +downwards. The hunter jumped aside and +wheeled, with his knife lifted, his disabled left +arm against the tree trunk. But in that same +instant, a miracle! Noiselessly the puma’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +tawny length shot out overhead and fell upon +the bear in the very mid-rush of the charge.</p> +<p>At once it seemed as if some cataclysmic +upheaval were in progress. The air, as it were, +went mad with screeches, yells, snarls, and +enormous thick gruntings. The bushes went +down on every side. Now the bear was on +top, now the puma. They writhed over and +over, and for some seconds the hunter stared +with stupefaction. Then he recovered his wits. +He saw that the puma, for some inexplicable +reason, had come to his help. But he saw, also, +that the gigantic grizzly must win. Instead of +slipping off and leaving his ally to destruction, +he ran up, waited a moment for the perfect opportunity, +and drove his knife to the hilt into +the very centre of the back of the bear’s neck, +just where it joined the skull. Then he sprang +aside.</p> +<p>Strangely the noise died away. The huge +bulk of the grizzly sank slowly into a heap, +the puma still raking it with the eviscerating +weapons of his hinder claws. A moment more +and he seemed to realize that he had achieved +a sudden triumph. Bleeding, hideously mangled, +but still, apparently, full of fighting vigor, +he disengaged himself from the unresisting mass +and looked around him proudly. His wild eyes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span> +met those of the hunter, and the hunter had an +anxious moment. But the great beast looked +away again at once, and seemed, in fact, to +forget all about the man’s existence. He lay +down and commenced licking assiduously at +his wounds. Filled with astonishment, and just +now beginning to realize the anguish in his +broken arm, the hunter stole discreetly away.</p> +<p>After an hour or two the puma arose, rather +feebly, passed the body of his slain foe without +a glance, and clambered up the slope to the +ledge. He wanted a place of refuge now, a +retreat that would be safe and cool and dark. +Up and up he followed the winding of that narrow +trail, and came out at last upon a rocky +platform before a black-mouthed cave. He +knew well enough that he had killed the owner +of the cave, so he entered without hesitation.</p> +<p>Here, for two days, he lay in concealment, +licking his wounds. He had no desire to eat; +but two or three times, because the wounds +fevered him, he came forth and descended the +trail a little way to where he had seen a cold +spring bubbling from the rocks. His clean +blood, in that high, clean air, quickly set itself +to the healing of the hurts, and strength flowed +back swiftly into his torn sinews. At dawn of +the third day he felt himself suddenly hungry, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span> +and realizing that he must seek some small game, +even though not yet ready for any difficult hunting, +he crept forth, just as the first thin glory of +rose light came washing into the cave. But +before he started down the trail he paused, and +stood staring, with some dim half memory, out +across the transparent, hollow spaces, the jumbled +hilltops, misty, gray-green forests, and steel-bright +loops of water to which he had at last +come home.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_MONARCH_OF_PARK_BARREN' id='THE_MONARCH_OF_PARK_BARREN'></a> +<h2>THE MONARCH OF PARK BARREN</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></div> +<h2>The Monarch of Park Barren</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>From the cold spring lakes and sombre +deeps of spruce forest, over which the +bald granite peak of Old Saugamauk kept endless +guard, came reports of a moose of more +than royal stature, whose antlers beggared all +records for symmetry and spread. From a +home-coming lumber cruiser here, a wandering +Indian there, the word came straggling in, till +the settlements about the lower reaches of the +river began to believe there might be some truth +behind the wild tales. Then—for it was autumn, +the season of gold and crimson falling +leaves, and battles on the lake-shores under the +white full moon—there followed stories of +other moose seen fleeing in terror, with torn +flanks and bleeding shoulders; and it was realized +that the prowess of the great moose bull +was worthy of his stature and his adornment. +Apparently he was driving all the other bulls +off the Saugamauk ranges.</p> +<p>By this time the matter became of interest +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +to the guides. The stories gathered in from +different quarters, so it was hard to guess just +where the gigantic stranger was most likely to +be found. To north and northeast of the mountain +went the two Armstrongs, seeking the +stranger’s trail; while to south and southeastward +explored the Crimmins boys. If real, the +giant bull had to be located; if a myth, he had +to be exploded before raising impossible hopes +in the hearts of visiting sportsmen.</p> +<p>Then suddenly arrived corroboration of all +the stories. It came from Charley Crimmins. +He was able to testify with conviction that the +giant bull was no figment of Indian’s imagination +or lumberman’s inventive humor. For it +was he whose search had been successful.</p> +<p>In fact, he might have been content to have +it just a shade less overwhelmingly successful. +That there is such a thing as an embarrassment +of success was borne in upon him when he +found himself jumping madly for the nearest +tree, with a moose that seemed to have the +stature of an elephant crashing through the +thickets close behind him. He reached the +tree just in time to swing well up among its +branches. Then the tree quivered as the furious +animal flung his bulk against it. Crimmins +had lost his rifle in the flight. He could do +nothing but sit shivering on his branch, making +remarks so uncomplimentary that the great bull, +if he could have appreciated them, would probably +have established himself under that tree +till vengeance was accomplished. But not +knowing that he had been insulted, he presently +grew tired of snorting at his captive, and wandered +off through the woods in search of more +exciting occupation. Then, indignant beyond +words, Charley descended from his retreat, and +took his authoritative report in to the Settlements.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a> +<img src='images/illus-072.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 282px; height: 479px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 282px;'> +“He reached the tree just in time to swing well up among the branches.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div> +<p>At first it was thought that there would be +great hunting around Old Saugamauk, till +those tremendous antlers should fall a prize +to some huntsman not only lucky but rich. +For no one who could not pay right handsomely +for the chance might hope to be guided +to the range where such an unequalled trophy +was to be won. But when the matter, in all +its authenticated details, came to the ears of +Uncle Adam, dean of the guides of that region, +he said “<i>No</i>” with an emphasis that left no +room for argument. There should be no hunting +around the slopes of Saugamauk for several +seasons. If the great bull was the terror they +made him out to be, then he had driven all the +other bulls from his range, and there was nothing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span> +to be hunted but his royal self. “Well,” +decreed the far-seeing old guide, “we’ll let him +be for a bit, till his youngsters begin to grow +up like him. Then there’ll be no heads in all +the rest of New Brunswick like them that comes +from Old Saugamauk.” This decree was accepted, +the New Brunswick guides being among +those who are wise enough to cherish the golden-egged +goose.</p> +<p>In the course of that season the giant moose +was seen several times by guides and woodsmen—but +usually from a distance, as the inconsiderate +impetuosity of his temper was not favorable +to close or calm observation. The only +people who really knew him were those who, +like Charley Crimmins, had looked down upon +his grunting wrath from the branches of a substantial +tree.</p> +<p>Upon certain important details, however, all +observers agreed. The stranger (for it was +held that, driven by some southward wandering +instinct, he had come down from the wild +solitudes of the Gaspé Peninsula) was reckoned +to be a good eight inches taller at the shoulders +than any other moose of New Brunswick record, +and several hundredweight heavier. His antlers, +whose symmetry and palmation seemed +perfect, were estimated to have a spread of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span> +sixty inches at least. That was the conservative +estimate of Uncle Adam, who had made +his observations with remarkable composure +from a tree somewhat less lofty and sturdy +than he would have chosen had he had the +time for choice.</p> +<p>In color the giant was so dark that his back +and flanks looked black except in the strongest +sunlight. His mighty head, with long, deeply +overhanging muzzle, was of a rich brown; while +the under parts of his body, and the inner surfaces +of his long, straight legs, were of a rusty +fawn color. His “bell”—as the shaggy appendix +that hangs from the neck of a bull +moose, a little below the throat, is called—was +of unusual development, and the coarse hair +adorning it peculiarly glossy. To bring down +such a magnificent prize, and to carry off such +a trophy as that unmatched head and antlers, +the greatest sportsmen of America would have +begrudged no effort or expense. But though +the fame of the wonderful animal was cunningly +allowed to spread to the ears of all sportsmen, +its habitat seemed miraculously elusive. It +was heard of on the Upsalquitch, the Nipisiguit, +the Dungarvan, the Little Sou’west, but +never, by some strange chance, in the country +around Old Saugamauk. Visiting sportsmen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span> +hunted, spent money, dreamed dreams, followed +great trails and brought down splendid heads, +all over the Province; but no stranger with a +rifle was allowed to see the proud antlers of +the monarch of Saugamauk.</p> +<p>The right of the splendid moose to be called +the Monarch of Saugamauk was settled beyond +all question one moonlight night when +the surly old bear who lived in a crevasse far +up under the stony crest of the mountain came +down and attempted to dispute it. The wild +kindreds, as a rule, are most averse to unnecessary +quarrels. Unless their food or their mates +are at stake, they will fight only under extreme +provocation, or when driven to bay. They are +not ashamed to run away, rather than press +matters too far and towards a doubtful issue. +A bull moose and a bear are apt to give each +other a wide berth, respecting each other’s +prowess. But there are exceptions to all rules, +especially where bears, the most individual of +our wild cousins, are concerned. And this +bear was in a particularly savage mood. Just +in the mating season he had lost his mate, who +had been shot by an Indian. The old bear did +not know what had happened to her, but he +was ready to avenge her upon any one who +might cross his path. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span></p> +<p>Unluckily for him, it was the great moose +who crossed his path; and the luck was all +Charley Crimmins’s, who chanced to be the +spectator of what happened there beside the +moonlit lake.</p> +<p>Charley was on his way over to the head +of the Nipisiguit, when it occurred to him that +he would like to get another glimpse of the +great beast who had so ignominiously discomfited +him. Peeling a sheet of bark from +the nearest white birch, he twisted himself a +“moose-call,” then climbed into the branches +of a willow which spread out over the edge of +the shining lake. From this concealment he +began to utter persuasively the long, uncouth, +melancholy call by which the moose cow summons +her mate.</p> +<p>Sometimes these vast northern solitudes seem, +for hours together, as if they were empty of all +life. It is as if a wave of distrust had passed +simultaneously over all the creatures of the wild. +At other times the lightest occasion suffices to +call life out of the stillness. Crimmins had not +sounded more than twice his deceptive call, +when the bushes behind the strip of beech +crackled sharply. But it was not the great bull +that stepped forth into the moonlight. It was +a cow moose. She came out with no effort +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +at concealment, and walked up and down +the beach, angrily looking for her imagined +rival.</p> +<p>When the uneasy animal’s back was towards +him, Crimmins called again, a short, soft call. +The cow jumped around as if she had been +struck, and the stiff hair along her neck stood +up with jealous rage. But there was no rival +anywhere in sight, and she stood completely +mystified, shaking her ungainly head, peering +into the dark undergrowth, and snorting tempestuously +as if challenging the invisible rival +to appear. Then suddenly her angry ridge of +hair sank down, she seemed to shrink together +upon herself, and with a convulsive bound she +sprang away from the dark undergrowth, landing +with a splash in the shallow water along +shore. At the same instant the black branches +were burst apart, and a huge bear, forepaws upraised +and jaws wide open, launched himself +forth into the open.</p> +<p>Disappointed at missing his first spring, the +bear rushed furiously upon his intended victim, +but the cow, for all her apparent awkwardness, +was as agile as a deer. Barely eluding +his rush, she went shambling up the shore at +a terrific pace, plunged into the woods, and +vanished. The bear checked himself at the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +water’s edge, and turned, holding his nose high +in the air, as if disdaining to acknowledge that +he had been foiled.</p> +<p>Crimmins hesitatingly raised his rifle. Should +he bag this bear, or should he wait and sound +his call again a little later, in the hope of yet +summoning the great bull? As he hesitated, +and the burly black shape in the moonlight also +stood hesitating, the thickets rustled and parted +almost beneath him, and the mysterious bull +strode forth with his head held high.</p> +<p>He had come in answer to what he thought +was the summons of his mate; but when he saw +the bear, his rage broke all bounds. He doubtless +concluded that the bear had driven his mate +away. With a bawling roar he thundered down +upon the intruder.</p> +<p>The bear, as we have seen, was in no mood +to give way. His small eyes glowed suddenly +red with vengeful fury, as he wheeled and gathered +himself, half crouching upon his haunches, +to meet the tremendous attack. In this attitude +all his vast strength was perfectly poised, +ready for use in any direction. The moose, +had he been attacking a rival of his own kind, +would have charged with antlers down, but +against all other enemies the weapons he relied +upon were his gigantic hoofs, edged like chisels. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span> +As he reached his sullenly waiting antagonist +he reared on his hind-legs, towering like a black +rock about to fall and crush whatever was in +its path. Like pile-drivers his fore-hoofs struck +downwards, one closely following the other.</p> +<p>The bear swung aside as lightly as a weasel, +and eluded, but only by a hair’s breadth, that +destructive stroke. As he wheeled he delivered +a terrific, swinging blow, with his armed forepaw, +upon his assailant’s shoulder.</p> +<p>The blow was a fair one. Any ordinary +moose bull would have gone down beneath it, +with his shoulder-joint shattered to splinters. +But this great bull merely staggered, and stood +for a second in amazement. Then he whipped +about and darted upon the bear with a sort of +hoarse scream, his eyes flashing with a veritable +madness. He neither reared to strike, nor lowered +his antlers to gore, but seemed intent upon +tearing the foe with his teeth, as a mad horse +might. At the sight of such resistless fury +Crimmins involuntarily tightened his grip on +his branch and muttered: “That ain’t no <i>moose</i>! +It’s a—” But before he could finish his comparison, +astonishment stopped him. The bear, +unable with all his strength and weight to withstand +the shock of that straight and incredibly +swift charge, had been rolled over and over +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span> +down the gentle slope of the beach. At the +same moment the moose, blinded by his rage +and unable to check himself, had tripped over +a log that lay hidden in the bushes, and fallen +headlong on his nose.</p> +<p>Utterly cowed by the overwhelming completeness +of this overthrow, the bear was on +his feet again before his conqueror, and scurrying +to refuge like a frightened rat. He made +for the nearest tree, and that nearest tree, to +Crimmins’s dismay, was Crimmins’s. The startled +guide swung himself hastily to a higher +branch which stretched well out over the water.</p> +<p>Before the great bull could recover his footing, +the fugitive had gained a good start. But +desperately swift though he was, the doom that +thundered behind him was swifter, and caught +him just as he was scrambling into the tree. +Those implacable antlers ploughed his hind-quarters +remorselessly, till he squealed with pain +and terror. His convulsive scrambling raised +him, the next instant, beyond reach of that punishment; +but immediately the great bull reared, +and struck him again and again with his terrible +hoofs, almost crushing the victim’s maimed +haunches. The bear bawled again, but maintained +his clutch of desperation, and finally drew +himself up to a safe height, where he crouched +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +on a branch, whimpering pitifully, while the +victor raged below.</p> +<p>At this moment the bear caught sight of +Crimmins eying him steadily. To the cowed +beast this was a new peril menacing him. With +a frightened glance he crawled out on another +branch, as far as it could be trusted to support +his weight. And there he clung, huddled and +shivering like a beaten puppy, looking from the +man to the moose, from the moose to the man, +as if he feared they might both jump at him +together.</p> +<p>But the sympathies of Crimmins were now +entirely with the unfortunate bear, his fellow-prisoner, +and he looked down at the arrogant +tyrant below with a sincere desire to humble +his pride with a rifle-bullet. But he was too +far-seeing a guide for that. He contented himself +with climbing a little lower till he attracted +the giant’s attention to himself, and then dropping +half a handful of tobacco, dry and powdery, +into those snorting red nostrils.</p> +<p>It was done with nice precision, just as the +giant drew in his breath. He got the fullest +benefit of the pungent dose; and such trivial +matters as bears and men were instantly forgotten +in the paroxysms which seized him. +His roaring sneezes seemed as if they would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span> +rend his mighty bulk asunder. He fairly stood +upon his head, burrowing his muzzle into the +moist leafage, as he strove to purge the exasperating +torment from his nostrils. Crimmins +laughed till he nearly fell out of the tree, while +the bear forgot to whimper as he stared in terrified +bewilderment. At last the moose stuck +his muzzle up in the air and began backing +blindly over stones and bushes, as if trying to +get away from his own nose. Plump into four +or five feet of icy water he backed. The shock +seemed to give him an idea. He plunged his +head under, and fell to wallowing and snorting +and raising such a prodigious disturbance +that all the lake shores rang with it. Then he +bounced out upon the beach again, and dashed +off through the woods as if a million hornets +were at his ears.</p> +<p>Weak with laughter, Crimmins climbed +down out of his refuge, waved an amiable farewell +to the stupefied bear, and resumed the trail +for the Nipisiguit.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>For the next two years the fame of the great +moose kept growing, adding to itself various +wonders and extravagances till it assumed +almost the dimensions of a myth. Sportsmen +came from all over the world in the hope of +bagging those unparalleled antlers. They shot +moose, caribou, deer, and bear, and went away +disappointed only in one regard. But at last +they began to swear that the giant was a mere +fiction of the New Brunswick guides, designed +to lure the hunters. The guides, therefore, +began to think it was time to make good and +show their proofs. Even Uncle Adam was +coming around to this view, when suddenly +word came from the Crown Land Department +at Fredericton that the renowned moose must +not be allowed to fall to any rifle. A special +permit had been issued for his capture and +shipment out of the country, that he might be +the ornament of a famous Zoölogical Park and +a lively proclamation of what the New Brunswick +forests could produce. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></p> +<p>The idea of taking the King of Saugamauk +alive seemed amusing to the guides, and to +Crimmins particularly. But Uncle Adam, +whose colossal frame and giant strength seemed +to put him peculiarly in sympathy with the +great moose bull, declared that it could and +should be done, for he would do it. Upon this, +scepticism vanished, even from the smile of +Charley Crimmins, who voiced the general +sentiment when he said,—</p> +<p>“Uncle Adam ain’t the man to bite off any +more than he can chew!”</p> +<p>But Uncle Adam was in no hurry. He had +such a respect for his adversary that he would +not risk losing a single point in the approaching +contest. He waited till the mating season +and the hunting season were long past, and the +great bull’s pride and temper somewhat cooled. +He waited, moreover, for the day to come—along +towards midwinter—when those titanic +antlers should loosen at their roots, and fall off +at the touch of the first light branch that might +brush against them. This, the wise old woodsman +knew, would be the hour of the King’s +least arrogance. Then, too, the northern +snows would be lying deep and soft and encumbering, +over all the upland slopes whereon the +moose loved to browse. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span></p> +<p>Along toward mid-February word came to +Uncle Adam that the Monarch had “yarded +up,” as the phrase goes, on the southerly slope +of Old Saugamauk, with three cows and their +calves of the previous spring under his protection. +This meant that, when the snow had +grown too deep to permit the little herd to +roam at will, he had chosen a sheltered area +where the birch, poplar, and cherry, his favorite +forage, were abundant, and there had trodden +out a maze of deep paths which led to all +the choicest browsing, and centred about a +cluster of ancient firs so thick as to afford +covert from the fiercest storms. The news +was what the wise old woodsman had been +waiting for. With three of his men, a pair of +horses, a logging-sled, axes, and an unlimited +supply of rope, he went to capture the King.</p> +<p>It was a clear, still morning, so cold that +the great trees snapped sharply under the +grip of the bitter frost. The men went on +snowshoes, leaving the teams hitched in a +thicket on the edge of a logging road some +three or four hundred yards from the “moose-yard.” +The sun glittered keenly on the long +white alleys which led this way and that at +random through the forest. The snow, undisturbed +and accumulating for months, was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +heaped in strange shapes over hidden bushes, +stumps, and rocks. The tread of the snowshoes +made a furtive crunching sound as it +rhythmically broke the crisp surface.</p> +<p>Far off through the stillness the great moose, +lying with the rest of the herd in their shadowy +covert, caught the ominous sound. He lurched +to his feet and stood listening, while the herd +watched him anxiously, awaiting his verdict as +to whether that strange sound meant peril or no.</p> +<p>For reasons which we have seen, the giant +bull knew little of man, and that little not +of a nature to command any great respect. +Nevertheless, at this season of the year, his +blood cool, his august front shorn of its +ornament and defence, he was seized with an +incomprehensible apprehension. After all, as +he felt vaguely, there was an unknown menace +about man; and his ear told him that there +were several approaching. A few months +earlier he would have stamped his huge +hoofs, thrashed the bushes with his colossal +antlers, and stormed forth to chastise the intruders. +But now, he sniffed the sharp air, +snorted uneasily, drooped his big ears, and +led a rapid but dignified retreat down one of +the deep alleys of his maze.</p> +<p>This was exactly what Uncle Adam had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +looked for. His object was to force the herd out +of the maze of alleys, wherein they could move +swiftly, and drive them floundering through +the deep, soft snow, which would wear them +out before they could go half a mile. Spreading +his men so widely that they commanded all +trails by which the fugitives might return, he +followed up the flight at a run. And he accompanied +the pursuit with a riot of shouts and +yells and laughter, designed to shake his quarry’s +heart with the fear of the unusual. Wise in all +woodcraft, Uncle Adam knew that one of the +most daunting of all sounds, to the creatures of +the wild, was that of human laughter, so inexplicable +and seemingly so idle.</p> +<p>At other times the great bull would merely +have been enraged at this blatant clamor and +taken it as a challenge. But now he retreated +to the farthest corner of his maze. From this +point there were but two paths of return, and +along both the uproar was closing in upon him. +Over the edge of the snow—which was almost +breast-high to him, and deep enough to bury +the calves, hopelessly deep, indeed, for any of +the herd but himself to venture through—he +gave a wistful look towards the depths of the +cedar swamps in the valley, where he believed +he could baffle all pursuers. Then his courage—but +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span> +without his autumnal fighting rage—came +back to him. His herd was his care. He +crowded the cows and calves between himself +and the snow, and turned to face his pursuers +as they came running and shouting through +the trees.</p> +<p>When Uncle Adam saw that the King was +going to live up to his kingly reputation and +fight rather than be driven off into the deep +snow, he led the advance more cautiously till +his forces were within twenty-five or thirty +paces of the huddling herd. Here he paused, +for the guardian of the herd was beginning to +stamp ominously with his great, clacking hoofs, +and the reddening light in his eyes showed +that he might charge at any instant.</p> +<p>He did not charge, however, because his +attention was diverted by the strange action +of the men, who had stopped their shouting +and begun to chop trees. It amazed him to +see the flashing axes bite savagely into the great +trunks and send the white chips flying. The +whole herd watched with wide eyes, curious +and apprehensive; till suddenly a tree toppled, +swept the hard blue sky, and came down with +a crashing roar across one of the runways. +The cows and calves bounded wildly, clear out +into the snow. But the King, though his eyes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span> +dilated with amazement, stood his ground and +grunted angrily.</p> +<p>A moment more and another tree, huge-limbed +and dense, came down across the other +runway. Two more followed, and the herd +was cut off from its retreat. The giant bull, of +course, with his vast stride and colossal strength, +could have smashed his way through and over +the barrier; but the others, to regain the safe +mazes of the “yard,” would have had to make +a detour through the engulfing snow.</p> +<p>Though the King was now fairly cornered, +Uncle Adam was puzzled to know what to do +next. In his hesitation, he felled some more +trees, dropping the last one so close that the +herd was obliged to crowd back to avoid being +struck by the falling top. This, at last, was +too much for the King, who had never before +known what it was to be crowded. While his +followers plunged away in terror, burying themselves +helplessly before they had gone a dozen +yards, he bawled with fury and charged upon +his tormentors.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a> +<img src='images/illus-090.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 293px; height: 394px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 293px;'> +“For perhaps thirty or forty yards the bull was able to keep up this almost incredible pace.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></div> +<p>Though the snow, as we have seen, came +up to his chest, the giant’s strength and swiftness +were such that the woodsmen were taken +by surprise, and Uncle Adam, who was in front, +was almost caught. In spite of his bulk, he +turned and sprang away with the agility of a +wildcat; but if his snowshoes had turned and +hindered him for one half second, he would +have been struck down and trodden to a jelly +in the smother of snow. Seeing the imminence +of his peril, the other woodsmen threw up +their rifles; but Uncle Adam, though extremely +busy for the moment, saw them out of the +corner of his eye as he ran, and angrily ordered +them not to shoot. He knew what he was +about, and felt quite sure of himself, though the +enemy was snorting at his very heels.</p> +<p>For perhaps thirty or forty yards the bull +was able to keep up this almost incredible pace. +Then the inexorable pull of the snow began to +tell, even upon such thews as his, and his pace +slackened. But his rage showed no sign of +cooling. So, being very accommodating, Uncle +Adam slackened his own pace correspondingly, +that his pursuer might not be discouraged. +And the chase went on. But it went slower, +and slower, and slower, till at last it stopped with +Uncle Adam still just about six feet in the lead, +and the great moose still blind-mad, but too exhausted +to go one foot farther. Then Uncle +Adam chuckled softly and called for the ropes. +There was kicking, of course, and furious lunging +and wild snorting, but the woodsmen were +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span> +skilful and patient, and the King of Old Saugamauk +was conquered. In a little while he lay +upon his side, trussed up as securely and helplessly +as a papoose in its birch-bark carrying-cradle. +There was nothing left of his kingship +but to snort regal defiance, to which his captors +offered not the slightest retort. In his bonds he +was carried off to the settlements, on the big +logging-sled, drawn by the patient horses whom +he scorned.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>After this ignominy, for days the King was +submissive, with the sullen numbness of despair. +Life for him became a succession of +stunning shocks and roaring change. He +would be put into strange box-prisons, which +would straightway begin to rush terribly +through the world with a voice of thunder. +Through the cracks in the box he would watch +trees and fields and hills race by in madness +of flight. He would be taken out of the box, +and murmuring crowds would gape at him till +the black mane along his neck would begin to +rise in something of his old anger. Then some +one would drive the crowd away, and he would +slip back into his stupor. He did not know +which he hated most,—the roaring boxes, the +fleeing landscapes, or the staring crowds. At +last he came to a loud region where there were +no trees, but only what seemed to him vast, +towering, naked rocks, red, gray, yellow, brown, +full of holes from which issued men in swarms. +These terrible rocks ran in endless rows, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +and through them he came at last to a wide +field, thinly scattered with trees. There was +no seclusion in it, no deep, dark, shadowy hemlock +covert to lie down in; but it was green, +and it was spacious, and it was more or less +quiet. So when he was turned loose in it, he +was almost glad. He lifted his head, with a +spark of the old arrogance returning to his +eyes. And through dilating nostrils he drank +the free air till his vast lungs thrilled with +almost forgotten life.</p> +<p>The men who had brought him to the park—this +bleak barren he would have called it, +had he had the faculty of thinking in terms of +human speech, this range more fitted for the +frugal caribou than for a ranger of the deep +forests like himself—these men stood watching +him curiously after they had loosed him from +his bonds. For a few minutes he forgot all +about them. Then his eyes fell on them, +and a heat crept slowly into his veins as he +looked. Slowly he began to resume his kingship. +His eyes changed curiously, and a light, +fiery and fearless, flamed in their depths. His +mane began to bristle.</p> +<p>“It’s time for us to get out of this. That +fellow’s beginning to remember he has some +old scores to settle up!” remarked the Director +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +coolly to the head-keeper and his assistants; +and they all stepped backwards, with a casual +air, towards the big gate, which stood ajar to +receive them. Just as they reached it, the old +fire and fury surged back into the exile’s veins, +but heated seven fold by the ignominies which +he had undergone. With a hoarse and bawling +roar, such as had never before been heard in +those guarded precincts, he launched himself +upon his gaolers. But they nimbly slipped +through the gate and dropped the massive bars +into their sockets.</p> +<p>They were just in time. The next instant +the King had hurled himself with all his +weight upon the barrier. The sturdy ironwork +and the panels on either side of the posts +clanged, groaned, and even yielded a fraction +of an inch beneath the shock. But in the rebound +they thrust their assailant backward +with startling violence. Bewildered, he glared +at the obstacle, which looked so slender, yet +was so strong to balk him of his vengeance. +Then, jarred and aching, he withdrew haughtily +to explore his new domain. The Director, gazing +after him, nodded with supreme satisfaction.</p> +<p>“Those fellows up in New Brunswick told +no lies!” said he.</p> +<p>“He certainly is a peach!” assented the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +head-keeper heartily. “When he grows his +new antlers, I reckon we will have to enlarge +the park.”</p> +<p>The great exile found his new range interesting +to explore, and began to forget his indignation. +Privacy it had not, for the trees at +this season were all leafless, and there were no +dense fir or spruce thickets into which he +could withdraw, to look forth unseen upon +this alien landscape. But there were certain +rough boulders behind which he could lurk. +And there were films of ice, and wraiths of +thin snow in the hollows, the chill touch of +which helped him to feel more or less at home. +In the distance he caught sight of a range of +those high, square rocks wherein the men dwelt; +and hating them deeply, he turned and pressed +on in the opposite direction over a gentle rise +and across a little valley; till suddenly, among +the trees, he came upon a curious barrier +of meshed stuff, something like a gigantic +cobweb. Through the meshes he could distinctly +see the country beyond, and it seemed +to be just the country he desired, more wooded +and inviting than what he had traversed. Confidently +he pushed upon the woven obstacle; +but to his amazement it did not give way before +him. He eyed it resentfully. How absurd +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +that so frail a thing should venture to forbid +him passage! He thrust upon it again, +more brusquely, to be just as brusquely denied. +The hot blood blazed to his head, and +he dashed himself upon it with all his strength. +The impenetrable but elastic netting yielded +for a space, then sprang back with an impetuosity +that flung him clear off his feet. He fell +with a loud grunt, lay for a moment dismayed, +then got up and eyed his incomprehensible +adversary with a blank stare. He was learning +so many strange lessons that it was difficult +to assimilate them all at once.</p> +<p>The following morning, when he was feasting +on a pile of the willow and poplar forage +which he loved, and which had appeared as if +by magic close beside the mysterious barrier, +he saw some men, perhaps a hundred yards +away, throw open a section of the barrier. +Forgetting to be angry at their intrusion on +his range, he watched them curiously. A +moment more, and a little herd of his own +kind, apparently quite indifferent to the men, +followed them into the range. He was not +surprised at their appearance, for his nose had +already told him there were moose about. But +he was surprised to see them on friendly terms +with man. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span></p> +<p>There were several cows in the herd, with a +couple of awkward yearlings; and the King, +much gratified, ambled forward with huge +strides to meet them and take them under his +gracious protection. But a moment later two +fine young bulls came into his view, following +the rest of the herd at a more dignified pace. +The King stopped, lowered his mighty front, +laid back his ears like an angry stallion, and +grunted a hoarse warning. The stiff black hair +along his neck slowly arose and stood straight +up.</p> +<p>The two young bulls stared in stupid astonishment +at this tremendous apparition. It +was not the fighting season, so they had no +jealousy, and felt nothing but a cold indifference +toward the stranger. But as he came striding +down the field his attitude was so menacing, +his stature so formidable, that they could not +but realize there was trouble brewing. It was +contrary to all traditions that they should take +the trouble to fight in midwinter, when they had +no antlers and their blood was sluggish. Nevertheless, +they could not brook to be so affronted, +as it were, in their own citadel.</p> +<p>Their eyes began to gleam angrily, and they +advanced, shaking their heads, to meet the insolent +stranger. The keepers, surprised, drew +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +together close by the gate; while one of them +left hurriedly and ran towards a building which +stood a little way off among the trees.</p> +<p>As the King swept down upon the herd, +bigger and blacker than any bull they had ever +seen before, the cows shrank away and stood +staring placidly. They were well fed, and for +the time indifferent to all else in their sheltered +world. Still, a fight is a fight, and if there was +going to be one, they were ready enough to +look on.</p> +<p>Alas for the right of possession when it runs +counter to the right of might! The two young +bulls were at home and in the right, and their +courage was sound. But when that black +whirlwind from the fastnesses of Old Saugamauk +fell upon them, it seemed that they had +no more rights at all.</p> +<p>Side by side they confronted the onrushing +doom. At the moment of impact, they reared +and struck savagely with their sharp hoofs. +But the gigantic stranger troubled himself with +no such details. He merely fell upon them, +like a blind but raging force, irresistible as a +falling hillside and almost as disastrous. They +both went down before him like calves, and +rolled over and over, stunned and sprawling.</p> +<p>The completeness of this victory, establishing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span> +his supremacy beyond cavil, should have satisfied +the King, especially as this was not the +mating season and there could be no question +of rivalry. But his heart was bursting with +injury, and his thirst for vengeance was raging +to be glutted. As the vanquished bulls struggled +to recover their feet, he bounded upon the +nearest and trod him down again mercilessly. +The other, meanwhile, fled for his life, stricken +with shameless terror; and the exile, leaving +his victim, went thundering in pursuit, determined +that both should be annihilated. It was +a terrifying sight, the black giant, mane erect, +neck out-thrust, mouth open, eyes glaring with +implacable fury, sweeping down upon the fugitive +with his terrific strides.</p> +<p>But just then, when another stride would +have sufficed, a strange thing happened! A +flying noose settled over the pursuer’s head, +tightened, jerked his neck aside, and threw him +with a violence that knocked the wind clean +out of his raging body. While his vast lungs +sobbed and gasped to recover the vital air, +other nooses whipped about his legs; and +before he could recover himself even enough +to struggle, he was once more trussed up as he +had been by Uncle Adam amid the snows of +Saugamauk. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span></p> +<p>In this ignominious position, his heart bursting +with shame and impotence, he was left +lying while his two battered victims were lassoed +and led away. Since it was plain that +the King would not suffer them to live in his +kingdom, even as humble subjects, they were to +be removed to some more modest domain; for +the King, whether he deserved it or not, was to +have the best reserved for him.</p> +<p>It was little kingly he felt, the fettered giant, +as he lay there panting on his side. The cows +came up and gazed at him with a kind of placid +scorn, till his furious snortings and the undaunted +rage that flamed in his eyes made +them draw back apprehensively. Then, the +men who had overthrown him returned. They +dragged him unceremoniously up to the gate, +slipped his bonds, and discreetly put themselves +on the other side of the barrier before he could +get to his feet. With a grunt he wheeled and +faced them with such hate in his eyes that they +thought he would once more hurl himself upon +the bars. But he had learned his lesson. For +a few moments he stood quivering. Then, as +if recognizing at last a mastery too absolute +even for him to challenge, he shook himself +violently, turned away, and stalked off to join +the herd. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></p> +<p>That evening, about sundown, it turned +colder. Clouds gathered heavily, and there +was the sense of coming snow in the air. A +great wind, rising fitfully, drew down out of +the north. Seeing no covert to his liking, the +King led his little herd to the top of a naked +knoll, where he could look about and choose a +shelter. But that great wind out of the north, +thrilling in his nostrils, got into his heart and +made him forget what he had come for. Out +across the alien gloom he stared, across the +huddled, unknown masses of the dark, till he +thought he saw the bald summit of Old Saugamauk +rising out of its forests, till he thought +he heard the wind roar in the spruce tops, the +dead branches clash and crack. The cows, for +a time, huddled close to his massive flanks, expecting +some new thing from his vast strength. +Then, as the storm gathered, they remembered +the shelter which man had provided for them, +and the abundant forage it contained. One +after the other they turned and filed away +slowly down the slopes, through the dim trees, +towards the corner where they knew a gate +would stand open for them, and then a door +into a warm-smelling shed. The King, lost in +his dream, did not notice their going. But +suddenly, feeling himself alone, he started and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +looked about. The last of the yearlings, at its +mother’s heels, was just vanishing through the +windy gloom. He hesitated, started to follow, +then stopped abruptly. Let them go! They +would return to him probably. Turning back +to his station on the knoll, he stood with his +head held high, his nostrils drinking the cold, +while the winter night closed in upon him, and +the wind out of his own north rushed and +roared solemnly in his face.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_GRAY_MASTER' id='THE_GRAY_MASTER'></a> +<h2>THE GRAY MASTER</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span></div> +<h2>The Gray Master</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>Why he was so much bigger, more powerful, +and more implacably savage than +the other members of the gray, spectral pack, +which had appeared suddenly from the north +to terrorize their lone and scattered clearings, +the settlers of the lower Quah-Davic Valley +could not guess. Those who were of French +descent among them, and full of the old Acadian +superstitions, explained it simply enough +by saying he was a <i>loup-garou</i>, or “wer-wolf,” +and resigned themselves to the impossibility +of contending against a creature of such supernatural +malignity and power. But their fellows +of English speech, having no such tradition to +fall back upon, were mystified and indignant. +The ordinary gray, or “cloudy,” wolf of the East +they knew, though he was so rare south of +Labrador that few of them had ever seen one. +They dismissed them all, indifferently, as “varmin.” +But this unaccountable gray ravager +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span> +was bigger than any two such wolves, fiercer +and more dauntless than any ten. Though the +pack he led numbered no more than half a +dozen, he made it respected and dreaded through +all the wild leagues of the Quah-Davic. To +make things worse, this long-flanked, long-jawed +marauder was no less cunning than fierce. +When the settlers, seeking vengeance for sheep, +pigs, and cattle slaughtered by his pack, went +forth to hunt him with dogs and guns, it seemed +that there was never a wolf in the country. +Nevertheless, either that same night or the +next, it was long odds that one or more of those +same dogs who had been officious in the hunt +would disappear. As for traps and poisoned +meat, they proved equally futile. They were +always visited, to be sure, by the pack, at some +unexpected and indeterminable moment, but +treated always with a contumelious scorn which +was doubtless all that such clumsy tactics merited. +Meanwhile the ravages went on, and the +children were kept close housed at night, and +cool-eyed old woodsmen went armed and vigilant +along the lonely roads. The French <i>habitant</i> +crossed himself, and the Saxon cursed his +luck; and no one solved the mystery.</p> +<p>Yet, after all, as Arthur Kane, the young +schoolmaster at Burnt Brook Cross-Roads, began +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span> +dimly to surmise, the solution was quite +simple. A lucky gold-miner, returning from +the Klondike, had brought with him not only +gold and an appetite, but also a lank, implacable, +tameless whelp from the packs that haunt +the sweeps of northern timber. The whelp had +gnawed his way to freedom. He had found, +fought, thrashed, and finally adopted, a little +pack of his small, Eastern kin. He had thriven, +and grown to the strength and stature that were +his rightful heritage. And “the Gray Master +of the Quah-Davic,” as Kane had dubbed him, +was no <i>loup-garou</i>, no outcast human soul incarcerate +in wolf form, but simply a great Alaskan +timber-wolf.</p> +<p>But this, when all is said, is quite enough. +A wolf that can break the back of a full-grown +collie at one snap of his jaws, and gallop off +with the carcass as if it were a chipmunk, is +about as undesirable a neighbor, in the night +woods, as any <i>loup-garou</i> ever devised by the +<i>habitant’s</i> excitable imagination.</p> +<p>All up and down the Quah-Davic Valley the +dark spruce woods were full of game,—moose, +deer, hares, and wild birds innumerable,—with +roving caribou herds on the wide barren beyond +the hill-ridge. Nevertheless, the great +gray wolf would not spare the possessions of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +the settlers. His pack haunted the fringes of +the settlements with a needless tenacity which +seemed to hold a challenge in it, a direct and +insolent defiance. And the feeling of resentment +throughout the Valley was on the point +of crystallizing into a concerted campaign of +vengeance which would have left even so cunning +a strategist as the Gray Master no choice +but to flee or fall, when something took place +which quite changed the course of public sentiment. +Folk so disagreed about it that all concerted +action became impossible, and each one +was left to deal with the elusive adversary in +his own way.</p> +<p>This was what happened.</p> +<p>In a cabin about three miles from the nearest +neighbor lived the Widow Baisley, alone with +her son Paddy, a lad under ten years old, and +little for his age. One midwinter night she +was taken desperately ill, and Paddy, reckless +of the terrors of the midnight solitudes, ran +wildly to get help. The moon was high and +full, and the lifeless backwoods road was a narrow, +bright, white thread between the silent +black masses of the spruce forest. Now and +then, as he remembered afterwards, his ear +caught a sound of light feet following him in +the dark beyond the roadside. But his plucky +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +little heart was too full of panic grief about his +mother to have any room for fear as to himself. +Only the excited amazement of his neighbors, +over the fact that he had made the journey in +safety, opened his eyes to the hideous peril he +had come through. Willing helpers hurried +back with him to his mother’s bedside. And +on the way one of them, a keen huntsman who +had more than once pitted his woodcraft in +vain against that of the Gray Master, had the +curiosity to step off the road and examine the +snow under the thick spruces. Perhaps imagination +misled him, when he thought he caught +a glimpse of savage eyes, points of green flame, +fading off into the black depths. But there +could be no doubt as to the fresh tracks he +found in the snow. There they were,—the +footprints of the pack, like those of so many +big dogs,—and among them the huge trail of +the great, far-striding leader. All the way, almost +from his threshold, these sinister steps +had paralleled those of the hurrying child. +Close to the edge of the darkness they ran,—close, +within the distance of one swift leap,—yet +never any closer!</p> +<p>Why had the great gray wolf, who faced +and pulled down the bull moose, and from +whose voice the biggest dogs in the settlements +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span> +ran like whipped curs—why had he +and his stealthy pack spared this easy prey? +It was inexplicable, though many had theories +good enough to be laughed to scorn by those +who had none. The <i>habitants</i>, of course, had +all their superstitions confirmed, and with a +certain respect and refinement of horror added: +Here was a <i>loup-garou</i> so crafty as to spare, on +occasion! He must be conciliated, at all costs. +They would hunt him no more, his motives +being so inexplicable. Let him take a few +sheep, or a steer, now and then, and remember +that <i>they</i>, at least, were not troubling him. As +for the English-speaking settlers, their enmity +cooled down to the point where they could no +longer get together any concentrated bitterness. +It was only a big rascal of a wolf, anyway, +scared to touch a white man’s child, and +certainly nothing for a lot of grown men to +organize about. Some of the women jumped +to the conclusion that a certain delicacy of +sentiment had governed the wolves in their +strange forbearance, while others honestly believed +that the pack had been specially sent +by Providence to guard the child through the +forest on his sacred errand. But all, whatever +their views, agreed in flouting the young schoolteacher’s +uninteresting suggestion that perhaps +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span> +the wolves had not happened, at the moment, +to be hungry.</p> +<p>As it chanced, however, even this very rational +explanation of Kane’s was far from the +truth. The truth was that the great wolf +had profited by his period of captivity in the +hands of a masterful man. Into his fine sagacity +had penetrated the conception—hazy, perhaps, +but none the less effective—that man’s +vengeance would be irresistible and inescapable +if once fairly aroused. This conception he had +enforced upon the pack. It was enough. For, +of course, even to the most elementary intelligence +among the hunting, fighting kindreds of +the wild, it was patent that the surest way to +arouse man’s vengeance would be to attack +man’s young. The intelligence lying behind +the wide-arched skull of the Gray Master was +equal to more intricate and less obvious conclusions +than that.</p> +<p>Among all the scattered inhabitants of the +Quah-Davic Valley there was no one who devoted +quite so much attention to the wonderful +gray wolf as did the young school-teacher. +His life at the Burnt Brook Cross-Roads, his +labors at the little Burnt Brook School, were +neither so exacting nor so exciting but that he +had time on his hands. His preferred expedients +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +for spending that time were hunting, and +studying the life of the wild kindreds. He was +a good shot with both rifle and camera, and +would serve himself with one weapon or the +other as the mood seized him. When life, or +his dinner, went ill with him, or he found himself +fretting hopelessly for the metropolitan excitement +of the little college city where he had +been educated, he would choose his rifle. And +so wide-reaching, so mysterious, are the ties which +enmesh all created beings, that it would seem to +even matters up and relieve his feelings wonderfully +just to kill something, if only a rabbit or a +weasel.</p> +<p>But at other times he preferred the camera.</p> +<p>Naturally Kane was interested in the mysterious +gray wolf more than in all the other prowlers +of the Quah-Davic put together. He was +quite unreasonably glad when the plans for a +concerted campaign against the marauder so +suddenly fell through. That so individual a +beast should have its career cut short by an +angry settler’s bullet, to avenge a few ordinary +pigs or sheep, was a thing he could hardly contemplate +with patience. To scatter the pack +would be to rob the Quah-Davic solitudes of +half their romance. He determined to devote +himself to a study of the great wolf’s personality +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +and characteristics, and to foil, as far as this +could be done without making himself unpopular, +such plots as might be laid for the beast’s +undoing.</p> +<p>Recognizing, however, that this friendly interest +might not be reciprocated, Kane chose +his rifle rather than his camera as a weapon, on +those stinging, blue-white nights when he went +forth to seek knowledge of the gray wolf’s ways. +His rifle was a well-tried repeating Winchester, +and he carried a light, short-handled axe in his +belt besides the regulation knife; so he had no +serious misgivings as he trod the crackling, +moonlit snow beneath the moose-hide webbing +of his snowshoes. But not being utterly foolhardy, +he kept to the open stretches of meadow, +or river-bed, or snow-buried lake, rather than +in the close shadows of the forest.</p> +<p>But now, when he was so expectant, the wolf-pack +seemed to find business elsewhere. For +nights not a howl had been heard, not a fresh +track found, within miles of Burnt Brook Cross-Roads. +Then, remembering that a watched +pot takes long to boil, Kane took fishing-lines +and bait, and went up the wide, white brook-bed +to the deep lake in the hills, whence it launches +its shallow flood towards the Quah-Davic. He +took with him also for companionship, since +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +this time he was not wolf-hunting, a neighbor’s +dog that was forever after him—a useless, +yellow lump of mongrel dog-flesh, but friendly +and silent. After building a hasty shelter of +spruce boughs some distance out from shore in +the flooding light, he chopped holes through +the ice and fell to fishing for the big lake trout +that inhabited those deep waters. He had luck. +And soon, absorbed in the new excitement, he +had forgotten all about the great gray wolf.</p> +<p>It was late, for Kane had slept the early part +of the night, waiting for moonrise before starting +on his expedition. The air was tingling +with windless cold, and ghostly white with the +light of a crooked, waning moon. Suddenly, +without a sound, the dog crept close against +Kane’s legs. Kane felt him tremble. Looking +up sharply, his eyes fell on a tall, gray form, sitting +erect on the tip of a naked point, not a +hundred yards away, and staring, not at him, +but at the moon.</p> +<p>In spite of himself, Kane felt a pricking in +his cheeks, a creeping of the skin under his +hair. The apparition was so sudden, and, above +all, the cool ignoring of his presence was so +disconcerting. Moreover, through that half-sinister +light, his long muzzle upstretched towards +the moon, and raised as he was a little +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span> +above the level on which Kane was standing, +the wolf looked unnaturally and impossibly tall. +Kane had never heard of a wolf acting in this +cool, self-possessed, arrogantly confident fashion, +and his mind reverted obstinately to the outworn +superstitions of his <i>habitants</i> friends. But, after +all, it was this wolf, not an ordinary brush-fence +wolf, that he was so anxious to study; and the +unexpected was just what he had most reason +to expect! He was getting what he came for.</p> +<p>Kane knew that the way to study the wild +creatures was to keep still and make no noise. +So be stiffened into instant immobility, and regretted +that he had brought the dog with him. +But he need not have worried about the dog, +for that intelligent animal showed no desire +to attract the Gray Master’s notice. He was +crouched behind Kane’s legs, and motionless +except for his shuddering.</p> +<p>For several minutes no one stirred—nothing +stirred in all that frozen world. Then, feeling +the cold begin to creep in upon him in the stillness, +Kane had to lift his thick-gloved hands +to chafe his ears. He did it cautiously, but +the caution was superfluous. The great wolf +apparently had no objection to his moving as +much as he liked. Once, indeed, those green, +lambent eyes flamed over him, but casually, in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +making a swift circuit of the shores of the lake +and the black fringe of the firs; but for all the +interest which their owner vouchsafed him, +Kane might as well have been a juniper bush.</p> +<p>Knowing very well, however, that this elaborate +indifference could not be other than feigned, +Kane was patient, determined to find out what +the game was. At the same time, he could +not help the strain beginning to tell on him. +Where was the rest of the pack? From time +to time he glanced searchingly over his shoulder +towards the all-concealing fir woods.</p> +<p>At last, as if considering himself utterly alone, +the great wolf opened his jaws, stretched back +his neck, and began howling his shrill, terrible +serenade to the moon. As soon as he paused, +came far-off nervous barkings and yelpings +from dogs who hated and trembled in the scattered +clearings. But no wolf-howl made reply. +The pack, for all the sign they gave, might have +vanished off the earth. And Kane wondered +what strong command from their leader could +have kept them silent when all their ancient +instincts bade them answer.</p> +<p>As if well satisfied with his music, the great +wolf continued to beseech the moon so persistently +that at last Kane lost patience. He +wanted more variety in the programme. Muttering, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +“I’ll see if I can’t rattle your fine composure +a bit, my friend!” he raised his rifle and +sent a bullet whining over the wolf’s head. The +wolf cocked his ears slightly and looked about +carelessly, as if to say, “What’s that?” then +coolly resumed his serenade.</p> +<p>Nettled by such ostentatious nonchalance, +Kane drove another bullet into the snow within +a few inches of the wolf’s forefeet. This proved +more effective. The great beast looked down +at the place where the ball had struck, sniffed +at it curiously, got up on all fours, and turned +and stared steadily at Kane for perhaps half a +minute. Kane braced himself for a possible onslaught. +But it never came. Whirling lightly, +the Gray Master turned his back on the disturber +of his song, and trotted away slowly, +without once looking back. He did not make +directly for the cover, but kept in full view and +easy gunshot for several hundred yards. Then +he disappeared into the blackness of the spruce +woods. Thereupon the yellow mongrel, emerging +from his shelter behind Kane’s legs, pranced +about on the snow before him with every sign +of admiration and relief.</p> +<p>But Kane was too puzzled to be altogether +relieved. It was not according to the books +for any wolf, great or small, to conduct himself +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span> +in this supercilious fashion. Looking back +along the white bed of the brook, the path by +which he must return, he saw that the sinking +of the moon would very soon involve it in thick +shadow. This was not as he wished it. He had +had enough of fishing. Gathering up his now +frozen prizes, and strapping the bag that contained +them over his shoulder, so as to leave +both hands free, he set out for home at the +long, deliberate, yet rapid lope of the experienced +snowshoer; and the yellow dog, confidence +in his companion’s prowess now thoroughly +established, trotted on heedlessly three +or four paces ahead.</p> +<p>Already the shadow of the woods lay halfway +across the bed of the brook, but down the +middle of the strip of brightness, still some five +or six paces in breadth, Kane swung steadily. +As he went, he kept a sharp eye on the shadowed +edge of his path. He had gone perhaps +a mile, when all at once he felt a tingling at the +roots of his hair, which seemed to tell him he +was being watched from the darkness. Peer as +he would, however, he could catch no hint of +moving forms; strain his ears as he might, +he could hear no whisper of following feet. +Moreover, he trusted to the keener senses, +keener instincts, of the dog, to give him warning +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +of any furtive approach; and the dog was +obviously at ease.</p> +<p>He was just beginning to execrate himself +for letting his nerves get too much on edge, +when suddenly out from the black branches +just ahead shot a long, spectral shape and fell +upon the dog. There was one choked yelp—and +the dog and the terrible shape vanished +together, back into the blackness.</p> +<p>It was all so instantaneous that before Kane +could get his rifle up they were gone. Startled +and furious, he fired at random, three times, into +cover. Then he steadied himself, remembering +that the number of cartridges in his chamber +was not unlimited. Seeing to it that his axe +and knife were both loose for instant action, he +stopped and replenished his Winchester. Then +he hurried on as fast as he could without betraying +haste.</p> +<p>As he went, he was soon vividly conscious +that the wolves—not the Gray Master alone, +but the whole pack also—were keeping pace +with him through the soundless dark beyond +the rim of the spruces. But not a hint of their +grim companioning could he see or hear. He +felt it merely in the creeping of his skin, the +elemental stirring of the hair at the back of his +neck. From moment to moment he expected +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span> +the swift attack, the battle for his life. But he +was keyed up to it. It was not fear that made +his nerves tingle, but the tense, trembling excitement +of the situation. Even against these +strange, hidden forces of the forest, his spirit +felt sure of victory. He felt as if his rifle would +go up and speak, almost of itself, unerringly at +the first instant of attack, even before the adversary +broke into view. But through all the +drawn-out length of those last three miles his +hidden adversaries gave no sign, save that once a +dead branch, concealed under the snow, snapped +sharply. His rifle was at his shoulder, it seemed +to him, almost before the sound reached his ear. +But nothing came of it. Then a panic-mad rabbit, +stretched straight out in flight, darted across +the fast narrowing brightness of his path. But +nothing followed. And at last, after what seemed +to him hours, he came out upon the open +pastures overlooking Burnt Brook Settlement. +Here he ran on a little way; and then, because +the strain had been great, he sat down suddenly +upon a convenient stump and burst into a peal +of laughter which must have puzzled the wolves +beyond measure.</p> +<p>After this, though well aware that the Gray +Master’s inexplicable forbearance had saved him +a battle which, for all his confidence, might quite +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span> +conceivably have gone against him, Kane’s interest +in the mysterious beast was uncompromisingly +hostile. He was bitter on account of +the dog. He felt that the great wolf had put a +dishonor upon him; and for a few days he was +no longer the impartial student of natural history, +but the keen, primitive hunter with the blood-lust +hot in his veins. Then this mood passed, or, +rather, underwent a change. He decided that +the Gray Master was, indeed, too individual a +beast to be just snuffed out, but, at the same +time, far too dangerous to be left at liberty.</p> +<p>And now all the thought and effort that +could be spared from his daily duties at the +Cross-Roads were bent to the problem of capturing +the great wolf alive. He would be doing +a service to the whole Quah-Davic Valley. +And he would have the pleasure of presenting +the splendid captive to his college town, at that +time greatly interested in the modest beginnings +of a zoölogical garden which its citizens +were striving to inaugurate. It thrilled his +fancy to imagine a tin placard on the front of a +cage in the little park, bearing the inscription—</p> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:center'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Canis Occidentalis.</span><br /> +<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Eastern North America.</span><br /> +<span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Presented by Arthur Kane, Esq.</span><br /></p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></div> +<p>After a few weeks of assiduous trapping, +however, Kane felt bound to acknowledge that +this modest ambition of his seemed remote +from fulfilment. Every kind of trap he could +think of, that would take a beast alive, he tried +in every kind of way. And having run the +whole insidious gamut, he would turn patiently +to run it all over again. Of course, the result +was inevitable, for no beast, not even such a +one as the Gray Master, is a match, in the long +run, for a man who is in earnest. Yet Kane’s +triumph, when it blazed upon his startled eyes +at last, was indirect. In avoiding, and at the +same time uncovering and making mock of, +Kane’s traps, the great wolf put his foot into +another, a powerful bear-trap, which a cunning +old trapper had hidden near by, without bait. +The trap was secured to a tree by a stout chain—and +rage, strain, tear as he might, the Gray +Master found himself snared. In his silent +fury he would probably have gnawed off the +captive foot, for the sake of freedom. But before +he came to that, Kane arrived and occupied +his attention fully.</p> +<p>Kane’s disappointment, at finding the splendid +prize in another trap than his own, was +but momentary. He knew his successful rival +would readily part with his claims, for due +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +consideration. But he was puzzled as to what +should be done in the immediate emergency. +He wanted to go back home for help, for ropes, +straps, and a muzzle with which he had provided +himself; but he was afraid lest, in his +absence, the trapper might arrive and shoot the +captive, for the sake of the pelt and the bounty. +In his uncertainty he waited, hoping that the +trapper might come soon; and by way of practice +for the serious enterprise that would come +later, as well as to direct the prisoner’s mind a +little from his painful predicament, Kane began +trying to lasso him with a coil of heavy cord +which he carried.</p> +<p>His efforts in this direction were not altogether +successful, but the still fury which they +aroused in the great wolf’s breast doubtless obscured +the mordant anguish in his foot. One +terrific leap at his enemy, resulting in an ignominious +overthrow as the chain stopped him in +mid-air, had convinced the subtle beast of the +vanity of such tactics. Crouching back, he +eyed his adversary in silence, with eyes whose +hatred seemed to excoriate. But whenever the +running noose at the end of the cord came +coiling swiftly at his head, with one lightning +snap of his long teeth he would sever it as with +a knife. By the time Kane had grown tired of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +this diversion the cord was so full of knots that +no noose would any longer run.</p> +<p>But at this point the old trapper came slouching +up on his snowshoes, a twinkle of elation in +his shrewd, frosty, blue eyes.</p> +<p>“I reckon we’ll show the varmint now as +how he ain’t no <i>loup-garou</i>!” he remarked, +lightly swinging his axe.</p> +<p>But Kane hastily intervened.</p> +<p>“<i>Please</i> don’t kill him, Dave!” he begged. +“<i>I</i> want him, bad! What’ll you take for +him?”</p> +<p>“Just as he stands?” demanded the old +trapper, with a chuckle. “I ain’t a-goin’ to deliver +the goods to yer door, ye know!”</p> +<p>“No,” laughed Kane, “just as he stands, right +here!”</p> +<p>“Well, seein’ as it’s you, I don’t want no +more’n what his pelt’ld fetch, an’ the bounty on +his nose,” answered the trapper.</p> +<p>“All right,” said Kane. “You wait here a +bit, will you, an’ keep him amused so’s he won’t +gnaw his paw off; an’ I’ll run back to the +Cross-Roads and get some rope and things I +guess I’ll be needing.”</p> +<p>When he got back with rope, straps, a big +mastiff-muzzle, and a toboggan, he found Dave +in a very bad humor, and calling the watchful, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +silent, crouching beast hard names. In his +efforts to amuse himself by stirring that imperturbable +and sinister quiet into action, he had +come just within the range of the Gray Master’s +spring. Swift as that spring was, that of the +alert backwoodsman was just swift enough to +elude it—in part. Dave’s own hide had escaped, +but his heavy jacket of homespun had +had the back ripped clean out of it.</p> +<p>But now, for all his matchless strength, courage, +and craft, the Gray Master’s game was +played out. The fickle Fates of the wild had +pronounced against him. He could not parry +two flying nooses at once. And presently, +having been choked for a few moments into +unconsciousness, he awoke to find himself +bound so that he could not move a leg, and his +mighty jaws imprisoned in a strange cage of +straps and steel. He was tied upon the toboggan, +and being dragged swiftly through the +forest—that free forest of which he had so long +felt himself master—at the heels of his two +conquerors. His only poor consolation was +that the hideous, crunching thing had been removed +from his bleeding paw, which, however, +anguished cruelly for the soothing of his +tongue.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>During the strenuous and dangerous weeks +while Kane was gaoler to his dreaded captive, +his respect for the grim beast’s tameless spirit +by no means diminished; but he had no shadow +of misgiving as to the future to which he +destined his victim. He felt that in sending +the incomparable wolf to the gardens, where he +would be well cared for, and at the same time +an educative influence, he was being both just +and kind. And it was with feelings of unmixed +delight that he received a formal resolution of +gratitude from the zoölogical society for his +valued and in some respects unique donation.</p> +<p>It was about a year and a half later that +Kane had occasion to revisit the city of his +Alma Mater. As soon as possible he hurried +to inspect the little gardens, which had already +marched so far towards success as to be familiarly +styled “The Zoo.” There were two or +three paddocks of deer, of different North +American species—for the society was inclined +to specialize on the wild kindreds of +native origin. There were moose, caribou, a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +couple of bears, raccoons, foxes, porcupines, +two splendid pumas, a rather flea-bitten and +toothless tiger, and the Gray Master, solitary +in his cage!</p> +<p>A sure instinct led Kane straight to that cage, +which immediately adjoined the big double cage +of the pumas. As he approached, he caught +sight of a tall, gray shape pacing, pacing, pacing, +pacing to and fro behind the bars with a sort +of measured restlessness that spoke an immeasurable +monotony. When he reached the +front of the cage, Kane saw that the great +wolf’s eyes were noting nothing of what was +about him, but dim with some far-off vision. +As he marked the look in them, and thought +of what they must be remembering and aching +for, his heart began to smite him. He felt his +first pang of self-reproach, for having doomed +to ignominious exile and imprisonment this +splendid creature who had deserved, at least, +to die free. As he mused over this point, half +angrily, the Gray Master suddenly paused, and +his thin nostrils wrinkled. Perhaps there still +clung about Kane’s clothes some scent of the +spruce woods, some pungent breath of the +cedar swamps. He turned and looked Kane +straight in the eyes.</p> +<p>There was unmistakable recognition in that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +deep stare. There was also, to Kane’s sensitive +imagination, a tameless hate and an unspeakable +but dauntless despair. Convicted in his +own mind of a gross and merciless misunderstanding +of his wild kindreds, whom he professed +to know so well, he glanced up and saw +the painted placard staring down at him, exactly +as he had anticipated––</p> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:center'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Canis Occidentalis.<br /> +Eastern North America.<br /> +Presented by Arthur Kane, Esq.</span><br /></p> +<p>The sight sickened him. He had a foolish +impulse to tear it down and to abase himself +with a plea for pardon before the silent beast +behind the bars. But when he looked again, +the Gray Master had turned away, and was +once more, with indrawn, far-off vision in his +eyes, pacing, pacing, pacing to and fro. Kane +felt overwhelmed with the intolerable weariness +of it, as if it had been going on, just like that, +ever since he had pronounced this doom upon +his vanquished adversary, and as if it would go +on like that forever. In vain by coaxing word, +by sharp, sudden whistle, by imitations of owl, +loon, and deer calls, which brought all the boys +in the place admiringly about him, did he strive +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +to catch again the attention of the captive. +But not once more, even for the fleeting fraction +of a second, would the Gray Master turn his +eyes. And presently, angry and self-reproachful, +Kane turned on his heel and went home, +pursued by the enthusiasm of the small boys.</p> +<p>After this, Kane went nearly every day to +the little “Zoo”; but never again did he win +the smallest hint of notice from the Gray +Master. And ever that tireless pacing smote +him with bitterest self-reproach. Half unconsciously +he made it a sort of penance to go and +watch his victim, till at last he found himself +indulging in sentimental, idiotic notions of +trying to ransom the prisoner. Realizing +that any such attempt would make him supremely +ridiculous, and that such a dangerous +and powerful creature could not be set free +anywhere, he consoled himself with a resolve +that never again would he take captive any of +the freedom-loving, tameless kindreds of the +wilderness. He would kill them and have +cleanly done with it, or leave them alone.</p> +<p>One morning, thinking to break the spell of +that eternal, hopeless pacing by catching the +Gray Master at his meals, Kane went up to the +gardens very early, before any of the usual visitors +had arrived. He found that the animals +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +had already been fed. The cages were being +cleaned. He congratulated himself on his opportune +arrival, for this would give him a new +insight into the ways of the beasts with their +keepers.</p> +<p>The head-keeper, as it chanced, was a man +of long experience with wild animals, in one +of the chief zoölogical parks of the country. +Long familiarity, however, had given him that +most dangerous gift, contempt. And he had +lost his position through that fault most unforgivable +in an animal keeper, drunkenness. Owing +to this fact, the inexperienced authorities +of this little “Zoo” had been able to obtain his +services at a comparatively moderate wage—and +were congratulating themselves on the possession +of a treasure.</p> +<p>On this particular morning, Biddell was not +by any means himself. He was cleaning the +cage of the two pumas, and making at the same +time desperate efforts to keep his faculties clear +and avoid betraying his condition. The two +big cats seemed to observe nothing peculiar in +his manner, and obeyed him, sulkily, as usual; +but Kane noticed that the great wolf, though +pacing up and down according to his custom, +had his eyes on the man in the next cage, instead +of upon his own secret visions. Biddell +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +had driven the two pumas back through the +door which led from the open cage to the room +which served them for a den, and closed the +door on them. Then, having finished his duties +there, he unfastened the strong door between +this cage and that of the Gray Master, and +stepped through, leaving the door slightly ajar.</p> +<p>Biddell was armed, of course, with a heavy-pronged +fork, but he carried it carelessly as he +went about his work, as if he had long since +taught the sombre wolf to keep at a distance. +But to-day the wolf acted curiously. He backed +away in silence, as usual, but eyed the man fixedly +with a look which, as it seemed to Kane, +showed anything rather than fear. The stiff +hair rose slightly along his neck and massive +shoulders. Kane could not help congratulating +himself that he was not in the keeper’s place. +But he felt sure everything was all right, as Biddell +was supposed to know his business.</p> +<p>When Biddell came to the place where the +wolf was standing, the latter made way reluctantly, +still backing, and staring with that sinister +fixity which Kane found so impressive. He +wondered if Biddell noticed. He was just on +the point of speaking to him about it, through +the bars, when he chanced to glance aside to +the cage of the pumas. Biddell, in his foggy +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span> +state of mind, had forgotten to close an inner +door connecting the two rooms in the rear. +The pumas had quietly passed through, and +emerged again into their cage by the farther +entrance. Catching sight of the door into the +wolf’s cage standing ajar, they had crept up to +it; and now, with one great noiseless paw, the +leader of the two was softly pushing it open.</p> +<p>Kane gave an inarticulate yell of warning. +No words were needed to translate that warning +to the keeper, who was sobered completely +as he flashed round and saw what was happening. +With a sharp command he rushed to +drive the pumas back and close the gate. But +one was already through, and the other blocked +the way.</p> +<p>At this tense instant, while Kane glanced +swiftly aside to see if any help were in sight, +the Gray Master launched himself across the +cage. Kane could not see distinctly, so swiftly +did it happen, whether the man or the intruding +puma was the object of that mad rush. But +in the next second the man was down, on his +face, with the silent wolf and the screeching +puma locked in a death grapple on top of him.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a> +<img src='images/illus-134.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 313px; height: 368px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 313px;'> +“Then the second puma pounced.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></div> +<p>Horrified, and yelling for help, Kane tore at +the bars, but there was no way of getting in, the +door being locked. He saw that the wolf had +secured a hold upon the puma’s throat, but that +the great cat’s claws were doing deadly work. +Then the second puma pounced, with a screech, +upon the Gray Master’s back, bearing him down.</p> +<p>At this moment Biddell rolled out from under +the raving, writhing heap, and staggered to his +feet, bleeding, but apparently uninjured. With +his fork and his booted foot he threw himself +upon the combatants furiously, striving to separate +them. After what seemed to Kane an age +he succeeded in forcing off the second puma +and driving it through the gate, which he shut. +Then he returned to the fight.</p> +<p>But he had little more to do now, for the fight +was over. Though no wolf is supposed to be +a fair match for a puma, the Gray Master, with +his enormous strength and subtle craft, might +perhaps have held his own against his first antagonist +alone. But against the two he was +powerless. The puma, badly torn, now crouched +snarling upon his unresisting body. Biddell +forced the victor off and drove him into a corner, +where he lay lashing his sides with heavy, +twitching tail.</p> +<p>The keeper was sober enough now. One +long look at the great wolf’s body satisfied +him it was all over. He turned and saw +Kane’s white face pressed against the bars. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span> +With a short laugh he shook himself, to make +sure he was all sound, then pushed the body +of the Gray Master gently with his foot. Yet +there was respect, not disrespect, in the gesture.</p> +<p>“I wouldn’t have had that happen for a +thousand dollars, Mr. Kane!” said he in a +voice of keen regret. “That was a great +beast, an’ we’ll never get another wolf to +match him.”</p> +<p>Kane was on the point of saying that it +would <i>not</i> have happened but for certain circumstances +which it was unnecessary for him +to specify. He realized, however, that he was +glad it had happened, glad the long pacing, +pacing, pacing was at an end, glad the load of +his self-reproach was lifted off. So he said +something quite different.</p> +<p>“Well, Biddell, he’s <i>free</i>! And maybe, +when all’s said, that was just what he was +after!”</p> +<p>Then he turned and strode hurriedly away, +more content in his heart than he had felt +for days.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_SUNGAZER' id='THE_SUNGAZER'></a> +<h2>THE SUN-GAZER</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span></div> +<h2>The Sun-Gazer</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>To Jim Horner it seemed as if the great, +white-headed eagle was in some way +the uttered word of the mountain and the +lake—of the lofty, solitary, granite-crested +peak, and of the deep, solitary water at its +base. As his canoe raced down the last mad +rapid, and seemed to snatch breath again +as it floated out upon the still water of the +lake, Jim would rest his paddle across +the gunwales and look upward expectantly. +First his keen, far-sighted, gray eyes would +sweep the blue arc of sky, in search of +the slow circling of wide, motionless wings. +Then, if the blue was empty of this far +shape, his glance would range at once to a +dead pine standing sole on a naked and +splintered shoulder of the mountain which +he knew as “Old Baldy.” There he was +almost sure to see the great bird sitting, +motionless and majestic, staring at the sun. +Floating idly and smoking, resting after his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +long battle with the rapids, he would watch, +till the immensity and the solitude would +creep in upon his spirit and oppress him. +Then, at last, a shrill yelp, far off and faint, +but sinister, would come from the pine-top; +and the eagle, launching himself on open +wings from his perch, would either wheel +upward into the blue, or flap away over the +serried fir-tops to some ravine in the cliffs +that hid his nest.</p> +<p>One day, when Jim came down the river +and stopped, as usual, to look for the great +bird, he scanned in vain both sky and cliff-side. +At last he gave up the search and +paddled on down the lake with a sense +of loss. Something had vanished from the +splendor of the solitude. But presently he +heard, close overhead, the beat and whistle +of vast wings, and looking up, he saw the +eagle passing above him, flying so low that +he could catch the hard, unwinking, tameless +stare of its black and golden eyes as they +looked down upon him with a sort of inscrutable +challenge. He noted also a peculiarity +which he had never seen in any other eagle. +This one had a streak of almost black feathers +immediately over its left eye, giving it a +heavy and sinister eyebrow. The bird carried +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +in the clutch of its talons a big, glistening +lake trout, probably snatched from the +fish-hawk; and Jim was able to take note +of the very set of its pinion-feathers as the +wind hummed in their tense webs. Flying +with a massive power quite unlike the ease +of his soaring, the eagle mounted gradually +up the steep, passed the rocky shoulder with +its watch-tower pine, and disappeared over +the edge of a ledge which looked to Horner +like a mere scratch across the face of the +mountain.</p> +<p>“There’s where his nest is, sure!” muttered +Horner to himself. And remembering +that cold challenge in the bird’s yellow stare, +he suddenly decided that he wanted to see +an eagle’s nest. He had plenty of time. He +was in no particular hurry to get back to the +settlement and the gossip of the cross-roads +store. He turned his canoe to land, lifted her +out and hid her in the bushes, and struck back +straight for the face of “Old Baldy.”</p> +<p>The lower slope was difficult to climb, a +tangle of tumbled boulders and fallen trunks, +mantled in the soundless gloom of the fir-forest. +Skilled woodsman though he was, +Horner’s progress was so slow, and the +windless heat became so oppressive to his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span> +impatience, that he was beginning to think of +giving up the idle venture, when suddenly he +came face to face with a perpendicular and +impassable wall of cliff. This curt arrest to +his progress was just what was needed to +stiffen his wavering resolution. He understood +the defiance which his ready fancy had +found in the stare of the eagle. Well, he had +accepted the challenge. He would not be +baffled by a rock. If he could not climb over +it, he would go round it; but he would find the +nest.</p> +<p>With an obstinate look in his eyes, Horner +began to work his way along the foot of the +cliff towards the right. Taking advantage of +every inch of ascent that he could gain, he +at last found, to his satisfaction, that he had +made sufficient height to clear the gloom of +the woods. As he looked out over their tops, +a light breeze cooled his wet forehead, and +he pressed on with fresh vigor. Presently +the slope grew a trifle easier, the foothold +surer, and he mounted more rapidly. The +steely lake, and the rough-ridged, black-green +sea of the fir-tops began to unroll below him. +At last he rounded an elbow of the steep, +and there before him, upthrust perhaps a hundred +feet above his head, stood the outlying +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +shoulder of rock, crowned with its dead pine, on +which he was accustomed to see the eagle +sitting. Even as he looked, motionless, there +came a rushing of great wings; and suddenly +there was the eagle himself, erect on his high +perch, and staring, as it seemed to Horner, +straight into the sun.</p> +<p>When Horner resumed his climbing, the great +bird turned his head and gazed down upon him +with an ironic fixity which betrayed neither +dread nor wonder. Concluding that the nest +would be lying somewhere within view of its +owner’s watch-tower, Horner now turned his +efforts towards reaching the dead pine. With +infinite difficulty, and with a few bruises to +arm and leg, he managed to cross the jagged +crevice which partly separated the jutting rock-pier +from the main face of the cliff. Then, laboriously +and doggedly, he dragged himself up the +splintered slope, still being forced around to the +right, till there fell away below him a gulf into +which it was not good for the nervous to look. +Feeling that a fate very different from that of +Lot’s wife might be his if he should let himself +look back too indiscreetly, he kept his eyes upon +the lofty goal and pressed on upwards with a +haste that now grew a trifle feverish. It began +to seem to him that the irony of the eagle’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +changeless stare might perhaps not be unjustified.</p> +<p>Not till Horner had conquered the steep and, +panting but elated, gained the very foot of the +pine, did the eagle stir. Then, spreading his +wings with a slow disdain, as if not dread but +aversion to this unbidden visitor bade him go, +he launched himself on a long, splendid sweep +over the gulf, and then mounted on a spacious +spiral to his inaccessible outlook in the blue. +Leaning against the bleached and scarred trunk +of the pine, Horner watched this majestic departure +for some minutes, recovering his breath +and drinking deep the cool and vibrant air. +Then he turned and scanned the face of the +mountain.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a> +<img src='images/illus-144.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 294px; height: 451px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 294px;'> +“He launched himself on a long, splendid sweep over the gulf.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></div> +<p>There it lay, in full view—the nest which he +had climbed so far to find. It was not more +than a hundred yards away. Yet, at first sight, +it seemed hopelessly out of reach. The chasm +separating the ledge on which it clung from the +outlying rock of the pine was not more than +twenty feet across; but its bottom was apparently +somewhere in the roots of the mountain. There +was no way of passing it at this point. But +Horner had a faith that there was a way to be +found over or around every obstacle in the world, +if only one kept on looking for it resolutely +enough. To keep on looking for a path to the +eagle’s nest, he struggled forward, around the +outer slope of the buttress, down a ragged incline, +and across a narrow and dizzy “saddle-back,” +which brought him presently upon another angle +of the steep, facing southeast. Clinging with his +toes and one hand, while he wiped his dripping +forehead with his sleeve, he looked up—and +saw the whole height of the mountain, unbroken +and daunting, stretched skyward above him.</p> +<p>But to Horner the solemn sight was not +daunting in the least.</p> +<p>“Gee!” he exclaimed, grinning with satisfaction. +“I <i>hev</i> circumvented that there cervice, +sure’s death!”</p> +<p>Of the world below he had now a view that +was almost overpoweringly unrestricted; but of +the mountain, and his scene of operations, he +could see only the stretch directly above him. +A little calculation convinced him, however, that +all he had to do was to keep straight on up for +perhaps a hundred and fifty feet, then, as soon +as the slope would permit, work around to his +left, and descend upon the nest from above. Incidentally, +he made up his mind that his return +journey should be made by another face of the +mountain—any other, rather than that by which +he had rashly elected to come. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></p> +<p>It seemed to Horner like a mile, that last hundred +and fifty feet; but at last he calculated that +he had gained enough in height. At the same +time he felt the slope grow easier. Making his +way towards the left, he came upon a narrow +ledge, along which he could move easily side-wise, +by clinging to the rock. Presently it +widened to a path by which he could walk almost +at ease, with the wide, wild solitude, dark green +laced with silver watercourses, spread like a stupendous +amphitheatre far below him. It was the +wilderness which he knew so well in detail, yet had +never before seen as a whole; and the sight, for a +few moments, held him in a kind of awed surprise. +When, at last, he tore his gaze free from the majestic +spectacle, there, some ten or twelve yards +below his feet, he saw the object of his quest.</p> +<p>It was nothing much to boast of in the way +of architecture, this nest of the Kings of the +Air—a mere cart-load of sticks and bark and +coarse grass, apparently tumbled at haphazard +upon the narrow ledge. But in fact its foundations +were so skilfully wedged into the crevices +of the rock, its structure was so cunningly interwoven, +that the fiercest winds which scourged +that lofty seat were powerless against it. It +was a secure throne, no matter what tempests +might rage around it. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></p> +<p>Sitting half erect on the nest were two +eaglets, almost full grown, and so nearly full +feathered that Horner wondered why they did +not take wing at his approach. He did not +know that the period of helplessness with these +younglings of royal birth lasted even after they +looked as big and well able to take care of +themselves as their parents. It was a surprise +to him, also, to see that they were quite unlike +their parents in color, being black all over +from head to tail, instead of a rich brown with +snow-white head, neck, and tail. As he stared, +he slowly realized that the mystery of the rare +“black eagle” was explained. He had seen +one once, flying heavily just above the tree-tops, +and imagined it a discovery of his own. But +now he reached the just conclusion that it had +been merely a youngster in its first plumage.</p> +<p>As he stared, the two young birds returned +his gaze with interest, watching him with +steady, yellow, undaunted eyes from under their +flat, fierce brows; with high-shouldered wings +half raised, they appeared quite ready to resent +any familiarity which the strange intruder +might be contemplating.</p> +<p>Horner lay face downward on his ledge, and +studied the perpendicular rock below him for a +way to reach the next. He had no very definite +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +idea what he wanted to do when he got there; +possibly, if the undertaking seemed feasible, he +might carry off one of the royal brood and +amuse himself with trying to domesticate it. +But, at any rate, he hoped to add something, +by a closer inspection, to his rather inadequate +knowledge of eagles.</p> +<p>And this hope, indeed, as he learned the +next moment, was not unjustified. Cautiously +he was lowering himself over the edge, feeling +for the scanty and elusive foothold, when all at +once the air was filled with a rush of mighty +wings, which seemed about to overwhelm him. +A rigid wing-tip buffeted him so sharply that +he lost his hold on the ledge. With a yell of +consternation, which caused his assailant to +veer off, startled, he fell backwards, and plunged +down straight upon the nest.</p> +<p>It was the nest only that saved him from +instant death. Tough and elastic, it broke his +fall; but at the same time its elasticity threw +him off, and on the rebound he went rolling +and bumping on down the steep slopes below +the ledge, with the screaming of the eagles in +his ears, and a sickening sense in his heart that +the sunlit world tumbling and turning somersaults +before his blurred sight was his last view +of life. Then, to his dim surprise, he was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span> +brought up with a thump; and clutching desperately +at a bush which scraped his face, he +lay still. At the same moment a flapping mass +of feathers and fierce claws landed on top of him, +but only to scramble off again as swiftly as possible +with a hoarse squawk. He had struck one +of the young eagles in his fall, hurled it from the +nest, and brought it down with him to this lower +ledge which had given him so timely a refuge.</p> +<p>For several minutes, perhaps, he lay clutching +the bush desperately and staring straight +upwards. There he saw both parent eagles +whirling excitedly, screaming, and staring down +at him; and then the edge of the nest, somewhat +dilapidated by his strange assault, overhanging +the ledge about thirty feet above. At +length his wits came back to him, and he +cautiously turned his head to see if he was in +danger of falling if he should relax his hold on +the bush. He was in bewildering pain, which +seemed distributed all over him; but in spite +of it he laughed aloud, to find that the bush, to +which he hung so desperately, was in a little +hollow on a spacious platform, from which he +could not have fallen by any chance. At that +strange, uncomprehended sound of human +laughter the eagles ceased their screaming for +a few moments and wheeled farther aloof. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></p> +<p>With great difficulty and anguish Horner +raised himself to a sitting position and tried to +find out how seriously he was hurt. One leg +was quite helpless. He felt it all over, and +came to the conclusion that it was not actually +broken; but for all the uses of a leg, for the +present at least, it might as well have been +putty, except for the fact that it pained him +abominably. His left arm and shoulder, too, +seemed to be little more than useless encumbrances, +and he wondered how so many bruises +and sprains could find place on one human +body of no more than average size. However, +having assured himself, with infinite relief, that +there were no bones broken, he set his teeth +grimly and looked about to take account of the +situation.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>The ledge on which he had found refuge was +apparently an isolated one, about fifty or sixty +feet in length, and vanishing into the face of +the sheer cliff at either end. It had a width of +perhaps twenty-five feet; and its surface, fairly +level, held some soil in its rocky hollows. Two +or three dark-green seedling firs, a slim young +silver birch, a patch or two of wind-beaten grass, +and some clumps of harebells, azure as the clear +sky overhead, softened the bareness of this tiny, +high-flung terrace. In one spot, at the back, a +spread of intense green and a handbreadth of +moisture on the rock showed where a tiny spring +oozed from a crevice to keep this lonely oasis +in the granite alive and fresh.</p> +<p>At the farthest edge of the shelf, and eying +him with savage dread, sat the young eagle +which had fallen with him. Horner noticed, +with a kind of sympathy, that even the bird, for +all his wings, had not come out of the affair +without some damage; for one of its black wings +was not held up so snugly as the other. He +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +hoped it was not broken. As he mused vaguely +upon this unimportant question, his pain so exhausted +him that he sank back and lay once +more staring up at the eagles, who were still +wheeling excitedly over the nest. In an exhaustion +that was partly sleep and partly coma, +his eyes closed. When he opened them again, +the sun was hours lower and far advanced +towards the west, so that the ledge was in +shadow. His head was now perfectly clear; +and his first thought was of getting himself +back to the canoe. With excruciating effort he +dragged himself to the edge of the terrace and +looked down. The descent, at this point, was +all but perpendicular for perhaps a hundred +feet. In full possession of his powers, he would +find it difficult enough. In his present state +he saw clearly that he might just as well throw +himself over as attempt it.</p> +<p>Not yet disheartened, however, he dragged +himself slowly towards the other end of the terrace, +where the young eagle sat watching him. +As he approached, the bird lifted his wings, as +if about to launch himself over and dare the +element which he had not yet learned to master. +But one wing drooped as if injured, and he knew +the attempt would be fatal. Opening his beak +angrily, he hopped away to the other end of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span> +terrace. But Horner was paying no heed to +birds at that moment. He was staring down +the steep, and realizing that this ledge which +had proved his refuge was now his prison, and +not unlikely to become also his tomb.</p> +<p>Sinking back against a rock, and grinding +his teeth with pain, he strove to concentrate +his attention upon the problem that confronted +him. Was he to die of thirst and hunger on +this high solitude before he could recover sufficiently +to climb down? The thought stirred +all his dogged determination. He <i>would</i> keep +alive, and that was all there was about it. He +<i>would</i> get well, and then the climbing down +would be no great matter. This point settled, +he dismissed it from his consideration and +turned his thoughts to ways and means. After +all, there was that little thread of a spring trickling +from the rock! He would have enough +to drink. And as for food—how much worse +it would have been had the ledge been a bare +piece of rock! Here he had some grass, and +the roots of the herbs and bushes. A man +could keep himself alive on such things if he +had will enough. And, as a last resource, there +was the young eagle! This idea, however, was +anything but attractive to him; and it was with +eyes of good-will rather than of appetite that he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +glanced at his fellow-prisoner sitting motionless +at the other extremity of the ledge.</p> +<p>“It’ld be hard lines, pardner, ef I should hev +to eat you, after all!” he muttered, with a +twisted kind of grin. “We’re both of us in a +hole, sure enough, an’ I’ll play fair as long as I +kin!”</p> +<p>As he mused, a great shadow passed over +his head, and looking up, he saw one of the +eagles hovering low above the ledge. It was +the male, his old acquaintance, staring down at +him from under that strange, black brow. He +carried a large fish in his talons, and was plainly +anxious to feed his captive young, but not quite +ready to approach this mysterious man-creature +who had been able to invade his eyrie as if with +wings. Horner lay as still as a stone, watching +through half-closed lids. The young eagle, +seeing food so near, opened its beak wide and +croaked eagerly; while the mother bird, larger +but wilder and less resolute than her mate, +circled aloof with sharp cries of warning. At +last, unable any longer to resist the appeals of +his hungry youngster, the great bird swooped +down over him, dropped the fish fairly into his +clutches, and slanted away with a hurried flapping +which betrayed his nervousness.</p> +<p>As the youngster fell ravenously upon his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +meal, tearing it and gulping the fragments, +Horner drew a deep breath.</p> +<p>“There’s where I come in, pardner,” he explained. +“When I kin git up an appetite for +that sort of vittles, I’ll go shares with you, ef +y’ain’t got no objection!”</p> +<p>Having conceived this idea, Horner was +seized with a fear that the captive might presently +gain the power of flight and get away. +This was a thought under which he could not +lie still. In his pocket he always carried a +bunch of stout salmon-twine and a bit of copper +rabbit-wire, apt to be needed in a hundred +forest emergencies. He resolved to catch the +young eagle and tether it securely to a bush.</p> +<p>His first impulse was to set about this enterprise +at once. With excruciating effort he +managed to pull off his heavy woollen hunting-shirt, +intending to use it as the toreador uses +his mantle, to entangle the dangerous weapons of +his adversary. Then he dragged himself across +to the other end of the ledge and attempted +to corner the captive. For this he was not +quite quick enough, however. With a flop and +a squawk the bird eluded him, and he realized +that he had better postpone the undertaking +till the morrow. Crawling back to his hollow +by the bush, he sank down, utterly exhausted. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span> +Not till the sharp chill which comes with sunset +warned him of its necessity, was he able to +grapple with the long, painful problem of getting +his shirt on again.</p> +<p>Through the night he got some broken +sleep, though the hardness of his bed aggravated +every hurt he had suffered. On the edge +of dawn he saw the male eagle come again—this +time more confidently and deliberately—to +feed the captive. After he was gone, +Horner tried to move, but found himself now, +from the night’s chill and the austerity of his +bed, altogether helpless. Not till the sun was +high enough to warm him through and through, +and not till he had manipulated his legs and +arms assiduously for more than an hour, did +his body feel as if it could ever again be of any +service to him. Then he once more got off +his shirt and addressed himself to the catching +of the indignant bird whom he had elected to +be his preserver.</p> +<p>Though the anguish caused by every movement +was no less intense than it had been the +afternoon before, he was stronger now and more +in possession of his faculties. Before starting +the chase, he cut a strip from his shirt to wind +around the leg of the young eagle, in order that +he might be able to tether it tightly without +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span> +cutting the flesh. The bird had suddenly become +most precious to him!</p> +<p>Very warily he made his approaches, sidling +down the ledge so as to give his quarry the +least possible room for escape. As he drew +near, the bird turned and faced him, with its +one uninjured wing lifted menacingly and its +formidable beak wide open. Holding the +heavy shirt ready to throw, Horner crept up +cautiously, so intent now upon the game that +the anguish in the leg which he dragged stiffly +behind him was almost forgotten. The young +bird, meanwhile, waited, motionless and vigilant, +its savage eyes hard as glass.</p> +<p>At last a faint quiver and shrinking in the +bird’s form, an involuntary contracting of the +feathers, gave warning to Horner’s experienced +eye that it was about to spring aside. On the +instant he flung the shirt, keeping hold of it by +the sleeve. By a singular piece of luck, upon +which he had not counted at all, it opened as +he threw it, and settled right over the bird’s +neck and disabled wing, blinding and baffling it +completely. With a muffled squawk it bounced +into the air, both talons outspread and clawing +madly; but in a second Horner had it by the +other wing, pulling it down, and rolling himself +over upon it so as to smother those dangerous +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span> +claws. He felt them sink once into his injured +leg, but that was already anguishing so vehemently +that a little more or less did not matter. +In a few moments he had his captive bundled +up with helplessness, and was dragging it to a +sturdy bush near the middle of the terrace. +Here, without much further trouble, he wrapped +one of its legs with the strip of flannel from +his shirt, twisted on a hand-length of wire, and +then tethered it safely with a couple of yards of +his doubled and twisted cord.</p> +<p>Just as he had accomplished this to his satisfaction, +and was about to undo the imprisoning +shirt, it flashed across his mind that it was +lucky the old eagles had not been on hand to +interfere. He glanced upward—and saw the +dark form dropping like a thunderbolt out of +the blue. He had just time to fling himself over +on his back, lifting his arm to shield his face, +and his foot to receive the attack, when the hiss +of that lightning descent filled his ears. Involuntarily +he half closed his eyes. But no shock +came, except a great buffet of air on his face. +Not quite daring to grapple with that ready +defence, the eagle had opened its wings when +within a few feet of the ledge, and swerved +upward again, where it hung hovering and +screaming. Horner saw that it was the female, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +and shook his fist at her in defiance. Had it +been his old acquaintance and challenger, the +male, he felt sure that he would not have got +off so easily.</p> +<p>Puzzled and alarmed, the mother now +perched herself beside the other eaglet, on the +edge of the nest. Then, keeping a careful eye +upon her, lest she should return to the attack, +Horner dexterously unrolled the shirt, and +drew back just in time to avoid a vicious slash +from the talons of his indignant prisoner. The +latter, after some violent tugging and flopping +at his tether and fierce biting at the wire, suddenly +seemed to conclude that such futile +efforts were undignified. He settled himself +like a rock and stared unwinkingly at his +captor.</p> +<p>It was perhaps an hour after this, when the +sun had grown hot, and Horner, having slaked +his thirst at the spring in the rock, had tried +rather ineffectually to satisfy his hunger on +grass roots, that the male eagle reappeared, +winging heavily from the farthest end of the +lake. From his talons dangled a limp form, +which Horner presently made out to be a duck.</p> +<p>“Good!” he muttered to himself. “I always +did like fowl better’n fish.”</p> +<p>When the eagle arrived, he seemed to notice +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +something different in the situation, for he +wheeled slowly overhead for some minutes, +uttering sharp yelps of interrogation. But the +appeals of the youngster at last brought him +down, and he delivered up the prize. The +moment he was gone, Horner crept up to where +the youngster was already tearing the warm +body to pieces. Angry and hungry, the bird +made a show of fighting for his rights; but his +late experience with his invincible conqueror +had daunted him. Suddenly he hopped away, +the full length of his tether; and Horner +picked up the mangled victim. But his appetite +was gone by this time; he was not +yet equal to a diet of raw flesh. Tossing the +prize back to its rightful owner, he withdrew +painfully to grub for some more grass roots.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a> +<img src='images/illus-160.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 294px; height: 461px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 294px;'> +“After this the eagle came regularly every three or four hours with food for the prisoner.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span></div> +<p>After this the eagle came regularly every +three or four hours with food for the prisoner. +Sometimes it was a fish—trout, or brown +sucker, or silvery chub—sometimes a duck +or a grouse, sometimes a rabbit or a muskrat. +Always it was the male, with that grim black +streak across the side of his white face, who +came. Always Horner made a point of taking +the prize at once from the angry youngster, +and then throwing it back to him, unable to +stomach the idea of the raw flesh. At last, on +the afternoon of the third day of his imprisonment, +he suddenly found that it was not the +raw flesh, but the grass roots, which he loathed. +While examining a fine lake-trout, he remembered +that he had read of raw fish being excellent +food under the right conditions. This +was surely one of those right conditions. Picking +somewhat fastidiously, he nevertheless managed +to make so good a meal off that big trout +that there was little but head and tail to toss +back to his captor.</p> +<p>“Never mind, pardner!” he said seriously. +“I’ll divide fair nex’ time. But you know +you’ve been havin’ more’n your share lately.”</p> +<p>But the bird was so outraged that for a long +time he would not look at these remnants, and +only consented to devour them, at last, when +Horner was not looking.</p> +<p>After this Horner found it easy enough to +partake of his prisoner’s meals, whether they +were of fish, flesh, or fowl; and with the ice-cold +water from the little spring, and an occasional +mouthful of leaves and roots, he fared +well enough to make progress towards recovery. +The male eagle grew so accustomed to +his presence that he would alight beside the +prisoner, and threatened Horner with that old, +cold stare of challenge, and frequently Horner +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span> +had to drive him off in order to save his share +of the feast from the rapacity of the eaglet. +But as for the female, she remained incurably +suspicious and protesting. From the upper +ledge, where she devoted her care to the other +nestling, she would yelp down her threats and +execrations, but she never ventured any nearer +approach.</p> +<p>For a whole week the naked hours of day +and dark had rolled over the peak before +Horner began to think himself well enough to +try the descent. His arm and shoulder were +almost well, but his leg, in spite of ceaseless +rubbing and applications of moist earth, remained +practically helpless. He could not +bear his weight on it for a second. His first +attempt at lowering himself showed him that +he must not be in too great haste. It was +nearly a week more before he could feel assured, +after experiments at scaling the steep +above him, that he was fit to face the terrible +steep below. Then he thought of the eaglet, +his unwilling and outraged preserver! After +a sharp struggle, of which both his arms and +legs bore the marks for months, he caught the +bird once more and examined the injured wing. +It was not broken; and he saw that its owner +would be able to fly all right in time, perhaps +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span> +as soon as his more fortunate brother in the +nest above. Satisfied on this point, he loosed +all the bonds and jumped back to avoid the indomitable +youngster’s retort of beak and claws. +Unamazed by his sudden freedom, the young +eagle flopped angrily away to the farther end +of the ledge; and Horner, having resumed his +useful shirt, started to climb down the mountain, +whose ascent he had so heedlessly adventured +nearly two weeks before. As he lowered +himself over the dizzy brink, he glanced +up, to see the male eagle circling slowly above +him, gazing down at him with the old challenge +in his unwinking, golden eyes.</p> +<p>“I reckon you win!” said Horner, waving +the imperturbable bird a grave salutation. “But +you’re a gentleman, an’ I thank you fer your +kind hospitality.”</p> +<p>It was still early morning when Horner +started to descend the mountain. It was dusk +when he reached the lake and flung himself +down, prostrated with fatigue and pain and +strain of nerve, beside his canoe. From moment +to moment, through spells of reeling faintness +and spasmodic exhaustion, the silent gulfs +of space had clutched at him, as if the powers of +the solitude and the peak had but spared him +so long to crush him inexorably in the end. At +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span> +last, more through the sheer indomitableness of +the human spirit than anything else, he had +won. But never afterwards could he think of +that awful descent without a sinking of the +heart. For three days more he made his camp +by the lake, recovering strength and nerve +before resuming his journey down the wild +river to the settlements. And many times a +day his salutations would be waved upward to +that great, snowy-headed, indifferent bird, wheeling +in the far blue, or gazing at the sun from +his high-set watch-tower of the pine.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>Two or three years later, it fell in Horner’s +way to visit a great city, many hundreds of +miles from the gray peak of “Old Baldy.” He +was in charge of an exhibit of canoes, snowshoes, +and other typical products of his forest-loving +countrymen. In his first morning of +leisure, his feet turned almost instinctively to +the wooded gardens wherein the city kept +strange captives, untamed exiles of the wilderness, +irreconcilable aliens of fur and hide and +feather, for the crowds to gape at through their +iron bars.</p> +<p>He wandered aimlessly past some grotesque, +goatish-looking deer which did not interest +him, and came suddenly upon a paddock containing +a bull moose, two cows, and a yearling +calf. The calf looked ungainly and quite content +with his surroundings. The cows were +faded and moth-eaten, but well fed. He had +no concern for them at all. But the bull, a +splendid, black-shouldered, heavy-muffled fellow, +with the new antlers just beginning to knob +out from his massive forehead, appealed to him +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +strongly. The splendid, sullen-looking beast +stood among his family, but towered over and +seemed unconscious of them. His long, sensitive +muzzle was held high to catch a breeze +which drew coolly down from the north, and +his half-shut eyes, in Horner’s fancy, saw not +the wires of his fence, but the cool, black-green +fir thickets of the north, the gray rampikes of +the windy barrens, the broad lily leaves afloat +in the sheltered cove, the wide, low-shored lake +water gleaming rose-red in the sunset.</p> +<p>“It’s a shame,” growled Horner, “to keep a +critter like that shut up in a seven-by-nine +chicken-pen!” And he moved on, feeling as +if he were himself a prisoner, and suddenly +homesick for a smell of the spruce woods.</p> +<p>It was in this mood that he came upon the +great dome-roofed cage containing the hawks +and eagles. It was a dishevelled, dirty place, +with a few uncanny-looking dead trees stuck +up in it to persuade the prisoners that they +were free. Horner gave a hasty glance and +then hurried past, enraged at the sight of these +strong-winged adventurers of the sky doomed +to so tame a monotony of days. But just as +he got abreast of the farther extremity of the +cage, he stopped, with a queer little tug at his +heart-strings. He had caught sight of a great, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span> +white-headed eagle, sitting erect and still on a +dead limb close to the bars, and gazing through +them steadily, not at him, but straight into the +eye of the sun.</p> +<p>“Shucks! It ain’t possible! There’s millions +o’ bald eagles in the world!” muttered +Horner discontentedly.</p> +<p>It was the right side of the bird’s head that +was turned towards him, and that, of course, +was snowy white. Equally, of course, it was as, +Horner told himself, the height of absurdity to +think that this grave, immobile prisoner gazing +out through the bars at the sun could be his +old friend of the naked peak. Nevertheless, +something within his heart insisted it was so. +If only the bird would turn his head! At last +Horner put two fingers between his mouth, +and blew a whistle so piercing that every one +stared rebukingly, and a policeman came strolling +along casually to see if any one had signalled +for help. But Horner was all unconscious of +the interest which he had excited. In response +to his shrill summons the eagle had slowly, very +deliberately, turned his head, and looked him +steadily in the eyes. Yes, there was the strange +black bar above the left eye, and there, unbroken +by defeat and captivity, was the old +look of imperturbable challenge! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span></p> +<p>Horner could almost have cried, from pity +and homesick sympathy. Those long days on +the peak, fierce with pain, blinding bright with +sun, wind-swept and solitary, through which +this great, still bird had kept him alive, seemed +to rush over his spirit all together.</p> +<p>“Gee, old pardner!” he murmured, leaning +as far over the railing as he could. “But ain’t +you got the grit! I’d like to know who it was +served this trick on you. But don’t you fret. +I’ll get you out o’ this, ef it takes a year’s arnings +to do it! You wait an’ see!” And with +his jaws set resolutely he turned and strode +from the gardens. That bird should not stay +in there another night if he could help it.</p> +<p>Horner’s will was set, but he did not understand +the difficulties he had to face. At first +he was confronted, as by a stone wall, by the +simple and unanswerable fact that the bird was +not for sale at any price. And he went to bed +that night raging with disappointment and +baffled purpose. But in the course of his +efforts and angry protestations he had let out +a portion of his story—and this, as a matter of +interest, was carried to the president of the +society which controlled the gardens. To this +man, who was a true naturalist and not a mere +dry-as-dust cataloguer of bones and teeth, the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span> +story made a strong appeal, and before Horner +had quite made up his mind whether to get out +a writ of <i>habeas corpus</i> for his imprisoned friend, +or commit a burglary on the cage, there came +a note inviting him to an interview at the president’s +office. The result of this interview was +that Horner came away radiant, convinced at +last that there was heart and understanding in +the city as well as in the country. He had +agreed to pay the society simply what it might +cost to replace the captive by another specimen +of his kind; and he carried in his pocket an +order for the immediate delivery of the eagle +into his hands.</p> +<p>To the practical backwoodsman there was +no fuss or ceremony now to be gone through. +He admired the expeditious fashion in which +the keeper of the bird-house handled his dangerous +charge, coming out of the brief tussle without +a scratch. Trussed up as ignominiously as +a turkey—proud head hooded, savage talons +muffled, and skyey wings bound fast, the splendid +bird was given up to his rescuer, who rolled +him in a blanket without regard to his dignity, +and carried him off under his arm like a bundle +of old clothes.</p> +<p>Beyond the outskirts of the city Horner had +observed a high, rocky, desolate hill which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +seemed suited to his purpose. He took a +street car and travelled for an hour with the +bundle on his knees. Little his fellow-passengers +guessed of the wealth of romance, loyalty, +freedom, and spacious memory hidden in that +common-looking bundle on the knees of the +gaunt-faced, gray-eyed man. At the foot of +the hill, at a space of bare and ragged common, +Horner got off. By rough paths, frequented +by goats, he made his way up the rocky slope, +through bare ravines and over broken ridges, +and came at last to a steep rock in a solitude, +whence only far-off roofs could be seen, and +masts, and bridges, and the sharp gleam of the +sea in the distance.</p> +<p>This place satisfied him. On the highest +point of the rock he carefully unfastened the +bonds of his prisoner, loosed him, and jumped +back with respect and discretion. The great +bird sat up very straight, half raised and lowered +his wings as if to regain his poise, looked +Horner dauntlessly in the eye, then stared +slowly about him and above, as if to make sure +that there were really no bars for him to beat +his wings against. For perhaps a full minute +he sat there. Then, having betrayed no unkingly +haste, he spread his wings to their full +splendid width and launched himself from the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span> +brink. For a few seconds he flapped heavily, +as if his wings had grown unused to their function. +Then he got his rhythm, and swung into +a wide, mounting spiral, which Horner watched +with sympathetic joy. At last, when he was +but a wheeling speck in the pale blue dome, +he suddenly turned and sailed off straight towards +the northeast, with a speed which carried +him out of sight in a moment.</p> +<p>Horner drew a long breath, half wistful, half +glad.</p> +<p>“Them golden eyes of yourn kin see a thunderin’ +long ways off, pardner,” he muttered, “but +I reckon even you can’t make out the top of +‘Old Baldy’ at this distance. It’s the eyes o’ +your heart ye must have seen it with, to make +for it so straight!”</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_LORD_OF_THE_GLASS_HOUSE' id='THE_LORD_OF_THE_GLASS_HOUSE'></a> +<h2>THE LORD OF THE GLASS HOUSE</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></div> +<h2>The Lord of the Glass House</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>In the sheltered Caribbean cove the water +was warm as milk, green and clear as +liquid beryl, and shot through with shimmering +sun. Under that stimulating yet mitigated +radiance the bottom of the cove was astir with +strange life, grotesque in form, but brilliant as +jewels or flowers. Long, shining weeds, red, +yellow, amber, purple, and olive, waved sinuously +among the weed-like sea-anemones which +outshone them in colored sheen. Fantastic +pink-and-orange crabs sidled awkwardly but +nimbly this way and that. Tiny sea-horses, +yet more fantastic, slipped shyly from one weed-covert +to another, aware of a possible peril in +every gay but menacing bloom. And just above +this eccentric life of the shoal sea-floor small +fishes of curious form shot hither and thither, +live, darting gleams of gold and azure and +amethyst. Now and again a long, black +shadow would sail slowly over the scene of +freakish life—the shadow of a passing albacore +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +or barracouta. Instantly the shining fish +would hide themselves among the shining +shells, and every movement, save that of the +unconsciously waving weeds, would be stilled. +But the sinister shadow would go by, and +straightway the sea-floor would be alive again, +busy with its affairs of pursuit and flight.</p> +<p>The floor of the cove was uneven, by reason +of small, shell-covered rocks and stones being +strewn over it at haphazard. From under the +slightly overhanging base of one of these stones +sprouted what seemed a cluster of yellowish +gray, pink-mottled weed-stems, which sprawled +out inertly upon the mottled bottom. Over +the edge of the stone came swimming slowly +one of the gold-and-azure fish, its jewelled, impassive +eyes on the watch for some small prey. +Up from the bottom, swift as a whip-lash, darted +one of those inert-looking weed-stems, and +fastened about the bright fish just behind the +gills.</p> +<p>Fiercely the shining one struggled, lashing +with tail and fins till the water swirled to a +boil over the shell-covered rock, and the sea-anemones +all about shut their gorgeous, greedy +flower-cups in a panic. But the struggle was +a vain one. Slowly, inexorably, that mottled +tentacle curled downward with its prey, and a +portion of the under side of the rock became +alive! Two ink-black eyes appeared, bulging, +oval, implacable; and between them opened a +great, hooked beak, like a giant parrot’s. There +was no separate head behind this gaping beak, +but eyes and beak merely marked the blunt +end of a mottled, oblong, sac-like body.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_11' id='linki_11'></a> +<img src='images/illus-176.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 288px; height: 450px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 288px;'> +“And the writhing tentacles composed themselves once more to stillness upon the bottom, awaiting the next careless passer-by.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span></div> +<p>As the victim was drawn down to the waiting +beak, among the bases of the tentacles, all +the tentacles awoke to dreadful life, writhing +in aimless excitement, although there was no +work for them to do. In a few seconds the fish +was torn asunder and engulfed—those inky +eyes the while unwinking and unmoved. A +darker, livid hue passed fleetingly over the +pallid body of the octopus. Then it slipped +back under the shelter of the rock; and the +writhing tentacles composed themselves once +more to stillness upon the bottom, awaiting +the next careless passer-by. Once more they +seemed mere inert trailers of weed, not worth +the notice of fish or crab. And soon the +anemones near by reopened their treacherous +blooms of yellow and crimson.</p> +<p>Whether because there was something in the +gold-and-azure fish that disturbed his inward +content, or because his place of ambush had +somehow grown distasteful to his soft, unarmored +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +body, the octopus presently bestirred +himself and crawled forth into the open, walking +awkwardly on the incurled tips of his tentacles. +It looked about as comfortable a method +of progression as for a baby to creep on the +back of its hands. The traveller himself did +not seem to find it altogether satisfactory, for +all at once he sprang upward nimbly, clear of +the bottom, and gathered his eight tentacles into +a compact parallel bunch extending straight out +past his eyes. In this attitude he was no longer +clumsy, but trim and swift-looking. Beneath +the bases of the tentacles, on the under side of +the body, a sort of valve opened spasmodically +and took in a huge gulp of water, which was +at once ejected with great force through a tube +among the tentacles. Driven by the strange +propulsion of this pulsating stream, the elongated +shape shot swiftly on its way, but travelling +backward instead of forward. The traveller +had apparently taken his direction with care +before he started, however, for he made his +way straight to another rock, weedier and +more overhanging than the first. Here he +stopped, settled downward, and let his tentacles +once more sprawl wide, preparatory to backing +his spotted body-sac into its new quarters.</p> +<p>This was the moment when he was least +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span> +ready for attack or defence; and just at this +moment a foraging dolphin, big-jawed and hungry, +shot down upon him through the lucent +green, mistaking him, perhaps, for an overgrown +but unretaliating squid. The assailant +aimed at the big, succulent-looking body, but +missed his aim, and caught instead one of the +tentacles which had reared themselves instantly +to ward off the attack. Before he realized +what was happening, another tentacle had +curled about his head, clamping his jaws firmly +together so that he could not open them to release +his hold; while yet others had wrapped +themselves securely about his body.</p> +<p>The dolphin was a small one; and such a +situation as this had never come within range +of his experience. In utter panic he lashed +out with his powerful tail and darted forward, +carrying the octopus with him. But +the weight upon his head, the crushing encumbrance +about his body, were too much +for him, and bore him slowly downward. Suddenly +two tentacles, which had been trailing +for an anchorage, got grip upon the bottom—and +the dolphin’s frantic flight came to a stop +abruptly. He lashed, plunged, whirled in a +circle, but all to no purpose. His struggles +grew weaker. He was drawn down, inexorably, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +till he lay quivering on the sand. Then +the great beak of the octopus made an end of +the matter, and the prey was dragged back +to the lair beneath the weed-covered rock.</p> +<p>A long time after this, a shadow bigger and +blacker than that of any albacore—bigger +than that of any shark or saw-fish—drifted +over the cove. There was a splash, and a +heavy object came down upon the bottom, +spreading the swift stillness of terror for yards +about. The shadow ceased drifting, for the +boat had come to anchor. Then in a very +few minutes, because the creatures of the sea +seem unable to fear what does not move, the +life of the sea-floor again bestirred itself, and +small, misshapen forms that did not love the +sunlight began to convene in the shadow of the +boat.</p> +<p>Presently, from over the side of the boat +descended a dark tube, with a bright tip that +seemed like a kind of eye. The tube moved +very slowly this way and that, as if to let the +eye scan every hiding-place on the many-colored +bottom. As it swept over the rock +that sheltered the octopus, it came to a stop. +Those inert, sprawling things that looked like +weeds appeared to interest it. Then it was +softly withdrawn. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></p> +<p>A few moments later, a large and tempting +fish appeared at the surface of the water, and +began slowly sinking straight downward in a +most curious fashion. The still eyes of the +octopus took note at once. They had never +seen a fish behave that way before; but it +plainly was a fish. A quiver of eagerness +passed through the sprawling tentacles, for +their owner was already hungry again. But +the prize was still too far away, and the tentacles +did not move. The curious fish, however, +seemed determined to come no nearer, +and at last the waiting tentacles came stealthily +to life. Almost imperceptibly they drew themselves +forward, writhing over the bottom as +casually as weeds adrift in a light current. +And behind them those two great, inky, impassive +eyes, and then the fat, mottled, sac-like +body, emerged furtively from under the +rock.</p> +<p>The bottom, just at this point, was covered +with a close brown weed, and almost at once +the body of the octopus and his tentacles began +to change to the same hue. When the +change was complete, the gliding monster was +almost invisible. He was now directly beneath +that incomprehensible fish; but the fish had +gently risen, so that it was still out of reach. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></p> +<p>For a few seconds the octopus crouched, +staring upward with motionless orbs, and +gathering himself together. Then he sprang +straight up, like a leaping spider. He fixed +two tentacles upon the tantalizing prey; then +the other tentacles straightened out, and with +a sharp jet of water from his propulsion tube +he essayed to dart back to his lair.</p> +<p>To his amazement, the prey refused to come. +In some mysterious way it managed to hold itself—or +was held—just where it was. Amazement +gave way to rage. The monster wrapped +his prize in three more tentacles, and then +plunged his beak into it savagely. The next +instant he was jerked to the surface of the +water. A blaze of fierce sun blinded him, and +strong meshes enclosed him, binding and entangling +his tentacles.</p> +<p>In such an appalling crisis most creatures +of sea or land would have been utterly demoralized +by terror. Not so the octopus. +Maintaining undaunted the clutch of one tentacle +upon his prize, he turned the others, +along with the effectual menace of his great +beak, to the business of battle. The meshes +fettered him in a way that drove him frantic +with rage, but two of his tentacles managed +to find their way through, and writhed madly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +this way and that in search of some tangible +antagonist on which to fasten themselves. +While they were yet groping vainly for a grip, +he felt himself lifted bodily forth into the +strangling air, and crowded—net, prey, and +all—into a dark and narrow receptacle full of +water.</p> +<p>This fate, of course, was not to be tamely +endured. Though he was suffocating in the +unnatural medium, and though his great, unwinking +eyes could see but vaguely outside +their native element, he was all fight. One +tentacle clutched the rim of the metal vessel; +and one fixed its deadly suckers upon the bare +black arm of a half-seen adversary who was +trying to crowd him down into the dark prison. +There was a strident yell. A sharp, authoritative +voice exclaimed: “Look out! Don’t +hurt him! <i>I’ll</i> make him let go!” But the +next instant the frightened darky had whipped +out a knife and sliced off a good foot of the +clutching tentacle. As the injured stump +shrank back upon its fellows like a spade-cut +worm, the other tentacle was deftly twisted +loose from its hold on the rim, and the captive +felt himself forced down into the narrow prison. +A cover was clapped on, and he found himself +in darkness, with his prey still gripped securely. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +Upset and raging though he was, there was +nothing to be done about it, so he fell to feasting +indignantly upon the prize for which he +had paid so dear.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>Left to himself, the furious prisoner by and +by disentangled himself from the meshes of +the net, and composed himself as well as he +could in his straitened quarters. Then for +days and days thereafter there was nothing +but tossing and tumbling, blind feeding, and +uncomprehended distress; till at last his prison +was turned upside down and he was dropped +unceremoniously into a great tank of glass and +enamel that glowed with soft light. Bewildered +though he was, he took in his surroundings +in an instant, straightened his tentacles +out before him, and darted backwards to the +shelter of an overhanging rock which he had +marked on the floor of the tank. Having +backed his defenceless body under that shield, +he flattened his tentacles anxiously among the +stones and weeds that covered the tank-bottom, +and impassively stared about.</p> +<p>It was certainly an improvement on the black +hole from which he had just escaped. Light +came down through the clear water, but a +cold, white light, little like the green and gold +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +glimmer that illumined the slow tide in his +Caribbean home. The floor about him was not +wholly unfamiliar. The stones, the sand, the +colored weeds, the shells,—they were like, yet +unlike, those from which he had been snatched +away. But on three sides there were white, +opaque walls, so near that he could have +touched them by stretching out a tentacle. +Only on the fourth side was there space—but a +space of gloom and inexplicable moving confusion +from which he shrank. In this direction +the floor of sand and stones and weeds ended +with a mysterious abruptness; and the vague +openness beyond filled him with uneasiness. +Pale-colored shapes, with eyes, would drift up, +sometimes in crowds, and stare in at him +fixedly. It daunted him as nothing else had +ever done, this drift of peering faces. It was +long before he could teach himself to ignore +them. When food came to him,—small fish +and crabs, descending suddenly from the top +of the water,—at such times the faces would +throng tumultuously in that open space, and for +a long time the many peering eyes would so +disconcert him as almost to spoil his appetite. +But at last he grew accustomed even to the +faces and the eyes, and disregarded them as if +they were so much passing seaweed, borne by +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +the tide. His investigating tentacles had shown +him that between him and the space of confusion +there was an incomprehensible barrier +fixed, which he could see through but not pass; +and that if he could not get out, neither could +the faces get in to trouble him.</p> +<p>Thus, well fed and undisturbed, the octopus +grew fairly content in his glass house, and +never guessed the stormy life of the great city +beyond his walls. For all he knew, his comfortable +prison might have been on the shore +of one of his own Bahaman Keys. He was +undisputed lord of his domain, narrow though +it was; and the homage he received from the +visitors who came to pay him court was untiring.</p> +<p>His lordship had been long unthreatened, +when one day, had he not been too indifferent +to notice them, he might have seen that the +faces in the outer gloom were unusually numerous, +the eyes unusually intent. Suddenly there +was the accustomed splash in the water above +him. That splash had come to him to mean +just food, unresisting victims, and his tentacles +were instantly alert to seize whatever should +come within reach.</p> +<p>This time the splash was unusually heavy, +and he was surprised to see a massive, roundish +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +creature, with a little, pointed tail sticking out +behind, a small, snake-like head stretched out in +front, and two little flippers outspread on each +side. With these four flippers the stranger +came swimming down calmly towards him. +He had never seen anything at all like this +daring stranger; but without the slightest hesitation +he whipped up two writhing tentacles +and seized him. The faces beyond the glass +surged with excitement.</p> +<p>When that abrupt and uncompromising clutch +laid hold upon the turtle, his tail, head, and +flippers vanished as if they had never been, +and his upper and lower shells closed tight +together till he seemed nothing more than a +lifeless box of horn. Absolutely unresisting, +he was drawn down to the impassive eyes and +gaping beak of his captor. The tentacles +writhed all over him, stealthily but eagerly +investigating. Then the great parrot-beak laid +hold on the shell, expecting to crush it. Making +no impression, however, it slid tentatively +all over the exasperating prize, seeking, but in +vain, for a weak point.</p> +<div class='figcenter'> +<a name='linki_12' id='linki_12'></a> +<img src='images/illus-188.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 293px; height: 454px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 293px;'> +“Without the slightest hesitation he whipped up two writhing tentacles and seized him.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span></div> +<p>This went on for several minutes, while the +watching faces outside the glass gazed in tense +expectancy. Then at last the patience of the +octopus gave way. In a sudden fury he threw +himself upon the exasperating shell, tumbling +it over and over, biting at it madly, wrenching +it insanely with all his tentacles. And the +faces beyond the glass surged thrillingly, wondering +how long the turtle would stand such +treatment.</p> +<p>Shut up within his safe armor, the turtle all +at once grew tired of being tumbled about, and +his wise discretion forsook him. He did not +mind being shut up, but he objected to being +knocked about. Some prudence he had, to be +sure, but not enough to control his short +temper. Out shot his narrow, vicious-looking +head, with its dull eyes and punishing jaws, and +fastened with the grip of a bulldog upon the +nearest of the tentacles, close to its base. A +murmur arose outside the glass.</p> +<p>The rage of the octopus swelled to a frenzy, +and in his contortions the locked fighters +bumped heavily against the glass, making the +faces shrink back. The small stones on the +bottom were scattered this way and that, and +the fine silt rose in a cloud that presently obscured +the battle.</p> +<p>Had the turtle had cunning to match his +courage, the lordship of the glass house might +have changed holders in that fight. Had he +fixed his unbreakable grip in the head of his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +foe, just above the beak, he would have conquered +in the end. But as it was, he had now +a vulnerable point, and at last the octopus +found it. His beak closed upon the exposed +half of the turtle’s head, and slowly, inexorably, +sheared it clean off just behind the eyes. The +stump shrank instantly back into the shell; +and the shell became again the unresisting +plaything of the tentacles, which presently, as +if realizing that it had no more power to retaliate, +flung it aside. In a few minutes the silt +settled. Then the eager faces beyond the glass +saw the lord of the tank crouching motionless +before his lair, his ink-like eyes as impassive +and implacable as ever, while the turtle lay +bottom side up against the glass, no more to +be taken account of than a stone.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='BACK_TO_THE_WATER_WORLD' id='BACK_TO_THE_WATER_WORLD'></a> +<h2>BACK TO THE WATER WORLD</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span></div> +<h2>Back to the Water World</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>An iron coast, bleak, black, and desolate, +without harborage for so much as a catboat +for leagues to north or south. A coast so +pitiless, so lashed forever by the long, sullen +rollers of the North Atlantic, so tormented by +the shifting and treacherous currents of the tide +between its chains of outlying rocky islets, that +no ship ever ventured willingly within miles of +its uncompromising menace. A coast so little +favored by summer that even in glowing August +the sun could reach it seldom through its +cold and drenching fogs.</p> +<p>Perhaps half a mile off shore lay the islands—some +of them, indeed, mere ledges, deathtraps +for ships, invisible except at low tide, but +others naked hills of upthrust rock, which the +highest tides and wildest hurricanes could not +overwhelm. Even on the loftiest of them there +was neither grass, bush, nor tree to break the +jagged outlines, but day and night, summer and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span> +winter long, the sea-birds clamored over them, +and brooded by the myriad on their upper +ledges.</p> +<p>These islands were fretted, on both their +landward and their seaward sides, by innumerable +caves. In one of these caves, above the +reach of the highest tide, and facing landward, +so that even in the wildest storms no waves +could invade it, the pup of the seal first opened +his mild eyes upon the misty northern daylight.</p> +<p>Of all the younglings of the wild, he was perhaps +the most winsome, with his soft, whitish, +shadowy-toned, close, woolly coat, his round, +babyish head, his dark, gentle eyes wide with +wonder at everything to be seen from the cave +mouth. He lay usually very near the entrance, +but partly hidden from view by a ragged horn +of rock. While alone—which was a good +part of the time, indeed, like most fishermen’s +children—he would lie so still that his woolly +little form was hardly to be distinguished from +the rock that formed his couch. He had no +desire to attract public attention—for the only +public that might have been attracted to attend +consisted of the pair of great sea eagles whose +shadows sometimes swooped aross the ledge, +or of an occasional southward-wandering white +bear. As for the innumerable gulls, and gannets, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +and terns, and lesser auks, which made +the air forever loud about these lonely islets, +nothing could have induced them to pay him +any attention whatever. They knew him, and +his people, to be harmless; and that was all +their winged and garrulous companies were +concerned to know.</p> +<p>But to the little seal, on the other hand, the +noisy birds were incessantly interesting. Filled +with insatiable curiosity, his mild eyes gazed +out upon the world. The sea just below the +cave was, of course, below his line of vision; +but at a distance of some hundred yards or so—a +distance which varied hugely with the +rising and falling of the tide—he caught sight +of the waves, and felt himself strangely drawn +to them. Whether leaden and menacing under +the drift of rain and the brooding of gray +clouds, or green-glinting under the sheen of +too rare sunshine, he loved them and found +them always absorbing. The sky, too, was +worth watching, especially when white fleeces +chased each other across a patch of blue, or +wonderful colors, pallid yet intense, shot up +into it at dawn from behind a far-off line of +saw-toothed rocks.</p> +<p>The absences of the mother seal were sometimes +long, for it required many fish to satisfy +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span> +her appetite and keep warm her red blood in +those ice-cold arctic currents. Fish were abundant, +to be sure, along that coast, where the +invisible fruitfulness of the sea made compensation +for the blank barrenness of the land; but +they were swift and wary, and had to be caught, +one at a time, outwitted and outspeeded in their +own element. The woolly cub, therefore, was +often hungry before his mother returned. But +when, at last, she came, flopping awkwardly up +the rocky slope, and pausing for an instant to +reconnoitre, as her round, glistening head appeared +over the brink of the ledge, the youngster’s +delight was not all in the satisfying of his +hunger and in the mothering of his loneliness. +As he snuggled under her caress, the salty drip +from her wet, sleek sides thrilled him with a +dim sense of anticipation. He connected it +vaguely with that endless, alluring dance of the +waves beyond his threshold.</p> +<p>When he had grown a few days older, the +little seal began to turn his attention from the +brighter world outside to the shadows that +surrounded him in his cave. His interest was +caught at once by a woolly gray creature like +himself, only somewhat smaller, which lay perhaps +seven or eight feet away, at the other side +of the cave, and farther back. He had not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +realized before that his narrow retreat was the +home of two families. Being of a companionable +disposition, he eyed his newly discovered +neighbor with immense good-will. Finding no +discouragement in the mild gaze that answered +his, he presently raised himself on his flippers, +and with laborious, ungainly effort flopped himself +over to make acquaintance. Both youngsters +were too unsophisticated for ceremony, too +trusting for shyness, so in a very few minutes +they were sprawling over each other in great +content.</p> +<p>In this baby comradeship the stranger’s +mother, returning to her household duties, +found them. She was smaller and younger +than our Pup’s dam, but with the same kindly +eyes and the same salty-dripping coat. So, +when her own baby fell to nursing, the Pup +insisted confidently on sharing the entertainment. +The young mother protested, and drew +herself away uneasily, with little threatening +grunts; but the Pup, refusing to believe she was +in earnest, pressed his point so pertinaciously +that at length he got his way. When, half an +hour later, the other mother returned to her +charge, well filled with fish and well disposed +toward all the world, she showed no discontent +at the situation. She belonged to the tribe of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span> +the “Harbor Seals,” and, unlike her pugnacious +cousins, the big “Hoods,” she was always +inclined towards peace and a good understanding. +There was probably nothing that could +have brought the flame of wrath into her confiding +eyes, except an attack upon her young, +on whose behalf she would have faced the sea-serpent +himself. Without a moment’s question, +she joined the group; and henceforth the cave +was the seat of a convenient partnership in +mothers.</p> +<p>It was perhaps a week or two later, when the +islands were visited by a wonderful spell of sun +and calm. It was what would have been called, +farther south, Indian summer. All along the +ledges, just above the mark of the diminished +surf, the seals lay basking in the glow. The +gulls and mews clamored rapturously, and +squabbled with gay zest over the choicer prizes +of their fishing. It appeared to be generally +known that the bears, displeased at the warmth, +had withdrawn farther north. The sea took +on strange hues of opal and lilac and thrice-diluted +sapphire. Even the high black cliffs +across the charmed water veiled their harshness +in a skyey haze. It was a time for delicious indolence, +for the slackening of vigilance, for the +forgetfulness of peril. And it was just at this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span> +very time that it came the young seal’s way to +get his first lesson in fear.</p> +<p>He was lying beside his mother, about a +dozen feet out from the mouth of the cave. A +few steps away basked his little cave-mate—alone +for the moment, because its mother had +flung herself vehemently down the slope to capture +a wounded fish which had just been washed +ashore. As she reached the water’s edge, a +wide shadow floated across the rocks. She +wheeled like a flash and scrambled frantically +up the steep. But she was too late. She saw +the other mothers near by throw their bodies +over those of their young, and lift their faces skyward +with bared, defiant fangs. She saw her +own little one, alone in the bright open, gaze +around in helpless bewilderment and alarm. He +saw her coming, and lifting himself on his weak +flippers, started towards her with a little cry. +Then came a terrible hissing of wings in the +air above, and he cowered, trembling. The +next instant, with a huge buffet of wind in all +the upturned faces, a pair of vast, dark pinions +were outspread above the trembler; great +clutching talons reached down and seized him +by neck and back; and his tiny life went out +in a throttled whimper. The nearest seal, the +mother of the Pup, reared on her flippers and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span> +lunged savagely at the marauder. But all she got +was a blinding slash of rigid wing-tips across her +face. Then, launching himself from the brink +of the slope, the eagle flapped scornfully away +across the water toward the black cliffs, his victim +hanging limply from his claws. And all along +the ledges the seals barked furiously after him.</p> +<p>The Pup, whom death had brushed so closely, +could not be persuaded for hours to leave the +shelter of his mother’s side, even after she had +led him back to the cave. But now he found +himself the exclusive proprietor of two mothers; +for the bereaved dam, thenceforth, was no less +assiduously devoted to him than his own parent. +With such care, and with so abundant +nourishment, he throve amazingly, outstripping +in growth all the other youngsters of his age +along the ledges. His terror quickly passed +away from him; but the results of the lesson +long remained, in the vigilance with which his +glance would sweep the sky, and question every +approach of wings more wide than those of +gull or gannet.</p> +<p>It was not long after this grim chance that +the Pup’s woolly coat began to change. A +straight, close-lying under-fur pushed swiftly +into view, and the wool dropped out—a process +which a certain sense of irritation in his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +skin led him to hasten by rubbing his back +and sides against the rock. In an astonishingly +short time his coat grew like his mother’s—a +yellowish gray, dotted irregularly with blackish +spots, and running to a creamy tone under the +belly. As soon as this change was completed +to his mother’s satisfaction, he was led down +close to the water’s edge, where he had never +been allowed before.</p> +<p>Eagerly as he loved the sight of the waves, +and the salty savor of them, when the first thin +crest splashed up and soused him he shrank +back daunted. It was colder, too, that first slap +in his face, than he had expected. He turned, +intending to retreat a little way up the rocks +and consider the question, in spite of the fact +that there was his little mother in the water, +swimming gayly a few feet out from shore and +coaxing him with soft cries. He was anxious to +join her—but not just yet. Then, all at once +the question was decided for him. His real +mother, who was just behind him, suddenly +thrust her muzzle under his flank, and sent him +rolling into deep water.</p> +<p>He came up at once, much startled. Straightway +he found that he could move in the water +much more easily and naturally than on shore—and +he applied the discovery to getting ashore +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span> +again with all possible haste. But his mother, +awaiting him at the edge, shoved him off relentlessly.</p> +<p>Feeling much injured, he turned and swam +out to his other mother. Here the first one +joined him; and in a few minutes amazement +and resentment alike were lost in delight, as +he began to realize that this, at last, was life. +Here, and not sprawling half helplessly on the +rocks, was where he belonged. He swam, and +dived, and darted like a fish, and went wild +with childish ecstasy. He had come to his own +element. After this, he hardly ever returned +to the cave, but slept close at the side of +one or the other of his mothers, on the open +rocks just a few feet above the edge of tide.</p> +<p>A little later came a period of mad weather, +ushering in the autumn storms. Snow and +sleet drove down out of the north, and lay in +great patches over the more level portions of +the islets above tide. The wind seemed as if +it would lift the islets bodily and sweep them +away. The vast seas, green and black and +lead-color, thundered down upon the rocks as +if they would batter them to fragments. The +ledges shuddered under the incessant crashing. +When the snow stopped, on its heels came the +vanguard of the arctic cold. The ice formed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +instantly in all the pools left by the tide. Along +the edges of the tide it was ground to a bitter +slush by the perpetual churning of the waves.</p> +<p>After a week or two of this violence, the +seals—who, unlike their polar cousins, the +“Harps” and the “Hoods,” were no great lovers +of storm and the fiercer cold—began to feel +discontented. Presently a little party of them, +not more than a score in all, with a few of the +stronger youngsters of that season, on a sudden +impulse left their stormy ledges and started +southward. The Pup, who, thanks to his double +mothering, was far bigger and more capable +than any of his mates, went with his partner-mothers +in the very forefront of the migration.</p> +<p>Straight down along the roaring coast they +kept, usually at a distance of not more than +half a mile from shore. They had, of course, +no objection to going farther out, but neither +had they any object in doing so, since the fish-life +on which they fed as they journeyed was +the more abundant where the sea began to +shoal. With their slim, sleek, rounded bodies, +thickest at the fore flippers and tapering finely +to tail and muzzle, each a lithe and close-knit +structure of muscle and nerve-energy, they could +swim with astounding speed; and therefore, although +there was no hurry whatever, they went +along at the pace of a motor-boat. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span></p> +<p>All this time the gale was lashing the coast, +but it gave them little concern. Down in the +black troughs of the gigantic rollers there was +always peace from the yelling of the wind—a +tranquillity wherein the gulls and mews would +snatch their rest after being buffeted too long +about the sky. Near the tops of the waves, of +course, it was not good to be, for the gale would +rip the crests off bodily and tear them into +shreds of whipping spray. But the seals could +always dive and slip smoothly under these tormented +regions. Moreover, if weary of the +tossing surfaces and the tumult of the gale, +they had only to sink themselves down, down, +into the untroubled gloom beneath the wave-bases, +where greenish lights gleamed or faded +with the passing of the rollers overhead, and +where strange, phosphorescent shapes of life +crawled or clung among the silent rocks. +Longer than any other red-blooded animal, +except the whale, could their lungs go without +fresh oxygen; so, though they knew nothing of +those great depths where the whales sometimes +frequent, it was easy for them to go deep +enough to get below the storm.</p> +<p>Sometimes a break in the coast-line, revealing +the mouth of an inlet, would tempt the little +band of migrants. Hastening shoreward, they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +would push their way inland between the +narrowing banks, often as far as the head of +tide, gambolling in the quiet water, and chasing +the salmon fairly out upon the shoals. Like +most discriminating creatures, they were very +fond of salmon, but it was rarely, except on such +occasions as this, that they had a chance to +gratify their taste.</p> +<p>After perhaps a week of this southward +journeying, the travellers found themselves one +night at the head of a little creek where the tide +lapped pleasantly on a smooth, sandy beach. +They were already getting into milder weather, +and here, a half mile inland, there was no wind. +The sky was overcast, and the seals lay in contented +security along the edge of the water. +The blacker darkness of a fir forest came down +to within perhaps fifty paces of their resting-place. +But they had no anxieties. The only +creatures that they had learned to fear on shore +besides man were the polar bears; and they +knew they were now well south of that deadly +hunter’s range. As for eagles, they did not +hunt at night; and, moreover, they were a terror +only in the woolly-coated, baby stage of a +seal’s existence.</p> +<p>But it often enough happens that wild animals, +no less than human beings, may be ignorant +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +of something which their health requires +them to know. There was another bear in +Labrador—a smallish, rusty-coated, broad-headed, +crafty cousin of the ordinary American +black bear. And one of these, who had acquired +a taste for seal, along with some cleverness +in gratifying that taste, had his headquarters, +as it chanced, in that near-neighboring +fir wood.</p> +<p>The Pup lay crowded in snugly between his +two mothers. He liked the warmth of being +crowded; for the light breeze, drawing up from +the water, was sharp with frost. There is such +a thing, however, as being just a little too +crowded, and presently, waking up with a protest, +he pushed and wriggled to get more space. +As he did so, he raised his head. His keen +young eyes fell upon a black something a little +blacker than the surrounding gloom.</p> +<p>The black something was up the slope halfway +between the water and the wood. It +looked like a mass of rock. But the Pup had +a vague feeling that there had been no rock +thereabouts when he went to sleep. A thrill of +apprehension went up and down his spine, +raising the stiffish hairs along his neck. Staring +with all his eyes through the dimness, he presently +saw the black shape move. Yes, it was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span> +drawing nearer. With a shrill little bark of +terror he gave the alarm, at the same time +struggling free and hurling himself toward the +water.</p> +<p>In that same instant the bear rushed, coming +down the slope as it were in one plunging +jump. The seals, light sleepers all, were already +awake and floundering madly back to the water. +But for one of them, and that one the Pup’s +assistant mother, the alarm came too late. +Just as she was turning, bewildered with terror +of she knew not what, the dark bulk of the bear +landed upon her, crushing her down. A terrific +blow on the muzzle broke her skull, and she +collapsed into a quivering mass. The rest of +the band, after a moment of loud splashing, +swam off noiselessly for the safe retreat of the +outer ledges. And the bear, after shaking the +body of his victim to make sure it was quite +dead, dragged it away with a grunt of satisfaction +into the fir wood.</p> +<p>After this tragedy, though the travellers continued +to ascend the creeks and inlets when the +whim so moved them, they took care to choose +for sleep the ruder security of outlying rocks +and islands, and cherished, by night and by +day, a wholesome distrust of dark fir woods. +But for all their watchfulness their journeying +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span> +was care-free and joyous, and from time to time, +as they went, their light-heartedness would +break out into aimless gambols, or something +very like a children’s game of tag. Nothing, +however, checked their progress southward, +and presently, turning into the Belle Isle Straits, +they came to summer skies and softer weather. +At this point, under the guidance of an old +male who had followed the southward track +before, they forsook the Labrador shore-line +and headed fearlessly out across the strait till +they reached the coast of Newfoundland. This +coast they followed westward till they gained +the Gulf of St. Lawrence, then, turning south, +worked their way down the southwest coast +of the great Island Province, past shores still +basking in the amethystine light of Indian +summer, through seas so teeming with fish that +they began to grow lazy with fatness. Here +the Pup and other younger members of the +company felt inclined to stay. But their elders +knew that winter, with the long cold, and the +scanty sun, and the perilous grinding of tortured +ice-floes around the shore-rocks, would +soon be upon them; so the journey was continued. +On they pressed, across the wide gateway +of the Gulf, from Cape Ray to North Cape, +the eastern point of Nova Scotia. Good +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span> +weather still waited upon their wayfaring, and +they loitered onward gayly, till, arriving at the +myriad-islanded bay of the Tuskets, near the +westernmost tip of the peninsula, they could +not, for sheer satisfaction, go farther. Here +was safe seclusion, with countless inaccessible +retreats. Here was food in exhaustless plenty; +and here was weather benignant enough for +any reasonable needs.</p> +<p>It was just here, off the Tuskets, that the +Pup got another lesson. Hitherto his ideas +of danger had been altogether associated with +the land where eagles swooped out of a clear +sky and bears skulked in the darkness, and +where, moreover, he himself was incapable of +swift escape. But now he found that the sea, +too, held its menace for the gentle kindred of +the seals. It was a still, autumnal morning, blue +and clear, with a sunny sparkle on sea and air. +The seals were most of them basking luxuriously +on the seaward ledges of one of the outermost +islands, while half a dozen of the more +energetic were amusing themselves with their +game of tag in the deep water. Pausing for a +moment to take breath, after a sharp wrestling-match +far down among the seaweeds, the Pup’s +observant eyes caught sight of a small, black +triangular object cutting swiftly the smooth surface +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +of the swells. He stared at it curiously. +It was coming towards him, but it did not, to +his uninitiated eyes, look dangerous. Then he +became conscious of a scurrying of alarm all +about him; and cries of sharp warning reached +him from the sentinels on the ledge. Like a +flash he dived, at an acute angle to the line of +approach of the mysterious black object. Even +in the instant, it was close upon him, and he +caught sight of a long, terrible, gray shape, +thrice as long as a seal, which turned on one +side in its rush, showing a whitish belly, and a +gaping, saw-toothed mouth big enough to take +him in at one gulp. Only by a hair’s-breadth +did he avoid that awful rush, carrying with him +as he passed the sound of the snapping jaws +and the cold gleam of the shark’s small, malignant +eye.</p> +<p>Hideously frightened, he doubled this way +and that, with a nimbleness that his huge pursuer +could not hope to match. It took the shark +but a few seconds to realize that this was a +vain chase. An easier quarry caught his eye. +He darted straight shoreward, where the deep +water ran in abruptly to the very lip of the +ledge. The Pup came to the surface to watch. +One of the younger seals, losing its wits utterly +with fright, and forgetting that its safety lay in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +the deep water where it could twist and dodge, +was struggling frantically to clamber out upon +the rocks. It had almost succeeded, indeed. +It was just drawing up its narrow, tail-like hind +flippers, when the great, rounded snout of the +shark shot into the air above it. The monstrous +shape descended upon it, and fell back +with it into the water, leaving only a splash and +trickle of blood upon the lip of the ledge. The +other seals tossed their heads wildly, jumped +about on their fore-flippers, and barked in lively +dismay; and in a few moments, as if the matter +had been put to vote and carried unanimously, +they betook themselves in haste to one of the +inner islands, where they knew that the shark, +who hates shoal water, would not venture to +follow them.</p> +<p>In this sheltered archipelago the little herd +might well have passed the winter. But after a +few weeks of content the southing spirit again +seized upon the old male who had hitherto been +the unquestioned leader. At this point, however, +his authority went to pieces. When he +resumed the southward wandering, less than +half the herd accompanied him. But among +those faithful were the Pup and his mild-eyed +mother.</p> +<p>Rounding the extremity of Nova Scotia, the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span> +travellers crossed the wide mouth of the Bay of +Fundy, and lingered a few days about the lofty +headlands of Grand Manan. By this time they +had grown so accustomed to ships of all kinds, +from the white-sailed fishing-smack to the long, +black, churning bulk of the ocean liner, that +they no longer heeded them any more than +enough to give them a wide berth. One and +all, these strange apparitions appeared quite indifferent +to seals, so very soon the seals became +almost indifferent to them. Off the island of +Campobello, however, something mysterious +occurred which put an end to this indifference, +although none of the band could comprehend +it.</p> +<p>A beautiful, swift, white craft, with yellow +gleams flashing here and there from her deck +as the sun caught her polished brasswork, was +cleaving the light waves northward. The seals, +their round, dark heads bobbing above the +water at a distance of perhaps three hundred +yards from her port-quarter, gazed at the spectacle +with childlike interest. They saw a group +of men eying them from the deck of the swift +monster. All at once from this group spurted +two thin jets of flame. The Pup heard some +tiny vicious thing go close over his head with +a cruel whine, and <i>zip</i> sharply through a wave-crest +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +just beyond. On the instant, even before +the sharp clatter of the two reports came to +their ears, all the seals dived, and swam desperately +to get as far away as possible from the +terrifying bright monster. When they came +to the surface again, they were far out of range. +But the restless old male, their leader, was not +among them. The white yacht was steaming +away into the distance, with its so-called sportsmen +congratulating themselves that they had +almost certainly killed something. The little +band of seals waited about the spot for an hour +or two, expecting the return of their chief; and +then, puzzled and apprehensive, swam away +toward the green-crested shore-line of Maine.</p> +<p>Here, lacking a leader, their migration came +to an end. There seemed no reason to go +farther, since here was everything they wanted. +The Pup, by this time an expert pursuer of all +but the swiftest fish, was less careful now to +keep always within his mother’s reach, though +the affection between the two was still ardent. +One day, while he was swimming some little +distance apart from the herd, he noticed a +black-hulled boat rocking idly on the swells +near by. It was too near for his comfort, so he +dived at once, intending to seek a safer neighborhood. +But as luck would have it, he had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +hardly plunged below the surface when he encountered +an enormous school of young herring. +What throngs of them there were! +And how crowded together! Never had he +seen anything like it. They were darting this +way and that in terrific excitement. He himself +went wild at once, dashing hither and +thither among them with snapping jaws, destroying +many more than he could eat. And +still they seemed to throng about him ever the +more closely. At last he got tired of it, and +dashed straight ahead to clear the shoal. The +next moment, to his immeasurable astonishment, +he was checked and flung back by a fine, +invisible barrier. No, it was not quite invisible. +He could see a network of meshes before him. +Puzzled and alarmed, he shot up to the surface +to reconnoitre.</p> +<p>As his head rose above the water, his heart +fairly stopped for a second with dismay. The +black side of the fishing boat was just above +him, and the terrifying eyes of men looked +straight down into his. Instantly he dived +again, through the ever thickening masses of +the herring. But straightway again he met the +fine, invincible barrier of the net. Frantically +he struggled to break through it, but only succeeded +in coiling it about him till he could not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span> +move a flipper. And while he wriggled there +impotently, under the squirming myriads of the +fish, he was lifted out into the air and dragged +into the boat.</p> +<p>Seeing the damage he had wrought in their +catch, the fishermen were for knocking their +captive straightway on the nose. But as he +lay there, looking up with innocent eyes of +wonder and appeal through the meshes, something +in his baby helplessness softened the +captain’s heart.</p> +<p>“Hold hard, Jim,” he ordered, staying a big +sailor’s hand. “Blamed if the little varmint +ain’t got eyes most as soft as my Libby’s. I +reckon he’ll make a right purty pet fer the kid, +an’ kind of keep her from frettin’ after her +canary what died last Sunday.”</p> +<p>“He don’t much resemble a canary, +Ephraim,” laughed Jim, dropping the belaying-pin.</p> +<p>“I reckon he’ll fill the bill fine, all the same,” +said the captain.</p> +<p>So the Pup was carried prisoner to Eastport.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>As it happened, Miss Libby was a child of +decided views. One of the most decided of her +views proved to be that a seal pup, with very +little voice and that little by no means melodious, +was no substitute for a canary. She refused +to look at the Pup at all, until her father, +much disappointed, assured her that she should +have a canary also without further delay. And +even then, though she could not remain quite +indifferent to the Pup’s soft eyes and confiding +friendliness, she never developed any real enthusiasm +for him. She would minister amiably +to his wants, and laugh at his antics, and praise +his good temper, and stroke his sleek, round +head, but she stuck resolutely to her first +notion, that he was quite too “queer” for her +to really love. She could never approve of his +having flippers instead of fore paws, and of his +lying down all the time even when he walked. +As for his hind feet, which stuck out always +straight behind him and close together, like a +sort of double-barrelled tail, she was quite sure +they had been fixed that way by mistake, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span> +she could not, in spite of all her father’s explanations +as to the advantages, for a seal, of that +arrangement, ever bring herself to accept them +as normal.</p> +<p>Miss Libby’s mother proved even less cordial. +Her notions of natural history being of +the most primitive, at first view she had jumped +to the conclusion that the Pup was a species of +fish; and in this opinion nothing could ever +shake her.</p> +<p>“Well, I never!” she had exclaimed. “If +that ain’t just like you, Eph Barnes. As if it +wa’n’t enough to have to eat fish, an’ talk fish, +an’ smell fish, year in an’ year out, but you must +go an’ bring a live fish home to flop aroun’ the +house an’ keep gittin’ under a body’s feet every +way they turn! An’ what’s he goin’ to eat, +anyways, I’d like to know?”</p> +<p>“He eats <i>fish</i>, but he ain’t no manner of fish +himself, mother, no more than you nor I be!” +explained Captain Ephraim, with a grin. “An’ +he won’t be in your way a mite, for he’ll live +out in the yard, an’ I’ll sink the half of a molasses +hogshead out there an’ fill it with salt +water for him to play in. He’s an amusin’ little +beggar, an’ gentle as a kitten.”</p> +<p>“Well, I’d have you know that <i>I</i> wash my +hands of him, Ephraim!” declared Mrs. Barnes, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span> +with emphasis. And so it came about that the +Pup presently found himself, not Libby’s special +pet, but Captain Ephraim’s.</p> +<p>Two important members of the Barnes family +were a large yellow cat and a small, tangle-haired, +blue-gray mop of a Skye terrier. At +the first glimpse of the Pup, the yellow cat had +fled, with tail as big as a bottle-brush, to the +top of the kitchen dresser, where she crouched +growling, with eyes like green full moons. The +terrier, on the other hand, whose name was +Toby, had shown himself rather hospitable to +the mild-eyed stranger. Unacquainted with fear, +and always inclined to be scornful of whatever +conduct the yellow cat might indulge in, he had +approached the newcomer with a friendly wagging +of his long-haired stump of a tail, and sniffed +at him with pleased curiosity. The Pup, his lonely +heart hungering for comradeship, had met this +civil advance with effusion; and thenceforward +the two were fast friends.</p> +<p>By the time the yellow cat and Mrs. Barnes +had both got over regarding the Pup as a +stranger, he had become an object of rather +distant interest to them. When he played at +wrestling matches with Toby in the yard,—which +always ended by the Pup rolling indulgently +on his back, while Toby, with yelps of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +excitement, mounted triumphantly between his +fanning flippers,—the yellow cat would crouch +upon the woodpile close by and regard the proceedings +with intent but non-committal eye. +Mrs. Barnes, for her part, would open the kitchen +door and surreptitiously coax the Pup in, with +the lure of a dish of warm milk, which he +loved extravagantly. Then—this being while +Libby was at school and Captain Ephraim away +on the water—she would seat herself in the +rocking-chair by the window with her knitting +and watch the Pup and Toby at their play. +The young seal was an endless source of speculation +to her.</p> +<p>“To think, now,” she would mutter to herself, +“that I’d be a-settin’ here day after day +a-studyin’ out a critter like that, what’s no more’n +jest plain <i>fish</i> says I, if he <i>do</i> flop roun’ the +house an’ drink milk like a cat. He’s right uncanny; +but there ain’t no denyin’ but what he’s +as good as a circus when he gits to playin’ with +Toby.”</p> +<p>As Mrs. Barnes had a very good opinion of +Toby’s intelligence, declaring him to be the +smartest dog in Maine, she gradually imbibed +a certain degree of respect for Toby’s friend. +And so it came about that the Pup acquired a +taste which no seal was ever intended to acquire—a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span> +taste for the luxurious glow of the kitchen +fire.</p> +<p>When at last the real Atlantic winter had +settled down upon the coast, binding it with +bitter frost and scourging it with storm, then +Captain Ephraim spent most of his time at +home in his snug cottage. He had once, on a +flying visit to New York, seen a troupe of performing +seals, which had opened his eyes to +the marvellous intelligence of these amphibians. +It now became his chief occupation, in the long +winter evenings, to teach tricks to the Pup. +And stimulated by abundant prizes in the +shape of fresh herrings and warm milk, right +generously did the Pup respond. He learned +so fast that before spring the accomplished +Toby was outstripped; and as for the canary,—an +aristocratic golden fellow who had come all +the way from Boston,—Miss Libby was constrained +to admit that, except when it came +to a question of singing, her pet was “not in +it” with her father’s. Mrs. Barnes’ verdict was +that “canaries seemed more natural-like, but +couldn’t rightly be called so interestin’.”</p> +<p>Between Libby and her father there was always +a lot of gay banter going on, and now +Captain Ephraim declared that he would teach +the Pup to sing as well as the canary. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span> +obliging animal had already acquired a repertoire +of tricks that would have made him something +of a star in any troupe. The new demand +upon his wits did not disturb him, so long as +it meant more fish, more milk, and more petting. +Captain Ephraim took a large tin bucket, +turned it upside down on the floor, and made +the Pup rest his chest upon the bottom. Then, +tying a tin plate to each flipper, he taught the +animal to pound the plates vigorously against +the sides of the bucket, with a noise that put the +shrill canary to shamefaced silence and drove +the yellow cat in frantic amazement from the +kitchen. This lesson it took weeks to perfect, +because the Pup himself always seemed mortified +at the blatant discords which he made. When +it was all achieved, however, it was not singing, +but mere instrumental music, as Libby triumphantly +proclaimed. Her father straightway +swore that he was not to be downed by any +canary. A few weeks more, and he had taught +the Pup to point his muzzle skyward and emit +long, agonizing groans, the while he kept flapping +the two tin plates against the bucket. It +was a wonderful achievement, which made Toby +retreat behind the kitchen stove and gaze forth +upon his friend with grieved surprise. But it +obliged Libby, who was a fair-minded child, to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span> +confess to her father that she and her pet were +vanquished.</p> +<p>All this while the Pup was growing, as perhaps +no harbor seal of his months had grown +before. When spring came, he saw less of Captain +Ephraim, but he had compensation, for the +good captain now diverted into his modest +grounds a no-account little brook which was going +begging, and dug a snug little basin at the +foot of the garden for the Pup to disport himself +therein. All through the summer he continued +to grow and was happy, playing with +Toby, offending the yellow cat, amusing Miss +Libby, and affording food for speculation to +Mrs. Barnes over her knitting. In the winter +Captain Ephraim polished him up in his old +tricks, and taught him some new ones. But by +this time he had grown so big that Mrs. Barnes +began to grumble at him for taking up too much +room. He was, as ever, a model of confiding +amiability, in spite of his ample jaws and formidable +teeth. But one day toward spring he +showed that this good nature of his would not +stand the test of seeing a friend ill-used.</p> +<p>It happened in this way. Toby, who was an +impudent little dog, had managed to incur the +enmity of a vicious half-breed mastiff, which +lived on a farm some distance out of Eastport. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span> +The brute was known to have killed several +smaller dogs; so whenever he passed the Barnes’ +gate, and snarled his threats at Toby, Toby +would content himself with a scornful growl +from the doorstep.</p> +<p>But one morning, as the big mongrel went by +at the tail of his master’s sled, Toby chanced to +be very busy in the snow near the gate digging +up a precious buried bone. The big dog crept +up on tiptoe, and went over the gate with a +scrambling bound. Toby had just time to lift +his shaggy little head out of the snow and turn +to face the assault. His heart was great, and +there was no terror in the growl with which he +darted under the foe’s huge body and sank his +teeth strategically into the nearest hind paw. +But the life would have been crushed out of him +in half a minute, had not the Pup, at this critical +juncture, come flopping up awkwardly to see +how his little friend was faring.</p> +<p>Now the Pup, as we have seen, was simply +overflowing with good-will towards dogs, and +cats, and every one. But that was because he +thought they were all friendly. He was amazed +to find here a dog that seemed unfriendly. Then +all at once he realized that something very serious +was happening to his playmate. His eyes reddened +and blazed; and with one mighty lunge +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span> +he flung himself forward upon the enemy. With +that terrific speed of action which could snap up +a darting mackerel, he caught the mastiff in the +neck, close behind the jaw. His teeth were +built to hold the writhings of the biggest +salmon, and his grip was that of a bulldog—except +that it cut far deeper.</p> +<p>The mastiff yelped, snapped wildly at his +strange antagonist, and then, finding himself +held so that he could not by any possibility get +a grip, strove to leap into the air and shake his +assailant off. But the Pup held him down inexorably, +his long teeth cutting deeper and +deeper with every struggle. For perhaps half +a minute the fight continued, the mad contortions +of the entangled three (for Toby still clung +to his grip on the foe’s hind paw) tearing up the +snow for a dozen feet in every direction. The +snow was flecked with crimson,—but suddenly, +with a throbbing gush, it was flooded scarlet. +The Pup’s teeth had torn through the great +artery of his opponent’s neck. With a cough +the brute fell over, limp and unresisting as a +half-filled bran sack.</p> +<p>At this moment the mastiff’s owner, belatedly +aware that the tables were being turned on his vicious +favorite, came yelling and cursing over the +gate, brandishing a sled stake in his hands. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span> +But at the same time arrived Captain Ephraim, +rushing bareheaded from the kitchen, and +stepped in front of the new arrival. One glance +had shown him that the fight was over.</p> +<p>“Hold hard there, Baiseley!” he ordered in +curt tones. Then he continued more slowly—“It +ain’t no use makin’ a fuss. That murderin’ +brute of yourn begun it, an’ come into my yard +to kill my own little tike here. He’s got just +what he deserved. An’ if the Pup here hadn’t +’a’ done it, I’d ’a’ done it myself. See?”</p> +<p>Baiseley, like his mongrel follower, was a +bully. But he had discretion. He calmed +down.</p> +<p>“That there dog o’ mine, Captain Ephraim, +was a good dog, an’ worth money. I reckon +ye’ll hev to pay me ten dollars for that dog, an’ +we’ll call it square.”</p> +<p>“Reckon I’ll have to owe it to ye, Hank! +Mebbe I’ll pay it some day when you git +han’somer ’n you are now!” laughed Captain +Ephraim dryly. He gave a piercing whistle +through his teeth. Straightway Toby, sadly +bedraggled, came limping up to him. The Pup +let go of his dead enemy, and lifted his head +to eye his master inquiringly. His whole front +was streaming with blood.</p> +<p>“Go wash yerself!” ordered the captain +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span> +picking up a chip and hurling it into the pond, +which was now half empty of ice.</p> +<p>The Pup floundered off obediently to get +the chip, and Baiseley, muttering inarticulate +abuse, slouched away to his sled.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p>Toward the end of April there came a great +change in the Pup’s affairs. Primarily, the +change was in Captain Ephraim’s. Promoted +to the command of a smart schooner engaged +in cod-fishing on the Grand Banks, he sold his +cottage at Eastport and removed his family to +Gloucester, Massachusetts. At the same time, +recognizing with many a pang that a city like +Gloucester was no place for him to keep a seal +in, he sold the Pup, at a most consoling price +indeed, to the agent of an English animal +trainer. With the prospect of shortly becoming +the cynosure of all eyes at Shepherd’s Bush +or Earl’s Court, the Pup was shipped on a +freighter for Liverpool.</p> +<p>With his pervasive friendliness, and seeking +solace for the absence of Toby and Captain +Ephraim, the Pup proved a most privileged +and popular passenger. All went well till the +ship came off Cape Race, Newfoundland. +Then that treacherous and implacable promontory +made haste to justify its reputation; and +in a blind sou’wester the ship was driven on the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span> +ledges. While she was pounding to pieces, the +crew got away in their boats, and presently the +Pup found himself reviving half-forgotten +memories amid the buffeting of the huge Atlantic +rollers.</p> +<p>He felt amazingly at home, but very lonely. +Bobbing his head as high as he could above +the water, he stared about him in every direction, +dimly hoping to catch sight of Captain +Ephraim or Toby—or even of the unsociable +yellow cat. They were nowhere to be seen. +Well, company he must have. After fish, of +which there was no lack in those teeming +waters, company was his urgent demand. He +headed impatiently for the coast, which he +could not see indeed, but which he felt clearly +in the distance.</p> +<p>The first land he encountered was a high +hogback of rock which proved to be an island. +Swimming around under its lea, he ran into a +little herd of seals of his own kind, and hastened +confidently to fraternize with them.</p> +<p>The strangers, mostly females and young +males, met his advances with a good-natured +indifference. One of the herd, however, a big +dog-seal who seemed to consider himself the +chief, would have none of him, but grumbled +and showed his teeth in a most unpleasant +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span> +manner. The Pup avoided him politely, and +crawled out upon the rocks, about twenty feet +away, beside two friendly females. He wanted +to get acquainted, that was all. But the old +male, after grumbling for several minutes, got +himself worked up into a rage, and came +floundering over the rocks to do up the visitor. +Roughly he pushed the two complaisant females +off into the water, and then, with a savage +lunge, he fell upon the Pup.</p> +<p>But in this last step the old male was ill-advised. +Hitherto the Pup had felt diffident in +the face of such a reception, but now a sudden +red rage flared into his eyes. Young as he was, +he was as big as his antagonist, and, here on +land, a dozen times more nimble. Here came +in the advantage of Captain Ephraim’s training. +When the old male lunged upon him, he simply +wasn’t there. He had shot aside, and wheeled +like a flash, and secured a hold at the root of +his assailant’s flipper. Of course in this position +he too received some sharp punishment. But +he held on like a bulldog, worrying, worrying +mercilessly, till all at once the other squealed, +and threw up his muzzle, and struggled to get +away. The Pup, satisfied with this sign of submission, +let him go at once, and he flounced +off furiously into the water. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span></p> +<p>As a prompt result of this victory, the Pup +found himself undisputed leader of the little +herd, his late antagonist, after a vain effort to +effect a division, having slipped indolently into +a subordinate place. This suited the Pup exactly, +who was happy himself, and wanted everybody +else to be so likewise.</p> +<p>As spring advanced, the herd worked their +way northward along the Newfoundland coast, +sometimes journeying hurriedly, sometimes lingering +for days in the uninhabited inlets and +creek mouths. The Pup was in a kind of ecstasy +over his return to the water world, and indulged +in antics that seemed perhaps frivolous +in the head of so important a family. But once +in a while a qualm of homesickness would come +over him, for Toby, and the Captain, and a big +tin basin of warm milk. And in one of these +moods he was suddenly confronted by men.</p> +<p>The herd was loitering off a point which +marked the entrance to a shallow cove, when +round the jutting rocks slid a row-boat, with +two fishermen coming out to set lines. They +had no guns with them, fortunately. They saw +the seals dive and vanish at the first glimpse of +them, as was natural. But to their amazement, +one seal—the biggest, to their astonished eyes, +in the whole North Atlantic—did not vanish +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span> +with the rest. Instead of that, after eying them +fearlessly at a distance of some fifty feet, he +swam deliberately straight toward them.</p> +<p>Now there is nothing very terrifying, except +to a fish, in the aspect of even the biggest harbor +seal; but to these fishermen, who knew +the shyness of the seals, it was terrifying to the +last degree that one should conduct himself in +this unheard-of way. They stopped rowing, +and stared with superstitious eyes.</p> +<p>“Howly Mother!” gasped one, “that b’ain’t +no seal, Mike!”</p> +<p>“What d’ye s’pose he wants wid us, Barney, +annyhow?” demanded Mike, in an awed voice.</p> +<p>“Sure, an’ it’s a <i>sign</i> for the one or t’other of +us. It’s gittin’ back to shore we’d better be,” +suggested Barney, pulling round hard on the +bow oar.</p> +<p>As the mysterious visitor was still advancing, +this counsel highly commended itself to Mike, +who would have faced a polar bear with no +weapon but his oar, but had no stomach for +a parley with the supernatural. In another +moment the boat was rushing back up the cove +with all the speed their practised muscles could +impart. But still, swimming leisurely in their +wake, with what seemed to them a dreadful deliberation, +the Pup came after them. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span></p> +<p>“Don’t ye be comin’ nigh <i>me</i>!” cried Mike, +somewhat hysterically, “or I’ll bash yer face +wid the oar, mind!”</p> +<p>“Whisht!” said Barney, “don’t ye be after +talkin’ that way to a sperrit, or maybe he’ll blast +ye!”</p> +<p>“I’m thinkin’, now,” said Mike, presently, in +a hushed voice, “as maybe it be Dan Sheedy’s +sperrit, comin’ back to ha’nt me coz I didn’t +give up them boots o’ his to his b’y, accordin’ +to me promise.”</p> +<p>“Shure an’ why not that?” agreed Barney, +cheered by the hope that the visitation was not +meant for him.</p> +<p>A moment more and the boat reached the +beach with an abruptness that hurled both +rowers from their seats. Scrambling out upon +the shingle, they tugged wildly at the boat to +draw her up. But the Pup, his eyes beaming +affection, was almost on their heels. With a +yell of dismay Mike dashed up the shore toward +their shack; but Barney, having less on +his conscience, delayed to snatch out of the bow +the precious tin pail in which they carried their +bait. Then he followed Mike. But looking +back over his shoulder, he saw his mysterious +pursuer ascend from the water and come flopping +up the shore at a pace which assuredly no +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span> +<i>mortal</i> seal could ever accomplish on dry land. +At that he fell over a boulder, dropped the pail +of bait, picked himself up with a startled yell, +and made a dash for the shack as if all the fiends +were chasing him.</p> +<p>Slamming the door behind them, the two +stared fearfully out of the window. Their guns, +loaded with slugs, leaned against the wall, but +they would never be guilty of such perilous impiety +as to use them.</p> +<p>When he came to the tin pail and the spilled +bait the Pup was pleased. He knew very well +what the pail was for, and what the men expected +of him. He had no objection to being +paid in advance, so he gobbled the bait at once. +It was not much, but he had great hopes that, +if he acquitted himself well, he might get a pan +of warm milk. Cheerfully he hoisted his massive +chest upon the pail, and then, pounding jerkily +with his flippers as hard as he could, he lifted +his muzzle heavenward and delivered himself +of a series of prolonged and anguished groans.</p> +<p>This was too much for his audience.</p> +<p>“Howly Mother, save us!” sobbed Barney, +dropping upon his knees, and scrabbling desperately +in his untidy memory for some fragments +of his childhood’s prayers.</p> +<p>“Don’t, Dan, don’t!” pleaded Mike, gazing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span> +out with wild eyes at the Pup’s mystical performance. +“I’ll give back them boots to the +b’y. I’ll give ’em back, Dan! Let me be now, +won’t ’ee, old mate?”</p> +<p>Thus adjured, the Pup presently stopped, +and stared expectantly at the shack, awaiting +the pan of warm milk. When it did not come, +he was disgusted. He had never been kept +waiting this way before. These men were not +like Captain Ephraim. In a minute or two +he rolled off the pail, flopped heavily down the +beach, and plunged back indignantly into the +sea. As his dark head grew smaller and +smaller in the distance, the men in the shack +threw open the door, and came out as if they +needed fresh air.</p> +<p>“I always <i>said</i> as how Dan had a good +heart,” muttered Mike, in a shaken voice. +“An’ shure, now, ye see, Barney, he ain’t +after bearin’ no grudge.”</p> +<p>“But ye’ll be takin’ back them boots to +young Dan, this very day of our lives,” urged +Barney. “An’ ye’ll be after makin’ it all right +wid the Widdy Sheedy, afore ye’re a day older, +now.”</p> +<p>“Shure, an’ to wanst ain’t none too quick for +me, an’ me receavin’ a hint loike that!” agreed +Mike. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></p> +<p>As for the Pup, after this shock to his faith +in man, he began to forget the days of his +comfortable captivity. His own kind proved +vastly interesting to him, and in a few weeks +his reversion was complete. By that time his +journeyings had led him, with his little herd, +far up the coast of Labrador. At last he +came to a chain of rocky islands, lying off a +black and desolate coast. The islands were +full of caves, and clamorous with sea-birds, and +trodden forever by a white and shuddering +surf. Here old memories stirred dimly but +sweetly within him—and here he brought his +wanderers to rest.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='LONE_WOLF' id='LONE_WOLF'></a> +<h2>LONE WOLF</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span></div> +<h2>Lone Wolf</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>Not, like his grim ancestors for a thousand +generations, in some dark cave of the +hills was he whelped, but in a narrow iron +cage littered with straw. Two brothers and a +sister made at the same time a like inauspicious +entrance upon an alien and fettered existence. +And because their silent, untamable mother +loved too savagely the hereditary freedom of her +race to endure the thought of bearing her young +into a life of bondage, she would have killed +them mercifully, even while their blind baby +mouths were groping for her breasts. But +the watchful keeper forestalled her. Whelps +of the great gray timber wolf, born in captivity, +and therefore likely to be docile, were rare and +precious. The four little sprawlers, helpless +and hungrily whimpering, were given into the +care of a foster-mother, a sorrowing brown +spaniel bitch who had just been robbed of her +own puppies.</p> +<p>When old enough to be weaned, the two +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span> +brothers and the sister, sturdy and sleek as +any wolf cubs of the hills, were sold to a +dealer in wild animals, who carried them off +to Hamburg. But “Lone Wolf,” as Toomey, +the trainer, had already named him, stayed +with the circus. He was the biggest, the most +intelligent, and the most teachable cub of the +whole litter, and Toomey, who had an unerring +eye for quality in a beast, expected to make +of him a star performer among wolves.</p> +<p>Job Toomey had been a hunter and a trapper +in the backwoods of New Brunswick, where +his instinctive knowledge of the wild kindreds +had won him a success which presently sickened +him. His heart revolted against the +slaughter of the creatures which he found so +interesting, and for a time, his occupation gone, +he had drifted aimlessly about the settlements. +Then, at the performance of a travelling circus, +which boasted two trained bears and a little +trick elephant, he had got his cue. It was +borne in upon him that he was meant to be +an animal trainer. Then and there he joined +the circus at a nominal wage, and within six +months found himself an acknowledged indispensable. +In less than a year he had become +a well-known trainer, employed in one of the +biggest menageries of America. Not only for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span> +his wonderful comprehension and command of +animals was he noted, but also for his pose, to +which he clung obstinately, of giving his performances +always in the homespun garb of a +backwoodsman, instead of in the conventional +evening dress.</p> +<p>“Lone Wolf!” It seemed a somewhat imaginative +name for the prison-born whelp, but +as he grew out of cub-hood his character and +his stature alike seemed to justify it. Influenced +by the example of his gentle foster-mother, he +was docility itself toward his tamer, whom he +came to love well after the reticent fashion of +his race. But toward all others, man and beast +alike, his reserve was cold and dangerous. +Toomey, apparently, absorbed all the affection +which his lonely nature had to spare. In return +for this singleness of regard, Toomey +trained him with a firm patience which never +forgot to be kind, and made him, by the time +he was three years old, quite the cleverest and +most distinguished performing wolf who had +ever adorned a show.</p> +<p>He was now as tall as the very tallest Great +Dane, but with a depth of shoulder and chest, +a punishing length and strength of jaw, that no +dog ever could boast. When he looked at +Toomey, his eyes wore the expression of a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span> +faithful and understanding follower; but when +he answered the stares of the crowd through +the bars of his cage, the greenish fire that flamed +in their inscrutable depths was ominous and +untamed. In all save his willing subjection to +Toomey’s mastery, he was a true wolf, of the +savage and gigantic breed of the Northwestern +timber. To the spectators this was aggressively +obvious; and therefore the marvel of seeing this +sinister gray beast, with the murderous fangs, so +submissive to Toomey’s gentlest bidding, never +grew stale. In every audience there were always +some spectators hopefully pessimistic, who +vowed that the great wolf would some day turn +upon his master and tear his throat. To be +sure, Lone Wolf was not by any means the only +beast whom the backwoodsman had performing +for the delectation of his audiences. But all +the others—the lions, the leopards, the tiger, +the elephant, the two zebras, and the white bear—seemed +really subdued, as it were hypnotized +into harmlessness. It was Lone Wolf only who +kept the air of having never yielded up his +spirit, of being always, in some way, not the slave +but the free collaborator.</p> +<p>Ordinarily, in spite of the wild fire smouldering +in his veins, Lone Wolf was well enough +content. The show was so big and so important +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span> +that it was accustomed to visit only the great +centres, and to make long stops at each place. +At such times his life contained some measure +of freedom. He would be given a frequent +chance of exercise, in some secure enclosure +where he could run, and jump, and stretch his +mighty muscles, and breathe deep. And not +infrequently—after dark as a rule—his master +would snap a massive chain upon his collar, and +lead him out, on leash like a dog, into the verdurous +freshness of park or country lane. But +when the show was on tour, then it was very +different. Lone Wolf hated fiercely the narrow +cage in which he had to travel. He hated the +harsh, incessant noise of the grinding rails, the +swaying and lurching of the trucks, the dizzying +procession of the landscape past the barred +slits which served as windows to his car. Moreover, +sometimes the unwieldy length of the circus +train would be halted for an hour or two on +some forest siding, to let the regular traffic of +the line go by. Then, as his wondering eyes +caught glimpses of shadowed glades, and mysterious +wooded aisles, and far-off hills and horizons, +or wild, pungent smells of fir thicket and +cedar swamp drew in upon the wind to his uplifted +nostrils, his veins would run hot with an +uncomprehended but savage longing for delights +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span> +which he had never known, for a freedom +of which he had never learned or guessed. At +such times his muscles would ache and quiver, +till he felt like dashing himself blindly against +his bars. And if the halt happened to take +place at night, with perhaps a white moon staring +in upon him from over a naked hill-top, he +would lift his lean muzzle straight up toward +the roof of his cage and give utterance to a terrible +sound of which he knew not the meaning, +the long, shrill gathering cry of the pack. This +would rouse all the other beasts to a frenzy of +wails and screeches and growls and roars; till +Toomey would have to come and stop his performance +by darkening the cage with a tarpaulin. +At the sound of Toomey’s voice, +soothing yet overmastering, the great wolf +would lie down quietly, and the ghostly summons +of his far-ravaging fathers would haunt his +spirit no more.</p> +<p>After one of these long journeys, the show +was halted at an inland city for a stop of many +weeks; and to house the show a cluster of +wooden shanties was run up on the outskirts of +the city, forming a sort of mushroom village +flanked by the great white exhibition tents. In +one of these shanties, near the centre of the +cluster, Lone Wolf’s cage was sheltered, along +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span> +with the cages of the puma, the leopard, and +the little black Himalayan bear. Immediately +adjoining this shanty was the spacious open +shed where the elephants were tethered.</p> +<p>That same night, a little before dawn, when +the wearied attendants were sleeping heavily, +Lone Wolf’s nostrils caught a strange smell +which made him spring to his feet and sniff +anxiously at the suddenly acrid air. A strange +reddish glow was dispersing the dark outside +his window. From the other cages came uneasy +mutterings and movements, and the little black +bear, who was very wise, began to whine. The +dull glow leaped into a glare and then the elephants +trumpeted the alarm. Instantly the +night was loud with shoutings, and tramplings, +and howlings, and rushings to and fro. A cloud +of choking smoke blew into Lone Wolf’s cage, +making him cough and wonder anxiously why +Toomey didn’t come. The next moment +Toomey came, with one of the keepers, and an +elephant. Frantically they began pushing and +dragging out the cages. But there was a wind; +and before the first cage, that of the puma, was +more than clear of the door, the flames were on +top of them like a leaping tiger. Panic-stricken, +the elephant screamed and bolted. The keeper, +shouting, “We can’t save any more in this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span> +house. Let’s git the lions out!” made off with +one arm over his eyes, doggedly dragging the +heavy cage of the puma. The keeper was right. +He had his work cut out for him, as it was, to +save the screeching puma. As for Toomey, +his escape was already almost cut off. But he +could not endure to save himself without giving +the imprisoned beasts a chance for their lives. +Dashing at the three remaining cages, he tore +them open; and then, with a summons to Lone +Wolf to follow him, he threw his arms over his +face and dashed through the flames.</p> +<p>The three animals sprang out at once into +the middle of the floor, but their position +seemed already hopeless. The leopard, thoroughly +cowed, leaped back into his cage and +curled up in the farthest corner, spitting insanely. +Lone Wolf dashed at the door by +which Toomey had fled, but a whirl of flame +in his face drove him back to the middle of the +floor, where the little bear stood whimpering. +Just at this moment a massive torrent of water +from a fire engine crashed through the window, +drenching Lone Wolf, and knocking the bear +clean over. The beneficent stream was whisked +away again in an instant, having work to do +elsewhere than on this already doomed and +hopeless shed. But to the wise little bear it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span> +had shown a way of escape. Out through the +window he scurried, and Lone Wolf went after +him in one tremendous leap just as the flames +swooped in and licked the floor clean, and slew +the huddled leopard in its cage.</p> +<p>Outside, in the awful heat, the alternations of +dazzling glare and blinding smoke, the tumult +of the shouting and the engines, the roar of +the flames, the ripping crash of the streams, +and the cries of the beasts, Lone Wolf found +himself utterly confused. But he trusted, for +some reason, to the sagacity of the bear, and +followed his shaggy form, bearing diagonally +up and across the wind. Presently a cyclone +of suffocating smoke enveloped him, and he +lost his guide. But straight ahead he darted, +stretched out at top speed, belly to the ground, +and in another moment he emerged into the +clear air. His eyes smarting savagely, his nose +and lips scorched, his wet fur singed, he hardly +realized at first his escape, but raced straight on +across the fields for several hundred yards. +Then, at the edge of a wood, he stopped and +looked back. The little bear was nowhere to +be seen. The night wind here blew deliciously +cool upon his face. But there was the mad red +monster, roaring and raging still as if it would +eat up the world. The terror of it was in his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span> +veins. He sprang into the covert of the wood, +and ran wildly, with the one impulse to get as +far away as possible.</p> +<p>Before he had gone two miles, he came out +upon an open country of fields, and pastures, +and farmyards, and little thickets. Straight on +he galloped, through the gardens and the farmyards +as well as the open fields. In the pastures +the cattle, roused by the glare in the sky, +stamped and snorted at him as he passed, and +now and then a man’s voice yelled at him +angrily as his long form tore through flowerbeds +or trellised vines. He had no idea of +avoiding the farmhouses, for he had at first no +fear of men; but at length an alert farmer got +a long shot at him with a fowling-piece, and +two or three small leaden pellets caught him +in the hind quarters. They did not go deep +enough to do him serious harm, but they hurt +enough to teach him that men were dangerous. +Thereupon he swerved from the uncompromising +straight line of his flight, and made for the +waste places. When the light of the fire had +quite died out behind him, the first of the dawn +was creeping up the sky; and by this time he +had come to a barren region of low thickets, +ragged woods, and rocks thrusting up through +a meagre, whitish soil. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span></p> +<p>Till the sun was some hours high Lone Wolf +pressed on, his terror of the fire now lost in a +sense of delighted freedom. By this time he +was growing hungry, and for an instant the +impulse seized him to turn back and seek his +master. But no, that way lay the scorching of +the flames. Instead of turning, he ran on all +the faster. Suddenly a rabbit bounded up, almost +beneath his nose. Hitherto he had never +tasted living prey, but with a sure instinct he +sprang after the rabbit. To his fierce disappointment, +however, the nimble little beast was +so inconsiderate as to take refuge in a dense +bramble thicket which he could not penetrate. +His muzzle, smarting and tender from the fire, +could not endure the harsh prickles, so after +prowling about the thicket for a half-hour in +the wistful hope that the rabbit might come +out, he resumed his journey. He had no idea, +of course, where he wanted to go, but he felt +that there must be a place somewhere where +there were plenty of rabbits and no bramble +thickets.</p> +<p>Late in the afternoon he came upon the +fringes of a settlement, which he skirted with +caution. In a remote pasture field, among +rough hillocks and gnarled, fire-scarred stumps, +he ran suddenly into a flock of sheep. For +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span> +a moment he was puzzled at the sight, but the +prompt flight of the startled animals suggested +pursuit. In a moment he had borne down the +hindermost. To reach for its throat was a +sure instinct, and he feasted, with a growing +zest of savagery, upon the hot flesh. Before +he realized it, he was dragging the substantial +remnant of his meal to a place of hiding under +an overhanging rock. Then, well content with +himself, he crept into a dark thicket and slept +for several hours.</p> +<p>When he awoke, a new-risen moon was shining, +with something in her light which half +bewildered him, half stung him to uncomprehended +desires. Skulking to the crest of a +naked knoll, he saw the landscape spread out +all around him, with the few twinkling lights +of the straggling village below the slopes of +the pasture. But not for lights, or for villages, +or for men was his concern. Sitting up very +straight on his gaunt haunches, he stretched +his muzzle toward the taunting moon, and began +to sound that long, dreadful gathering cry +of his race.</p> +<p>It was an unknown or a long-forgotten voice +in those neighborhoods, but none who heard +it needed to have it explained. In half a minute +every dog in the settlement was howling, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span> +barking, or yelping, in rage or fear. To Lone +Wolf all this clamor was as nothing. He +paid no more attention to it than as if it had +been the twittering of sparrows. Then doors +opened, and lights flashed as men came out to +see what was the matter. Clearly visible, silhouetted +against the low moon, Lone Wolf +kept up his sinister chant to the unseen. But +presently, out of the corner of his eye, he noted +half a dozen men approaching up the pasture, +with the noisy dogs at their heels. Men! +That was different! Could it be that they +wanted him? All at once he experienced a +qualm of conscience, so to speak, about the +sheep he had killed. It occurred to him that +if sheep belonged to men, there might be trouble +ahead. Abruptly he stopped his serenading of +the moon, slipped over the crest of the knoll, +and made off at a long, tireless gallop which +before morning had put leagues between himself +and the angry villagers.</p> +<p>After this he gave a wide berth to settlements; +and having made his first kill, he suddenly +found himself an accomplished hunter. +It was as if long-buried memories had sprung +all at once to life,—memories, indeed, not of +his own but of his ancestors’,—and he knew, +all at once, how to stalk the shy wild rabbits, to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +run down and kill the red deer. The country +through which he journeyed was well stocked +with game, and he fed abundantly as he went, +with no more effort than just enough to give +zest to his freedom. In this fashion he kept +on for many days, working ever northward just +because the wild lands stretched in that direction; +and at last he came upon the skirts of +a cone-shaped mountain, ragged with ancient +forest, rising solitary and supreme out of a +measureless expanse of wooded plain. From a +jutting shoulder of rock his keen eyes noted +but one straggling settlement, groups of scattered +clearings, wide apart on the skirts of the +great hill. They were too far off to mar the +vast seclusion of the height; and Lone Wolf, +finding a cave in the rocks that seemed exactly +designed for his retreat, went no farther. He +felt that he had come into his own domain.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></div> +<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p>The settlers around the skirts of Lost Mountain +were puzzled and indignant. For six weeks +their indignation had been growing, and the +mystery seemed no nearer a solution. Something +was slaughtering their sheep—something +that knew its business and slaughtered +with dreadful efficiency. Several honest dogs +fell under suspicion, not because there was anything +whatever against their reputations, but +simply because they had the misfortune to be +big enough and strong enough to kill a sheep +if they wanted to, and the brooding backwoods +mind, when troubled, will go far on the flimsiest +evidence.</p> +<p>Of all the wrathful settlers the most furious +was Brace Timmins. Not only had he lost in +those six weeks six sheep, but now his dog, a +splendid animal, half deerhound and half collie, +had been shot on suspicion by a neighbor, on +no better grounds, apparently, than his long +legs and long killing jaws. Still the slaughtering +of the flocks went on with undiminished +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span> +vigor. And a few days later Brace Timmins +avenged his favorite by publicly thrashing his +too hasty neighbor in front of the cross-roads +store. The neighbor, pounded into exemplary +penitence, apologized, and as far as the murdered +dog was concerned, the score was wiped clean. +But the problem of the sheep killing was no +nearer solution. If not Brace Timmins’ dog, +as every one made prudent haste to acknowledge, +then whose dog was it? The life of every +dog in the settlement, if bigger than a wood-chuck, +hung by a thread, which might, it seemed, +at any moment turn into a halter. Brace Timmins +loved dogs; and not wishing that others +should suffer the unjust fate which had overtaken +his own, he set his whole woodcraft to +the discovery of the true culprit.</p> +<p>Before he had made any great progress, however, +on this trail, a new thing happened, and +suspicion was lifted from the heads of all the +dogs. Joe Anderson’s dog, a powerful beast, +part sheep-dog and part Newfoundland, with a +far-off streak of bull, and the champion fighter +of the settlements, was found dead in the +middle of Anderson’s sheep pasture, his whole +throat fairly ripped out. He had died in defence +of his charges, and it was plainly no +dog’s jaws that had done such mangling. What +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span> +dog indeed could have mastered Anderson’s +“Dan”?</p> +<p>“It’s a bear, gone mad on mutton,” pronounced +certain of the wise ones, idling at +the cross-roads store. “Ye see as how he +hain’t <i>et</i> the dawg, noways, but jest bit him +to teach him not to go interferin’ as regards +sheep.”</p> +<p>“Ye’re all off,” contradicted Timmins, with +authority. “A bear’d hev’ tore him an’ batted +him an’ mauled him more’n he’d hev’ bit him. +A bear thinks more o’ usin’ his fore paws than +what he does his jaws, if he gits into any kind +of an onpleasantness. No, boys, our unknown +friend up yonder’s a <i>wolf</i>, take my word for +it.”</p> +<p>Joe Anderson snorted, and spat accurately +out through the door.</p> +<p>“A <i>wolf</i>!” he sneered. “Go chase yerself, +Brace Timmins. I’d like to see any wolf +as could ’a’ done up my Dan that way!”</p> +<p>“Well, keep yer hair on, Joe,” retorted +Timmins, easily. “I’m a-goin’ after him, an’ +I’ll show him to you in a day or two, as like +as not!”</p> +<p>“I reckon, Joe,” interposed the storekeeper, +leaning forward across the counter, “as how +there be other breeds of wolf besides the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span> +sneakin’ little gray varmint of the East here, +what’s been cleaned out of these parts fifty +year ago. If Brace is right,—an’ I reckon +he be,—then it must sure be one of them +big timber wolves we read about, what the +Lord’s took it into His head to plank down +here in our safe old woods to make us set +up an’ take notice. You better watch out, +Brace. If ye don’t git the brute first lick, he’ll +git you!”</p> +<p>“<i>I’ll</i> watch out!” drawled Timmins, confidently; +and selecting a strong, steel trap-chain +from a box beside the counter, he +sauntered off to put his plans in execution.</p> +<p>These plans were simple enough. He knew +that he had a wide-ranging adversary to deal +with. But he himself was a wide ranger, and +acquainted with every cleft and crevice of Lost +Mountain. He would find the great wolf’s +lair, and set his traps accordingly, one in the +runway, to be avoided if the wolf was as clever +as he ought to be, and a couple of others a little +aside to really do the work. Of course, he +would carry his rifle, in case of need, but he +wanted to take his enemy alive.</p> +<p>For several arduous but exciting days Timmins +searched in vain alike the dark cedar +swamps and the high, broken spurs of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span> +mountain. Then, one windless afternoon, when +the forest scents came rising to him on the +clear air, far up the steep he found a climbing +trail between gray, shelving ledges. Stealthy +as a lynx he followed, expecting at the next +turn to come upon the lair of the enemy. It +was a just expectation, but as luck would have +it, that next turn, which would have led him +straight to his goal, lay around a shoulder of +rock whose foundations had been loosened +by the rains. With a kind of long growl, rending +and sickening, the rock gave way, and +sank beneath Timmins’ feet.</p> +<p>Moved by the alert and unerring instinct +of the woodsman, Timmins leaped into the +air. Both high and wide he sprang, and so +escaped being engulfed in the mass which he +had dislodged. On the top of the ruin he +fell, but he fell far and hard; and for some +fifteen or twenty minutes after that fall he +lay very still, while the dust and débris settled +into silence under the quiet flooding of the sun.</p> +<p>At last he opened his eyes. For a moment +he made no effort to move, but lay wondering +where he was. A weight was on his +legs, and glancing downward, he saw that he +was half covered with earth and rubbish. +Then he remembered. Was he badly hurt? +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span> +He was half afraid, now, to make the effort +to move, lest he should find himself incapable +of it. Still, he felt no serious pain. His +head ached, to be sure; and he saw that his +left hand was bleeding from a gash at the +base of the thumb. That hand still clutched +one of the heavy traps which he had been +carrying, and it was plainly the trap that had +cut him, as if in a frantic effort to escape. +But where was his rifle? Cautiously turning +his head, he peered around for it, but in +vain, for during the fall it had flown far aside +into the thickets. As he stared solicitously, +all at once his dazed and sluggish senses +sprang to life again with a scorching throb, +which left a chill behind it. There, not ten +paces away, sitting up on its haunches and +eying him contemplatively, was a gigantic +wolf, much bigger, it seemed to him, than +any wolf had any right to be.</p> +<p>Timmins’ first instinct was to spring to his +feet, with a yell that would give the dreadful +stranger to understand that he was a fellow it +would not be well to tamper with. But his +woodcraft stayed him. He was not by any +means sure that he <i>could</i> spring to his feet. +Still less was he sure that such an action would +properly impress the great wolf, who, for the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span> +moment at least, seemed not actively hostile. +Stillness, absolute immobility, was the trump-card +to be always played in the wilderness +when in doubt. So Timmins kept quite still, +looking inquiringly at Lone Wolf. And Lone +Wolf looked inquiringly at him.</p> +<p>For several minutes this waiting game went +on. Then, with easy nonchalance, Lone Wolf +lifted one huge hind paw and vigorously +scratched his ear. This very simple action +was a profound relief to Timmins.</p> +<p>“Sartain,” he thought, “the crittur must be +in an easy mood, or he’d never think to scratch +his ear like that. Or mebbe he thinks I’m so +well buried I kin wait, like an old bone!”</p> +<p>Just then Lone Wolf got up, stretched himself, +yawned prodigiously, came a couple of +steps nearer, and sat down again, with his head +cocked to one side, and a polite air of asking, +“Do I intrude?”</p> +<p>“Sartain sure, I’ll never ketch him in a +better humor!” thought Timmins. “I’ll try +the human voice on him.”</p> +<p>“Git to H–– out of that!” he commanded +in a sharp voice.</p> +<p>Lone Wolf cocked his head to the other side +interrogatively. He had been spoken to by +Toomey in that voice of authority, but the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span> +words were new to him. He felt that he was +expected to do something, but he knew not +what. He liked the voice—it was something +like Toomey’s. He liked the smell of Timmins’ +homespun shirt—it, too, was something like +Toomey’s. He became suddenly anxious to +please this stranger. But what was wanted of +him? He half arose to his feet, and glanced +around to see if, perchance, the inexplicable +order had been addressed to some one else. +As he turned, Timmins saw, half hidden in the +heavy fur of the neck, a stout leather collar.</p> +<p>“I swear!” he muttered, “if tain’t a <i>tame</i> +wolf what’s got away!” With that he sat up; +and pulling his legs, without any very serious +hurt, from their covering of earth and sticks +he got stiffly to his feet. For a moment the +bright landscape reeled and swam before him, +and he had a vague sense of having been hammered +all over his body. Then he steadied +himself. He saw that the wolf was watching +him with the expression of a diffident but +friendly dog who would like to make acquaintance. +As he stood puzzling his wits, he remembered +having read about the great fire which had +recently done such damage to Sillaby and Hopkins’ +Circus, and he concluded that the stranger +was one of the fugitives from that disaster. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span></p> +<p>“Come here, sir! Come here, big wolf!” +said he, holding out a confident hand.</p> +<p>“Wolf”—that was a familiar sound to Lone +Wolf’s ears! it was at least a part of his name! +And the command was one he well understood. +Wagging his tail gravely, he came at once, and +thrust his great head under Timmins’ hand for +a caress. He had enjoyed his liberty, to be +sure, but he was beginning to find it lonely.</p> +<p>Timmins understood animals. His voice, as +he talked to the redoubtable brute beside him, +was full of kindness, but at the same time +vibrant with authority. His touch was gentle, +but very firm and unhesitating. Both touch +and voice conveyed very clearly to Lone Wolf’s +disciplined instinct the impression that this +man, like Toomey, was a being who had to +be obeyed, whose mastery was inevitable and +beyond the reach of question. When Timmins +told him to lie down, he did so at once, and +stayed there obediently while Timmins gathered +himself together, shook the dirt out of +his hair and boots, recovered his cap, wiped his +bleeding hand with leaves, and hunted up his +scattered traps and rifle. At last Timmins +took two bedraggled but massive pork sandwiches, +wrapped in newspaper, from his pocket, +and offered one to his strange associate. Lone +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span> +Wolf was not hungry, being full of perfectly +good mutton, but being too polite to refuse, +he gulped down the sandwich. Timmins took +out the steel chain, snapped it on to Lone +Wolf’s collar, said, “Come on!” and started +homeward. And Lone Wolf, trained to a +short leash, followed close at his heels.</p> +<p>Timmins’ breast swelled with exultation. +What was the loss of one dog and half a dozen +no-account sheep to the possession of this +magnificent captive and the prestige of such a +naked-handed capture? He easily inferred, of +course, that his triumph must be due, in part +at least, to some resemblance to the wolf’s +former master, whose dominance had plainly +been supreme. His only anxiety was as to +how the great wolf might conduct himself +toward Settlement Society in general. Assuredly +nothing could be more lamb-like than the +animal’s present demeanor, but Timmins remembered +the fate of Joe Anderson’s powerful +dog, and had his doubts. He examined Lone +Wolf’s collar, and congratulated himself that +both collar and chain were strong.</p> +<p>It was getting well along in the afternoon +when Timmins and Lone Wolf emerged from +the thick woods into the stumpy pastures and +rough burnt lands that spread back irregularly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span> +from the outlying farms. And here, while +crossing a wide pasture known as Smith’s Lots, +an amazing thing befell. Of course Timmins +was not particularly surprised, because his backwoods +philosophizing had long ago led him +to the conclusion that when things get started +happening, they have a way of keeping it up. +Days, weeks, months, glide by without event +enough to ripple the most sensitive memory. +Then the whimsical Fates do something different, +find it interesting, and proceed to do something +else. So, though Timmins had been +accustomed all his life to managing bulls, good-tempered +and bad-tempered alike, and had +never had the ugliest of them presume to turn +upon him, he was not astonished now by the +apparition of Smith’s bull, a wide-horned, carrot-red, +white-faced Hereford, charging down +upon him in thunderous fury from behind a +poplar thicket. In a flash he remembered that +the bull, which was notoriously murderous in +temper, had been turned out into that pasture +to act as guardian to Smith’s flocks. There +was not a tree near big enough for refuge. +There was not a stick big enough for a weapon. +And he could not bring himself to shoot so +valuable a beast as this fine thoroughbred. +“Shucks!” he muttered in deep disgust. “I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span> +might ’a’ knowed it!” Dropping Lone Wolf’s +chain, he ran forward, waving his arms and +shouting angrily. But that red onrushing bulk +was quite too dull-witted to understand that it +ought to obey. It was in the mood to charge +an avalanche. Deeply humiliated, Timmins +hopped aside, and reluctantly ran for the +woods, trusting to elude his pursuer by timely +dodging.</p> +<p>Hitherto Lone Wolf had left all cattle severely +alone, having got it somehow into his +head that they were more peculiarly under +man’s protection than the sheep. Now, however, +he saw his duty, and duty is often a very +well-developed concept in the brain of dog and +wolf. His ears flattened, his eyes narrowed to +flaming green slits, his lips wrinkled back till +his long white fangs were clean bared, and +without a sound he hurled himself upon the red +bull’s flank. Looking back over his shoulder, +Timmins saw it all. It was as if all his life +Lone Wolf had been killing bulls, so unerring +was that terrible chopping snap at the great +beast’s throat. Far forward, just behind the +bull’s jaws, the slashing fangs caught. And +Timmins was astounded to see the bull, checked +in mid-rush, plunge staggering forward upon +his knees. From this position he abruptly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span> +rolled over upon his side, thrown by his own +impetus combined with a dexterous twist of his +opponent’s body. Then Lone Wolf bounded +backward, and stood expectant, ready to repeat +the attack if necessary. But it was not necessary. +Slowly the great red bull arose to his +feet, and stared about him stupidly, the blood +gushing from his throat. Then he swayed and +collapsed. And Lone Wolf, wagging his tail +like a dog, went back to Timmins’ side for congratulations.</p> +<p>The woodsman gazed ruefully at his slain +foe. Then he patted his defender’s head, recovered +the chain with a secure grip, and +said slowly:—</p> +<p>“I reckon, partner, ye did yer dooty as ye +seen it, an’ mebbe I’m beholden to ye fer a hul’ +skin, fer that there crittur was sartinly amazin’ +ugly an’ spry on his pins. But ye’re goin’ to be +a responsibility some. Ye ain’t no suckin’ +lamb to hev aroun’ the house, I’m thinkin’.”</p> +<p>To these remarks, which he judged from +their tone to be approving, Lone Wolf wagged +assent, and the homeward journey was continued. +Timmins went with his head down, +buried in thought. All at once, coming to a +convenient log, he seated himself, and made +Lone Wolf lie down at his feet. Then he took +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +out the remaining sandwich,—which he himself, +still shaken from his fall, had no desire to +eat,—and contemplatively, in small fragments, +he fed it to the wolf’s great blood-stained jaws. +At last he spoke, with the finality of one whose +mind is quite made up.</p> +<p>“Partner,” said he, “there ain’t no help for it. +Bill Smith’s a-goin’ to hold <i>me</i> responsible for +the killin’ o’ that there crittur o’ his’n, an’ that +means a pretty penny, it bein’ a thoroughbred, +an’ imported at that. He ain’t never a-goin’ to +believe but what I let you loose on to him a +purpose, jest to save <i>my</i> hide! Shucks! Moreover, +ye may’s well realize y’ain’t <i>popular</i> ’round +these parts; an’ first thing, when I wasn’t lookin’, +somebody’d be a-puttin’ somethin’ onhealthy into +yer vittles, partner! We’ve kind o’ took to each +other, you an’ me; an’ I reckon <i>we’d</i> git on together +<i>fine</i>, me always havin’ me own way, of +course. But there ain’t no help fer it. Ye’re too +hefty a proposition, by long odds, fer a community +like Lost Mountain Settlement. I’m +a-goin’ to write right off to Sillaby an’ Hopkins, +an’ let them have ye back, partner. An’ I +reckon the price they’ll pay’ll be enough to +let me square myself with Bill Smith.”</p> +<p>And thus it came about that, within a couple +of weeks, Lone Wolf and Toomey were once +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span> +more entertaining delighted audiences, while +the settlement of Lost Mountain, with Timmins’ +prestige established beyond assault, relapsed +into its uneventful quiet.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_BEARS_FACE' id='THE_BEARS_FACE'></a> +<h2>THE BEAR’S FACE</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span></div> +<h2>The Bear’s Face</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p>“There ain’t no denying but what you +give us a great show, Job,” said the barkeeper, +with that air of patronage which befits +the man who presides over and autocratically +controls the varied activities of a saloon in a +Canadian lumber town.</p> +<p>“It <i>is</i> a good show!” assented Job Toomey, +modestly. He leaned up against the bar in +orthodox fashion, just as if his order had been +“whiskey fer mine!” but being a really great +animal trainer, whose eye must be always clear +and his nerve always steady as a rock, his glass +contained nothing stronger than milk and +Vichy.</p> +<p>Fifteen years before, Job Toomey had gone +away with a little travelling menagerie because +he loved wild animals. He had come back +famous, and the town of Grantham Mills, metropolis +of his native county, was proud of him. +He was head of the menagerie of the Sillaby +and Hopkins’ Circus, and trainer of one of the +finest troupes of performing beasts in all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span> +America. It was a great thing for Grantham +Mills to have had a visit from the Sillaby and +Hopkins’ Circus on its way from one important +centre to another. There had been two great +performances, afternoon and evening. And +now, after the last performance, some of +Toomey’s old-time acquaintances were making +things pleasant for him in the bar of the +Continental.</p> +<p>“I don’t see how ye do it, Job!” said Sanderson, +an old river-man who had formerly trapped +and hunted with Toomey. “I mind ye was +always kind o’ slick an’ understandin’ with the +wild critters; but the way them lions an’ +painters an’ bears an’ wolves jest folly yer eye +an’ yer nod, willin’ as so many poodle dogs, +beats me. They seem to like it, too.”</p> +<p>“They <i>do</i>,” said Toomey. “Secret of it is, +<i>I</i> like <i>them</i>; so by an’ by they learn to like me +well enough, an’ try to please me. I make it +worth their while, too. Also, they know I’ll +stand no fooling. Fear an’ love, rightly mixed, +boys—plenty of love, an’ jest enough fear to +keep it from spilin’—that’s a mixture’ll carry +a man far—leastways with animals!”</p> +<p>The barkeeper smiled, and was about to say +the obvious thing, but he was interrupted by +a long, lean-jawed, leather-faced man, captain of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span> +one of the river tugs, whose eyes had grown +sharp as gimlets with looking out for snags +and sandbanks.</p> +<p>“The finest beast in the whole menagerie, +that big grizzly,” said he, spitting accurately +into a spacious box of sawdust, “I noticed +as how ye didn’t have <i>him</i> in your performance, +Mr. Toomey. Now, I kind o’ thought as how +I’d like to see you put <i>him</i> through his stunts.”</p> +<p>Toomey was silent for a moment. Then, +with a certain reserve in his voice, he answered—</p> +<p>“Oh, he ain’t exactly strong on stunts.”</p> +<p>The leather-faced captain grinned quizzically.</p> +<p>“Which does he go shy on, Mr. Toomey, +the love or the fear?” he asked.</p> +<p>“Both,” said Toomey, shortly. Then his +stern face relaxed, and he laughed good-humoredly. +“Fact is, I think we’ll have to be +sellin’ that there grizzly to some zoölogical +park. He’s kind of bad fer my prestige.”</p> +<p>“How’s that, Job?” asked Sanderson, expectant +of a story.</p> +<p>“Well,” replied Toomey, “to tell you the +truth, boys,—an’ I only say it because I’m here +at home, among friends,—it’s <i>me</i> that’s afraid +of <i>him</i>! An’ he knows it. He’s the only beast +that’s ever been able to make me feel fear—the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span> +real, deep-down fear. An’ I’ve never been +able to git quit of that ugly notion. I go an’ +stand in front o’ his cage; an’ he jest puts that +great face of his up agin the bars an’ stares at +me. An’ I look straight into his eyes, an’ remember +what has passed between us, an’ I feel +afraid still. Yes, it wouldn’t be much use me +tryin’ to train <i>that</i> bear, boys, an’ I’m free to +acknowledge it to you all.”</p> +<p>“Tell us about it, Job!” suggested the barkeeper, +settling his large frame precariously on +the top of a small, high stool.</p> +<p>An urgent chorus of approval came from all +about the bar. Toomey took out his watch +and considered.</p> +<p>“We start away at 5.40 <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A.M.</span>,” said he. “An’ +I must make out to get a wink o’ sleep. But I +reckon I’ve got time enough. As you’ll see, +however, before I git through, the drinks are +on me, so name yer pison, boys. Meanwhile, +you’ll excuse me if I don’t join you this time. +A man kin hold jest about so much Vichy an’ +milk, an’ I’ve got my load aboard.</p> +<p>“It was kind of this way,” he continued, when +the barkeeper had performed his functions. +“You see, for nigh ten years after I left Grantham +Mills, I’d stuck closer’n a burr to my +business, till I began to feel I knew ’most all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span> +there was to know about trainin’ animals. +Men do git that kind of a fool feelin’ sometimes +about lots of things harder than animal-trainin’. +Well, nothin’ would do me but I should go back +to my old business of <i>trappin’</i> the beasts, only +with one big difference. I wanted to go in fer +takin’ them alive, so as to sell them to menageries +an’ all that sort of thing. An’ it was no +pipe dream, fer I done well at it from the first. +But that’s not here nor there. I was gittin’ +tired of it, after a lot o’ travellin’ an’ some lively +kind of scrapes; so I made up my mind to +finish up with a grizzly, an’ then git back to +trainin’, which was what I was cut out fer, after +all.</p> +<p>“Well, I wanted a grizzly; an’ it wasn’t long +before I found one. We were campin’ among +the foothills of the upper end of the Sierra +Nevada range, in northern California. It was +a good prospectin’ ground fer grizzly, an’ we +found lots o’ signs. I wanted one not too big +fer convenience, an’ not so old as to be too set +in his ways an’ too proud to larn. I had three +good men with me, an’ we scattered ourselves +over a big bit o’ ground, lookin’ fer a likely +trail. When I stumbled on to that chap in the +cage yonder, what Captain Bird admires so, I +knew right off <i>he</i> wasn’t what I was after. But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span> +the queer thing was that <i>he</i> didn’t seem to feel +that way about <i>me</i>. He was after me before I +had time to think of anything jest suitable to +the occasion.”</p> +<p>“Where in thunder was yer gun?” demanded +the river-man.</p> +<p>“That was jest the trouble!” answered +Toomey. “Ye see, I’d stood the gun agin a tree, +in a dry place, while I stepped over a bit o’ boggy +ground, intendin’ to lay down an’ drink out of +a leetle spring. Well, the bear was handier to +that gun than I was. When he come fer me, +I tell ye I didn’t go back fer the gun. I ran +straight up the hill, an’ him too close at my +heels fer convenience. Then I remembered +that a grizzly don’t run his best when he goes +up hill on a slant, so on the slant I went. It +worked, I reckon, fer though I couldn’t say I +gained on him much, it was soothin’ to observe +that he didn’t seem to gain on me.</p> +<p>“Fer maybe well on to three hundred yards +it was a fine race, and I was beginnin’ to wonder +if the bear was gittin’ as near winded as I +was, when slap, I come right out on the crest +of the ridge, which jest ahead o’ me jutted out +in a sort of elbow. What there was on the +other side I couldn’t see, and couldn’t take time +to inquire. I jest had to chance it, hopin’ it might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span> +be somethin’ less than a thousand foot drop. I +ran straight to the edge, and jest managed to +throw myself flat on my face an’ clutch at the +grasses like mad to keep from pitchin’ clean out +into space. It <i>was</i> a drop, all right,—two +hundred foot or more o’ sheer cliff.</p> +<p>“An’ the bear was not thirty yards behind +me.</p> +<p>“I looked at the bear, as I laid there clutchin’ +the grass-roots. Then I looked down over the +edge. I didn’t feel frightened exactly, so fur; +didn’t <i>know</i> enough, maybe, to be <i>frightened</i> of +<i>any</i> animal. But jest at this point I was mighty +anxious. You’ll believe, then, it was kind o’ +good to me to see, right below, maybe twenty +foot down, a little pocket of a ledge full o’ grass +an’ blossomin’ weeds. There was no time to +calculate. I could let myself drop, an’ maybe, +if I had luck, I could stop where I fell, in the +pocket, instead of bouncin’ out an’ down, to be +smashed into flinders. Or, on the other hand, +I could stay where I was, an’ be ripped into +leetle frayed ravellin’s by the bear; an’ that +would be in about three seconds, at the rate he +was comin’. Well, I let myself over the edge +till I jest hung by the fingers, an’ then dropped, +smooth as I could, down the rock face, kind of +clutchin’ at every leetle knob as I went to check +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span> +the fall. I lit true in the pocket, an’ I lit pretty +hard, as ye might know, but not hard enough +to knock the wits out o’ me, the grass an’ weeds +bein’ fairly soft. An’ clawin’ out desperate with +both hands, I caught, an’ stayed put. Some +dirt an’ stones come down, kind o’ smart, on my +head, an’ when they’d stopped I looked up. +There was the bear, his big head stuck down, +with one ugly paw hangin’ over beside it, starin’ +at me. I was so tickled at havin’ fooled him, I +didn’t think o’ the hole I was in, but sez to him, +saucy as you please, ‘Thou art so near, an’ yet +so far.’ At this he give a grunt, which might +have meant anything, an’ disappeared.</p> +<p>“‘Ye know enough to know when you’re +euchred,’ says I. An’ then I turned to considerin’ +the place I was in, an’ how I was to git +out of it.</p> +<p>“To git out of it, indeed! The more I considered, +the more I wondered how I’d ever +managed to stay in it. It wasn’t bigger than +three foot by two, or two an’ a half, maybe, in +width, out from the cliff-face. On my left, as I +sat with my back agin the cliff, a wall o’ rock +ran out straight, closin’ off the pocket to that +side clean an’ sharp, though with a leetle kind +of a roughness, so to speak—nothin’ more than +a roughness—which I calculated <i>might</i> do, on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span> +a pinch, fer me to hang on to if I wanted to try +to climb round to the other side. I <i>didn’t</i> want +to jest yet, bein’ still shaky from the drop, which, +as things turned out, was just as well for me.</p> +<p>“To my right a bit of a ledge, maybe six or +eight inches wide, ran off along the cliff-face +for a matter of ten or a dozen feet, then slanted +up, an’ widened out agin to another little pocket, +or shelf like, of bare rock, about level with the +top o’ my head. From this shelf a narrow crack, +not more than two or three inches wide, kind o’ +zigzagged away till it reached the top o’ the +cliff, perhaps forty foot off. It wasn’t much, +but it looked like somethin’ I could git a good +finger-hold into, if only I could work my way +along to that leetle shelf. I was figurin’ hard +on this, an’ had about made up my mind to try +it, an’ was reachin’ out, in fact, to start, when I +stopped sudden.</p> +<p>“A good, healthy-lookin’ rattler, his diamond-pattern +back bright in the sun, come out of the +crevice an’ stopped on the shelf to take a look +at the weather.</p> +<p>“It struck me right off that he was on his +way down to this pocket o’ mine, which was +maybe his favorite country residence. I didn’t +like one bit the idee o’ his comin’ an’ findin’ +me there, when I’d never been invited. I felt +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span> +right bad about it, you bet; and I’d have got +away if I could. But not bein’ able to, there +was nothin’ fer me to do but try an’ make myself +onpleasant. I grabbed up a handful o’ dirt +an’ threw it at the rattler. It scattered all ’round +him, of course, an’ some of it hit him. Whereupon +he coiled himself like a flash, with head +an’ tail both lifted, an’ rattled indignantly. +There was nothin’ big enough to do him any +damage with, an’ I was mighty oneasy lest he +might insist on comin’ home to see who his +impident caller was. But I kept on flingin’ +dirt as long as there was any handy, while he +kept on rattlin’, madder an’ madder. Then I +stopped, to think what I’d better do next. I +was jest startin’ to take off my boot, to hit him +with as he come along the narrow ledge, when +suddenly he uncoiled an’ slipped back into the +crevice.</p> +<p>“Either it was very hot, or I’d been a bit +more anxious than I’d realized, for I felt my +forehead wet with sweat; I drew my sleeve +across it, all the time keeping my eyes glued +on the spot where the rattler’d disappeared. +Jest then, seemed to me, I felt a breath on the +back o’ my neck. A kind o’ cold chill crinkled +down my backbone, an’ I turned my face ’round +sharp. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></p> +<p>“Will you believe it, boys? I was nigh +jumpin’ straight off that there ledge, right into +the landscape an’ eternity! There, starin’ +’round the wall o’ rock, not one inch more than +a foot away from mine, was the face o’ the bear.</p> +<p>“Well, I was scared. There’s no gittin’ +round that fact. There was something so onnatural +about that big, wicked face hangin’ there +over that awful height, an’ starin’ so close into +mine. I jest naturally scrooged away as fur as +I could git, an’ hung on tight to the rock so’s +not to go over. An’ <i>then</i> my face wasn’t more’n +two feet away, do the best I could; an’ that was +the time I found what it felt like to be right +down scared. I believe if that face had come +much closer, I’d have <i>bit</i> at it, that minute, like +a rat in a hole.</p> +<p>“For maybe thirty seconds we jest stared. +Then, I kind o’ got a holt of myself, an’ cursed +myself good fer bein’ such a fool; an’ my blood +got to runnin’ agin. I fell to studyin’ how the +bear could have got there; an’ pretty soon I +reckoned it out as how there must be a big ledge +runnin’ down the cliff face, jest the other side +o’ the wall o’ the pocket. An’ I hugged myself +to think I hadn’t managed to climb ’round on to +that ledge jest before the bear arrived. I got +this all figgered out, an’ it took some time. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span> +But still that face, hangin’ out there over the +height, kept starin’ at me; an’ I never saw a +wickeder look than it had on to it, steady an’ +unwinkin’ as a nightmare. It is curious how +long a beast <i>kin</i> look at one without winkin’. +At last, it got on to my nerves so I jest couldn’t +stand it; an’ snatching a bunch of weeds (I’d +already flung away all the loose dirt, flingin’ it +at the rattler), I whipped ’em across them devilish +leetle eyes as hard as I could. It was a +kind of a child’s trick, or a woman’s, but it +worked all right, fer it made the eyes blink. +That proved they were real eyes, an’ I felt easier. +After all, it <i>was</i> only a bear; an’ he couldn’t +git any closer than he was. But that was a +mite too close, an’ I wished he’d move. An’ +jest then, not to be gittin’ <i>too</i> easy in my mind, +I remembered the rattler.</p> +<p>“Another cold chill down my backbone! I +looked ’round right smart. But the rattler +wasn’t anywhere in sight. That, however, put +me in mind of what I’d been goin’ to do to <i>him</i>. +A boot wasn’t much of a weapon agin a bear, +but it was the only thing handy, so I reckoned +I’d have to make it do. I yanked it off, took it +by the toe, an’ let that wicked face have the +heel of it as hard as I could. I hadn’t any +room to swing, so I couldn’t hit very hard. But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span> +a bear’s nose is tender, on the tip; an’ it was +jest there, of course, I took care to land. There +was a big snort, kind o’ surprised like, an’ the +face disappeared.</p> +<p>“I felt a sight better.</p> +<p>“Fer maybe five minutes nothin’ else happened. +I sat there figgerin’ how I was goin’ to +git out o’ that hole; an’ my figgerin’ wasn’t +anyways satisfactory. I knew the bear was a +stayer, all right. There’d be no such a thing +as tryin’ to crawl ’round that shoulder o’ rock +till I was blame sure <i>he</i> wasn’t on t’other side; +an’ how I was goin’ to find <i>that</i> out was more +than I could git at. There was no such a thing +as climbin’ <i>up</i>. There was no such a thing as +climbin’ <i>down</i>. An’ as fer that leetle ledge an’ +crevice leadin’ off to the right,—well, boys, +when there’s a rattler layin’ low fer ye in a +crevice, ye’re goin’ to keep clear o’ that crevice. +It wanted a good three hours of sundown, an’ +I knew my chaps wouldn’t be missin’ me before +night. When I didn’t turn up for dinner, of +course they’d begin to suspicion somethin’, +because they knew I was takin’ things rather +easy an’ not followin’ up any long trails. It +looked like I was there fer the night; an’ I +didn’t like it, I tell you. There wasn’t room to +lay down, and if I fell asleep settin’ up, like as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span> +not I’d roll off the ledge. There was nothing +fer it but to set up a whoop an’ a yell every +once in a while, in hopes that one or other of +the boys <i>might</i> be cruisin’ ’round near enough +to hear me. So I yelled some half a dozen +times, stoppin’ between each yell to listen. Gittin’ +no answer, at last I decided to save my +throat a bit an try agin after a spell o’ restin’ +an’ worryin’. Jest then I turned my head; +an’ I forgot, right off, to worry about fallin’ off +the ledge. There, pokin’ his ugly head out o’ +the crevice, was the rattler. I chucked a bunch +o’ weeds at him, an’ he drew back in agin. But +the thing that jarred me now was, how would I +keep him off when it got too dark fer me to see +him. He’d be slippin’ home quiet like, thinkin’ +maybe I was gone, an’ mad when he found +I wasn’t, fer, ye see, <i>he</i> hadn’t no means of +knowin’ that I couldn’t go <i>up</i> the rock jest as +easy as I come down. I feared there was goin’ +to be trouble after dark. An’ while I was +figgerin’ on that till the sweat come out on my +forehead, I turned agin, an’ there agin was the +bear’s face starin’ round the rock not more’n a +foot away.</p> +<p>“You’ll understand how my nerves was on +the jumps, when I tell you, boys, that I was scared +an’ startled all over again, like the first time I’d +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span> +seen it. With a yell, I fetched a swipe at it +with my boot; but it was gone, like a shadow, +before I hit it; an’ the boot flew out o’ my hand +an’ went over the cliff, an’ me pretty nigh after +it. I jest caught myself, an’ hung on, kind o’ +shaky, fer a minute. Next thing, I heard a +great scratchin’ at the other side o’ the rock, +as if the brute was tryin’ to git a better toehold +an’ work some new dodge on me. Then the +face appeared agin, an’ maybe, though perhaps +that was jest my excited imagination, it was +some two or three inches closer this time.</p> +<p>“I lit out at it with my fist, not havin’ my +other boot handy. But Lord, a bear kin dodge +the sharpest boxer. That face jest wasn’t +there, before I could hit it. Then, five seconds +more, an’ it was back agin starin’ at me. +I wouldn’t give it the satisfaction o’ tryin’ +to swipe it agin, so I jest kept still, pretendin’ +to ignore it; an’ in a minute or two +it disappeared. But then, a minute or two +more an’ it was back agin. An’ so it went on, +disappearin’, comin’ back, goin’ away, comin’ +back, an’ always jest when I <i>wasn’t</i> expectin’ +it, an’ always sudden an’ quick as a shadow, +till <i>that</i> kind o’ got on to my nerves too, an’ I +wished he’d stay one way or t’other, so as I could +know what I was up against. At last, settlin’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span> +down as small as I could, I made up my mind +I jest wouldn’t look that way at all, face or no +face, but give all my attention to watchin’ for +the rattler, an’ yellin’ fer the boys. Judgin’ +by the sun,—which went mighty slow that day,—I +kept that game up for an hour or more; +an’ then, as the rattler didn’t come any more +than the boys, I got tired of it, an’ looked +’round for the bear’s face. Well, that time it +wasn’t there. But in place of it was a big +brown paw, reachin’ round the edge of the rock +all by itself, an’ clawin’ quietly within about a +foot o’ my ear. That was all the farthest it +would reach, however, so I tried jest to keep +my mind off it. In a minute or two it disappeared; +an’ then back come the face.</p> +<p>“I didn’t like it. I preferred the paw. But +then, it kept the situation from gittin’ monotonous.</p> +<p>“I suppose it was about this time the bear +remembered somethin’ that wanted seein’ to +down the valley. The face disappeared once +more, and this time it didn’t come back. After +I hadn’t seen it fer a half-hour, I began to think +maybe it had <i>really</i> gone away; but I knew +how foxy a bear could be, an’ thought jest as +like as not he was waitin’, patient as a cat, on +the other side o’ the rock fer me to look round +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span> +so’s he could git a swipe at me that would jest +wipe my face clean off. I didn’t try to look +round. But I kept yellin’ every little while; +an’ all at once a voice answered right over my +head. I tell you it sounded good, if <i>’twasn’t</i> +much of a voice. It was Steevens, my packer, +lookin’ down at me.</p> +<p>“‘Hello, what in h–– are ye doin’ down +there, Job?’ he demanded.</p> +<p>“‘Waiting fer you to git a rope an’ hoist me +up!’ says I. ‘But look out fer the bear!’</p> +<p>“‘Bear nothin’!’ says he.</p> +<p>“‘Chuck an eye down the other side,’ says I.</p> +<p>“He disappeared, but came right back. +‘Bear nothin’,’ says he agin, havin’ no originality.</p> +<p>“‘Well, he <i>was</i> there, ’an’ he stayed all the +afternoon,’ says I.</p> +<p>“‘Reckon he must ’a’ heard ye was an animal +trainer, an’ got skeered!’ says Steevens. But +I wasn’t jokin’ jest then.</p> +<p>“‘You cut fer camp, an’ bring a rope, an’ git +me out o’ this, <i>quick</i>, d’ye hear?’ says I. +‘There’s a rattler lives here, an’ he’s comin’ +back presently, an’ I don’t want to meet him. +Slide!’</p> +<p>“Well, boys, that’s all. That bear <i>wasn’t</i> +jest what I’d wanted; but feelin’ ugly about +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span> +him, I decided to take him an’ break him in. +We trailed him, an’ after a lot o’ trouble we +trapped him. He was a sight more trouble +after we’d got him, I tell you. But afterwards, +when I set myself to tryin’ to train him, why, +I might jest as well have tried to train an earthquake. +Do you suppose that grizzly was goin’ +to be afraid o’ <i>me?</i> He’d seen me afraid o’ +<i>him</i>, all right. He’d seen it in my eyes! An’ +what’s more, <i>I</i> couldn’t forgit it; but when I’d +look at him I’d <i>feel</i>, every time, the nightmare +o’ that great wicked face hangin’ there over the +cliff, close to mine. So, he don’t perform. +What’ll ye take, boys? It’s hot milk, this +time, fer mine.”</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_DUEL_ON_THE_TRAIL' id='THE_DUEL_ON_THE_TRAIL'></a> +<h2>THE DUEL ON THE TRAIL</h2> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span></div> +<h2>The Duel on the Trail</h2> +<p>White and soft over the wide, sloping +upland lay the snow, marked across +with the zigzag gray lines of the fences, and +spotted here and there with little clumps of +woods or patches of bushy pasture. The +sky above was white as the earth below, being +mantled with snow-laden cloud not yet ready +to spill its feathery burden on the world. One +little farm-house, far down the valley, served +but to emphasize the spacious emptiness of the +silent winter landscape.</p> +<p>Out from one of the snow-streaked thickets +jumped a white rabbit, its long ears waving +nervously, and paused for a second to look +back with a frightened air. It had realized +that some enemy was on its trail, but what that +enemy was, it did not know. After this moment +of perilous hesitation, it went leaping forward +across the open, leaving a vivid track in the +soft surface snow. The little animal’s discreet +alarm, however, was dangerously corrupted by +its curiosity; and at the lower edge of the field, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span> +before going through a snake fence and entering +another thicket, it stopped, stood up as erect as +possible on its strong hind quarters, and again +looked back. As it did so, the unknown enemy +again revealed himself, just emerging, a slender +and sinister black shape, from the upper thicket. +A quiver of fear passed over the rabbit’s nerves. +Its curiosity all effaced, it went through the +fence with an elongated leap and plunged into +the bushes in a panic. Here it doubled upon +itself twice in a short circle, trusting by this +well-worn device to confuse the unswerving +pursuer. Then, breaking out upon the lower +side of the thicket, it resumed its headlong +flight across the fields.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the enemy, a large mink, was following +on the trail with the dogged persistence +of a sleuth-hound. Sure of his methods, he did +not pause to see what the quarry was doing, +but kept his eyes and nose occupied with the +fresh tracks. His speed was not less than that +of the rabbit, and his endurance was vastly +greater. Being very long in the body, and extremely +short in the legs, he ran in a most peculiar +fashion, arching his lithe back almost +like a measuring-worm and straightening out +like a steel spring suddenly released. These +sinuous bounds were grotesque enough in appearance, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span> +but singularly effective. The trail +they made, overlapping that of the rabbit, but +quite distinct from it, varied according to the +depth of the surface snow. Where the snow +lay thin, just deep enough to receive an imprint, +the mink’s small feet left a series of delicate, +innocent-looking marks, much less formidable +in appearance than those of the pad-footed +fugitive. But where the loose snow had gathered +deeper the mink’s long body and sinewy +tail from time to time stamped themselves +unmistakably.</p> +<p>When the mink reached the second thicket, +his keen and experienced craft penetrated at +once the poor ruses of the fugitive. Cutting +across the circlings of the trail, he picked it up +again with implacable precision, making almost +a straight line through the underbrush. When +he emerged again into the open, the rabbit was +in full view ahead.</p> +<p>The next strip of woodland in the fugitive’s +path was narrow and dense. Below it, in a +patch of hillocky pasture ground, sloping to a +pond of steel-bright ice, a red fox was diligently +hunting. He ran hither and thither, furtive, +but seemingly erratic, poking his nose into +half-covered moss-tufts and under the roots of +dead stumps, looking for mice or shrews. He +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span> +found a couple of the latter, but these were small +satisfaction to his vigorous winter appetite. +Presently he paused, lifted his narrow, cunning +nose toward the woods, and appeared to ponder +the advisability of going on a rabbit hunt. +His fine, tawny, ample brush of a tail gently +swept the light snow behind him as he stood +undecided.</p> +<p>All at once he crouched flat upon the snow, +quivering with excitement, like a puppy about +to jump at a wind-blown leaf. He had seen +the rabbit emerging from the woods. Absolutely +motionless he lay, so still that, in spite +of his warm coloring, he might have been taken +for a fragment of dead wood. And as he +watched, tense with anticipation, he saw the +rabbit run into a long, hollow log, which lay +half-veiled in a cluster of dead weeds. Instantly +he darted forward, ran at top speed, and crouched +before the lower end of the log, where he knew +the rabbit must come out.</p> +<p>Within a dozen seconds the mink arrived, +and followed the fugitive straight into his ineffectual +retreat. Such narrow quarters were +just what the mink loved. The next instant +the rabbit shot forth—to be caught in mid-air +by the waiting fox, and die before it had time +to realize in what shape doom had come upon it. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span></p> +<p>All unconscious that he was trespassing upon +another’s hunt, the fox, with a skilful jerk of +his head, flung the limp and sprawling victim +across his shoulder, holding it by one leg, and +started away down the slope toward his lair on +the other side of the pond.</p> +<p>As the mink’s long body darted out from the +hollow log he stopped short, crouched flat upon +the snow with twitching tail, and stared at the +triumphant intruder with eyes that suddenly +blazed red. The trespass was no less an insult +than an injury; and many of the wild kindreds +show themselves possessed of a nice sensitiveness +on the point of their personal dignity. +For an animal of the mink’s size the fox was an +overwhelmingly powerful antagonist, to be +avoided with care under all ordinary circumstances. +But to the disappointed hunter, his +blood hot from the long, exciting chase, this +present circumstance seemed by no means ordinary. +Noiseless as a shadow, and swift and +stealthy as a snake, he sped after the leisurely +fox, and with one snap bit through the great +tendon of his right hind leg, permanently laming +him.</p> +<p>As the pang went through him, and the +maimed leg gave way beneath his weight, the +fox dropped his burden and turned savagely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span> +upon his unexpected assailant. The mink, however, +had sprung away, and lay crouched in +readiness on the snow, eying his enemy malignantly. +With a fierce snap of his long, punishing +jaws the fox rushed upon him. But—the +mink was not there. With a movement so +quick as fairly to elude the sight, he was now +crouching several yards away, watchful, vindictive, +menacing. The fox made two more short +rushes, in vain; then he, too, crouched, considering +the situation, and glaring at his slender +black antagonist. The mink’s small eyes were +lit with a smouldering, ruddy glow, sinister and +implacable; while rage and pain had cast over +the eyes of the fox a peculiar green opalescence.</p> +<p>For perhaps half a minute the two lay motionless, +though quivering with the intensity of restraint +and expectation. Then, with lightning +suddenness, the fox repeated his dangerous +rush. But again the mink was not there. As +composed as if he had never moved a hair, he +was lying about three yards to one side, glaring +with that same immutable hate.</p> +<p>At this the fox seemed to realize that it was +no use trying to catch so elusive a foe. The +realization came to him slowly—and slowly, +sullenly, he arose and turned away, ignoring the +prize which he could not carry off. With an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span> +awkward limp, he started across the ice, seeming +to scorn his small but troublesome antagonist.</p> +<p>Having thus recovered the spoils, and succeeded +in scoring his point over so mighty an +adversary, the mink might have been expected +to let the matter rest and quietly reap the profit +of his triumph. But all the vindictiveness of +his ferocious and implacable tribe was now +aroused. Vengeance, not victory, was his craving. +When the fox had gone about a dozen +feet, all at once the place where the mink had +been crouching was empty. Almost in the +same instant, as it seemed, the fox was again, +and mercilessly, bitten through the leg.</p> +<p>This time, although the fox had seemed to +be ignoring the foe, he turned like a flash to +meet the assault. Again, however, he was just +too late. His mad rush, the snapping of his +long jaws, availed him nothing. The mink +crouched, eying him, ever just beyond his +reach. A gleam of something very close to +fear came into his furious eyes as he turned +again to continue his reluctant retreat.</p> +<p>Again, and again, and yet again, the mink +repeated his elusive attack, each time inflicting +a deep and disastrous wound, and each time +successfully escaping the counter-assault. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span> +trail of the fox was now streaked and flecked +with scarlet, and both his hind legs dragged +heavily. He reached the edge of the smooth +ice and turned at bay. The mink drew back, +cautious for all his hate. Then the fox started +across the steel-gray glair, picking his steps that +he might have a firm foothold.</p> +<p>A few seconds later the mink once more delivered +his thrust. Feinting towards the enemy’s +right, he swerved with that snake-like +celerity of his, and bit deep into the tender +upper edge of the fox’s thigh, where it plays +over the groin.</p> +<p>It was a cunning and deadly stroke. But in +recovering from it, to dart away again to safe +distance, his feet slipped, ever so little, on the +shining surface of the ice. The delay was only +for the minutest fraction of a second. But in +that minutest fraction lay the fox’s opportunity. +His wheel and spring were this time not too +late. His jaws closed about the mink’s slim +backbone and crunched it to fragments. The +lean, black shape straightened out with a sharp +convulsion and lay still on the ice.</p> +<p>Though fully aware of the efficacy and finality +of that bite, the fox set his teeth, again and +again, with curious deliberation of movement, +into the limp and unresisting form. Then, with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span> +his tongue hanging a little from his bloody jaws, +he lifted his head and stared, with a curious, +wavering, anxiously doubtful look, over the +white familiar fields. The world, somehow, +looked strange and blurry to him. He turned, +leaving the dead mink on the ice, and painfully +retraced his deeply crimsoned trail. Just +ahead was the opening in the log, the way to +that privacy which he desperately craved. The +code of all the aristocrats of the wild kindred, +subtly binding even in that supreme hour, forbade +that he should consent to yield himself +to death in the garish publicity of the open. +With the last of his strength he crawled into +the log, till just the bushy tip of his tail protruded +to betray him. There he lay down +with one paw over his nose, and sank into the +long sleep. For an hour the frost bit hard +upon the fields, stiffening to stone the bodies +but now so hot with eager life. Then the +snow came thick and silent, filling the emptiness +with a moving blur, and buried away all +witness of the fight.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>Charles G. D. Roberts’</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>THE BACKWOODSMEN</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Illustrated Cloth 12mo $1.50</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“‘The Backwoodsmen’ shows that the writer knows the backwoods +as the sailor knows the sea. Indeed, his various studies of wild life in +general, whether cast in the world of short sketch or story or full-length +narrative, have always secured an interested public.... +Mr. Roberts possesses a keen artistic sense which is especially +marked when he is rounding some story to its end. There is never +a word too much, and he invariably stops when the stop should be +made.... Few writers exhibit such entire sympathy with the nature +of beasts and birds as he.”—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“When placed by the side of the popular novel, the strength of these +stories causes them to stand out like a huge primitive giant by the +side of a simpering society miss, and while the grace and beauty +of the girl may please the eye for a moment, it is to the rugged +strength of the primitive man your eyes will turn to glory in his power +and simplicity. In simple, forceful style Mr. Roberts takes the reader +with him out into the cold, dark woods, through blizzards, stalking +game, encountering all the dangers of the backwoodsmen’s life, and +enjoying the close contact with Nature in all her moods. His descriptions +are so vivid that you can almost feel the tang of the frosty air, +the biting sting of the snowy sleet beating on your face, you can hear +the crunch of the snow beneath your feet, and when, after heartlessly +exposing you to the elements, he lets you wander into camp with the +characters of the story, you stretch out and bask in the warmth and +cheer of the fire.”—<i>Western Review.</i></p> +</div> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>L. W. Brownell’s</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE SPORTSMAN NATURALIST</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Illustrated Cloth 8vo $2.00 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“It often occurs that he who finds delight in woodcraft finds also +a pleasure in preserving by photography what he finds to interest +him in his wanderings in the open. To such this book appeals with +a peculiar force, for the author is evidently at once familiar with wood +and field life and an adept with the camera.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> +<p><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist</span> is in</p> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:center'>THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN LIBRARY SERIES<br /></p> +<p>The other volumes in the series are <i>The American Thoroughbred</i>, <i>American +Yachting</i>, <i>Bass, Pike, Perch, and other Fish</i>, <i>Big Game Fishes of the United +States</i>, <i>The Deer Family</i>, <i>Guns, Ammunition, and Tackle</i>, <i>Lawn Tennis and +Lacrosse</i>, <i>Musk-Ox, Bison, Sheep, and Goat</i>, <i>Riding and Driving</i>, <i>Rowing +and Track Athletics</i>, <i>Salmon and Trout</i>, <i>The Sporting Dog</i>, <i>The Trotting +and the Pacing Horse</i>, <i>Upland Game Birds</i>, <i>and The Water Fowl Family</i>.</p> +<p>The price of each volume is $2.00 net.</p> +</div> +<p class='tp'> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>PUBLISHED BY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York</span></p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>Ernest Ingersoll’s</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>LIFE OF ANIMALS: THE MAMMALS</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:center'><i>Colored Plates and Photographic Illustrations</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Cloth 8vo $2.00 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“Bountifully illustrated with new colored plates drawn and painted +by the author’s daughter, and with more than a hundred photographs, +many of them taken by the author himself, the text of the +volume gives a succinct and lucid account of the life of the mammals,... +their ancestry, their place in nature, their means of livelihood, +and their general characteristics.”—<i>New York Herald.</i></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“An exceedingly entertaining and informing book containing the +latest information concerning the whole group of mammals, that +branch of animal creation most interesting to man because he is one +himself. There are numberless works on this topic or related ones, +but we know of none that is so comprehensive as this in a single +volume.... There is an amazing amount of information written +simply but with authority. Every man, woman, and child who takes +up this book will hate to put it down for a moment.”—<i>Philadelphia +Inquirer.</i></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“There are pictures and anecdotes for the little ones of the family, +adventures and curious habits to attract the eager minds of older +lads, guiding information and suggestion for the student, and the +whole is treated in the light of the latest facts. Many novelties, apart +from the simple, homely, almost humorous method of handling a +truly scientific subject, characterize the volume. Nowhere else is so +intelligently traced the relation between the past (fossil history) and +the present of the families in this most important of all animal tribes; +nowhere else will be found explained many curious customs, such +as the origin of the habit of storing winter food, how the opossum +came to ‘play ’possum,’ and why beavers dam up streams. The book +is written from the American point of view, yet the whole world is +covered and the newest material has been utilized. It would be difficult +to find a book on natural history which could make a stronger +appeal to the reader, old or young, who is interested in natural history +than this volume by Ernest Ingersoll.”—<i>Brooklyn Daily Eagle.</i></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“There is not a page of the whole volume but is full of interest, and +the many splendid photographs of the existing and prehistoric mammals +add greatly to the value of the book. One lays it down with +reluctance and with the feeling that the author has added largely to +the sum of human knowledge.”—<i>Toronto Globe.</i></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“A large and admirable book.... Interesting as fiction, scientifically +exact, simply expressed, this well-prepared volume will almost +literally repeople the earth for many readers. Those who already +love natural history will rejoice in its fascinating richness of information, +while it would be difficult to imagine a more readable and +comprehensive introduction to the numerous big and little brethren +of the woods and fields.”—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> +</div> +<p class='tp'> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>PUBLISHED BY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York</span></p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>Lieut.-Col. J. H. Patterson’s</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>IN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Illustrated Cloth 8vo $2.00 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“Nyika merely means wilderness, and its grip is conveyed very +forcefully to the pages of Colonel Patterson’s book, which holds the +reader as closely as the Nyika holds those who venture into it.... +Colonel Patterson has a particularly interesting way of describing +things he sees.... The whole volume is filled with exciting incidents +and many illustrations from photographs of odd animals and +queer people.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> +</div> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO AND OTHER<br />EAST AFRICAN ADVENTURES<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller;'>With Foreword by Mr. <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Frederick C. Selous</span></span></p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Illustrated Cloth 8vo $2.00 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“The account of how Colonel Patterson overcame the many difficulties +that confronted him in building his bridge across the Tsavo +River makes excellent reading, while the courage he displayed in +attacking, single-handed, lions, as well as rhinoceroses and other +animal foes, was surpassed by his pluck, tact, and determination in +quelling a formidable mutiny which once broke out among his native +workers.”—<i>New York Herald.</i></p> +</div> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>Theodore S. Van Dyke’s</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>THE STILL HUNTER</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Illustrated, Cloth 8vo $1.75 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“A vivid account of the most exciting sport in the world.... The +record of years of experience.... It is crammed full of valuable +advice for the deer hunter, and has the advantage of having been +written before hunting became more of a pastime than a serious +business, requiring untiring energy, great patience, cool nerves, and +perfect sight.”—<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p> +</div> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 0'>Edwyn Sandys’</p> +<p style='margin:0 auto 0 1em'>SPORTING SKETCHES</p> +<div style='font-size:smaller;'> +<p style='margin-left:0.0em; margin-right:0.0em; text-align:right'><i>Cloth 12mo $1.75 net</i><br /></p> +<p style='margin-left:2.0em; margin-right:0.0em; '>“Mr. Sandys is a real sportsman with a wide experience, and he +writes agreeably and without effort to make his work unusual or +picturesque. It is just the sort of description you would expect from +a man who had really done the things narrated.... He describes +in such manner that even one who has never held gun or rod cannot +but partake of something of the writer’s enthusiasm.”—<i>Chicago +Tribune.</i></p> +</div> +<p class='tp'> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>PUBLISHED BY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York</span></p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-top:10px;font-size:smaller;'>OUTDOOR STORIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS</p> + +<hr class='p20' /> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By J. W. Fortescue<br /> + THE STORY OF A RED DEER</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller;'><i>Cloth, 16mo, $.80; Leather, $1.25</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Jack London<br /> + TALES OF THE FISH PATROL</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'>Illustrated by <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>G. Varian</span> <i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Charles Major<br /> + THE BEARS OF BLUE RIVER</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'>Illustrated by <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A. B. Frost</span> <i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'> UNCLE TOM ANDY BILL</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'><i>Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Edwyn Sandys<br /> + SPORTSMAN JOE</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'><i>Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'> TRAPPER JIM</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'><i>Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Ernest Ingersoll<br /> + AN ISLAND IN THE AIR</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'>Illustrated by <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>William McCullough</span> <i>Cloth, 12mo $1.50</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Stewart Edward White<br /> + THE MAGIC FOREST</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'>Colored Illustrations by <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Joseph Gleeson</span> <i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.20 net</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'>By Mabel Osgood Wright<br /> + DOGTOWN</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller'>Illustrated with Photographs <i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.50 net</i></p> + +<p style='margin-bottom:0'> GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; text-align:right;font-size:smaller;margin-bottom:1em;'>Colored Illustrations <i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.75 net</i></p> + +<hr class='p20' /> + +<p class='tp'> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>PUBLISHED BY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1em;'>THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:0.8em;'>64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINGS IN EXILE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 28530-h.txt or 28530-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/5/3/28530">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/3/28530</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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. 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