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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4704-h.zip b/4704-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a32df2f --- /dev/null +++ b/4704-h.zip diff --git a/4704-h/4704-h.htm b/4704-h/4704-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb7e33c --- /dev/null +++ b/4704-h/4704-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8128 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Nomads of the North, by James Oliver Curwood +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nomads of the North, by James Oliver Curwood + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Nomads of the North + A Story of Romance and Adventure under the Open Stars + +Author: James Oliver Curwood + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4704] +Release Date: December, 2003 +First Posted: March 3, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOMADS OF THE NORTH *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +NOMADS OF THE NORTH +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +A STORY OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE<BR> +UNDER THE OPEN STARS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">1</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">2</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">3</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">4</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap05">5</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap06">6</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap07">7</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap08">8</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap09">9</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> +<A HREF="#chap10">10</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">11</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">12</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">13</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">14</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">15</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">16</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">17</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">18</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">19</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">20</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">21</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">22</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">23</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">24</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">25</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">26</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER ONE +</H3> + +<P> +It was late in the month of March, at the dying-out of the Eagle Moon, +that Neewa the black bear cub got his first real look at the world. +Noozak, his mother, was an old bear, and like an old person she was +filled with rheumatics and the desire to sleep late. So instead of +taking a short and ordinary nap of three months this particular winter +of little Neewa's birth she slept four, which, made Neewa, who was born +while his mother was sound asleep, a little over two months old instead +of six weeks when they came out of den. +</P> + +<P> +In choosing this den Noozak had gone to a cavern at the crest of a +high, barren ridge, and from this point Neewa first looked down into +the valley. For a time, coming out of darkness into sunlight, he was +blinded. He could hear and smell and feel many things before he could +see. And Noozak, as though puzzled at finding warmth and sunshine in +place of cold and darkness, stood for many minutes sniffing the wind +and looking down upon her domain. +</P> + +<P> +For two weeks an early spring had been working its miracle of change in +that wonderful country of the northland between Jackson's Knee and the +Shamattawa River, and from north to south between God's Lake and the +Churchill. +</P> + +<P> +It was a splendid world. From the tall pinnacle of rock on which they +stood it looked like a great sea of sunlight, with only here and there +patches of white snow where the winter winds had piled it deep. Their +ridge rose up out of a great valley. On all sides of them, as far as a +man's eye could have reached, there were blue and black patches of +forest, the shimmer of lakes still partly frozen, the sunlit sparkle of +rivulet and stream, and the greening open spaces out of which rose the +perfumes of the earth. These smells drifted up like tonic and food to +the nostrils of Noozak the big bear. Down there the earth was already +swelling with life. The buds on the poplars were growing fat and near +the bursting point; the grasses were sending out shoots tender and +sweet; the camas were filling with juice; the shooting stars, the +dog-tooth violets, and the spring beauties were thrusting themselves up +into the warm glow of the sun, inviting Noozak and Neewa to the feast. +All these things Noozak smelled with the experience and the knowledge +of twenty years of life behind her—the delicious aroma of the spruce +and the jackpine; the dank, sweet scent of water-lily roots and +swelling bulbs that came from a thawed-out fen at the foot of the +ridge; and over all these things, overwhelming their individual +sweetnesses in a still greater thrill of life, the smell of the heart +itself! +</P> + +<P> +And Neewa smelled them. His amazed little body trembled and thrilled +for the first time with the excitement of life. A moment before in +darkness, he found himself now in a wonderland of which he had never so +much as had a dream. In these few minutes Nature was at work upon him. +He possessed no knowledge, but instinct was born within him. He knew +this was HIS world, that the sun and the warmth were for him, and that +the sweet things of the earth were inviting him into his heritage. He +puckered up his little brown nose and sniffed the air, and the pungency +of everything that was sweet and to be yearned for came to him. +</P> + +<P> +And he listened. His pointed ears were pricked forward, and up to him +came the drone of a wakening earth. Even the roots of the grasses must +have been singing in their joy, for all through that sunlit valley +there was the low and murmuring music of a country that was at peace +because it was empty of men. Everywhere was the rippling sound of +running water, and he heard strange sounds that he knew was life; the +twittering of a rock-sparrow, the silver-toned aria of a black-throated +thrush down in the fen, the shrill paean of a gorgeously coloured +Canada jay exploring for a nesting place in a brake of velvety balsam. +And then, far over his head, a screaming cry that made him shiver. It +was instinct again that told him in that cry was danger. Noozak looked +up, and saw the shadow of Upisk, the great eagle, as it flung itself +between the sun and the earth. Neewa saw the shadow, and cringed nearer +to his mother. +</P> + +<P> +And Noozak—so old that she had lost half her teeth, so old that her +bones ached on damp and chilly nights, and her eyesight was growing +dim—was still not so old that she did not look down with growing +exultation upon what she saw. Her mind was travelling beyond the mere +valley in which they had wakened. Off there beyond the walls of forest, +beyond the farthest lake, beyond the river and the plain, were the +illimitable spaces which gave her home. To her came dully a sound +uncaught by Neewa—the almost unintelligible rumble of the great +waterfall. It was this, and the murmur of a thousand trickles of +running water, and the soft wind breathing down in the balsam and +spruce that put the music of spring into the air. +</P> + +<P> +At last Noozak heaved a great breath out of her lungs and with a grunt +to Neewa began to lead the way slowly down among the rocks to the foot +of the ridge. +</P> + +<P> +In the golden pool of the valley it was even warmer than on the crest +of the ridge. Noozak went straight to the edge of the slough. Half a +dozen rice birds rose with a whir of wings that made Neewa almost upset +himself. Noozak paid no attention to them. A loon let out a squawky +protest at Noozak's soft-footed appearance, and followed it up with a +raucous screech that raised the hair on Neewa's spine. And Noozak paid +no attention to this. Neewa observed these things. His eye was on her, +and instinct had already winged his legs with the readiness to run if +his mother should give the signal. In his funny little head it was +developing very quickly that his mother was a most wonderful creature. +She was by all odds the biggest thing alive—that is, the biggest that +stood on legs, and moved. He was confident of this for a space of +perhaps two minutes, when they came to the end of the fen. And here was +a sudden snort, a crashing of bracken, the floundering of a huge body +through knee-deep mud, and a monstrous bull moose, four times as big as +Noozak, set off in lively flight. Neewa's eyes all but popped from his +head. And STILL Noozak PAID NO ATTENTION! +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Neewa crinkled up his tiny nose and snarled, just as +he had snarled at Noozak's ears and hair and at sticks he had worried +in the black cavern. A glorious understanding dawned upon him. He could +snarl at anything he wanted to snarl at, no matter how big. For +everything ran away from Noozak his mother. +</P> + +<P> +All through this first glorious day Neewa was discovering things, and +with each hour it was more and more impressed upon him that his mother +was the unchallenged mistress of all this new and sunlit domain. +</P> + +<P> +Noozak was a thoughtful old mother of a bear who had reared fifteen or +eighteen families in her time, and she travelled very little this first +day in order that Neewa's tender feet might toughen up a bit. They +scarcely left the fen, except to go into a nearby clump of trees where +Noozak used her claws to shred a spruce that they might get at the +juice and slimy substance just under the bark. Neewa liked this dessert +after their feast of roots and bulbs, and tried to claw open a tree on +his own account. By mid-afternoon Noozak had eaten until her sides +bulged out, and Neewa himself—between his mother's milk and the many +odds and ends of other things—looked like an over-filled pod. +Selecting a spot where the declining sun made a warm oven of a great +white rock, lazy old Noozak lay down for a nap, while Neewa, wandering +about in quest of an adventure of his own, came face to face with a +ferocious bug. +</P> + +<P> +The creature was a giant wood-beetle two inches long. Its two battling +pincers were jet black, and curved like hooks of iron. It was a rich +brown in colour and in the sunlight its metallic armour shone in a +dazzling splendour. Neewa, squatted flat on his belly, eyed it with a +swiftly beating heart. The beetle was not more than a foot away, and +ADVANCING! That was the curious and rather shocking part of it. It was +the first living thing he had met with that day that had not run away. +As it advanced slowly on its two rows of legs the beetle made a +clicking sound that Neewa heard quite distinctly. With the fighting +blood of his father, Soominitik, nerving him on to the adventure he +thrust out a hesitating paw, and instantly Chegawasse, the beetle, took +upon himself a most ferocious aspect. His wings began humming like a +buzz-saw, his pincers opened until they could have taken in a man's +finger, and he vibrated on his legs until it looked as though he might +be performing some sort of a dance. Neewa jerked his paw back and after +a moment or two Chegawasse calmed himself and again began to ADVANCE! +</P> + +<P> +Neewa did not know, of course, that the beetle's field of vision ended +about four inches from the end of his nose; the situation, +consequently, was appalling. But it was never born in a son of a father +like Soominitik to run from a bug, even at nine weeks of age. +Desperately he thrust out his paw again, and unfortunately for him one +of his tiny claws got a half Nelson on the beetle and held Chegawasse +on his shining back so that he could neither buzz not click. A great +exultation swept through Neewa. Inch by inch he drew his paw in until +the beetle was within reach of his sharp little teeth. Then he smelled +of him. +</P> + +<P> +That was Chegawasse's opportunity. The pincers closed and Noozak's +slumbers were disturbed by a sudden bawl of agony. When she raised her +head Neewa was rolling about as if in a fit. He was scratching and +snarling and spitting. Noozak eyed him speculatively for some moments, +then reared herself slowly and went to him. With one big paw she rolled +him over—and saw Chegawasse firmly and determinedly attached to her +offspring's nose. Flattening Neewa on his back so that he could not +move she seized the beetle between her teeth, bit slowly until +Chegawasse lost his hold, and then swallowed him. +</P> + +<P> +From then until dusk Neewa nursed his sore nose. A little before dark +Noozak curled herself up against the big rock, and Neewa took his +supper. Then he made himself a nest in the crook of her big, warm +forearm. In spite of his smarting nose he was a happy bear, and at the +end of his first day he felt very brave and very fearless, though he +was but nine weeks old. He had come into the world, he had looked upon +many things, and if he had not conquered he at least had gone +gloriously through the day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWO +</H3> + +<P> +That night Neewa had a hard attack of Mistu-puyew, or stomach-ache. +Imagine a nursing baby going direct from its mother's breast to a +beefsteak! That was what Neewa had done. Ordinarily he would not have +begun nibbling at solid foods for at least another month, but nature +seemed deliberately at work in a process of intensive education +preparing him for the mighty and unequal struggle which he would have +to put up a little later. For hours Neewa moaned and wailed, and Noozak +muzzled his bulging little belly with her nose, until finally he +vomited and was better. +</P> + +<P> +After that he slept. When he awoke he was startled by opening his eyes +full into the glare of a great blaze of fire. Yesterday he had seen the +sun, golden and shimmering and far away. But this was the first time he +had seen it come up over the edge of the world on a spring morning in +the Northland. It was as red as blood, and as he stared it rose +steadily and swiftly until the flat side of it rounded out and it was a +huge ball of SOMETHING. At first he thought it was Life—some monstrous +creature sailing up over the forest toward them—and he turned with a +whine of enquiry to his mother. Whatever it was, Noozak was unafraid. +Her big head was turned toward it, and she was blinking her eyes in +solemn comfort. It was then that Neewa began to feel the pleasing +warmth of the red thing, and in spite of his nervousness he began to +purr in the glow of it. From red the sun turned swiftly to gold, and +the whole valley was transformed once more into a warm and pulsating +glory of life. +</P> + +<P> +For two weeks after this first sunrise in Neewa's life Noozak remained +near the ridge and the slough. Then came the day, when Neewa was eleven +weeks old, that she turned her nose toward the distant black forests +and began the summer's peregrination. Neewa's feet had lost their +tenderness, and he weighed a good six pounds. This was pretty good +considering that he had only weighed twelve ounces at birth. +</P> + +<P> +From the day when Noozak set off on her wandering TREK Neewa's real +adventures began. In the dark and mysterious caverns of the forests +there were places where the snow still lay unsoftened by the sun, and +for two days Neewa yearned and whined for the sunlit valley. They +passed the waterfall, where Neewa looked for the first tune on a +rushing torrent of water. Deeper and darker and gloomier grew the +forest Noozak was penetrating. In this forest Neewa received his first +lessons in hunting. Noozak was now well in the "bottoms" between the +Jackson's Knee and Shamattawa waterway divides, a great hunting ground +for bears in the early spring. When awake she was tireless in her quest +for food, and was constantly digging in the earth, or turning over +stones and tearing rotting logs and stumps into pieces. The little gray +wood-mice were her piece de resistance, small as they were, and it +amazed Neewa to see how quick his clumsy old mother could be when one +of these little creatures was revealed. There were times when Noozak +captured a whole family before they could escape. And to these were +added frogs and toads, still partly somnambulent; many ants, curled up +as if dead, in the heart of rotting logs; and occasional bumble-bees, +wasps, and hornets. Now and then Neewa took a nibble at these things. +On the third day Noozak uncovered a solid mass of hibernating vinegar +ants as large as a man's two fists, and frozen solid. Neewa ate a +quantity of these, and the sweet, vinegary flavour of them was +delicious to his palate. +</P> + +<P> +As the days progressed, and living things began to crawl out from under +logs and rocks, Neewa discovered the thrill and excitement of hunting +on his own account. He encountered a second beetle, and killed it. He +killed his first wood-mouse. Swiftly there were developing in him the +instincts of Soominitik, his scrap-loving old father, who lived three +or four valleys to the north of their own, and who never missed an +opportunity to get into a fight. At four months of age, which was late +in May, Neewa was eating many things that would have killed most cubs +of his age, and there wasn't a yellow streak in him from the tip of his +saucy little nose to the end of his stubby tail. He weighed nine pounds +at this date and was as black as a tar-baby. +</P> + +<P> +It was early in June that the exciting event occurred which brought +about the beginning of the big change in Neewa's life, and it was on a +day so warm and mellow with sunshine that Noozak started in right after +dinner to take her afternoon nap. They were out of the lower timber +country now, and were in a valley through which a shallow stream +wriggled and twisted around white sand-bars and between pebbly shores. +Neewa was sleepless. He had less desire than ever to waste a glorious +afternoon in napping. With his little round eyes he looked out on a +wonderful world, and found it calling to him. He looked at his mother, +and whined. Experience told him that she was dead to the world for +hours to come, unless he tickled her foot or nipped her ear, and then +she would only rouse herself enough to growl at him. He was tired of +that. He yearned for something more exciting, and with his mind +suddenly made up he set off in quest of adventure. +</P> + +<P> +In that big world of green and golden colours he was a little black +ball nearly as wide as he was long. He went down to the creek, and +looked back. He could still see his mother. Then his feet paddled in +the soft white sand of a long bar that edged the shore, and he forgot +Noozak. He went to the end of the bar, and turned up on the green shore +where the young grass was like velvet under his paws. Here he began +turning over small stones for ants. He chased a chipmunk that ran a +close and furious race with him for twenty seconds. A little later a +huge snow-shoe rabbit got up almost under his nose, and he chased that +until in a dozen long leaps Wapoos disappeared in a thicket. Neewa +wrinkled up his nose and emitted a squeaky snarl. Never had +Soominitik's blood run so riotously within him. He wanted to get hold +of something. For the first time in his life he was yearning for a +scrap. He was like a small boy who the day after Christmas has a pair +of boxing gloves and no opponent. He sat down and looked about him +querulously, still wrinkling his nose and snarling defiantly. He had +the whole world beaten. He knew that. Everything was afraid of his +mother. Everything was afraid of HIM. It was disgusting—this lack of +something alive for an ambitious young fellow to fight. After all, the +world was rather tame. +</P> + +<P> +He set off at a new angle, came around the edge of a huge rock, and +suddenly stopped. +</P> + +<P> +From behind the other end of the rock protruded a huge hind paw. For a +few moments Neewa sat still, eyeing it with a growing anticipation. +This time he would give his mother a nip that would waken her for good! +He would rouse her to the beauty and the opportunities of this day if +there was any rouse in him! So he advanced slowly and cautiously, +picked out a nice bare spot on the paw, and sank his little teeth in it +to the gums. +</P> + +<P> +There followed a roar that shook the earth. Now it happened that the +paw did not belong to Noozak, but was the personal property of Makoos, +an old he-bear of unlovely disposition and malevolent temper. But in +him age had produced a grouchiness that was not at all like the +grandmotherly peculiarities of old Noozak. Makoos was on his feet +fairly before Neewa realized that he had made a mistake. He was not +only an old bear and a grouchy bear, but he was also a hater of cubs. +More than once in his day he had committed the crime of cannibalism. He +was what the Indian hunter calls uchan—a bad bear, an eater of his own +kind, and the instant his enraged eyes caught sight of Neewa he let out +another roar. +</P> + +<P> +At that Neewa gathered his fat little legs under his belly and was off +like a shot. Never before in his life had he run as he ran now. +Instinct told him that at last he had met something which was not +afraid of him, and that he was in deadly peril. He made no choice of +direction, for now that he had made this mistake he had no idea where +he would find his mother. He could hear Makoos coming after him, and as +he ran he set up a bawling that was filled with a wild and agonizing +prayer for help. That cry reached the faithful old Noozak. In an +instant she was on her feet—and just in time. Like a round black ball +shot out of a gun Neewa sped past the rock where she had been sleeping, +and ten jumps behind him came Makoos. Out of the corner of his eye he +saw his mother, but his momentum carried him past her. In that moment +Noozak leapt into action. As a football player makes a tackle she +rushed out just in time to catch old Makoos with all her weight full +broadside in the ribs, and the two old bears rolled over and over in +what to Neewa was an exciting and glorious mix-up. +</P> + +<P> +He had stopped, and his eyes bulged out like shining little onions as +he took in the scene of battle. He had longed for a fight but what he +saw now fairly paralyzed him. The two bears were at it, roaring and +tearing each other's hides and throwing up showers of gravel and earth +in their deadly clinch. In this first round Noozak had the best of it. +She had butted the wind out of Makoos in her first dynamic assault, and +now with her dulled and broken teeth at his throat she was lashing him +with her sharp hind claws until the blood streamed from the old +barbarian's sides and he bellowed like a choking bull. Neewa knew that +it was his pursuer who was getting the worst of it, and with a squeaky +cry for his mother to lambast the very devil out of Makoos he ran back +to the edge of the arena, his nose crinkled and his teeth gleaming in a +ferocious snarl. He danced about excitedly a dozen feet from the +fighters, Soominitik's blood filling him with a yearning for the fray +and yet he was afraid. +</P> + +<P> +Then something happened that suddenly and totally upset the maddening +joy of his mother's triumph. Makoos, being a he-bear, was of necessity +skilled in fighting, and all at once he freed himself from Noozak's +jaws, wallowed her under him, and in turn began ripping the hide off +old Noozak's carcass in such quantities that she let out an agonized +bawling that turned Neewa's little heart into stone. +</P> + +<P> +It is a matter of most exciting conjecture what a small boy will do +when he sees his father getting licked. If there is an axe handy he is +liable to use it. The most cataclysmic catastrophe that cam come into +his is to have a father whom some other boy's father has given a +walloping. Next to being President of the United States the average +small boy treasures the desire to possess a parent who can whip any +other two-legged creature that wears trousers. And there were a lot of +human things about Neewa. The louder his mother bawled the more +distinctly he felt the shock of his world falling about him. If Noozak +had lost a part of her strength in her old age her voice, at least, was +still unimpaired, and such a spasm of outcry as she emitted could have +been heard at least half a mile away. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa could stand no more. Blind with rage, he darted in. It was chance +that closed his vicious little jaws on a toe that belonged to Makoos, +and his teeth sank into the flesh like two rows of ivory needles. +Makoos gave a tug, but Neewa held on, and bit deeper. Then Makoos drew +up his leg and sent it out like a catapault, and in spite of his +determination to hang on Neewa found himself sailing wildly through the +air. He landed against a rock twenty feet from the fighters with a +force that knocked the wind out of him, and for a matter of eight or +ten seconds after that he wobbled dizzily in his efforts to stand up. +Then his vision and his senses returned and he gazed on a scene that +brought all the blood pounding back into his body again. +</P> + +<P> +Makoos was no longer fighting, but was RUNNING AWAY—and there was a +decided limp in his gait! +</P> + +<P> +Poor old Noozak was standing on her feet, facing the retreating enemy. +She was panting like a winded calf. Her jaws were agape. Her tongue +lolled out, and blood was dripping in little trickles from her body to +the ground. She had been thoroughly and efficiently mauled. She was +beyond the shadow of a doubt a whipped bear. Yet in that glorious +flight of the enemy Neewa saw nothing of Noozak's defeat. Their enemy +was RUNNING AWAY! Therefore, he was whipped. And with excited little +squeaks of joy Neewa ran to his mother. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER THREE +</H3> + +<P> +As they stood in the warm sunshine of this first day of June, watching +the last of Makoos as he fled across the creek bottom, Neewa felt very +much like an old and seasoned warrior instead of a pot-bellied, +round-faced cub of four months who weighed nine pounds and not four +hundred. +</P> + +<P> +It was many minutes after Neewa had sunk his ferocious little teeth +deep into the tenderest part of the old he-bear's toe before Noozak +could get her wind sufficiently to grunt. Her sides were pumping like a +pair of bellows, and after Makoos had disappeared beyond the creek +Neewa sat down on his chubby bottom, perked his funny ears forward, and +eyed his mother with round and glistening eyes that were filled with +uneasy speculation. With a wheezing groan Noozak turned and made her +way slowly toward the big rock alongside which she had been sleeping +when Neewa's fearful cries for help had awakened her. Every bone in her +aged body seemed broken or dislocated. She limped and sagged and moaned +as she walked, and behind her were left little red trails of blood in +the green grass. Makoos had given her a fine pummeling. +</P> + +<P> +She lay down, gave a final groan, and looked at Neewa, as if to say: +</P> + +<P> +"If you hadn't gone off on some deviltry and upset that old viper's +temper this wouldn't have happened. And now—look at ME!" +</P> + +<P> +A young bear would have rallied quickly from the effects of the battle, +but Noozak lay without moving all the rest of that afternoon, and the +night that followed. And that night was by all odds the finest that +Neewa had ever seen. Now that the nights were warm, he had come to love +the moon even more than the sun, for by birth and instinct he was more +a prowler in darkness than a hunter of the day. The moon rose out of +the east in a glory of golden fire. The spruce and balsam forests stood +out like islands in a yellow sea of light, and the creek shimmered and +quivered like a living thing as it wound its way through the glowing +valley. But Neewa had learned his lesson, and though the moon and the +stars called to him he hung close to his mother, listening to the +carnival of night sound that came to him, but never moving away from +her side. +</P> + +<P> +With the morning Noozak rose to her feet, and with a grunting command +for Neewa to follow she slowly climbed the sun-capped ridge. She was in +no mood for travel, but away back in her head was an unexpressed fear +that villainous old Makoos might return, and she knew that another +fight would do her up entirely, in which event Makoos would make a +breakfast of Neewa. So she urged herself down the other side of the +ridge, across a new valley, and through a cut that opened like a wide +door into a rolling plain that was made up of meadows and lakes and +great sweeps of spruce and cedar forest. For a week Noozak had been +making for a certain creek in this plain, and now that the presence of +Makoos threatened behind she kept at her journeying until Neewa's +short, fat legs could scarcely hold up his body. +</P> + +<P> +It was mid-afternoon when they reached the creek, and Neewa was so +exhausted that he had difficulty in climbing the spruce up which his +mother sent him to take a nap. Finding a comfortable crotch he quickly +fell asleep—while Noozak went fishing. +</P> + +<P> +The creek was alive with suckers, trapped in the shallow pools after +spawning, and within an hour she had the shore strewn with them. When +Neewa came down out of his cradle, just at the edge of dusk, it was to +a feast at which Noozak had already stuffed herself until she looked +like a barrel. This was his first meal of fish, and for a week +thereafter he lived in a paradise of fish. He ate them morning, noon, +and night, and when he was too full to eat he rolled in them. And +Noozak stuffed herself until it seemed her hide would burst. Wherever +they moved they carried with them a fishy smell that grew older day by +day, and the older it became the more delicious it was to Neewa and his +mother. And Neewa grew like a swelling pod. In that week he gained +three pounds. He had given up nursing entirely now, for Noozak—being +an old bear—had dried up to a point where she was hopelessly +disappointing. +</P> + +<P> +It was early in the evening of the eighth day that Neewa and his mother +lay down in the edge of a grassy knoll to sleep after their day's +feasting. Noozak was by all odds the happiest old bear in all that part +of the northland. Food was no longer a problem for her. In the creek, +penned up in the pools, were unlimited quantities of it, and she had +encountered no other bear to challenge her possession of it. She looked +ahead to uninterrupted bliss in their happy hunting grounds until +midsummer storms emptied the pools, or the berries ripened. And Neewa, +a happy little gourmand, dreamed with her. +</P> + +<P> +It was this day, just as the sun was setting, that a man on his hands +and knees was examining a damp patch of sand five or six miles down the +creek. His sleeves were rolled up, baring his brown arms halfway to the +shoulders and he wore no hat, so that the evening breeze ruffled a +ragged head of blond hair that for a matter of eight or nine months had +been cut with a hunting knife. +</P> + +<P> +Close on one side of this individual was a tin pail, and on the other, +eying him with the keenest interest, one of the homeliest and yet one +of the most companionable-looking dog pups ever born of a Mackenzie +hound father and a mother half Airedale and half Spitz. +</P> + +<P> +With this tragedy of blood in his veins nothing in the world could have +made the pup anything more than "just dog." His tail,—stretched out +straight on the sand, was long and lean, with a knot at every joint; +his paws, like an overgrown boy's feet, looked like small +boxing-gloves; his head was three sizes too big for his body, and +accident had assisted Nature in the perfection of her masterpiece by +robbing him of a half of one of his ears. As he watched his master this +half of an ear stood up like a galvanized stub, while the other—twice +as long—was perked forward in the deepest and most interested enquiry. +Head, feet, and tail were Mackenzie hound, but the ears and his lank, +skinny body was a battle royal between Spitz and Airedale. At his +present inharmonious stage of development he was the doggiest dog-pup +outside the alleys of a big city. +</P> + +<P> +For the first time in several minutes his master spoke, and Miki +wiggled from stem to stern in appreciation of the fact that it was +directly to him the words were uttered. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a mother and a cub, as sure as you're a week old, Miki," he said. +"And if I know anything about bears they were here some time to-day!" +</P> + +<P> +He rose to his feet, made note of the deepening shadows in the edge of +the timber, and filled his pail with water. For a few moments the last +rays of the sun lit up his face. It was a strong, hopeful face. In it +was the joy of life. And now it was lighted up with a sudden +inspiration, and a glow that was not of the forest alone came into his +eyes, as he added: +</P> + +<P> +"Miki, I'm lugging your homely carcass down to the Girl because you're +an unpolished gem of good nature and beauty—and for those two things I +know she'll love you. She is my sister, you know. Now, if I could only +take that cub along with you——" +</P> + +<P> +He began to whistle as he turned with his pail of water in the +direction of a thin fringe of balsams a hundred yards away. +</P> + +<P> +Close at his heels followed Miki. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner, who was a newly appointed factor of the Great Hudson's Bay +Company, had pitched his camp at tie edge of the lake dose to the mouth +of the creek. There was not much to it—a battered tent, a still more +battered canoe, and a small pile of dunnage. But in the last glow of +the sunset it would have spoken volumes to a man with an eye trained to +the wear and the turmoil of the forests. It was the outfit of a man who +had gone unfearing to the rough edge of the world. And now what was +left of it was returning with him. To Challoner there was something of +human comradeship in these remnants of things that had gone through the +greater part of a year's fight with him. The canoe was warped and +battered and patched; smoke and storm had blackened his tent until it +was the colour of rusty char, and his grub sacks were next to empty. +</P> + +<P> +Over a small fire title contents of a pan and a pot were brewing when +he returned with Miki at his heels, and close to the heat was a +battered and mended reflector in which a bannock of flour and water was +beginning to brown. In one of the pots was coffee, in the other a +boiling fish. +</P> + +<P> +Miki sat down on his angular haunches so that the odour of the fish +filled his nostrils. This, he had discovered, was the next thing to +eating. His eyes, as they followed Challoner's final preparatory +movements, were as bright as garnets, and every third or fourth breath +he licked his chops, and swallowed hungrily. That, in fact, was why +Miki had got his name. He was always hungry, and apparently always +empty, no matter how much he ate. Therefore his name, Miki, "The drum." +</P> + +<P> +It was not until they had eaten the fish and the bannock, and Challoner +had lighted his pipe, that he spoke what was in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow I'm going after that bear," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Miki, curled up near the dying embers, gave his tail a club-like thump +in evidence of the fact that he was listening. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to pair you up with the cub, and tickle the Girl to death." +</P> + +<P> +Miki thumped his tail harder than before. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine," he seemed to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Just think of it," said Challoner, looking over Miki's head a thousand +miles away, "Fourteen months—and at last we're going home. I'm going +to train you and the cub for that sister of mine. Eh, won't you like +that? You don't know what she's like, you homely little devil, or you +wouldn't sit there staring at me like a totem-pole pup! And it isn't in +your stupid head to imagine how pretty she is. You saw that sunset +to-night? Well, she's prettier than THAT if she is my sister. Got +anything to add to that, Miki? If not, let's say our prayers and go to +bed!" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner rose and stretched himself. His muscles cracked. He felt life +surging like a giant within him. +</P> + +<P> +And Miki, thumping his tail until this moment, rose on his overgrown +legs and followed his master into their shelter. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the gray light of the early summer dawn when Challoner came +forth again, and rekindled the fire. Miki followed a few moments later, +and his master fastened the end of a worn tent-rope around his neck and +tied the rope to a sapling. Another rope of similar length Challoner +tied to the corners of a grub sack so that it could be carried over his +shoulder like a game bag. With the first rose-flush of the sun he was +ready for the trail of Neewa and his mother. Miki set up a melancholy +wailing when he found himself left behind, and when Challoner looked +back the pup was tugging and somersaulting at the end of his rope like +a jumping-jack. For a quarter of a mile up the creek he could hear +Miki's entreating protest. +</P> + +<P> +To Challoner the business of the day was not a matter of personal +pleasure, nor was it inspired alone by his desire to possess a cub +along with Miki. He needed meat, and bear pork thus early in the season +would be exceedingly good; and above all else he needed a supply of +fat. If he bagged this bear, time would be saved all the rest of the +way down to civilization. +</P> + +<P> +It was eight o'clock when he struck the first unmistakably fresh signs +of Noozak and Neewa. It was at the point where Noozak had fished four +or five days previously, and where they had returned yesterday to feast +on the "ripened" catch. Challoner was elated. He was sure that he would +find the pair along the creek, and not far distant. The wind was in his +favour, and he began to advance with greater caution, his rifle ready +for the anticipated moment. For an hour he travelled steadily and +quietly, marking every sound and movement ahead of him, and wetting his +finger now and then to see if the wind had shifted. After all, it was +not so much a matter of human cunning. Everything was in Challoner's +favour. +</P> + +<P> +In a wide, flat part of the valley where the creek split itself into a +dozen little channels, and the water rippled between sandy bars and +over pebbly shallows, Neewa and his mother were nosing about lazily for +a breakfast of crawfish. The world had never looked more beautiful to +Neewa. The sun made the soft hair on his back fluff up like that of a +purring cat. He liked the plash of wet sand under his feet and the +singing gush of water against his legs. He liked the sound that was all +about him, the breath of the wind, the whispers that came out of the +spruce-tops and the cedars, the murmur of water, the TWIT-TWIT of the +rock rabbits, the call of birds; and more than all else the low, +grunting talk of his mother. +</P> + +<P> +It was in this sun-bathed sweep of the valley that Noozak caught the +first whiff of danger. It came to her in a sudden twist of the +wind—the smell of man! +</P> + +<P> +Instantly she was turned into rock. There was still the deep scar in +her shoulder which had come, years before, with that same smell of the +one enemy she feared. For three summers she had not caught the taint in +her nostrils and she had almost forgotten its existence. Now, so +suddenly that it paralyzed her, it was warm and terrible in the breath +of the wind. +</P> + +<P> +In this moment, too, Neewa seemed to sense the nearness of an appalling +danger. Two hundred yards from Challoner he stood a motionless blotch +of jet against the white of the sand about him, his eyes on his mother, +and his sensitive little nose trying to catch the meaning of the menace +in the air. +</P> + +<P> +Then came a thing he had never heard before—a splitting, cracking +roar—something that was almost like thunder and yet unlike it; and he +saw his mother lurch where she stood and crumple down all at once on +her fore legs. +</P> + +<P> +The next moment she was up, with a wild WHOOF in her voice that was new +to him—a warning for him to fly for his life. +</P> + +<P> +Like all mothers who have known the comradeship and love of a child, +Noozak's first thought was of him. Reaching out a paw she gave him a +sudden shove, and Neewa legged it wildly for the near-by shelter of the +timber. Noozak followed. A second shot came, and close over her head +there sped a purring, terrible sound. But Noozak did not hurry. She +kept behind Neewa, urging him on even as that pain of a red-hot iron in +her groin filled her with agony. They came to the edge of the timber as +Challoner's third shot bit under Noozak's feet. +</P> + +<P> +A moment more and they were within the barricade of the timber. +Instinct guided Neewa into the thickest part of it, and close behind +him Noozak fought with the last of her dying strength to urge him on. +In her old brain there was growing a deep and appalling shadow, +something that was beginning to cloud her vision so that she could not +see, and she knew that at last she had come to the uttermost end of her +trail. With twenty years of life behind her, she struggled now for a +last few seconds. She stopped Neewa close to a thick cedar, and as she +had done many times before she commanded him to climb it. Just once her +hot tongue touched his face in a final caress. Then she turned to fight +her last great fight. +</P> + +<P> +Straight into the face of Challoner she dragged herself, and fifty feet +from the spruce she stopped and waited for him, her head drooped +between her shoulders, her sides heaving, her eyes dimming more and +more, until at last she sank down with a great sigh, barring the trail +of their enemy. For a space, it may be, she saw once more the golden +moons and the blazing suns of those twenty years that were gone; it may +be that the soft, sweet music of spring came to her again, filled with +the old, old song of life, and that Something gracious and painless +descended upon her as a final reward for a glorious motherhood on earth. +</P> + +<P> +When Challoner came up she was dead. +</P> + +<P> +From his hiding place in a crotch of the spruce Neewa looked down on +the first great tragedy of his life, and the advent of man. The +two-legged beast made him cringe deeper into his refuge, and his little +heart was near breaking with the terror that had seized upon him. He +did not reason. It was by no miracle of mental process that he knew +something terrible had happened, and that this tall, two-legged +creature was the cause of it. His little eyes were blazing, just over +the level of the crotch. He wondered why his mother did not get up and +fight when this new enemy came. Frightened as he was he was ready to +snarl if she would only wake up—ready to hurry down the tree and help +her as he had helped her in the defeat of Makoos, the old he-bear. But +not a muscle of Noozak's huge body moved as Challoner bent over her. +She was stone dead. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner's face was flushed with exultation. Necessity had made of him +a killer. He saw in Noozak a splendid pelt, and a provision of meat +that would carry him all the rest of the way to the southland. He +leaned his rifle against a tree and began looking about for the cub. +Knowledge of the wild told him it would not be far from its mother, and +he began looking into the trees and the near-by thickets. +</P> + +<P> +In the shelter of his crotch, screened by the thick branches, Neewa +made himself as small as possible during the search. At the end of half +an hour Challoner disappointedly gave up his quest, and went back to +the creek for a drink before setting himself to the task of skinning +Noozak. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner was he gone than Neewa's little head shot up alertly. For a +few moments he watched, and then slipped backward down the trunk of the +cedar to the ground. He gave his squealing call, but his mother did not +move. He went to her and stood beside her motionless head, sniffing the +man-tainted air. Then he muzzled her jowl, butted his nose under her +neck, and at last nipped her ear—always his last resort in the +awakening process. He was puzzled. He whined softly, and climbed upon +his mother's big, soft back, and sat there. Into his whine there came a +strange note, and then out of his throat there rose a whimpering cry +that was like the cry of a child. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner heard that cry as he came back, and something seemed to grip +hold of his heart suddenly, and choke him. He had heard children crying +like that; and it was the motherless cub! +</P> + +<P> +Creeping up behind a dwarf spruce he looked where Noozak lay dead, and +saw Neewa perched on his mother's back. He had killed many things in +his time, for it was his business to kill, and to barter in the pelts +of creatures that others killed. But he had seen nothing like this +before, and he felt all at once as if he had done murder. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry," he breathed softly, "you poor little devil; I'm sorry!" +</P> + +<P> +It was almost a prayer—for forgiveness. Yet there was but one thing to +do now. So quietly that Neewa failed to hear him he crept around with +the wind and stole up behind. He was within a dozen feet of Neewa +before the cub suspected danger. Then it was too late. In a swift rush +Challoner was upon him and, before Neewa could leave the back of his +mother, had smothered him in the folds of the grub sack. +</P> + +<P> +In all his life Challoner had never experienced a livelier five minutes +than the five that followed. Above Neewa's grief and his fear there +rose the savage fighting blood of old Soominitik, his father. He clawed +and bit and kicked and snarled. In those five minutes he was five +little devils all rolled into one, and by the time Challoner had the +rope fastened about Neewa's neck, and his fat body chucked into the +sack, his hands were scratched and lacerated in a score of places. +</P> + +<P> +In the sack Neewa continued to fight until he was exhausted, while +Challoner skinned Noozak and cut from her the meat and fats which he +wanted. The beauty of Noozak's pelt brought a glow into his eyes. In it +he rolled the meat and fats, and with babiche thong bound the whole +into a pack around which he belted the dunnage ends of his shoulder +straps. Weighted under the burden of sixty pounds of pelt and meat he +picked up his rifle—and Neewa. It had been early afternoon when he +left. It was almost sunset when he reached camp. Every foot of the way, +until the last half mile, Neewa fought like a Spartan. +</P> + +<P> +Now he lay limp and almost lifeless in his sack, and when Miki came up +to smell suspiciously of his prison he made no movement of protest. All +smells were alike to him now, and of sounds he made no distinction. +Challoner was nearly done for. Every muscle and bone in his body had +its ache. Yet in his face, sweaty and grimed, was a grin of pride. +</P> + +<P> +"You plucky little devil," he said, contemplating the limp sack as he +loaded his pipe for the first time that afternoon. "You—you plucky +little devil!" +</P> + +<P> +He tied the end of Neewa's rope halter to a sapling, and began +cautiously to open the grub sack. Then he rolled Neewa out on the +ground, and stepped back. In that hour Neewa was willing to accept a +truce so far as Challoner was concerned. But it was not Challoner that +his half-blinded eyes saw first as he rolled from his bag. It was Miki! +And Miki, his awkward body wriggling with the excitement of his +curiosity, was almost on the point of smelling of him! +</P> + +<P> +Neewa's little eyes glared. Was that ill-jointed lop-eared offspring of +the man-beast an enemy, too? Were those twisting convolutions of this +new creature's body and the club-like swing of his tail an invitation +to fight? He judged so. Anyway, here was something of his size, and +like a flash he was at the end of his rope and on the pup. Miki, a +moment before bubbling over with friendship and good cheer, was on his +back in an instant, his grotesque legs paddling the air and his yelping +cries for help rising in a wild clamour that filled the golden +stillness of the evening with an unutterable woe. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner stood dumbfounded. In another moment he would have separated +the little fighters, but something happened that stopped him. Neewa, +standing squarely over Miki, with Miki's four over-grown paws held +aloft as if signalling an unqualified surrender, slowly drew his teeth +from the pup's loose hide. Again he saw the man-beast. Instinct, keener +than a clumsy reasoning, held him for a few moments without movement, +his beady eyes on Challoner. In midair Miki wagged his paws; he whined +softly; his hard tail thumped the ground as he pleaded for mercy, and +he licked his chops and tried to wriggle, as if to tell Neewa that he +had no intention at all to do him harm. Neewa, facing Challoner, +snarled defiantly. He drew himself slowly from over Miki. And Miki, +afraid to move, still lay on his back with his paws in the air. +</P> + +<P> +Very slowly, a look of wonder in his face, Challoner drew back into the +tent and peered through a rent in the canvas. +</P> + +<P> +The snarl left Neewa's face. He looked at the pup. Perhaps away back in +some corner of his brain the heritage of instinct was telling him of +what he had lost because of brothers and sisters unborn—the +comradeship of babyhood, the play of children. And Miki must have +sensed the change in the furry little black creature who a moment ago +was his enemy. His tail thumped almost frantically, and he swung out +his front paws toward Neewa. Then, a little fearful of what might +happen, he rolled on his side. Still Neewa did not move. Joyously Miki +wriggled. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later, looking through the slit in the canvas, Challoner saw +them cautiously smelling noses. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER FOUR +</H3> + +<P> +That night came a cold and drizzling rain from out of the north and the +east. In the wet dawn Challoner came out to start a fire, and in a +hollow under a spruce root he found Miki and Neewa cuddled together, +sound asleep. +</P> + +<P> +It was the cub who first saw the man-beast, and for a brief space +before the pup roused himself Neewa's shining eyes were fixed on the +strange enemy who had so utterly changed his world for him. Exhaustion +had made him sleep through the long hours of that first night of +captivity, and in sleep he had forgotten many things. But now it all +came back to him as he cringed deeper into his shelter under the root, +and so softly that only Miki heard him he whimpered for his mother. +</P> + +<P> +It was the whimper that roused Miki. Slowly he untangled himself from +the ball into which he had rolled, stretched his long and overgrown +legs, and yawned so loudly that the sound reached Challoner's ears. The +man turned and saw two pairs of eyes fixed upon him from the sheltered +hollow under the root. The pup's one good ear and the other that was +half gone stood up alertly, as he greeted his master with the boundless +good cheer of an irrepressible comradeship. Challoner's face, wet with +the drizzle of the gray skies and bronzed by the wind and storm of +fourteen months in the northland, lighted up with a responsive grin, +and Miki wriggled forth weaving and twisting himself into grotesque +contortions expressive of happiness at being thus directly smiled at by +his master. +</P> + +<P> +With all the room under the root left to him Neewa pulled himself back +until only his round head was showing, and from this fortress of +temporary safety his bright little eyes glared forth at his mother's +murderer. +</P> + +<P> +Vividly the tragedy of yesterday was before him again—the warm, +sun-filled creek bottom in which he and Noozak, his mother, were +hunting a breakfast of crawfish when the man-beast came; the crash of +strange thunder, their flight into the timber, and the end of it all +when his mother turned to confront their enemy. And yet it was not the +death of his mother that remained with him most poignantly this +morning. It was the memory of his own terrific fight with the white +man, and his struggle afterward in the black and suffocating depths of +the bag in which Challoner had brought him to his camp. Even now +Challoner was looking at the scratches on his hands. He advanced a few +steps, and grinned down at Neewa, just as he had grinned +good-humouredly at Miki, the angular pup. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa's little eyes blazed. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you last night that I was sorry," said Challoner, speaking as +if to one of his own kind. +</P> + +<P> +In several ways Challoner was unusual, an out-of-the-ordinary type in +the northland. He believed, for instance, in a certain specific +psychology of the animal mind, and had proven to his own satisfaction +that animals treated and conversed with in a matter-of-fact human way +frequently developed an understanding which he, in his unscientific +way, called reason. +</P> + +<P> +"I told you I was sorry," he repeated, squatting on his heels within a +yard of the root from under which Neewa's eyes were glaring at him, +"and I am. I'm sorry I killed your mother. But we had to have meat and +fat. Besides, Miki and I are going to make it up to you. We're going to +take you along with us down to the Girl, and if you don't learn to love +her you're the meanest, lowest-down little cuss in all creation and +don't deserve a mother. You and Miki are going to be brothers. His +mother is dead, too—plum starved to death, which is worse than dying +with a bullet in your lung. And I found Miki just as I found you, +hugging up close to her an' crying as if there wasn't any world left +for him. So cheer up, and give us your paw. Let's shake!" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner held out his hand. Neewa was as motionless as a stone. A few +moments before he would have snarled and bared his teeth. But now he +was dead still. This was by all odds the strangest beast he had ever +seen. Yesterday it had not harmed him, except to put him into the bag. +And now it did not offer to harm him. More than that, the talk it made +was not unpleasant, or threatening. His eyes took in Miki. The pup had +squeezed himself squarely between Challoner's knees and was looking at +him in a puzzled, questioning sort of way, as if to ask: "Why don't you +come out from under that root and help get breakfast?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner's hand came nearer, and Neewa crowded himself back until +there was not another inch of room for him to fill. Then the miracle +happened. The man-beast's paw touched his head. It sent a strange and +terrible thrill through him. Yet it did not hurt. If he had not wedged +himself in so tightly he would have scratched and bitten. But he could +do neither. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly Challoner worked his fingers to the loose hide at the back of +Neewa's neck. Miki, surmising that something momentous was about to +happen, watched the proceedings with popping eyes. Then Challoner's +fingers closed and the next instant he dragged Neewa forth and held him +at arm's length, kicking and squirming, and setting up such a bawling +that in sheer sympathy Miki raised his voice and joined in the agonized +orgy of sound. Half a minute later Challoner had Neewa once more in the +prison-sack, but this time he left the cub's head protruding, and drew +in the mouth of the sack closely about his neck, fastening it securely +with a piece of babiche string. Thus three quarters of Neewa was +imprisoned in the sack, with only his head sticking out. He was a cub +in a poke. +</P> + +<P> +Leaving the cub to roll and squirm in protest Challoner went about the +business of getting breakfast. For once Miki found a proceeding more +interesting than that operation, and he hovered about Neewa as he +struggled and bawled, trying vainly to offer him some assistance in the +matter of sympathy. Finally Neewa lay still, and Miki sat down close +beside him and eyed his master with serious questioning if not actual +disapprobation. +</P> + +<P> +The gray sky was breaking with the promise of the sun when Challoner +was ready to renew his long journey into the southland. He packed his +canoe, leaving Neewa and Miki until the last. In the bow of the canoe +he made a soft nest of the skin taken from the cub's mother. Then he +called Miki and tied the end of a worn rope around his neck, after +which he fastened the other end of this rope around the neck of Neewa. +Thus he had the cub and the pup on the same yard-long halter. Taking +each of the twain by the scruff of the neck he carried them to the +canoe and placed them in the nest he had made of Noozak's hide. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you youngsters be good," he warned. "We're going to aim at forty +miles to-day to make up for the time we lost yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +As the canoe shot out a shaft of sunlight broke through the sky low in +the east. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER FIVE +</H3> + +<P> +During the first few moments in which the canoe moved swiftly over the +surface of the lake an amazing change had taken place in Neewa. +Challoner did not see it, and Miki was unconscious of it. But every +fibre in Neewa's body was atremble, and his heart was thumping as it +had pounded on that glorious day of the fight between his mother and +the old he-bear. It seemed to him that everything that he had lost was +coming back to him, and that all would be well very soon—FOR HE +SMELLED HIS MOTHER! And then he discovered that the scent of her was +warm and strong in the furry black mass under his feet, and he +smothered himself down in it, flat on his plump little belly, and +peered at Challoner over his paws. +</P> + +<P> +It was hard for him to understand—the man-beast back there, sending +the canoe through the water, and under him his mother, warm and soft, +but so deadly still! He could not keep the whimper out of his +throat—his low and grief-filled call for HER. And there was no answer, +except Miki's responsive whine, the crying of one child for another. +Neewa's mother did not move. She made no sound. And he could see +nothing of her but her black and furry skin—without head, without +feet, without the big, bald paws he had loved to tickle, and the ears +he had loved to nip. There was nothing of her but the patch of black +skin—and the SMELL. +</P> + +<P> +But a great comfort warmed his frightened little soul. He felt the +protecting nearness of an unconquerable and abiding force and in the +first of the warm sunshine his back fluffed up, and he thrust his brown +nose between his paws and into his mother's fur. Miki, as if vainly +striving to solve the mystery of his new-found chum, was watching him +closely from between his own fore-paws. In his comical head—adorned +with its one good ear and its one bad one, and furthermore beautified +by the outstanding whiskers inherited from his Airedale ancestor—he +was trying to come to some sort of an understanding. At the outset he +had accepted Neewa as a friend and a comrade—and Neewa had thanklessly +given him a good mauling for his trouble. That much Miki could forgive +and forget. What he could not forgive was the utter lack of regard +which Neewa seemed to possess for him. His playful antics had gained no +recognition from the cub. When he had barked and hopped about, +flattening and contorting himself in warm invitation for him to join in +a game of tag or a wrestling match, Neewa had simply stared at him like +an idiot. He was wondering, perhaps, if Neewa would enjoy anything +besides a fight. It was a long time before he decided to make another +experiment. +</P> + +<P> +It was, as a matter of fact, halfway between breakfast and noon. In all +that time Neewa had scarcely moved, and Miki was finding himself bored +to death. The discomfort of last night's storm was only a memory, and +overhead there was a sun unshadowed by cloud. More than an hour before +Challoner's canoe had left the lake, and was now in the clear-running +water of a stream that was making its way down the southward slope of +the divide between Jackson's Knee and the Shamattawa. It was a new +stream to Challoner, fed by the large lake above, and guarding himself +against the treachery of waterfall and rapid he kept a keen lookout +ahead. For a matter of half an hour the water had been growing steadily +swifter, and Challoner was satisfied that before very long he would be +compelled to make a portage. A little later he heard ahead of him the +low and steady murmur which told him he was approaching a danger zone. +As he shot around the next bend, hugging fairly close to shore, he saw, +four or five hundred yards below him, a rock-frothed and boiling +maelstrom of water. +</P> + +<P> +Swiftly his eyes measured the situation. The rapids ran between an +almost precipitous shore on one side and a deep forest on the other. He +saw at a glance that it was the forest side over which he must make the +portage, and this was the shore opposite him and farthest away. +Swinging his canoe at a 45-degree angle he put all the strength of body +and arms into the sweep of his paddle. There would be just time to +reach the other shore before the current became dangerous. Above the +sweep of the rapids he could now hear the growling roar of a waterfall +below. +</P> + +<P> +It was at this unfortunate moment that Miki decided to venture one more +experiment with Neewa. With a friendly yip he swung out one of his +paws. Now Miki's paw, for a pup, was monstrously big, and his foreleg +was long and lanky, so that when the paw landed squarely on the end of +Neewa's nose it was like the swing of a prize-fighter's glove. The +unexpectedness of it was a further decisive feature in the situation; +and, on top of this, Miki swung his other paw around like a club and +caught Neewa a jolt in the eye. This was too much, even from a friend, +and with a sudden snarl Neewa bounced out of his nest and clinched with +the pup. +</P> + +<P> +Now the fact was that Miki, who had so ingloriously begged for mercy in +their first scrimmage, came of fighting stock himself. Mix the blood of +a Mackenzie hound—which is the biggest-footed, biggest-shouldered, +most powerful dog in the northland—with the blood of a Spitz and an +Airedale and something is bound to come of it. While the Mackenzie dog, +with his ox-like strength, is peaceable and good-humoured in all sorts +of weather, there is a good deal of the devil in the northern Spitz and +Airedale and it is a question which likes a fight the best. And all at +once good-humoured little Miki felt the devil rising in him. This time +he did not yap for mercy. He met Neewa's jaws, and in two seconds they +were staging a first-class fight on the bit of precarious footing in +the prow of the canoe. +</P> + +<P> +Vainly Challoner yelled at them as he paddled desperately to beat out +the danger of the rapids. Neewa and Miki were too absorbed to hear him. +Miki's four paws were paddling the air again, but this time his sharp +teeth were firmly fixed in the loose hide under Neewa's neck, and with +his paws he continued to kick and bat in a way that promised +effectively to pummel the wind out of Neewa had not the thing happened +which Challoner feared. Still in a clinch they rolled off the prow of +the canoe into the swirling current of the stream. +</P> + +<P> +For ten seconds or so they utterly disappeared. Then they bobbed up, a +good fifty feet below him, their heads close together as they sped +swiftly toward the doom that awaited them, and a choking cry broke from +Challoner's lips. He was powerless to save them, and in his cry was the +anguish of real grief. For many weeks Miki had been his only chum and +comrade. +</P> + +<P> +Held together by the yard-long rope to which they were fastened, Miki +and Neewa swept into the frothing turmoil of the rapids. For Miki it +was the kindness of fate that had inspired his master to fasten him to +the same rope with Neewa. Miki, at three months of age—weight, +fourteen pounds—was about 80 per cent. bone and only a half of 1 per +cent. fat; while Neewa, weight thirteen pounds, was about 90 per cent. +fat. Therefore Miki had the floating capacity of a small anchor, while +Neewa was a first-class life-preserver, and almost unsinkable. +</P> + +<P> +In neither of the youngsters was there a yellow streak. Both were of +fighting stock, and, though Miki was under water most of the time +during their first hundred-yard dash through the rapids, never for an +instant did he give up the struggle to keep his nose in the air. +Sometimes he was on his back and sometimes on his belly; but no matter +what his position, he kept his four overgrown paws going like paddles. +To an extent this helped Neewa in the heroic fight he was making to +keep from shipping too much water himself. Had he been alone his ten or +eleven pounds of fat would have carried him down-stream like a toy +balloon covered with fur, but, with the fourteen-pound drag around his +neck, the problem of not going under completely was a serious one. Half +a dozen times he did disappear for an instant when some undertow caught +Miki and dragged him down—head, tail, legs, and all. But Neewa always +rose again, his four fat legs working for dear life. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the waterfall. By this time Miki had become accustomed to +travelling under water, and the full horror of the new cataclysm into +which they were plunged was mercifully lost to him. His paws had almost +ceased their motion. He was still conscious of the roar in his ears, +but the affair was less unpleasant than it was at the beginning. In +fact, he was drowning. To Neewa the pleasant sensations of a painless +death were denied. No cub in the world was wider awake than he when the +final catastrophe came. His head was well above water and he was +clearly possessed of all his senses. Then the river itself dropped out +from under him and he shot down in an avalanche of water, feeling no +longer the drag of Miki's weight at his neck. +</P> + +<P> +How deep the pool was at the bottom of the waterfall Challoner might +have guessed quite accurately. Could Neewa have expressed an opinion of +his own, he would have sworn that it was a mile. Miki was past the +stage of making estimates, or of caring whether it was two feet or two +leagues. His paws had ceased to operate and he had given himself up +entirely to his fate. But Neewa came up again, and Miki followed, like +a bobber. He was about to gasp his last gasp when the force of the +current, as it swung out of the whirlpool, flung Neewa upon a bit of +partly submerged driftage, and in a wild and strenuous effort to make +himself safe Neewa dragged Miki's head out of water so that the pup +hung at the edge of the driftage like a hangman's victim at the end of +his rope. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER SIX +</H3> + +<P> +It is doubtful whether in the few moments that followed, any clear-cut +mental argument passed through Neewa's head. It is too much to suppose +that he deliberately set about assisting the half-dead and almost +unconscious Miki from his precarious position. His sole ambition was to +get himself where it was safe and dry, and to do this he of necessity +had to drag the pup with him. So Neewa tugged at the end of his rope, +digging his sharp little claws into the driftwood, and as he advanced +Miki was dragged up head foremost out of the cold and friendless +stream. It was a simple process. Neewa reached a log around which the +water was eddying, and there he flattened himself down and hung on as +he had never hung to anything else in his life. The log was entirely +hidden from shore by a dense growth of brushwood. Otherwise, ten +minutes later Challoner would have seen them. +</P> + +<P> +As it was, Miki had not sufficiently recovered either to smell or hear +his master when Challoner came to see if there was a possibility of his +small comrade being alive. And Neewa only hugged the log more tightly. +He had seen enough of the man-beast to last him for the remainder of +his life. It was half an hour before Miki began to gasp, and cough, and +gulp up water, and for the first time since their scrap in the canoe +the cub began to take a live interest in him. In another ten minutes +Miki raised his head and looked about him. At that Neewa gave a tug on +the rope, as if to advise him that it was time to get busy if they were +expected to reach shore. And Miki, drenched and forlorn, resembling +more a starved bone than a thing of skin and flesh, actually made an +effort to wag his tail when he saw Neewa. +</P> + +<P> +He was still in a couple of inches of water, and with a hopeful eye on +the log upon which Neewa was squatted he began to work his wobbly legs +toward it. It was a high log, and a dry log, and when Miki reached it +his unlucky star was with him again. Cumbrously he sprawled himself +against it, and as he scrambled and scraped with his four awkward legs +to get up alongside Neewa he gave to the log the slight push which it +needed to set it free of the sunken driftage. Slowly at first the +eddying current carried one end of the log away from its pier. Then the +edge of the main current caught at it, viciously—and so suddenly that +Miki almost lost his precarious footing, the log gave a twist, righted +itself, and began, to scud down stream at a speed that would have made +Challoner hug his breath had he been in their position with his +faithful canoe. +</P> + +<P> +In fact, Challoner was at this very moment portaging the rapids below +the waterfall. To have set his canoe in them where Miki and Neewa were +gloriously sailing he would have considered an inexcusable hazard, and +as a matter of safety he was losing the better part of a couple of +hours by packing his outfit through the forest to a point half a mile +below. That half mile was to the cub and the pup a show which was +destined to live in their memories for as long as they were alive. +</P> + +<P> +They were facing each other about amidships of the log, Neewa flattened +tight, his sharp claws dug in like hooks, and his little brown eyes +half starting from his head. It would have taken a crowbar to wrench +him from the log. But with Miki it was an open question from the +beginning whether he would weather the storm. He had no claws that he +could dig into the wood, and it was impossible for him to use his +clumsy legs as Neewa used his—like two pairs of human arms. All he +could do was to balance himself, slipping this way or that as the log +rolled or swerved in its course, sometimes lying across it and +sometimes lengthwise, and every moment with the jaws of uncertainty +open wide for him. Neewa's eyes never left him for an instant. Had they +been gimlets they would have bored holes. From the acuteness of this +life-and-death stare one would have given Neewa credit for +understanding that his own personal safety depended not so much upon +his claws and his hug as upon Miki's seamanship. If Miki went overboard +there would be left but one thing for him to do—and that would be to +follow. +</P> + +<P> +The log, being larger and heavier at one end than at the other, swept +on without turning broadside, and with the swiftness and appearance of +a huge torpedo. While Neewa's back was turned toward the horror of +frothing water and roaring rock behind him, Miki, who was facing it, +lost none of its spectacular beauty. Now and then the log shot into one +of the white masses of foam and for an instant or two would utterly +disappear; and at these intervals Miki would hold his breath and close +his eyes while Neewa dug his toes in still deeper. Once the log grazed +a rock. Six inches more and they would have been without a ship. Their +trip was not half over before both cub and pup looked like two round +balls of lather out of which their eyes peered wildly. +</P> + +<P> +Swiftly the roar of the cataract was left behind; the huge rocks around +which the current boiled and twisted with a ferocious snarling became +fewer; there came open spaces in which the log floated smoothly and +without convulsions, and then, at last, the quiet and placid flow of +calm water. Not until then did the two balls of suds make a move. For +the first time Neewa saw the whole of the thing they had passed +through, and Miki, looking down stream, saw the quiet shores again, the +deep forest, and the stream aglow with the warm sun. He drew in a +breath that filled his whole body and let it out again with a sigh of +relief so deep and sincere that it blew out a scatter of foam from the +ends of his nose and whiskers. For the first time he became conscious +of his own discomfort. One of his hind legs was twisted under him, and +a foreleg was under his chest. The smoothness of the water and the +nearness of the shores gave him confidence, and he proceeded to +straighten himself. Unlike Neewa he was an experienced VOYAGEUR. For +more than a month he had travelled steadily with Challoner in his +canoe, and of ordinarily decent water he was unafraid. So he perked up +a little, and offered Neewa a congratulatory yip that was half a whine. +</P> + +<P> +But Neewa's education had travelled along another line, and while his +experience in a canoe had been confined to that day he did know what a +log was. He knew from more than one adventure of his own that a log in +the water is the next thing to a live thing, and that its capacity for +playing evil jokes was beyond any computation that he had ever been +able to make. That was where Miki's store of knowledge was fatally +defective. Inasmuch as the log had carried them safely through the +worst stretch of water he had ever seen he regarded it in the light of +a first-class canoe—with the exception that it was unpleasantly +rounded on top. But this little defect did not worry him. To Neewa's +horror he sat up boldly, and looked about him. +</P> + +<P> +Instinctively the cub hugged the log still closer, while Miki was +seized with an overwhelming desire to shake from himself the mass of +suds in which, with the exception of the end of his tail and his eyes, +he was completely swathed. He had often shaken himself in the canoe; +why not here? Without either asking or answering the question he did it. +</P> + +<P> +Like the trap of a gibbet suddenly sprung by the hangman, the log +instantly responded by turning half over. Without so much as a wail +Miki was off like a shot, hit the water with a deep and solemn CHUG, +and once more disappeared as completely as if he had been made of lead. +</P> + +<P> +Finding himself completely submerged for the first time, Neewa hung on +gloriously, and when the log righted itself again he was tenaciously +hugging his old place, all the froth washed from him. He looked for +Miki—but Miki was gone. And then he felt once more that choking drag +on his neck! Of necessity, because his head was pulled in the direction +of the rope, he saw where the rope disappeared in the water. But there +was no Miki. The pup was down too far for Neewa to see. With the drag +growing heavier and heavier—for here there was not much current to +help Miki along—Neewa hung on like grim death. If he had let go, and +had joined Miki in the water, the good fortune which was turning their +way would have been missed. For Miki, struggling well under water, was +serving both as an anchor and a rudder; slowly the log shifted its +course, was caught in a beach-eddy, and drifted in close to a muddy +bank. +</P> + +<P> +With one wild leap Neewa was ashore. Feeling the earth under his feet +he started to run, and the result was that Miki came up slowly through +the mire and spread himself out like an overgrown crustacean while he +got the wind back into his lungs. Neewa, sensing the fact that for a +few moments his comrade was physically unfit for travel, shook himself, +and waited. Miki picked up quickly. Within five minutes he was on his +feet shaking himself so furiously that Neewa became the centre of a +shower of mud and water. +</P> + +<P> +Had they remained where they were, Challoner would have found them an +hour or so later, for he paddled that way, close inshore, looking for +their bodies. It may be that the countless generations of instinct back +of Neewa warned him of that possibility, for within a quarter of an +hour after they had landed he was leading the way into the forest, and +Miki was following. It was a new adventure for the pup. +</P> + +<P> +But Neewa began to recover his good cheer. For him the forest was home +even if his mother was missing. After his maddening experiences with +Miki and the man-beast the velvety touch of the soft pine-needles under +his feet and the familiar smells of the silent places filled him with a +growing joy. He was back in his old trails. He sniffed the air and +pricked up his ears, thrilled by the enlivening sensations of knowing +that he was once more the small master of his own destiny. It was a new +forest, but Neewa was undisturbed by this fact. All forests were alike +to him, inasmuch as several hundred thousand square miles were included +in his domain and it was impossible for him to landmark them all. +</P> + +<P> +With Miki it was different. He not only began to miss Challoner and the +river, but became more and more disturbed the farther Neewa led him +into the dark and mysterious depths of the timber. At last he decided +to set up a vigorous protest, and in line with this decision he braced +himself so suddenly that Neewa, coming to the end of the rope, flopped +over on his back with an astonished grunt. Seizing his advantage Miki +turned, and tugging with the horse-like energy of his Mackenzie father +he started back toward the river, dragging Neewa after him for a space +of ten or fifteen feet before the cub succeeded in regaining his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Then the battle began. With their bottoms braced and their forefeet +digging into the soft earth, they pulled on the rope in opposite +directions until their necks stretched and their eyes began to pop. +Neewa's pull was steady and unexcited, while Miki, dog-like, yanked and +convulsed himself in sudden backward jerks that made Neewa give way an +inch at a time. It was, after all, only a question as to which +possessed the most enduring neck. Under Neewa's fat there was as yet +little real physical strength. Miki had him handicapped there. Under +the pup's loose hide and his overgrown bones there was a lot of pull, +and after bracing himself heroically for another dozen feet Neewa gave +up the contest and followed in the direction chosen by Miki. +</P> + +<P> +While the instincts of Neewa's breed would have taken him back to the +river as straight as a die, Miki's intentions were better than was his +sense of orientation. Neewa followed in a sweeter temper when he found +that his companion was making an unreasonable circle which was taking +them a little more slowly, but just as surely, away from the +danger-ridden stream. At the end of another quarter of an hour Miki was +utterly lost; he sat down on his rump, looked at Neewa, and confessed +as much—with a low whine. Neewa did not move. His sharp little eyes +were fixed suddenly on an object that hung to a low bush half a dozen +paces from them. Before the man-beast's appearance the cub had spent +three quarters of his time in eating, but since yesterday morning he +had not swallowed so much as a bug. He was completely empty, and the +object he saw hanging to the bush set every salivary gland in his mouth +working. It was a wasp's nest. Many times in his young life he had seen +Noozak, his mother, go up to nests like that, tear them down, crush +them under her big paw, and then invite him to the feast of dead wasps +within. For at least a month wasps had been included in his daily fare, +and they were as good as anything he knew of. He approached the nest; +Miki followed. When they were within three feet of it Miki began to +take notice of a very distinct and peculiarly disquieting buzzing +sound. Neewa was not at all alarmed; judging the distance of the nest +from the ground, he rose on his hind feet, raised his arms, and gave it +a fatal tug. +</P> + +<P> +Instantly the drone which Miki had heard changed into the angry buzzing +of a saw. Quick as a flash Neewa's mother would have had the nest under +her paws and the life crushed out of it, while Neewa's tug had only +served partly to dislodge the home of Ahmoo and his dangerous tribe. +And it happened that Ahmoo was at home with three quarters of his +warriors. Before Neewa could give the nest a second tug they were +piling out of it in a cloud and suddenly a wild yell of agony rose out +of Miki. Ahmoo himself had landed on the end of the dog's nose. Neewa +made no sound, but stood for a moment swiping at his face with both +paws, while Miki, still yelling, ran the end of his crucified nose into +the ground. In another moment every fighter in Ahmoo's army was busy. +Suddenly setting up a bawling on his own account Neewa turned tail to +the nest and ran. Miki was not a hair behind him. In every square inch +of his tender hide he felt the red-hot thrust of a needle. It was Neewa +that made the most noise. His voice was one continuous bawl, and to +this bass Miki's soprano wailing added the touch which would have +convinced any passing Indian that the loup-garou devils were having a +dance. +</P> + +<P> +Now that their foes were in disorderly flight the wasps, who are rather +a chivalrous enemy, would have returned to their upset fortress had not +Miki, in his mad flight, chosen one side of a small sapling and Neewa +the other—a misadventure that stopped them with a force almost +sufficient to break their necks. Thereupon a few dozen of Ahmoo's rear +guard started in afresh. With his fighting blood at last aroused, Neewa +swung out and caught Miki where there was almost no hair on his rump. +Already half blinded, and so wrought up with pain and terror that he +had lost all sense of judgment or understanding, Miki believed that the +sharp dig of Neewa's razor-like claws was a deeper thrust than usual of +the buzzing horrors that overwhelmed him, and with a final shriek he +proceeded to throw a fit. +</P> + +<P> +It was the fit that saved them. In his maniacal contortions he swung +around to Neewa's side of the sapling, when, with their halter once +more free from impediment, Neewa bolted for safety. Miki followed, +yelping at every jump. No longer did Neewa feel a horror of the river. +The instinct of his kind told him that he wanted water, and wanted it +badly. As straight as Challoner might have set his course by a compass +he headed for the stream, but he had proceeded only a few hundred feet +when they came upon a tiny creek across which either of them could have +jumped. Neewa jumped into the water, which was four or five inches +deep, and for the first time in his life Miki voluntarily took a +plunge. For a long time they lay in the cooling rill. +</P> + +<P> +The light of day was dim and hazy before Miki's eyes, and he was +beginning to swell from the tip of his nose to the end of his bony +tail. Neewa, being so much fat, suffered less. He could still see, and, +as the painful hours passed, a number of things were adjusting +themselves in his brain. All this had begun with the man-beast. It was +the man-beast who had taken his mother from him. It was the man-beast +who had chucked him into the dark sack, and it was the man-beast who +had FASTENED THE ROPE AROUND HIS NECK. Slowly the fact was beginning to +impinge itself upon him that the rope was to blame for everything. +</P> + +<P> +After a long time they dragged themselves out of the rivulet and found +a soft, dry hollow at the foot of a big tree. Even to Neewa, who had +the use of his eyes, it was growing dark in the deep forest. The sun +was far in the west. And the air was growing chilly. Flat on his belly, +with his swollen head between his fore paws, Miki whined plaintively. +</P> + +<P> +Again and again Neewa's eyes went to the rope as the big thought +developed itself in his head. He whined. It was partly a yearning for +his mother, partly a response to Miki. He drew closer to the pup, +filled with the irresistible desire for comradeship. After all, it was +not Miki who was to blame. It was the man-beast—and THE ROPE! +</P> + +<P> +The gloom of evening settled more darkly about them, and snuggling +himself still closer to the pup Neewa drew the rope between his fore +paws. With a little snarl he set his teeth in it. And then, steadily, +he began to chew. Now and then he growled, and in the growl there was a +peculiarly communicative note, as if he wished to say to Miki: +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you see?—I'm chewing this thing in two. I'll have it done by +morning. Cheer up! There's surely a better day coming." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER SEVEN +</H3> + +<P> +The morning after their painful experience with the wasp's nest, Neewa +and Miki rose on four pairs of stiff and swollen legs to greet a new +day in the deep and mysterious forest into which the accident of the +previous day had thrown them. The spirit of irrepressible youth was +upon them, and, though Miki was so swollen from the stings of the wasps +that his lank body and overgrown legs were more grotesque than ever, he +was in no way daunted from the quest of further adventure. +</P> + +<P> +The pup's face was as round as a moon, and his head was puffed up until +Neewa might reasonably have had a suspicion that it was on the point of +exploding. But Miki's eyes—as much as could be seen of them—were as +bright as ever, and his one good ear and his one half ear stood up +hopefully as he waited for the cub to give some sign of what they were +going to do. The poison in his system no longer gave him discomfort. He +felt several sizes too large—but, otherwise, quite well. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa, because of his fat, exhibited fewer effects of his battle with +the wasps. His one outstanding defect was an entirely closed eye. With +the other, wide open and alert, he looked about him. In spite of his +one bad eye and his stiff legs he was inspired with the optimism of one +who at last sees fortune turning his way. He was rid of the man-beast, +who had killed his mother; the forests were before him again, open and +inviting, and the rope with which Challoner had tied him and Miki +together he had successfully gnawed in two during the night. Having +dispossessed himself of at least two evils it would not have surprised +him much if he had seen Noozak, his mother, coming up from out of the +shadows of the trees. Thought of her made him whine. And Miki, facing +the vast loneliness of his new world, and thinking of his master, +whined in reply. +</P> + +<P> +Both were hungry. The amazing swiftness with which their misfortunes +had descended upon them had given them no time in which to eat. To Miki +the change was more than astonishing; it was overwhelming, and he held +his breath in anticipation of some new evil while Neewa scanned the +forest about them. +</P> + +<P> +As if assured by this survey that everything was right, Neewa turned +his back to the sun, which had been his mother's custom, and set out. +</P> + +<P> +Miki followed. Not until then did he discover that every joint in his +body had apparently disappeared. His neck was stiff, his legs were like +stilts, and five times in as many minutes he stubbed his clumsy toes +and fell down in his efforts to keep up with the cub. On top of this +his eyes were so nearly closed that his vision was bad, and the fifth +time he stumbled he lost sight of Neewa entirely, and sent out a +protesting wail. Neewa stopped and began prodding with his nose under a +rotten log. When Miki came up Neewa was flat on his belly, licking up a +colony of big red vinegar ants as fast as he could catch them. Miki +studied the proceeding for some moments. It soon dawned upon him that +Neewa was eating something, but for the life of him he couldn't make +out what it was. Hungrily he nosed close to Neewa's foraging snout. He +licked with his tongue where Neewa licked, and he got only dirt. And +all the time Neewa was giving his jolly little grunts of satisfaction. +It was ten minutes before he hunted out the last ant and went on. +</P> + +<P> +A little later they came to a small open space where the ground was +wet, and after sniffing about a bit, and focussing his one good eye +here and there, Neewa suddenly began digging. Very shortly he drew out +of the ground a white object about the size of a man's thumb and began +to crunch it ravenously between his jaws. Miki succeeded in capturing a +fair sized bit of it. Disappointment followed fast. The thing was like +wood; after rolling it in his mouth a few times he dropped it in +disgust, and Neewa finished the remnant of the root with a thankful +grunt. +</P> + +<P> +They proceeded. For two heartbreaking hours Miki followed at Neewa's +heels, the void in his stomach increasing as the swelling in his body +diminished. His hunger was becoming a torture. Yet not a bit to eat +could he find, while Neewa at every few steps apparently discovered +something to devour. At the end of the two hours the cub's bill of fare +had grown to considerable proportions. It included, among other things, +half a dozen green and black beetles; numberless bugs, both hard and +soft; whole colonies of red and black ants; several white grubs dug out +of the heart of decaying logs; a handful of snails; a young frog; the +egg of a ground-plover that had failed to hatch; and, in the vegetable +line, the roots of two camas and one skunk cabbage. Now and then he +pulled down tender poplar shoots and nipped the ends off. Likewise he +nibbled spruce and balsam gum whenever he found it, and occasionally +added to his breakfast a bit of tender grass. +</P> + +<P> +A number of these things Miki tried. He would have eaten the frog, but +Neewa was ahead of him there. The spruce and balsam gum clogged up his +teeth and almost made him vomit because of its bitterness. Between a +snail and a stone he could find little difference, and as the one bug +he tried happened to be that asafoetida-like creature known as a +stink-bug he made no further efforts in that direction. He also bit off +a tender tip from a ground-shoot, but instead of a young poplar it was +Fox-bite, and shrivelled up his tongue for a quarter of an hour. At +last he arrived at the conclusion that, up to date, the one thing in +Neewa's menu that he COULD eat was grass. +</P> + +<P> +In the face of his own starvation his companion grew happier as he +added to the strange collection in his stomach. In fact, Neewa +considered himself in clover and was grunting his satisfaction +continually, especially as his bad eye was beginning to open and he +could see things better. Half a dozen times when he found fresh ant +nests he invited Miki to the feast with excited little squeals. Until +noon Miki followed like a faithful satellite at his heels. The end came +when Neewa deliberately dug into a nest inhabited by four huge +bumble-bees, smashed them all, and ate them. +</P> + +<P> +From that moment something impressed upon Miki that he must do his own +hunting. With the thought came a new thrill. His eyes were fairly open +now, and much of the stiffness had gone from his legs. The blood of his +Mackenzie father and of his half Spitz and half Airedale mother rose up +in him in swift and immediate demand, and he began to quest about for +himself. He found a warm scent, and poked about until a partridge went +up with a tremendous thunder of wings. It startled him, but added to +the thrill. A few minutes later, nosing under a pile of brush, he came +face to face with his dinner. +</P> + +<P> +It was Wahboo, the baby rabbit. Instantly Miki was at him, and had a +firm hold at the back of Wahboo's back. Neewa, hearing the smashing of +the brush and the squealing of the rabbit, stopped catching ants and +hustled toward the scene of action. The squealing ceased quickly and +Miki backed himself out and faced Neewa with Wahboo held triumphantly +in his jaws. The young rabbit had already given his last kick, and with +a fierce show of growling Miki began tearing the fur off. Neewa edged +in, grunting affably. Miki snarled more fiercely. Neewa, undaunted, +continued to express his overwhelming regard for Miki in low and +supplicating grunts—and smelled the rabbit. The snarl in Miki's throat +died away. He may have remembered that Neewa had invited him more than +once to partake of his ants and bugs. Together they ate the rabbit. Not +until the last bit of flesh and the last tender bone were gone did the +feast end, and then Neewa sat back on his round bottom and stuck out +his little red tongue for the first time since he had lost his mother. +It was the cub sign of a full stomach and a blissful mind. He could see +nothing to be more desired at the present time than a nap, and +stretching himself languidly he began looking about for a tree. +</P> + +<P> +Miki, on the other hand, was inspired to new action by the pleasurable +sensation of being comfortably filled. Inasmuch as Neewa chewed his +food very carefully, while Miki, paying small attention to mastication, +swallowed it in chunks, the pup had succeeded in getting away with +about four fifths of the rabbit. So he was no longer hungry. But he was +more keenly alive to his changed environment than at any time since he +and Neewa had fallen out of Challoner's canoe into the rapids. For the +first time he had killed, and for the first time he had tasted warm +blood, and the combination added to his existence an excitement that +was greater than any desire he might have possessed to lie down in a +sunny spot and sleep. Now that he had learned the game, the hunting +instinct trembled in every fibre of his small being. He would have gone +on hunting until his legs gave way under him if Neewa had not found a +napping-place. +</P> + +<P> +Astonished half out of his wits he watched Neewa as he leisurely +climbed the trunk of a big poplar. He had seen squirrels climb +trees—just as he had seen birds fly—but Neewa's performance held him +breathless; and not until the cub had stretched himself out comfortably +in a crotch did Miki express himself. Then he gave an incredulous yelp, +sniffed at the butt of the tree, and made a half-hearted experiment at +the thing himself. One flop on his back convinced him that Neewa was +the tree-climber of the partnership. Chagrined, he wandered back +fifteen or twenty feet and sat down to study the situation. He could +not perceive that Neewa had any special business up the tree. Certainly +he was not hunting for bugs. He yelped half a dozen times, but Neewa +made no answer. At last he gave it up and flopped himself down with a +disconsolate whine. +</P> + +<P> +But it was not to sleep. He was ready and anxious to go on. He wanted +to explore still further the mysterious and fascinating depths of the +forest. He no longer felt the strange fear that had been upon him +before he killed the rabbit. In two minutes under the brush-heap Nature +had performed one of her miracles of education. In those two minutes +Miki had risen out of whimpering puppyhood to new power and +understanding. He had passed that elemental stage which his +companionship with Challoner had prolonged. He had KILLED, and the hot +thrill of it set fire to every instinct that was in him. In the half +hour during which he lay flat on his belly, his head alert and +listening, while Neewa slept, he passed half way from puppyhood to +dogdom. He would never know that Hela, his Mackenzie hound father, was +the mightiest hunter in all the reaches of the Little Fox country, and +that alone he had torn down a bull caribou. But he FELT it. There was +something insistent and demanding in the call. And because he was +answering that call, and listening eagerly to the whispering voices of +the forest, his quick ears caught the low, chuckling monotone of +Kawook, the porcupine. +</P> + +<P> +Miki lay very still. A moment later he heard the soft clicking of +quills, and then Kawook came out in the open and stood up on his hind +feet in a patch of sunlight. +</P> + +<P> +For thirteen years Kawook had lived undisturbed in this particular part +of the wilderness, and in his old age he weighed thirty pounds if he +weighed an ounce. On this afternoon, coming for his late dinner, he was +feeling even more than usually happy. His eyesight at best was dim. +Nature had never intended him to see very far, and had therefore +quilted him heavily with the barbed shafts of his protecting armour. +Thirty feet away he was entirely oblivious of Miki, at least apparently +so; and Miki hugged the ground closer, warned by the swiftly developing +instinct within him that here was a creature it would be unwise to +attack. +</P> + +<P> +For perhaps a minute Kawook stood up, chuckling his tribal song without +any visible movement of his body. He stood profile to Miki, like a fat +alderman. He was so fat that his stomach bulged out in front like the +half of a balloon, and over this stomach his hands were folded in a +peculiarly human way, so that he looked more like an old she-porcupine +than a master in his tribe. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until then that Miki observed Iskwasis, the young female +porcupine, who had poked herself slyly out from under a bush near +Kawook. In spite of his years the red thrill of romance was not yet +gone from the old fellow's bones, and he immediately started to give an +exhibition of his good breeding and elegance. He began with his +ludicrous love-making dance, hopping from one foot to the other until +his fat stomach shook, and chuckling louder than ever. The charms of +Iskwasis were indeed sufficient to turn the head of an older beau than +Kawook. She was a distinctive blonde; in other words, one of those +unusual creatures of her kind, an albino. Her nose was pink, the palms +of her little feet were pink, and each of her pretty pink eyes was set +in an iris of sky-blue. It was evident that she did not regard old +Kawook's passion-dance with favour and sensing this fact Kawook changed +his tactics and falling on all four feet began to chase his spiky tail +as if he had suddenly gone mad. When he stopped, and looked to see what +effect he had made he was clearly knocked out by the fact that Iskwasis +had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +For another minute he sat stupidly, without making a sound. Then to +Miki's consternation he started straight for the tree in which Neewa +was sleeping. As a matter of fact, it was Kawook's dinner-tree, and he +began climbing it, talking to himself all the time. Miki's hair began +to stand on end. He did not know that Kawook, like all his kind, was +the best-natured fellow in the world, and had never harmed anything in +his life unless assaulted first. Lacking this knowledge he set up a +sudden frenzy of barking to warn Neewa. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa roused himself slowly, and when he opened his eyes he was looking +into a spiky face that sent him into a convulsion of alarm. With a +suddenness that came within an ace of toppling him from his crotch he +swung over and scurried higher up the tree. Kawook was not at all +excited. Now that Iskwasis was gone he was entirely absorbed in the +anticipation of his dinner. He continued to clamber slowly upward, and +at this the horrified Neewa backed himself out on a limb in order that +Kawook might have an unobstructed trail up the tree. +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately for Neewa it was on this limb that Kawook had eaten his +last meal, and he began working himself out on it, still apparently +oblivious of the fact that the cub was on the same branch. At this Miki +sent up such a series of shrieking yelps from below that Kawook seemed +at last to realize that something unusual was going on. He peered down +at Miki who was making vain efforts to jump up the trunk of the tree; +then he turned and, for the first time, contemplated Neewa with some +sign of interest. Neewa was hugging the limb with both forearms and +both hind legs. To retreat another foot on the branch that was already +bending dangerously under his weight seemed impossible. +</P> + +<P> +It was at this point that Kawook began to scold fiercely. With a final +frantic yelp Miki sat back on his haunches and watched the thrilling +drama above him. A little at a time Kawook advanced, and inch by inch +Neewa retreated, until at last he rolled clean over and was hanging +with his back toward the ground. It was then that Kawook ceased his +scolding and calmly began eating his dinner. For two or three minutes +Neewa kept his hold. Twice he made efforts to pull himself up so that +he could get the branch under him. Then his hind feet slipped. For a +dozen seconds he hung with his two front paws—then shot down through +fifteen feet of space to the ground. Close to Miki he landed with a +thud that knocked the wind out of him. He rose with a grunt, took one +dazed look up the tree, and without further explanation to Miki began +to leg it deeper into the forest—straight into the face of the great +adventure which was to be the final test for these two. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER EIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +Not until he had covered at least a quarter of a mile did Neewa stop. +To Miki it seemed as though they had come suddenly out of day into the +gloom of evening. That part of the forest into which Neewa's flight had +led them was like a vast, mysterious cavern. Even Challoner would have +paused there, awed by the grandeur of its silence, held spellbound by +the enigmatical whispers that made up its only sound. The sun was still +high in the heavens, but not a ray of it penetrated the dense green +canopy of spruce and balsam that hung like a wall over the heads of +Miki and Neewa. About them was no bush, no undergrowth; under their +feet was not a flower or a spear of grass. Nothing but a thick, soft +carpet of velvety brown needles under which all life was smothered. It +was as if the forest nymphs had made of this their bedchamber, +sheltered through all the seasons of the year from wind and rain and +snow; or else that the were-wolf people—the loup-garou—had chosen it +as their hiding-place and from its weird and gloomy fastnesses went +forth on their ghostly missions among the sons of men. +</P> + +<P> +Not a bird twittered in the trees. There was no flutter of life in +their crowded branches. Everything was so still that Miki heard the +excited throbbing of life in his own body. He looked at Neewa, and in +the gloom the cub's eyes were glistening with a strange fire. Neither +of them was afraid, yet in that cavernous silence their comradeship was +born anew, and in it there was something now that crept down into their +wild little souls and filled the emptiness that was left by the death +of Neewa's mother and the loss of Miki's master. The pup whined gently, +and in his throat Neewa made a purring sound and followed it with a +squeaky grunt that was like the grunt of a little pig. They edged +nearer, and stood shoulder to shoulder facing their world. They went on +after a little, like two children exploring the mystery of an old and +abandoned house. They were not hunting, yet every hunting instinct in +their bodies was awake, and they stopped frequently to peer about them, +and listen, and scent the air. +</P> + +<P> +To Neewa it all brought back a memory of the black cavern in which he +was born. Would Noozak, his mother, come up presently out of one of +those dark forest aisles? Was she sleeping here, as she had slept in +the darkness of their den? The questions may have come vaguely in his +mind. For it was like the cavern, in that it was deathly still; and a +short distance away its gloom thickened into black pits. Such a place +the Indians called MUHNEDOO—a spot in the forest blasted of all life +by the presence of devils; for only devils would grow trees so thick +that sunlight never penetrated. And only owls held the companionship of +the evil spirits. +</P> + +<P> +Where Neewa and Miki stood a grown wolf would have paused, and turned +back; the fox would have slunk away, hugging the ground; even the +murderous-hearted little ermine would have peered in with his beady red +eyes, unafraid, but turned by instinct back into the open timber. For +here, in spite of the stillness and the gloom, THERE WAS LIFE. It was +beating and waiting in the ambush of those black pits. It was rousing +itself, even as Neewa and Miki went on deeper into the silence, and +eyes that were like round balls were beginning to glow with a greenish +fire. Still there was no sound, no movement in the dense overgrowth of +the trees. Like the imps of MUHNEDOO the monster owls looked down, +gathering their slow wits—and waiting. +</P> + +<P> +And then a huge shadow floated out of the dark chaos and passed so +close over the heads of Neewa and Miki that they heard the menacing +purr of giant wings. As the wraith-like creature disappeared there came +back to them a hiss and the grating snap of a powerful beak. It sent a +shiver through Miki. The instinct that had been fighting to rouse +itself within him flared up like a powder-flash. Instantly he sensed +the nearness of an unknown and appalling danger. +</P> + +<P> +There was sound about them now—movement in the trees, ghostly tremours +in the air, and the crackling, metallic SNAP—SNAP—SNAP over their +heads. Again Miki saw the great shadow come and go. It was followed by +a second, and a third, until the vault under the trees seemed filled +with shadows; and with each shadow came nearer that grating menace of +powerfully beaked jaws. Like the wolf and the fox he cringed down, +hugging the earth. But it was no longer with the whimpering fear of the +pup. His muscles were drawn tight, and with a snarl he bared his fangs +when one of the owls swooped so low that he felt the beat of its wings. +Neewa responded with a sniff that a little later in his life would have +been the defiant WHOOF of his mother. Bear-like he was standing up. And +it was upon him that one of the shadows descended—a monstrous +feathered bolt straight out of darkness. +</P> + +<P> +Six feet away Miki's blazing eyes saw his comrade smothered under a +gray mass, and for a moment or two he was held appalled and lifeless by +the thunderous beat of the gargantuan wings. No sound came from Neewa. +Flung on his back, he was digging his claws into feathers so thick and +soft that they seemed to have no heart or flesh. He felt upon him the +presence of the Thing that was death. The beat of the wings was like +the beat of clubs: they drove the breath out of his body, they blinded +his senses, yet he continued to tear fiercely with his claws into a +fleshless breast. +</P> + +<P> +In his first savage swoop Oohoomisew, whose great wings measured five +feet from tip to tip, had missed his death-grip by the fraction of an +inch. His powerful talons that would have buried themselves like knives +in Neewa's vitals closed too soon, and were filled with the cub's thick +hair and loose hide. Now he was beating his prey down with his wings +until the right moment came for him to finish the killing with the +terrific stabbing of his beak. Half a minute of that and Neewa's face +would be torn into pieces. +</P> + +<P> +It was the fact that Neewa made no sound, that no cry came from him, +that brought Miki to his feet with his lips drawn back and a snarl in +his throat. All at once fear went out of him and in its place came a +wild and almost joyous exultation. He recognized their enemy—A BIRD. +To him birds were a prey, and not a menace. A dozen times in their +journey down from the Upper Country Challoner had shot big Canada geese +and huge-winged cranes. Miki had eaten their flesh. Twice he had +pursued wounded cranes, yapping at the top of his voice, AND THEY HAD +RUN FROM HIM. He did not bark or yelp now. Like a flash he launched +himself into the feathered mass of the owl. His fourteen pounds of +flesh and bone landed with the force of a stone, and Oohoomisew was +torn from his hold and flung with a great flutter of wings upon his +side. +</P> + +<P> +Before he could recover his balance Miki was at him again, striking +full at his head, where he had struck at the wounded crane. Oohoomisew +went flat on his back—and for the first time Miki let out of his +throat a series of savage and snarling yelps. It was a new sound to +Oohoomisew and his blood-thirsty brethren watching the struggle from +out of the gloom. The snapping beaks drifted farther away, and +Oohoomisew, with a sudden sweep of wings, vaulted into the air. +</P> + +<P> +With his big forefeet planted firmly and his snarling face turned up to +the black wall of the tree-tops Miki continued to bark and howl +defiantly. He wanted the bird to come back. He wanted to tear and rip +at its feathers, and as he sent out his frantic challenge Neewa rolled +over, got on his feet, and with a warning squeal to Miki once more set +off in flight. If Miki was ignorant in the matter, HE at least +understood the situation. Again it was the instinct born of countless +generations. He knew that in the black pits about them hovered +death—and he ran as he had never run before in his life. As Miki +followed, the shadows were beginning to float nearer again. +</P> + +<P> +Ahead of them they saw a glimmer of sunshine. The trees grew taller, +and soon the day began breaking through so that there were no longer +the cavernous hollows of gloom about them. If they had gone on another +hundred yards they would have come to the edge of the big plain, the +hunting grounds of the owls. But the flame of self-preservation was hot +in Neewa's head; he was still dazed by the thunderous beat of wings; +his sides burned where Oohoomisew's talons had scarred his flesh; so, +when he saw in his path a tangled windfall of tree trunks he dived into +the security of it so swiftly that for a moment or two Miki wondered +where he had gone. +</P> + +<P> +Crawling into the windfall after him Miki turned and poked out his +head. He was not satisfied. His lips were still drawn back, and he +continued to growl. He had beaten his enemy. He had knocked it over +fairly, and had filled his jaws with its feathers. In the face of that +triumph he sensed the fact that he had run away in following Neewa, and +he was possessed with the desire to go back and have it out to a +finish. It was the blood of the Airedale and the Spitz growing stronger +in him, fearless of defeat; the blood of his father, the giant +hunting-hound Hela. It was the demand of his breed, with its mixture of +wolfish courage and fox-like persistency backed by the powerful jaws +and Herculean strength of the Mackenzie hound, and if Neewa had not +drawn deeper under the windfall he would have gone out again and yelped +his challenge to the feathered things from which they had fled. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa was smarting under the red-hot stab of Oohoomisew's talons, and +he wanted no more of the fight that came out of the air. He began +licking his wounds, and after a while Miki went back to him and smelled +of the fresh, warm blood. It made him growl. He knew that it was +Neewa's blood, and his eyes glowed like twin balls of fire as they +watched the opening through which they had entered into the dark tangle +of fallen trees. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour he did not move, and in that hour, as in the hour after the +killing of the rabbit, he GREW. When at last he crept out cautiously +from under the windfall the sun was sinking behind the western forests. +He peered about him, watching for movement and listening for sound. The +sagging and apologetic posture of puppyhood was gone from him. His +overgrown feet stood squarely on the ground; his angular legs were as +hard as if carven out of knotty wood; his body was tense, his ears +stood up, his head was rigidly set between the bony shoulders that +already gave evidence of gigantic strength to come. About him he knew +was the Big Adventure. The world was no longer a world of play and of +snuggling under the hands of a master. Something vastly more thrilling +had come into it now. +</P> + +<P> +After a time he dropped on his belly close to the opening under the +windfall and began chewing at the end of rope which dragged from about +his neck. The sun sank lower. It disappeared. Still he waited for Neewa +to come out and lie with him in the open. As the twilight thickened +into deeper gloom he drew himself into the edge of the door under the +windfall and found Neewa there. Together they peered forth into the +mysterious night. +</P> + +<P> +For a time there was the utter stillness of the first hour of darkness +in the northland. Up in the clear sky the stars came out in twos and +then in glowing constellations. There was an early moon. It was already +over the edge of the forests, flooding the world with a golden glow, +and in that glow the night was filled with grotesque black shadows that +had neither movement nor sound. Then the silence was broken. From out +of the owl-infested pits came a strange and hollow sound. Miki had +heard the shrill screeching and the TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O +of the little owls, the trap-pirates, but never this voice of the +strong-winged Jezebels and Frankensteins of the deeper forests—the +real butchers of the night. It was a hollow, throaty sound—more a moan +than a cry; a moan so short and low that it seemed born of caution, or +of fear that it would frighten possible prey. For a few minutes pit +after pit gave forth each its signal of life, and then there was a +silence of voice, broken at intervals by the faint, crashing sweep of +great wings in the spruce and balsam tops as the hunters launched +themselves up and over them in the direction of the plain. +</P> + +<P> +The going forth of the owls was only the beginning of the night +carnival for Neewa and Miki. For a long time they lay side by side, +sleepless, and listening. Past the windfall went the padded feet of a +fisher-cat, and they caught the scent of it; to them came the far cry +of a loon, the yapping of a restless fox, and the MOOING of a cow moose +feeding in the edge of a lake on the farther side of the plain. And +then, at last, came the thing that made their blood run faster and sent +a deeper thrill into their hearts. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed a vast distance away at first—the hot throated cry of wolves +on the trail of meat. It was swinging northward into the plain, and +this shortly brought the cry with the wind, which was out of the north +and the west. The howling of the pack was very distinct after that, and +in Miki's brain nebulous visions and almost unintelligible memories +were swiftly wakening into life. It was not Challoner's voice that he +heard, but it was A VOICE THAT HE KNEW. It was the voice of Hela, his +giant father; the voice of Numa, his mother; the voice of his kind for +a hundred and a thousand generations before him, and it was the +instinct of those generations and the hazy memory of his earliest +puppyhood that were impinging the thing upon him. A little later it +would take both intelligence and experience to make him discriminate +the hair-breadth difference between wolf and dog. And this voice of his +blood was COMING! It bore down upon them swiftly, fierce and filled +with the blood-lust of hunger. He forgot Neewa. He did not observe the +cub when he slunk back deeper under the windfall. He rose up on his +feet and stood stiff and tense, unconscious of all things but that +thrilling tongue of the hunt-pack. +</P> + +<P> +Wind-broken, his strength failing him, and his eyes wildly searching +the night ahead for the gleam of water that might save him, Ahtik, the +young caribou bull, raced for his life a hundred yards ahead of the +wolves. The pack had already flung itself out in the form of a +horse-shoe, and the two ends were beginning to creep up abreast of +Ahtik, ready to close in for the hamstring—and the kill. In these last +minutes every throat was silent, and the young bull sensed the +beginning of the end. Desperately he turned to the right and plunged +into the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Miki heard the crash of his body and he hugged close to the windfall. +Ten seconds later Ahtik passed within fifty feet of him, a huge and +grotesque form in the moonlight, his coughing breath filled with the +agony and hopelessness of approaching death. As swiftly as he had come +he was gone, and in his place followed half a score of noiseless +shadows passing so quickly that to Miki they were like the coming and +the going of the wind. +</P> + +<P> +For many minutes after that he stood and listened but again silence had +fallen upon the night. After a little he went back into the windfall +and lay down beside Neewa. +</P> + +<P> +Hours that followed he passed in restless snatches of slumber. He +dreamed of things that he had forgotten. He dreamed of Challoner. He +dreamed of chill nights and the big fires; he heard his master's voice +and he felt again the touch of his hand; but over it all and through it +all ran that wild hunting voice of his own kind. +</P> + +<P> +In the early dawn he came out from under the windfall and smelled of +the trail where the wolves and the caribou had passed. Heretofore it +was Neewa who had led in their wandering; now it was Neewa that +followed. His nostrils filled with the heavy scent of the pack, Miki +travelled steadily in the direction of the plain. It took him half an +hour to reach the edge of it. After that he came to a wide and stony +out-cropping of the earth over which he nosed the spoor to a low and +abrupt descent into the wider range of the valley. +</P> + +<P> +Here he stopped. +</P> + +<P> +Twenty feet under him and fifty feet away lay the partly devoured +carcass of the young bull. It was not this fact that thrilled him until +his heart stood still. From out of the bushy plain had come Maheegun, a +renegade she-wolf, to fill herself of the meat which she had not helped +to kill. She was a slinking, hollow-backed, quick-fanged creature, +still rib-thin from the sickness that had come of eating a poison-bait; +a beast shunned by her own kind—a coward, a murderess even of her own +whelps. But she was none of these things to Miki. In her he saw in +living flesh and bone what his memory and his instinct recalled to him +of his mother. And his mother had come before Challoner, his master. +</P> + +<P> +For a minute or two he lay trembling, and then he went down, as he +would have gone to Challoner; with great caution, with a wilder +suspense, but with a strange yearning within him that the man's +presence would have failed to rouse. He was very close to Maheegun +before she was conscious that he was near. The Mother-smell was warm in +his nose now; it filled him with a great joy; and yet—he was afraid. +But it was not a physical fear. Flattened on the ground, with his head +between his fore-paws, he whined. +</P> + +<P> +Like a flash the she-wolf turned, her fangs bared the length of her +jaws and her bloodshot eyes aglow with menace and suspicion. Miki had +no time to make a move or another sound. With the suddenness of a cat +the outcast creature was upon him. Her fangs slashed him just once—and +she was gone. Her teeth had drawn blood from his shoulder, but it was +not the smart of the wound that held him for many moments as still as +if dead. The Mother-smell was still where Maheegun had been. But his +dreams had crumbled. The thing that had been Memory died away at last +in a deep breath that was broken by a whimper of pain. For him, even as +for Neewa, there was no more a Challoner, and no longer a mother. But +there remained—the world! In it the sun was rising. Out of it came the +thrill and the perfume of life. And close to him—very close—was the +rich, sweet smell of meat. +</P> + +<P> +He sniffed hungrily. Then he turned, and saw Neewa's black and pudgy +body tumbling down the slope of the dip to join him in the feast. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER NINE +</H3> + +<P> +Had Makoki, the leather-faced old Cree runner between God's Lake and +Fort Churchill, known the history of Miki and Neewa up to the point +where they came to feast on the fat and partly devoured carcass of the +young caribou bull, he would have said that Iskoo Wapoo, the Good +Spirit of the beasts, was watching over them most carefully. For Makoki +had great faith in the forest gods as well as in those of his own +tepee. He would have given the story his own picturesque version, and +would have told it to the little children of his son's children; and +his son's children would have kept it in their memory for their own +children later on. +</P> + +<P> +It was not in the ordained nature of things that a black bear cub and a +Mackenzie hound pup with a dash of Airedale and Spitz in him should +"chum up" together as Neewa and Miki had done. Therefore, he would have +said, the Beneficent Spirit who watched over the affairs of four-legged +beasts must have had an eye on them from the beginning. It was +she—Iskoo Wapoo was a goddess and not a god—who had made Challoner +kill Neewa's mother, the big black bear; and it was she who had induced +him to tie the pup and the cub together on the same piece of rope, so +that when they fell out of the white man's canoe into the rapids they +would not die, but would be company and salvation for each other. +NESWA-PAWUK ("two little brothers") Makoki would have called them; and +had it come to the test he would have cut off a finger before harming +either of them. But Makoki knew nothing of their adventures, and on +this morning when they came down to the feast he was a hundred miles +away, haggling with a white man who wanted a guide. He would never know +that Iskoo Wapoo was at his side that very moment, planning the thing +that was to mean so much in the lives of Neewa and Miki. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Neewa and Miki went at their breakfast as if starved. They +were immensely practical. They did not look back on what had happened, +but for the moment submerged themselves completely in the present. The +few days of thrill and adventure through which they had gone seemed +like a year. Neewa's yearning for his mother had grown less and less +insistent, and Miki's lost master counted for nothing now, as things +were going with him. Last night was the big, vivid thing in their +memories—their fight for life with the monster owls, their flight, the +killing of the young caribou bull by the wolves, and (with Miki) the +short, bitter experience with Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. His +shoulder burned where she had torn at him with her teeth. But this did +not lessen his appetite. Growling as he ate, he filled himself until he +could hold no more. +</P> + +<P> +Then he sat back on his haunches and looked in the direction Maheegun +had taken. +</P> + +<P> +It was eastward, toward Hudson Bay, over a great plain that lay between +two ridges that were like forest walls, yellow and gold in the morning +sun. He had never seen the world as it looked to him now. The wolves +had overtaken the caribou on a scarp on the high ground that thrust +itself out like a short fat thumb from the black and owl-infested +forest, and the carcass lay in a meadowy dip that overhung the plain. +From the edge of this dip Miki could look down—and so far away that +the wonder of what he saw dissolved itself at last into the shimmer of +the sun and the blue of the sky. Within his vision lay a paradise of +marvellous promise; wide stretches of soft, green meadow; clumps of +timber, park-like until they merged into the deeper forest that began +with the farther ridge; great patches of bush radiant with the +colouring of June; here and there the gleam of water, and half a mile +away a lake that was like a giant mirror set in a purplish-green frame +of balsam and spruce. +</P> + +<P> +Into these things Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gone. He wondered whether +she would come back. He sniffed the air for her. But there was no +longer the mother-yearning in his heart. Something had already begun to +tell him of the vast difference between the dog and the wolf. For a few +moments, still hopeful that the world held a mother for him, he had +mistaken her for the one he had lost. But he understood now. A little +more and Maheegun's teeth would have snapped his shoulder, or slashed +his throat to the jugular. TEBAH-GONE-GAWIN (the One Great Law) was +impinging itself upon him, the implacable law of the survival of the +fittest. To live was to fight—to kill; to beat everything that had +feet or wings. The earth and the air held menace for him. Nowhere, +since he had lost Challoner, had he found friendship except in the +heart of Neewa, the motherless cub. And he turned toward Neewa now, +growling at a gay-plumaged moose-bird that was hovering about for a +morsel of meat. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes before, Neewa had weighed a dozen pounds; now he weighed +fourteen or fifteen. His stomach was puffed out like the sides of an +overfilled bag, and he sat humped up in a pool of warm sunshine licking +his chops and vastly contented with himself and the world. Miki rubbed +up to him, and Neewa gave a chummy grunt. Then he rolled over on his +fat back and invited Miki to play. It was the first time; and with a +joyous yelp Miki jumped into him. Scratching and biting and kicking, +and interjecting their friendly scrimmage with ferocious growling on +Miki's part and pig-like grunts and squeals on Neewa's, they rolled to +the edge of the dip. It was a good hundred feet to the bottom—a steep, +grassy slope that ran to the plain—and like two balls they catapulted +the length of it. For Neewa it was not so bad. He was round and fat, +and went easily. +</P> + +<P> +With Miki it was different. He was all legs and skin and angular bone, +and he went down twisting and somersaulting and tying himself into +knots until by the time he struck the hard strip of shale at the edge +of the plain he was drunk with dizziness and the breath was out of his +body. He staggered to his feet with a gasp. For a space the world was +whirling round and round in a sickening circle. Then he pulled himself +together, and made out Neewa a dozen feet away. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa was just awakening to the truth of an exhilarating discovery. +Next to a boy on a sled, or a beaver on its tail, no one enjoys a +"slide" more than a black bear cub, and as Miki rearranged his +scattered wits Neewa climbed twenty or thirty feet up the slope and +deliberately rolled down again! Miki's jaws fell apart in amazement. +Again Neewa climbed up and rolled down—and Miki ceased to breathe +altogether. Five times he watched Neewa go that twenty or thirty feet +up the grassy slope and tumble down. The fifth time he waded into Neewa +and gave him a rough-and-tumble that almost ended in a fight. +</P> + +<P> +After that Miki began exploring along the foot of the slope, and for a +scant hundred yards Neewa humoured him by following, but beyond that +point he flatly refused to go. In the fourth month of his exciting +young life Neewa was satisfied that Nature had given him birth that he +might have the endless pleasure of filling his stomach. For him, eating +was the one and only excuse for existing. In the next few months he had +a big job on his hands if he kept up the record of his family, and the +fact that Miki was apparently abandoning the fat and juicy carcass of +the young bull filled him with alarm and rebellion. Straightway he +forgot all thought of play and started back up the slope on a mission +that was 100 per cent. business. +</P> + +<P> +Observing this, Miki gave up his idea of exploration and joined him. +They reached the shelf of the dip twenty yards from the carcass of the +bull, and from a clutter of big stones looked forth upon their meat. In +that moment they stood dumb and paralyzed. Two gigantic owls were +tearing at the carcass. To Miki and Neewa these were the monsters of +the black forest out of which they had escaped so narrowly with their +lives. But as a matter of fact they were not of Oohoomisew's breed of +night-seeing pirates. They were Snowy Owls, unlike all others of their +kind in that their vision was as keen as a hawk's in the light of broad +day. Mispoon, the big male, was immaculately white. His mate, a size or +two smaller, was barred with brownish-slate colour—and their heads +were round and terrible looking because they had no ear-tufts. Mispoon, +with his splendid wings spread half over the carcass of Ahtik, the dead +bull, was rending flesh so ravenously with his powerful beak that Neewa +and Miki could hear the sound of it. Newish, his mate, had her head +almost buried in Ahtik's bowels. The sight of them and the sound of +their eating were enough to disturb the nerves of an older bear than +Neewa, and he crouched behind a stone, with just his head sticking out. +</P> + +<P> +In Miki's throat was a sullen growl. But he held it back, and flattened +himself on the ground. The blood of the giant hunter that was his +father rose in him again like fire. The carcass was his meat, and he +was ready to fight for it. Besides, had he not whipped the big owl in +the forest? But here there were two. The fact held him flattened on his +belly a moment or two longer, and in that brief space the unexpected +happened. +</P> + +<P> +Slinking up out of the low growth of bush at the far edge of the dip +lie saw Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. Hollow-backed, red-eyed, her +bushy tail hanging with the sneaky droop of the murderess, she advanced +over the bit of open, a gray and vengeful shadow. Furtive as she was, +she at least acted with great swiftness. Straight at Mispoon she +launched herself with a snarl and snap of fangs that made Miki hug the +ground still closer. +</P> + +<P> +Deep into Mispoon's four-inch armour of feathers Maheegun buried her +fangs. Taken at a disadvantage Mispoon's head would have been torn from +his body before he could have gathered himself for battle had it not +been for Newish. Pulling her blood stained head from Ahtik's flesh and +blood she drove at Maheegun with a throaty, wheezing scream—a cry that +was like the cry of no other thing that lived. Into the she-wolf's back +she sank her beak and talons and Maheegun gave up her grip on Mispoon +and tore ferociously at her new assailant. For a space Mispoon was +saved, but it was at a terrible sacrifice to Newish. With a single +lucky slash of her long-fanged jaws, Maheegun literally tore one of +Newish's great wings from her body. The croak of agony that came out of +her may have held the death-note for Mispoon, her mate; for he rose on +his wings, poised himself for an instant, and launched himself at the +she-wolf's back with a force that drove Maheegun off her feet. +</P> + +<P> +Deep into her loins the great owl sank his talons, gripping at the +renegade's vitals with an avenging and ferocious tenacity. In that hold +Maheegun felt the sting of death. She flung herself on her back; she +rolled over and over, snarling and snapping and clawing the air in her +efforts to free herself of the burning knives that were sinking still +deeper into her bowels. Mispoon hung on, rolling as she rolled, beating +with his giant wings, fastening his talons in that clutch that death +could not shake loose. On the ground his mate was dying. Her life's +blood was pouring out of the hole in her side, but with the dimming +vision of death she made a last effort to help Mispoon. And Mispoon, a +hero to the last, kept his grip until he was dead. +</P> + +<P> +Into the edge of the bush Maheegun dragged herself. There she freed +herself of the big owl. But the deep wounds were still in her sides. +The blood dripped from her belly as she made her way down into the +thicker cover, leaving a red trail behind her. A quarter of a mile away +she lay down under a clump of dwarf spruce; and there, a little later, +she died. +</P> + +<P> +To Neewa and Miki—and especially to the son of Hela—the grim combat +had widened even more that subtle and growing comprehension of the +world as it existed for them. It was the unforgettable wisdom of +experience backed by an age-old instinct and the heredity of breed. +They had killed small things—Neewa, his bugs and his frogs and his +bumble-bees; Miki, his rabbit—they had fought for their lives; they +had passed through experiences that, from the beginning, had been a +gamble with death; but it had needed the climax of a struggle such as +they had seen with their own eyes to open up the doors that gave them a +new viewpoint of life. +</P> + +<P> +It was many minutes before Miki went forth and smelled of Newish, the +dead owl. He had no desire now to tear at her feathers in the +excitement of an infantile triumph and ferocity. Along with greater +understanding a new craft and a new cunning were born in him. The fate +of Mispoon and his mate had taught him the priceless value of silence +and of caution, for he knew now that in the world there were many +things that were not afraid of him, and many things that would not run +away from him. He had lost his fearless and blatant contempt for winged +creatures; he had learned that the earth was not made for him alone, +and that to hold his small place on it he must fight as Maheegun and +the owls had fought. This was because in Miki's veins was the red +fighting blood of a long line of ancestors that reached back to the +wolves. +</P> + +<P> +In Neewa the process of deduction was vastly different. His breed was +not the fighting breed, except as it fought among its own kind. It did +not make a habit of preying upon other beasts, and no other beast +preyed upon it. This was purely an accident of birth—the fact that no +other creature in all his wide domain was powerful enough, either alone +or in groups, to defeat a grown black bear in open battle. Therefore +Neewa learned nothing of fighting in the tragedy of Maheegun and the +owls. His profit, if any, was in a greater caution. And his chief +interest was in the fact that Maheegun and the two owls had not +devoured the young bull. His supper was still safe. +</P> + +<P> +With his little round eyes on the alert for fresh trouble he kept +himself safely hidden while he watched Miki investigating the scene of +battle. From the body of the owl Miki went to Ahtik, and from Ahtik he +sniffed slowly over the trail which Maheegun had taken into the bush. +In the edge of the cover he found Mispoon. He did not go farther, but +returned to Neewa, who by this time had made up his mind that he could +safely come out into the open. +</P> + +<P> +Fifty times that day Miki rushed to the defense of their meat. The +big-eyed, clucking moose-birds were most annoying. Next to them the +Canada jays were most persistent. Twice a little gray-coated ermine, +with eyes as red as garnets, came in to get his fill of blood. Miki was +at him so fiercely that he did not return a third time. By noon the +crows had got scent or sight of the carcass and were circling overhead, +waiting for Neewa and Miki to disappear. Later, they set up a raucous +protest from the tops of the trees in the edge of the forest. +</P> + +<P> +That night the wolves did not return to the dip. Meat was too +plentiful, and those that were over their gorge were off on a fresh +kill far to the west. Once or twice Neewa and Miki heard their distant +cry. +</P> + +<P> +Again through a star-filled radiant night they watched and listened, +and slept at times. In the soft gray dawn they went forth once more to +their feast. +</P> + +<P> +And here is where Makoki, the old Cree runner, would have emphasized +the presence of the Beneficent Spirit. For day followed day, and night +followed night, and Ahtik's flesh and blood put into Neewa and Miki a +strength and growth that developed marvellously. By the fourth day +Neewa had become so fat and sleek that he was half again as big as on +the day he fell out of the canoe. Miki had begun to fill out. His ribs +could no longer be counted from a distance. His chest was broadening +and his legs were losing some of their angular clumsiness. Practice on +Ahtik's bones had strengthened his jaws. With his development he felt +less and less the old puppyish desire to play—more and more the +restlessness of the hunter. The fourth night he heard again the wailing +hunt-cry of the wolves, and it held a wild and thrilling note for him. +</P> + +<P> +With Neewa, fat and good humour and contentment were all synonymous. As +long as the meat held out there was no very great temptation for him +beyond the dip and the slope. Two or three times a day he went down to +the creek; and every morning and afternoon—especially about sunset—he +had his fun rolling downhill. In addition to this he began taking his +afternoon naps in the crotch of a small sapling. As Miki could see +neither sense nor sport in tobogganing, and as he could not climb a +tree, he began to spend more and more time in venturing up and down the +foot of the ridge. He wanted Neewa to go with him on these expeditions. +He never set out until he had entreated Neewa to come down out of his +tree, or until he had made an effort to coax him away from the single +trail he had made to the creek and back. Neewa's obstinacy would never +have brought about any real unpleasantness between them. Miki thought +too much of him for that; and if it had come to a final test, and Neewa +had thought that Miki would not return, he would undoubtedly have +followed him. +</P> + +<P> +It was another and a more potent thing than an ordinary quarrel that +placed the first great barrier between them. Now it happened that Miki +was of the breed which preferred its meat fresh, while Neewa liked his +"well hung." And from the fourth day onward, what was left of Ahtik's +carcass was ripening. On the fifth day Miki found the flesh difficult +to eat; on the sixth, impossible. To Neewa it became increasingly +delectable as the flavour grew and the perfume thickened. On the sixth +day, in sheer delight, he rolled in it. That night, for the first time, +Miki could not sleep with him. +</P> + +<P> +The seventh day brought the climax. Ahtik now fairly smelled to heaven. +The odour of him drifted up and away on the soft June wind until all +the crows in the country were gathering. It drove Miki, slinking like a +whipped cur, down into the creek bottom. When Neewa came down for a +drink after his morning feast Miki sniffed him over for a moment and +then slunk away from him again. As a matter of fact, there was small +difference between Ahtik and Neewa now, except that one lay still and +the other moved. Both smelled dead; both were decidedly "well hung." +Even the crows circled over Neewa, wondering why it was that he walked +about like a living thing. +</P> + +<P> +That night Miki slept alone under a clump of bush in the creek bottom. +He was hungry and lonely, and for the first time in many days he felt +the bigness and emptiness of the world. He wanted Neewa. He whined for +him in the starry silence of the long hours between sunset and dawn. +The sun was well up before Neewa came down the hill. He had finished +his breakfast and his morning roll, and he was worse than ever. Again +Miki tried to coax him away but Neewa was disgustingly fixed in his +determination to remain in his present glory. And this morning he was +more than usually anxious to return to the dip. All of yesterday he had +found it necessary to frighten the crows away from his meat, and to-day +they were doubly persistent in their efforts to rob him. With a grunt +and a squeal to Miki he hustled back up the hill after he had taken his +drink. +</P> + +<P> +His trail entered the dip through the pile of rocks from which Miki and +he had watched the battle between Maheegun and the two owls, and as a +matter of caution he always paused for a few moments among these rocks +to make sure that all was well in the open. This morning he received a +decided shock. Ahtik's carcass was literally black with crows. Kakakew +and his Ethiopic horde of scavengers had descended in a cloud, and they +were tearing and fighting and beating their wings about Ahtik as if all +of them had gone mad. Another cloud was hovering in air; every bush and +near-by sapling was bending under the weight of them, and in the sun +their jet-black plumage glistened as if they had just come out of the +bath of a tinker's pot. Neewa stood astounded. He was not frightened; +he had driven the cowardly robbers away many times. But never had there +been so many of them. He could see no trace of his meat. Even the +ground about it was black. +</P> + +<P> +He rushed out from the rocks with his lips drawn back, just as he had +rushed a dozen or more times before. There was a mighty roar of wings. +The air was darkened by them, and the ravenish screaming that followed +could have been heard a mile away. This time Kakakew and his mighty +crew did not fly back to the forest. Their number gave them courage. +The taste of Ahtik's flesh and the flavour of it in their nostrils +intoxicated them, to the point of madness, with desire. Neewa was +dazed. Over him, behind him, on all sides of him they swept and +circled, croaking and screaming at him, the boldest of them swooping +down to beat at him with their wings. Thicker grew the menacing cloud, +and then suddenly it descended like an avalanche. It covered Ahtik +again. In it Neewa was fairly smothered. He felt himself buried under a +mass of wings and bodies, and he began fighting, as he had fought the +owls. A score of pincer-like black beaks fought to get at his hair and +hide; others stabbed at his eyes; he felt his ears being pulled from +his head, and the end of his nose was a bloody cushion within a dozen +seconds. The breath was beaten out of him; he was blinded, and dazed, +and every square inch of him was aquiver with its own excruciating +pain. He forgot Ahtik. The one thing in the world he wanted most was a +large open space in which to run. +</P> + +<P> +Putting all his strength into the effort he struggled to his feet and +charged through the mass of living things about him. At this sign of +defeat many of the crows left him to join in the feast. By the time he +was half way to the cover into which Maheegun had gone all but one had +left him. That one may have been Kakakew himself. He had fastened +himself like a rat-trap to Neewa's stubby tail, and there he hung on +like grim death while Neewa ran. He kept his hold until his victim was +well into the cover. Then he flopped himself into the air and rejoined +his brethren at the putrified carcass of the bull. +</P> + +<P> +If ever Neewa had wanted Miki he wanted him now. Again his entire +viewpoint of the world was changed. He was stabbed in a hundred places. +He burned as if afire. Even the bottoms of his feet hurt him when he +stepped on them, and for half an hour he hid himself under a bush, +licking his wounds and sniffing the air for Miki. +</P> + +<P> +Then he went down the slope into the creek bottom, and hurried to the +foot of the trail he had made to and from the dip. Vainly he quested +about him for his comrade. He grunted and squealed, and tried to catch +the scent of him in the air. He ran up the creek a distance, and back +again. Ahtik counted as nothing now. +</P> + +<P> +Miki was gone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TEN +</H3> + +<P> +A quarter of a mile away Miki had heard the clamour of the crows. But +he was in no humour to turn back, even had he guessed that Neewa was in +need of his help. He was hungry from long fasting and, for the present, +his disposition had taken a decided turn. He was in a mood to tackle +anything in the eating line, no matter how big, but he was a good mile +from the dip in the side of the ridge before he found even a crawfish. +He crunched this down, shell and all. It helped to take the bad taste +out of his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +The day was destined to hold for him still another unforgettable event +in his life. Now that he was alone the memory of his master was not so +vague as it had been yesterday, and the days before. Brain-pictures +came back to him more vividly as the morning lengthened into afternoon, +bridging slowly but surely the gulf that Neewa's comradeship had +wrought. For a time the exciting thrill of his adventure was gone. Half +a dozen times he hesitated on the point of turning back to Neewa. It +was hunger that always drove him on a little farther. He found two more +crawfish. Then the creek deepened and its water ran slowly, and was +darker. Twice he chased old rabbits, that got away from him easily. +Once he came within an ace of catching a young one. Frequently a +partridge rose with a thunder of wings. He saw moose-birds, and jays, +and many squirrels. All about him was meat which it was impossible for +him to catch. Then fortune turned his way. Poking his head into the end +of a hollow log he cornered a rabbit so completely that there was no +escape. During the next few minutes he indulged in the first square +meal he had eaten for three days. +</P> + +<P> +So absorbed was he in his feast that he was unconscious of a new +arrival on the scene. He did not hear the coming of Oochak, the +fisher-cat; nor, for a few moments, did he smell him. It was not in +Oochak's nature to make a disturbance. He was by birth and instinct a +valiant hunter and a gentleman, and when he saw Miki (whom he took to +be a young wolf) feeding on a fresh kill, he made no move to demand a +share for himself. Nor did he run away. He would undoubtedly have +continued on his way very soon if Miki had not finally sensed his +presence, and faced him. +</P> + +<P> +Oochak had come from the other side of the log, and stood not more than +six feet distant. To one who knew as little of his history as Miki +there was nothing at all ferocious about him. He was shaped like his +cousins, the weazel, the mink, and the skunk. He was about half as high +as Miki, and fully as long, so that his two pairs of short legs seemed +somewhat out of place, as on a dachshund. He probably weighed between +eight and ten pounds, had a bullet head, almost no ears, and atrocious +whiskers. Also he had a bushy tail and snapping little eyes that seemed +to bore clean through whatever he looked at. To Miki his accidental +presence was a threat and a challenge. Besides, Oochak looked like an +easy victim if it came to a fight. So he pulled back his lips and +snarled. +</P> + +<P> +Oochak accepted this as an invitation for him to move on, and being a +gentleman who respected other people's preserves he made his apologies +by beginning a velvet-footed exit. This was too much for Miki, who had +yet to learn the etiquette of the forest trails. Oochak was afraid of +him. He was running away! With a triumphant yelp Miki took after him. +After all, it was simply a mistake in judgment. (Many two-footed +animals with bigger brains than Miki's had made similar mistakes.) For +Oochak, attending always to his own business, was, for his size and +weight, the greatest little fighter in North America. +</P> + +<P> +Just what happened in the one minute that followed his assault Miki +would never be able quite to understand. It was not in reality a fight; +it was a one-sided immolation, a massacre. His first impression was +that he had tackled a dozen Oochaks instead of one. Beyond that first +impression his mind did not work, nor did his eyes visualize. He was +whipped as he would never be whipped again in his life. He was cut and +bruised and bitten; he was strangled and stabbed; he was so utterly +mauled that for a space after Oochak had gone he continued to rake the +air with his paws, unconscious of the fact that the affair was over. +When he opened his eyes, and found himself alone, he slunk into the +hollow log where he had cornered the rabbit. +</P> + +<P> +In there he lay a good half hour, trying hard to comprehend just what +had happened. The sun was setting when he dragged himself out. He +limped. His one good ear was bitten clean through. There were bare +spots on his hide where Oochak had scraped the hair off. His bones +ached, his throat was sore, and there was a lump over one eye. He +looked longingly back over the "home" trail. Up there was Neewa. With +the lengthening shadows of the day's end a great loneliness crept upon +him and a desire to turn back to his comrade. But Oochak had gone that +way—and he did not want to meet Oochak again. +</P> + +<P> +He wandered a little farther south and east, perhaps a quarter of a +mile, before the sun disappeared entirely. In the thickening gloom of +twilight he struck the Big Rock portage between the Beaver and the Loon. +</P> + +<P> +It was not a trail. Only at rare intervals did wandering voyageurs +coming down from the north make use of it in their passage from one +waterway to the other. Three or four times a year at the most would a +wolf have caught the scent of man in it. It was there tonight, so fresh +that Miki stopped when he came to it as if another Oochak had risen +before him. For a space he was turned into the rigidity of rock by a +single overwhelming emotion. All other things were forgotten in the +fact that he had struck the trail of a man—AND, THEREFORE, THE TRAIL +OF CHALLONER, HIS MASTER. He began to follow it—slowly at first, as if +fearing that it might get away from him. Darkness came, and he was +still following it. In the light of the stars he persisted, all else +crowded from him but the homing instinct of the dog and the desire for +a master. +</P> + +<P> +At last he came almost to the shore of the Loon, and there he saw the +campfire of Makoki and the white man. +</P> + +<P> +He did not rush in. He did not bark or yelp; the hard schooling of the +wilderness had already set its mark upon him. He slunk in +cautiously—then stopped, flat on his belly, just outside the rim of +firelight. Then he saw that neither of the men was Challoner. But both +were smoking, as Challoner had smoked. He could hear their voices, and +they were like Challoner's voice. And the camp was the same—a fire, a +pot hanging over it, a tent, and in the air the odours of recently +cooked things. +</P> + +<P> +Another moment or two and he would have gone into the firelight. But +the white man rose to his feet, stretched himself as he had often seen +Challoner stretch, and picked up a stick of wood as big as his arm. He +came within ten feet of Miki, and Miki wormed himself just a little +toward him, and stood up on his feet. It brought him into a half light. +His eyes were aglow with the reflection of the fire. And the man saw +him. +</P> + +<P> +In a flash the club he held was over his head; it swung through the air +with the power of a giant arm behind it and was launched straight at +Miki. Had it struck squarely it would have killed him. The big end of +it missed him; the smaller end landed against his neck and shoulder, +driving him back into the gloom with such force and suddenness that the +man thought he had done for him. He called out loudly to Makoki that he +had killed a young wolf or a fox, and dashed out into the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +The club had knocked Miki fairly into the heart of a thick ground +spruce. There he lay, making no sound, with a terrible pain in his +shoulder. Between himself and the fire he saw the man bend over and +pick up the club. He saw Makoki hurrying toward him with ANOTHER club, +and under his shelter he made himself as small as he could. He was +filled with a great dread, for now he understood the truth. THESE men +were not Challoner. They were hunting for him—with clubs in their +hands. He knew what the clubs meant. His shoulder was almost broken. +</P> + +<P> +He lay very still while the men searched about him. The Indian even +poked his stick into the thick ground spruce. The white man kept saying +that he was sure he had made a hit, and once he stood so near that +Miki's nose almost touched his boot. He went back and added fresh birch +to the fire, so that the light of it illumined a greater space about +them. Miki's heart stood still. But the men searched farther on, and at +last went back to the fire. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour Miki did not move. The fire burned itself low. The old Cree +wrapped himself in a blanket, and the white man went into his tent. Not +until then did Miki dare to crawl out from under the spruce. With his +bruised shoulder making him limp at every step he hurried back over the +trail which he had followed so hopefully a little while before. The +man-scent no longer made his heart beat swiftly with joy. It was a +menace now. A warning. A thing from which he wanted to get away. He +would sooner have faced Oochak again, or the owls, than the white man +with his club. With the owls he could fight, but in the club he sensed +an overwhelming superiority. +</P> + +<P> +The night was very still when he dragged himself back to the hollow log +in which he had killed the rabbit. He crawled into it, and nursed his +wounds through all the rest of the hours of darkness. In the early +morning he came out and ate the rest of the rabbit. +</P> + +<P> +After that he faced the north and west—where Neewa was. There was no +hesitation now. He wanted Neewa again. He wanted to muzzle him with his +nose and lick his face even though he did smell to heaven. He wanted to +hear him grunt and squeal in his funny, companionable way; he wanted to +hunt with him again, and play with him, and lie down beside him in a +sunny spot and sleep. Neewa, at last, was a necessary part of his world. +</P> + +<P> +He set out. +</P> + +<P> +And Neewa, far up the creek, still followed hopefully and yearningly +over the trail of Miki. +</P> + +<P> +Half way to the dip, in a small open meadow that was a glory of sun, +they met. There was no very great demonstration. They stopped and +looked at each other for a moment, as if to make sure that there was no +mistake. Neewa grunted. Miki wagged his tail. They smelled noses. Neewa +responded with a little squeal, and Miki whined. It was as if they had +said, +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Miki!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Neewa!" +</P> + +<P> +And then Neewa lay down in the sun and Miki sprawled himself out beside +him. After all, it was a funny world. It went to pieces now and then, +but it always came together again. And to-day their world had +thoroughly adjusted itself. Once more they were chums—and they were +happy. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER ELEVEN +</H3> + +<P> +It was the Flying-Up Moon—deep and slumbering midsummer—in all the +land of Keewatin. From Hudson Bay to the Athabasca and from the Hight +of Land to the edge of the Great Barrens, forest, plain, and swamp lay +in peace and forgetfulness under the sun-glowing days and the +star-filled nights of the August MUKOO-SAWIN. It was the breeding moon, +the growing moon, the moon when all wild life came into its own once +more. For the trails of this wilderness world—so vast that it reached +a thousand miles east and west and as far north and south—were empty +of human life. At the Hudson Bay Company's posts—scattered here and +there over the illimitable domain of fang and claw—had gathered the +thousands of hunters and trappers, with their wives and children, to +sleep and gossip and play through the few weeks of warmth and plenty +until the strife and tragedy of another winter began. For these people +of the forests it was MUKOO-SAWIN—the great Play Day of the year; the +weeks in which they ran up new debts and established new credits at the +Posts; the weeks in which they foregathered at every Post as at a great +fair—playing, and making love, and marrying, and fattening up for the +many days of hunger and gloom to come. +</P> + +<P> +It was because of this that the wild things had come fully into the +possession of their world for a space. There was no longer the scent of +man in all the wilderness. They were not hunted. There were no traps +laid for their feet, no poison-baits placed temptingly where they might +pass. In the fens and on the lakes the wildfowl squawked and honked +unfearing to their young, just learning the power of wing; the lynx +played with her kittens without sniffing the air for the menace of man; +the cow moose went openly into the cool water of the lakes with their +calves; the wolverine and the marten ran playfully over the roofs of +deserted shacks and cabins; the beaver and the otter tumbled and +frolicked in their dark pools; the birds sang, and through all the +wilderness there was the drone and song of Nature as some Great Power +must at first have meant that Nature should be. A new generation of +wild things had been born. It was a season of Youth, with tens of +thousands and hundreds of thousands of little children of the wild +playing their first play, learning their first lessons, growing up +swiftly to face the menace and doom of their first winter. And the +Beneficent Spirit of the forests, anticipating what was to come, had +prepared well for them. Everywhere there was plenty. The blueberries, +the blackberries, the mountain-ash and the saskatoons were ripe; tree +and vine were bent low with their burden of fruit. The grass was green +and tender from the summer rains. Bulbous roots were fairly popping out +of the earth; the fens and the edges of the lakes were rich with things +to eat, overhead and underfoot the horn of plenty was emptying itself +without stint. +</P> + +<P> +In this world Neewa and Miki found a vast and unending contentment. +They lay, on this August afternoon, on a sun-bathed shelf of rock that +overlooked a wonderful valley. Neewa, stuffed with luscious +blueberries, was asleep. Miki's eyes were only partly closed as he +looked down into the soft haze of the valley. Up to him came the +rippling music of the stream running between the rocks and over the +pebbly bars below, and with it the soft and languorous drone of the +valley itself. He napped uneasily for half an hour, and then his eyes +opened and he was wide awake. He took a sharp look over the valley. +Then he looked at Neewa, who, fat and lazy, would have slept until +dark. It was always Miki who kept him on the move. And now Miki barked +at him gruffly two or three times, and nipped at one of his ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Wake up!" he might have said. "What's the sense of sleeping on a day +like this? Let's go down along the creek and hunt something." +</P> + +<P> +Neewa roused himself, stretched his fat body, and yawned. Sleepily his +little eyes took in the valley. Miki got up and gave the low and +anxious whine which always told his companion that he wanted to be on +the move. Neewa responded, and they began making their way down the +green slope into the rich bottom between the two ridges. +</P> + +<P> +They were now almost six months of age, and in the matter of size had +nearly ceased to be a cub and a pup. They were almost a dog and a bear. +Miki's angular legs were getting their shape; his chest had filled out; +his neck had grown until it no longer seemed too small for his big head +and jaws, and his body had increased in girth and length until he was +twice as big as most ordinary dogs of his age. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa had lost his round, ball-like cubbishness, though he still +betrayed far more than Miki the fact that he was not many months lost +from his mother. But he was no longer filled with that wholesome love +of peace that had filled his earlier cubhood. The blood of Soominitik +was at last beginning to assert itself, and he no longer sought a place +of safety in time of battle—unless the grimness of utter necessity +made it unavoidable. In fact, unlike most bears, he loved a fight. If +there were a stronger term at hand it might be applied to Miki, the +true son of Hela. Youthful as they were, they were already covered with +scars that would have made a veteran proud. Crows and owls, wolf-fang +and fisher-claw had all left their marks, and on Miki's side was a bare +space eight inches long left as a souvenir by a wolverine. +</P> + +<P> +In Neewa's funny round head there had grown, during the course of +events, an ambition to have it out some day with a citizen of his own +kind; but the two opportunities that had come his way were spoiled by +the fact that the other cubs' mothers were with them. So now, when Miki +led off on his trips of adventure, Neewa always followed with another +thrill than that of getting something to eat, which so long had been +his one ambition. Which is not to say that Neewa had lost his appetite. +He could eat more in one day than Miki could eat in three, mainly +because Miki was satisfied with two or three meals a day while Neewa +preferred one—a continuous one lasting from dawn until dark. On the +trail he was always eating something. +</P> + +<P> +A quarter of a mile along the foot of the ridge, in a stony coulee down +which a tiny rivulet trickled, there grew the finest wild currants in +all the Shamattawa country. Big as cherries, black as ink, and swelling +almost to the bursting point with luscious juice, they hung in clusters +so thick that Neewa could gather them by the mouthful. Nothing in all +the wilderness is quite so good as one of these dead-ripe black +currants, and this coulee wherein they grew so richly Neewa had +preempted as his own personal property. Miki, too, had learned to eat +the currants; so to the coulee they went this afternoon, for such +currants as these one can eat even when one is already full. Besides, +the coulee was fruitful for Miki in other ways. There were many young +partridges and rabbits in it—"fool hens" of tender flesh and delicious +flavour which he caught quite easily, and any number of gophers and +squirrels. +</P> + +<P> +To-day they had scarcely taken their first mouthful of the big juicy +currants when an unmistakable sound came to them. Unmistakable because +each recognized instantly what it meant. It was the tearing down of +currant bushes twenty or thirty yards higher up the coulee. Some robber +had invaded their treasure-house, and instantly Miki bared his fangs +while Neewa wrinkled up his nose in an ominous snarl. Soft-footed they +advanced toward the sound until they came to the edge of a small open +space which was as flat as a table. In the centre of this space was a +clump of currant bushes not more than a yard in girth, and black with +fruit; and squatted on his haunches there, gathering the laden bushes +in his arms, was a young black bear about four sizes larger than Neewa. +</P> + +<P> +In that moment of consternation and rage Neewa did not take size into +consideration. He was much in the frame of mind of a man returning home +to discover his domicile, and all it contained, in full possession of +another. At the same time here was his ambition easily to be +achieved—his ambition to lick the daylight out of a member of his own +kind. Miki seemed to sense this fact. Under ordinary conditions he +would have led in the fray, and before Neewa had fairly got started, +would have been at the impudent interloper's throat. But now something +held him back, and it was Neewa who first shot out—like a black +bolt—landing squarely in the ribs of his unsuspecting enemy. +</P> + +<P> +(Old Makoki, the Cree runner, had he seen that attack, would instantly +have found a name for the other bear—"Petoot-a-wapis-kum," which +means, literally: "Kicked-off-his-Feet." Perhaps he would have called +him "Pete" for short. For the Cree believes in fitting names to fact, +and Petoot-a-wapis-kum certainly fitted the unknown bear like a glove.) +</P> + +<P> +Taken utterly by surprise, with his mouth full of berries, he was +bowled over like an overfilled bag under the force of Neewa's charge. +So complete was his discomfiture for the moment that Miki, watching the +affair with a yearning interest, could not keep back an excited yap of +approbation. Before Pete could understand what had happened, and while +the berries were still oozing from his mouth, Neewa was at his +throat—and the fun began. +</P> + +<P> +Now bears, and especially young bears, have a way of fighting that is +all their own. It reminds one of a hair-pulling contest between two +well-matched ladies. There are no rules to the game—absolutely none. +As Pete and Neewa clinched, their hind legs began to do the fighting, +and the fur began to fly. Pete, being already on his back—a +first-class battling position for a bear—would have possessed an +advantage had it not been for Neewa's ferocious hold at his throat. As +it was, Neewa sank his fangs in to their full length, and scrubbed away +for dear life with his sharp hind claws. Miki drew nearer at sight of +the flying fur, his soul filled with joy. Then Pete got one leg into +action, and then the other, and Miki's jaws came together with a sudden +click. Over and over the two fighters rolled, Neewa holding to his +throat-grip, and not a squeal or a grunt came from either of them. +Pebbles and dirt flew along with hair and fur. Stones rolled with a +clatter down the coulee. The very air trembled with the thrill of +combat. In Miki's attitude of tense waiting there was something now of +suspicious anxiety. With eight furry legs scratching and tearing +furiously, and the two fighters rolling and twisting and contorting +themselves like a pair of windmills gone mad, it was almost impossible +for Miki to tell who was getting the worst of it—Neewa or Pete; at +least he was in doubt for a matter of three or four minutes. +</P> + +<P> +Then he recognized Neewa's voice. It was very faint, but for all that +it was an unmistakable bawl of pain. +</P> + +<P> +Smothered under Pete's heavier body Neewa began to realize, at the end +of those three or four minutes, that he had tackled more than was good +for him. It was altogether Pete's size and not his fighting qualities, +for Neewa had him outpointed there. But he fought on, hoping for some +good turn of luck, until at last Pete got him just where he wanted him +and began raking him up and down his sides until in another three +minutes he would have been half skinned if Miki hadn't judged the +moment ripe for intervention. Even then Neewa was taking his punishment +without a howl. +</P> + +<P> +In another instant Miki had Pete by the ear. It was a grim and terrible +hold. Old Soominitik himself would have bawled lustily in the +circumstances. Pete raised his voice in a howl of agony. He forgot +everything else but the terror and the pain of this new SOMETHING that +had him by the ear, and he rent the air with his outcry. His +lamentation poured in an unbroken spasm of sound from his throat. Neewa +knew that Miki was in action. +</P> + +<P> +He pulled himself from under the young interloper's body—and not a +second too soon. Down the coulee, charging like a mad bull, came Pete's +mother. Neewa was off like a shot just as she made a powerful swing at +him. The blow missed, and the old bear turned excitedly to her bawling +offspring. Miki, hanging joyously to his victim, was oblivious of his +danger until Pete's mother was almost upon him. He caught sight of her +just as her long arm shot out like a wooden beam. He dodged; and the +blow intended for him landed full against the side of the unfortunate +Pete's head with a force that took him clean off his feet and sent him +flying like a football twenty yards down the coulee. +</P> + +<P> +Miki did not wait for further results. Quick as a flash he was in a +currant thicket tearing down the little gulch after Neewa. They came +out on the plain together, and for a good ten minutes they did not halt +in their flight long enough to look back. When they did, the coulee was +a mile away. They sat down, panting. Neewa's red tongue was hanging out +in his exhaustion. He was scratched and bleeding; loose hair hung all +over him. As he looked at Miki there was something in the dolorous +expression of Neewa's face which was a confession of the fact that he +realized Pete had licked him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWELVE +</H3> + +<P> +After the fight in the coulee there was no longer a thought on the part +of Neewa and Miki of returning to the Garden of Eden in which the black +currants grew so lusciously. From the tip of his tail to the end of his +nose Miki was an adventurer, and like the nomadic rovers of old he was +happiest when on the move. The wilderness had claimed him now, body and +soul, and it is probable that he would have shunned a human camp at +this stage of his life, even as Neewa would have shunned it. But in the +lives of beasts, as well as in the lives of men, Fate plays her pranks +and tricks, and even as they turned into the vast and mystery-filled +spaces of the great lake and waterway-country, to the west, events were +slowly shaping themselves into what was to be perhaps the darkest hour +of gloom in the life of Miki, son of Hela. +</P> + +<P> +Through six glorious and sun-filled weeks of late summer and early +autumn—until the middle of September—Miki and Neewa ranged the +country westward, always heading toward the setting sun, the country of +Jackson's Knee, of the Touchwood and the Clearwater, and God's Lake. In +this country they saw many things. It was a region a hundred miles +square which the handiwork of Nature had made into a veritable kingdom +of the wild. They came upon great beaver colonies in the dark and +silent places; they watched the otter at play; they came upon moose and +caribou so frequently that they no longer feared or evaded them, but +walked out openly into the meadows or down to the edge of the swamps +where they were feeding. It was here that Miki learned the great lesson +that claw and fang were made to prey upon cloven hoof and horn, for the +wolves were thick, and a dozen times they came upon their kills, and +even more frequently heard the wild tongue of the hunting-packs. Since +his experience with Maheegun he no longer had the desire to join them. +And now Neewa no longer insisted on remaining near meat when they found +it. It was the beginning of the KWASKA-HAO in Neewa—the instinctive +sensing of the Big Change. +</P> + +<P> +Until early in October Miki could see but little of this change in his +comrade. It was then that Neewa became more and more restless, and this +restlessness grew as the chill nights came, and autumn breathed more +heavily in the air. It was Neewa who took the lead in their +peregrinations now, and he seemed always to be questing for +something—a mysterious something which Miki could neither smell nor +see. He no longer slept for hours at a time. By mid-October he slept +scarcely at all, but roved through most of the hours of night as well +as day, eating, eating, eating, and always smelling the wind for that +elusive thing which Nature was commanding him to seek and find. +Ceaselessly he was nosing under windfalls and among the rocks, and Miki +was always near him, always on the QUI VIVE for battle with the thing +that Neewa was hunting out. And it seemed to be never found. +</P> + +<P> +Then Neewa turned back to the east, drawn by the instinct of his +forefathers; back toward the country of Noozak, his mother, and of +Soominitik, his father; and Miki followed. The nights grew more and +more chill. The stars seemed farther away, and no longer was the forest +moon red like blood. The cry of the loon had a moaning note in it, a +note of grief and lamentation. And in their shacks and tepees the +forest people sniffed the air of frosty mornings, and soaked their +traps in fish-oil and beaver-grease, and made their moccasins, and +mended snow-shoe and sledge, for the cry of the loon said that winter +was creeping down out of the North. And the swamps grew silent. The cow +moose no longer mooed to her young. In place of it, from the open plain +and "burn" rose the defiant challenge of bull to bull and the deadly +clash of horn against horn under the stars of night. The wolf no longer +howled to hear his voice. In the travel of padded feet there came to be +a slinking, hunting caution. In all the forest world blood was running +red again. +</P> + +<P> +And then—November. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps Miki would never forget that first day when the snow came. At +first he thought all the winged things in the world were shedding their +white feathers. Then he felt the fine, soft touch of it under his feet, +and the chill. It sent the blood rushing like a new kind of fire +through his body; a wild and thrilling joy—the exultation that leaps +through the veins of the wolf when the winter comes. +</P> + +<P> +With Neewa its effect was different—so different that even Miki felt +the oppression of it, and waited vaguely and anxiously for what was to +come. And then, on this day of the first snow, he saw his comrade do a +strange and unaccountable thing. He began to eat things that he had +never touched as food before. He lapped up soft pine needles, and +swallowed them. He ate of the dry, pulpy substance of rotted logs. And +then he went into a great cleft broken into the heart of a rocky ridge, +and found at last the thing for which he had been seeking. It was a +cavern—deep, and dark, and warm. +</P> + +<P> +Nature works in strange ways. She gives to the birds of the air eyes +which men may never have, and she gives to the beasts of the earth an +instinct which men may never know. For Neewa had come back to sleep his +first Long Sleep in the place of his birth—the cavern in which Noozak, +his mother, had brought him into the world. +</P> + +<P> +His old bed was still there, the wallow in the soft sand, the blanket +of hair Noozak had shed; but the smell of his mother was gone. In the +nest where he was born Neewa lay down, and for the last time he grunted +softly to Miki. It was as if he felt upon him the touch of a hand, +gentle but inevitable, which he could no longer refuse to obey, and to +Miki was saying, for the last time: "Good-night!" +</P> + +<P> +That night the PIPOO KESTIN—the first storm of winter—came like an +avalanche from out of the North. With it came a wind that was like the +roaring of a thousand bulls, and over all the land of the wild there +was nothing that moved. Even in the depth of the cavern Miki heard the +beat and the wail of it and the swishing of the shot-like snow beyond +the door through which they had come, and he snuggled close to Neewa, +content that they had found shelter. +</P> + +<P> +With the day he went to the slit in the face of the rock, and in his +astonishment he made no sound, but stared forth upon a world that was +no longer the world he had left last night. Everywhere it was white—a +dazzling, eye-blinding white. The sun had risen. It shot a thousand +flashing shafts of radiant light into Miki's eyes. So far as his vision +could reach the earth was as if covered with a robe of diamonds. From +rock and tree and shrub blazed the fire of the sun; it quivered in the +tree-tops, bent low with their burden of snow; it was like a sea in the +valley, so vivid that the unfrozen stream running through the heart of +it was black. Never had Miki seen a day so magnificent. Never had his +heart pounded at the sight of the sun as it pounded now, and never had +his blood burned with a wilder exultation. He whined, and ran back to +Neewa. He barked in the gloom of the cavern and gave his comrade a +nudge with his nose. Neewa grunted sleepily. He stretched himself, +raised his head for an instant, and then curled himself into a ball +again. Vainly Miki protested that it was day, and time for them to be +moving. Neewa made no response, and after a while Miki returned to the +mouth of the cavern, and looked back to see if Neewa was following him. +Then, disappointed, he went out into the snow. For an hour he did not +move farther than ten feet away from the den. Three times he returned +to Neewa and urged him to get up and come out where it was light. In +that far corner of the cavern it was dark, and it was as if he were +trying to tell Neewa that he was a dunce to lie there still thinking it +was night when the sun was up outside. But he failed. Neewa was in the +edge of his Long Sleep—the beginning of USKE-POW-A-MEW, the dream land +of the bears. +</P> + +<P> +Annoyance, the desire almost to sink his teeth in Neewa's ear, gave +place slowly to another thing in Miki. The instinct that between beasts +is like the spoken reason of men stirred in a strange and disquieting +way within him. He became more and more uneasy. There was almost +distress in his restlessness as he hovered about the mouth of the +cavern. A last time he went to Neewa, and then he started alone down +into the valley. +</P> + +<P> +He was hungry, but on this first day after the storm there was small +chance of him finding anything to eat. The snowshoe rabbits were +completely buried under their windfalls and shelters, and lay quietly +in their warm nests. Nothing had moved during the hours of the storm. +There were no trails of living things for him to follow, and in places +he sank to his shoulders in the soft snow. He made his way to the +creek. It was no longer the creek he had known. It was edged with ice. +There was something dark and brooding about it now. The sound it made +was no longer the rippling song of summer and golden autumn. There was +a threat in its gurgling monotone—a new voice, as if a black and +forbidding spirit had taken possession of it and was warning him that +the times had changed, and that new laws and a new force had come to +claim sovereignty in the land of his birth. +</P> + +<P> +He drank of the water cautiously. It was cold—ice-cold. Slowly it was +being impinged upon him that in the beauty of this new world that was +his there was no longer the warm and pulsing beat of the heart that was +life. He was alone. ALONE! Everything else was covered up; everything +else seemed dead. +</P> + +<P> +He went back to Neewa and lay close to him all through the day. And +through the night that followed he did not move again from the cavern. +He went only as far as the door and saw celestial spaces ablaze with +stars and a moon that rode up into the heavens like a white sun. They, +too, seemed no longer like the moon and stars he had known. They were +terribly still and cold. And under them the earth was terribly white +and silent. +</P> + +<P> +With the coming of dawn he tried once more to awaken Neewa. But this +time he was not so insistent. Nor did he have the desire to nip Neewa +with his teeth. Something had happened—something which he could not +understand. He sensed the thing, but he could not reason it. And he was +filled with a strange and foreboding fear. +</P> + +<P> +He went down again to hunt. Under the glory of the moon and stars it +had been a wild night of carnival for the rabbits, and in the edge of +the timber Miki found the snow beaten hard in places with their tracks. +It was not difficult for him to stalk his breakfast this morning. He +made his kill, and feasted. He killed again after that, and still +again. He could have gone on killing, for now that the snow betrayed +them, the hiding-places of the rabbits were so many traps for them. +Miki's courage returned. He was fired again with the joy of life. Never +had he known such hunting, never had he found such a treasure-house +before—not even in the coulee where the currants grew. He ate until he +could eat no more, and then he went back to Neewa, carrying with him +one of the rabbits he had slain. He dropped it in front of his comrade, +and whined. Even then Neewa did not respond, except to draw a deeper +breath, and change his position a little. +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon, for the first time in many hours, Neewa rose to his +feet, stretched himself, and sniffed of the dead rabbit. But he did not +eat. To Miki's consternation he rolled himself round and round in his +nest of sand and went to sleep again. +</P> + +<P> +The next day, at about the same time, Neewa roused himself once more. +This time he went as far as the mouth of the den, and lapped up a few +mouthfuls of snow. But he still refused to eat the rabbit. Again it was +Nature telling him that he must not disturb the pine needles and dry +bark with which he had padded his stomach and intestines. And he went +to sleep again. He did not get up after that. +</P> + +<P> +Day followed day, and, growing lonelier as the winter deepened, Miki +hunted alone. All through November he came back each night and slept +with Neewa. And Neewa was as if dead, except that his body was warm, +and he breathed, and made little sounds now and then in his throat. But +this did not satisfy the great yearning that was becoming more and more +insistent in Miki's soul, the overwhelming desire for company, for a +brotherhood on the trail. He loved Neewa. Through the first long weeks +of winter he returned to him faithfully; he brought him meat. He was +filled with a strange grief—even greater than if Neewa had been dead. +For Miki knew that he was alive, and he could not account for the thing +that had happened. Death he would have understood, and FROM death he +would have gone away—for good. +</P> + +<P> +So it came that one night, having hunted far, Miki remained away from +the den for the first time, and slept under a deep windfall. After that +it was still harder for him to resist the CALL. A second and a third +night he went away; and then came the time—inevitable as the coming +and going of the moon and stars—when understanding at last broke its +way through his hope and his fear, and something told him that Neewa +would never again travel with him as through those glorious days of +old, when shoulder to shoulder they had faced together the comedies and +tragedies of life in a world that was no longer soft and green and warm +with a golden sun, but white, and still, and filled with death. +</P> + +<P> +Neewa did not know when Miki went away from the den for the last time. +And yet it may be that even in his slumber the Beneficent Spirit may +have whispered that Miki was going, for there were restlessness and +disquiet in Neewa's dreamland for many days thereafter. +</P> + +<P> +"Be quiet—and sleep!" the Spirit may have whispered. "The Winter is +long. The rivers are black and chill, the lakes are covered with floors +of ice, and the waterfalls are frozen like great white giants. Sleep! +For Miki must go his way, just as the waters of the streams must go +their way to the sea. For he is Dog. And you are Bear. SLEEP!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER THIRTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +In many years there had not been such a storm in all the Northland as +that which followed swiftly in the trail of the first snows that had +driven Neewa into his den—the late November storm of that year which +will long be remembered as KUSKETA PIPPOON (the Black Year), the year +of great and sudden cold, of starvation and of death. +</P> + +<P> +It came a week after Miki had left the cavern wherein Neewa was +sleeping so soundly. Preceding that, when all the forest world lay +under its mantle of white, the sun shone day after day, and the moon +and stars were as clear as golden fires in the night skies. The wind +was out of the west. The rabbits were so numerous they made hard floors +of the snow in thicket and swamp. Caribou and moose were plentiful, and +the early cry of wolves on the hunt was like music in the ears of a +thousand trappers in shack and teepee. +</P> + +<P> +With appalling suddenness came the unexpected. There was no warning. +The day had dawned with a clear sky, and a bright sun followed the +dawn. Then the world darkened so swiftly that men on their traplines +paused in amazement. With the deepening gloom came a strange moaning, +and there was something in that sound that seemed like the rolling of a +great drum—the knell of an impending doom. It was THUNDER. The warning +was too late. Before men could turn back to safety, or build themselves +shelters, the Big Storm was upon them. For three days and three nights +it raged like a mad bull from out of the north. In the open barrens no +living creature could stand upon its feet. The forests were broken, and +all the earth was smothered. All things that breathed buried +themselves—or died; for the snow that piled itself up in windrows and +mountains was round and hard as leaden shot, and with it came an +intense cold. +</P> + +<P> +On the third day it was sixty degrees below zero in the country between +the Shamattawa and Jackson's Knee. Not until the fourth day did living +things begin to move. Moose and caribou heaved themselves up out of the +thick covering of snow that had been their protection; smaller animals +dug their way out of the heart of deep drifts and mounds; a half of the +rabbits and birds were dead. But the most terrible toll was of men. +Many of those who were caught out succeeded in keeping the life within +their bodies, and dragged themselves back to teepee and shack. But +there were also many who did not return—five hundred who died between +Hudson Bay and the Athabasca in those three terrible days of the +KUSKETA PIPPOON. +</P> + +<P> +In the beginning of the Big Storm Miki found himself in the "burnt" +country of Jackson's Knee, and instinct sent him quickly into deeper +timber. Here he crawled into a windfall of tangled trunks and +tree-tops, and during the three days he did not move. Buried in the +heart of the storm, there came upon him an overwhelming desire to +return to Neewa's den, and to snuggle up to him once more, even though +Neewa lay as if dead. The strange comradeship that had grown up between +the two—their wanderings together all through the summer, the joys and +hardships of the days and months in which they had fought and feasted +like brothers—were memories as vivid in his brain as if it had all +happened yesterday. And in the dark wind-fall, buried deeper and deeper +under the snow, he dreamed. +</P> + +<P> +He dreamed of Challoner, who had been his master in the days of his +joyous puppyhood; he dreamed of the time when Neewa, the motherless +cub, was brought into camp, and of the happenings that had come to them +afterward; the loss of his master, of their strange and thrilling +adventures in the wilderness, and last of all of Neewa's denning-up. He +could not understand that. Awake, and listening to the storm, he +wondered why it was that Neewa no longer hunted with him, but had +curled himself up into a round ball, and slept a sleep from which he +could not rouse him. Through the long hours of the three days and +nights of storm it was loneliness more than hunger that ate at his +vitals. When on the morning of the fourth day he came out from under +the windfall his ribs were showing and there was a reddish film over +his eyes. First of all he looked south and east, and whined. +</P> + +<P> +Through twenty miles of snow he travelled back that day to the ridge +where he had left Neewa. On this fourth day the sun shone like a +dazzling fire. It was so bright that the glare of the snow pricked his +eyes, and the reddish film grew redder. There was only a cold glow in +the west when he came to the end of his journey. Dusk had already begun +to settle over the roofs of the forests when he reached the ridge where +Neewa had found the cavern. It was no longer a ridge. The wind had +piled the snow up over it in grotesque and monstrous shapes. Rocks and +bushes were obliterated. Where the mouth of the cavern should have been +was a drift ten feet deep. Cold and hungry, thinned by his days and +nights of fasting, and with his last hope of comradeship shattered by +the pitiless mountains of snow, Miki turned back over his trail. There +was nothing left for him now but the old windfall, and his heart was no +longer the heart of the joyous comrade and brother of Neewa, the bear. +His feet were sore and bleeding, but still he went on. The stars came +out; the night was ghostly white in their pale fire; and it was +cold—terribly cold. The trees began to snap. Now and then there came a +report like a pistol-shot as the frost snapped at the heart of timber. +It was thirty degrees below zero. And it was growing colder. With the +windfall as his only inspiration Miki drove himself on. Never had he +tested his strength or his endurance as he strained them now. Older +dogs would have fallen in the trail or have sought shelter or rest. But +Miki was the true son of Hela, his giant Mackenzie hound father, and he +would have continued until he triumphed—or died. +</P> + +<P> +But a strange thing happened. He had travelled twenty miles to the +ridge, and fifteen of the twenty miles back, when a shelf of snow gave +way under his feet and he was pitched suddenly downward. When he +gathered his dazed wits and stood up on his half frozen legs he found +himself in a curious place. He had rolled completely into a +wigwam-shaped shelter of spruce boughs and sticks, and strong in his +nostrils was the SMELL OF MEAT. He found the meat not more than a foot +from the end of his nose. It was a chunk of frozen caribou flesh +transfixed on a stick, and without questioning the manner of its +presence he gnawed at it ravenously. Only Jacques Le Beau, who lived +eight or ten miles to the east, could have explained the situation. +Miki had rolled into one of his trap-houses, and it was the bait he was +eating. +</P> + +<P> +There was not much of it, but it fired Miki's blood with new life. +There was smell in his nostrils now, and he began clawing in the snow. +After a little his teeth struck something hard and cold. It was +steel—a fisher trap. He dragged it up from under a foot of snow, and +with it came a huge rabbit. The snow had so protected the rabbit that, +although several days dead, it was not frozen stiff. Not until the last +bone of it was gone did Miki's feast end. He even devoured the head. +Then he went on to the windfall, and in his warm nest slept until +another day. +</P> + +<P> +That day Jacques Le Beau—whom the Indians called "Muchet-ta-aao" (the +One with an Evil Heart)—went over his trapline and rebuilt his +snow-smothered "houses" and re-set his traps. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the afternoon that Miki, who was hunting, struck his trail in +a swamp several miles from the windfall. No longer was his soul stirred +by the wild yearning for a master. He sniffed, suspiciously, of Le +Beau's snowshoe tracks and the crest along his spine trembled as he +caught the wind, and listened. He followed cautiously, and a hundred +yards farther on came to one of Le Beau's KEKEKS or trap-shelters. Here +too, there was meat—fixed on a peg. Miki reached in. From under his +fore-paw came a vicious snap and the steel jaws of a trap flung sticks +and snow into his face. He snarled, and for a few moments he waited, +with his eyes on the trap. Then he stretched himself until he reached +the meat, without advancing his feet. Thus he had discovered the hidden +menace of the steel jaws, and instinct told him how to evade them. +</P> + +<P> +For another third of a mile he followed Le Beau's tracks. He sensed the +presence of a new and thrilling danger, and yet he did not turn off the +trail. An impulse which he was powerless to resist drew him on. He came +to a second trap, and this time he robbed the bait-peg without +springing the thing which he knew was concealed close under it. His +long fangs clicked as he went on. He was eager for a glimpse of the +man-beast. But he did not hurry. A third, a fourth, and a fifth trap he +robbed of their meat. +</P> + +<P> +Then, as the day ended, he swung westward and covered quickly the five +miles between the swamp and his windfall. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later Le Beau came back over the line. He saw the first +empty KEKEK, and the tracks in the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"TONNERRE!—a wolf!" he exclaimed. "And in broad day!" +</P> + +<P> +Then a slow look of amazement crept into his face, and he fell upon his +knees in the snow and examined the tracks. +</P> + +<P> +"NON!" he gasped. "It is a dog! A devil of a wild dog—robbing my +traps!" +</P> + +<P> +He rose to his feet, cursing. From the pocket of his coat he drew a +small tin box, and from this box he took a round ball of fat. In the +heart of the fat was a strychnine capsule. It was a poison-bait, to be +set for wolves and foxes. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau chuckled exultantly as he stuck the deadly lure on the end of +the bait-peg. +</P> + +<P> +"OW, a wild dog," he growled. "I will teach him. To-morrow he will be +dead." +</P> + +<P> +On each of the five ravished bait-pegs he placed a strychnine capsule +rolled in its inviting little ball of fat. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER FOURTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +The next morning Miki set out again for the trapline of Jacques Le +Beau. It was not the thought of food easily secured that tempted him. +There would have been a greater thrill in killing for himself. It was +the trail, with its smell of the man-beast, that drew him like a +magnet. Where that smell was very strong he wanted to lie down, and +wait. Yet with his desire there was also fear, and a steadily growing +caution. He did not tamper with the first KEKEK, nor with the second. +At the third Le Beau had fumbled in the placing of his bait, and for +that reason the little ball of fat was strong with the scent of his +hands. A fox would have turned away from it quickly. Miki, however, +drew it from the peg and dropped it in the snow between his forefeet. +Then he looked about him, and listened for a full minute. After that he +licked the ball of fat with his tongue. The scent of Le Beau's hands +kept him from swallowing it as he had swallowed the caribou meat. A +little suspiciously he crushed it slowly between his jaws. The fat was +sweet. He was about to gulp it down when he detected another and less +pleasant taste, and what remained in his mouth he spat out upon the +snow. But the acrid bite of the poison remained upon his tongue and in +his throat. It crept deeper—and he caught up a mouthful of snow and +swallowed it to put out the burning sensation that was crawling nearer +to his vitals. +</P> + +<P> +Had he devoured the ball of fat as he had eaten the other baits he +would have been dead within a quarter of an hour, and Le Beau would not +have gone far to find his body. As it was, he was beginning to turn +sick at the end of the fifteen minutes. A premonition of the evil that +was upon him drew him off the trail and in the direction of the +windfall. He had gone only a short distance when suddenly his legs gave +way under him, and he fell. He began to shiver. Every muscle in his +body trembled. His teeth clicked. His eyes grew wide, and it was +impossible for him to move. And then, like a hand throttling him, there +came a strange stiffness in the back of his neck, and his breath hissed +chokingly out of his throat. The stiffness passed like a wave of fire +through his body. Where his muscles had trembled and shivered a moment +before they now became rigid and lifeless. The throttling grip of the +poison at the base of his brain drew his head back until his muzzle was +pointed straight up to the sky. Still he made no cry. For a space every +nerve in his body was at the point of death. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the change. As though a string had snapped, the horrible grip +left the back of his neck; the stiffness shot out of his body in a +flood of shivering cold, and in another moment he was twisting and +tearing up the snow in mad convulsions. The spasm lasted for perhaps a +minute. When it was over Miki was panting. Streams of saliva dripped +from his jaws into the snow. But he was alive. Death had missed him by +a hair, and after a little he staggered to his feet and continued on +his way to the windfall. +</P> + +<P> +Thereafter Jacques Le Beau might place a million poison capsules in his +way and he would not touch them. Never again would he steal the meat +from a bait-peg. +</P> + +<P> +Two days later Le Beau saw where Miki had fought his fight with death +in the snow and his heart was black with rage and disappointment. He +began to follow the footprints of the dog. It was noon when he came to +the windfall and saw the beaten path where Miki entered it. On his +knees he peered into the cavernous depths—and saw nothing. But Miki, +lying watchfully, saw the man, and he was like the black, bearded +monster who had almost killed him with a club a long time ago. And in +his heart, too, there was disappointment, for away back in his memory +of things there was always the thought of Challoner—the master he had +lost; and it was never Challoner whom he found when he came upon the +man smell. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau heard his growl, and the man's blood leapt excitedly as he rose +to his feet. He could not go in after the wild dog, and he could not +lure him out. But there was another way. He would drive him out with +fire! +</P> + +<P> +Deep back in his fortress, Miki heard the crunch of Le Beau's feet in +the snow. A few minutes later he saw the man-beast again peering into +his lair. +</P> + +<P> +"BETE, BETE," he called half tauntingly, and again Miki growled. +</P> + +<P> +Jacques was satisfied. The windfall was not more than thirty or forty +feet in diameter, and about it the forest was open and clear of +undergrowth. It would be impossible for the wild dog to get away from +his rifle. +</P> + +<P> +A second time he went around the piled-up mass of fallen timber. On +three sides it was completely smothered under the deep snow. Only where +Miki's trail entered was it open. +</P> + +<P> +Getting the wind behind him Le Beau made his ISKOO of birch-bark and +dry wood at the far end of the windfall. The seasoned logs and +tree-tops caught the fire like tinder, and within a few minutes the +flames began to crackle and roar in a manner that made Miki wonder what +was happening. For a space the smoke did not reach him. Le Beau, +watching, with his rifle in his bare hands, did not for an instant let +his eyes leave the spot where the wild dog must come out. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a pungent whiff of smoke filled Miki's nostrils, and a thin +white cloud crept in a ghostly veil between him and the opening. A +crawling, snake-like rope of it began to pour between two logs within a +yard of him, and with it the strange roaring grew nearer and more +menacing. Then, for the first time, he saw lightning flashes of yellow +flame through the tangled debris as the fire ate into the heart of a +mass of pitch-filled spruce. In another ten seconds the flames leapt +twenty feet into the air, and Jacques Le Beau stood with his rifle half +to his shoulder, ready to kill. +</P> + +<P> +Appalled by the danger that was upon him, Miki did not forget Le Beau. +With an instinct sharpened to fox-like keenness his mind leapt +instantly to the truth of the matter. It was the man-beast who had set +this new enemy upon him; and out there, just beyond the opening, the +man-beast was waiting. So, like the fox, he did what Le Beau least +expected. He crawled back swiftly through the tangled tops until he +came to the wall of snow that shut the windfall in, and through this he +burrowed his way almost as quickly as the fox himself would have done +it. With his jaws he tore through the half-inch outer crust, and a +moment later stood in the open, with the fire between him and Le Beau. +</P> + +<P> +The windfall was a blazing furnace, and suddenly Le Beau ran back a +dozen steps so that he could see on the farther side. A hundred yards +away he saw Miki making for the deeper forest. +</P> + +<P> +It was a clear shot. At that distance Le Beau would have staked his +life that it was impossible for him to miss. He did not hurry. One +shot, and it would be over. He raised his rifle, and in that instant a +wisp of smoke came like the lash of a whip with the wind and caught him +fairly in the eyes, and his bullet passed three inches over Miki's +head. The whining snarl of it was a new thing to Miki. But he +recognized the thunder of the gun—and he knew what a gun could do. To +Le Beau, still firing at him through the merciful cloud of smoke, he +was like a gray streak flashing to the thick timber. Three times more +Le Beau fired. From the edge of a dense clump of spruce Miki flung back +a defiant howl. He disappeared as Le Beau's last shot shovelled up the +snow at his heels. +</P> + +<P> +The narrowness of his escape from the man-beast did not frighten Miki +out of the Jackson's Knee country. If anything, it held him more +closely to it. It gave him something to think about besides Neewa and +his aloneness. As the fox returns to peer stealthily upon the deadfall +that has almost caught him, so the trapline was possessed now of a new +thrill for Miki. Heretofore the man-smell had held for him only a vague +significance; now it marked the presence of a real and concrete danger. +And he welcomed it. His wits were sharpened. The fascination of the +trapline was deadlier than before. +</P> + +<P> +From the burned windfall he made a wide detour to a point where Le +Beau's snowshoe trail entered the edge of the swamp; and here, hidden +in a thick clump of bushes, he watched him as he travelled homeward +half an hour later. +</P> + +<P> +From that day he hung like a grim, gray ghost to the trapline. +Silent-footed, cautious, always on the alert for the danger which +threatened him, he haunted Jacques Le Beau's thoughts and footsteps +with the elusive persistence of a were-wolf—a loup-garou of the Black +Forest. Twice in the next week Le Beau caught a flash of him. Three +times he heard him howl. And twice he followed his trail until, in +despair and exhaustion, he turned back. Never was Miki caught unaware. +He ate no more baits in the trap-houses. Even when Le Beau lured him +with the whole carcass of a rabbit he would not touch it, nor would he +touch a rabbit frozen dead in a snare. From Le Beau's traps he took +only the living things, chiefly birds and squirrels and the big +web-footed snowshoe rabbits. And because a mink jumped at him once, and +tore open his nose, he destroyed a number of minks so utterly that +their pelts were spoiled. He found himself another windfall, but +instinct taught him now never to go to it directly, but to approach it, +and leave it, in a roundabout way. +</P> + +<P> +Day and night Le Beau, the man-brute, plotted against him. He set many +poison-baits. He killed a doe, and scattered strychnine in its +entrails. He built deadfalls, and baited them with meat soaked in +boiling fat. He made himself a "blind" of spruce and cedar boughs, and +sat for long hours, watching with his rifle. And still Miki was the +victor. +</P> + +<P> +One day Miki found a huge fisher-cat in one of the traps. He had not +forgotten the battle of long ago with Oochak, the other fisher-cat, or +the whipping he had received. But there was no thought of vengeance in +his heart on the early evening he became acquainted with Oochak the +Second. Usually he was in his windfall at dusk, but this afternoon a +great and devouring loneliness had held him on the trail. The spirit of +Kuskayetum—the hand of the mating-god—was pressing heavily upon him; +the consuming desire of flesh and blood for the companionship of other +flesh and blood. It burned in his veins like a fever. It took away from +him all thought of hunger or of the hunt. In his soul was a vast, +unfilled yearning. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that he came upon Oochak. Perhaps it was the same Oochak of +months ago. If so, he had grown even as Miki had grown. He was +splendid, with his long silken fur and his sleek body, and he was not +struggling, but sat awaiting his fate without excitement. To Miki he +looked warm and soft and comfortable. It made him think of Neewa, and +the hundred and one nights they had slept together. His desire leapt +out to Oochak. He whined softly as he advanced. He would make friends. +Even with Oochak, his old enemy, he would lie down in peace and +happiness, so great was the gnawing emptiness in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +Oochak made no response, nor did he move, but sat furred up like a huge +soft ball, watching Miki as he crept nearer on his belly. Something of +the old puppishness came back into the dog. He wriggled and thumped his +tail, and as he whined again he seemed to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's forget the old trouble, Oochak. Let's be friends. I've got a +fine windfall—and I'll kill you a rabbit." +</P> + +<P> +And still Oochak did not move or make a sound. At last Miki could +almost reach out with his forepaws and touch him. He dragged himself +still nearer, and his tail thumped harder. +</P> + +<P> +"And I'll get you out of the trap," he may have been saying. "It's the +man-beast's trap—and I hate him." +</P> + +<P> +And then, so suddenly that Miki had no chance to guard himself, Oochak +sprang the length of the trap-chain and was at him. With teeth and +razor-edged claws he tore deep gashes in Miki's nose. Even then the +blood of battle rose slowly in him, and he might have retreated had not +Oochak's teeth got a hold in his shoulder. With a roar he tried to +shake himself free, but Oochak held on. Then his jaws snapped at the +back of the fisher-cat's neck. When he was done Oochak was dead. +</P> + +<P> +He slunk away, but in him there was no more the thrill of the victor. +He had killed, but in killing he had found no joy. Upon him—the +four-footed beast—had fallen at last the oppression of the thing that +drives men mad. He stood in the heart of a vast world, and for him that +world was empty. He was an outcast. His heart crying out for +comradeship, he found that all things feared him or hated him. He was a +pariah; a wanderer without a friend or a home. He did not reason these +things but the gloom of them settled upon him like black night. +</P> + +<P> +He did not return to his windfall. In a little open he sat on his +haunches, listening to the night sounds, and watching the stars as they +came out. There was an early moon, and as it came up over the forest, a +great throbbing red disc that seemed filled with life, he howled +mournfully in the face of it. He wandered out into a big burn a little +later, and there the night was like day, so clear that his shadow +followed him and all other things about him cast shadows, And then, all +at once, he caught in the night wind a sound which he had heard many +times before. +</P> + +<P> +It came from far away, and it was like a whisper at first, an echo of +strange voices riding on the wind, A hundred times he had heard that +cry of the wolves. Since Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gashed his +shoulder so fiercely away back in the days of his puppyhood he had +evaded the path of that cry. He had learned, in a way, to hate it. But +he could not wipe out entirely the thrill that came with that call of +the blood. And to-night it rode over all his fear and hatred. Out there +was COMPANY. Whence the cry came the wild brethren were running two by +two, and three by three, and there was COMRADESHIP. His body quivered. +An answering cry rose in his throat, dying away in a whine, and for an +hour after that he heard no more of the wolf-cry in the wind. The pack +had swung to the west—so far away that their voices were lost. And it +passed—with the moon straight over them—close to the shack of +Pierrot, the halfbreed. +</P> + +<P> +In Pierrot's cabin was a white man, on his way to Fort O' God. He saw +that Pierrot crossed himself, and muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the mad pack," explained Pierrot then. "M'sieu, they have been +KESKWAO since the beginning of the new moon. In them are the spirits of +devils." +</P> + +<P> +He opened the cabin door a little, so that the mad cry of the beasts +came to them plainly. When he closed it there was in his eyes a look of +strange fear. +</P> + +<P> +"Now and then wolves go like that—KESKWAO (stark mad)—in the dead of +winter," he shuddered. "Three days ago there were twenty of them, +m'sieu, for I saw them with my own eyes, and counted their tracks in +the snow. Since then they been murdered and torn into strings by the +others of the pack. Listen to them ravin'! Can you tell me why, m'sieu? +Can you tell me why wolves sometimes go mad in the heart of winter when +there is no heat or rotten meat to turn them sick? NON? But I can tell +you. They are the loups-garous; in their bodies ride the spirits of +devils, and there they will ride until the bodies die. For the wolves +that go mad in the deep snows always die, m'sieu. That is the strange +part of it. THEY DIE!" +</P> + +<P> +And then it was, swinging eastward from the cabin of Pierrot, that the +mad wolves of Jackson's Knee came into the country of the big swamp +wherein trees bore the Double-X blaze of Jacques Le Beau's axe. There +were fourteen of them running in the moonlight. What it is that now and +then drives a wolf-pack mad in the dead of winter no man yet has wholly +learned. Possibly it begins with a "bad" wolf; just as a "bad" +sledge-dog, nipping and biting his fellows, will spread his distemper +among them until the team becomes an ugly, quarrelsome horde. Such a +dog the wise driver kills—or turns loose. +</P> + +<P> +The wolves that bore down upon Le Beau's country were red-eyed and +thin. Their bodies were covered with gashes, and the mouths of some +frothed blood. They did not run as wolves run for meat. They were a +sinister and suspicious lot, with a sneaking droop to their haunches, +and their cry was not the deep-throated cry of the hunt-pack but a +ravening clamour that seemed to have no leadership or cause. Scarcely +was the sound of their tongues gone beyond the hearing of Pierrot's +ears than one of the thin gray beasts rubbed against the shoulder of +another, and the second turned with the swiftness of a snake, like the +"bad" dog of the traces, and struck his fangs deep into the first +wolf's flesh. Could Pierrot have seen, he would have understood then +how the four he had found had come to their end. +</P> + +<P> +Swift as the snap of a whip-lash the fight between the two was on. The +other twelve of the pack stopped. They came back, circling in +cautiously and grimly silent about their fighting comrades. They ranged +themselves in a ring, as men gather about a fistic battle; and there +they waited, their jaws drooling, their fangs clicking, a low and eager +whining smothered in their throats. And then the thing happened. One of +the fighting wolves went down. He was on his back—and the end came. +The twelve wolves were upon him as one, and, like those Pierrot had +seen, he was torn to pieces, and his flesh devoured. After that the +thirteen went on deeper into Le Beau's country. +</P> + +<P> +Miki heard them again, after that hour's interval of silence. Farther +and farther he had wandered from the forest. He had crossed the "burn," +and was in the open plain, with the rough ridges cutting through and +the big river at the edge of it. It was not so gloomy out here, and his +loneliness weighed upon him less heavily than in the deep timber. +</P> + +<P> +And across this plain came the voice of the wolves. +</P> + +<P> +He did not move away from it to-night. He waited, silhouetted against +the vivid starlight at the crest of a rocky knoll, and the top of this +knoll was so small that another could not have stood beside him without +their shoulders touching. On all sides of him the plain swept away in +the white light of the stars and moon; never had the desire to respond +to the wild brethren urged itself upon him more fiercely than now. He +flung back his head, until his black-tipped muzzle pointed up to the +stars, and the voice rolled out of his throat. But it was only half a +howl. Even then, oppressed by his great loneliness, there gripped him +that something instinctive which warned him against betrayal. After +that he remained quiet, and as the wolves drew nearer his body grew +tense, his muscles hardened, and in his throat there was the low +whispering of a snarl instead of a howl. He sensed danger. He had +caught, in the voice of the wolves, the ravening note that had made +Pierrot cross himself and mutter of the loups-garous, and he crouched +down on his belly at the top of the rocky mound. +</P> + +<P> +Then he saw them. They were sweeping like dark and swiftly moving +shadows between him and the forest. Suddenly they stopped, and for a +few moments no sound came from them as they packed themselves closely +on the scent of his fresh trail in the snow. And then they surged in +his direction; this time there was a still fiercer madness in the wild +cry that rose from their throats. In a dozen seconds they were at the +mound. They swept around it and past it, all save one—a huge gray +brute who shot up the hillock straight at the prey the others had not +yet seen. There was a snarl in Miki's throat as he came. Once more he +was facing the thrill of a great fight. Once more the blood ran +suddenly hot in his veins, and fear was driven from him as the wind +drives smoke from a fire. If Neewa were only there now, to fend at his +back while he fought in front! He stood up on his feet. He met the +up-rushing pack-brute head to head. Their jaws clashed, and the wild +wolf found jaws at last that crunched through his own as if they had +been whelp's bone, and he rolled and twisted back to the plain in a +dying agony. But not until another gray form had come to fill his +place. Into the throat of this second Miki drove his fangs as the wolf +came over the crest. It was the slashing, sabre-like stroke of the +north-dog, and the throat of the wolf was torn open and the blood +poured out as if emptied by the blade of a knife. Down he plunged to +join the first, and in that instant the pack swept up and over Miki, +and he was smothered under the mass of their bodies. Had two or three +attacked him at once he would have died as quickly as the first two of +his enemies had come to their end. Numbers saved him in the first rush. +On the level of the plain he would have been torn into pieces like a +bit of cloth, but on the space at the top of the KOPJE, no larger than +the top of a table, he was lost for a few seconds under the snarling +and rending horde of his enemies. Fangs intended for him sank into +other wolf-flesh; the madness of the pack became a blind rage, and the +assault upon Miki turned into a slaughter of the wolves themselves. On +his back, held down by the weight of bodies, Miki drove his fangs again +and again into flesh. A pair of jaws seized him in the groin, and a +shock of agony swept through him. It was a death-grip, sinking steadily +into his vitals. Just in time another pair of jaws seized the wolf who +held him, and the hold in his groin gave way. In that moment Miki felt +himself plunging down the steep side of the knoll, and after him came a +half of what was left alive of the pack. +</P> + +<P> +The fighting devils in Miki's brain gave way all at once to that +cunning of the fox which had served him even more than claw and fang in +times of great danger. Scarcely had he reached the plain before he was +on his feet, and no sooner had he touched his feet than he was off like +the wind in direction of the river. He had gained a fifty-yard start +before the first of the wolves discovered his flight. There were only +eight that followed him now. Of the thirteen mad beasts five were dead +or dying at the foot of the hillock. Of these Miki had slain two. The +others had fallen at the fangs of their own brethren. +</P> + +<P> +Half a mile away were the steep cliffs of the river, and at the edge of +these cliffs was a great cairn of rocks in which for one night Miki had +sought shelter. He had not forgotten the tunnel into the tumbled mass +of rock debris, nor how easily it could be defended from within. Once +in that tunnel he would turn in the door of it and slaughter his +enemies one by one, for only one by one could they attack him. But he +had not reckoned with that huge gray form behind him that might have +been named Lightning, the fiercest and swiftest of all the mad wolves +of the pack. He sped ahead of his slower-footed companions like a +streak of light, and Miki had made but half the distance to the cairn +when he heard the panting breath of Lightning behind him. Even Hela, +his father, could not have run more swiftly than Miki, but great as was +Miki's speed, Lightning ran more swiftly. Two thirds of the distance to +the cliff and the huge wolf's muzzle was at Miki's flank. With a burst +of speed Miki gained a little. Then steadily Lightning drew abreast of +him, a grim and merciless shadow of doom. +</P> + +<P> +A hundred yards farther on and a little to the right was the cairn. But +Miki could not run to the right without turning into Lightning's jaws, +and he realized now that if he reached the cairn his enemy would be +upon him before he could dive into the tunnel and face about. To stop +and fight would be death, for behind he could hear the other wolves. +Ten seconds more and the chasm of the river yawned ahead of them. +</P> + +<P> +At its very brink Miki swung and struck at Lightning. He sensed death +now, and in the face of death all his hatred turned upon the one beast +that had run at his side. In an instant they were down. Two yards from +the edge of the cliff, and Miki's jaws were at Lightning's throat when +the pack rushed upon them. They were swept onward. The earth flew out +from under their feet, and they were in space. Grimly Miki held to the +throat of his foe. Over and over they twisted in mid-air, and then came +a terrific shock. Lightning was under. Yet so great was the shock, +that, even though the wolf's huge body was under him like a cushion, +Miki was stunned and dazed. A minute passed before he staggered to his +feet. Lightning lay still, the life smashed out of him. A little beyond +him lay the bodies of two other wolves that in their wild rush had +swept over the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Miki looked up. Between him and the stars he could see the top of the +cliff, a vast distance above him. One after the other he smelled at the +bodies of the three dead wolves. Then he limped slowly along the base +of the cliff until he came to a fissure between two huge rocks. Into +this he crept and lay down, licking his wounds. After all there were +worse things in the world than Le Beau's trapline. Perhaps there were +even worse things than men. +</P> + +<P> +After a time he stretched his great head out between his fore-paws, and +slowly the starlight grew dimmer, and the snow less white, and he slept. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER FIFTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +In a twist of Three Jackpine River, buried in the deep of the forest +between the Shamattawa country and Hudson Bay, was the cabin in which +lived Jacques Le Beau, the trapper. There was not another man in all +that wilderness who was the equal of Le Beau in wickedness—unless it +was Durant, who hunted foxes a hundred miles north, and who was +Jacques's rival in several things. A giant in size, with a heavy, +sullen face and eyes which seemed but half-hidden greenish loopholes +for the pitiless soul within him—if he had a soul at all—Le Beau was +a "throw-back" of the worst sort. In their shacks and teepees the +Indians whispered softly that all the devils of his forebears had +gathered in him. +</P> + +<P> +It was a grim kind of fate that had given to Le Beau a wife. Had she +been a witch, an evil-doer and an evil-thinker like himself, the thing +would not have been such an abortion of what should have been. But she +was not that. Sweet-faced, with something of unusual beauty still in +her pale cheeks and starving eyes—trembling at his approach and a +slave in his presence—she was, like his dogs, the PROPERTY of The +Brute. And the woman had a baby. One had already died; and it was the +thought that this one might die, as the other had died, that brought at +times the new flash of fire into her dark eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Le bon Dieu—I pray to the Blessed Angels—I swear you SHALL live!" +she would cry to it at times, hugging it close to her breast. And it +was at these times that the fire came into her eyes, and her pale +cheeks flushed with a smouldering bit of the flame that had once been +her beauty. "Some day—SOME DAY—" +</P> + +<P> +But she never finished, even to the child, what was in her mind. +Sometimes her dreams were filled with visions. The world was still +young, and SHE was not old. She was thinking of that as she stood +before the cracked bit of mirror in the cabin, brushing out her hair, +that was black and shining and so long that it fell to her hips. Of her +beauty her hair had remained. It was defiant of The Brute. And deep +back in her eyes, and in her face, there were still the living, hidden +traces of her girlhood heritage ready to bloom again if Fate, mending +its error at last, would only take away forever the crushing presence +of the Master. She stood a little longer before the bit of glass when +she heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow outside. +</P> + +<P> +Swiftly what had been in her face was gone. Le Beau had been away on +his trapline since yesterday, and his return filled her with the old +dread. Twice he had caught her before the mirror and had called her +vile names for wasting her time in admiring herself when she might have +been scraping the fat from his pelts. The second time he had sent her +reeling back against the wall, and had broken the mirror until the bit +she treasured now was not much larger than her two slim hands. She +would not be caught again. She ran with the glass to the place where +she kept it in hiding, and then quickly she wove the heavy strands of +her hair into a braid. The strange, dead look of fear and foreboding +closed like a veil over the secrets her eyes had disclosed to herself. +She turned, as she always turned in her woman's hope and yearning, to +greet him when he entered. +</P> + +<P> +The Brute entered, a dark and surly monster. He was in a wicked humour. +His freshly caught furs he flung to the floor. He pointed to them, and +his eyes were narrowed to menacing slits as they fell upon her. +</P> + +<P> +"He was there again—that devil!" he growled. "See, he has spoiled the +fisher, and he has cleaned out my baits and knocked down the +trap-houses. Par les mille cornes du diable, but I will kill him! I +have sworn to cut him into bits with a knife when I catch him—and +catch him I will, to-morrow. See to it there—the skins—when you have +got me something to eat. Mend the fisher where he is torn in two, and +cover the seam well with fat so that the agent over at the post will +not discover it is bad. Tonnerre de Dieu!—that brat! Why do you always +keep his squalling until I come in? Answer me, Bete!" +</P> + +<P> +Such was his greeting. He flung his snowshoes into a corner, stamped +the snow off his feet, and got himself a fresh plug of black tobacco +from a shelf over the stove. Then he went out again, leaving the woman +with a cold tremble in her heart and the wan desolation of hopelessness +in her face as she set about getting him food. +</P> + +<P> +From the cabin Le Beau went to his dog-pit, a corral of saplings with a +shelter-shack in the centre of it. It was The Brute's boast that he had +the fiercest pack of sledge-dogs between Hudson Bay and the Athabasca. +It was his chief quarrel with Durant, his rival farther north; and his +ambition was to breed a pup that would kill the fighting husky which +Durant brought down to the Post with him each winter at New Year. This +season he had chosen Netah ("The Killer") for the big fight at God's +Lake. On the day he would gamble his money and his reputation against +Durant's, his dog would be just one month under two years of age. It +was Netah he called from out of the pack now. +</P> + +<P> +The dog slunk to him with a low growl in his throat, and for the first +time something like joy shone in Le Beau's face. He loved to hear that +growl. He loved to see the red and treacherous glow in Netah's eyes, +and hear the menacing click of his jaws. Whatever of nobility might +have been in Netah's blood had been clubbed out by the man. They were +alike, in that their souls were dead. And Netah, for a dog, was a +devil. For that reason Le Beau had chosen him to fight the big fight. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau looked down at him, and drew a deep breath of satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"OW! but you are looking fine, Netah," he exulted. "I can almost see +running blood in those devil-eyes of yours; OUI—red blood that smells +and runs, as the blood of Durant's POOS shall run when you sink those +teeth in its jugular. And to-morrow we are going to give you the +test—such a beautiful test!—with the wild dog that is robbing my +traps and tearing my fishers into bits. For I will catch him, and you +shall fight him until he is almost dead; and then I shall cut his heart +out alive, as I have promised, and you will eat it while it is still +beating, so that there will be no excuse for your losing to that POOS +which M'sieu Durant will bring down. COMPRENEZ? It will be a beautiful +test—to-morrow. And if you fail I will kill you. OUI; if you so much +as let a whimper out of you, I will kill you—dead." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER SIXTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +That same night, ten miles to the west, Miki slept under a windfall of +logs and treetops not more than half a mile from Le Beau's trapline. +</P> + +<P> +In the early dawn, when Le Beau left his cabin, accompanied by Netah, +The Killer, Miki came out from under his windfall after a night of +troublous dreams. He had dreamed of those first weeks after he had lost +his master, when Neewa was always at his side; and the visions that had +come to him filled him with an uneasiness and a loneliness that made +him whine as he stood watching the dark shadows fading away before the +coming of day. Could Le Beau have seen him there, as the first of the +cold sun struck upon him, the words which he had repeated over and over +to The Killer would have stuck in his throat. For at eleven months of +age Miki was a young giant of his breed. He weighed sixty pounds, and +none of that sixty was fat. His body was as slim and as lean as a +wolf's. His chest was massive, and over it the muscles rolled like +BABICHE cord when he moved. His legs were like the legs of Hela, the +big Mackenzie hound who was his father; and with his jaws he could +crack a caribou bone as Le Beau might have cracked it with a stone. For +eight of the eleven months of his life the wilderness had been his +master; it had tempered him to the hardness of living steel; it had +wrought him without abeyance to age in the mould of its pitiless +schooling—had taught him to fight for his life, to kill that he might +live, and to use his brain before he used his jaws. He was as powerful +as Netah, The Killer, who was twice his age, and with his strength he +possessed a cunning and a quickness which The Killer would never know. +Thus had the raw wilderness prepared him for this day. +</P> + +<P> +As the sun fired up the forest with a cold flame Miki set off in +direction of Le Beau's trapline. He came to where Le Beau had passed +yesterday and sniffed suspiciously of the man-smell that was still +strong in the snowshoe tracks. He had become accustomed to this smell, +but he had not lost his suspicion of it. It was repugnant to him, even +as it fascinated him. It filled him with an inexplicable fear, and yet +he found himself powerless to run away from it. Three times in the last +ten days he had seen the man-brute himself. Once he had been hiding +within a dozen yards of Le Beau when he passed. +</P> + +<P> +This morning he headed straight for the swamp through which Le Beau's +traps were set. There the rabbits were thickest and it was in the swamp +that they most frequently got in Jacques's KEKEKS—the little houses he +built of sticks and cedar boughs to keep the snow off his baits. They +were so numerous that they were a pest, and each time that Le Beau made +his trip over the line he found at least two out of every three traps +sprung by them, and therefore made useless for the catching of fur. +But, where there were many rabbits there were also fishers and lynx, +and in spite of the rage which the plague of rabbits sent him into, Le +Beau continued to set his traps there. And now, in addition to the +rabbits, he had the wild dog to contend with. +</P> + +<P> +His heart was fired by a vengeful anticipation as he hurried on through +the glow of the early sun, with The Killer at his heels, led by a +BABICHE thong. Miki was nosing about the first trap-house as Netah and +Le Beau entered the edge of the swamp, three miles to the east. +</P> + +<P> +It was in this KEKEK that Miki had killed the fisher-cat the previous +morning. It was empty now. Even the bait-peg was gone, and there was no +sign of a trap. A quarter of a mile farther on he came to a second +trap-house, and this also was empty. He was a bit puzzled. And then he +went on to the third house. He stood for several minutes, sniffing the +air still more suspiciously, before he drew close to it. The man-tracks +were thicker here. The snow was beaten down with them, and the scent of +Le Beau was so strong in the air that for a space Miki believed he was +near. Then he advanced so that he got a look into the door of the +trap-house. Squatted there, staring at him with big round eyes, was a +huge snowshoe rabbit. A premonition of danger held Miki back. It was +something in the attitude of Wapoos, the old rabbit. He was not like +the others he had caught along Le Beau's line. He was not struggling in +a trap; he was not stretched out, half frozen, and he was not dangling +at the end of a snare. He was all furred up into a warm and comfortable +looking ball. As a matter of fact, Le Beau had caught him with his +hands in a hollow log, and had tied him to the bait peg with a piece of +buck-skin string; and after that, just out of Wapoos's reach, he had +set a nest of traps and covered them with snow. +</P> + +<P> +Nearer and nearer to this menace drew Miki, in spite of the +unaccountable impulse that warned him to keep back. Wapoos, fascinated +by his slow and deadly advance, made no movement, but sat as if frozen +into stone. Then Miki was at him. His powerful jaws closed with a +crunch. In the same instant there came the angry snap of steel and a +fisher-trap closed on one of his hind feet. With a snarl he dropped +Wapoos and turned upon it, SNAP—SNAP—SNAP went three more of +Jacques's nest of traps. Two of them missed. The third caught him by a +front paw. As he had caught Wapoos, and as he had killed the +fisher-cat, so now he seized this new and savage enemy between his +jaws. His fangs crunched on the cold steel; he literally tore it from +his paw so that blood streamed forth and strained the snow red. Madly +he twisted himself to get at his hind foot. On this foot the +fisher-trap had secured a hold that was unbreakable. He ground it +between his jaws until the blood ran from his mouth. He was fighting it +when Le Beau came out from behind a clump of spruce twenty yards away +with The Killer at his heels. +</P> + +<P> +The Brute stopped. He was panting, and his eyes were aflame. Two +hundred yards away he had heard the clinking of the trap-chain. +</P> + +<P> +"OW! he is there," he gasped, tightening his hold on The Killer's lead +thong. "He is there, Netah, you Red Eye! That is the robber devil you +are to kill—almost. I will unfasten you, and then—GO TO!" +</P> + +<P> +Miki, no longer fighting the trap, was eyeing them as they advanced. In +this moment of peril he felt no fear of the man. In his veins the hot +blood raged with a killing madness. The truth leapt upon him in a flash +of instinctive awakening. These two were his enemies instead of the +thing on his foot—the man-beast, and Netah, The Killer. He +remembered—as if it were yesterday. This was not the first time he had +seen a man with a club in his hand. And Le Beau held a club. But he was +not afraid. His steady eyes watched Netah. Unleashed by his master, The +Killer stood on stiff legs a dozen feet away, the wiry crest along his +spine erect, his muscles tense. +</P> + +<P> +Miki heard the man-beast's voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to, you devil! GO TO!" +</P> + +<P> +Miki waited, without the quiver of a muscle. Thus much he had learned +of his hard lessons in the wilderness—to wait, and watch, and use his +cunning. He was flat on his belly, his nose between his forepaws. His +lips were drawn back a little, just a little; but he made no sound, and +his eyes were as steady as two points of flame. Le Beau stared. He felt +suddenly a new thrill, and it was not the thrill of his desire for +vengeance. Never had he seen a lynx or a fox or a wolf in a trap like +that. Never had he seen a dog with eyes like the eyes that were on +Netah. For a moment he held his breath. +</P> + +<P> +Foot by foot, and then almost inch by inch, The Killer crept in. Ten +feet, eight, six—and all that time Miki made no move, never winked an +eye. With a snarl like that of a tiger, Netah came at him. +</P> + +<P> +What happened then was the most marvellous thing that Jacques Le Beau +had ever seen. So swiftly that his eyes could scarcely follow the +movement, Miki had passed like a flash under the belly of Netah, and +turning then at the end of his trap chain he was at The Killer's throat +before Le Beau could have counted ten. They were down, and The Brute +gripped the club in his hand and stared like one fascinated. He heard +the grinding crunch of jaws, and he knew they were the Wild Dog's jaws; +he heard a snarl choking slowly into a wheezing sob of agony, and he +knew that the sound came from The Eller. The blood rose into his face. +The red fire in his eyes grew livid—a blaze of exultation, of triumph. +</P> + +<P> +"TONNERRE DE DIEU! he is choking the life out of Netah!" he gasped. +"NON, I have never seen a dog like that. I will keep him alive; and he +shall fight Durant's POOS over at Post Fort O' God! By the belly of +Saint Gris, I say—" +</P> + +<P> +The Killer was as good as dead if left another minute. With upraised +club Le Beau advanced. As he sank his fangs deeper into Netah's throat +Miki saw the new danger out of the corner of his eye. He loosed his +jaws and swung himself free of The Killer as the club descended. He +only partly evaded the smashing blow, which caught him on the shoulder +and knocked him down. Quick as a flash he was on his feet and had +lunged at Le Beau. The Frenchman was a master with the club. All his +life he had used it, and he brought it around in a sudden side-swing +that landed with terrific force against Miki's head. The blood spurted +from his mouth and nostrils. He was dazed and half blinded. He leapt +again, and the club caught him once more. He heard Le Beau's ferocious +cry of joy. A third, a fourth, and a fifth time he went down under the +club, and Le Beau no longer laughed, but swung his weapon with a look +that was half fear in his eyes. The sixth time the club missed, and +Miki's jaws closed against The Brute's chest, ripping away the thick +coat and shirt as if they had been of paper, and leaving on Le Beau's +skin a bleeding gash. Ten inches more—a little better vision in his +blood-dimmed eyes—and he would have reached the man's throat. A great +cry rose out of Le Beau. For an instant he felt the appalling nearness +of death. +</P> + +<P> +"Netah! Netah!" he cried, and swung the club wildly. +</P> + +<P> +Netah did not respond. It may be that in this moment he sensed the fact +that it was his master who had made him into a monster. About him was +the wilderness, opening its doors of freedom. When Le Beau called again +The Killer was slinking away, dripping blood as he went—and this was +the last that Le Beau saw of him. Probably he joined the wolves, for +The Killer was a quarter-strain wild. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau got no more than a glimpse of him as he disappeared. His +club-arm shot out again, a clean miss; and this time it was pure chance +that saved him. The trap-chain caught, and Miki fell back when his hot +breath was almost at The Brute's jugular. He fell upon his side. Before +he could recover himself the club was pounding his head into the snow. +The world grew black. He no longer had the power to move. Lying as if +dead he still heard over him the panting, exultant voice of the +man-beast. For Le Beau, black though his heart was, could not keep back +a prayerful cry of thankfulness that he was victor—and had missed +death, though by a space no wider than the link of a chain. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +Nanette, the woman, saw Jacques come out of the edge of the timber late +in the afternoon, dragging something on the snow behind him. In her +heart, ever since her husband had begun to talk about him, she had kept +secret to herself a pity for the wild dog. Long before the last baby +had come she had loved a dog. It was this dog that had given her the +only real affection she had known in the company of The Brute, and with +barbarous cruelty Le Beau had driven it from her. Nanette herself had +encouraged it to seek freedom in the wilderness, as Netah had at last +sought his. Therefore she had prayed that the wild dog of the trapline +might escape. +</P> + +<P> +As Le Beau came nearer she saw that what he drew after him upon the +snow was a sledge-drag made of four lengths of sapling, and when, a +moment later, she looked down at its burden, she gave a little cry of +horror. +</P> + +<P> +Miki's four feet were tied so firmly to the pieces of sapling that he +could not move. A cord about his neck was fastened to one of the +crossbars, and over his jaws Le Beau had improvised a muzzle of +unbreakable BABICHE thong. He had done all this before Miki regained +consciousness after the clubbing. The woman stared, and there was a +sudden catch in her breath after the little cry that had fallen from +her lips. Many times she had seen Jacques club his dogs, but never had +she seen one clubbed like this. Miki's head and shoulders were a mass +of frozen blood. And then she saw his eyes. They were looking straight +up at her. She turned, fearing that Jacques might see what was in her +face. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau dragged his burden straight into the cabin, and then stood back +and rubbed his hands as he looked at Miki on the floor. Nanette saw +that he was in a strangely good humour, and waited. +</P> + +<P> +"By the Blessed Saints, but you should have seen him kill +Netah—almost," he exulted. "OUI; he had him down by the throat quicker +than you could flash your eye, and twice he was within an inch of my +life when I fought him with the club. DIEU! I say, what will happen to +Durant's dog when they meet at Post Fort 0' God? I will make a side +wager that he kills him before the second-hand of LE FACTEUR'S watch, +goes round twice. He is splendid! Watch him, Nanette, while I go make a +corral for him alone. If I put him in with the pack he will kill them +all." +</P> + +<P> +Miki's eyes followed him as he disappeared through the cabin door. Then +he looked swiftly back to Nanette. She had drawn nearer. Her eyes were +shining as she bent over him. A snarl rose in Miki's throat, and died +there. For the first time he was looking upon WOMAN. He sensed, all at +once, a difference as vast as the world itself. In his bruised and +broken body his heart stood still. Nanette spoke to him. Never in his +life had he heard a voice like hers—soft and gentle, with a breaking +sob in it; and then—miracle of miracles—she had dropped on her knees +and her hands were at his head! +</P> + +<P> +In that instant his spirit leapt back through the generations—back +beyond his father, and his father's father; back to that far day when +the blood in the veins of his race was "just dog," and he romped with +children, and listened to the call of woman, and worshipped at the +shrine of humankind. And now the woman had run quickly to the stove, +and was back again with a dish of warm water and a soft cloth, and was +bathing his head, talking to him all the time in that gentle, +half-sobbing voice of pity and of love. He closed his eyes—no longer +afraid. A great sigh heaved out of his body. He wanted to put out his +tongue and lick the slim white hands that were bringing him peace and +comfort. And then the strangest thing of all happened. In the crib the +baby sat up and began to prattle. It was a new note to Miki, a new song +of Life's spring-tide to him, but it thrilled him as nothing else in +all the world had ever thrilled him before. He opened his eyes +wide—and whined. +</P> + +<P> +A laugh of joy—new and strange even to herself—came into the woman's +voice, and she ran to the crib and returned with the baby in her arms. +She knelt down beside him again, and the baby, at sight of this strange +plaything on the floor, thrust out its little arms, and kicked its tiny +moccasined feet, and cooed and laughed and squirmed until Miki strained +at his thongs to get a little nearer that he might touch this wonderful +creature with his nose. He forgot his pain. He no longer sensed the +agony of his bruised and beaten jaws. He did not feel the numbness of +his tightly bound and frozen legs. Every instinct in him was centred in +these two. +</P> + +<P> +And the woman, now, was beautiful. She UNDERSTOOD; and the gentle heart +throbbed in her bosom, forgetful of The Brute. Her eyes glowed with the +soft radiance of stars. Into her pale cheeks came a sweet flush. She +sat the baby down, and with the cloth and warm water continued to bathe +Miki's head. Le Beau, had he been human, must have worshipped her then +as she knelt there, all that was pure and beautiful in motherhood, an +angel of mercy, radiant for a moment in her forgetfulness of HIM. And +Le Beau DID enter—and see her—so quietly that for a space she did not +realize his presence; and with him staring down on her she continued to +talk and laugh and half sob, and the baby kicked and prattled and flung +out its little arms wildly in the joy of these exciting moments. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau's thick lips drew back in an ugly leer, and he gave a savage +curse. Nanette flinched as if struck a blow. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up, you fool!" he snarled. +</P> + +<P> +She obeyed, shrinking back with the baby in her arms. Miki saw the +change, and the greenish fire returned into his eyes when he caught +sight of Le Beau. A deep and wolfish snarl rose in his throat. +</P> + +<P> +Le Beau turned on Nanette. The glow and the flush had not quite gone +from her eyes and cheeks as she stood with the baby hugged up to her +breast, and her big shining braid had fallen over her shoulder, +glistening with a velvety fire in the light that came through the +western window. But Le Beau saw nothing of this. +</P> + +<P> +"If you make a POOS (a house-kitten) of that dog—a thing like you made +of Minoo, the breed-bitch, I will—" +</P> + +<P> +He did not finish, but his huge hands were clinched, and there was an +ugly passion in his eyes. Nanette needed no more than that. She +understood. She had received many blows, but there was the memory of +one that never left her, night or day. Some day, if she could ever get +to Post Fort O' God, and had the courage, she would tell LE FACTEUR of +that blow—how Jacques Le Beau, her husband, struck it at the nursing +time, and her bosom was so hurt that the baby of two years ago had +died. She would tell it, when she knew she and the baby would be safe +from the vengeance of the Brute. And only LE FACTEUR—the Big Man at +Post Fort O' God a hundred miles away—was powerful enough to save her. +</P> + +<P> +It was well that Le Beau did not read this thought in her mind now. +With his warning he turned to Miki and dragged him out of the cabin to +a cage made of saplings in which the winter before he had kept two live +foxes. A small chain ten feet in length he fastened around Miki's neck +and then to one of the sapling bars before he thrust his prisoner +inside the door of the prison and freed him by cutting the BABICHE +thongs with a knife. +</P> + +<P> +For several minutes after that Miki lay still while the blood made its +way slowly through his numbed and half-frozen limbs. At last he +staggered to his feet, and then it was that Le Beau chuckled jubilantly +and turned back to the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +And now followed many days that were days of hell and torment for +him—an unequal struggle between the power of The Brute and the spirit +of the Dog. +</P> + +<P> +"I must break you—OW! by the Christ! I WILL break you!"—Le Beau would +say time and again when he came with the club and the whip. "I will +make you crawl to me—OUI, and when I say fight you will fight!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a small cage, so small that Miki could not get away from the +reach of the club and the whip. They maddened him—for a time, and Le +Beau's ugly soul was filled with joy as Miki launched himself again and +again at the sapling bars, tearing at them with his teeth and frothing +blood like a wolf gone mad. For twenty years Le Beau had trained +fighting dogs, and this was his way. So he had done with Netah until +The Killer was mastered, and at his call crept to him on his belly. +</P> + +<P> +Three times, from a window in the cabin, Nanette looked forth on these +horrible struggles between the man and the dog, and the third time she +buried her face in her arms and sobbed; and when Le Beau came in and +found her crying he dragged her to the window and made her look out +again at Miki, who lay bleeding and half dead in the cage. It was a +morning on which he started the round of his traps, and he was always +gone until late the following day. And never was he more than well out +of sight than Nanette would run out and go to the cage. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Miki forgot The Brute. At times so beaten and blinded +that he could scarcely stand or see, he would crawl to the bars of the +cage and caress the soft hands that Nanette held in fearlessly to him. +And then, after a little, Nanette began to bring the baby out with her, +bundled up like a little Eskimo, and in his joy Miki whimpered and +wagged his tail and grovelled in his worship before these two. +</P> + +<P> +It was in the second week of his captivity that the wonderful thing +happened. Le Beau was gone, and there was a raging blizzard outside to +which Nanette dared not expose the baby. So she went to the cage, and +with a heart that beat wildly, she unbarred the door—and brought Miki +into the cabin! If Le Beau should ever discover what she had done—! +</P> + +<P> +The thought made her shiver. +</P> + +<P> +After this first time she brought him into the cabin again and again. +Once her heart stood still when Le Beau saw blood on the floor, and his +eyes shot at her suspiciously. Then she lied. +</P> + +<P> +"I cut my finger she said," and a moment later, with her back to him, +she DID cut it, and when Jacques looked at her hand he saw a cloth +about the finger, with blood-stain on it. +</P> + +<P> +After that Nanette always watched the floor carefully. +</P> + +<P> +More and more this cabin, with the woman and the baby in it, became a +paradise for Miki. Then came the time when Nanette dared to keep him in +the cabin with her all night, and lying close to the precious cradle +Miki never once took his eyes from her. It was late when she prepared +for bed. She changed into a long, soft robe, and then, sitting near +Miki, with her bare little feet in the fireglow, she took down her +wonderful hair and began brushing it. It was the first time Miki had +seen this new and marvellous garment about her. It fell over her +shoulders and breast and almost to the floor in a shimmering glory, and +the scent of it was so sweet that Miki crept a few inches nearer, and +whimpered softly. After she had done brushing it Miki watched her as +her slim fingers plaited it into two braids; and then, before she put +the light out, a still more curious thing happened. She went to her +bed, made of saplings, against the wall, and from its hiding place +under the blankets drew forth tenderly a little ivory Crucifix. With +this in her hands she knelt upon the log floor, and Miki listened to +her prayer. He did not know, but she was asking God to be good to her +baby—the little Nanette in the crib. +</P> + +<P> +After that she cuddled the baby up in her arms, and put out the light, +and went to bed; and through all the hours of the night Miki made no +sound that would waken them. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning, when Nanette opened her eyes, she found Miki with his +head resting on the edge of the bed, close to the baby that was nestled +against her bosom. +</P> + +<P> +That morning, as she built the fire, something strange and stirring in +Nanette's breast made her sing. Le Beau would be away until dark that +night, and she would never dare to tell him what she and the baby and +the dog were going to do. It was her birthday. Twenty-six; and it +seemed to her that she had lived the time of two lives! And eight of +those years with The Brute! But to-day they would celebrate, they +three. All the morning the cabin was filled with a new spirit—a new +happiness. +</P> + +<P> +Years ago, before she had met Le Beau, the Indians away back on the +Waterfound had called Nanette "Tanta Penashe" ("the Little Bird") +because of the marvellous sweetness of her voice. And this morning she +sang as she prepared the birthday feast; the sun flooded through the +windows, and Miki whimpered happily and thumped his tail, and the baby +cackled and crowed, and The Brute was forgotten. In that forgetfulness +Nanette was a girl again, sweet and beautiful as in those days when old +Jackpine, the Cree—who was now dead—had told her that she was born of +the flowers. The wonderful dinner was ready at last, and to the baby's +delight Nanette induced Miki to sit on a chair at the table. He felt +foolish there, and he looked so foolish that Nanette laughed until her +long dark lashes were damp with tears; and then, when Miki slunk down +from the chair, feeling his shame horribly, she ran to him and put her +arms around him and pleaded with him until he took his place at the +table again. +</P> + +<P> +So the day passed until mid-afternoon, when Nanette cleared away all +signs of the celebration and locked Miki in his cage. It was fortunate +she was ahead of time, for scarcely was she done when Le Beau came into +the edge of the clearing, and with him was Durant, his acquaintance and +rival from the edge of the Barrens farther north. Durant had sent his +outfit on to Port O' God by an Indian, and had struck south and west +with two dogs and a sledge to visit a cousin for a day or two. He was +on his way to the Post when he came upon Le Beau on his trapline. +</P> + +<P> +Thus much Le Beau told Nanette, and Nanette looked at Durant with +startled eyes. They were a good pair, Jacques and his guest, only that +Durant was older. She had become somewhat accustomed to the brutality +in Le Beau's face, but she thought that Durant was a monster. He made +her afraid, and she was glad when they went from the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I will show you the BETE that is going to kill your POOS as easily +as your lead-whelp killed that rabbit to-day, m'sieu," exulted Jacques. +"I have told you but you have not seen!" +</P> + +<P> +And he took with him the club and the whip. +</P> + +<P> +Like a tiger fresh out of the jungles Miki responded to the club and +the whip to-day, until Durant himself stood aghast, and exclaimed under +his breath: "MON DIEU! he is a devil!" +</P> + +<P> +From the window Nanette saw what was happening, and out of her rose a +cry of anguish. Sudden as a burst of fire there arose in +her—triumphant at last and unafraid—that thing which for years The +Brute had crushed back: her womanhood resurrected! Her soul broken free +of its shackles! Her faith, her strength, her courage! She turned from +the window and ran to the door, and out over the snow to the cage; and +for the first time in her life she struck at Le Beau, and beat fiercely +at the arm that was wielding the club. +</P> + +<P> +"You beast!" she cried. "I tell you, you SHALL NOT! Do you hear? You +SHALL NOT!" +</P> + +<P> +Paralyzed with amazement, The Brute stood still. Was this Nanette, his +slave? This wonderful creature with eyes that were glowing fire and +defiance, and a look in her face that he had never seen in any woman's +face before? NON—impossible! Hot rage rose in him, and with a single +sweep of his powerful arm he flung her back so that she fell to the +earth. With a wild curse he lifted the bar of the cage door. +</P> + +<P> +"I will kill him, now; I will KILL him!" he almost shrieked. "And it is +YOU—YOU—you she-devil! who shall eat his heart alive! I will force it +down your throat: I will—" +</P> + +<P> +He was dragging Miki forth by the chain. The club rose as Miki's head +came through. In another instant it would have beaten his head to a +pulp—but Nanette was between it and the dog like a flash, and the blow +went wild. It was with his fist that Le Beau struck out now, and the +blow caught Nanette on the shoulder and sent her frail body down with a +crash. The Brute sprang upon her. His fingers gripped in her thick, +soft hair. +</P> + +<P> +And then— +</P> + +<P> +From Durant came a warning cry. It was too late. A lean gray streak of +vengeance and retribution, Miki was at the end of his chain and at Le +Beau's throat. Nanette HEARD! Through dazed eyes she SAW! She reached +out gropingly and struggled to her feet, and looked just once down upon +the snow. Then, with a terrible cry, she staggered toward the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +When Durant gathered courage to drag Le Beau out of Miki's reach Miki +made no movement to harm him. Again, perhaps, it was the Beneficent +Spirit that told him his duty was done. He went back into his cage, and +lying there on his belly looked forth at Durant. +</P> + +<P> +And Durant, looking at the blood-stained snow and the dead body of The +Brute, whispered to himself again: +</P> + +<P> +"MON DIEU! he is a devil!" +</P> + +<P> +In the cabin, Nanette was upon her knees before the crucifix. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN +</H3> + +<P> +There are times when death is a shock, but not a grief. And so it was +with Nanette Le Beau. With her own eyes she had looked upon the +terrible fate of her husband, and it was not in her gentle soul to weep +or wish him alive again. At last there had overtaken him what LE BON +DIEU had intended him to receive some day: justice. And for the baby's +sake more than her own Nanette was not sorry. Durant, whose soul was +only a little less wicked than the dead man's, had not even waited for +a prayer—had not asked her what to do. He had chopped a hole in the +frozen earth and had buried Le Beau almost before his body was cold. +And Nanette was not sorry for that. The Brute was gone. He was gone for +ever. He would never strike her again. And because of the baby she +offered up a prayer of gratitude to God. +</P> + +<P> +In his prison-cage of sapling bars Miki cringed on his belly at the end +of his chain. He had scarcely moved since those terrible moments in +which he had torn the life out of the man-brute's throat. He had not +even growled at Durant when he dragged the body away. Upon him had +fallen a fearful and overwhelming oppression. He was not thinking of +his own brutal beatings, or of the death which Le Beau had been about +to inflict upon him with the club; he did not feel the presence of pain +in his bruised and battered body, nor in his bleeding jaws and +whip-lashed eyes. He was thinking of Nanette, the woman. Why had she +run away with that terrible cry when he killed the man-beast? Was it +not the man-beast who had struck her down, and whose hands were at her +white throat when he sprang the length of his chain and tore out his +jugular? Then why was it that she ran away, and did not come back? +</P> + +<P> +He whimpered softly. +</P> + +<P> +The afternoon was almost gone, and the early gloom of mid-winter night +in the Northland was settling thickly over the forests. In that gloom +the dark face of Durant appeared at the bars of Miki's prison. +Instinctively Miki had hated this foxhunter from the edge of the +Barrens, just as he had hated Le Beau, for in their brutish faces as +well as in their hearts they were like brothers. Yet he did not growl +at Durant as he peered through. He did not even move. +</P> + +<P> +"UGH! LE DIABLE!" shuddered Durant. +</P> + +<P> +Then he laughed. It was a low, terrible laugh, half smothered in his +coarse black beard, and it sent an odd chill through Miki. +</P> + +<P> +He turned after that and went into the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Nanette rose to meet him, her great dark eyes glowing in a face dead +white. She had not yet risen above the shock of Le Beau's tragic death, +and yet in those eyes there was already something re-born. It had not +been there when Durant came to the cabin with Le Beau that afternoon. +He looked at her strangely as she stood with the baby in her arms. She +was another Nanette. He felt uneasy. Why was it that a few hours ago he +had laughed boldly when her husband had cursed her and said vile things +in her presence—and now he could not meet the steady gaze of her eyes? +DIEU! he had never before observed how lovely she was! He drew himself +together, and stated the business in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not want the dog," he said. "I will take him away." +</P> + +<P> +Nanette did not answer. She seemed scarcely to be breathing as she +looked at him. It seemed to him that she was waiting for him to +explain; and then the inspiration to lie leapt into his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"You know, there was to be the big fight between HIS dog and mine at +Post Fort O' God at the New Year carnival," he went on, shuffling his +heavy feet. "For that, Jacques—your husband—was training the wild +dog. And when I saw that OOCHUN—that wolf devil—tearing at the bars +of the cage I knew he would kill my dog as a fox kills a rabbit. So we +struck a bargain, and for the two cross foxes and the ten red which I +have outside I bought him." (The VRAISEMBLANCE of his lie gave him +courage. It sounded like truth, and Jacques, the dead man, was not +there to repudiate his claim.) "So he is mine," he finished a little +exultantly, "and I will take him to the Post, and will fight him +against any dog or wolf in all the North. Shall I bring in the skins, +MADAME?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is not for sale," said Nanette, the glow in her eyes deepening. "He +is my dog—mine and the baby's. Do you understand, Henri Durant? HE IS +NOT FOR SALE!" +</P> + +<P> +"OUI," gasped Durant, amazed. +</P> + +<P> +"And when you reach Post Fort O' God, m'sieu, you will tell LE FACTEUR +that Jacques is dead, and how he died, and say that some one must be +sent for the baby and me. We will stay here until then." +</P> + +<P> +"OUI," said Durant again, backing to the door. +</P> + +<P> +He had never seen her like that. He wondered how Jacques Le Beau could +swear at her, and strike her. For himself, he was afraid. Standing +there with those wonderful eyes and white face, with the baby in her +arms, and her shining hair over her breasts, she made him think of a +picture he had once seen of the Blessed Lady. +</P> + +<P> +He went out through the door and back to the sapling cage where Miki +lay. Softly he spoke through the bars. +</P> + +<P> +"OW, BETE" he called; "she will not sell you. She keeps you because you +fought for her, and killed MON AMI, Jacques Le Beau. And so I must take +you my own way. In a little while the moon will be up, and then I will +slip a noose over your head at the end of a pole, and will choke you so +quickly she will not hear a sound. And who will know where you are +gone, if the cage door is left open? And you will fight for me at Post +Fort 0' God. MON DIEU! how you will fight! I swear it will do the ghost +of Jacques Le Beau good to see what happens there." +</P> + +<P> +He went away, to where he had left his light sledge and two dogs in the +edge of the timber, and waited for the moon to rise. +</P> + +<P> +Still Miki did not move, A light had appeared in the window of the +cabin, and his eyes were fixed on it yearningly as the low whine +gathered in his throat again. His world no longer lay beyond that +window. The Woman and the baby had obliterated in him all desire but to +be with them. +</P> + +<P> +In the cabin Nanette was thinking of him—and of Durant. The man's +words came to her again, vividly, significantly: "YOU WILL NOT WANT THE +DOG." Yes, all the forest people would say that same thing—even LE +FACTEUR himself, when he heard. SHE WOULD NOT WANT THE DOG! And why +not? Because he had killed Jacques Le Beau, her husband, in defence of +her? Because he had freed her from the bondage of The Brute? Because +God had sent him to the end of his chain in that terrible moment that +the baby Nanette might live, as the OTHER had not, and that she might +grow up with laughter on her lips instead of sobs? In her there rose +suddenly a thought that fanned the new flame in her heart. It MUST have +been LE BON DIEU! Others might doubt, but she—never. She recalled all +that Le Beau had told her about the wild dog—how for many days he had +robbed the traps, and the terrific fight he had made when at last he +was caught. And of all that The Brute had said there stood out most the +words he had spoken one day. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a devil, but he was not born of wolf. NON, some time, a long +time ago, he was a white man's dog." +</P> + +<P> +A WHITE MAN'S DOG! +</P> + +<P> +Her soul thrilled. Once—a long time ago—he had known a master with a +white heart, just as she had known a girlhood in which the flowers +bloomed and the birds sang. She tried to look back, but she could not +see very far. She could not vision that day, less than a year ago, when +Miki, an angular pup, came down out of the Farther North with +Challoner; she could not vision the strange comradeship between the pup +and Neewa, the little black bear cub, nor that tragic day when they had +fallen out of Challoner's canoe into the swift stream that had carried +them over the waterfall and into the Great Adventure which had turned +Neewa into a grown bear and Miki into a wild dog. But in her heart she +FELT the things which she could not see. Miki had not come by chance. +Something greater than that had sent him. +</P> + +<P> +She rose quietly, so that she would not waken the baby in the crib, and +opened the door. The moon was just rising over the forest and through +the glow of it she went to the cage. She heard the dog's joyous whine, +and then she felt the warm caress of his tongue upon her bare hands as +she thrust them between the sapling bars. +</P> + +<P> +"NON, NON; you are not a devil," she cried softly, her voice filled +with a strange tremble. "O-o-ee, my SOKETAAO, I prayed, PRAYED—and you +came. Yes, on my knees each night I prayed to Our Blessed Lady that she +might have mercy on my baby, and make the sun in heaven shine for her +through all time. AND YOU CAME! And the dear God does not send devils +in answer to prayer. NON; never!" +</P> + +<P> +And Miki, as though some spirit had given him the power to understand, +rested the weight of his bruised and beaten head on her hands. +</P> + +<P> +From the edge of the forest Durant was watching. He had caught the +flash of light from the door and had seen Nanette go to the cage, and +his eyes did not leave her until she returned into the cabin. He +laughed as he went to his fire and finished making the WAHGUN he was +fastening to the end of a long pole. This WAHGUN and the pole added to +his own cleverness were saving him twelve good fox skins, and he +continued to chuckle there in the fireglow as he thought how easy it +was to beat a woman's wits. Nanette was a fool to refuse the pelts, and +Jacques was—dead. It was a most lucky combination of circumstances for +him. Fortune had surely come his way. On LE BETE, as he called the wild +dog, he would gamble all that he possessed in the big fight. And he +would win. +</P> + +<P> +He waited until the light in the cabin went out before he approached +the cage again. Miki heard him coming. At a considerable distance he +saw him, for the moon was already turning the night into day. Durant +knew the ways of dogs. With them he employed a superior reason where Le +Beau had used the club and the rawhide. So he came up openly and +boldly, and, as if by accident, dropped the end of the pole between the +bars. With his hands against the cage, apparently unafraid, he began +talking in a casual way. He was different from Le Beau. Miki watched +him closely for a space and then let his eyes rest again on the +darkened cabin window. Stealthily Durant began to take advantage of his +opportunity. A little at a time he moved the end of the pole until it +was over Miki's head, with the deadly bowstring and its open noose +hanging down. He was an adept in the use of the WAHGUN. Many foxes and +wolves, and even a bear, he had caught that way. Miki, numbed by the +cold, scarcely felt the BABICHE noose as it settled softly about his +neck. He did not see Durant brace himself, with his feet against the +running-log of the cage. +</P> + +<P> +Then, suddenly, Durant lurched himself backward, and it seemed to Miki +as though a giant trap of steel had closed about his neck. Instantly +his wind was cut off. He could make no sound as he struggled +frantically to free himself. Hand over hand Durant dragged him to the +bars, and there, with his feet still braced, he choked with his whole +weight until—when at last he let up on the WAHGUN—Miki collapsed as +if dead. Ten seconds later Durant was looping a muzzle over his closed +jaws. He left the cage door open when he went back to his sledge, +carrying Miki in his arms. Nanette's slow wits would never guess, he +told himself. She would think that LE BETE had escaped into the forest. +</P> + +<P> +It was not his scheme to club Miki into serfdom, as Le Beau had failed +to do. Durant was wiser than that. In his crude and merciless way he +had come to know certain phenomena of the animal mind. He was not a +psychologist; oh the other hand brutality had not utterly blinded him. +So, instead of lashing Miki to the sledge as Le Beau had fastened him +to his improvised drag, Durant made his captive comfortable, covering +him with a warm blanket before he began his journey eastward. He made +sure, however, that there was no flaw in the muzzle about Miki's jaws, +and that the free end of the chain to which he was still fastened was +well hitched to the Gee-bar of his sledge. +</P> + +<P> +When these things were done Durant set off in the direction of Fort O' +God, and if Jacques Le Beau could have seen him then he would have had +good reason to guess at his elation. By taint of birth and blood Durant +was a gambler first, and a trapper afterward. He set his traps that he +might have the thrill of wagering his profits, and for half a dozen +successive years he had won at the big annual dog fight at Post Fort O' +God. But this year he had been half afraid. His fear had not been of +Jacques Le Beau and Netah, but of the halfbreed away over on Red Belly +Lake. Grouse Piet was the halfbreed's name, and the "dog" that he was +going to put up at the fight was half wolf. Therefore, in the foolish +eagerness of his desire, had Durant offered two cross foxes and ten +reds—the price of five dogs and not one—for the possession of Le +Beau's wild dog. And now that he had him for nothing, and Nanette was +poorer by twelve skins, he was happy. For he had now a good match for +Grouse Piet's half wolf, and he would chance his money and his credit +at the Post to the limit. +</P> + +<P> +When Miki came back to his senses Durant stopped his dogs, for he had +been watching closely for this moment. He bent over the sledge and +began talking, not in Le Beau's brutal way, but in a careless chummy +sort of voice, and with his mittened hand he patted his captive's head. +This was a new thing to Miki, for he knew that it was not the hand of +Nanette, but of a man-beast, and the softness of his nest in the +blanket, over which Henri had thrown a bear skin, was also new. A short +time ago he was frozen and stiff. Now he was warm and comfortable. So +he did not move. And Durant exulted in his cleverness. He did not +travel far in the night, but stopped four or five miles from Nanette's +cabin, and built a fire. Over this he boiled coffee and roasted meat. +He allowed the meat to roast slowly, turning it round and round on a +wooden spit, so that the aroma of it grew thick and inviting in the +air. He had fastened his two sledge dogs fifty paces away, but the +sledge was close to the fire, and he watched the effect on Miki of the +roasting meat. Since the days of his puppyhood with Challoner a smell +like that which came from the meat had not filled Miki's nostrils, and +at last Durant saw him lick his chops and heard the click of his teeth. +He chuckled in his beard. Still he waited another quarter of an hour. +Then he pulled the meat off the spit, cut it up, and gave a half of it +to Miki. And Miki ate it ravenously. +</P> + +<P> +A clever man was Henri Durant! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER NINETEEN +</H3> + +<P> +During the last few days in December all trails for ten thousand square +miles around led to Post Fort 0' God. It was the eve of OOSKE +PIPOON—of the New Year—the mid-winter carnival time of the people of +the wilderness, when from teepees and cabins far and near come the +trappers and their families to sell their furs and celebrate for a few +days with others of their kind. To this New Year gathering men, women, +and children look forward through long and weary months. The trapper's +wife has no neighbour. Her husband's "line" is a little kingdom +inviolate, with no other human life within many miles of it; so for the +women the OOSKE PIPOON is a time of rejoicing; for the children it is +the "big circus," and for the men a reward for the labour and hardship +of catching their fur. During these few days old acquaintanceships are +renewed and new ones are made. It is here that the "news" of the +trackless wilderness is spread, the news of deaths, of marriages, and +of births; of tragic happenings that bring horror and grief and tears, +and of others that bring laughter and joy. For the first and last time +in all the seven months' winter the people of the forests "come to +town." Indian, halfbreed, "blood," and white man, join in the holiday +without distinction of colour or creed. +</P> + +<P> +This year there was to be a great caribou roast, a huge barbecue, at +Fort O' God, and by the time Henri Durant came within half a dozen +miles of the Post the trails from north and south and east and west +were beaten hard by the tracks of dogs and men. That year a hundred +sledges came in from the forests, and with them were three hundred men +and women and children and half a thousand dogs. +</P> + +<P> +Durant was a day later than he had planned to be, but he had made good +use of his time. For Miki, while still muzzled, now followed at the end +of the babiche that was tied to Henri's sledge. In the afternoon of the +third day after leaving Nanette Le Beau's cabin Durant turned off the +main-travelled trail until he came to the shack of Andre Ribon, who +kept the Factor and his people at the Post supplied with fresh meat. +Andre, who was becoming over-anxious at Durant's delay, was still +waiting when his friend came. It was here that Henri's Indian had left +his fighting dog, the big husky. And here he left Miki, locked in +Andre's shack. Then the two men went on to the Post which was only a +mile away. +</P> + +<P> +Neither he nor Ribon returned that night. The cabin was empty. And with +the beginning of dusk Miki began to hear weird and strange sounds which +grew louder as darkness settled deeper. It was the sound of the +carnival at the Post—the distant tumult of human voice mingled with +the howling of a hundred dogs. He had never heard anything like it +before, and for a long time he listened without moving. Then he stood +up like a man before the window with this fore-paws resting against the +heavy sash. Ribon's cabin was at the crest of a knoll that over-looked +the frozen lake, and far off, over the tops of the scrub timber that +fringed the edge of it, Miki saw the red glow in the sky made by a +score of great camp fires. He whined, and dropped on his four feet +again. It was a long wait between that and another day. But the cabin +was more comfortable than Le Beau's prison-cage had been. All through +the night his restless slumber was filled with visions of Nanette and +the baby. +</P> + +<P> +Durant and Ribon did not return until nearly noon the next day. They +brought with them fresh meat, of which Miki ate ravenously, for he was +hungry. In an unresponsive way he tolerated the advances of these two. +A second night he was left alone in the cabin. When Durant and Ribon +came back again in the early dawn they brought with them a cage four +feet square made of small birch saplings. The open door of this cage +they drew close to the door of the cabin, and by means of a chunk of +fresh meat Miki was induced to enter through it. Instantly the trap +fell, and he was a prisoner. The cage was already fastened on a wide +toboggan, and scarcely was the sun up when Miki was on his way to Fort +O' God. +</P> + +<P> +This was the big day at the carnival—the day of the caribou-roast and +the fight. For many minutes before they came in sight of Fort O' God +Miki heard the growing sound. It amazed him, and he stood up on his +feet in his cage, rigid and alert, utterly unconscious of the men who +were pulling him. He was looking ahead of them, and Durant chuckled +exultantly as they heard him growl, and his teeth click. +</P> + +<P> +"Oui, he will fight! He would fight NOW," he chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +They were following the shore of a lake. Suddenly they came around the +end of a point, and all of Fort O' God lay on the rising shelf of the +shore ahead of them. The growl died in Miki's throat. His teeth shut +with a last click. For an instant his heart seemed to grow dead and +still. Until this moment his world had held only half a dozen human +beings. Now, so suddenly that he had no flash of warning, he saw a +hundred of them, two hundred, three hundred. At sight of Durant and the +cage a swarm of them began running down to the shore. And everywhere +there were wolves, so many of them that his senses grew dazed as he +stared. His cage was the centre of a clamouring, gesticulating horde of +men and boys as it was dragged up the slope. Women began joining the +crowd, many of them with small children in their arms. Then his journey +came to an end. He was close to another cage, and in that cage was a +beast like himself. Beside this cage there stood a tall, swarthy, +shaggy-headed halfbreed who looked like a pirate. The man was Grouse +Piet, Durant's rival. +</P> + +<P> +A contemptuous leer was on his thick-lipped face as he looked at Miki. +He turned, and to the group of dark-faced Indians and breeds about him +he said something that roused a guttural laugh. +</P> + +<P> +Durant's face flamed red. +</P> + +<P> +"Laugh, you heathen," he challenged, "but don't forget that Henri +Durant is here to take your bets!" Then he shook the two cross and ten +red foxes in the face of Grouse Piet. +</P> + +<P> +"Cover them, Grouse Piet," he cried. "And I have ten times more where +they came from!" +</P> + +<P> +With his muzzle lifted, Miki was sniffing the air. It was filled with +strange scents, heavy with the odours of men, of dogs, and of the five +huge caribou roasting on their spits fifteen feet over the big fires +that were built under them. For ten hours those caribou would roast, +turning slowly on spits as thick as a man's leg. The fight was to come +before the feast. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour the clatter and tumult of voices hovered about the two +cages. Men appraised the fighters and made their bets, and Grouse Piet +and Henri Durant made their throats hoarse flinging banter and contempt +at each other. At the end of the hour the crowd began to thin out. In +the place of men and women half a hundred dark-visaged little children +crowded about the cages. It was not until then that Miki caught +glimpses of the hordes of beasts fastened in ones and twos and groups +in the edge of the clearing. His nostrils had at last caught the +distinction. They were not wolves. They were like himself. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long time before his eyes rested steadily on the wolf-dog in +the other cage. He went to the edge of his bars and sniffed. The +wolf-dog thrust his gaunt muzzle toward him. He made Miki think of the +huge wolf he had fought one day on the edge of the cliff, and +instinctively he showed his fangs, and snarled. The wolf-dog snarled +back. Henri Durant rubbed his hands exultantly, and Grouse Piet laughed +softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oui; they will FIGHT!" said Henri again. +</P> + +<P> +"Ze wolf, he will fight, oui," said Grouse Piet. "But your dog, m'sieu, +he be vair seek, lak a puppy, w'en ze fight come!" +</P> + +<P> +A little later Miki saw a white man standing close to his cage. It was +MacDonnell, the Scotch factor. He gazed at Miki and the wolf-dog with +troubled eyes. Ten minutes later, in the little room which he had made +his office, he was saying to a younger man: +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to stop it, but I can't. They wouldn't stand for it. It would +lose us half a season's catch of fur. There's been a fight like this at +Fort O' God for the last fifty years, and I don't suppose, after all, +that it's any worse than one of the prize fights down there. Only, in +this case—" +</P> + +<P> +"They kill," said the younger man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's it. Usually one of the dogs dies." +</P> + +<P> +The younger man knocked the ash out of his pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"I love dogs," he said, simply. "There'll never be a fight at my post, +Mac—unless it's between men. And I'm not going to see this fight, +because I'm afraid I'd kill some one if I did." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY +</H3> + +<P> +It was two o'clock in the afternoon. The caribou were roasting brown. +In two more hours the feast would begin. The hour of the fight was at +hand. +</P> + +<P> +In the centre of the clearing three hundred men, women, and children +were gathered in a close circle about a sapling cage ten feet square. +Close to this cage, one at each side, were drawn the two smaller cages. +Beside one of these cages stood Henri Durant; beside the other, Grouse +Piet. They were not bantering now. Their faces were hard and set. And +three hundred pairs of eyes were staring at them, and three hundred +pairs of ears waiting for the thrilling signal. +</P> + +<P> +It came—from Grouse Piet. +</P> + +<P> +With a swift movement Durant pulled up the door of Miki's cage. Then, +suddenly, he prodded him from behind with a crotched stick, and with a +single leap Miki was in the big cage. Almost at the same instant the +wolf-dog leapt from Grouse Piet's cage, and the two faced each other in +the arena. +</P> + +<P> +With the next breath he drew Durant could have groaned. What happened +in the following half minute was a matter of environment with Miki. In +the forest the wolf-dog would have interested him to the exclusion of +everything else, and he would have looked upon him as another Netah or +a wild wolf. But in his present surroundings the idea of fighting was +the last to possess him. He was fascinated by that grim and waiting +circle of faces closing in the big cage; he scrutinized it, turning his +head sharply from point to point, as if hoping to see Nanette and the +baby, or even Challoner his first master. To the wolf-dog Grouse Piet +had given the name of Taao, because of the extraordinary length of his +fangs; and of Taao, to Durant's growing horror, Miki was utterly +oblivious after that first head-on glance. He trotted to the edge of +the cage and thrust his nose between the bars, and a taunting laugh +rose out of Grouse Piet's throat. Then he began making a circle of the +cage, his sharp eyes on the silent ring of faces. Taao stood in the +centre of the cage, and not once did his reddish eyes leave Miki. What +was outside of the cage held small interest for him. He understood his +business, and murder was bred in his heart. For a space during which +Durant's heart beat like a hammer Taao turned, as if on a pivot, +following Miki's movement, and the crest on his spine stood up like +bristles. +</P> + +<P> +Then Miki stopped, and in that moment Durant saw the end of all his +hopes. Without a sound the wolf-dog was at his opponent. A bellow rose +from Grouse Piet's lips. A deep breath passed through the circle of +spectators, and Durant felt a cold chill run up his back to the roots +of his hair. What happened in the next instant made men's hearts stand +still. In that first rush Miki should have died. Grouse Piet expected +him to die, and Durant expected him to die. But in the last fractional +bit of the second in which the wolf-dog's jaws closed, Miki was +transformed into a thing of living lightning. No man had ever seen a +movement swifter than that with which he turned on Taao. Their jaws +clashed. There was a sickening grinding of bone, and in another moment +they were rolling and twisting together on the earth floor. Neither +Grouse Piet nor Durant could see what was happening. They forgot even +their own bets in the horror of that fight. Never had there been such a +fight at Fort O' God. +</P> + +<P> +The sound of it reached to the Company's store. In the door, looking +toward the big cage, stood the young white man. He heard the snarling, +the clashing of teeth, and his jaws set heavily and a dull flame burned +in his eyes. His breath came in a sudden gasp. +</P> + +<P> +"DAMN!" he cried, softly. +</P> + +<P> +His hands clenched, and he stepped slowly down from the door and went +toward the cage. It was over when he made his way through the ring of +spectators. The fight had ended as suddenly as it had begun, and Grouse +Piet's wolf-dog lay in the centre of the cage with a severed jugular. +Miki looked as though he might be dying. Durant had opened the door and +had slipped a rope over his head, and outside the cage Miki stood +swaying on his feet, red with blood, and half blind. His flesh was red +and bleeding in a dozen places, and a stream of blood trickled from his +mouth. A cry of horror rose to the young white man's lips as he looked +down at him. +</P> + +<P> +And then, almost in the same breath, there came a still stranger cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Good God! Miki—Miki—Miki—" +</P> + +<P> +Beating upon his brain as if from a vast distance, coming to him +through the blindness of his wounds, Miki heard that voice. +</P> + +<P> +The VOICE! THE voice that had lived with him in all his dreams, the +voice he had waited for, and searched for, and knew that some day he +would find. The voice of Challoner, his master! +</P> + +<P> +He dropped on his belly, whining, trying to see through the film of +blood in his eyes; and lying there, wounded almost unto death, his tail +thumped the ground in recognition. And then, to the amazement of all +who beheld, Challoner was down upon his knees beside him, and his arms +were about him, and Miki's lacerated tongue was reaching for his hands, +his face, his clothes. +</P> + +<P> +"Miki—Miki—Miki!" +</P> + +<P> +Durant's hand fell heavily upon Challoner's shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +It was like the touch of a red-hot iron to Challoner. In a flash he was +on his feet, facing him. +</P> + +<P> +"He's mine," Challoner cried, trying to hold back his passion. "He's +mine you—you devil!" +</P> + +<P> +And then, powerless to hold back his desire for vengeance, his clenched +fist swung like a rock to Durant's heavy jaw, and the Frenchman went to +the ground. For a moment Challoner stood over him, but he did not move. +Fiercely he turned upon Grouse Piet and the crowd. Miki was cringing at +his feet again. Pointing to him, Challoner cried loudly, so all could +hear. +</P> + +<P> +"He's my dog. Where this beast got him I don't know. But he's mine. +Look for yourselves! See—see him lick my hand. Would he do that for +HIM? And look at that ear. There's no other ear in all the north cut +like that. I lost him almost a year ago, but I'd know him among ten +thousand by that ear. By God!—if I had known—" +</P> + +<P> +He elbowed his way through the breeds and Indians, leading Miki by the +rope Durant had slipped over the dog's head. He went to MacDonnell, and +told him what had happened. He told of the preceding spring, and of the +accident in which Miki and the bear cub were lost from his canoe and +swept over the waterfall. After registering his claim against whatever +Durant might have to say he went to the shack in which he was staying +at Fort 0' God. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later Challoner sat with Miki's big head between his two hands, +and talked to him. He had bathed and dressed his wounds, and Miki could +see. His eyes were on his master's face, and his hard tail thumped the +floor. Both were oblivious of the sounds of the revellers outside; the +cries of men, the shouting of boys, the laughter of women, and the +incessant barking of dogs. In Challoner's eyes there was a soft glow. +</P> + +<P> +"Miki, old boy, you haven't forgotten a thing—not a dam' thing, have +you? You were nothing but an onery-legged pup then, but you didn't +forget! Remember what I told you, that I was going to take you and the +cub down to the Girl? Do you remember? The Girl I said was an angel, +and 'd love you to death, and all that? Well, I'm glad something +happened—and you didn't go. It wasn't the same when I got back, an' +SHE wasn't the same, Miki. Lord, she'd got married, AND HAD TWO KIDS! +Think of that, old scout—TWO! How the deuce could she have taken care +of you and the cub, eh? And nothing else was the same, Boy. Three years +in God's Country—up here where you burst your lungs just for the fun +of drinking in air—changed me a lot, I guess. Inside a week I wanted +to come back, Miki. Yessir, I was SICK to come back. So I came. And +we're going to stick now, Miki. You're going with me up to that new +Post the Company has given me. From now on we're pals. Understand, old +scout, we're PALS!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE +</H3> + +<P> +It was late the night of the big feast at Post Fort O' God that +MacDonnell, the factor, sent for Challoner. Challoner was preparing for +bed when an Indian boy pounded on the door of his shack and a moment +later gave him the message. He looked at his watch. It was eleven +o'clock. What could the Factor want of him at that hour, he wondered? +Flat on his belly near the warm box stove Miki watched his new-found +master speculatively as he pulled on his boots. His eyes were wide open +now. Challoner had washed from him the blood of the terrific fight of +that afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +"Something to do with that devil of a Durant," growled Challoner, +looking at the battle-scarred dog. "Well, if he hopes to get YOU again, +Miki, he's barking up the wrong tree. You're MINE!" +</P> + +<P> +Miki thumped his hard tail on the floor and wriggled toward his master +in mute adoration. Together they went out into the night. +</P> + +<P> +It was a night of white moonlight and a multitude of stars. The four +great fires over which the caribou had roasted for the savage barbecue +that day were still burning brightly. In the edge of the forest that +ringed in the Post were the smouldering embers of a score of smaller +fires. Back of these fires were faintly outlined the gray shadows of +teepees and tents. In these shelters the three hundred halfbreeds and +Indians who had come in from the forest trails to the New Year carnival +at the Post were sleeping. Only here and there was there a movement of +life. Even the dogs were quiet after the earlier hours of excitement +and gluttony. +</P> + +<P> +Past the big fires, with their huge spits still standing, Challoner +passed toward the Factor's quarters. Miki sniffed at the freshly picked +bones. Beyond these bones there was no sign of the two thousand pounds +of flesh that had roasted that day on the spits. Men, women, children, +and dogs had stuffed themselves until there was nothing left. It was +the silence of Mutai—the "belly god"—the god who eats himself to +sleep each night—that hovered strangely over this Post of Fort O' God, +three hundred miles from civilization. +</P> + +<P> +There was a light in the Factor's room, and Challoner entered with Miki +at his heels. MacDonnell, the Scotchman, was puffing moodily on his +pipe. There was a worried look in his ruddy face as the younger man +seated himself, and his eyes were on Miki. +</P> + +<P> +"Durant has been here," he said. "He's ugly. I'm afraid of trouble. If +you hadn't struck him—" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner shrugged his shoulders as he filled his own pipe from the +Factor's tobacco. +</P> + +<P> +"You see—you don't just understand the situation at Fort 0' God," went +on MacDonnell. "There's been a big dog fight here at New Year for the +last fifty years. It's become a part of history, a part of Fort O' God +itself, and that's why in my own fifteen years here I haven't tried to +stop it. I believe it would bring on a sort of—revolution. I'd wager a +half of my people would go to another post with their furs. That's why +all the sympathy seems to be with Durant. Even Grouse Piet, his rival, +tells him he's a fool to let you get away with him that way. Durant +says that dog is HIS." +</P> + +<P> +MacDonnell nodded at Miki, lying at Challoner's feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Then he lies," said Challoner quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"He says he bought him of Jacques Le Beau." +</P> + +<P> +"Then Le Beau sold a dog that didn't belong to him." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment MacDonnell was silent. Then he said: +</P> + +<P> +"But that wasn't what I had you come over for, Challoner. Durant told +me something that froze my blood to-night. Your outfit starts for your +post up in the Reindeer Lake county to-morrow, doesn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Then could you, with one of my Indians and a team, arrange to swing +around by way of the Jackson's Knee? You'd lose a week, but you could +overtake your outfit before it reached the Reindeer—and it would be a +mighty big favour to me. There's a—a HELL of a thing happened over +there." +</P> + +<P> +Again he looked at Miki. +</P> + +<P> +"GAWD!" he breathed. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner waited. He thought he saw a shudder pass through the Factor's +shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd go myself—I ought to, but this frosted lung of mine has made me +sit tight this winter, Challoner. I OUGHT to go. Why—(a sudden glow +shot into his eyes)—I knew this Nanette Le Beau when she was SO HIGH, +fifteen years ago. I watched her grow up, Challoner. If I hadn't been +married—then—I'd have fallen in love with her. Do you know her, +Challoner? Did you ever see Nanette Le Beau?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"An angel—if God ever made one," declared MacDonnell through his red +beard. "She lived over beyond the Jackson's Knee with her father. And +he died, froze to death crossing Red Eye Lake one night. I've always +thought Jacques Le Beau MADE her marry him after that. Or else she +didn't know, or was crazed, or frightened at being alone. Anyway, she +married him. It was five years ago I saw her last. Now and then I've +heard things, but I didn't believe—not all of them. I didn't believe +that Le Beau beat her, and knocked her down when he wanted to. I didn't +believe he dragged her through the snow by her hair one day until she +was nearly dead. They were just rumours, and he was seventy miles away. +But I believe them now. Durant came from their place, and I guess he +told me a whole lot of the truth—to save that dog." +</P> + +<P> +Again he looked at Miki. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, Durant tells me that Le Beau caught the dog in one of his +traps, took him to his cabin, and tortured him into shape for the big +fight. When Durant came he was so taken with the dog that he bought +him, and it was while Le Beau was driving the dog mad in his cage to +show his temper that Nanette interfered. Le Beau knocked her down, and +then jumped on her and was pulling her hair and choking her when the +dog went for him and killed him. That's the story. Durant told me the +truth through fear that I'd have the dog shot if he was an out-and-out +murderer. And that's why I want you to go by way of the Jackson's Knee. +I want you to investigate, and I want you to do what you can for +Nanette Le Beau. My Indian will bring her back to Port O' God." +</P> + +<P> +With Scotch stoicism MacDonnell had repressed whatever excitement he +may have felt. He spoke quietly. But the curious shudder went through +his shoulders again. Challoner stared at him in blank amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean to say that Miki—this dog—has killed a man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He killed him, Durant says, just as he killed Grouse Piet's +wolf-dog in the big fight to-day. UGH!" As Challoner's eyes fell slowly +upon Miki, the Factor added: "But Grouse Piet's dog was better than the +man. If what I hear about Le Beau was true he's better dead than alive. +Challoner, if you didn't think it too much trouble, and could go that +way—and see Nanette—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go," said Challoner, dropping a hand to Miki's head. +</P> + +<P> +For half an hour after that MacDonnell told him the things he knew +about Nanette Le Beau. When Challoner rose to go the Factor followed +him to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Keep your eyes open for Durant," he warned. "That dog is worth more to +him than all his winnings to-day, and they say his stakes were big. He +won heavily from Grouse Piet, but the halfbreed is thick with him now. +I know it. So watch out." +</P> + +<P> +Out in the open space, in the light of the moon and stars, Challoner +stood far a moment with Miki's forepaws resting against his breast. The +dog's head was almost on a level with his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"D'ye remember when you fell out of the canoe, Boy?" he asked softly. +"Remember how you 'n' the cub were tied in the bow, an' you got to +scrapping and fell overboard just above the rapids? Remember? By Jove! +those rapids pretty near got ME, too. I thought you were dead, +sure—both of you. I wonder what happened to the cub?" +</P> + +<P> +Miki whined in response, and his whole body trembled. +</P> + +<P> +"And since then you've killed a man," added Challoner, as if he still +could not quite believe. "And I'm to take you back to the woman. That's +the funny thing about it. You're going back to HER, and if she says +kill you—" +</P> + +<P> +He dropped Miki's forefeet and went on to the cabin. At the threshold a +low growl rose in Miki's throat. Challoner laughed, and opened the +door. They went in, and the dog's growl was a menacing snarl. Challoner +had left his lamp burning low, and in the light of it he saw Henri +Durant and Grouse Piet waiting for him. He turned up the wick, and +nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Good evening. Pretty late for a call, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +Grouse Piet's stolid face did not change its expression. It struck +Challoner, as he glanced at him, that in head and shoulders he bore a +grotesque resemblance to a walrus. Durant's eyes were dully ablaze. His +face was swollen where Challoner had struck him. Miki, stiffened to the +hardness of a knot, and still snarling under his breath, had crawled +under Challoner's bunk. Durant pointed to him. +</P> + +<P> +"We've come after that dog," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't have him, Durant," replied Challoner, trying hard to make +himself appear at ease in a situation that sent a chill up his back. As +he spoke he was making up his mind why Grouse Piet had come with +Durant. They were giants, both of them: more than that—monsters. +Instinctively he had faced them with the small table between them. "I'm +sorry I lost my temper out there," he continued. "I shouldn't have +struck you, Durant. It wasn't your fault—and I apologize. But the dog +is mine. I lost him over in the Jackson's Knee country, and if Jacques +Le Beau caught him in a trap, and sold him to you, he sold a dog that +didn't belong to him. I'm willing to pay you back what you gave for +him, just to be fair. How much was it?" +</P> + +<P> +Grouse Piet had risen to his feet. Durant came to the opposite edge of +the table, and leaned over it. Challoner wondered how a single blow had +knocked him down. +</P> + +<P> +"Non, he is not for sale." Durant's voice was low; so low that it +seemed to choke him to get it out. It was filled with a repressed +hatred. Challoner saw the great cords of his knotted hands bulging +under the skin as he gripped the edge of the table. "M'sieu, we have +come for that dog. Will you let us take him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will pay you back what you gave for him, Durant. I will add to the +price." +</P> + +<P> +"Non. He is mine. Will you give him back—NOW?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely was the word out of his mouth when Durant flung his whole +weight and strength against the table. Challoner had not expected the +move—just yet. With a bellow of rage and hatred Durant was upon him, +and under the weight of the giant he crashed to the floor. With them +went the table and lamp. There was a vivid splutter of flame and the +cabin was in darkness, except where the moon-light flooded through the +one window. Challoner had looked for something different. He had +expected Durant to threaten before he acted, and, sizing up the two of +them, he had decided to reach the edge of his bunk during the +discussion. Under the pillow was his revolver. It was too late now. +Durant was on him, fumbling in the darkness for his throat, and as he +flung one arm upward to get a hook around the Frenchman's neck he heard +Grouse Piet throw the table back. The next instant they were rolling in +the moonlight on the floor, and Challoner caught a glimpse of Grouse +Piet's huge bulk bending over them. Durant's head was twisted under his +arm, but one of the giant's hands had reached his throat. The halfbreed +saw this, and he cried out something in a guttural voice. With a +tremendous effort Challoner rolled himself and his adversary out of the +patch of light into darkness again. Durant's thick neck cracked. Again +Grouse Piet called out in that guttural, questioning voice. Challoner +put every ounce of his energy into the crook of his arm, and Durant did +not answer. +</P> + +<P> +Then the weight of Grouse Piet fell upon them, and his great hands +groped for Challoner's neck. His thick fingers found Durant's beard +first, then fumbled for Challoner, and got their hold. Ten seconds of +their terrific grip would have broken his neck. But the fingers never +closed. A savage cry of agony burst from Grouse Piet's lips, and with +that cry, ending almost in a scream, came the snap of great jaws and +the rending snarl of fangs in the darkness. Durant heard, and with a +great heave of his massive body he broke free from Challoner's grip, +and leapt to his feet. In a flash Challoner was at his bunk, facing his +enemies with the revolver in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +Everything had happened quickly. Scarcely more than a minute had passed +since the overturning of the table, and now, in the moment when the +situation had turned in his favour, a sudden swift and sickening horror +seized upon Challoner. Bloody and terrible there rose before him the +one scene he had witnessed that day in the big cage where Miki and the +wolf-dog had fought. And there—in that darkness of the cabin— +</P> + +<P> +He heard a moaning cry and the crash of a body to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Miki, Miki," he cried. "Here! Here!" +</P> + +<P> +He dropped his revolver and sprang to the door, flinging it wide open. +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake get out!" he cried. "GET OUT!" +</P> + +<P> +A bulk dashed past him into the night. He knew it was Durant. Then he +leapt to the dark shadows on the floor and dug his two hands into the +loose hide at the back of Miki's neck, dragging him back, and shouting +his name. He saw Grouse Piet crawling toward the door. He saw him rise +to his feet, silhouetted for a moment against the starlight, and +stagger out into the night. And then he felt Miki's weight slinking +down to the floor, and under his hands the dog's muscles grew limp and +saggy. For two or three minutes he continued to kneel beside him before +he closed the cabin door and lighted another lamp. He set up the +overturned table and placed the lamp on it. Miki had not moved. He lay +flat on his belly, his head between his forepaws, looking up at +Challoner with a mute appeal in his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner reached out his two arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Miki!" +</P> + +<P> +In an instant Miki was up against him, his forefeet against his breast, +and with his arms about the dog's shoulders Challoner's eyes took in +the floor. On it were wet splashes and bits of torn clothing. +</P> + +<P> +His arms closed more tightly. +</P> + +<P> +"Miki, old boy, I'm much obliged," he said. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO +</H3> + +<P> +The next morning Challoner's outfit of three teams and four men left +north and west for the Reindeer Lake country on the journey to his new +post at the mouth of the Cochrane. An hour later Challoner struck due +west with a light sledge and a five-dog team for the Jackson's Knee. +Behind him followed one of MacDonnell's Indians with the team that was +to bring Nanette to Fort O' God. +</P> + +<P> +He saw nothing more of Durant and Grouse Piet, and accepted +MacDonnell's explanation that they had undoubtedly left the Post +shortly after their assault upon him in the cabin. No doubt their +disappearance had been hastened by the fact that a patrol of the Royal +Northwest Mounted Police on its way to York Factory was expected at +Fort O' God that day. +</P> + +<P> +Not until the final moment of departure was Miki brought from the cabin +and tied to the gee-bar of Challoner's sledge. When he saw the five +dogs squatted on their haunches he grew rigid and the old snarl rose in +his throat. Under Challoner's quieting words he quickly came to +understand that these beasts were not enemies, and from a rather +suspicious toleration of them he very soon began to take a new sort of +interest in them. It was a friendly team, bred in the south and without +the wolf strain. +</P> + +<P> +Events had come to pass so swiftly and so vividly in Miki's life during +the past twenty-four hours that for many miles after they left Fort O' +God his senses were in an unsettled state of anticipation. His brain +was filled with a jumble of strange and thrilling pictures. Very far +away, and almost indistinct, were the pictures of things that had +happened before he was made a prisoner by Jacques Le Beau. Even the +memory of Neewa was fading under the thrill of events at Nanette's +cabin and at Fort O' God. The pictures that blazed their way across his +brain now were of men, and dogs, and many other things that he had +never seen before. His world had suddenly transformed itself into a +host of Henri Durants and Grouse Piets and Jacques Le Beaus, two-legged +beasts who had clubbed him, and half killed him, and who had made him +fight to keep the life in his body. He had tasted their blood in his +vengeance. And he watched for them now. The pictures told him they were +everywhere. He could imagine them as countless as the wolves, and as he +had seen them crowded round the big cage in which he had slain the +wolf-dog. +</P> + +<P> +In all of this excited and distorted world there was only one +Challoner, and one Nanette, and one baby. All else was a chaos of +uncertainty and of dark menace. Twice when the Indian came up close +behind them Miki whirled about with a savage snarl. Challoner watched +him, and understood. +</P> + +<P> +Of the pictures in his brain one stood out above all others, definite +and unclouded, and that was the picture of Nanette. Yes, even above +Challoner himself. There lived in him the consciousness of her gentle +hands; her sweet, soft voice; the perfume of her hair and clothes and +body—the WOMAN of her; and a part of the woman—as the hand is a part +of the body—was the baby. It was this part of Miki that Challoner +could not understand, and which puzzled him when they made camp that +night. He sat for a long time beside the fire trying to bring back the +old comradeship of the days of Miki's puppyhood. But he only partly +succeeded. Miki was restive. Every nerve in his body seemed on edge. +Again and again he faced the west, and always when he sniffed the air +in that direction there came a low whine in his throat. +</P> + +<P> +That night, with doubt in his heart, Challoner fastened him near the +tent with a tough rope of babiche. +</P> + +<P> +For a long time after Challoner had gone to bed Miki sat on his +haunches close to the spruce to which he was fastened. It must have +been ten o'clock, and the night was so still that the snap of a dying +ember in the fire was like the crack of a whip to his ears. Miki's eyes +were wide open and alert. Near the slowly burning logs, wrapped in his +thick blankets, he could make out the motionless form of the Indian, +asleep. Back of him the sledge-dogs had wallowed their beds in the snow +and were silent. The moon was almost straight overhead, and a mile or +two away a wolf pointed his muzzle to the radiant glow of it and +howled. The sound, like a distant calling voice, added new fire to the +growing thrill in Miki's blood. He turned in the direction of the +wailing voice. He wanted to call back. He wanted to throw up his head +and cry out to the forests, and the moon, and the starlit sky. But only +his jaws clicked, and he looked at the tent in which Challoner was +sleeping. He dropped down upon his belly in the snow. But his head was +still alert and listening. The moon had already begun its westward +decline. The fire burned out until the logs were only a dull and +slumbering glow; the hand of Challoner's watch passed midnight, and +still Miki was wide-eyed and restless in the thrill of the thing that +was upon him. And then at last The Call that was coming to him from out +of the night became his master, and he gnawed the babiche in two. It +was the call of the Woman—of Nanette and the baby. +</P> + +<P> +In his freedom Miki sniffed at the edge of Challoner's tent. His back +sagged. His tail drooped. He knew that in this hour he was betraying +the master for whom he had waited so long, and who had lived so vividly +in his dreams. It was not reasoning, but an instinctive oppression of +fact. He would come back. That conviction burned dully in his brain. +But now—to-night—he must go. He slunk off into the darkness. With the +stealth of a fox he made his way between the sleeping dogs. Not until +he was a quarter of a mile from the camp did he straighten out, and +then a gray and fleeting shadow he sped westward under the light of the +moon. +</P> + +<P> +There was no hesitation in the manner of his going. Free of the pain of +his wounds, strong-limbed, deep-lunged as the strongest wolf of the +forests, he went on tirelessly. Rabbits bobbing out of his path did not +make him pause; even the strong scent of a fisher-cat almost under his +nose did not swerve him a foot from his trail. Through swamp and deep +forest, over lake and stream, across open barren and charred burns his +unerring sense of orientation led him on. Once he stopped to drink +where the swift current of a creek kept the water open. Even then he +gulped in haste—and shot on. The moon drifted lower and lower until it +sank into oblivion. The stars began to fade away The little ones went +out, and the big ones grew sleepy and dull. A great snow-ghostly gloom +settled over the forest world. +</P> + +<P> +In the six hours between midnight and dawn he covered thirty-five miles. +</P> + +<P> +And then he stopped. Dropping on his belly beside a rock at the crest +of a ridge he watched the birth of day. With drooling jaws and panting +breath he rested, until at last the dull gold of the winter sun began +to paint the eastern sky. And then came the first bars of vivid +sunlight, shooting over the eastern ramparts as guns flash from behind +their battlements, and Miki rose to his feet and surveyed the morning +wonder of his world. Behind him was Fort O' God, fifty miles away; +ahead of him the cabin—twenty. It was the cabin he faced as he went +down from the ridge. +</P> + +<P> +As the miles between him and the cabin grew fewer and fewer he felt +again something of the oppression that had borne upon him at +Challoner's tent. And yet it was different. He had run his race. He had +answered The Call. And now, at the end, he was seized by a fear of what +his welcome would be. For at the cabin he had killed a man—and the man +had belonged to the woman. His progress became more hesitating. +Mid-forenoon found him only half a mile from the home of Nanette and +the baby. His keen nostrils caught the faint tang of smoke in the air. +He did not follow it up, but circled like a wolf, coming up stealthily +and uncertainly until at last he looked out into the little clearing +where a new world had come into existence for him. He saw the sapling +cage in which Jacques Le Beau had kept him a prisoner; the door of that +cage was still open, as Durant had left it after stealing him; he saw +the ploughed-up snow where he had leapt upon the man-brute—and he +whined. +</P> + +<P> +He was facing the cabin door—and the door was wide open. He could see +no life, but he could SMELL it. And smoke was rising from the chimney. +He slunk across the open. In the manner of his going there was an +abject humiliation—a plea for mercy if he had done wrong, a prayer to +the creatures he worshipped that he might not be driven away. +</P> + +<P> +He came to the door, and peered in. The room was empty. Nanette was not +there. Then his ears shot forward and his body grew suddenly tense, and +he listened, listened, LISTENED to a soft, cooing sound that was coming +from the crib. He swallowed hard; the faintest whine rose in his throat +and his claws CLICKED, CLICKED, CLICKED, across the floor and he thrust +his great head over the side of the little bed. The baby was there. +With his warm tongue he kissed it—just once—and then, with another +deep breath, lay down on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +He heard footsteps. Nanette came in with her arms filled with blankets; +she carried these into the smaller room, and returned, before she saw +him. For a moment she stared. Then, with a strange little cry, she ran +to him; and once more he felt her arms about him; and he cried like a +puppy with his muzzle against her breast, and Nanette laughed and +sobbed, and in the crib the baby kicked and squealed and thrust her +tiny moccasined feet up into the air. +</P> + +<P> +"Ao-oo tap-wa-mukun" ("When the devil goes heaven comes in,") say the +Crees. And with the death of Le Beau, her husband, the devil had gone +out of life for Nanette. She was more beautiful than ever. Heaven was +in the dark, pure glow of her eyes. She was no longer like a dog under +the club and the whip of a brute, and in the re-birth of her soul she +was glorious. Youth had come back to her—freed from the yoke of +oppression. She was happy. Happy with her baby, with freedom, with the +sun and the stars shining for her again; and with new hope, the +greatest star of all. Again on the night of that first day of his +return Miki crept up to her when she was brushing her glorious hair. He +loved to put his muzzle in it; he loved the sweet scent of it; he loved +to put his head on her knees and feel it smothering him. And Nanette +hugged him tight, even as she hugged the baby, for it was Miki who had +brought her freedom, and hope, and life. What had passed was no longer +a tragedy. It was justice. God had sent Miki to do for her what a +father or a brother would have done. +</P> + +<P> +And the second night after that, when Challoner came early in the +darkness, it happened that Nanette had her hair down in that same way; +and Challoner, seeing her thus, with the lampglow shining in her eyes, +felt that the world had taken a sudden swift turn under his feet—that +through all his years he had been working forward to this hour. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE +</H3> + +<P> +With the coming of Challoner to the cabin of Nanette Le Beau there was +no longer a shadow of gloom in the world for Miki. He did not reason +out the wonder of it, nor did he have a foreboding for the future. It +was the present in which he lived—the precious hours in which all the +creatures he had ever loved were together. And yet, away back in his +memory of those things that had grown deep in his soul, was the picture +of Neewa, the bear; Neewa, his chum, his brother, his fighting comrade +of many battles, and he thought of the cold and snow-smothered cavern +at the top of the ridge in which Neewa had buried himself in that long +and mysterious sleep that was so much like death. But it was in the +present that he lived. The hours lengthened themselves out into days, +and still Challoner did not go, nor did Nanette leave with the Indian +for Fort O' God. The Indian returned with a note for MacDonnell in +which Challoner told the Factor that something was the matter with the +baby's lungs, and that she could not travel until the weather, which +was intensely cold, grew warmer. He asked that the Indian be sent back +with certain supplies. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of the terrific cold which followed the birth of the new year +Challoner had put up his tent in the edge of the timber a hundred yards +from the cabin, and Miki divided his time between the cabin and the +tent. For him they were glorious days. And for Challoner— +</P> + +<P> +In a way Miki saw, though it was impossible for him to comprehend. As +the days lengthened into a week, and the week into two, there was +something in the glow of Nanette's eyes that had never been there +before, and in the sweetness of her voice a new thrill, and in her +prayers at night the thankfulness of a new and great joy. +</P> + +<P> +And then, one day, Miki looked up from where he was lying beside the +baby's crib and he saw Nanette in his master's arms, her face turned up +to him, her eyes filled with the glory of the stars, and Challoner was +saying something which transformed her face into the face of an angel. +Miki was puzzled. And he was more puzzled when Challoner came from +Nanette to the crib, and snuggled the baby up in his arms; and the +woman—looking at them both for a moment with that wonderful look in +her eyes—suddenly covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Half a +snarl rose in Miki's throat, but in that moment Challoner had put his +arm around Nanette too, and Nanette's arms were about him and the baby, +and she was sobbing something which for the life of him Miki could make +neither head nor tail of. And yet he knew that he must not snarl or +spring. He felt the wonder-thrill of the new thing that had come into +the cabin; he gulped hard, and looked. A moment or two later Nanette +was on her knees beside him, and her arms were around him, just as they +had been around the man. And Challoner was dancing like a boy—cooing +to the baby in his arms. Then he, too, dropped down beside Miki, and +cried: +</P> + +<P> +"My Gawd! Miki—I'VE GOT A FAM'LY!" +</P> + +<P> +And Miki tried to understand. +</P> + +<P> +That night, after supper, he saw Challoner unbraid Nanette's glorious +hair, and brush it. They laughed like two happy children. Miki tried +still harder to understand. +</P> + +<P> +When Challoner went to go to his tent in the edge of the forest he took +Nanette in his arms, and kissed her, and stroked her shining hair; and +Nanette took his face between her hands and smiled and almost cried in +her joy. +</P> + +<P> +After that Miki DID understand. He knew that happiness had come to all +who were in that cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Now that his world was settled, Miki took once more to hunting. The +thrill of the trail came back to him, and wider and wider grew his +range from the cabin. Again he followed Le Beau's old trapline. But the +traps were sprung now. He had lost a great deal of his old caution. He +had grown fatter. He no longer scented danger in every whiff of the +wind. It was in the third week of Challoner's stay at the cabin, the +day which marked the end of the cold spell and the beginning of warm +weather, that Miki came upon an old dead-fall in a swamp a full ten +miles from the clearing. Le Beau had set it for lynx, but nothing had +touched the bait, which was a chunk of caribou flesh, frozen solid as a +rock. Curiously Miki began smelling of it. He no longer feared danger. +Menace had gone out of his world. He nibbled. He pulled—and the log +crashed down to break his back. Only by a little did it fail. For +twenty-four hours it held him helpless and crippled. Then, fighting +through all those hours, he dragged himself out from under it. With the +rising temperature a soft snow had fallen, covering all tracks and +trails. Through this snow Miki dragged himself, leaving a path like +that of an otter in the mud, for his hind quarters were helpless. His +back was not broken; it was temporarily paralyzed by the blow and the +weight of the log. +</P> + +<P> +He made in the direction of the cabin, but every foot that he dragged +himself was filled with agony, and his progress was so slow that at the +end of an hour he had not gone more than a quarter of a mile. Another +night found him less than two miles from the deadfall. He pulled +himself under a shelter of brush and lay there until dawn. All through +that day he did not move. The next, which was the fourth since he had +left the cabin to hunt, the pain in his back was not so great. But he +could pull himself through the snow only a few yards at a time. Again +the good spirit of the forests favoured him for in the afternoon he +came upon the partly eaten carcass of a buck killed by the wolves. The +flesh was frozen but he gnawed at it ravenously. Then he found himself +a shelter under a mass of fallen tree-tops, and for ten days thereafter +he lay between life and death. He would have died had it not been for +the buck. To the carcass he managed to drag himself, sometimes each day +and sometimes every other day, and kept himself from starving. It was +the end of the second week before he could stand well on his feet. The +fifteenth day he returned to the cabin. +</P> + +<P> +In the edge of the clearing there fell upon him slowly a foreboding of +great change. The cabin was there. It was no different than it had been +fifteen days ago. But out of the chimney there came no smoke, and the +windows were white with frost. About it the snow lay clean and white, +like an unspotted sheet. He made his way hesitatingly across the +clearing to the door. There were no tracks. Drifted snow was piled high +over the sill. He whined, and scratched at the door. There was no +answer. And he heard no sound. +</P> + +<P> +He went back into the edge of the timber, and waited. He waited all +through that day, going occasionally to the cabin, and smelling about +it, to convince himself that he had not made a mistake. When darkness +came he hollowed himself out a bed in the fresh snow close to the door +and lay there all through the night. Day came again, gray and empty and +still there was no smoke from the chimney or sound from within the log +walls, and at last he knew that Challoner and Nanette and the baby were +gone. But he was hopeful. He no longer listened for sound from within +the cabin, but watched and listened for them to come from out of the +forest. He made short quests, hunting now on this side and now on that +of the cabin, sniffing futilely at the fresh and trackless snow and +pointing the wind for minutes at a time. In the afternoon, with a +forlorn slouch to his body, he went deeper into the forest to hunt for +a rabbit. When he had killed and eaten his supper he returned again and +slept a second night in the burrow beside the door. A third day and a +third night he remained, and the third night he heard the wolves +howling under a clear and star-filled sky, and from him there came his +first cry—a yearning, grief-filled cry that rose wailingly out of the +clearing; the entreaty for his master, for Nanette, and the baby. It +was not an answer to the wolves. In its note there was a trembling +fear, the voicing of a thing that had grown into hopelessness. +</P> + +<P> +And now there settled upon him a loneliness greater than any loneliness +he had ever known. Something seemed to whisper to his canine brain that +all he had seen and felt had been but a dream, and that he was face to +face with his old world again, its dangers, its vast and soul-breaking +emptiness, its friendlessness, its ceaseless strife for existence. His +instincts, dulled by the worship of what the cabin had held, became +keenly alive. He sensed again the sharp thrill of danger, which comes +of ALONENESS, and his old caution fell upon him, so that the fourth day +he slunk around the edge of the clearing like a wolf. +</P> + +<P> +The fifth night he did not sleep in the clearing but found himself a +windfall a mile back in the forest. That night he had strange and +troubled dreams. They were not of Challoner, or of Nanette and the +baby, nor were they of the fight and the unforgettable things he had +seen at the Post. His dreams were of a high and barren ridge smothered +in deep snow, and of a cavern that was dark and deep. Again he was with +his brother and comrade of days that were gone—Neewa the bear. He was +trying to waken him, and he could feel the warmth of his body and hear +his sleepy, protesting grunts. And then, later, he was fighting again +in the paradise of black currants, and with Neewa was running for his +life from the enraged she-bear who had invaded their coulee. When he +awoke suddenly from out of these dreams he was trembling and his +muscles were tense. He growled in the darkness. His eyes were round +balls of searching fire. He whined softly and yearningly in that pit of +gloom under the windfall, and for a moment or two he listened, for he +thought that Neewa might answer. +</P> + +<P> +For a month after that night he remained near the cabin. At least once +each day, and sometimes at night, he would return to the clearing. And +more and more frequently he was thinking of Neewa. Early in March came +the Tiki-Swao—(the Big Thaw). For a week the sun shone without a cloud +in the sky. The air was warm. The snow turned soft underfoot and on the +sunny sides of slopes and ridges it melted away into trickling streams +or rolled down in "slides" that were miniature avalanches. The world +was vibrant with a new thrill. It pulsed with the growing heart-beat of +spring, and in Miki's soul there arose slowly a new hope, a new +impression a new inspiration that was the thrilling urge of a wonderful +instinct. NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! +</P> + +<P> +It came to him at last like a voice which he could understand. The +trickling music of the growing streams sang it to him; he heard it in +the warm winds that were no longer filled with the blast of winter; he +caught it in the new odours that were rising out of the earth; he +smelled it in the dank, sweet perfume of the black woods-soil. The +thing thrilled him. It called him. And he KNEW! +</P> + +<P> +NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! +</P> + +<P> +He responded to the call. It was in the nature of things that no power +less than physical force could hold him back. And yet he did not travel +as he had travelled from Challoner's camp to the cabin of Nanette and +the baby. There had been a definite object there, something to achieve, +something to spur him on to an immediate fulfilment. Now the thing that +drew him, at first, was an overpowering impulse, not a reality. For two +or three days his trail westward was wandering and indefinite. Then it +straightened out, and early in the morning of the fifth day he came +from a deep forest into a plain, and across that plain he saw the +ridge. For a long time he gazed over the level space before he went on. +</P> + +<P> +In his brain the pictures of Neewa were becoming clearer and clearer. +After all, it seemed only yesterday or the day before that he had gone +away from that ridge. Then it was smothered in snow, and a gray, +terrible gloom had settled upon the earth. Now there was but little +snow, and the sun was shining, and the sky was blue again. He went on, +and sniffed along the foot of the ridge; he had not forgotten the way. +He was not excited, because time had ceased to have definite import for +him. Yesterday he had come down from that ridge, and to-day he was +going back. He went straight to the mouth of Neewa's den, which was +uncovered now, and thrust in his head and shoulders, and sniffed. Ah! +but that lazy rascal of a bear was a sleepy-head! He was still +sleeping. Miki could smell him. Listening hard, he could HEAR him. +</P> + +<P> +He climbed over the low drift of snow that had packed itself in the +neck of the cavern and entered confidently into the darkness. He heard +a soft, sleepy grunt and a great sigh. He almost stumbled over Neewa, +who had changed his bed. Again Neewa grunted, and Miki whined. He ran +his muzzle into Neewa's fresh, new coat of spring fur and smelled his +way to Neewa's ear. After all, it was only yesterday! And he remembered +everything now! So he gave Neewa's ear a sudden sharp nip with his +teeth, and then he barked in that low, throaty way that Neewa had +always understood. +</P> + +<P> +"Wake up, Neewa," it all said. "Wake up! The snow is gone, and it's +fine out to-day. WAKE UP!" +</P> + +<P> +And Neewa, stretching himself, gave a great yawn. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR +</H3> + +<P> +Meshaba, the old Cree, sat on the sunny side of a rock on the sunny +side of a slope that looked up and down the valley. Meshaba—who many, +many years ago had been called The Giant—was very old. He was so old +that even the Factor's books over at Fort O' God had no record of his +birth; nor the "post logs" at Albany House, or Cumberland House, or +Norway House, or Fort Churchill. Perhaps farther north, at Lac La +Biche, at Old Fort Resolution, or at Fort McPherson some trace of him +might have been found. His skin was crinkled and weather-worn, like dry +buckskin, and over his brown, thin face his hair fell to his shoulders, +snow-white. His hands were thin, even his nose was thin with the +thinness of age. But his eyes were still like dark garnets, and down +through the greater part of a century their vision had come undimmed. +</P> + +<P> +They roved over the valley now. At Meshaba's back, a mile on the other +side of the ridge, was the old trapper's cabin, where he lived alone. +The winter had been long and cold, and in his gladness at the coming of +spring Meshaba had come up the ridge to bask in the sun and look out +over the changing world. For an hour his eyes had travelled up and down +the valley like the eyes of an old and wary hawk. The dark spruce and +cedar forest edged in the far side of the valley; between that and the +ridge rolled the meadowy plain—still covered with melting snow in +places, and in others bare and glowing, a dull green in the sunlight. +From where he sat Meshaba could also see a rocky scarp of the ridge +that projected out into the plain a hundred yards away. But this did +not interest him, except that if it had not been in his line of vision +he could have seen a mile farther down the valley. +</P> + +<P> +In that hour of Sphinx-like watching, while the smoke curled slowly up +from his black pipe, Meshaba had seen life. Half a mile from where he +was sitting a band of caribou had come out of the timber and wandered +into a less distant patch of low bush. They had not thrilled his old +blood with the desire to kill, for there was already a fresh carcass +hung up at the back of his cabin. Still farther away he had seen a +hornless moose, so grotesque in its spring ugliness that the +parchment-like skin of his face had cracked for half an instant in a +smile, and out of him had come a low and appreciative grunt; for +Meshaba, in spite of his age, still had a sense of humour left. Once he +had seen a wolf, and twice a fox, and now his eyes were on an eagle +high over his head. Meshaba would not have shot that eagle, for year +after year it had come down through time with him, and it was always +there soaring in the sun when spring came. So Meshaba grunted as he +watched it, and was glad that Upisk had not died during the winter. +</P> + +<P> +"Kata y ati sisew," he whispered to himself, a glow of superstition in +his fiery eyes. "We have lived long together, and it is fated that we +die together, Oh Upisk. The spring has come for us many times, and soon +the black winter will swallow us up for ever." +</P> + +<P> +His eyes shifted slowly, and then they rested on the scarp of the ridge +that shut out his vision. His heart gave a sudden thump in his body. +His pipe fell from his mouth to his hand; and he stared without moving, +stared like a thing of rock. +</P> + +<P> +On a flat sunlit shelf not more than eighty or ninety yards away stood +a young black bear. In the warm glow of the sunlight the bear's spring +coat shone like polished jet. But it was not the sudden appearance of +the bear that amazed Meshaba. It was the fact that another animal was +standing shoulder to shoulder with Wakayoo, and that it was not a +brother bear, but a huge wolf. Slowly one of his thin hands rose to his +eyes and he wiped away what he thought must surely be a strange +something that was fooling his vision. In all his eighty years and odd +he had never known a wolf to be thus friendly with a bear. Nature had +made them enemies. Nature had fore-doomed their hatred to be the +deepest hatred of the forests. Therefore, for a space, Meshaba doubted +his eyes. But in another moment he saw that the miracle had truly come +to pass. For the wolf turned broadside to him and it WAS a wolf! A +huge, big-boned beast that stood as high at the shoulders as Wakayoo, +the bear; a great beast, with a great head, and— +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Meshaba's heart gave another thump, for the tail of a +wolf is big and bushy in the springtime, and the tail of this beast was +as bare of hair as a beaver's tail! +</P> + +<P> +"Ohne moosh!" gasped Meshaba, under his breath—"a dog!" +</P> + +<P> +He seemed to draw slowly into himself, slinking backward. His rifle +stood just out of reach on the other side of the rock. +</P> + +<P> +At the other end of that eighty or ninety yards Neewa and Miki stood +blinking in the bright sunlight, with the mouth of the cavern in which +Neewa had slept so many months just behind them. Miki was puzzled. +Again it seemed to him that it was only yesterday, and not months ago, +that he had left Neewa in that den, sleeping his lazy head off. And now +that he had returned to him after his own hard winter in the forests he +was astonished to find Neewa so big. For Neewa had grown steadily +through his four months' nap and he was half again as big as when he +went to sleep. Could Miki have spoken Cree, and had Meshaba given him +the opportunity, he might have explained the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, Mr. Indian"—he might have said—"this dub of a bear and I +have been pals from just about the time we were born. A man named +Challoner tied us together first when Neewa, there, was just about as +big as your head, and we did a lot of scrapping before we got properly +acquainted. Then we got lost, and after that we hitched up like +brothers; and we had a lot of fun and excitement all through last +summer, until at last, when the cold weather came, Neewa hunted up this +hole in the ground and the lazy cuss went to sleep for all winter. I +won't mention what happened to me during the winter. It was a-plenty. +So this spring I had a hunch it was about time for Neewa to get the +cobwebs out of his fool head, and came back. And—here we are! But tell +me this: WHAT MAKES NEEWA SO BIG?" +</P> + +<P> +It was at least that thought—the bigness of Neewa—that was filling +Miki's head at the present moment. And Meshaba, in place of listening +to an explanation, was reaching for his rifle—while Neewa, with his +brown muzzle sniffing the wind, was gathering in a strange smell. Of +the three, Neewa saw nothing to be wondered at in the situation itself. +When he had gone to sleep four and a half months ago Miki was at his +side; and to-day, when he awoke, Miki was still at his side. The four +and a half months meant nothing to him. Many times he and Miki had gone +to sleep, and had awakened together. For all the knowledge he had of +time it might have been only last night that he had fallen asleep. +</P> + +<P> +The one thing that made Neewa uneasy now was that strange odour he had +caught in the air. Instinctively he seized upon it as a menace—at +least as something that he would rather NOT smell than smell. So he +turned away with a warning WOOF to Miki. When Meshaba peered around the +edge of the rock, expecting an easy shot, he caught only a flash of the +two as they were disappearing. He fired quickly. +</P> + +<P> +To Miki and Neewa the report of the rifle and the moaning whirr of the +bullet over their backs recalled memories of a host of things, and +Neewa settled down to that hump-backed, flat-eared flight of his that +kept Miki pegging along at a brisk pace for at least a mile. Then Neewa +stopped, puffing audibly. Inasmuch as he had had nothing to eat for a +third of a year, and was weak from long inactivity, the run came within +an ace of putting him out of business. It was several minutes before he +could gather his wind sufficiently to grunt. Miki, meanwhile, was +carefully smelling of him from his rump to his muzzle. There was +apparently nothing missing, for he gave a delighted little yap at the +end, and, in spite of his size and the dignity of increased age, he +began frisking about Neewa In a manner emphatically expressive of his +joy at his comrade's awakening. +</P> + +<P> +"It's been a deuce of a lonely winter, Neewa, and I'm tickled to death +to see you on your feet again," his antics said. "What'll we do? Go for +a hunt?" +</P> + +<P> +This seemed to be the thought in Neewa's mind, for he headed straight +up the valley until they came to an open fen where he proceeded to +quest about for a dinner of roots and grass; and as he searched he +grunted—grunted in his old, companionable, cubbish way. And Miki, +hunting with him, found that once more the loneliness had gone out of +his world. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE +</H3> + +<P> +To Miki and Neewa, especially Neewa, there seemed nothing extraordinary +in the fact that they were together again, and that their comradeship +was resumed. Although during his months of hibernation Neewa's body had +grown, his mind had not changed its memories or its pictures. It had +not passed through a mess of stirring events such as had made the +winter a thrilling one for Miki, and so it was Neewa who accepted the +new situation most casually. He went on feeding as if nothing at all +unusual had happened during the past four months, and after the edge +had gone from his first hunger he fell into his old habit of looking to +Miki for leadership. And Miki fell into the old ways as though only a +day or a week and not four months had lapsed in their brotherhood. It +is possible that he tried mightily to tell Neewa what had happened. At +least he must have had that desire—to let him know in what a strange +way he had found his old master, Challoner, and how he had lost him +again. And also how he found the woman, Nanette, and the little baby +Nanette, and how for a long time he had lived with them and loved them +as he had never loved anything else on earth. +</P> + +<P> +It was the old cabin, far to the north and east, that drew him now—the +cabin in which Nanette and the baby had lived; and it was toward this +cabin that he lured Neewa during the first two weeks of their hunting. +They did not travel quickly, largely because of Neewa's voracious +spring appetite and the fact that it consumed nine tenths of his waking +hours to keep full on such provender as roots and swelling buds and +grass. During the first week Miki grew either hopeless or disgusted in +his hunting. One day he killed five rabbits and Neewa ate four of them +and grunted piggishly for more. +</P> + +<P> +If Miki had stood amazed and appalled at Neewa's appetite in the days +of their cubhood and puppyhood a year ago, he was more than astounded +now, for in the matter of food Neewa was a bottomless pit. On the other +hand he was jollier than ever, and in their wrestling matches he was +almost more than a match for Miki, being nearly again as heavy. He very +soon acquired the habit of taking advantage of this superiority of +weight, and at unexpected moments he would hop on Miki and pin him to +the ground, his fat body smothering him like a huge soft cushion, and +his arms holding him until at times Miki could scarcely squirm. Now and +then, hugging him in this embrace, he would roll over and over, both of +them snarling and growling as though in deadly combat. This play, +though he was literally the under dog, delighted Miki until one day +they rolled over the edge of a deep ravine and crashed in a +dog-and-bear avalanche to the bottom. After that, for a long time, +Neewa did not roll with his victim. Whenever Miki wanted to end a bout, +however, all he had to do was to give Neewa a sharp nip with his long +fangs and the bear would uncoil himself and hop to his feet like a +spring. He had a most serious respect for Miki's teeth. +</P> + +<P> +But Miki's greatest moments of joy were where Neewa stood up +man-fashion. Then was a real tussle. And his greatest hours of disgust +were when Neewa stretched himself out in a tree for a nap. +</P> + +<P> +It was the beginning of the third week before they came one day to the +cabin. There was no change in it, and Miki's body sagged disconsolately +as he and Neewa looked at it from the edge of the clearing. No smoke, +no sign of life, and the window was broken now—probably by an +inquisitive bear or a wolverine. Miki went to the window and stood up +to it, sniffing inside. The SMELL was still there—so faint that he +could only just detect it. But that was all. The big room was empty +except for the stove, a table and a few bits of rude furniture. All +else was gone. Three or four times during the next half hour Miki stood +up at the window, and at last Neewa—urged by his curiosity—did +likewise. He also detected the faint odour that was left in the cabin. +He sniffed at it for a long time. It was like the smell he had caught +the day he came out of his den—and yet different. It was fainter, more +elusive, and not so unpleasant. +</P> + +<P> +For a month thereafter Miki insisted on hunting in the vicinity of the +cabin, held there by the "pull" of the thing which he could neither +analyze nor quite understand. Neewa accepted the situation +good-naturedly for a time. Then he lost patience and surrendered +himself to a grouch for three whole days during which he wandered at +his own sweet will. To preserve the alliance Miki was compelled to +follow him. Berry time—early July—found them sixty miles north and +west of the cabin, in the edge of the country where Neewa was born. +</P> + +<P> +But there were few berries that summer of bebe nak um geda (the summer +of drought and fire). As early as the middle of July a thin, gray film +began to hover in palpitating waves over the forests. For three weeks +there had been no rain. Even the nights were hot and dry. Each day the +factors at their posts looked out with anxious eyes over their domains, +and by the first of August every post had a score of halfbreeds and +Indians patrolling the trails on the watch for fire. In their cabins +and teepees the forest dwellers who had not gone to pass the summer at +the posts waited and watched; each morning and noon and night they +climbed tall trees and peered through that palpitating gray film for a +sign of smoke. For weeks the wind came steadily from the south and +west, parched as though swept over the burning sands of a desert. +Berries dried up on the bushes; the fruit of the mountain ash shriveled +on its stems; creeks ran dry; swamps turned into baked peat, and the +poplar leaves hung wilted and lifeless, too limp to rustle in the +breeze. Only once or twice in a lifetime does the forest dweller see +poplar leaves curl up and die like that, baked to death in the summer +sun. It is Kiskewahoon (the Danger Signal). Not only the warning of +possible death in a holocaust of fire, but the omen of poor hunting and +trapping in the winter to come. +</P> + +<P> +Miki and Neewa were in a swamp country when the fifth of August came. +In the lowland it was sweltering. Neewa's tongue hung from his mouth, +and Miki was panting as they made their way along a black and sluggish +stream that was like a great ditch and as dead as the day itself. There +was no visible sun, but a red and lurid glow filled the sky—the sun +struggling to fight its way through the smothering film that had grown +thicker over the earth. Because they were in a "pocket"—a sweep of +tangled country lower than the surrounding country—Neewa and Miki were +not caught in this blackening cloud. Five miles away they might have +heard the thunder of cloven hoofs and the crash of heavy bodies in +their flight before the deadly menace of fire. As it was they made +their way slowly through the parched swamp, so that it was midday when +they came out of the edge of it and up through a green fringe of timber +to the top of a ridge. Before this hour neither had passed through the +horror of a forest fire. But it seized upon them now. It needed no past +experience. The cumulative instinct of a thousand generations leapt +through their brains and bodies. Their world was in the grip of +Iskootao (the Fire Devil). To the south and the east and the west it +was buried in a pall like the darkness of night, and out of the far +edge of the swamp through which they had come they caught the first +livid spurts of flame. From that direction, now that they were out of +the "pocket," they felt a hot wind, and with that wind came a dull and +rumbling roar that was like the distant moaning of a cataract. They +waited, and watched, struggling to get their bearings, their minds +fighting for a few moments in the gigantic process of changing instinct +into reasoning and understanding. Neewa, being a bear, was afflicted +with the near-sightedness of his breed, and he could see neither the +black tornado of smoke bearing down upon them nor the flames leaping +out of the swamp. But he could SMELL, and his nose was twisted into a +hundred wrinkles, and even ahead of Miki he was ready for flight. But +Miki, whose vision was like a hawk's, stood as if fascinated. +</P> + +<P> +The roaring grew more distinct. It seemed on all sides of them. But it +was from the south that there came the first storm of ash rushing +noiselessly ahead of the fire, and after that the smoke. It was then +that Miki turned with a strange whine but it was Neewa now who took the +lead—Neewa, whose forebears had ten thousand times run this same wild +race with death in the centuries since their world was born. He did not +need the keenness of far vision now. He KNEW. He knew what was behind, +and what was on either side, and where the one trail to safety lay; and +in the air he felt and smelled the thing that was death. Twice Miki +made efforts to swing their course into the east, but Neewa would have +none of it. With flattened ears he went on NORTH. Three times Miki +stopped to turn and face the galloping menace behind them, but never +for an instant did Neewa pause. Straight on—NORTH, NORTH, NORTH—north +to the higher lands, the big waters, the open plains. +</P> + +<P> +They were not alone. A caribou sped past them with the swiftness of the +wind itself. "FAST, FAST, FAST!"—Neewa's instinct cried; "but—ENDURE! +For the caribou, speeding even faster than the fire, will fall of +exhaustion shortly and be eaten up by the flames. FAST—but ENDURE!" +</P> + +<P> +And steadily, stoically, at his loping gait Neewa led on. +</P> + +<P> +A bull moose swung half across their trail from the west, wind-gone and +panting as though his throat were cut. He was badly burned, and running +blindly into the eastern wall of fire. +</P> + +<P> +Behind and on either side, where the flames were rushing on with the +pitiless ferocity of hunnish regiments, the harvest of death was a vast +and shuddering reality. In hollow logs, under windfalls, in the thick +tree-tops, and in the earth itself, the smaller things of the +wilderness sought their refuge—and died. Rabbits became leaping balls +of flame, then lay shrivelled and black; the marten were baked in their +trees; fishers and mink and ermine crawled into the deepest corners of +the windfalls and died there by inches; owls fluttered out of their +tree-tops, staggered for a few moments in the fiery air, and fell down +into the heart of the flame. No creature made a sound—except the +porcupines; and as they died they cried like little children. +</P> + +<P> +In the green spruce and cedar timber, heavy with the pitch that made +their thick tops spurt into flame like a sea of explosive, the fire +rushed on with a tremendous roar. From it—in a straight race—there +was no escape for man or beast. Out of that world of conflagration +there might have risen one great, yearning cry to heaven: +WATER—WATER—WATER! Wherever there was water there was also hope—and +life. Breed and blood and wilderness feuds were forgotten in the great +hour of peril. Every lake became a haven of refuge. +</P> + +<P> +To such a lake came Neewa, guided by an unerring instinct and sense of +smell sharpened by the rumble and roar of the storm of fire behind him. +Miki had "lost" himself; his senses were dulled; his nostrils caught no +scent but that of a world in flames—so, blindly, he followed his +comrade. The fire was enveloping the lake along its western shore, and +its water was already thickly tenanted. It was not a large lake, and +almost round. Its diameter was not more than two hundred yards. Farther +out—a few of them swimming, but most of them standing on bottom with +only their heads out of water—were a score of caribou and moose. Many +other shorter-legged creatures were swimming aimlessly, turning this +way and that, paddling their feet only enough to keep afloat. On the +shore where Neewa and Miki paused was a huge porcupine, chattering and +chuckling foolishly, as if scolding all things in general for having +disturbed him at dinner. Then he took to the water. A little farther up +the shore a fisher-cat and a fox hugged close to the water line, +hesitating to wet their precious fur until death itself snapped at +their heels; and as if to bring fresh news of this death a second fox +dragged himself wearily out on the shore, as limp as a wet rag after +his swim from the opposite shore, where the fire was already leaping in +a wall of flame. And as this fox swam in, hoping to find safety, an old +bear twice as big as Neewa, crashed panting from the undergrowth, +plunged into the water, and swam OUT. Smaller things were creeping and +crawling and slinking along the shore; little red-eyed ermine, marten, +and mink, rabbits, squirrels, and squeaking gophers, and a horde of +mice. And at last, with these things which he would have devoured so +greedily running about him, Neewa waded slowly out into the water. Miki +followed until he was submerged to his shoulders. Then he stopped. The +fire was close now, advancing like a race-horse. Over the protecting +barrier of thick timber drove the clouds of smoke and ash. Swiftly the +lake became obliterated, and now out of that awful chaos of blackness +and smoke and heat there rose strange and thrilling cries; the bleating +of a moose calf that was doomed to die and the bellowing, terror-filled +response of its mother; the agonized howling of a wolf; the terrified +barking of a fox, and over all else the horrible screaming of a pair of +loons whose home had been transformed into a sea of flame. +</P> + +<P> +Through the thickening smoke and increasing heat Neewa gave his call to +Miki as he began to swim, and with an answering whine Miki plunged +after him, swimming so close to his big black brother that his muzzle +touched the other's flank. In mid-lake Neewa did as the other swimming +creatures were doing—paddled only enough to keep himself afloat; but +for Miki, big of bone and unassisted by a life-preserver of fat, the +struggle was not so easy. He was forced to swim to keep afloat. A dozen +times he circled around Neewa, and then, with something of the +situation driven upon him, he came up close to the bear and rested his +forepaws on his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +The lake was now encircled by a solid wall of fire. Blasts of flame +shot up the pitch-laden trees and leapt for fifty feet into the +blistering air. The roar of the conflagration was deafening. It drowned +all sound that brute agony and death may have made. And its heat was +terrific. For a few terrible minutes the air which Miki drew into his +lungs was like fire itself. Neewa plunged his head under water every +few seconds, but it was not Miki's instinct to do this. Like the wolf +and the fox and the fisher-cat and the lynx it was his nature to die +before completely submerging himself. +</P> + +<P> +Swift as it had come the fire passed; and the walls of timber that had +been green a few moments before were black and shrivelled and dead; and +sound swept on with the flame until it became once more only a low and +rumbling murmur. +</P> + +<P> +To the black and smouldering shores the live things slowly made their +way. Of all the creatures that had taken refuge in the lake many had +died. Chief of those were the porcupines. All had drowned. +</P> + +<P> +Close to the shore the heat was still intense, and for hours the earth +was hot with smouldering fire. All the rest of that day and the night +that followed no living thing moved out of the shallow water. And yet +no living thing thought to prey upon its neighbour. The great peril had +made of all beasts kin. +</P> + +<P> +A little before dawn of the day following the fire relief came. A +deluge of rain fell, and when day broke and the sun shone through a +murky heaven there was left no sign of what the lake had been, except +for the dead bodies that floated on its surface or lined its shores. +The living things had returned into their desolated wilderness—and +among them Neewa and Miki. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX +</H3> + +<P> +For many days after the Great Fire it was Neewa who took the lead. All +their world was a black and lifeless desolation and Miki would not have +known which way to turn. Had it been a local fire of small extent he +would have "wandered" out of its charred path. But the conflagration +had been immense. It had swept over a vast reach of country, and for a +half of the creatures who had saved themselves in the lakes and streams +there was only a death by starvation left. +</P> + +<P> +But not for Neewa and his breed. Just as there had been no indecision +in the manner and direction of his flight before the fire so there was +now no hesitation in the direction he chose to seek a live world again. +It was due north and west—as straight as a die. If they came to a +lake, and went around it, Neewa would always follow the shore until he +came directly opposite his trail on the other side of the lake—and +then strike north and west again. He travelled steadily, not only by +day but also by night, with only short intervals of rest, and the +dawning of the second morning found Miki more exhausted than the bear. +</P> + +<P> +There were many evidences now that they had reached a point where the +fire had begun to burn itself out. Patches of green timber were left +standing, there were swamps unscathed by the flames, and here and there +they came upon green patches of meadow. In the swamps and timber they +feasted, for these oases in what had been a sea of flame were filled +with food ready to be preyed upon and devoured. For the first time +Neewa refused to stop because there was plenty to eat. The sixth day +they were a hundred miles from the lake in which they had sought refuge +from the fire. +</P> + +<P> +It was a wonderful country of green timber, of wide plains and of many +lakes and streams—cut up by a thousand usayow (low ridges), which made +the best of hunting. Because it was a country of many waters, with live +streams running between the ridges and from lake to lake, it had not +suffered from the drought like the country farther south. For a month +Neewa and Miki hunted in their new paradise, and became fat and happy +again. +</P> + +<P> +It was in September that they came upon a strange thing in the edge of +a swamp. At first Miki thought that it was a cabin; but it was a great +deal smaller than any cabin he had known. It was not much larger than +the cage of saplings in which Le Beau had kept him. But it was made of +heavy logs, and the logs were notched so that nothing could knock them +down. And these logs, instead of lying closely one on the other, had +open spaces six or eight inches wide between them. And there was a +wide-open door. From this strange contraption there came a strong odour +of over-ripened fish. The smell repelled Miki. But it was a powerful +attraction to Neewa, who persisted in remaining near it in spite of all +Miki could do to drag him away. Finally, disgusted at his comrade's bad +taste, Miki sulked off alone to hunt. It was some time after that +before Neewa dared to thrust his head and shoulders through the +opening. The smell of the fish made his little eyes gleam. Cautiously +he stepped inside the queer looking thing of logs. Nothing happened. He +saw the fish, all he could eat, just on the other side of a sapling +against which he must lean to reach them. He went deliberately to the +sapling, leaned over, and then!— +</P> + +<P> +"CRASH!" +</P> + +<P> +He whirled about as if shot. There was no longer an opening where he +had entered. The sapling "trigger" had released an over-head door, and +Neewa was a prisoner. He was not excited, but accepted the situation +quite coolly, probably having no doubt in his mind that somewhere there +was an aperture between the logs large enough for him to squeeze +through. After a few inquisitive sniffs he proceeded to devour the +fish. He was absorbed in his odoriferous feast when out of a clump of +dwarf balsams a few yards away appeared an Indian. He quickly took in +the situation, turned, and disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later this Indian ran into a clearing in which were the +recently constructed buildings of a new Post. He made for the Company +store. In the fur-carpeted "office" of this store a man was bending +fondly over a woman. The Indian saw them as he entered, and chuckled. +"Sakehewawin" ("the love couple"); that was what they had already come +to call them at Post Lac Bain—this man and woman who had given them a +great feast when the missioner had married them not so very long ago. +The man and the woman stood up when the Indian entered, and the woman +smiled at him. She was beautiful. Her eyes were glowing, and there was +the flush of a flower in her cheeks. The Indian felt the worship of her +warm in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Oo-ee, we have caught the bear," he said. "But it is napao (a +he-bear). There is no cub, Iskwao Nanette!" +</P> + +<P> +The white man chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Aren't we having the darndest luck getting you a cub for a house-pet, +Nanette?" he asked. "I'd have sworn this mother and her cub would have +been easily caught. A he-bear! We'll have to let him loose, Mootag. His +pelt is good for nothing. Do you want to go with us and see the fun, +Nanette?" +</P> + +<P> +She nodded, her little laugh filled with the joy of love and life. +</P> + +<P> +"Oui. It will be such fun—to see him go!" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner led the way, with an axe in his hand; and with him came +Nanette, her hand in his. Mootag followed with his rifle, prepared for +an emergency. From the thick screen of balsams Challoner peered forth, +then made a hole through which Nanette might look at the cage and its +prisoner. For a moment or two she held her breath as she watched Neewa +pacing back and forth, very much excited now. Then she gave a little +cry, and Challoner felt her fingers pinch his own sharply. Before he +knew what she was about to do she had thrust herself through the screen +of balsams. +</P> + +<P> +Close to the log prison, faithful to his comrade in the hour of peril, +lay Miki. He was exhausted from digging at the earth under the lower +log, and he had not smelled or heard anything of the presence of others +until he saw Nanette standing not twenty paces away. His heart leapt up +into his panting throat. He swallowed, as though to get rid of a great +lump; he stared. And then, with a sudden, yearning whine, he sprang +toward her. With a yell Challoner leapt out of the balsams with +uplifted axe. But before the axe could fall, Miki was in Nanette's +arms, and Challoner dropped his weapon with a gasp of amazement—and +one word: +</P> + +<P> +"MIKI!" +</P> + +<P> +Mootag, looking on in stupid astonishment, saw both the man and the +woman making a great fuss over a strange and wild-looking beast that +looked as if it ought to be killed. They had forgotten the bear. And +Miki, wildly joyous at finding his beloved master and mistress, had +forgotten him also. It was a prodigious WHOOF from Neewa himself that +brought their attention to him. Like a flash Miki was back at the pen +smelling of Neewa's snout between two of the logs, and with a great +wagging of tail trying to make him understand what had happened. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, with a thought born in his head that made him oblivious of all +else but the big black brute in the pen, Challoner approached the trap. +Was it possible that Miki could have made friends with any other bear +than the cub of long ago? He drew in a deep breath as he looked at +them. Neewa's brown-tipped nose was thrust between two of the logs and +MIKI WAS LICKING IT WITH HIS TONGUE! He held out a hand to Nanette, and +when she came to him he pointed for a space, without speaking. +</P> + +<P> +Then he said: +</P> + +<P> +"It is the cub, Nanette. You know—the cub I have told you about. +They've stuck together all this time—ever since I killed the cub's +mother a year and a half ago, and tied them together on a piece of +rope. I understand now why Miki ran away from us when we were at the +cabin. He went back—to the bear." +</P> + +<P> +To-day if you strike northward from Le Pas and put your canoe in the +Rat River or Grassberry waterways, and thence paddle and run with the +current down the Reindeer River and along the east shore of Reindeer +Lake you will ultimately come to the Cochrane—and Post Lac Bain. It is +one of the most wonderful countries in all the northland. Three hundred +Indians, breeds and French, come with their furs to Lac Bain. Not a +soul among them—man, woman, or child—but knows the story of the "tame +bear of Lac Bain"—the pet of l'ange, the white angel, the Factor's +wife. +</P> + +<P> +The bear wears a shining collar and roams at will in the company of a +great dog, but, having grown huge and fat now, never wanders far from +the Post. And it is an unwritten law in all that country that the +animal must not be harmed, and that no bear traps shall be set within +five miles of the Company buildings. Beyond that limit the bear never +roams; and when it comes cold, and he goes into his long sleep, he +crawls into a deep warm cavern that has been dug for him under the +Company storehouse. And with him, when the nights come, sleeps Miki the +dog. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Nomads of the North, by James Oliver Curwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOMADS OF THE NORTH *** + +***** This file should be named 4704-h.htm or 4704-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/7/0/4704/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Nomads of the North + A Story of Romance and Adventure under the Open Stars + +Author: James Oliver Curwood + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4704] +Release Date: December, 2003 +First Posted: March 3, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOMADS OF THE NORTH *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +NOMADS OF THE NORTH + +A STORY OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE UNDER THE OPEN STARS + + +BY + +JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + + +It was late in the month of March, at the dying-out of the Eagle Moon, +that Neewa the black bear cub got his first real look at the world. +Noozak, his mother, was an old bear, and like an old person she was +filled with rheumatics and the desire to sleep late. So instead of +taking a short and ordinary nap of three months this particular winter +of little Neewa's birth she slept four, which, made Neewa, who was born +while his mother was sound asleep, a little over two months old instead +of six weeks when they came out of den. + +In choosing this den Noozak had gone to a cavern at the crest of a +high, barren ridge, and from this point Neewa first looked down into +the valley. For a time, coming out of darkness into sunlight, he was +blinded. He could hear and smell and feel many things before he could +see. And Noozak, as though puzzled at finding warmth and sunshine in +place of cold and darkness, stood for many minutes sniffing the wind +and looking down upon her domain. + +For two weeks an early spring had been working its miracle of change in +that wonderful country of the northland between Jackson's Knee and the +Shamattawa River, and from north to south between God's Lake and the +Churchill. + +It was a splendid world. From the tall pinnacle of rock on which they +stood it looked like a great sea of sunlight, with only here and there +patches of white snow where the winter winds had piled it deep. Their +ridge rose up out of a great valley. On all sides of them, as far as a +man's eye could have reached, there were blue and black patches of +forest, the shimmer of lakes still partly frozen, the sunlit sparkle of +rivulet and stream, and the greening open spaces out of which rose the +perfumes of the earth. These smells drifted up like tonic and food to +the nostrils of Noozak the big bear. Down there the earth was already +swelling with life. The buds on the poplars were growing fat and near +the bursting point; the grasses were sending out shoots tender and +sweet; the camas were filling with juice; the shooting stars, the +dog-tooth violets, and the spring beauties were thrusting themselves up +into the warm glow of the sun, inviting Noozak and Neewa to the feast. +All these things Noozak smelled with the experience and the knowledge +of twenty years of life behind her--the delicious aroma of the spruce +and the jackpine; the dank, sweet scent of water-lily roots and +swelling bulbs that came from a thawed-out fen at the foot of the +ridge; and over all these things, overwhelming their individual +sweetnesses in a still greater thrill of life, the smell of the heart +itself! + +And Neewa smelled them. His amazed little body trembled and thrilled +for the first time with the excitement of life. A moment before in +darkness, he found himself now in a wonderland of which he had never so +much as had a dream. In these few minutes Nature was at work upon him. +He possessed no knowledge, but instinct was born within him. He knew +this was HIS world, that the sun and the warmth were for him, and that +the sweet things of the earth were inviting him into his heritage. He +puckered up his little brown nose and sniffed the air, and the pungency +of everything that was sweet and to be yearned for came to him. + +And he listened. His pointed ears were pricked forward, and up to him +came the drone of a wakening earth. Even the roots of the grasses must +have been singing in their joy, for all through that sunlit valley +there was the low and murmuring music of a country that was at peace +because it was empty of men. Everywhere was the rippling sound of +running water, and he heard strange sounds that he knew was life; the +twittering of a rock-sparrow, the silver-toned aria of a black-throated +thrush down in the fen, the shrill paean of a gorgeously coloured +Canada jay exploring for a nesting place in a brake of velvety balsam. +And then, far over his head, a screaming cry that made him shiver. It +was instinct again that told him in that cry was danger. Noozak looked +up, and saw the shadow of Upisk, the great eagle, as it flung itself +between the sun and the earth. Neewa saw the shadow, and cringed nearer +to his mother. + +And Noozak--so old that she had lost half her teeth, so old that her +bones ached on damp and chilly nights, and her eyesight was growing +dim--was still not so old that she did not look down with growing +exultation upon what she saw. Her mind was travelling beyond the mere +valley in which they had wakened. Off there beyond the walls of forest, +beyond the farthest lake, beyond the river and the plain, were the +illimitable spaces which gave her home. To her came dully a sound +uncaught by Neewa--the almost unintelligible rumble of the great +waterfall. It was this, and the murmur of a thousand trickles of +running water, and the soft wind breathing down in the balsam and +spruce that put the music of spring into the air. + +At last Noozak heaved a great breath out of her lungs and with a grunt +to Neewa began to lead the way slowly down among the rocks to the foot +of the ridge. + +In the golden pool of the valley it was even warmer than on the crest +of the ridge. Noozak went straight to the edge of the slough. Half a +dozen rice birds rose with a whir of wings that made Neewa almost upset +himself. Noozak paid no attention to them. A loon let out a squawky +protest at Noozak's soft-footed appearance, and followed it up with a +raucous screech that raised the hair on Neewa's spine. And Noozak paid +no attention to this. Neewa observed these things. His eye was on her, +and instinct had already winged his legs with the readiness to run if +his mother should give the signal. In his funny little head it was +developing very quickly that his mother was a most wonderful creature. +She was by all odds the biggest thing alive--that is, the biggest that +stood on legs, and moved. He was confident of this for a space of +perhaps two minutes, when they came to the end of the fen. And here was +a sudden snort, a crashing of bracken, the floundering of a huge body +through knee-deep mud, and a monstrous bull moose, four times as big as +Noozak, set off in lively flight. Neewa's eyes all but popped from his +head. And STILL Noozak PAID NO ATTENTION! + +It was then that Neewa crinkled up his tiny nose and snarled, just as +he had snarled at Noozak's ears and hair and at sticks he had worried +in the black cavern. A glorious understanding dawned upon him. He could +snarl at anything he wanted to snarl at, no matter how big. For +everything ran away from Noozak his mother. + +All through this first glorious day Neewa was discovering things, and +with each hour it was more and more impressed upon him that his mother +was the unchallenged mistress of all this new and sunlit domain. + +Noozak was a thoughtful old mother of a bear who had reared fifteen or +eighteen families in her time, and she travelled very little this first +day in order that Neewa's tender feet might toughen up a bit. They +scarcely left the fen, except to go into a nearby clump of trees where +Noozak used her claws to shred a spruce that they might get at the +juice and slimy substance just under the bark. Neewa liked this dessert +after their feast of roots and bulbs, and tried to claw open a tree on +his own account. By mid-afternoon Noozak had eaten until her sides +bulged out, and Neewa himself--between his mother's milk and the many +odds and ends of other things--looked like an over-filled pod. +Selecting a spot where the declining sun made a warm oven of a great +white rock, lazy old Noozak lay down for a nap, while Neewa, wandering +about in quest of an adventure of his own, came face to face with a +ferocious bug. + +The creature was a giant wood-beetle two inches long. Its two battling +pincers were jet black, and curved like hooks of iron. It was a rich +brown in colour and in the sunlight its metallic armour shone in a +dazzling splendour. Neewa, squatted flat on his belly, eyed it with a +swiftly beating heart. The beetle was not more than a foot away, and +ADVANCING! That was the curious and rather shocking part of it. It was +the first living thing he had met with that day that had not run away. +As it advanced slowly on its two rows of legs the beetle made a +clicking sound that Neewa heard quite distinctly. With the fighting +blood of his father, Soominitik, nerving him on to the adventure he +thrust out a hesitating paw, and instantly Chegawasse, the beetle, took +upon himself a most ferocious aspect. His wings began humming like a +buzz-saw, his pincers opened until they could have taken in a man's +finger, and he vibrated on his legs until it looked as though he might +be performing some sort of a dance. Neewa jerked his paw back and after +a moment or two Chegawasse calmed himself and again began to ADVANCE! + +Neewa did not know, of course, that the beetle's field of vision ended +about four inches from the end of his nose; the situation, +consequently, was appalling. But it was never born in a son of a father +like Soominitik to run from a bug, even at nine weeks of age. +Desperately he thrust out his paw again, and unfortunately for him one +of his tiny claws got a half Nelson on the beetle and held Chegawasse +on his shining back so that he could neither buzz not click. A great +exultation swept through Neewa. Inch by inch he drew his paw in until +the beetle was within reach of his sharp little teeth. Then he smelled +of him. + +That was Chegawasse's opportunity. The pincers closed and Noozak's +slumbers were disturbed by a sudden bawl of agony. When she raised her +head Neewa was rolling about as if in a fit. He was scratching and +snarling and spitting. Noozak eyed him speculatively for some moments, +then reared herself slowly and went to him. With one big paw she rolled +him over--and saw Chegawasse firmly and determinedly attached to her +offspring's nose. Flattening Neewa on his back so that he could not +move she seized the beetle between her teeth, bit slowly until +Chegawasse lost his hold, and then swallowed him. + +From then until dusk Neewa nursed his sore nose. A little before dark +Noozak curled herself up against the big rock, and Neewa took his +supper. Then he made himself a nest in the crook of her big, warm +forearm. In spite of his smarting nose he was a happy bear, and at the +end of his first day he felt very brave and very fearless, though he +was but nine weeks old. He had come into the world, he had looked upon +many things, and if he had not conquered he at least had gone +gloriously through the day. + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + + +That night Neewa had a hard attack of Mistu-puyew, or stomach-ache. +Imagine a nursing baby going direct from its mother's breast to a +beefsteak! That was what Neewa had done. Ordinarily he would not have +begun nibbling at solid foods for at least another month, but nature +seemed deliberately at work in a process of intensive education +preparing him for the mighty and unequal struggle which he would have +to put up a little later. For hours Neewa moaned and wailed, and Noozak +muzzled his bulging little belly with her nose, until finally he +vomited and was better. + +After that he slept. When he awoke he was startled by opening his eyes +full into the glare of a great blaze of fire. Yesterday he had seen the +sun, golden and shimmering and far away. But this was the first time he +had seen it come up over the edge of the world on a spring morning in +the Northland. It was as red as blood, and as he stared it rose +steadily and swiftly until the flat side of it rounded out and it was a +huge ball of SOMETHING. At first he thought it was Life--some monstrous +creature sailing up over the forest toward them--and he turned with a +whine of enquiry to his mother. Whatever it was, Noozak was unafraid. +Her big head was turned toward it, and she was blinking her eyes in +solemn comfort. It was then that Neewa began to feel the pleasing +warmth of the red thing, and in spite of his nervousness he began to +purr in the glow of it. From red the sun turned swiftly to gold, and +the whole valley was transformed once more into a warm and pulsating +glory of life. + +For two weeks after this first sunrise in Neewa's life Noozak remained +near the ridge and the slough. Then came the day, when Neewa was eleven +weeks old, that she turned her nose toward the distant black forests +and began the summer's peregrination. Neewa's feet had lost their +tenderness, and he weighed a good six pounds. This was pretty good +considering that he had only weighed twelve ounces at birth. + +From the day when Noozak set off on her wandering TREK Neewa's real +adventures began. In the dark and mysterious caverns of the forests +there were places where the snow still lay unsoftened by the sun, and +for two days Neewa yearned and whined for the sunlit valley. They +passed the waterfall, where Neewa looked for the first tune on a +rushing torrent of water. Deeper and darker and gloomier grew the +forest Noozak was penetrating. In this forest Neewa received his first +lessons in hunting. Noozak was now well in the "bottoms" between the +Jackson's Knee and Shamattawa waterway divides, a great hunting ground +for bears in the early spring. When awake she was tireless in her quest +for food, and was constantly digging in the earth, or turning over +stones and tearing rotting logs and stumps into pieces. The little gray +wood-mice were her piece de resistance, small as they were, and it +amazed Neewa to see how quick his clumsy old mother could be when one +of these little creatures was revealed. There were times when Noozak +captured a whole family before they could escape. And to these were +added frogs and toads, still partly somnambulent; many ants, curled up +as if dead, in the heart of rotting logs; and occasional bumble-bees, +wasps, and hornets. Now and then Neewa took a nibble at these things. +On the third day Noozak uncovered a solid mass of hibernating vinegar +ants as large as a man's two fists, and frozen solid. Neewa ate a +quantity of these, and the sweet, vinegary flavour of them was +delicious to his palate. + +As the days progressed, and living things began to crawl out from under +logs and rocks, Neewa discovered the thrill and excitement of hunting +on his own account. He encountered a second beetle, and killed it. He +killed his first wood-mouse. Swiftly there were developing in him the +instincts of Soominitik, his scrap-loving old father, who lived three +or four valleys to the north of their own, and who never missed an +opportunity to get into a fight. At four months of age, which was late +in May, Neewa was eating many things that would have killed most cubs +of his age, and there wasn't a yellow streak in him from the tip of his +saucy little nose to the end of his stubby tail. He weighed nine pounds +at this date and was as black as a tar-baby. + +It was early in June that the exciting event occurred which brought +about the beginning of the big change in Neewa's life, and it was on a +day so warm and mellow with sunshine that Noozak started in right after +dinner to take her afternoon nap. They were out of the lower timber +country now, and were in a valley through which a shallow stream +wriggled and twisted around white sand-bars and between pebbly shores. +Neewa was sleepless. He had less desire than ever to waste a glorious +afternoon in napping. With his little round eyes he looked out on a +wonderful world, and found it calling to him. He looked at his mother, +and whined. Experience told him that she was dead to the world for +hours to come, unless he tickled her foot or nipped her ear, and then +she would only rouse herself enough to growl at him. He was tired of +that. He yearned for something more exciting, and with his mind +suddenly made up he set off in quest of adventure. + +In that big world of green and golden colours he was a little black +ball nearly as wide as he was long. He went down to the creek, and +looked back. He could still see his mother. Then his feet paddled in +the soft white sand of a long bar that edged the shore, and he forgot +Noozak. He went to the end of the bar, and turned up on the green shore +where the young grass was like velvet under his paws. Here he began +turning over small stones for ants. He chased a chipmunk that ran a +close and furious race with him for twenty seconds. A little later a +huge snow-shoe rabbit got up almost under his nose, and he chased that +until in a dozen long leaps Wapoos disappeared in a thicket. Neewa +wrinkled up his nose and emitted a squeaky snarl. Never had +Soominitik's blood run so riotously within him. He wanted to get hold +of something. For the first time in his life he was yearning for a +scrap. He was like a small boy who the day after Christmas has a pair +of boxing gloves and no opponent. He sat down and looked about him +querulously, still wrinkling his nose and snarling defiantly. He had +the whole world beaten. He knew that. Everything was afraid of his +mother. Everything was afraid of HIM. It was disgusting--this lack of +something alive for an ambitious young fellow to fight. After all, the +world was rather tame. + +He set off at a new angle, came around the edge of a huge rock, and +suddenly stopped. + +From behind the other end of the rock protruded a huge hind paw. For a +few moments Neewa sat still, eyeing it with a growing anticipation. +This time he would give his mother a nip that would waken her for good! +He would rouse her to the beauty and the opportunities of this day if +there was any rouse in him! So he advanced slowly and cautiously, +picked out a nice bare spot on the paw, and sank his little teeth in it +to the gums. + +There followed a roar that shook the earth. Now it happened that the +paw did not belong to Noozak, but was the personal property of Makoos, +an old he-bear of unlovely disposition and malevolent temper. But in +him age had produced a grouchiness that was not at all like the +grandmotherly peculiarities of old Noozak. Makoos was on his feet +fairly before Neewa realized that he had made a mistake. He was not +only an old bear and a grouchy bear, but he was also a hater of cubs. +More than once in his day he had committed the crime of cannibalism. He +was what the Indian hunter calls uchan--a bad bear, an eater of his own +kind, and the instant his enraged eyes caught sight of Neewa he let out +another roar. + +At that Neewa gathered his fat little legs under his belly and was off +like a shot. Never before in his life had he run as he ran now. +Instinct told him that at last he had met something which was not +afraid of him, and that he was in deadly peril. He made no choice of +direction, for now that he had made this mistake he had no idea where +he would find his mother. He could hear Makoos coming after him, and as +he ran he set up a bawling that was filled with a wild and agonizing +prayer for help. That cry reached the faithful old Noozak. In an +instant she was on her feet--and just in time. Like a round black ball +shot out of a gun Neewa sped past the rock where she had been sleeping, +and ten jumps behind him came Makoos. Out of the corner of his eye he +saw his mother, but his momentum carried him past her. In that moment +Noozak leapt into action. As a football player makes a tackle she +rushed out just in time to catch old Makoos with all her weight full +broadside in the ribs, and the two old bears rolled over and over in +what to Neewa was an exciting and glorious mix-up. + +He had stopped, and his eyes bulged out like shining little onions as +he took in the scene of battle. He had longed for a fight but what he +saw now fairly paralyzed him. The two bears were at it, roaring and +tearing each other's hides and throwing up showers of gravel and earth +in their deadly clinch. In this first round Noozak had the best of it. +She had butted the wind out of Makoos in her first dynamic assault, and +now with her dulled and broken teeth at his throat she was lashing him +with her sharp hind claws until the blood streamed from the old +barbarian's sides and he bellowed like a choking bull. Neewa knew that +it was his pursuer who was getting the worst of it, and with a squeaky +cry for his mother to lambast the very devil out of Makoos he ran back +to the edge of the arena, his nose crinkled and his teeth gleaming in a +ferocious snarl. He danced about excitedly a dozen feet from the +fighters, Soominitik's blood filling him with a yearning for the fray +and yet he was afraid. + +Then something happened that suddenly and totally upset the maddening +joy of his mother's triumph. Makoos, being a he-bear, was of necessity +skilled in fighting, and all at once he freed himself from Noozak's +jaws, wallowed her under him, and in turn began ripping the hide off +old Noozak's carcass in such quantities that she let out an agonized +bawling that turned Neewa's little heart into stone. + +It is a matter of most exciting conjecture what a small boy will do +when he sees his father getting licked. If there is an axe handy he is +liable to use it. The most cataclysmic catastrophe that cam come into +his is to have a father whom some other boy's father has given a +walloping. Next to being President of the United States the average +small boy treasures the desire to possess a parent who can whip any +other two-legged creature that wears trousers. And there were a lot of +human things about Neewa. The louder his mother bawled the more +distinctly he felt the shock of his world falling about him. If Noozak +had lost a part of her strength in her old age her voice, at least, was +still unimpaired, and such a spasm of outcry as she emitted could have +been heard at least half a mile away. + +Neewa could stand no more. Blind with rage, he darted in. It was chance +that closed his vicious little jaws on a toe that belonged to Makoos, +and his teeth sank into the flesh like two rows of ivory needles. +Makoos gave a tug, but Neewa held on, and bit deeper. Then Makoos drew +up his leg and sent it out like a catapault, and in spite of his +determination to hang on Neewa found himself sailing wildly through the +air. He landed against a rock twenty feet from the fighters with a +force that knocked the wind out of him, and for a matter of eight or +ten seconds after that he wobbled dizzily in his efforts to stand up. +Then his vision and his senses returned and he gazed on a scene that +brought all the blood pounding back into his body again. + +Makoos was no longer fighting, but was RUNNING AWAY--and there was a +decided limp in his gait! + +Poor old Noozak was standing on her feet, facing the retreating enemy. +She was panting like a winded calf. Her jaws were agape. Her tongue +lolled out, and blood was dripping in little trickles from her body to +the ground. She had been thoroughly and efficiently mauled. She was +beyond the shadow of a doubt a whipped bear. Yet in that glorious +flight of the enemy Neewa saw nothing of Noozak's defeat. Their enemy +was RUNNING AWAY! Therefore, he was whipped. And with excited little +squeaks of joy Neewa ran to his mother. + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + + +As they stood in the warm sunshine of this first day of June, watching +the last of Makoos as he fled across the creek bottom, Neewa felt very +much like an old and seasoned warrior instead of a pot-bellied, +round-faced cub of four months who weighed nine pounds and not four +hundred. + +It was many minutes after Neewa had sunk his ferocious little teeth +deep into the tenderest part of the old he-bear's toe before Noozak +could get her wind sufficiently to grunt. Her sides were pumping like a +pair of bellows, and after Makoos had disappeared beyond the creek +Neewa sat down on his chubby bottom, perked his funny ears forward, and +eyed his mother with round and glistening eyes that were filled with +uneasy speculation. With a wheezing groan Noozak turned and made her +way slowly toward the big rock alongside which she had been sleeping +when Neewa's fearful cries for help had awakened her. Every bone in her +aged body seemed broken or dislocated. She limped and sagged and moaned +as she walked, and behind her were left little red trails of blood in +the green grass. Makoos had given her a fine pummeling. + +She lay down, gave a final groan, and looked at Neewa, as if to say: + +"If you hadn't gone off on some deviltry and upset that old viper's +temper this wouldn't have happened. And now--look at ME!" + +A young bear would have rallied quickly from the effects of the battle, +but Noozak lay without moving all the rest of that afternoon, and the +night that followed. And that night was by all odds the finest that +Neewa had ever seen. Now that the nights were warm, he had come to love +the moon even more than the sun, for by birth and instinct he was more +a prowler in darkness than a hunter of the day. The moon rose out of +the east in a glory of golden fire. The spruce and balsam forests stood +out like islands in a yellow sea of light, and the creek shimmered and +quivered like a living thing as it wound its way through the glowing +valley. But Neewa had learned his lesson, and though the moon and the +stars called to him he hung close to his mother, listening to the +carnival of night sound that came to him, but never moving away from +her side. + +With the morning Noozak rose to her feet, and with a grunting command +for Neewa to follow she slowly climbed the sun-capped ridge. She was in +no mood for travel, but away back in her head was an unexpressed fear +that villainous old Makoos might return, and she knew that another +fight would do her up entirely, in which event Makoos would make a +breakfast of Neewa. So she urged herself down the other side of the +ridge, across a new valley, and through a cut that opened like a wide +door into a rolling plain that was made up of meadows and lakes and +great sweeps of spruce and cedar forest. For a week Noozak had been +making for a certain creek in this plain, and now that the presence of +Makoos threatened behind she kept at her journeying until Neewa's +short, fat legs could scarcely hold up his body. + +It was mid-afternoon when they reached the creek, and Neewa was so +exhausted that he had difficulty in climbing the spruce up which his +mother sent him to take a nap. Finding a comfortable crotch he quickly +fell asleep--while Noozak went fishing. + +The creek was alive with suckers, trapped in the shallow pools after +spawning, and within an hour she had the shore strewn with them. When +Neewa came down out of his cradle, just at the edge of dusk, it was to +a feast at which Noozak had already stuffed herself until she looked +like a barrel. This was his first meal of fish, and for a week +thereafter he lived in a paradise of fish. He ate them morning, noon, +and night, and when he was too full to eat he rolled in them. And +Noozak stuffed herself until it seemed her hide would burst. Wherever +they moved they carried with them a fishy smell that grew older day by +day, and the older it became the more delicious it was to Neewa and his +mother. And Neewa grew like a swelling pod. In that week he gained +three pounds. He had given up nursing entirely now, for Noozak--being +an old bear--had dried up to a point where she was hopelessly +disappointing. + +It was early in the evening of the eighth day that Neewa and his mother +lay down in the edge of a grassy knoll to sleep after their day's +feasting. Noozak was by all odds the happiest old bear in all that part +of the northland. Food was no longer a problem for her. In the creek, +penned up in the pools, were unlimited quantities of it, and she had +encountered no other bear to challenge her possession of it. She looked +ahead to uninterrupted bliss in their happy hunting grounds until +midsummer storms emptied the pools, or the berries ripened. And Neewa, +a happy little gourmand, dreamed with her. + +It was this day, just as the sun was setting, that a man on his hands +and knees was examining a damp patch of sand five or six miles down the +creek. His sleeves were rolled up, baring his brown arms halfway to the +shoulders and he wore no hat, so that the evening breeze ruffled a +ragged head of blond hair that for a matter of eight or nine months had +been cut with a hunting knife. + +Close on one side of this individual was a tin pail, and on the other, +eying him with the keenest interest, one of the homeliest and yet one +of the most companionable-looking dog pups ever born of a Mackenzie +hound father and a mother half Airedale and half Spitz. + +With this tragedy of blood in his veins nothing in the world could have +made the pup anything more than "just dog." His tail,--stretched out +straight on the sand, was long and lean, with a knot at every joint; +his paws, like an overgrown boy's feet, looked like small +boxing-gloves; his head was three sizes too big for his body, and +accident had assisted Nature in the perfection of her masterpiece by +robbing him of a half of one of his ears. As he watched his master this +half of an ear stood up like a galvanized stub, while the other--twice +as long--was perked forward in the deepest and most interested enquiry. +Head, feet, and tail were Mackenzie hound, but the ears and his lank, +skinny body was a battle royal between Spitz and Airedale. At his +present inharmonious stage of development he was the doggiest dog-pup +outside the alleys of a big city. + +For the first time in several minutes his master spoke, and Miki +wiggled from stem to stern in appreciation of the fact that it was +directly to him the words were uttered. + +"It's a mother and a cub, as sure as you're a week old, Miki," he said. +"And if I know anything about bears they were here some time to-day!" + +He rose to his feet, made note of the deepening shadows in the edge of +the timber, and filled his pail with water. For a few moments the last +rays of the sun lit up his face. It was a strong, hopeful face. In it +was the joy of life. And now it was lighted up with a sudden +inspiration, and a glow that was not of the forest alone came into his +eyes, as he added: + +"Miki, I'm lugging your homely carcass down to the Girl because you're +an unpolished gem of good nature and beauty--and for those two things I +know she'll love you. She is my sister, you know. Now, if I could only +take that cub along with you----" + +He began to whistle as he turned with his pail of water in the +direction of a thin fringe of balsams a hundred yards away. + +Close at his heels followed Miki. + +Challoner, who was a newly appointed factor of the Great Hudson's Bay +Company, had pitched his camp at tie edge of the lake dose to the mouth +of the creek. There was not much to it--a battered tent, a still more +battered canoe, and a small pile of dunnage. But in the last glow of +the sunset it would have spoken volumes to a man with an eye trained to +the wear and the turmoil of the forests. It was the outfit of a man who +had gone unfearing to the rough edge of the world. And now what was +left of it was returning with him. To Challoner there was something of +human comradeship in these remnants of things that had gone through the +greater part of a year's fight with him. The canoe was warped and +battered and patched; smoke and storm had blackened his tent until it +was the colour of rusty char, and his grub sacks were next to empty. + +Over a small fire title contents of a pan and a pot were brewing when +he returned with Miki at his heels, and close to the heat was a +battered and mended reflector in which a bannock of flour and water was +beginning to brown. In one of the pots was coffee, in the other a +boiling fish. + +Miki sat down on his angular haunches so that the odour of the fish +filled his nostrils. This, he had discovered, was the next thing to +eating. His eyes, as they followed Challoner's final preparatory +movements, were as bright as garnets, and every third or fourth breath +he licked his chops, and swallowed hungrily. That, in fact, was why +Miki had got his name. He was always hungry, and apparently always +empty, no matter how much he ate. Therefore his name, Miki, "The drum." + +It was not until they had eaten the fish and the bannock, and Challoner +had lighted his pipe, that he spoke what was in his mind. + +"To-morrow I'm going after that bear," he said. + +Miki, curled up near the dying embers, gave his tail a club-like thump +in evidence of the fact that he was listening. + +"I'm going to pair you up with the cub, and tickle the Girl to death." + +Miki thumped his tail harder than before. + +"Fine," he seemed to say. + +"Just think of it," said Challoner, looking over Miki's head a thousand +miles away, "Fourteen months--and at last we're going home. I'm going +to train you and the cub for that sister of mine. Eh, won't you like +that? You don't know what she's like, you homely little devil, or you +wouldn't sit there staring at me like a totem-pole pup! And it isn't in +your stupid head to imagine how pretty she is. You saw that sunset +to-night? Well, she's prettier than THAT if she is my sister. Got +anything to add to that, Miki? If not, let's say our prayers and go to +bed!" + +Challoner rose and stretched himself. His muscles cracked. He felt life +surging like a giant within him. + +And Miki, thumping his tail until this moment, rose on his overgrown +legs and followed his master into their shelter. + +It was in the gray light of the early summer dawn when Challoner came +forth again, and rekindled the fire. Miki followed a few moments later, +and his master fastened the end of a worn tent-rope around his neck and +tied the rope to a sapling. Another rope of similar length Challoner +tied to the corners of a grub sack so that it could be carried over his +shoulder like a game bag. With the first rose-flush of the sun he was +ready for the trail of Neewa and his mother. Miki set up a melancholy +wailing when he found himself left behind, and when Challoner looked +back the pup was tugging and somersaulting at the end of his rope like +a jumping-jack. For a quarter of a mile up the creek he could hear +Miki's entreating protest. + +To Challoner the business of the day was not a matter of personal +pleasure, nor was it inspired alone by his desire to possess a cub +along with Miki. He needed meat, and bear pork thus early in the season +would be exceedingly good; and above all else he needed a supply of +fat. If he bagged this bear, time would be saved all the rest of the +way down to civilization. + +It was eight o'clock when he struck the first unmistakably fresh signs +of Noozak and Neewa. It was at the point where Noozak had fished four +or five days previously, and where they had returned yesterday to feast +on the "ripened" catch. Challoner was elated. He was sure that he would +find the pair along the creek, and not far distant. The wind was in his +favour, and he began to advance with greater caution, his rifle ready +for the anticipated moment. For an hour he travelled steadily and +quietly, marking every sound and movement ahead of him, and wetting his +finger now and then to see if the wind had shifted. After all, it was +not so much a matter of human cunning. Everything was in Challoner's +favour. + +In a wide, flat part of the valley where the creek split itself into a +dozen little channels, and the water rippled between sandy bars and +over pebbly shallows, Neewa and his mother were nosing about lazily for +a breakfast of crawfish. The world had never looked more beautiful to +Neewa. The sun made the soft hair on his back fluff up like that of a +purring cat. He liked the plash of wet sand under his feet and the +singing gush of water against his legs. He liked the sound that was all +about him, the breath of the wind, the whispers that came out of the +spruce-tops and the cedars, the murmur of water, the TWIT-TWIT of the +rock rabbits, the call of birds; and more than all else the low, +grunting talk of his mother. + +It was in this sun-bathed sweep of the valley that Noozak caught the +first whiff of danger. It came to her in a sudden twist of the +wind--the smell of man! + +Instantly she was turned into rock. There was still the deep scar in +her shoulder which had come, years before, with that same smell of the +one enemy she feared. For three summers she had not caught the taint in +her nostrils and she had almost forgotten its existence. Now, so +suddenly that it paralyzed her, it was warm and terrible in the breath +of the wind. + +In this moment, too, Neewa seemed to sense the nearness of an appalling +danger. Two hundred yards from Challoner he stood a motionless blotch +of jet against the white of the sand about him, his eyes on his mother, +and his sensitive little nose trying to catch the meaning of the menace +in the air. + +Then came a thing he had never heard before--a splitting, cracking +roar--something that was almost like thunder and yet unlike it; and he +saw his mother lurch where she stood and crumple down all at once on +her fore legs. + +The next moment she was up, with a wild WHOOF in her voice that was new +to him--a warning for him to fly for his life. + +Like all mothers who have known the comradeship and love of a child, +Noozak's first thought was of him. Reaching out a paw she gave him a +sudden shove, and Neewa legged it wildly for the near-by shelter of the +timber. Noozak followed. A second shot came, and close over her head +there sped a purring, terrible sound. But Noozak did not hurry. She +kept behind Neewa, urging him on even as that pain of a red-hot iron in +her groin filled her with agony. They came to the edge of the timber as +Challoner's third shot bit under Noozak's feet. + +A moment more and they were within the barricade of the timber. +Instinct guided Neewa into the thickest part of it, and close behind +him Noozak fought with the last of her dying strength to urge him on. +In her old brain there was growing a deep and appalling shadow, +something that was beginning to cloud her vision so that she could not +see, and she knew that at last she had come to the uttermost end of her +trail. With twenty years of life behind her, she struggled now for a +last few seconds. She stopped Neewa close to a thick cedar, and as she +had done many times before she commanded him to climb it. Just once her +hot tongue touched his face in a final caress. Then she turned to fight +her last great fight. + +Straight into the face of Challoner she dragged herself, and fifty feet +from the spruce she stopped and waited for him, her head drooped +between her shoulders, her sides heaving, her eyes dimming more and +more, until at last she sank down with a great sigh, barring the trail +of their enemy. For a space, it may be, she saw once more the golden +moons and the blazing suns of those twenty years that were gone; it may +be that the soft, sweet music of spring came to her again, filled with +the old, old song of life, and that Something gracious and painless +descended upon her as a final reward for a glorious motherhood on earth. + +When Challoner came up she was dead. + +From his hiding place in a crotch of the spruce Neewa looked down on +the first great tragedy of his life, and the advent of man. The +two-legged beast made him cringe deeper into his refuge, and his little +heart was near breaking with the terror that had seized upon him. He +did not reason. It was by no miracle of mental process that he knew +something terrible had happened, and that this tall, two-legged +creature was the cause of it. His little eyes were blazing, just over +the level of the crotch. He wondered why his mother did not get up and +fight when this new enemy came. Frightened as he was he was ready to +snarl if she would only wake up--ready to hurry down the tree and help +her as he had helped her in the defeat of Makoos, the old he-bear. But +not a muscle of Noozak's huge body moved as Challoner bent over her. +She was stone dead. + +Challoner's face was flushed with exultation. Necessity had made of him +a killer. He saw in Noozak a splendid pelt, and a provision of meat +that would carry him all the rest of the way to the southland. He +leaned his rifle against a tree and began looking about for the cub. +Knowledge of the wild told him it would not be far from its mother, and +he began looking into the trees and the near-by thickets. + +In the shelter of his crotch, screened by the thick branches, Neewa +made himself as small as possible during the search. At the end of half +an hour Challoner disappointedly gave up his quest, and went back to +the creek for a drink before setting himself to the task of skinning +Noozak. + +No sooner was he gone than Neewa's little head shot up alertly. For a +few moments he watched, and then slipped backward down the trunk of the +cedar to the ground. He gave his squealing call, but his mother did not +move. He went to her and stood beside her motionless head, sniffing the +man-tainted air. Then he muzzled her jowl, butted his nose under her +neck, and at last nipped her ear--always his last resort in the +awakening process. He was puzzled. He whined softly, and climbed upon +his mother's big, soft back, and sat there. Into his whine there came a +strange note, and then out of his throat there rose a whimpering cry +that was like the cry of a child. + +Challoner heard that cry as he came back, and something seemed to grip +hold of his heart suddenly, and choke him. He had heard children crying +like that; and it was the motherless cub! + +Creeping up behind a dwarf spruce he looked where Noozak lay dead, and +saw Neewa perched on his mother's back. He had killed many things in +his time, for it was his business to kill, and to barter in the pelts +of creatures that others killed. But he had seen nothing like this +before, and he felt all at once as if he had done murder. + +"I'm sorry," he breathed softly, "you poor little devil; I'm sorry!" + +It was almost a prayer--for forgiveness. Yet there was but one thing to +do now. So quietly that Neewa failed to hear him he crept around with +the wind and stole up behind. He was within a dozen feet of Neewa +before the cub suspected danger. Then it was too late. In a swift rush +Challoner was upon him and, before Neewa could leave the back of his +mother, had smothered him in the folds of the grub sack. + +In all his life Challoner had never experienced a livelier five minutes +than the five that followed. Above Neewa's grief and his fear there +rose the savage fighting blood of old Soominitik, his father. He clawed +and bit and kicked and snarled. In those five minutes he was five +little devils all rolled into one, and by the time Challoner had the +rope fastened about Neewa's neck, and his fat body chucked into the +sack, his hands were scratched and lacerated in a score of places. + +In the sack Neewa continued to fight until he was exhausted, while +Challoner skinned Noozak and cut from her the meat and fats which he +wanted. The beauty of Noozak's pelt brought a glow into his eyes. In it +he rolled the meat and fats, and with babiche thong bound the whole +into a pack around which he belted the dunnage ends of his shoulder +straps. Weighted under the burden of sixty pounds of pelt and meat he +picked up his rifle--and Neewa. It had been early afternoon when he +left. It was almost sunset when he reached camp. Every foot of the way, +until the last half mile, Neewa fought like a Spartan. + +Now he lay limp and almost lifeless in his sack, and when Miki came up +to smell suspiciously of his prison he made no movement of protest. All +smells were alike to him now, and of sounds he made no distinction. +Challoner was nearly done for. Every muscle and bone in his body had +its ache. Yet in his face, sweaty and grimed, was a grin of pride. + +"You plucky little devil," he said, contemplating the limp sack as he +loaded his pipe for the first time that afternoon. "You--you plucky +little devil!" + +He tied the end of Neewa's rope halter to a sapling, and began +cautiously to open the grub sack. Then he rolled Neewa out on the +ground, and stepped back. In that hour Neewa was willing to accept a +truce so far as Challoner was concerned. But it was not Challoner that +his half-blinded eyes saw first as he rolled from his bag. It was Miki! +And Miki, his awkward body wriggling with the excitement of his +curiosity, was almost on the point of smelling of him! + +Neewa's little eyes glared. Was that ill-jointed lop-eared offspring of +the man-beast an enemy, too? Were those twisting convolutions of this +new creature's body and the club-like swing of his tail an invitation +to fight? He judged so. Anyway, here was something of his size, and +like a flash he was at the end of his rope and on the pup. Miki, a +moment before bubbling over with friendship and good cheer, was on his +back in an instant, his grotesque legs paddling the air and his yelping +cries for help rising in a wild clamour that filled the golden +stillness of the evening with an unutterable woe. + +Challoner stood dumbfounded. In another moment he would have separated +the little fighters, but something happened that stopped him. Neewa, +standing squarely over Miki, with Miki's four over-grown paws held +aloft as if signalling an unqualified surrender, slowly drew his teeth +from the pup's loose hide. Again he saw the man-beast. Instinct, keener +than a clumsy reasoning, held him for a few moments without movement, +his beady eyes on Challoner. In midair Miki wagged his paws; he whined +softly; his hard tail thumped the ground as he pleaded for mercy, and +he licked his chops and tried to wriggle, as if to tell Neewa that he +had no intention at all to do him harm. Neewa, facing Challoner, +snarled defiantly. He drew himself slowly from over Miki. And Miki, +afraid to move, still lay on his back with his paws in the air. + +Very slowly, a look of wonder in his face, Challoner drew back into the +tent and peered through a rent in the canvas. + +The snarl left Neewa's face. He looked at the pup. Perhaps away back in +some corner of his brain the heritage of instinct was telling him of +what he had lost because of brothers and sisters unborn--the +comradeship of babyhood, the play of children. And Miki must have +sensed the change in the furry little black creature who a moment ago +was his enemy. His tail thumped almost frantically, and he swung out +his front paws toward Neewa. Then, a little fearful of what might +happen, he rolled on his side. Still Neewa did not move. Joyously Miki +wriggled. + +A moment later, looking through the slit in the canvas, Challoner saw +them cautiously smelling noses. + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + + +That night came a cold and drizzling rain from out of the north and the +east. In the wet dawn Challoner came out to start a fire, and in a +hollow under a spruce root he found Miki and Neewa cuddled together, +sound asleep. + +It was the cub who first saw the man-beast, and for a brief space +before the pup roused himself Neewa's shining eyes were fixed on the +strange enemy who had so utterly changed his world for him. Exhaustion +had made him sleep through the long hours of that first night of +captivity, and in sleep he had forgotten many things. But now it all +came back to him as he cringed deeper into his shelter under the root, +and so softly that only Miki heard him he whimpered for his mother. + +It was the whimper that roused Miki. Slowly he untangled himself from +the ball into which he had rolled, stretched his long and overgrown +legs, and yawned so loudly that the sound reached Challoner's ears. The +man turned and saw two pairs of eyes fixed upon him from the sheltered +hollow under the root. The pup's one good ear and the other that was +half gone stood up alertly, as he greeted his master with the boundless +good cheer of an irrepressible comradeship. Challoner's face, wet with +the drizzle of the gray skies and bronzed by the wind and storm of +fourteen months in the northland, lighted up with a responsive grin, +and Miki wriggled forth weaving and twisting himself into grotesque +contortions expressive of happiness at being thus directly smiled at by +his master. + +With all the room under the root left to him Neewa pulled himself back +until only his round head was showing, and from this fortress of +temporary safety his bright little eyes glared forth at his mother's +murderer. + +Vividly the tragedy of yesterday was before him again--the warm, +sun-filled creek bottom in which he and Noozak, his mother, were +hunting a breakfast of crawfish when the man-beast came; the crash of +strange thunder, their flight into the timber, and the end of it all +when his mother turned to confront their enemy. And yet it was not the +death of his mother that remained with him most poignantly this +morning. It was the memory of his own terrific fight with the white +man, and his struggle afterward in the black and suffocating depths of +the bag in which Challoner had brought him to his camp. Even now +Challoner was looking at the scratches on his hands. He advanced a few +steps, and grinned down at Neewa, just as he had grinned +good-humouredly at Miki, the angular pup. + +Neewa's little eyes blazed. + +"I told you last night that I was sorry," said Challoner, speaking as +if to one of his own kind. + +In several ways Challoner was unusual, an out-of-the-ordinary type in +the northland. He believed, for instance, in a certain specific +psychology of the animal mind, and had proven to his own satisfaction +that animals treated and conversed with in a matter-of-fact human way +frequently developed an understanding which he, in his unscientific +way, called reason. + +"I told you I was sorry," he repeated, squatting on his heels within a +yard of the root from under which Neewa's eyes were glaring at him, +"and I am. I'm sorry I killed your mother. But we had to have meat and +fat. Besides, Miki and I are going to make it up to you. We're going to +take you along with us down to the Girl, and if you don't learn to love +her you're the meanest, lowest-down little cuss in all creation and +don't deserve a mother. You and Miki are going to be brothers. His +mother is dead, too--plum starved to death, which is worse than dying +with a bullet in your lung. And I found Miki just as I found you, +hugging up close to her an' crying as if there wasn't any world left +for him. So cheer up, and give us your paw. Let's shake!" + +Challoner held out his hand. Neewa was as motionless as a stone. A few +moments before he would have snarled and bared his teeth. But now he +was dead still. This was by all odds the strangest beast he had ever +seen. Yesterday it had not harmed him, except to put him into the bag. +And now it did not offer to harm him. More than that, the talk it made +was not unpleasant, or threatening. His eyes took in Miki. The pup had +squeezed himself squarely between Challoner's knees and was looking at +him in a puzzled, questioning sort of way, as if to ask: "Why don't you +come out from under that root and help get breakfast?" + +Challoner's hand came nearer, and Neewa crowded himself back until +there was not another inch of room for him to fill. Then the miracle +happened. The man-beast's paw touched his head. It sent a strange and +terrible thrill through him. Yet it did not hurt. If he had not wedged +himself in so tightly he would have scratched and bitten. But he could +do neither. + +Slowly Challoner worked his fingers to the loose hide at the back of +Neewa's neck. Miki, surmising that something momentous was about to +happen, watched the proceedings with popping eyes. Then Challoner's +fingers closed and the next instant he dragged Neewa forth and held him +at arm's length, kicking and squirming, and setting up such a bawling +that in sheer sympathy Miki raised his voice and joined in the agonized +orgy of sound. Half a minute later Challoner had Neewa once more in the +prison-sack, but this time he left the cub's head protruding, and drew +in the mouth of the sack closely about his neck, fastening it securely +with a piece of babiche string. Thus three quarters of Neewa was +imprisoned in the sack, with only his head sticking out. He was a cub +in a poke. + +Leaving the cub to roll and squirm in protest Challoner went about the +business of getting breakfast. For once Miki found a proceeding more +interesting than that operation, and he hovered about Neewa as he +struggled and bawled, trying vainly to offer him some assistance in the +matter of sympathy. Finally Neewa lay still, and Miki sat down close +beside him and eyed his master with serious questioning if not actual +disapprobation. + +The gray sky was breaking with the promise of the sun when Challoner +was ready to renew his long journey into the southland. He packed his +canoe, leaving Neewa and Miki until the last. In the bow of the canoe +he made a soft nest of the skin taken from the cub's mother. Then he +called Miki and tied the end of a worn rope around his neck, after +which he fastened the other end of this rope around the neck of Neewa. +Thus he had the cub and the pup on the same yard-long halter. Taking +each of the twain by the scruff of the neck he carried them to the +canoe and placed them in the nest he had made of Noozak's hide. + +"Now you youngsters be good," he warned. "We're going to aim at forty +miles to-day to make up for the time we lost yesterday." + +As the canoe shot out a shaft of sunlight broke through the sky low in +the east. + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + + +During the first few moments in which the canoe moved swiftly over the +surface of the lake an amazing change had taken place in Neewa. +Challoner did not see it, and Miki was unconscious of it. But every +fibre in Neewa's body was atremble, and his heart was thumping as it +had pounded on that glorious day of the fight between his mother and +the old he-bear. It seemed to him that everything that he had lost was +coming back to him, and that all would be well very soon--FOR HE +SMELLED HIS MOTHER! And then he discovered that the scent of her was +warm and strong in the furry black mass under his feet, and he +smothered himself down in it, flat on his plump little belly, and +peered at Challoner over his paws. + +It was hard for him to understand--the man-beast back there, sending +the canoe through the water, and under him his mother, warm and soft, +but so deadly still! He could not keep the whimper out of his +throat--his low and grief-filled call for HER. And there was no answer, +except Miki's responsive whine, the crying of one child for another. +Neewa's mother did not move. She made no sound. And he could see +nothing of her but her black and furry skin--without head, without +feet, without the big, bald paws he had loved to tickle, and the ears +he had loved to nip. There was nothing of her but the patch of black +skin--and the SMELL. + +But a great comfort warmed his frightened little soul. He felt the +protecting nearness of an unconquerable and abiding force and in the +first of the warm sunshine his back fluffed up, and he thrust his brown +nose between his paws and into his mother's fur. Miki, as if vainly +striving to solve the mystery of his new-found chum, was watching him +closely from between his own fore-paws. In his comical head--adorned +with its one good ear and its one bad one, and furthermore beautified +by the outstanding whiskers inherited from his Airedale ancestor--he +was trying to come to some sort of an understanding. At the outset he +had accepted Neewa as a friend and a comrade--and Neewa had thanklessly +given him a good mauling for his trouble. That much Miki could forgive +and forget. What he could not forgive was the utter lack of regard +which Neewa seemed to possess for him. His playful antics had gained no +recognition from the cub. When he had barked and hopped about, +flattening and contorting himself in warm invitation for him to join in +a game of tag or a wrestling match, Neewa had simply stared at him like +an idiot. He was wondering, perhaps, if Neewa would enjoy anything +besides a fight. It was a long time before he decided to make another +experiment. + +It was, as a matter of fact, halfway between breakfast and noon. In all +that time Neewa had scarcely moved, and Miki was finding himself bored +to death. The discomfort of last night's storm was only a memory, and +overhead there was a sun unshadowed by cloud. More than an hour before +Challoner's canoe had left the lake, and was now in the clear-running +water of a stream that was making its way down the southward slope of +the divide between Jackson's Knee and the Shamattawa. It was a new +stream to Challoner, fed by the large lake above, and guarding himself +against the treachery of waterfall and rapid he kept a keen lookout +ahead. For a matter of half an hour the water had been growing steadily +swifter, and Challoner was satisfied that before very long he would be +compelled to make a portage. A little later he heard ahead of him the +low and steady murmur which told him he was approaching a danger zone. +As he shot around the next bend, hugging fairly close to shore, he saw, +four or five hundred yards below him, a rock-frothed and boiling +maelstrom of water. + +Swiftly his eyes measured the situation. The rapids ran between an +almost precipitous shore on one side and a deep forest on the other. He +saw at a glance that it was the forest side over which he must make the +portage, and this was the shore opposite him and farthest away. +Swinging his canoe at a 45-degree angle he put all the strength of body +and arms into the sweep of his paddle. There would be just time to +reach the other shore before the current became dangerous. Above the +sweep of the rapids he could now hear the growling roar of a waterfall +below. + +It was at this unfortunate moment that Miki decided to venture one more +experiment with Neewa. With a friendly yip he swung out one of his +paws. Now Miki's paw, for a pup, was monstrously big, and his foreleg +was long and lanky, so that when the paw landed squarely on the end of +Neewa's nose it was like the swing of a prize-fighter's glove. The +unexpectedness of it was a further decisive feature in the situation; +and, on top of this, Miki swung his other paw around like a club and +caught Neewa a jolt in the eye. This was too much, even from a friend, +and with a sudden snarl Neewa bounced out of his nest and clinched with +the pup. + +Now the fact was that Miki, who had so ingloriously begged for mercy in +their first scrimmage, came of fighting stock himself. Mix the blood of +a Mackenzie hound--which is the biggest-footed, biggest-shouldered, +most powerful dog in the northland--with the blood of a Spitz and an +Airedale and something is bound to come of it. While the Mackenzie dog, +with his ox-like strength, is peaceable and good-humoured in all sorts +of weather, there is a good deal of the devil in the northern Spitz and +Airedale and it is a question which likes a fight the best. And all at +once good-humoured little Miki felt the devil rising in him. This time +he did not yap for mercy. He met Neewa's jaws, and in two seconds they +were staging a first-class fight on the bit of precarious footing in +the prow of the canoe. + +Vainly Challoner yelled at them as he paddled desperately to beat out +the danger of the rapids. Neewa and Miki were too absorbed to hear him. +Miki's four paws were paddling the air again, but this time his sharp +teeth were firmly fixed in the loose hide under Neewa's neck, and with +his paws he continued to kick and bat in a way that promised +effectively to pummel the wind out of Neewa had not the thing happened +which Challoner feared. Still in a clinch they rolled off the prow of +the canoe into the swirling current of the stream. + +For ten seconds or so they utterly disappeared. Then they bobbed up, a +good fifty feet below him, their heads close together as they sped +swiftly toward the doom that awaited them, and a choking cry broke from +Challoner's lips. He was powerless to save them, and in his cry was the +anguish of real grief. For many weeks Miki had been his only chum and +comrade. + +Held together by the yard-long rope to which they were fastened, Miki +and Neewa swept into the frothing turmoil of the rapids. For Miki it +was the kindness of fate that had inspired his master to fasten him to +the same rope with Neewa. Miki, at three months of age--weight, +fourteen pounds--was about 80 per cent. bone and only a half of 1 per +cent. fat; while Neewa, weight thirteen pounds, was about 90 per cent. +fat. Therefore Miki had the floating capacity of a small anchor, while +Neewa was a first-class life-preserver, and almost unsinkable. + +In neither of the youngsters was there a yellow streak. Both were of +fighting stock, and, though Miki was under water most of the time +during their first hundred-yard dash through the rapids, never for an +instant did he give up the struggle to keep his nose in the air. +Sometimes he was on his back and sometimes on his belly; but no matter +what his position, he kept his four overgrown paws going like paddles. +To an extent this helped Neewa in the heroic fight he was making to +keep from shipping too much water himself. Had he been alone his ten or +eleven pounds of fat would have carried him down-stream like a toy +balloon covered with fur, but, with the fourteen-pound drag around his +neck, the problem of not going under completely was a serious one. Half +a dozen times he did disappear for an instant when some undertow caught +Miki and dragged him down--head, tail, legs, and all. But Neewa always +rose again, his four fat legs working for dear life. + +Then came the waterfall. By this time Miki had become accustomed to +travelling under water, and the full horror of the new cataclysm into +which they were plunged was mercifully lost to him. His paws had almost +ceased their motion. He was still conscious of the roar in his ears, +but the affair was less unpleasant than it was at the beginning. In +fact, he was drowning. To Neewa the pleasant sensations of a painless +death were denied. No cub in the world was wider awake than he when the +final catastrophe came. His head was well above water and he was +clearly possessed of all his senses. Then the river itself dropped out +from under him and he shot down in an avalanche of water, feeling no +longer the drag of Miki's weight at his neck. + +How deep the pool was at the bottom of the waterfall Challoner might +have guessed quite accurately. Could Neewa have expressed an opinion of +his own, he would have sworn that it was a mile. Miki was past the +stage of making estimates, or of caring whether it was two feet or two +leagues. His paws had ceased to operate and he had given himself up +entirely to his fate. But Neewa came up again, and Miki followed, like +a bobber. He was about to gasp his last gasp when the force of the +current, as it swung out of the whirlpool, flung Neewa upon a bit of +partly submerged driftage, and in a wild and strenuous effort to make +himself safe Neewa dragged Miki's head out of water so that the pup +hung at the edge of the driftage like a hangman's victim at the end of +his rope. + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + + +It is doubtful whether in the few moments that followed, any clear-cut +mental argument passed through Neewa's head. It is too much to suppose +that he deliberately set about assisting the half-dead and almost +unconscious Miki from his precarious position. His sole ambition was to +get himself where it was safe and dry, and to do this he of necessity +had to drag the pup with him. So Neewa tugged at the end of his rope, +digging his sharp little claws into the driftwood, and as he advanced +Miki was dragged up head foremost out of the cold and friendless +stream. It was a simple process. Neewa reached a log around which the +water was eddying, and there he flattened himself down and hung on as +he had never hung to anything else in his life. The log was entirely +hidden from shore by a dense growth of brushwood. Otherwise, ten +minutes later Challoner would have seen them. + +As it was, Miki had not sufficiently recovered either to smell or hear +his master when Challoner came to see if there was a possibility of his +small comrade being alive. And Neewa only hugged the log more tightly. +He had seen enough of the man-beast to last him for the remainder of +his life. It was half an hour before Miki began to gasp, and cough, and +gulp up water, and for the first time since their scrap in the canoe +the cub began to take a live interest in him. In another ten minutes +Miki raised his head and looked about him. At that Neewa gave a tug on +the rope, as if to advise him that it was time to get busy if they were +expected to reach shore. And Miki, drenched and forlorn, resembling +more a starved bone than a thing of skin and flesh, actually made an +effort to wag his tail when he saw Neewa. + +He was still in a couple of inches of water, and with a hopeful eye on +the log upon which Neewa was squatted he began to work his wobbly legs +toward it. It was a high log, and a dry log, and when Miki reached it +his unlucky star was with him again. Cumbrously he sprawled himself +against it, and as he scrambled and scraped with his four awkward legs +to get up alongside Neewa he gave to the log the slight push which it +needed to set it free of the sunken driftage. Slowly at first the +eddying current carried one end of the log away from its pier. Then the +edge of the main current caught at it, viciously--and so suddenly that +Miki almost lost his precarious footing, the log gave a twist, righted +itself, and began, to scud down stream at a speed that would have made +Challoner hug his breath had he been in their position with his +faithful canoe. + +In fact, Challoner was at this very moment portaging the rapids below +the waterfall. To have set his canoe in them where Miki and Neewa were +gloriously sailing he would have considered an inexcusable hazard, and +as a matter of safety he was losing the better part of a couple of +hours by packing his outfit through the forest to a point half a mile +below. That half mile was to the cub and the pup a show which was +destined to live in their memories for as long as they were alive. + +They were facing each other about amidships of the log, Neewa flattened +tight, his sharp claws dug in like hooks, and his little brown eyes +half starting from his head. It would have taken a crowbar to wrench +him from the log. But with Miki it was an open question from the +beginning whether he would weather the storm. He had no claws that he +could dig into the wood, and it was impossible for him to use his +clumsy legs as Neewa used his--like two pairs of human arms. All he +could do was to balance himself, slipping this way or that as the log +rolled or swerved in its course, sometimes lying across it and +sometimes lengthwise, and every moment with the jaws of uncertainty +open wide for him. Neewa's eyes never left him for an instant. Had they +been gimlets they would have bored holes. From the acuteness of this +life-and-death stare one would have given Neewa credit for +understanding that his own personal safety depended not so much upon +his claws and his hug as upon Miki's seamanship. If Miki went overboard +there would be left but one thing for him to do--and that would be to +follow. + +The log, being larger and heavier at one end than at the other, swept +on without turning broadside, and with the swiftness and appearance of +a huge torpedo. While Neewa's back was turned toward the horror of +frothing water and roaring rock behind him, Miki, who was facing it, +lost none of its spectacular beauty. Now and then the log shot into one +of the white masses of foam and for an instant or two would utterly +disappear; and at these intervals Miki would hold his breath and close +his eyes while Neewa dug his toes in still deeper. Once the log grazed +a rock. Six inches more and they would have been without a ship. Their +trip was not half over before both cub and pup looked like two round +balls of lather out of which their eyes peered wildly. + +Swiftly the roar of the cataract was left behind; the huge rocks around +which the current boiled and twisted with a ferocious snarling became +fewer; there came open spaces in which the log floated smoothly and +without convulsions, and then, at last, the quiet and placid flow of +calm water. Not until then did the two balls of suds make a move. For +the first time Neewa saw the whole of the thing they had passed +through, and Miki, looking down stream, saw the quiet shores again, the +deep forest, and the stream aglow with the warm sun. He drew in a +breath that filled his whole body and let it out again with a sigh of +relief so deep and sincere that it blew out a scatter of foam from the +ends of his nose and whiskers. For the first time he became conscious +of his own discomfort. One of his hind legs was twisted under him, and +a foreleg was under his chest. The smoothness of the water and the +nearness of the shores gave him confidence, and he proceeded to +straighten himself. Unlike Neewa he was an experienced VOYAGEUR. For +more than a month he had travelled steadily with Challoner in his +canoe, and of ordinarily decent water he was unafraid. So he perked up +a little, and offered Neewa a congratulatory yip that was half a whine. + +But Neewa's education had travelled along another line, and while his +experience in a canoe had been confined to that day he did know what a +log was. He knew from more than one adventure of his own that a log in +the water is the next thing to a live thing, and that its capacity for +playing evil jokes was beyond any computation that he had ever been +able to make. That was where Miki's store of knowledge was fatally +defective. Inasmuch as the log had carried them safely through the +worst stretch of water he had ever seen he regarded it in the light of +a first-class canoe--with the exception that it was unpleasantly +rounded on top. But this little defect did not worry him. To Neewa's +horror he sat up boldly, and looked about him. + +Instinctively the cub hugged the log still closer, while Miki was +seized with an overwhelming desire to shake from himself the mass of +suds in which, with the exception of the end of his tail and his eyes, +he was completely swathed. He had often shaken himself in the canoe; +why not here? Without either asking or answering the question he did it. + +Like the trap of a gibbet suddenly sprung by the hangman, the log +instantly responded by turning half over. Without so much as a wail +Miki was off like a shot, hit the water with a deep and solemn CHUG, +and once more disappeared as completely as if he had been made of lead. + +Finding himself completely submerged for the first time, Neewa hung on +gloriously, and when the log righted itself again he was tenaciously +hugging his old place, all the froth washed from him. He looked for +Miki--but Miki was gone. And then he felt once more that choking drag +on his neck! Of necessity, because his head was pulled in the direction +of the rope, he saw where the rope disappeared in the water. But there +was no Miki. The pup was down too far for Neewa to see. With the drag +growing heavier and heavier--for here there was not much current to +help Miki along--Neewa hung on like grim death. If he had let go, and +had joined Miki in the water, the good fortune which was turning their +way would have been missed. For Miki, struggling well under water, was +serving both as an anchor and a rudder; slowly the log shifted its +course, was caught in a beach-eddy, and drifted in close to a muddy +bank. + +With one wild leap Neewa was ashore. Feeling the earth under his feet +he started to run, and the result was that Miki came up slowly through +the mire and spread himself out like an overgrown crustacean while he +got the wind back into his lungs. Neewa, sensing the fact that for a +few moments his comrade was physically unfit for travel, shook himself, +and waited. Miki picked up quickly. Within five minutes he was on his +feet shaking himself so furiously that Neewa became the centre of a +shower of mud and water. + +Had they remained where they were, Challoner would have found them an +hour or so later, for he paddled that way, close inshore, looking for +their bodies. It may be that the countless generations of instinct back +of Neewa warned him of that possibility, for within a quarter of an +hour after they had landed he was leading the way into the forest, and +Miki was following. It was a new adventure for the pup. + +But Neewa began to recover his good cheer. For him the forest was home +even if his mother was missing. After his maddening experiences with +Miki and the man-beast the velvety touch of the soft pine-needles under +his feet and the familiar smells of the silent places filled him with a +growing joy. He was back in his old trails. He sniffed the air and +pricked up his ears, thrilled by the enlivening sensations of knowing +that he was once more the small master of his own destiny. It was a new +forest, but Neewa was undisturbed by this fact. All forests were alike +to him, inasmuch as several hundred thousand square miles were included +in his domain and it was impossible for him to landmark them all. + +With Miki it was different. He not only began to miss Challoner and the +river, but became more and more disturbed the farther Neewa led him +into the dark and mysterious depths of the timber. At last he decided +to set up a vigorous protest, and in line with this decision he braced +himself so suddenly that Neewa, coming to the end of the rope, flopped +over on his back with an astonished grunt. Seizing his advantage Miki +turned, and tugging with the horse-like energy of his Mackenzie father +he started back toward the river, dragging Neewa after him for a space +of ten or fifteen feet before the cub succeeded in regaining his feet. + +Then the battle began. With their bottoms braced and their forefeet +digging into the soft earth, they pulled on the rope in opposite +directions until their necks stretched and their eyes began to pop. +Neewa's pull was steady and unexcited, while Miki, dog-like, yanked and +convulsed himself in sudden backward jerks that made Neewa give way an +inch at a time. It was, after all, only a question as to which +possessed the most enduring neck. Under Neewa's fat there was as yet +little real physical strength. Miki had him handicapped there. Under +the pup's loose hide and his overgrown bones there was a lot of pull, +and after bracing himself heroically for another dozen feet Neewa gave +up the contest and followed in the direction chosen by Miki. + +While the instincts of Neewa's breed would have taken him back to the +river as straight as a die, Miki's intentions were better than was his +sense of orientation. Neewa followed in a sweeter temper when he found +that his companion was making an unreasonable circle which was taking +them a little more slowly, but just as surely, away from the +danger-ridden stream. At the end of another quarter of an hour Miki was +utterly lost; he sat down on his rump, looked at Neewa, and confessed +as much--with a low whine. Neewa did not move. His sharp little eyes +were fixed suddenly on an object that hung to a low bush half a dozen +paces from them. Before the man-beast's appearance the cub had spent +three quarters of his time in eating, but since yesterday morning he +had not swallowed so much as a bug. He was completely empty, and the +object he saw hanging to the bush set every salivary gland in his mouth +working. It was a wasp's nest. Many times in his young life he had seen +Noozak, his mother, go up to nests like that, tear them down, crush +them under her big paw, and then invite him to the feast of dead wasps +within. For at least a month wasps had been included in his daily fare, +and they were as good as anything he knew of. He approached the nest; +Miki followed. When they were within three feet of it Miki began to +take notice of a very distinct and peculiarly disquieting buzzing +sound. Neewa was not at all alarmed; judging the distance of the nest +from the ground, he rose on his hind feet, raised his arms, and gave it +a fatal tug. + +Instantly the drone which Miki had heard changed into the angry buzzing +of a saw. Quick as a flash Neewa's mother would have had the nest under +her paws and the life crushed out of it, while Neewa's tug had only +served partly to dislodge the home of Ahmoo and his dangerous tribe. +And it happened that Ahmoo was at home with three quarters of his +warriors. Before Neewa could give the nest a second tug they were +piling out of it in a cloud and suddenly a wild yell of agony rose out +of Miki. Ahmoo himself had landed on the end of the dog's nose. Neewa +made no sound, but stood for a moment swiping at his face with both +paws, while Miki, still yelling, ran the end of his crucified nose into +the ground. In another moment every fighter in Ahmoo's army was busy. +Suddenly setting up a bawling on his own account Neewa turned tail to +the nest and ran. Miki was not a hair behind him. In every square inch +of his tender hide he felt the red-hot thrust of a needle. It was Neewa +that made the most noise. His voice was one continuous bawl, and to +this bass Miki's soprano wailing added the touch which would have +convinced any passing Indian that the loup-garou devils were having a +dance. + +Now that their foes were in disorderly flight the wasps, who are rather +a chivalrous enemy, would have returned to their upset fortress had not +Miki, in his mad flight, chosen one side of a small sapling and Neewa +the other--a misadventure that stopped them with a force almost +sufficient to break their necks. Thereupon a few dozen of Ahmoo's rear +guard started in afresh. With his fighting blood at last aroused, Neewa +swung out and caught Miki where there was almost no hair on his rump. +Already half blinded, and so wrought up with pain and terror that he +had lost all sense of judgment or understanding, Miki believed that the +sharp dig of Neewa's razor-like claws was a deeper thrust than usual of +the buzzing horrors that overwhelmed him, and with a final shriek he +proceeded to throw a fit. + +It was the fit that saved them. In his maniacal contortions he swung +around to Neewa's side of the sapling, when, with their halter once +more free from impediment, Neewa bolted for safety. Miki followed, +yelping at every jump. No longer did Neewa feel a horror of the river. +The instinct of his kind told him that he wanted water, and wanted it +badly. As straight as Challoner might have set his course by a compass +he headed for the stream, but he had proceeded only a few hundred feet +when they came upon a tiny creek across which either of them could have +jumped. Neewa jumped into the water, which was four or five inches +deep, and for the first time in his life Miki voluntarily took a +plunge. For a long time they lay in the cooling rill. + +The light of day was dim and hazy before Miki's eyes, and he was +beginning to swell from the tip of his nose to the end of his bony +tail. Neewa, being so much fat, suffered less. He could still see, and, +as the painful hours passed, a number of things were adjusting +themselves in his brain. All this had begun with the man-beast. It was +the man-beast who had taken his mother from him. It was the man-beast +who had chucked him into the dark sack, and it was the man-beast who +had FASTENED THE ROPE AROUND HIS NECK. Slowly the fact was beginning to +impinge itself upon him that the rope was to blame for everything. + +After a long time they dragged themselves out of the rivulet and found +a soft, dry hollow at the foot of a big tree. Even to Neewa, who had +the use of his eyes, it was growing dark in the deep forest. The sun +was far in the west. And the air was growing chilly. Flat on his belly, +with his swollen head between his fore paws, Miki whined plaintively. + +Again and again Neewa's eyes went to the rope as the big thought +developed itself in his head. He whined. It was partly a yearning for +his mother, partly a response to Miki. He drew closer to the pup, +filled with the irresistible desire for comradeship. After all, it was +not Miki who was to blame. It was the man-beast--and THE ROPE! + +The gloom of evening settled more darkly about them, and snuggling +himself still closer to the pup Neewa drew the rope between his fore +paws. With a little snarl he set his teeth in it. And then, steadily, +he began to chew. Now and then he growled, and in the growl there was a +peculiarly communicative note, as if he wished to say to Miki: + +"Don't you see?--I'm chewing this thing in two. I'll have it done by +morning. Cheer up! There's surely a better day coming." + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + + +The morning after their painful experience with the wasp's nest, Neewa +and Miki rose on four pairs of stiff and swollen legs to greet a new +day in the deep and mysterious forest into which the accident of the +previous day had thrown them. The spirit of irrepressible youth was +upon them, and, though Miki was so swollen from the stings of the wasps +that his lank body and overgrown legs were more grotesque than ever, he +was in no way daunted from the quest of further adventure. + +The pup's face was as round as a moon, and his head was puffed up until +Neewa might reasonably have had a suspicion that it was on the point of +exploding. But Miki's eyes--as much as could be seen of them--were as +bright as ever, and his one good ear and his one half ear stood up +hopefully as he waited for the cub to give some sign of what they were +going to do. The poison in his system no longer gave him discomfort. He +felt several sizes too large--but, otherwise, quite well. + +Neewa, because of his fat, exhibited fewer effects of his battle with +the wasps. His one outstanding defect was an entirely closed eye. With +the other, wide open and alert, he looked about him. In spite of his +one bad eye and his stiff legs he was inspired with the optimism of one +who at last sees fortune turning his way. He was rid of the man-beast, +who had killed his mother; the forests were before him again, open and +inviting, and the rope with which Challoner had tied him and Miki +together he had successfully gnawed in two during the night. Having +dispossessed himself of at least two evils it would not have surprised +him much if he had seen Noozak, his mother, coming up from out of the +shadows of the trees. Thought of her made him whine. And Miki, facing +the vast loneliness of his new world, and thinking of his master, +whined in reply. + +Both were hungry. The amazing swiftness with which their misfortunes +had descended upon them had given them no time in which to eat. To Miki +the change was more than astonishing; it was overwhelming, and he held +his breath in anticipation of some new evil while Neewa scanned the +forest about them. + +As if assured by this survey that everything was right, Neewa turned +his back to the sun, which had been his mother's custom, and set out. + +Miki followed. Not until then did he discover that every joint in his +body had apparently disappeared. His neck was stiff, his legs were like +stilts, and five times in as many minutes he stubbed his clumsy toes +and fell down in his efforts to keep up with the cub. On top of this +his eyes were so nearly closed that his vision was bad, and the fifth +time he stumbled he lost sight of Neewa entirely, and sent out a +protesting wail. Neewa stopped and began prodding with his nose under a +rotten log. When Miki came up Neewa was flat on his belly, licking up a +colony of big red vinegar ants as fast as he could catch them. Miki +studied the proceeding for some moments. It soon dawned upon him that +Neewa was eating something, but for the life of him he couldn't make +out what it was. Hungrily he nosed close to Neewa's foraging snout. He +licked with his tongue where Neewa licked, and he got only dirt. And +all the time Neewa was giving his jolly little grunts of satisfaction. +It was ten minutes before he hunted out the last ant and went on. + +A little later they came to a small open space where the ground was +wet, and after sniffing about a bit, and focussing his one good eye +here and there, Neewa suddenly began digging. Very shortly he drew out +of the ground a white object about the size of a man's thumb and began +to crunch it ravenously between his jaws. Miki succeeded in capturing a +fair sized bit of it. Disappointment followed fast. The thing was like +wood; after rolling it in his mouth a few times he dropped it in +disgust, and Neewa finished the remnant of the root with a thankful +grunt. + +They proceeded. For two heartbreaking hours Miki followed at Neewa's +heels, the void in his stomach increasing as the swelling in his body +diminished. His hunger was becoming a torture. Yet not a bit to eat +could he find, while Neewa at every few steps apparently discovered +something to devour. At the end of the two hours the cub's bill of fare +had grown to considerable proportions. It included, among other things, +half a dozen green and black beetles; numberless bugs, both hard and +soft; whole colonies of red and black ants; several white grubs dug out +of the heart of decaying logs; a handful of snails; a young frog; the +egg of a ground-plover that had failed to hatch; and, in the vegetable +line, the roots of two camas and one skunk cabbage. Now and then he +pulled down tender poplar shoots and nipped the ends off. Likewise he +nibbled spruce and balsam gum whenever he found it, and occasionally +added to his breakfast a bit of tender grass. + +A number of these things Miki tried. He would have eaten the frog, but +Neewa was ahead of him there. The spruce and balsam gum clogged up his +teeth and almost made him vomit because of its bitterness. Between a +snail and a stone he could find little difference, and as the one bug +he tried happened to be that asafoetida-like creature known as a +stink-bug he made no further efforts in that direction. He also bit off +a tender tip from a ground-shoot, but instead of a young poplar it was +Fox-bite, and shrivelled up his tongue for a quarter of an hour. At +last he arrived at the conclusion that, up to date, the one thing in +Neewa's menu that he COULD eat was grass. + +In the face of his own starvation his companion grew happier as he +added to the strange collection in his stomach. In fact, Neewa +considered himself in clover and was grunting his satisfaction +continually, especially as his bad eye was beginning to open and he +could see things better. Half a dozen times when he found fresh ant +nests he invited Miki to the feast with excited little squeals. Until +noon Miki followed like a faithful satellite at his heels. The end came +when Neewa deliberately dug into a nest inhabited by four huge +bumble-bees, smashed them all, and ate them. + +From that moment something impressed upon Miki that he must do his own +hunting. With the thought came a new thrill. His eyes were fairly open +now, and much of the stiffness had gone from his legs. The blood of his +Mackenzie father and of his half Spitz and half Airedale mother rose up +in him in swift and immediate demand, and he began to quest about for +himself. He found a warm scent, and poked about until a partridge went +up with a tremendous thunder of wings. It startled him, but added to +the thrill. A few minutes later, nosing under a pile of brush, he came +face to face with his dinner. + +It was Wahboo, the baby rabbit. Instantly Miki was at him, and had a +firm hold at the back of Wahboo's back. Neewa, hearing the smashing of +the brush and the squealing of the rabbit, stopped catching ants and +hustled toward the scene of action. The squealing ceased quickly and +Miki backed himself out and faced Neewa with Wahboo held triumphantly +in his jaws. The young rabbit had already given his last kick, and with +a fierce show of growling Miki began tearing the fur off. Neewa edged +in, grunting affably. Miki snarled more fiercely. Neewa, undaunted, +continued to express his overwhelming regard for Miki in low and +supplicating grunts--and smelled the rabbit. The snarl in Miki's throat +died away. He may have remembered that Neewa had invited him more than +once to partake of his ants and bugs. Together they ate the rabbit. Not +until the last bit of flesh and the last tender bone were gone did the +feast end, and then Neewa sat back on his round bottom and stuck out +his little red tongue for the first time since he had lost his mother. +It was the cub sign of a full stomach and a blissful mind. He could see +nothing to be more desired at the present time than a nap, and +stretching himself languidly he began looking about for a tree. + +Miki, on the other hand, was inspired to new action by the pleasurable +sensation of being comfortably filled. Inasmuch as Neewa chewed his +food very carefully, while Miki, paying small attention to mastication, +swallowed it in chunks, the pup had succeeded in getting away with +about four fifths of the rabbit. So he was no longer hungry. But he was +more keenly alive to his changed environment than at any time since he +and Neewa had fallen out of Challoner's canoe into the rapids. For the +first time he had killed, and for the first time he had tasted warm +blood, and the combination added to his existence an excitement that +was greater than any desire he might have possessed to lie down in a +sunny spot and sleep. Now that he had learned the game, the hunting +instinct trembled in every fibre of his small being. He would have gone +on hunting until his legs gave way under him if Neewa had not found a +napping-place. + +Astonished half out of his wits he watched Neewa as he leisurely +climbed the trunk of a big poplar. He had seen squirrels climb +trees--just as he had seen birds fly--but Neewa's performance held him +breathless; and not until the cub had stretched himself out comfortably +in a crotch did Miki express himself. Then he gave an incredulous yelp, +sniffed at the butt of the tree, and made a half-hearted experiment at +the thing himself. One flop on his back convinced him that Neewa was +the tree-climber of the partnership. Chagrined, he wandered back +fifteen or twenty feet and sat down to study the situation. He could +not perceive that Neewa had any special business up the tree. Certainly +he was not hunting for bugs. He yelped half a dozen times, but Neewa +made no answer. At last he gave it up and flopped himself down with a +disconsolate whine. + +But it was not to sleep. He was ready and anxious to go on. He wanted +to explore still further the mysterious and fascinating depths of the +forest. He no longer felt the strange fear that had been upon him +before he killed the rabbit. In two minutes under the brush-heap Nature +had performed one of her miracles of education. In those two minutes +Miki had risen out of whimpering puppyhood to new power and +understanding. He had passed that elemental stage which his +companionship with Challoner had prolonged. He had KILLED, and the hot +thrill of it set fire to every instinct that was in him. In the half +hour during which he lay flat on his belly, his head alert and +listening, while Neewa slept, he passed half way from puppyhood to +dogdom. He would never know that Hela, his Mackenzie hound father, was +the mightiest hunter in all the reaches of the Little Fox country, and +that alone he had torn down a bull caribou. But he FELT it. There was +something insistent and demanding in the call. And because he was +answering that call, and listening eagerly to the whispering voices of +the forest, his quick ears caught the low, chuckling monotone of +Kawook, the porcupine. + +Miki lay very still. A moment later he heard the soft clicking of +quills, and then Kawook came out in the open and stood up on his hind +feet in a patch of sunlight. + +For thirteen years Kawook had lived undisturbed in this particular part +of the wilderness, and in his old age he weighed thirty pounds if he +weighed an ounce. On this afternoon, coming for his late dinner, he was +feeling even more than usually happy. His eyesight at best was dim. +Nature had never intended him to see very far, and had therefore +quilted him heavily with the barbed shafts of his protecting armour. +Thirty feet away he was entirely oblivious of Miki, at least apparently +so; and Miki hugged the ground closer, warned by the swiftly developing +instinct within him that here was a creature it would be unwise to +attack. + +For perhaps a minute Kawook stood up, chuckling his tribal song without +any visible movement of his body. He stood profile to Miki, like a fat +alderman. He was so fat that his stomach bulged out in front like the +half of a balloon, and over this stomach his hands were folded in a +peculiarly human way, so that he looked more like an old she-porcupine +than a master in his tribe. + +It was not until then that Miki observed Iskwasis, the young female +porcupine, who had poked herself slyly out from under a bush near +Kawook. In spite of his years the red thrill of romance was not yet +gone from the old fellow's bones, and he immediately started to give an +exhibition of his good breeding and elegance. He began with his +ludicrous love-making dance, hopping from one foot to the other until +his fat stomach shook, and chuckling louder than ever. The charms of +Iskwasis were indeed sufficient to turn the head of an older beau than +Kawook. She was a distinctive blonde; in other words, one of those +unusual creatures of her kind, an albino. Her nose was pink, the palms +of her little feet were pink, and each of her pretty pink eyes was set +in an iris of sky-blue. It was evident that she did not regard old +Kawook's passion-dance with favour and sensing this fact Kawook changed +his tactics and falling on all four feet began to chase his spiky tail +as if he had suddenly gone mad. When he stopped, and looked to see what +effect he had made he was clearly knocked out by the fact that Iskwasis +had disappeared. + +For another minute he sat stupidly, without making a sound. Then to +Miki's consternation he started straight for the tree in which Neewa +was sleeping. As a matter of fact, it was Kawook's dinner-tree, and he +began climbing it, talking to himself all the time. Miki's hair began +to stand on end. He did not know that Kawook, like all his kind, was +the best-natured fellow in the world, and had never harmed anything in +his life unless assaulted first. Lacking this knowledge he set up a +sudden frenzy of barking to warn Neewa. + +Neewa roused himself slowly, and when he opened his eyes he was looking +into a spiky face that sent him into a convulsion of alarm. With a +suddenness that came within an ace of toppling him from his crotch he +swung over and scurried higher up the tree. Kawook was not at all +excited. Now that Iskwasis was gone he was entirely absorbed in the +anticipation of his dinner. He continued to clamber slowly upward, and +at this the horrified Neewa backed himself out on a limb in order that +Kawook might have an unobstructed trail up the tree. + +Unfortunately for Neewa it was on this limb that Kawook had eaten his +last meal, and he began working himself out on it, still apparently +oblivious of the fact that the cub was on the same branch. At this Miki +sent up such a series of shrieking yelps from below that Kawook seemed +at last to realize that something unusual was going on. He peered down +at Miki who was making vain efforts to jump up the trunk of the tree; +then he turned and, for the first time, contemplated Neewa with some +sign of interest. Neewa was hugging the limb with both forearms and +both hind legs. To retreat another foot on the branch that was already +bending dangerously under his weight seemed impossible. + +It was at this point that Kawook began to scold fiercely. With a final +frantic yelp Miki sat back on his haunches and watched the thrilling +drama above him. A little at a time Kawook advanced, and inch by inch +Neewa retreated, until at last he rolled clean over and was hanging +with his back toward the ground. It was then that Kawook ceased his +scolding and calmly began eating his dinner. For two or three minutes +Neewa kept his hold. Twice he made efforts to pull himself up so that +he could get the branch under him. Then his hind feet slipped. For a +dozen seconds he hung with his two front paws--then shot down through +fifteen feet of space to the ground. Close to Miki he landed with a +thud that knocked the wind out of him. He rose with a grunt, took one +dazed look up the tree, and without further explanation to Miki began +to leg it deeper into the forest--straight into the face of the great +adventure which was to be the final test for these two. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + + +Not until he had covered at least a quarter of a mile did Neewa stop. +To Miki it seemed as though they had come suddenly out of day into the +gloom of evening. That part of the forest into which Neewa's flight had +led them was like a vast, mysterious cavern. Even Challoner would have +paused there, awed by the grandeur of its silence, held spellbound by +the enigmatical whispers that made up its only sound. The sun was still +high in the heavens, but not a ray of it penetrated the dense green +canopy of spruce and balsam that hung like a wall over the heads of +Miki and Neewa. About them was no bush, no undergrowth; under their +feet was not a flower or a spear of grass. Nothing but a thick, soft +carpet of velvety brown needles under which all life was smothered. It +was as if the forest nymphs had made of this their bedchamber, +sheltered through all the seasons of the year from wind and rain and +snow; or else that the were-wolf people--the loup-garou--had chosen it +as their hiding-place and from its weird and gloomy fastnesses went +forth on their ghostly missions among the sons of men. + +Not a bird twittered in the trees. There was no flutter of life in +their crowded branches. Everything was so still that Miki heard the +excited throbbing of life in his own body. He looked at Neewa, and in +the gloom the cub's eyes were glistening with a strange fire. Neither +of them was afraid, yet in that cavernous silence their comradeship was +born anew, and in it there was something now that crept down into their +wild little souls and filled the emptiness that was left by the death +of Neewa's mother and the loss of Miki's master. The pup whined gently, +and in his throat Neewa made a purring sound and followed it with a +squeaky grunt that was like the grunt of a little pig. They edged +nearer, and stood shoulder to shoulder facing their world. They went on +after a little, like two children exploring the mystery of an old and +abandoned house. They were not hunting, yet every hunting instinct in +their bodies was awake, and they stopped frequently to peer about them, +and listen, and scent the air. + +To Neewa it all brought back a memory of the black cavern in which he +was born. Would Noozak, his mother, come up presently out of one of +those dark forest aisles? Was she sleeping here, as she had slept in +the darkness of their den? The questions may have come vaguely in his +mind. For it was like the cavern, in that it was deathly still; and a +short distance away its gloom thickened into black pits. Such a place +the Indians called MUHNEDOO--a spot in the forest blasted of all life +by the presence of devils; for only devils would grow trees so thick +that sunlight never penetrated. And only owls held the companionship of +the evil spirits. + +Where Neewa and Miki stood a grown wolf would have paused, and turned +back; the fox would have slunk away, hugging the ground; even the +murderous-hearted little ermine would have peered in with his beady red +eyes, unafraid, but turned by instinct back into the open timber. For +here, in spite of the stillness and the gloom, THERE WAS LIFE. It was +beating and waiting in the ambush of those black pits. It was rousing +itself, even as Neewa and Miki went on deeper into the silence, and +eyes that were like round balls were beginning to glow with a greenish +fire. Still there was no sound, no movement in the dense overgrowth of +the trees. Like the imps of MUHNEDOO the monster owls looked down, +gathering their slow wits--and waiting. + +And then a huge shadow floated out of the dark chaos and passed so +close over the heads of Neewa and Miki that they heard the menacing +purr of giant wings. As the wraith-like creature disappeared there came +back to them a hiss and the grating snap of a powerful beak. It sent a +shiver through Miki. The instinct that had been fighting to rouse +itself within him flared up like a powder-flash. Instantly he sensed +the nearness of an unknown and appalling danger. + +There was sound about them now--movement in the trees, ghostly tremours +in the air, and the crackling, metallic SNAP--SNAP--SNAP over their +heads. Again Miki saw the great shadow come and go. It was followed by +a second, and a third, until the vault under the trees seemed filled +with shadows; and with each shadow came nearer that grating menace of +powerfully beaked jaws. Like the wolf and the fox he cringed down, +hugging the earth. But it was no longer with the whimpering fear of the +pup. His muscles were drawn tight, and with a snarl he bared his fangs +when one of the owls swooped so low that he felt the beat of its wings. +Neewa responded with a sniff that a little later in his life would have +been the defiant WHOOF of his mother. Bear-like he was standing up. And +it was upon him that one of the shadows descended--a monstrous +feathered bolt straight out of darkness. + +Six feet away Miki's blazing eyes saw his comrade smothered under a +gray mass, and for a moment or two he was held appalled and lifeless by +the thunderous beat of the gargantuan wings. No sound came from Neewa. +Flung on his back, he was digging his claws into feathers so thick and +soft that they seemed to have no heart or flesh. He felt upon him the +presence of the Thing that was death. The beat of the wings was like +the beat of clubs: they drove the breath out of his body, they blinded +his senses, yet he continued to tear fiercely with his claws into a +fleshless breast. + +In his first savage swoop Oohoomisew, whose great wings measured five +feet from tip to tip, had missed his death-grip by the fraction of an +inch. His powerful talons that would have buried themselves like knives +in Neewa's vitals closed too soon, and were filled with the cub's thick +hair and loose hide. Now he was beating his prey down with his wings +until the right moment came for him to finish the killing with the +terrific stabbing of his beak. Half a minute of that and Neewa's face +would be torn into pieces. + +It was the fact that Neewa made no sound, that no cry came from him, +that brought Miki to his feet with his lips drawn back and a snarl in +his throat. All at once fear went out of him and in its place came a +wild and almost joyous exultation. He recognized their enemy--A BIRD. +To him birds were a prey, and not a menace. A dozen times in their +journey down from the Upper Country Challoner had shot big Canada geese +and huge-winged cranes. Miki had eaten their flesh. Twice he had +pursued wounded cranes, yapping at the top of his voice, AND THEY HAD +RUN FROM HIM. He did not bark or yelp now. Like a flash he launched +himself into the feathered mass of the owl. His fourteen pounds of +flesh and bone landed with the force of a stone, and Oohoomisew was +torn from his hold and flung with a great flutter of wings upon his +side. + +Before he could recover his balance Miki was at him again, striking +full at his head, where he had struck at the wounded crane. Oohoomisew +went flat on his back--and for the first time Miki let out of his +throat a series of savage and snarling yelps. It was a new sound to +Oohoomisew and his blood-thirsty brethren watching the struggle from +out of the gloom. The snapping beaks drifted farther away, and +Oohoomisew, with a sudden sweep of wings, vaulted into the air. + +With his big forefeet planted firmly and his snarling face turned up to +the black wall of the tree-tops Miki continued to bark and howl +defiantly. He wanted the bird to come back. He wanted to tear and rip +at its feathers, and as he sent out his frantic challenge Neewa rolled +over, got on his feet, and with a warning squeal to Miki once more set +off in flight. If Miki was ignorant in the matter, HE at least +understood the situation. Again it was the instinct born of countless +generations. He knew that in the black pits about them hovered +death--and he ran as he had never run before in his life. As Miki +followed, the shadows were beginning to float nearer again. + +Ahead of them they saw a glimmer of sunshine. The trees grew taller, +and soon the day began breaking through so that there were no longer +the cavernous hollows of gloom about them. If they had gone on another +hundred yards they would have come to the edge of the big plain, the +hunting grounds of the owls. But the flame of self-preservation was hot +in Neewa's head; he was still dazed by the thunderous beat of wings; +his sides burned where Oohoomisew's talons had scarred his flesh; so, +when he saw in his path a tangled windfall of tree trunks he dived into +the security of it so swiftly that for a moment or two Miki wondered +where he had gone. + +Crawling into the windfall after him Miki turned and poked out his +head. He was not satisfied. His lips were still drawn back, and he +continued to growl. He had beaten his enemy. He had knocked it over +fairly, and had filled his jaws with its feathers. In the face of that +triumph he sensed the fact that he had run away in following Neewa, and +he was possessed with the desire to go back and have it out to a +finish. It was the blood of the Airedale and the Spitz growing stronger +in him, fearless of defeat; the blood of his father, the giant +hunting-hound Hela. It was the demand of his breed, with its mixture of +wolfish courage and fox-like persistency backed by the powerful jaws +and Herculean strength of the Mackenzie hound, and if Neewa had not +drawn deeper under the windfall he would have gone out again and yelped +his challenge to the feathered things from which they had fled. + +Neewa was smarting under the red-hot stab of Oohoomisew's talons, and +he wanted no more of the fight that came out of the air. He began +licking his wounds, and after a while Miki went back to him and smelled +of the fresh, warm blood. It made him growl. He knew that it was +Neewa's blood, and his eyes glowed like twin balls of fire as they +watched the opening through which they had entered into the dark tangle +of fallen trees. + +For an hour he did not move, and in that hour, as in the hour after the +killing of the rabbit, he GREW. When at last he crept out cautiously +from under the windfall the sun was sinking behind the western forests. +He peered about him, watching for movement and listening for sound. The +sagging and apologetic posture of puppyhood was gone from him. His +overgrown feet stood squarely on the ground; his angular legs were as +hard as if carven out of knotty wood; his body was tense, his ears +stood up, his head was rigidly set between the bony shoulders that +already gave evidence of gigantic strength to come. About him he knew +was the Big Adventure. The world was no longer a world of play and of +snuggling under the hands of a master. Something vastly more thrilling +had come into it now. + +After a time he dropped on his belly close to the opening under the +windfall and began chewing at the end of rope which dragged from about +his neck. The sun sank lower. It disappeared. Still he waited for Neewa +to come out and lie with him in the open. As the twilight thickened +into deeper gloom he drew himself into the edge of the door under the +windfall and found Neewa there. Together they peered forth into the +mysterious night. + +For a time there was the utter stillness of the first hour of darkness +in the northland. Up in the clear sky the stars came out in twos and +then in glowing constellations. There was an early moon. It was already +over the edge of the forests, flooding the world with a golden glow, +and in that glow the night was filled with grotesque black shadows that +had neither movement nor sound. Then the silence was broken. From out +of the owl-infested pits came a strange and hollow sound. Miki had +heard the shrill screeching and the TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O +of the little owls, the trap-pirates, but never this voice of the +strong-winged Jezebels and Frankensteins of the deeper forests--the +real butchers of the night. It was a hollow, throaty sound--more a moan +than a cry; a moan so short and low that it seemed born of caution, or +of fear that it would frighten possible prey. For a few minutes pit +after pit gave forth each its signal of life, and then there was a +silence of voice, broken at intervals by the faint, crashing sweep of +great wings in the spruce and balsam tops as the hunters launched +themselves up and over them in the direction of the plain. + +The going forth of the owls was only the beginning of the night +carnival for Neewa and Miki. For a long time they lay side by side, +sleepless, and listening. Past the windfall went the padded feet of a +fisher-cat, and they caught the scent of it; to them came the far cry +of a loon, the yapping of a restless fox, and the MOOING of a cow moose +feeding in the edge of a lake on the farther side of the plain. And +then, at last, came the thing that made their blood run faster and sent +a deeper thrill into their hearts. + +It seemed a vast distance away at first--the hot throated cry of wolves +on the trail of meat. It was swinging northward into the plain, and +this shortly brought the cry with the wind, which was out of the north +and the west. The howling of the pack was very distinct after that, and +in Miki's brain nebulous visions and almost unintelligible memories +were swiftly wakening into life. It was not Challoner's voice that he +heard, but it was A VOICE THAT HE KNEW. It was the voice of Hela, his +giant father; the voice of Numa, his mother; the voice of his kind for +a hundred and a thousand generations before him, and it was the +instinct of those generations and the hazy memory of his earliest +puppyhood that were impinging the thing upon him. A little later it +would take both intelligence and experience to make him discriminate +the hair-breadth difference between wolf and dog. And this voice of his +blood was COMING! It bore down upon them swiftly, fierce and filled +with the blood-lust of hunger. He forgot Neewa. He did not observe the +cub when he slunk back deeper under the windfall. He rose up on his +feet and stood stiff and tense, unconscious of all things but that +thrilling tongue of the hunt-pack. + +Wind-broken, his strength failing him, and his eyes wildly searching +the night ahead for the gleam of water that might save him, Ahtik, the +young caribou bull, raced for his life a hundred yards ahead of the +wolves. The pack had already flung itself out in the form of a +horse-shoe, and the two ends were beginning to creep up abreast of +Ahtik, ready to close in for the hamstring--and the kill. In these last +minutes every throat was silent, and the young bull sensed the +beginning of the end. Desperately he turned to the right and plunged +into the forest. + +Miki heard the crash of his body and he hugged close to the windfall. +Ten seconds later Ahtik passed within fifty feet of him, a huge and +grotesque form in the moonlight, his coughing breath filled with the +agony and hopelessness of approaching death. As swiftly as he had come +he was gone, and in his place followed half a score of noiseless +shadows passing so quickly that to Miki they were like the coming and +the going of the wind. + +For many minutes after that he stood and listened but again silence had +fallen upon the night. After a little he went back into the windfall +and lay down beside Neewa. + +Hours that followed he passed in restless snatches of slumber. He +dreamed of things that he had forgotten. He dreamed of Challoner. He +dreamed of chill nights and the big fires; he heard his master's voice +and he felt again the touch of his hand; but over it all and through it +all ran that wild hunting voice of his own kind. + +In the early dawn he came out from under the windfall and smelled of +the trail where the wolves and the caribou had passed. Heretofore it +was Neewa who had led in their wandering; now it was Neewa that +followed. His nostrils filled with the heavy scent of the pack, Miki +travelled steadily in the direction of the plain. It took him half an +hour to reach the edge of it. After that he came to a wide and stony +out-cropping of the earth over which he nosed the spoor to a low and +abrupt descent into the wider range of the valley. + +Here he stopped. + +Twenty feet under him and fifty feet away lay the partly devoured +carcass of the young bull. It was not this fact that thrilled him until +his heart stood still. From out of the bushy plain had come Maheegun, a +renegade she-wolf, to fill herself of the meat which she had not helped +to kill. She was a slinking, hollow-backed, quick-fanged creature, +still rib-thin from the sickness that had come of eating a poison-bait; +a beast shunned by her own kind--a coward, a murderess even of her own +whelps. But she was none of these things to Miki. In her he saw in +living flesh and bone what his memory and his instinct recalled to him +of his mother. And his mother had come before Challoner, his master. + +For a minute or two he lay trembling, and then he went down, as he +would have gone to Challoner; with great caution, with a wilder +suspense, but with a strange yearning within him that the man's +presence would have failed to rouse. He was very close to Maheegun +before she was conscious that he was near. The Mother-smell was warm in +his nose now; it filled him with a great joy; and yet--he was afraid. +But it was not a physical fear. Flattened on the ground, with his head +between his fore-paws, he whined. + +Like a flash the she-wolf turned, her fangs bared the length of her +jaws and her bloodshot eyes aglow with menace and suspicion. Miki had +no time to make a move or another sound. With the suddenness of a cat +the outcast creature was upon him. Her fangs slashed him just once--and +she was gone. Her teeth had drawn blood from his shoulder, but it was +not the smart of the wound that held him for many moments as still as +if dead. The Mother-smell was still where Maheegun had been. But his +dreams had crumbled. The thing that had been Memory died away at last +in a deep breath that was broken by a whimper of pain. For him, even as +for Neewa, there was no more a Challoner, and no longer a mother. But +there remained--the world! In it the sun was rising. Out of it came the +thrill and the perfume of life. And close to him--very close--was the +rich, sweet smell of meat. + +He sniffed hungrily. Then he turned, and saw Neewa's black and pudgy +body tumbling down the slope of the dip to join him in the feast. + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + + +Had Makoki, the leather-faced old Cree runner between God's Lake and +Fort Churchill, known the history of Miki and Neewa up to the point +where they came to feast on the fat and partly devoured carcass of the +young caribou bull, he would have said that Iskoo Wapoo, the Good +Spirit of the beasts, was watching over them most carefully. For Makoki +had great faith in the forest gods as well as in those of his own +tepee. He would have given the story his own picturesque version, and +would have told it to the little children of his son's children; and +his son's children would have kept it in their memory for their own +children later on. + +It was not in the ordained nature of things that a black bear cub and a +Mackenzie hound pup with a dash of Airedale and Spitz in him should +"chum up" together as Neewa and Miki had done. Therefore, he would have +said, the Beneficent Spirit who watched over the affairs of four-legged +beasts must have had an eye on them from the beginning. It was +she--Iskoo Wapoo was a goddess and not a god--who had made Challoner +kill Neewa's mother, the big black bear; and it was she who had induced +him to tie the pup and the cub together on the same piece of rope, so +that when they fell out of the white man's canoe into the rapids they +would not die, but would be company and salvation for each other. +NESWA-PAWUK ("two little brothers") Makoki would have called them; and +had it come to the test he would have cut off a finger before harming +either of them. But Makoki knew nothing of their adventures, and on +this morning when they came down to the feast he was a hundred miles +away, haggling with a white man who wanted a guide. He would never know +that Iskoo Wapoo was at his side that very moment, planning the thing +that was to mean so much in the lives of Neewa and Miki. + +Meanwhile Neewa and Miki went at their breakfast as if starved. They +were immensely practical. They did not look back on what had happened, +but for the moment submerged themselves completely in the present. The +few days of thrill and adventure through which they had gone seemed +like a year. Neewa's yearning for his mother had grown less and less +insistent, and Miki's lost master counted for nothing now, as things +were going with him. Last night was the big, vivid thing in their +memories--their fight for life with the monster owls, their flight, the +killing of the young caribou bull by the wolves, and (with Miki) the +short, bitter experience with Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. His +shoulder burned where she had torn at him with her teeth. But this did +not lessen his appetite. Growling as he ate, he filled himself until he +could hold no more. + +Then he sat back on his haunches and looked in the direction Maheegun +had taken. + +It was eastward, toward Hudson Bay, over a great plain that lay between +two ridges that were like forest walls, yellow and gold in the morning +sun. He had never seen the world as it looked to him now. The wolves +had overtaken the caribou on a scarp on the high ground that thrust +itself out like a short fat thumb from the black and owl-infested +forest, and the carcass lay in a meadowy dip that overhung the plain. +From the edge of this dip Miki could look down--and so far away that +the wonder of what he saw dissolved itself at last into the shimmer of +the sun and the blue of the sky. Within his vision lay a paradise of +marvellous promise; wide stretches of soft, green meadow; clumps of +timber, park-like until they merged into the deeper forest that began +with the farther ridge; great patches of bush radiant with the +colouring of June; here and there the gleam of water, and half a mile +away a lake that was like a giant mirror set in a purplish-green frame +of balsam and spruce. + +Into these things Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gone. He wondered whether +she would come back. He sniffed the air for her. But there was no +longer the mother-yearning in his heart. Something had already begun to +tell him of the vast difference between the dog and the wolf. For a few +moments, still hopeful that the world held a mother for him, he had +mistaken her for the one he had lost. But he understood now. A little +more and Maheegun's teeth would have snapped his shoulder, or slashed +his throat to the jugular. TEBAH-GONE-GAWIN (the One Great Law) was +impinging itself upon him, the implacable law of the survival of the +fittest. To live was to fight--to kill; to beat everything that had +feet or wings. The earth and the air held menace for him. Nowhere, +since he had lost Challoner, had he found friendship except in the +heart of Neewa, the motherless cub. And he turned toward Neewa now, +growling at a gay-plumaged moose-bird that was hovering about for a +morsel of meat. + +A few minutes before, Neewa had weighed a dozen pounds; now he weighed +fourteen or fifteen. His stomach was puffed out like the sides of an +overfilled bag, and he sat humped up in a pool of warm sunshine licking +his chops and vastly contented with himself and the world. Miki rubbed +up to him, and Neewa gave a chummy grunt. Then he rolled over on his +fat back and invited Miki to play. It was the first time; and with a +joyous yelp Miki jumped into him. Scratching and biting and kicking, +and interjecting their friendly scrimmage with ferocious growling on +Miki's part and pig-like grunts and squeals on Neewa's, they rolled to +the edge of the dip. It was a good hundred feet to the bottom--a steep, +grassy slope that ran to the plain--and like two balls they catapulted +the length of it. For Neewa it was not so bad. He was round and fat, +and went easily. + +With Miki it was different. He was all legs and skin and angular bone, +and he went down twisting and somersaulting and tying himself into +knots until by the time he struck the hard strip of shale at the edge +of the plain he was drunk with dizziness and the breath was out of his +body. He staggered to his feet with a gasp. For a space the world was +whirling round and round in a sickening circle. Then he pulled himself +together, and made out Neewa a dozen feet away. + +Neewa was just awakening to the truth of an exhilarating discovery. +Next to a boy on a sled, or a beaver on its tail, no one enjoys a +"slide" more than a black bear cub, and as Miki rearranged his +scattered wits Neewa climbed twenty or thirty feet up the slope and +deliberately rolled down again! Miki's jaws fell apart in amazement. +Again Neewa climbed up and rolled down--and Miki ceased to breathe +altogether. Five times he watched Neewa go that twenty or thirty feet +up the grassy slope and tumble down. The fifth time he waded into Neewa +and gave him a rough-and-tumble that almost ended in a fight. + +After that Miki began exploring along the foot of the slope, and for a +scant hundred yards Neewa humoured him by following, but beyond that +point he flatly refused to go. In the fourth month of his exciting +young life Neewa was satisfied that Nature had given him birth that he +might have the endless pleasure of filling his stomach. For him, eating +was the one and only excuse for existing. In the next few months he had +a big job on his hands if he kept up the record of his family, and the +fact that Miki was apparently abandoning the fat and juicy carcass of +the young bull filled him with alarm and rebellion. Straightway he +forgot all thought of play and started back up the slope on a mission +that was 100 per cent. business. + +Observing this, Miki gave up his idea of exploration and joined him. +They reached the shelf of the dip twenty yards from the carcass of the +bull, and from a clutter of big stones looked forth upon their meat. In +that moment they stood dumb and paralyzed. Two gigantic owls were +tearing at the carcass. To Miki and Neewa these were the monsters of +the black forest out of which they had escaped so narrowly with their +lives. But as a matter of fact they were not of Oohoomisew's breed of +night-seeing pirates. They were Snowy Owls, unlike all others of their +kind in that their vision was as keen as a hawk's in the light of broad +day. Mispoon, the big male, was immaculately white. His mate, a size or +two smaller, was barred with brownish-slate colour--and their heads +were round and terrible looking because they had no ear-tufts. Mispoon, +with his splendid wings spread half over the carcass of Ahtik, the dead +bull, was rending flesh so ravenously with his powerful beak that Neewa +and Miki could hear the sound of it. Newish, his mate, had her head +almost buried in Ahtik's bowels. The sight of them and the sound of +their eating were enough to disturb the nerves of an older bear than +Neewa, and he crouched behind a stone, with just his head sticking out. + +In Miki's throat was a sullen growl. But he held it back, and flattened +himself on the ground. The blood of the giant hunter that was his +father rose in him again like fire. The carcass was his meat, and he +was ready to fight for it. Besides, had he not whipped the big owl in +the forest? But here there were two. The fact held him flattened on his +belly a moment or two longer, and in that brief space the unexpected +happened. + +Slinking up out of the low growth of bush at the far edge of the dip +lie saw Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. Hollow-backed, red-eyed, her +bushy tail hanging with the sneaky droop of the murderess, she advanced +over the bit of open, a gray and vengeful shadow. Furtive as she was, +she at least acted with great swiftness. Straight at Mispoon she +launched herself with a snarl and snap of fangs that made Miki hug the +ground still closer. + +Deep into Mispoon's four-inch armour of feathers Maheegun buried her +fangs. Taken at a disadvantage Mispoon's head would have been torn from +his body before he could have gathered himself for battle had it not +been for Newish. Pulling her blood stained head from Ahtik's flesh and +blood she drove at Maheegun with a throaty, wheezing scream--a cry that +was like the cry of no other thing that lived. Into the she-wolf's back +she sank her beak and talons and Maheegun gave up her grip on Mispoon +and tore ferociously at her new assailant. For a space Mispoon was +saved, but it was at a terrible sacrifice to Newish. With a single +lucky slash of her long-fanged jaws, Maheegun literally tore one of +Newish's great wings from her body. The croak of agony that came out of +her may have held the death-note for Mispoon, her mate; for he rose on +his wings, poised himself for an instant, and launched himself at the +she-wolf's back with a force that drove Maheegun off her feet. + +Deep into her loins the great owl sank his talons, gripping at the +renegade's vitals with an avenging and ferocious tenacity. In that hold +Maheegun felt the sting of death. She flung herself on her back; she +rolled over and over, snarling and snapping and clawing the air in her +efforts to free herself of the burning knives that were sinking still +deeper into her bowels. Mispoon hung on, rolling as she rolled, beating +with his giant wings, fastening his talons in that clutch that death +could not shake loose. On the ground his mate was dying. Her life's +blood was pouring out of the hole in her side, but with the dimming +vision of death she made a last effort to help Mispoon. And Mispoon, a +hero to the last, kept his grip until he was dead. + +Into the edge of the bush Maheegun dragged herself. There she freed +herself of the big owl. But the deep wounds were still in her sides. +The blood dripped from her belly as she made her way down into the +thicker cover, leaving a red trail behind her. A quarter of a mile away +she lay down under a clump of dwarf spruce; and there, a little later, +she died. + +To Neewa and Miki--and especially to the son of Hela--the grim combat +had widened even more that subtle and growing comprehension of the +world as it existed for them. It was the unforgettable wisdom of +experience backed by an age-old instinct and the heredity of breed. +They had killed small things--Neewa, his bugs and his frogs and his +bumble-bees; Miki, his rabbit--they had fought for their lives; they +had passed through experiences that, from the beginning, had been a +gamble with death; but it had needed the climax of a struggle such as +they had seen with their own eyes to open up the doors that gave them a +new viewpoint of life. + +It was many minutes before Miki went forth and smelled of Newish, the +dead owl. He had no desire now to tear at her feathers in the +excitement of an infantile triumph and ferocity. Along with greater +understanding a new craft and a new cunning were born in him. The fate +of Mispoon and his mate had taught him the priceless value of silence +and of caution, for he knew now that in the world there were many +things that were not afraid of him, and many things that would not run +away from him. He had lost his fearless and blatant contempt for winged +creatures; he had learned that the earth was not made for him alone, +and that to hold his small place on it he must fight as Maheegun and +the owls had fought. This was because in Miki's veins was the red +fighting blood of a long line of ancestors that reached back to the +wolves. + +In Neewa the process of deduction was vastly different. His breed was +not the fighting breed, except as it fought among its own kind. It did +not make a habit of preying upon other beasts, and no other beast +preyed upon it. This was purely an accident of birth--the fact that no +other creature in all his wide domain was powerful enough, either alone +or in groups, to defeat a grown black bear in open battle. Therefore +Neewa learned nothing of fighting in the tragedy of Maheegun and the +owls. His profit, if any, was in a greater caution. And his chief +interest was in the fact that Maheegun and the two owls had not +devoured the young bull. His supper was still safe. + +With his little round eyes on the alert for fresh trouble he kept +himself safely hidden while he watched Miki investigating the scene of +battle. From the body of the owl Miki went to Ahtik, and from Ahtik he +sniffed slowly over the trail which Maheegun had taken into the bush. +In the edge of the cover he found Mispoon. He did not go farther, but +returned to Neewa, who by this time had made up his mind that he could +safely come out into the open. + +Fifty times that day Miki rushed to the defense of their meat. The +big-eyed, clucking moose-birds were most annoying. Next to them the +Canada jays were most persistent. Twice a little gray-coated ermine, +with eyes as red as garnets, came in to get his fill of blood. Miki was +at him so fiercely that he did not return a third time. By noon the +crows had got scent or sight of the carcass and were circling overhead, +waiting for Neewa and Miki to disappear. Later, they set up a raucous +protest from the tops of the trees in the edge of the forest. + +That night the wolves did not return to the dip. Meat was too +plentiful, and those that were over their gorge were off on a fresh +kill far to the west. Once or twice Neewa and Miki heard their distant +cry. + +Again through a star-filled radiant night they watched and listened, +and slept at times. In the soft gray dawn they went forth once more to +their feast. + +And here is where Makoki, the old Cree runner, would have emphasized +the presence of the Beneficent Spirit. For day followed day, and night +followed night, and Ahtik's flesh and blood put into Neewa and Miki a +strength and growth that developed marvellously. By the fourth day +Neewa had become so fat and sleek that he was half again as big as on +the day he fell out of the canoe. Miki had begun to fill out. His ribs +could no longer be counted from a distance. His chest was broadening +and his legs were losing some of their angular clumsiness. Practice on +Ahtik's bones had strengthened his jaws. With his development he felt +less and less the old puppyish desire to play--more and more the +restlessness of the hunter. The fourth night he heard again the wailing +hunt-cry of the wolves, and it held a wild and thrilling note for him. + +With Neewa, fat and good humour and contentment were all synonymous. As +long as the meat held out there was no very great temptation for him +beyond the dip and the slope. Two or three times a day he went down to +the creek; and every morning and afternoon--especially about sunset--he +had his fun rolling downhill. In addition to this he began taking his +afternoon naps in the crotch of a small sapling. As Miki could see +neither sense nor sport in tobogganing, and as he could not climb a +tree, he began to spend more and more time in venturing up and down the +foot of the ridge. He wanted Neewa to go with him on these expeditions. +He never set out until he had entreated Neewa to come down out of his +tree, or until he had made an effort to coax him away from the single +trail he had made to the creek and back. Neewa's obstinacy would never +have brought about any real unpleasantness between them. Miki thought +too much of him for that; and if it had come to a final test, and Neewa +had thought that Miki would not return, he would undoubtedly have +followed him. + +It was another and a more potent thing than an ordinary quarrel that +placed the first great barrier between them. Now it happened that Miki +was of the breed which preferred its meat fresh, while Neewa liked his +"well hung." And from the fourth day onward, what was left of Ahtik's +carcass was ripening. On the fifth day Miki found the flesh difficult +to eat; on the sixth, impossible. To Neewa it became increasingly +delectable as the flavour grew and the perfume thickened. On the sixth +day, in sheer delight, he rolled in it. That night, for the first time, +Miki could not sleep with him. + +The seventh day brought the climax. Ahtik now fairly smelled to heaven. +The odour of him drifted up and away on the soft June wind until all +the crows in the country were gathering. It drove Miki, slinking like a +whipped cur, down into the creek bottom. When Neewa came down for a +drink after his morning feast Miki sniffed him over for a moment and +then slunk away from him again. As a matter of fact, there was small +difference between Ahtik and Neewa now, except that one lay still and +the other moved. Both smelled dead; both were decidedly "well hung." +Even the crows circled over Neewa, wondering why it was that he walked +about like a living thing. + +That night Miki slept alone under a clump of bush in the creek bottom. +He was hungry and lonely, and for the first time in many days he felt +the bigness and emptiness of the world. He wanted Neewa. He whined for +him in the starry silence of the long hours between sunset and dawn. +The sun was well up before Neewa came down the hill. He had finished +his breakfast and his morning roll, and he was worse than ever. Again +Miki tried to coax him away but Neewa was disgustingly fixed in his +determination to remain in his present glory. And this morning he was +more than usually anxious to return to the dip. All of yesterday he had +found it necessary to frighten the crows away from his meat, and to-day +they were doubly persistent in their efforts to rob him. With a grunt +and a squeal to Miki he hustled back up the hill after he had taken his +drink. + +His trail entered the dip through the pile of rocks from which Miki and +he had watched the battle between Maheegun and the two owls, and as a +matter of caution he always paused for a few moments among these rocks +to make sure that all was well in the open. This morning he received a +decided shock. Ahtik's carcass was literally black with crows. Kakakew +and his Ethiopic horde of scavengers had descended in a cloud, and they +were tearing and fighting and beating their wings about Ahtik as if all +of them had gone mad. Another cloud was hovering in air; every bush and +near-by sapling was bending under the weight of them, and in the sun +their jet-black plumage glistened as if they had just come out of the +bath of a tinker's pot. Neewa stood astounded. He was not frightened; +he had driven the cowardly robbers away many times. But never had there +been so many of them. He could see no trace of his meat. Even the +ground about it was black. + +He rushed out from the rocks with his lips drawn back, just as he had +rushed a dozen or more times before. There was a mighty roar of wings. +The air was darkened by them, and the ravenish screaming that followed +could have been heard a mile away. This time Kakakew and his mighty +crew did not fly back to the forest. Their number gave them courage. +The taste of Ahtik's flesh and the flavour of it in their nostrils +intoxicated them, to the point of madness, with desire. Neewa was +dazed. Over him, behind him, on all sides of him they swept and +circled, croaking and screaming at him, the boldest of them swooping +down to beat at him with their wings. Thicker grew the menacing cloud, +and then suddenly it descended like an avalanche. It covered Ahtik +again. In it Neewa was fairly smothered. He felt himself buried under a +mass of wings and bodies, and he began fighting, as he had fought the +owls. A score of pincer-like black beaks fought to get at his hair and +hide; others stabbed at his eyes; he felt his ears being pulled from +his head, and the end of his nose was a bloody cushion within a dozen +seconds. The breath was beaten out of him; he was blinded, and dazed, +and every square inch of him was aquiver with its own excruciating +pain. He forgot Ahtik. The one thing in the world he wanted most was a +large open space in which to run. + +Putting all his strength into the effort he struggled to his feet and +charged through the mass of living things about him. At this sign of +defeat many of the crows left him to join in the feast. By the time he +was half way to the cover into which Maheegun had gone all but one had +left him. That one may have been Kakakew himself. He had fastened +himself like a rat-trap to Neewa's stubby tail, and there he hung on +like grim death while Neewa ran. He kept his hold until his victim was +well into the cover. Then he flopped himself into the air and rejoined +his brethren at the putrified carcass of the bull. + +If ever Neewa had wanted Miki he wanted him now. Again his entire +viewpoint of the world was changed. He was stabbed in a hundred places. +He burned as if afire. Even the bottoms of his feet hurt him when he +stepped on them, and for half an hour he hid himself under a bush, +licking his wounds and sniffing the air for Miki. + +Then he went down the slope into the creek bottom, and hurried to the +foot of the trail he had made to and from the dip. Vainly he quested +about him for his comrade. He grunted and squealed, and tried to catch +the scent of him in the air. He ran up the creek a distance, and back +again. Ahtik counted as nothing now. + +Miki was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER TEN + + +A quarter of a mile away Miki had heard the clamour of the crows. But +he was in no humour to turn back, even had he guessed that Neewa was in +need of his help. He was hungry from long fasting and, for the present, +his disposition had taken a decided turn. He was in a mood to tackle +anything in the eating line, no matter how big, but he was a good mile +from the dip in the side of the ridge before he found even a crawfish. +He crunched this down, shell and all. It helped to take the bad taste +out of his mouth. + +The day was destined to hold for him still another unforgettable event +in his life. Now that he was alone the memory of his master was not so +vague as it had been yesterday, and the days before. Brain-pictures +came back to him more vividly as the morning lengthened into afternoon, +bridging slowly but surely the gulf that Neewa's comradeship had +wrought. For a time the exciting thrill of his adventure was gone. Half +a dozen times he hesitated on the point of turning back to Neewa. It +was hunger that always drove him on a little farther. He found two more +crawfish. Then the creek deepened and its water ran slowly, and was +darker. Twice he chased old rabbits, that got away from him easily. +Once he came within an ace of catching a young one. Frequently a +partridge rose with a thunder of wings. He saw moose-birds, and jays, +and many squirrels. All about him was meat which it was impossible for +him to catch. Then fortune turned his way. Poking his head into the end +of a hollow log he cornered a rabbit so completely that there was no +escape. During the next few minutes he indulged in the first square +meal he had eaten for three days. + +So absorbed was he in his feast that he was unconscious of a new +arrival on the scene. He did not hear the coming of Oochak, the +fisher-cat; nor, for a few moments, did he smell him. It was not in +Oochak's nature to make a disturbance. He was by birth and instinct a +valiant hunter and a gentleman, and when he saw Miki (whom he took to +be a young wolf) feeding on a fresh kill, he made no move to demand a +share for himself. Nor did he run away. He would undoubtedly have +continued on his way very soon if Miki had not finally sensed his +presence, and faced him. + +Oochak had come from the other side of the log, and stood not more than +six feet distant. To one who knew as little of his history as Miki +there was nothing at all ferocious about him. He was shaped like his +cousins, the weazel, the mink, and the skunk. He was about half as high +as Miki, and fully as long, so that his two pairs of short legs seemed +somewhat out of place, as on a dachshund. He probably weighed between +eight and ten pounds, had a bullet head, almost no ears, and atrocious +whiskers. Also he had a bushy tail and snapping little eyes that seemed +to bore clean through whatever he looked at. To Miki his accidental +presence was a threat and a challenge. Besides, Oochak looked like an +easy victim if it came to a fight. So he pulled back his lips and +snarled. + +Oochak accepted this as an invitation for him to move on, and being a +gentleman who respected other people's preserves he made his apologies +by beginning a velvet-footed exit. This was too much for Miki, who had +yet to learn the etiquette of the forest trails. Oochak was afraid of +him. He was running away! With a triumphant yelp Miki took after him. +After all, it was simply a mistake in judgment. (Many two-footed +animals with bigger brains than Miki's had made similar mistakes.) For +Oochak, attending always to his own business, was, for his size and +weight, the greatest little fighter in North America. + +Just what happened in the one minute that followed his assault Miki +would never be able quite to understand. It was not in reality a fight; +it was a one-sided immolation, a massacre. His first impression was +that he had tackled a dozen Oochaks instead of one. Beyond that first +impression his mind did not work, nor did his eyes visualize. He was +whipped as he would never be whipped again in his life. He was cut and +bruised and bitten; he was strangled and stabbed; he was so utterly +mauled that for a space after Oochak had gone he continued to rake the +air with his paws, unconscious of the fact that the affair was over. +When he opened his eyes, and found himself alone, he slunk into the +hollow log where he had cornered the rabbit. + +In there he lay a good half hour, trying hard to comprehend just what +had happened. The sun was setting when he dragged himself out. He +limped. His one good ear was bitten clean through. There were bare +spots on his hide where Oochak had scraped the hair off. His bones +ached, his throat was sore, and there was a lump over one eye. He +looked longingly back over the "home" trail. Up there was Neewa. With +the lengthening shadows of the day's end a great loneliness crept upon +him and a desire to turn back to his comrade. But Oochak had gone that +way--and he did not want to meet Oochak again. + +He wandered a little farther south and east, perhaps a quarter of a +mile, before the sun disappeared entirely. In the thickening gloom of +twilight he struck the Big Rock portage between the Beaver and the Loon. + +It was not a trail. Only at rare intervals did wandering voyageurs +coming down from the north make use of it in their passage from one +waterway to the other. Three or four times a year at the most would a +wolf have caught the scent of man in it. It was there tonight, so fresh +that Miki stopped when he came to it as if another Oochak had risen +before him. For a space he was turned into the rigidity of rock by a +single overwhelming emotion. All other things were forgotten in the +fact that he had struck the trail of a man--AND, THEREFORE, THE TRAIL +OF CHALLONER, HIS MASTER. He began to follow it--slowly at first, as if +fearing that it might get away from him. Darkness came, and he was +still following it. In the light of the stars he persisted, all else +crowded from him but the homing instinct of the dog and the desire for +a master. + +At last he came almost to the shore of the Loon, and there he saw the +campfire of Makoki and the white man. + +He did not rush in. He did not bark or yelp; the hard schooling of the +wilderness had already set its mark upon him. He slunk in +cautiously--then stopped, flat on his belly, just outside the rim of +firelight. Then he saw that neither of the men was Challoner. But both +were smoking, as Challoner had smoked. He could hear their voices, and +they were like Challoner's voice. And the camp was the same--a fire, a +pot hanging over it, a tent, and in the air the odours of recently +cooked things. + +Another moment or two and he would have gone into the firelight. But +the white man rose to his feet, stretched himself as he had often seen +Challoner stretch, and picked up a stick of wood as big as his arm. He +came within ten feet of Miki, and Miki wormed himself just a little +toward him, and stood up on his feet. It brought him into a half light. +His eyes were aglow with the reflection of the fire. And the man saw +him. + +In a flash the club he held was over his head; it swung through the air +with the power of a giant arm behind it and was launched straight at +Miki. Had it struck squarely it would have killed him. The big end of +it missed him; the smaller end landed against his neck and shoulder, +driving him back into the gloom with such force and suddenness that the +man thought he had done for him. He called out loudly to Makoki that he +had killed a young wolf or a fox, and dashed out into the darkness. + +The club had knocked Miki fairly into the heart of a thick ground +spruce. There he lay, making no sound, with a terrible pain in his +shoulder. Between himself and the fire he saw the man bend over and +pick up the club. He saw Makoki hurrying toward him with ANOTHER club, +and under his shelter he made himself as small as he could. He was +filled with a great dread, for now he understood the truth. THESE men +were not Challoner. They were hunting for him--with clubs in their +hands. He knew what the clubs meant. His shoulder was almost broken. + +He lay very still while the men searched about him. The Indian even +poked his stick into the thick ground spruce. The white man kept saying +that he was sure he had made a hit, and once he stood so near that +Miki's nose almost touched his boot. He went back and added fresh birch +to the fire, so that the light of it illumined a greater space about +them. Miki's heart stood still. But the men searched farther on, and at +last went back to the fire. + +For an hour Miki did not move. The fire burned itself low. The old Cree +wrapped himself in a blanket, and the white man went into his tent. Not +until then did Miki dare to crawl out from under the spruce. With his +bruised shoulder making him limp at every step he hurried back over the +trail which he had followed so hopefully a little while before. The +man-scent no longer made his heart beat swiftly with joy. It was a +menace now. A warning. A thing from which he wanted to get away. He +would sooner have faced Oochak again, or the owls, than the white man +with his club. With the owls he could fight, but in the club he sensed +an overwhelming superiority. + +The night was very still when he dragged himself back to the hollow log +in which he had killed the rabbit. He crawled into it, and nursed his +wounds through all the rest of the hours of darkness. In the early +morning he came out and ate the rest of the rabbit. + +After that he faced the north and west--where Neewa was. There was no +hesitation now. He wanted Neewa again. He wanted to muzzle him with his +nose and lick his face even though he did smell to heaven. He wanted to +hear him grunt and squeal in his funny, companionable way; he wanted to +hunt with him again, and play with him, and lie down beside him in a +sunny spot and sleep. Neewa, at last, was a necessary part of his world. + +He set out. + +And Neewa, far up the creek, still followed hopefully and yearningly +over the trail of Miki. + +Half way to the dip, in a small open meadow that was a glory of sun, +they met. There was no very great demonstration. They stopped and +looked at each other for a moment, as if to make sure that there was no +mistake. Neewa grunted. Miki wagged his tail. They smelled noses. Neewa +responded with a little squeal, and Miki whined. It was as if they had +said, + +"Hello, Miki!" + +"Hello, Neewa!" + +And then Neewa lay down in the sun and Miki sprawled himself out beside +him. After all, it was a funny world. It went to pieces now and then, +but it always came together again. And to-day their world had +thoroughly adjusted itself. Once more they were chums--and they were +happy. + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + + +It was the Flying-Up Moon--deep and slumbering midsummer--in all the +land of Keewatin. From Hudson Bay to the Athabasca and from the Hight +of Land to the edge of the Great Barrens, forest, plain, and swamp lay +in peace and forgetfulness under the sun-glowing days and the +star-filled nights of the August MUKOO-SAWIN. It was the breeding moon, +the growing moon, the moon when all wild life came into its own once +more. For the trails of this wilderness world--so vast that it reached +a thousand miles east and west and as far north and south--were empty +of human life. At the Hudson Bay Company's posts--scattered here and +there over the illimitable domain of fang and claw--had gathered the +thousands of hunters and trappers, with their wives and children, to +sleep and gossip and play through the few weeks of warmth and plenty +until the strife and tragedy of another winter began. For these people +of the forests it was MUKOO-SAWIN--the great Play Day of the year; the +weeks in which they ran up new debts and established new credits at the +Posts; the weeks in which they foregathered at every Post as at a great +fair--playing, and making love, and marrying, and fattening up for the +many days of hunger and gloom to come. + +It was because of this that the wild things had come fully into the +possession of their world for a space. There was no longer the scent of +man in all the wilderness. They were not hunted. There were no traps +laid for their feet, no poison-baits placed temptingly where they might +pass. In the fens and on the lakes the wildfowl squawked and honked +unfearing to their young, just learning the power of wing; the lynx +played with her kittens without sniffing the air for the menace of man; +the cow moose went openly into the cool water of the lakes with their +calves; the wolverine and the marten ran playfully over the roofs of +deserted shacks and cabins; the beaver and the otter tumbled and +frolicked in their dark pools; the birds sang, and through all the +wilderness there was the drone and song of Nature as some Great Power +must at first have meant that Nature should be. A new generation of +wild things had been born. It was a season of Youth, with tens of +thousands and hundreds of thousands of little children of the wild +playing their first play, learning their first lessons, growing up +swiftly to face the menace and doom of their first winter. And the +Beneficent Spirit of the forests, anticipating what was to come, had +prepared well for them. Everywhere there was plenty. The blueberries, +the blackberries, the mountain-ash and the saskatoons were ripe; tree +and vine were bent low with their burden of fruit. The grass was green +and tender from the summer rains. Bulbous roots were fairly popping out +of the earth; the fens and the edges of the lakes were rich with things +to eat, overhead and underfoot the horn of plenty was emptying itself +without stint. + +In this world Neewa and Miki found a vast and unending contentment. +They lay, on this August afternoon, on a sun-bathed shelf of rock that +overlooked a wonderful valley. Neewa, stuffed with luscious +blueberries, was asleep. Miki's eyes were only partly closed as he +looked down into the soft haze of the valley. Up to him came the +rippling music of the stream running between the rocks and over the +pebbly bars below, and with it the soft and languorous drone of the +valley itself. He napped uneasily for half an hour, and then his eyes +opened and he was wide awake. He took a sharp look over the valley. +Then he looked at Neewa, who, fat and lazy, would have slept until +dark. It was always Miki who kept him on the move. And now Miki barked +at him gruffly two or three times, and nipped at one of his ears. + +"Wake up!" he might have said. "What's the sense of sleeping on a day +like this? Let's go down along the creek and hunt something." + +Neewa roused himself, stretched his fat body, and yawned. Sleepily his +little eyes took in the valley. Miki got up and gave the low and +anxious whine which always told his companion that he wanted to be on +the move. Neewa responded, and they began making their way down the +green slope into the rich bottom between the two ridges. + +They were now almost six months of age, and in the matter of size had +nearly ceased to be a cub and a pup. They were almost a dog and a bear. +Miki's angular legs were getting their shape; his chest had filled out; +his neck had grown until it no longer seemed too small for his big head +and jaws, and his body had increased in girth and length until he was +twice as big as most ordinary dogs of his age. + +Neewa had lost his round, ball-like cubbishness, though he still +betrayed far more than Miki the fact that he was not many months lost +from his mother. But he was no longer filled with that wholesome love +of peace that had filled his earlier cubhood. The blood of Soominitik +was at last beginning to assert itself, and he no longer sought a place +of safety in time of battle--unless the grimness of utter necessity +made it unavoidable. In fact, unlike most bears, he loved a fight. If +there were a stronger term at hand it might be applied to Miki, the +true son of Hela. Youthful as they were, they were already covered with +scars that would have made a veteran proud. Crows and owls, wolf-fang +and fisher-claw had all left their marks, and on Miki's side was a bare +space eight inches long left as a souvenir by a wolverine. + +In Neewa's funny round head there had grown, during the course of +events, an ambition to have it out some day with a citizen of his own +kind; but the two opportunities that had come his way were spoiled by +the fact that the other cubs' mothers were with them. So now, when Miki +led off on his trips of adventure, Neewa always followed with another +thrill than that of getting something to eat, which so long had been +his one ambition. Which is not to say that Neewa had lost his appetite. +He could eat more in one day than Miki could eat in three, mainly +because Miki was satisfied with two or three meals a day while Neewa +preferred one--a continuous one lasting from dawn until dark. On the +trail he was always eating something. + +A quarter of a mile along the foot of the ridge, in a stony coulee down +which a tiny rivulet trickled, there grew the finest wild currants in +all the Shamattawa country. Big as cherries, black as ink, and swelling +almost to the bursting point with luscious juice, they hung in clusters +so thick that Neewa could gather them by the mouthful. Nothing in all +the wilderness is quite so good as one of these dead-ripe black +currants, and this coulee wherein they grew so richly Neewa had +preempted as his own personal property. Miki, too, had learned to eat +the currants; so to the coulee they went this afternoon, for such +currants as these one can eat even when one is already full. Besides, +the coulee was fruitful for Miki in other ways. There were many young +partridges and rabbits in it--"fool hens" of tender flesh and delicious +flavour which he caught quite easily, and any number of gophers and +squirrels. + +To-day they had scarcely taken their first mouthful of the big juicy +currants when an unmistakable sound came to them. Unmistakable because +each recognized instantly what it meant. It was the tearing down of +currant bushes twenty or thirty yards higher up the coulee. Some robber +had invaded their treasure-house, and instantly Miki bared his fangs +while Neewa wrinkled up his nose in an ominous snarl. Soft-footed they +advanced toward the sound until they came to the edge of a small open +space which was as flat as a table. In the centre of this space was a +clump of currant bushes not more than a yard in girth, and black with +fruit; and squatted on his haunches there, gathering the laden bushes +in his arms, was a young black bear about four sizes larger than Neewa. + +In that moment of consternation and rage Neewa did not take size into +consideration. He was much in the frame of mind of a man returning home +to discover his domicile, and all it contained, in full possession of +another. At the same time here was his ambition easily to be +achieved--his ambition to lick the daylight out of a member of his own +kind. Miki seemed to sense this fact. Under ordinary conditions he +would have led in the fray, and before Neewa had fairly got started, +would have been at the impudent interloper's throat. But now something +held him back, and it was Neewa who first shot out--like a black +bolt--landing squarely in the ribs of his unsuspecting enemy. + +(Old Makoki, the Cree runner, had he seen that attack, would instantly +have found a name for the other bear--"Petoot-a-wapis-kum," which +means, literally: "Kicked-off-his-Feet." Perhaps he would have called +him "Pete" for short. For the Cree believes in fitting names to fact, +and Petoot-a-wapis-kum certainly fitted the unknown bear like a glove.) + +Taken utterly by surprise, with his mouth full of berries, he was +bowled over like an overfilled bag under the force of Neewa's charge. +So complete was his discomfiture for the moment that Miki, watching the +affair with a yearning interest, could not keep back an excited yap of +approbation. Before Pete could understand what had happened, and while +the berries were still oozing from his mouth, Neewa was at his +throat--and the fun began. + +Now bears, and especially young bears, have a way of fighting that is +all their own. It reminds one of a hair-pulling contest between two +well-matched ladies. There are no rules to the game--absolutely none. +As Pete and Neewa clinched, their hind legs began to do the fighting, +and the fur began to fly. Pete, being already on his back--a +first-class battling position for a bear--would have possessed an +advantage had it not been for Neewa's ferocious hold at his throat. As +it was, Neewa sank his fangs in to their full length, and scrubbed away +for dear life with his sharp hind claws. Miki drew nearer at sight of +the flying fur, his soul filled with joy. Then Pete got one leg into +action, and then the other, and Miki's jaws came together with a sudden +click. Over and over the two fighters rolled, Neewa holding to his +throat-grip, and not a squeal or a grunt came from either of them. +Pebbles and dirt flew along with hair and fur. Stones rolled with a +clatter down the coulee. The very air trembled with the thrill of +combat. In Miki's attitude of tense waiting there was something now of +suspicious anxiety. With eight furry legs scratching and tearing +furiously, and the two fighters rolling and twisting and contorting +themselves like a pair of windmills gone mad, it was almost impossible +for Miki to tell who was getting the worst of it--Neewa or Pete; at +least he was in doubt for a matter of three or four minutes. + +Then he recognized Neewa's voice. It was very faint, but for all that +it was an unmistakable bawl of pain. + +Smothered under Pete's heavier body Neewa began to realize, at the end +of those three or four minutes, that he had tackled more than was good +for him. It was altogether Pete's size and not his fighting qualities, +for Neewa had him outpointed there. But he fought on, hoping for some +good turn of luck, until at last Pete got him just where he wanted him +and began raking him up and down his sides until in another three +minutes he would have been half skinned if Miki hadn't judged the +moment ripe for intervention. Even then Neewa was taking his punishment +without a howl. + +In another instant Miki had Pete by the ear. It was a grim and terrible +hold. Old Soominitik himself would have bawled lustily in the +circumstances. Pete raised his voice in a howl of agony. He forgot +everything else but the terror and the pain of this new SOMETHING that +had him by the ear, and he rent the air with his outcry. His +lamentation poured in an unbroken spasm of sound from his throat. Neewa +knew that Miki was in action. + +He pulled himself from under the young interloper's body--and not a +second too soon. Down the coulee, charging like a mad bull, came Pete's +mother. Neewa was off like a shot just as she made a powerful swing at +him. The blow missed, and the old bear turned excitedly to her bawling +offspring. Miki, hanging joyously to his victim, was oblivious of his +danger until Pete's mother was almost upon him. He caught sight of her +just as her long arm shot out like a wooden beam. He dodged; and the +blow intended for him landed full against the side of the unfortunate +Pete's head with a force that took him clean off his feet and sent him +flying like a football twenty yards down the coulee. + +Miki did not wait for further results. Quick as a flash he was in a +currant thicket tearing down the little gulch after Neewa. They came +out on the plain together, and for a good ten minutes they did not halt +in their flight long enough to look back. When they did, the coulee was +a mile away. They sat down, panting. Neewa's red tongue was hanging out +in his exhaustion. He was scratched and bleeding; loose hair hung all +over him. As he looked at Miki there was something in the dolorous +expression of Neewa's face which was a confession of the fact that he +realized Pete had licked him. + + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + + +After the fight in the coulee there was no longer a thought on the part +of Neewa and Miki of returning to the Garden of Eden in which the black +currants grew so lusciously. From the tip of his tail to the end of his +nose Miki was an adventurer, and like the nomadic rovers of old he was +happiest when on the move. The wilderness had claimed him now, body and +soul, and it is probable that he would have shunned a human camp at +this stage of his life, even as Neewa would have shunned it. But in the +lives of beasts, as well as in the lives of men, Fate plays her pranks +and tricks, and even as they turned into the vast and mystery-filled +spaces of the great lake and waterway-country, to the west, events were +slowly shaping themselves into what was to be perhaps the darkest hour +of gloom in the life of Miki, son of Hela. + +Through six glorious and sun-filled weeks of late summer and early +autumn--until the middle of September--Miki and Neewa ranged the +country westward, always heading toward the setting sun, the country of +Jackson's Knee, of the Touchwood and the Clearwater, and God's Lake. In +this country they saw many things. It was a region a hundred miles +square which the handiwork of Nature had made into a veritable kingdom +of the wild. They came upon great beaver colonies in the dark and +silent places; they watched the otter at play; they came upon moose and +caribou so frequently that they no longer feared or evaded them, but +walked out openly into the meadows or down to the edge of the swamps +where they were feeding. It was here that Miki learned the great lesson +that claw and fang were made to prey upon cloven hoof and horn, for the +wolves were thick, and a dozen times they came upon their kills, and +even more frequently heard the wild tongue of the hunting-packs. Since +his experience with Maheegun he no longer had the desire to join them. +And now Neewa no longer insisted on remaining near meat when they found +it. It was the beginning of the KWASKA-HAO in Neewa--the instinctive +sensing of the Big Change. + +Until early in October Miki could see but little of this change in his +comrade. It was then that Neewa became more and more restless, and this +restlessness grew as the chill nights came, and autumn breathed more +heavily in the air. It was Neewa who took the lead in their +peregrinations now, and he seemed always to be questing for +something--a mysterious something which Miki could neither smell nor +see. He no longer slept for hours at a time. By mid-October he slept +scarcely at all, but roved through most of the hours of night as well +as day, eating, eating, eating, and always smelling the wind for that +elusive thing which Nature was commanding him to seek and find. +Ceaselessly he was nosing under windfalls and among the rocks, and Miki +was always near him, always on the QUI VIVE for battle with the thing +that Neewa was hunting out. And it seemed to be never found. + +Then Neewa turned back to the east, drawn by the instinct of his +forefathers; back toward the country of Noozak, his mother, and of +Soominitik, his father; and Miki followed. The nights grew more and +more chill. The stars seemed farther away, and no longer was the forest +moon red like blood. The cry of the loon had a moaning note in it, a +note of grief and lamentation. And in their shacks and tepees the +forest people sniffed the air of frosty mornings, and soaked their +traps in fish-oil and beaver-grease, and made their moccasins, and +mended snow-shoe and sledge, for the cry of the loon said that winter +was creeping down out of the North. And the swamps grew silent. The cow +moose no longer mooed to her young. In place of it, from the open plain +and "burn" rose the defiant challenge of bull to bull and the deadly +clash of horn against horn under the stars of night. The wolf no longer +howled to hear his voice. In the travel of padded feet there came to be +a slinking, hunting caution. In all the forest world blood was running +red again. + +And then--November. + +Perhaps Miki would never forget that first day when the snow came. At +first he thought all the winged things in the world were shedding their +white feathers. Then he felt the fine, soft touch of it under his feet, +and the chill. It sent the blood rushing like a new kind of fire +through his body; a wild and thrilling joy--the exultation that leaps +through the veins of the wolf when the winter comes. + +With Neewa its effect was different--so different that even Miki felt +the oppression of it, and waited vaguely and anxiously for what was to +come. And then, on this day of the first snow, he saw his comrade do a +strange and unaccountable thing. He began to eat things that he had +never touched as food before. He lapped up soft pine needles, and +swallowed them. He ate of the dry, pulpy substance of rotted logs. And +then he went into a great cleft broken into the heart of a rocky ridge, +and found at last the thing for which he had been seeking. It was a +cavern--deep, and dark, and warm. + +Nature works in strange ways. She gives to the birds of the air eyes +which men may never have, and she gives to the beasts of the earth an +instinct which men may never know. For Neewa had come back to sleep his +first Long Sleep in the place of his birth--the cavern in which Noozak, +his mother, had brought him into the world. + +His old bed was still there, the wallow in the soft sand, the blanket +of hair Noozak had shed; but the smell of his mother was gone. In the +nest where he was born Neewa lay down, and for the last time he grunted +softly to Miki. It was as if he felt upon him the touch of a hand, +gentle but inevitable, which he could no longer refuse to obey, and to +Miki was saying, for the last time: "Good-night!" + +That night the PIPOO KESTIN--the first storm of winter--came like an +avalanche from out of the North. With it came a wind that was like the +roaring of a thousand bulls, and over all the land of the wild there +was nothing that moved. Even in the depth of the cavern Miki heard the +beat and the wail of it and the swishing of the shot-like snow beyond +the door through which they had come, and he snuggled close to Neewa, +content that they had found shelter. + +With the day he went to the slit in the face of the rock, and in his +astonishment he made no sound, but stared forth upon a world that was +no longer the world he had left last night. Everywhere it was white--a +dazzling, eye-blinding white. The sun had risen. It shot a thousand +flashing shafts of radiant light into Miki's eyes. So far as his vision +could reach the earth was as if covered with a robe of diamonds. From +rock and tree and shrub blazed the fire of the sun; it quivered in the +tree-tops, bent low with their burden of snow; it was like a sea in the +valley, so vivid that the unfrozen stream running through the heart of +it was black. Never had Miki seen a day so magnificent. Never had his +heart pounded at the sight of the sun as it pounded now, and never had +his blood burned with a wilder exultation. He whined, and ran back to +Neewa. He barked in the gloom of the cavern and gave his comrade a +nudge with his nose. Neewa grunted sleepily. He stretched himself, +raised his head for an instant, and then curled himself into a ball +again. Vainly Miki protested that it was day, and time for them to be +moving. Neewa made no response, and after a while Miki returned to the +mouth of the cavern, and looked back to see if Neewa was following him. +Then, disappointed, he went out into the snow. For an hour he did not +move farther than ten feet away from the den. Three times he returned +to Neewa and urged him to get up and come out where it was light. In +that far corner of the cavern it was dark, and it was as if he were +trying to tell Neewa that he was a dunce to lie there still thinking it +was night when the sun was up outside. But he failed. Neewa was in the +edge of his Long Sleep--the beginning of USKE-POW-A-MEW, the dream land +of the bears. + +Annoyance, the desire almost to sink his teeth in Neewa's ear, gave +place slowly to another thing in Miki. The instinct that between beasts +is like the spoken reason of men stirred in a strange and disquieting +way within him. He became more and more uneasy. There was almost +distress in his restlessness as he hovered about the mouth of the +cavern. A last time he went to Neewa, and then he started alone down +into the valley. + +He was hungry, but on this first day after the storm there was small +chance of him finding anything to eat. The snowshoe rabbits were +completely buried under their windfalls and shelters, and lay quietly +in their warm nests. Nothing had moved during the hours of the storm. +There were no trails of living things for him to follow, and in places +he sank to his shoulders in the soft snow. He made his way to the +creek. It was no longer the creek he had known. It was edged with ice. +There was something dark and brooding about it now. The sound it made +was no longer the rippling song of summer and golden autumn. There was +a threat in its gurgling monotone--a new voice, as if a black and +forbidding spirit had taken possession of it and was warning him that +the times had changed, and that new laws and a new force had come to +claim sovereignty in the land of his birth. + +He drank of the water cautiously. It was cold--ice-cold. Slowly it was +being impinged upon him that in the beauty of this new world that was +his there was no longer the warm and pulsing beat of the heart that was +life. He was alone. ALONE! Everything else was covered up; everything +else seemed dead. + +He went back to Neewa and lay close to him all through the day. And +through the night that followed he did not move again from the cavern. +He went only as far as the door and saw celestial spaces ablaze with +stars and a moon that rode up into the heavens like a white sun. They, +too, seemed no longer like the moon and stars he had known. They were +terribly still and cold. And under them the earth was terribly white +and silent. + +With the coming of dawn he tried once more to awaken Neewa. But this +time he was not so insistent. Nor did he have the desire to nip Neewa +with his teeth. Something had happened--something which he could not +understand. He sensed the thing, but he could not reason it. And he was +filled with a strange and foreboding fear. + +He went down again to hunt. Under the glory of the moon and stars it +had been a wild night of carnival for the rabbits, and in the edge of +the timber Miki found the snow beaten hard in places with their tracks. +It was not difficult for him to stalk his breakfast this morning. He +made his kill, and feasted. He killed again after that, and still +again. He could have gone on killing, for now that the snow betrayed +them, the hiding-places of the rabbits were so many traps for them. +Miki's courage returned. He was fired again with the joy of life. Never +had he known such hunting, never had he found such a treasure-house +before--not even in the coulee where the currants grew. He ate until he +could eat no more, and then he went back to Neewa, carrying with him +one of the rabbits he had slain. He dropped it in front of his comrade, +and whined. Even then Neewa did not respond, except to draw a deeper +breath, and change his position a little. + +That afternoon, for the first time in many hours, Neewa rose to his +feet, stretched himself, and sniffed of the dead rabbit. But he did not +eat. To Miki's consternation he rolled himself round and round in his +nest of sand and went to sleep again. + +The next day, at about the same time, Neewa roused himself once more. +This time he went as far as the mouth of the den, and lapped up a few +mouthfuls of snow. But he still refused to eat the rabbit. Again it was +Nature telling him that he must not disturb the pine needles and dry +bark with which he had padded his stomach and intestines. And he went +to sleep again. He did not get up after that. + +Day followed day, and, growing lonelier as the winter deepened, Miki +hunted alone. All through November he came back each night and slept +with Neewa. And Neewa was as if dead, except that his body was warm, +and he breathed, and made little sounds now and then in his throat. But +this did not satisfy the great yearning that was becoming more and more +insistent in Miki's soul, the overwhelming desire for company, for a +brotherhood on the trail. He loved Neewa. Through the first long weeks +of winter he returned to him faithfully; he brought him meat. He was +filled with a strange grief--even greater than if Neewa had been dead. +For Miki knew that he was alive, and he could not account for the thing +that had happened. Death he would have understood, and FROM death he +would have gone away--for good. + +So it came that one night, having hunted far, Miki remained away from +the den for the first time, and slept under a deep windfall. After that +it was still harder for him to resist the CALL. A second and a third +night he went away; and then came the time--inevitable as the coming +and going of the moon and stars--when understanding at last broke its +way through his hope and his fear, and something told him that Neewa +would never again travel with him as through those glorious days of +old, when shoulder to shoulder they had faced together the comedies and +tragedies of life in a world that was no longer soft and green and warm +with a golden sun, but white, and still, and filled with death. + +Neewa did not know when Miki went away from the den for the last time. +And yet it may be that even in his slumber the Beneficent Spirit may +have whispered that Miki was going, for there were restlessness and +disquiet in Neewa's dreamland for many days thereafter. + +"Be quiet--and sleep!" the Spirit may have whispered. "The Winter is +long. The rivers are black and chill, the lakes are covered with floors +of ice, and the waterfalls are frozen like great white giants. Sleep! +For Miki must go his way, just as the waters of the streams must go +their way to the sea. For he is Dog. And you are Bear. SLEEP!" + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + + +In many years there had not been such a storm in all the Northland as +that which followed swiftly in the trail of the first snows that had +driven Neewa into his den--the late November storm of that year which +will long be remembered as KUSKETA PIPPOON (the Black Year), the year +of great and sudden cold, of starvation and of death. + +It came a week after Miki had left the cavern wherein Neewa was +sleeping so soundly. Preceding that, when all the forest world lay +under its mantle of white, the sun shone day after day, and the moon +and stars were as clear as golden fires in the night skies. The wind +was out of the west. The rabbits were so numerous they made hard floors +of the snow in thicket and swamp. Caribou and moose were plentiful, and +the early cry of wolves on the hunt was like music in the ears of a +thousand trappers in shack and teepee. + +With appalling suddenness came the unexpected. There was no warning. +The day had dawned with a clear sky, and a bright sun followed the +dawn. Then the world darkened so swiftly that men on their traplines +paused in amazement. With the deepening gloom came a strange moaning, +and there was something in that sound that seemed like the rolling of a +great drum--the knell of an impending doom. It was THUNDER. The warning +was too late. Before men could turn back to safety, or build themselves +shelters, the Big Storm was upon them. For three days and three nights +it raged like a mad bull from out of the north. In the open barrens no +living creature could stand upon its feet. The forests were broken, and +all the earth was smothered. All things that breathed buried +themselves--or died; for the snow that piled itself up in windrows and +mountains was round and hard as leaden shot, and with it came an +intense cold. + +On the third day it was sixty degrees below zero in the country between +the Shamattawa and Jackson's Knee. Not until the fourth day did living +things begin to move. Moose and caribou heaved themselves up out of the +thick covering of snow that had been their protection; smaller animals +dug their way out of the heart of deep drifts and mounds; a half of the +rabbits and birds were dead. But the most terrible toll was of men. +Many of those who were caught out succeeded in keeping the life within +their bodies, and dragged themselves back to teepee and shack. But +there were also many who did not return--five hundred who died between +Hudson Bay and the Athabasca in those three terrible days of the +KUSKETA PIPPOON. + +In the beginning of the Big Storm Miki found himself in the "burnt" +country of Jackson's Knee, and instinct sent him quickly into deeper +timber. Here he crawled into a windfall of tangled trunks and +tree-tops, and during the three days he did not move. Buried in the +heart of the storm, there came upon him an overwhelming desire to +return to Neewa's den, and to snuggle up to him once more, even though +Neewa lay as if dead. The strange comradeship that had grown up between +the two--their wanderings together all through the summer, the joys and +hardships of the days and months in which they had fought and feasted +like brothers--were memories as vivid in his brain as if it had all +happened yesterday. And in the dark wind-fall, buried deeper and deeper +under the snow, he dreamed. + +He dreamed of Challoner, who had been his master in the days of his +joyous puppyhood; he dreamed of the time when Neewa, the motherless +cub, was brought into camp, and of the happenings that had come to them +afterward; the loss of his master, of their strange and thrilling +adventures in the wilderness, and last of all of Neewa's denning-up. He +could not understand that. Awake, and listening to the storm, he +wondered why it was that Neewa no longer hunted with him, but had +curled himself up into a round ball, and slept a sleep from which he +could not rouse him. Through the long hours of the three days and +nights of storm it was loneliness more than hunger that ate at his +vitals. When on the morning of the fourth day he came out from under +the windfall his ribs were showing and there was a reddish film over +his eyes. First of all he looked south and east, and whined. + +Through twenty miles of snow he travelled back that day to the ridge +where he had left Neewa. On this fourth day the sun shone like a +dazzling fire. It was so bright that the glare of the snow pricked his +eyes, and the reddish film grew redder. There was only a cold glow in +the west when he came to the end of his journey. Dusk had already begun +to settle over the roofs of the forests when he reached the ridge where +Neewa had found the cavern. It was no longer a ridge. The wind had +piled the snow up over it in grotesque and monstrous shapes. Rocks and +bushes were obliterated. Where the mouth of the cavern should have been +was a drift ten feet deep. Cold and hungry, thinned by his days and +nights of fasting, and with his last hope of comradeship shattered by +the pitiless mountains of snow, Miki turned back over his trail. There +was nothing left for him now but the old windfall, and his heart was no +longer the heart of the joyous comrade and brother of Neewa, the bear. +His feet were sore and bleeding, but still he went on. The stars came +out; the night was ghostly white in their pale fire; and it was +cold--terribly cold. The trees began to snap. Now and then there came a +report like a pistol-shot as the frost snapped at the heart of timber. +It was thirty degrees below zero. And it was growing colder. With the +windfall as his only inspiration Miki drove himself on. Never had he +tested his strength or his endurance as he strained them now. Older +dogs would have fallen in the trail or have sought shelter or rest. But +Miki was the true son of Hela, his giant Mackenzie hound father, and he +would have continued until he triumphed--or died. + +But a strange thing happened. He had travelled twenty miles to the +ridge, and fifteen of the twenty miles back, when a shelf of snow gave +way under his feet and he was pitched suddenly downward. When he +gathered his dazed wits and stood up on his half frozen legs he found +himself in a curious place. He had rolled completely into a +wigwam-shaped shelter of spruce boughs and sticks, and strong in his +nostrils was the SMELL OF MEAT. He found the meat not more than a foot +from the end of his nose. It was a chunk of frozen caribou flesh +transfixed on a stick, and without questioning the manner of its +presence he gnawed at it ravenously. Only Jacques Le Beau, who lived +eight or ten miles to the east, could have explained the situation. +Miki had rolled into one of his trap-houses, and it was the bait he was +eating. + +There was not much of it, but it fired Miki's blood with new life. +There was smell in his nostrils now, and he began clawing in the snow. +After a little his teeth struck something hard and cold. It was +steel--a fisher trap. He dragged it up from under a foot of snow, and +with it came a huge rabbit. The snow had so protected the rabbit that, +although several days dead, it was not frozen stiff. Not until the last +bone of it was gone did Miki's feast end. He even devoured the head. +Then he went on to the windfall, and in his warm nest slept until +another day. + +That day Jacques Le Beau--whom the Indians called "Muchet-ta-aao" (the +One with an Evil Heart)--went over his trapline and rebuilt his +snow-smothered "houses" and re-set his traps. + +It was in the afternoon that Miki, who was hunting, struck his trail in +a swamp several miles from the windfall. No longer was his soul stirred +by the wild yearning for a master. He sniffed, suspiciously, of Le +Beau's snowshoe tracks and the crest along his spine trembled as he +caught the wind, and listened. He followed cautiously, and a hundred +yards farther on came to one of Le Beau's KEKEKS or trap-shelters. Here +too, there was meat--fixed on a peg. Miki reached in. From under his +fore-paw came a vicious snap and the steel jaws of a trap flung sticks +and snow into his face. He snarled, and for a few moments he waited, +with his eyes on the trap. Then he stretched himself until he reached +the meat, without advancing his feet. Thus he had discovered the hidden +menace of the steel jaws, and instinct told him how to evade them. + +For another third of a mile he followed Le Beau's tracks. He sensed the +presence of a new and thrilling danger, and yet he did not turn off the +trail. An impulse which he was powerless to resist drew him on. He came +to a second trap, and this time he robbed the bait-peg without +springing the thing which he knew was concealed close under it. His +long fangs clicked as he went on. He was eager for a glimpse of the +man-beast. But he did not hurry. A third, a fourth, and a fifth trap he +robbed of their meat. + +Then, as the day ended, he swung westward and covered quickly the five +miles between the swamp and his windfall. + +Half an hour later Le Beau came back over the line. He saw the first +empty KEKEK, and the tracks in the snow. + +"TONNERRE!--a wolf!" he exclaimed. "And in broad day!" + +Then a slow look of amazement crept into his face, and he fell upon his +knees in the snow and examined the tracks. + +"NON!" he gasped. "It is a dog! A devil of a wild dog--robbing my +traps!" + +He rose to his feet, cursing. From the pocket of his coat he drew a +small tin box, and from this box he took a round ball of fat. In the +heart of the fat was a strychnine capsule. It was a poison-bait, to be +set for wolves and foxes. + +Le Beau chuckled exultantly as he stuck the deadly lure on the end of +the bait-peg. + +"OW, a wild dog," he growled. "I will teach him. To-morrow he will be +dead." + +On each of the five ravished bait-pegs he placed a strychnine capsule +rolled in its inviting little ball of fat. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + + +The next morning Miki set out again for the trapline of Jacques Le +Beau. It was not the thought of food easily secured that tempted him. +There would have been a greater thrill in killing for himself. It was +the trail, with its smell of the man-beast, that drew him like a +magnet. Where that smell was very strong he wanted to lie down, and +wait. Yet with his desire there was also fear, and a steadily growing +caution. He did not tamper with the first KEKEK, nor with the second. +At the third Le Beau had fumbled in the placing of his bait, and for +that reason the little ball of fat was strong with the scent of his +hands. A fox would have turned away from it quickly. Miki, however, +drew it from the peg and dropped it in the snow between his forefeet. +Then he looked about him, and listened for a full minute. After that he +licked the ball of fat with his tongue. The scent of Le Beau's hands +kept him from swallowing it as he had swallowed the caribou meat. A +little suspiciously he crushed it slowly between his jaws. The fat was +sweet. He was about to gulp it down when he detected another and less +pleasant taste, and what remained in his mouth he spat out upon the +snow. But the acrid bite of the poison remained upon his tongue and in +his throat. It crept deeper--and he caught up a mouthful of snow and +swallowed it to put out the burning sensation that was crawling nearer +to his vitals. + +Had he devoured the ball of fat as he had eaten the other baits he +would have been dead within a quarter of an hour, and Le Beau would not +have gone far to find his body. As it was, he was beginning to turn +sick at the end of the fifteen minutes. A premonition of the evil that +was upon him drew him off the trail and in the direction of the +windfall. He had gone only a short distance when suddenly his legs gave +way under him, and he fell. He began to shiver. Every muscle in his +body trembled. His teeth clicked. His eyes grew wide, and it was +impossible for him to move. And then, like a hand throttling him, there +came a strange stiffness in the back of his neck, and his breath hissed +chokingly out of his throat. The stiffness passed like a wave of fire +through his body. Where his muscles had trembled and shivered a moment +before they now became rigid and lifeless. The throttling grip of the +poison at the base of his brain drew his head back until his muzzle was +pointed straight up to the sky. Still he made no cry. For a space every +nerve in his body was at the point of death. + +Then came the change. As though a string had snapped, the horrible grip +left the back of his neck; the stiffness shot out of his body in a +flood of shivering cold, and in another moment he was twisting and +tearing up the snow in mad convulsions. The spasm lasted for perhaps a +minute. When it was over Miki was panting. Streams of saliva dripped +from his jaws into the snow. But he was alive. Death had missed him by +a hair, and after a little he staggered to his feet and continued on +his way to the windfall. + +Thereafter Jacques Le Beau might place a million poison capsules in his +way and he would not touch them. Never again would he steal the meat +from a bait-peg. + +Two days later Le Beau saw where Miki had fought his fight with death +in the snow and his heart was black with rage and disappointment. He +began to follow the footprints of the dog. It was noon when he came to +the windfall and saw the beaten path where Miki entered it. On his +knees he peered into the cavernous depths--and saw nothing. But Miki, +lying watchfully, saw the man, and he was like the black, bearded +monster who had almost killed him with a club a long time ago. And in +his heart, too, there was disappointment, for away back in his memory +of things there was always the thought of Challoner--the master he had +lost; and it was never Challoner whom he found when he came upon the +man smell. + +Le Beau heard his growl, and the man's blood leapt excitedly as he rose +to his feet. He could not go in after the wild dog, and he could not +lure him out. But there was another way. He would drive him out with +fire! + +Deep back in his fortress, Miki heard the crunch of Le Beau's feet in +the snow. A few minutes later he saw the man-beast again peering into +his lair. + +"BETE, BETE," he called half tauntingly, and again Miki growled. + +Jacques was satisfied. The windfall was not more than thirty or forty +feet in diameter, and about it the forest was open and clear of +undergrowth. It would be impossible for the wild dog to get away from +his rifle. + +A second time he went around the piled-up mass of fallen timber. On +three sides it was completely smothered under the deep snow. Only where +Miki's trail entered was it open. + +Getting the wind behind him Le Beau made his ISKOO of birch-bark and +dry wood at the far end of the windfall. The seasoned logs and +tree-tops caught the fire like tinder, and within a few minutes the +flames began to crackle and roar in a manner that made Miki wonder what +was happening. For a space the smoke did not reach him. Le Beau, +watching, with his rifle in his bare hands, did not for an instant let +his eyes leave the spot where the wild dog must come out. + +Suddenly a pungent whiff of smoke filled Miki's nostrils, and a thin +white cloud crept in a ghostly veil between him and the opening. A +crawling, snake-like rope of it began to pour between two logs within a +yard of him, and with it the strange roaring grew nearer and more +menacing. Then, for the first time, he saw lightning flashes of yellow +flame through the tangled debris as the fire ate into the heart of a +mass of pitch-filled spruce. In another ten seconds the flames leapt +twenty feet into the air, and Jacques Le Beau stood with his rifle half +to his shoulder, ready to kill. + +Appalled by the danger that was upon him, Miki did not forget Le Beau. +With an instinct sharpened to fox-like keenness his mind leapt +instantly to the truth of the matter. It was the man-beast who had set +this new enemy upon him; and out there, just beyond the opening, the +man-beast was waiting. So, like the fox, he did what Le Beau least +expected. He crawled back swiftly through the tangled tops until he +came to the wall of snow that shut the windfall in, and through this he +burrowed his way almost as quickly as the fox himself would have done +it. With his jaws he tore through the half-inch outer crust, and a +moment later stood in the open, with the fire between him and Le Beau. + +The windfall was a blazing furnace, and suddenly Le Beau ran back a +dozen steps so that he could see on the farther side. A hundred yards +away he saw Miki making for the deeper forest. + +It was a clear shot. At that distance Le Beau would have staked his +life that it was impossible for him to miss. He did not hurry. One +shot, and it would be over. He raised his rifle, and in that instant a +wisp of smoke came like the lash of a whip with the wind and caught him +fairly in the eyes, and his bullet passed three inches over Miki's +head. The whining snarl of it was a new thing to Miki. But he +recognized the thunder of the gun--and he knew what a gun could do. To +Le Beau, still firing at him through the merciful cloud of smoke, he +was like a gray streak flashing to the thick timber. Three times more +Le Beau fired. From the edge of a dense clump of spruce Miki flung back +a defiant howl. He disappeared as Le Beau's last shot shovelled up the +snow at his heels. + +The narrowness of his escape from the man-beast did not frighten Miki +out of the Jackson's Knee country. If anything, it held him more +closely to it. It gave him something to think about besides Neewa and +his aloneness. As the fox returns to peer stealthily upon the deadfall +that has almost caught him, so the trapline was possessed now of a new +thrill for Miki. Heretofore the man-smell had held for him only a vague +significance; now it marked the presence of a real and concrete danger. +And he welcomed it. His wits were sharpened. The fascination of the +trapline was deadlier than before. + +From the burned windfall he made a wide detour to a point where Le +Beau's snowshoe trail entered the edge of the swamp; and here, hidden +in a thick clump of bushes, he watched him as he travelled homeward +half an hour later. + +From that day he hung like a grim, gray ghost to the trapline. +Silent-footed, cautious, always on the alert for the danger which +threatened him, he haunted Jacques Le Beau's thoughts and footsteps +with the elusive persistence of a were-wolf--a loup-garou of the Black +Forest. Twice in the next week Le Beau caught a flash of him. Three +times he heard him howl. And twice he followed his trail until, in +despair and exhaustion, he turned back. Never was Miki caught unaware. +He ate no more baits in the trap-houses. Even when Le Beau lured him +with the whole carcass of a rabbit he would not touch it, nor would he +touch a rabbit frozen dead in a snare. From Le Beau's traps he took +only the living things, chiefly birds and squirrels and the big +web-footed snowshoe rabbits. And because a mink jumped at him once, and +tore open his nose, he destroyed a number of minks so utterly that +their pelts were spoiled. He found himself another windfall, but +instinct taught him now never to go to it directly, but to approach it, +and leave it, in a roundabout way. + +Day and night Le Beau, the man-brute, plotted against him. He set many +poison-baits. He killed a doe, and scattered strychnine in its +entrails. He built deadfalls, and baited them with meat soaked in +boiling fat. He made himself a "blind" of spruce and cedar boughs, and +sat for long hours, watching with his rifle. And still Miki was the +victor. + +One day Miki found a huge fisher-cat in one of the traps. He had not +forgotten the battle of long ago with Oochak, the other fisher-cat, or +the whipping he had received. But there was no thought of vengeance in +his heart on the early evening he became acquainted with Oochak the +Second. Usually he was in his windfall at dusk, but this afternoon a +great and devouring loneliness had held him on the trail. The spirit of +Kuskayetum--the hand of the mating-god--was pressing heavily upon him; +the consuming desire of flesh and blood for the companionship of other +flesh and blood. It burned in his veins like a fever. It took away from +him all thought of hunger or of the hunt. In his soul was a vast, +unfilled yearning. + +It was then that he came upon Oochak. Perhaps it was the same Oochak of +months ago. If so, he had grown even as Miki had grown. He was +splendid, with his long silken fur and his sleek body, and he was not +struggling, but sat awaiting his fate without excitement. To Miki he +looked warm and soft and comfortable. It made him think of Neewa, and +the hundred and one nights they had slept together. His desire leapt +out to Oochak. He whined softly as he advanced. He would make friends. +Even with Oochak, his old enemy, he would lie down in peace and +happiness, so great was the gnawing emptiness in his heart. + +Oochak made no response, nor did he move, but sat furred up like a huge +soft ball, watching Miki as he crept nearer on his belly. Something of +the old puppishness came back into the dog. He wriggled and thumped his +tail, and as he whined again he seemed to say. + +"Let's forget the old trouble, Oochak. Let's be friends. I've got a +fine windfall--and I'll kill you a rabbit." + +And still Oochak did not move or make a sound. At last Miki could +almost reach out with his forepaws and touch him. He dragged himself +still nearer, and his tail thumped harder. + +"And I'll get you out of the trap," he may have been saying. "It's the +man-beast's trap--and I hate him." + +And then, so suddenly that Miki had no chance to guard himself, Oochak +sprang the length of the trap-chain and was at him. With teeth and +razor-edged claws he tore deep gashes in Miki's nose. Even then the +blood of battle rose slowly in him, and he might have retreated had not +Oochak's teeth got a hold in his shoulder. With a roar he tried to +shake himself free, but Oochak held on. Then his jaws snapped at the +back of the fisher-cat's neck. When he was done Oochak was dead. + +He slunk away, but in him there was no more the thrill of the victor. +He had killed, but in killing he had found no joy. Upon him--the +four-footed beast--had fallen at last the oppression of the thing that +drives men mad. He stood in the heart of a vast world, and for him that +world was empty. He was an outcast. His heart crying out for +comradeship, he found that all things feared him or hated him. He was a +pariah; a wanderer without a friend or a home. He did not reason these +things but the gloom of them settled upon him like black night. + +He did not return to his windfall. In a little open he sat on his +haunches, listening to the night sounds, and watching the stars as they +came out. There was an early moon, and as it came up over the forest, a +great throbbing red disc that seemed filled with life, he howled +mournfully in the face of it. He wandered out into a big burn a little +later, and there the night was like day, so clear that his shadow +followed him and all other things about him cast shadows, And then, all +at once, he caught in the night wind a sound which he had heard many +times before. + +It came from far away, and it was like a whisper at first, an echo of +strange voices riding on the wind, A hundred times he had heard that +cry of the wolves. Since Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gashed his +shoulder so fiercely away back in the days of his puppyhood he had +evaded the path of that cry. He had learned, in a way, to hate it. But +he could not wipe out entirely the thrill that came with that call of +the blood. And to-night it rode over all his fear and hatred. Out there +was COMPANY. Whence the cry came the wild brethren were running two by +two, and three by three, and there was COMRADESHIP. His body quivered. +An answering cry rose in his throat, dying away in a whine, and for an +hour after that he heard no more of the wolf-cry in the wind. The pack +had swung to the west--so far away that their voices were lost. And it +passed--with the moon straight over them--close to the shack of +Pierrot, the halfbreed. + +In Pierrot's cabin was a white man, on his way to Fort O' God. He saw +that Pierrot crossed himself, and muttered. + +"It is the mad pack," explained Pierrot then. "M'sieu, they have been +KESKWAO since the beginning of the new moon. In them are the spirits of +devils." + +He opened the cabin door a little, so that the mad cry of the beasts +came to them plainly. When he closed it there was in his eyes a look of +strange fear. + +"Now and then wolves go like that--KESKWAO (stark mad)--in the dead of +winter," he shuddered. "Three days ago there were twenty of them, +m'sieu, for I saw them with my own eyes, and counted their tracks in +the snow. Since then they been murdered and torn into strings by the +others of the pack. Listen to them ravin'! Can you tell me why, m'sieu? +Can you tell me why wolves sometimes go mad in the heart of winter when +there is no heat or rotten meat to turn them sick? NON? But I can tell +you. They are the loups-garous; in their bodies ride the spirits of +devils, and there they will ride until the bodies die. For the wolves +that go mad in the deep snows always die, m'sieu. That is the strange +part of it. THEY DIE!" + +And then it was, swinging eastward from the cabin of Pierrot, that the +mad wolves of Jackson's Knee came into the country of the big swamp +wherein trees bore the Double-X blaze of Jacques Le Beau's axe. There +were fourteen of them running in the moonlight. What it is that now and +then drives a wolf-pack mad in the dead of winter no man yet has wholly +learned. Possibly it begins with a "bad" wolf; just as a "bad" +sledge-dog, nipping and biting his fellows, will spread his distemper +among them until the team becomes an ugly, quarrelsome horde. Such a +dog the wise driver kills--or turns loose. + +The wolves that bore down upon Le Beau's country were red-eyed and +thin. Their bodies were covered with gashes, and the mouths of some +frothed blood. They did not run as wolves run for meat. They were a +sinister and suspicious lot, with a sneaking droop to their haunches, +and their cry was not the deep-throated cry of the hunt-pack but a +ravening clamour that seemed to have no leadership or cause. Scarcely +was the sound of their tongues gone beyond the hearing of Pierrot's +ears than one of the thin gray beasts rubbed against the shoulder of +another, and the second turned with the swiftness of a snake, like the +"bad" dog of the traces, and struck his fangs deep into the first +wolf's flesh. Could Pierrot have seen, he would have understood then +how the four he had found had come to their end. + +Swift as the snap of a whip-lash the fight between the two was on. The +other twelve of the pack stopped. They came back, circling in +cautiously and grimly silent about their fighting comrades. They ranged +themselves in a ring, as men gather about a fistic battle; and there +they waited, their jaws drooling, their fangs clicking, a low and eager +whining smothered in their throats. And then the thing happened. One of +the fighting wolves went down. He was on his back--and the end came. +The twelve wolves were upon him as one, and, like those Pierrot had +seen, he was torn to pieces, and his flesh devoured. After that the +thirteen went on deeper into Le Beau's country. + +Miki heard them again, after that hour's interval of silence. Farther +and farther he had wandered from the forest. He had crossed the "burn," +and was in the open plain, with the rough ridges cutting through and +the big river at the edge of it. It was not so gloomy out here, and his +loneliness weighed upon him less heavily than in the deep timber. + +And across this plain came the voice of the wolves. + +He did not move away from it to-night. He waited, silhouetted against +the vivid starlight at the crest of a rocky knoll, and the top of this +knoll was so small that another could not have stood beside him without +their shoulders touching. On all sides of him the plain swept away in +the white light of the stars and moon; never had the desire to respond +to the wild brethren urged itself upon him more fiercely than now. He +flung back his head, until his black-tipped muzzle pointed up to the +stars, and the voice rolled out of his throat. But it was only half a +howl. Even then, oppressed by his great loneliness, there gripped him +that something instinctive which warned him against betrayal. After +that he remained quiet, and as the wolves drew nearer his body grew +tense, his muscles hardened, and in his throat there was the low +whispering of a snarl instead of a howl. He sensed danger. He had +caught, in the voice of the wolves, the ravening note that had made +Pierrot cross himself and mutter of the loups-garous, and he crouched +down on his belly at the top of the rocky mound. + +Then he saw them. They were sweeping like dark and swiftly moving +shadows between him and the forest. Suddenly they stopped, and for a +few moments no sound came from them as they packed themselves closely +on the scent of his fresh trail in the snow. And then they surged in +his direction; this time there was a still fiercer madness in the wild +cry that rose from their throats. In a dozen seconds they were at the +mound. They swept around it and past it, all save one--a huge gray +brute who shot up the hillock straight at the prey the others had not +yet seen. There was a snarl in Miki's throat as he came. Once more he +was facing the thrill of a great fight. Once more the blood ran +suddenly hot in his veins, and fear was driven from him as the wind +drives smoke from a fire. If Neewa were only there now, to fend at his +back while he fought in front! He stood up on his feet. He met the +up-rushing pack-brute head to head. Their jaws clashed, and the wild +wolf found jaws at last that crunched through his own as if they had +been whelp's bone, and he rolled and twisted back to the plain in a +dying agony. But not until another gray form had come to fill his +place. Into the throat of this second Miki drove his fangs as the wolf +came over the crest. It was the slashing, sabre-like stroke of the +north-dog, and the throat of the wolf was torn open and the blood +poured out as if emptied by the blade of a knife. Down he plunged to +join the first, and in that instant the pack swept up and over Miki, +and he was smothered under the mass of their bodies. Had two or three +attacked him at once he would have died as quickly as the first two of +his enemies had come to their end. Numbers saved him in the first rush. +On the level of the plain he would have been torn into pieces like a +bit of cloth, but on the space at the top of the KOPJE, no larger than +the top of a table, he was lost for a few seconds under the snarling +and rending horde of his enemies. Fangs intended for him sank into +other wolf-flesh; the madness of the pack became a blind rage, and the +assault upon Miki turned into a slaughter of the wolves themselves. On +his back, held down by the weight of bodies, Miki drove his fangs again +and again into flesh. A pair of jaws seized him in the groin, and a +shock of agony swept through him. It was a death-grip, sinking steadily +into his vitals. Just in time another pair of jaws seized the wolf who +held him, and the hold in his groin gave way. In that moment Miki felt +himself plunging down the steep side of the knoll, and after him came a +half of what was left alive of the pack. + +The fighting devils in Miki's brain gave way all at once to that +cunning of the fox which had served him even more than claw and fang in +times of great danger. Scarcely had he reached the plain before he was +on his feet, and no sooner had he touched his feet than he was off like +the wind in direction of the river. He had gained a fifty-yard start +before the first of the wolves discovered his flight. There were only +eight that followed him now. Of the thirteen mad beasts five were dead +or dying at the foot of the hillock. Of these Miki had slain two. The +others had fallen at the fangs of their own brethren. + +Half a mile away were the steep cliffs of the river, and at the edge of +these cliffs was a great cairn of rocks in which for one night Miki had +sought shelter. He had not forgotten the tunnel into the tumbled mass +of rock debris, nor how easily it could be defended from within. Once +in that tunnel he would turn in the door of it and slaughter his +enemies one by one, for only one by one could they attack him. But he +had not reckoned with that huge gray form behind him that might have +been named Lightning, the fiercest and swiftest of all the mad wolves +of the pack. He sped ahead of his slower-footed companions like a +streak of light, and Miki had made but half the distance to the cairn +when he heard the panting breath of Lightning behind him. Even Hela, +his father, could not have run more swiftly than Miki, but great as was +Miki's speed, Lightning ran more swiftly. Two thirds of the distance to +the cliff and the huge wolf's muzzle was at Miki's flank. With a burst +of speed Miki gained a little. Then steadily Lightning drew abreast of +him, a grim and merciless shadow of doom. + +A hundred yards farther on and a little to the right was the cairn. But +Miki could not run to the right without turning into Lightning's jaws, +and he realized now that if he reached the cairn his enemy would be +upon him before he could dive into the tunnel and face about. To stop +and fight would be death, for behind he could hear the other wolves. +Ten seconds more and the chasm of the river yawned ahead of them. + +At its very brink Miki swung and struck at Lightning. He sensed death +now, and in the face of death all his hatred turned upon the one beast +that had run at his side. In an instant they were down. Two yards from +the edge of the cliff, and Miki's jaws were at Lightning's throat when +the pack rushed upon them. They were swept onward. The earth flew out +from under their feet, and they were in space. Grimly Miki held to the +throat of his foe. Over and over they twisted in mid-air, and then came +a terrific shock. Lightning was under. Yet so great was the shock, +that, even though the wolf's huge body was under him like a cushion, +Miki was stunned and dazed. A minute passed before he staggered to his +feet. Lightning lay still, the life smashed out of him. A little beyond +him lay the bodies of two other wolves that in their wild rush had +swept over the cliff. + +Miki looked up. Between him and the stars he could see the top of the +cliff, a vast distance above him. One after the other he smelled at the +bodies of the three dead wolves. Then he limped slowly along the base +of the cliff until he came to a fissure between two huge rocks. Into +this he crept and lay down, licking his wounds. After all there were +worse things in the world than Le Beau's trapline. Perhaps there were +even worse things than men. + +After a time he stretched his great head out between his fore-paws, and +slowly the starlight grew dimmer, and the snow less white, and he slept. + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + + +In a twist of Three Jackpine River, buried in the deep of the forest +between the Shamattawa country and Hudson Bay, was the cabin in which +lived Jacques Le Beau, the trapper. There was not another man in all +that wilderness who was the equal of Le Beau in wickedness--unless it +was Durant, who hunted foxes a hundred miles north, and who was +Jacques's rival in several things. A giant in size, with a heavy, +sullen face and eyes which seemed but half-hidden greenish loopholes +for the pitiless soul within him--if he had a soul at all--Le Beau was +a "throw-back" of the worst sort. In their shacks and teepees the +Indians whispered softly that all the devils of his forebears had +gathered in him. + +It was a grim kind of fate that had given to Le Beau a wife. Had she +been a witch, an evil-doer and an evil-thinker like himself, the thing +would not have been such an abortion of what should have been. But she +was not that. Sweet-faced, with something of unusual beauty still in +her pale cheeks and starving eyes--trembling at his approach and a +slave in his presence--she was, like his dogs, the PROPERTY of The +Brute. And the woman had a baby. One had already died; and it was the +thought that this one might die, as the other had died, that brought at +times the new flash of fire into her dark eyes. + +"Le bon Dieu--I pray to the Blessed Angels--I swear you SHALL live!" +she would cry to it at times, hugging it close to her breast. And it +was at these times that the fire came into her eyes, and her pale +cheeks flushed with a smouldering bit of the flame that had once been +her beauty. "Some day--SOME DAY--" + +But she never finished, even to the child, what was in her mind. +Sometimes her dreams were filled with visions. The world was still +young, and SHE was not old. She was thinking of that as she stood +before the cracked bit of mirror in the cabin, brushing out her hair, +that was black and shining and so long that it fell to her hips. Of her +beauty her hair had remained. It was defiant of The Brute. And deep +back in her eyes, and in her face, there were still the living, hidden +traces of her girlhood heritage ready to bloom again if Fate, mending +its error at last, would only take away forever the crushing presence +of the Master. She stood a little longer before the bit of glass when +she heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow outside. + +Swiftly what had been in her face was gone. Le Beau had been away on +his trapline since yesterday, and his return filled her with the old +dread. Twice he had caught her before the mirror and had called her +vile names for wasting her time in admiring herself when she might have +been scraping the fat from his pelts. The second time he had sent her +reeling back against the wall, and had broken the mirror until the bit +she treasured now was not much larger than her two slim hands. She +would not be caught again. She ran with the glass to the place where +she kept it in hiding, and then quickly she wove the heavy strands of +her hair into a braid. The strange, dead look of fear and foreboding +closed like a veil over the secrets her eyes had disclosed to herself. +She turned, as she always turned in her woman's hope and yearning, to +greet him when he entered. + +The Brute entered, a dark and surly monster. He was in a wicked humour. +His freshly caught furs he flung to the floor. He pointed to them, and +his eyes were narrowed to menacing slits as they fell upon her. + +"He was there again--that devil!" he growled. "See, he has spoiled the +fisher, and he has cleaned out my baits and knocked down the +trap-houses. Par les mille cornes du diable, but I will kill him! I +have sworn to cut him into bits with a knife when I catch him--and +catch him I will, to-morrow. See to it there--the skins--when you have +got me something to eat. Mend the fisher where he is torn in two, and +cover the seam well with fat so that the agent over at the post will +not discover it is bad. Tonnerre de Dieu!--that brat! Why do you always +keep his squalling until I come in? Answer me, Bete!" + +Such was his greeting. He flung his snowshoes into a corner, stamped +the snow off his feet, and got himself a fresh plug of black tobacco +from a shelf over the stove. Then he went out again, leaving the woman +with a cold tremble in her heart and the wan desolation of hopelessness +in her face as she set about getting him food. + +From the cabin Le Beau went to his dog-pit, a corral of saplings with a +shelter-shack in the centre of it. It was The Brute's boast that he had +the fiercest pack of sledge-dogs between Hudson Bay and the Athabasca. +It was his chief quarrel with Durant, his rival farther north; and his +ambition was to breed a pup that would kill the fighting husky which +Durant brought down to the Post with him each winter at New Year. This +season he had chosen Netah ("The Killer") for the big fight at God's +Lake. On the day he would gamble his money and his reputation against +Durant's, his dog would be just one month under two years of age. It +was Netah he called from out of the pack now. + +The dog slunk to him with a low growl in his throat, and for the first +time something like joy shone in Le Beau's face. He loved to hear that +growl. He loved to see the red and treacherous glow in Netah's eyes, +and hear the menacing click of his jaws. Whatever of nobility might +have been in Netah's blood had been clubbed out by the man. They were +alike, in that their souls were dead. And Netah, for a dog, was a +devil. For that reason Le Beau had chosen him to fight the big fight. + +Le Beau looked down at him, and drew a deep breath of satisfaction. + +"OW! but you are looking fine, Netah," he exulted. "I can almost see +running blood in those devil-eyes of yours; OUI--red blood that smells +and runs, as the blood of Durant's POOS shall run when you sink those +teeth in its jugular. And to-morrow we are going to give you the +test--such a beautiful test!--with the wild dog that is robbing my +traps and tearing my fishers into bits. For I will catch him, and you +shall fight him until he is almost dead; and then I shall cut his heart +out alive, as I have promised, and you will eat it while it is still +beating, so that there will be no excuse for your losing to that POOS +which M'sieu Durant will bring down. COMPRENEZ? It will be a beautiful +test--to-morrow. And if you fail I will kill you. OUI; if you so much +as let a whimper out of you, I will kill you--dead." + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + + +That same night, ten miles to the west, Miki slept under a windfall of +logs and treetops not more than half a mile from Le Beau's trapline. + +In the early dawn, when Le Beau left his cabin, accompanied by Netah, +The Killer, Miki came out from under his windfall after a night of +troublous dreams. He had dreamed of those first weeks after he had lost +his master, when Neewa was always at his side; and the visions that had +come to him filled him with an uneasiness and a loneliness that made +him whine as he stood watching the dark shadows fading away before the +coming of day. Could Le Beau have seen him there, as the first of the +cold sun struck upon him, the words which he had repeated over and over +to The Killer would have stuck in his throat. For at eleven months of +age Miki was a young giant of his breed. He weighed sixty pounds, and +none of that sixty was fat. His body was as slim and as lean as a +wolf's. His chest was massive, and over it the muscles rolled like +BABICHE cord when he moved. His legs were like the legs of Hela, the +big Mackenzie hound who was his father; and with his jaws he could +crack a caribou bone as Le Beau might have cracked it with a stone. For +eight of the eleven months of his life the wilderness had been his +master; it had tempered him to the hardness of living steel; it had +wrought him without abeyance to age in the mould of its pitiless +schooling--had taught him to fight for his life, to kill that he might +live, and to use his brain before he used his jaws. He was as powerful +as Netah, The Killer, who was twice his age, and with his strength he +possessed a cunning and a quickness which The Killer would never know. +Thus had the raw wilderness prepared him for this day. + +As the sun fired up the forest with a cold flame Miki set off in +direction of Le Beau's trapline. He came to where Le Beau had passed +yesterday and sniffed suspiciously of the man-smell that was still +strong in the snowshoe tracks. He had become accustomed to this smell, +but he had not lost his suspicion of it. It was repugnant to him, even +as it fascinated him. It filled him with an inexplicable fear, and yet +he found himself powerless to run away from it. Three times in the last +ten days he had seen the man-brute himself. Once he had been hiding +within a dozen yards of Le Beau when he passed. + +This morning he headed straight for the swamp through which Le Beau's +traps were set. There the rabbits were thickest and it was in the swamp +that they most frequently got in Jacques's KEKEKS--the little houses he +built of sticks and cedar boughs to keep the snow off his baits. They +were so numerous that they were a pest, and each time that Le Beau made +his trip over the line he found at least two out of every three traps +sprung by them, and therefore made useless for the catching of fur. +But, where there were many rabbits there were also fishers and lynx, +and in spite of the rage which the plague of rabbits sent him into, Le +Beau continued to set his traps there. And now, in addition to the +rabbits, he had the wild dog to contend with. + +His heart was fired by a vengeful anticipation as he hurried on through +the glow of the early sun, with The Killer at his heels, led by a +BABICHE thong. Miki was nosing about the first trap-house as Netah and +Le Beau entered the edge of the swamp, three miles to the east. + +It was in this KEKEK that Miki had killed the fisher-cat the previous +morning. It was empty now. Even the bait-peg was gone, and there was no +sign of a trap. A quarter of a mile farther on he came to a second +trap-house, and this also was empty. He was a bit puzzled. And then he +went on to the third house. He stood for several minutes, sniffing the +air still more suspiciously, before he drew close to it. The man-tracks +were thicker here. The snow was beaten down with them, and the scent of +Le Beau was so strong in the air that for a space Miki believed he was +near. Then he advanced so that he got a look into the door of the +trap-house. Squatted there, staring at him with big round eyes, was a +huge snowshoe rabbit. A premonition of danger held Miki back. It was +something in the attitude of Wapoos, the old rabbit. He was not like +the others he had caught along Le Beau's line. He was not struggling in +a trap; he was not stretched out, half frozen, and he was not dangling +at the end of a snare. He was all furred up into a warm and comfortable +looking ball. As a matter of fact, Le Beau had caught him with his +hands in a hollow log, and had tied him to the bait peg with a piece of +buck-skin string; and after that, just out of Wapoos's reach, he had +set a nest of traps and covered them with snow. + +Nearer and nearer to this menace drew Miki, in spite of the +unaccountable impulse that warned him to keep back. Wapoos, fascinated +by his slow and deadly advance, made no movement, but sat as if frozen +into stone. Then Miki was at him. His powerful jaws closed with a +crunch. In the same instant there came the angry snap of steel and a +fisher-trap closed on one of his hind feet. With a snarl he dropped +Wapoos and turned upon it, SNAP--SNAP--SNAP went three more of +Jacques's nest of traps. Two of them missed. The third caught him by a +front paw. As he had caught Wapoos, and as he had killed the +fisher-cat, so now he seized this new and savage enemy between his +jaws. His fangs crunched on the cold steel; he literally tore it from +his paw so that blood streamed forth and strained the snow red. Madly +he twisted himself to get at his hind foot. On this foot the +fisher-trap had secured a hold that was unbreakable. He ground it +between his jaws until the blood ran from his mouth. He was fighting it +when Le Beau came out from behind a clump of spruce twenty yards away +with The Killer at his heels. + +The Brute stopped. He was panting, and his eyes were aflame. Two +hundred yards away he had heard the clinking of the trap-chain. + +"OW! he is there," he gasped, tightening his hold on The Killer's lead +thong. "He is there, Netah, you Red Eye! That is the robber devil you +are to kill--almost. I will unfasten you, and then--GO TO!" + +Miki, no longer fighting the trap, was eyeing them as they advanced. In +this moment of peril he felt no fear of the man. In his veins the hot +blood raged with a killing madness. The truth leapt upon him in a flash +of instinctive awakening. These two were his enemies instead of the +thing on his foot--the man-beast, and Netah, The Killer. He +remembered--as if it were yesterday. This was not the first time he had +seen a man with a club in his hand. And Le Beau held a club. But he was +not afraid. His steady eyes watched Netah. Unleashed by his master, The +Killer stood on stiff legs a dozen feet away, the wiry crest along his +spine erect, his muscles tense. + +Miki heard the man-beast's voice. + +"Go to, you devil! GO TO!" + +Miki waited, without the quiver of a muscle. Thus much he had learned +of his hard lessons in the wilderness--to wait, and watch, and use his +cunning. He was flat on his belly, his nose between his forepaws. His +lips were drawn back a little, just a little; but he made no sound, and +his eyes were as steady as two points of flame. Le Beau stared. He felt +suddenly a new thrill, and it was not the thrill of his desire for +vengeance. Never had he seen a lynx or a fox or a wolf in a trap like +that. Never had he seen a dog with eyes like the eyes that were on +Netah. For a moment he held his breath. + +Foot by foot, and then almost inch by inch, The Killer crept in. Ten +feet, eight, six--and all that time Miki made no move, never winked an +eye. With a snarl like that of a tiger, Netah came at him. + +What happened then was the most marvellous thing that Jacques Le Beau +had ever seen. So swiftly that his eyes could scarcely follow the +movement, Miki had passed like a flash under the belly of Netah, and +turning then at the end of his trap chain he was at The Killer's throat +before Le Beau could have counted ten. They were down, and The Brute +gripped the club in his hand and stared like one fascinated. He heard +the grinding crunch of jaws, and he knew they were the Wild Dog's jaws; +he heard a snarl choking slowly into a wheezing sob of agony, and he +knew that the sound came from The Eller. The blood rose into his face. +The red fire in his eyes grew livid--a blaze of exultation, of triumph. + +"TONNERRE DE DIEU! he is choking the life out of Netah!" he gasped. +"NON, I have never seen a dog like that. I will keep him alive; and he +shall fight Durant's POOS over at Post Fort O' God! By the belly of +Saint Gris, I say--" + +The Killer was as good as dead if left another minute. With upraised +club Le Beau advanced. As he sank his fangs deeper into Netah's throat +Miki saw the new danger out of the corner of his eye. He loosed his +jaws and swung himself free of The Killer as the club descended. He +only partly evaded the smashing blow, which caught him on the shoulder +and knocked him down. Quick as a flash he was on his feet and had +lunged at Le Beau. The Frenchman was a master with the club. All his +life he had used it, and he brought it around in a sudden side-swing +that landed with terrific force against Miki's head. The blood spurted +from his mouth and nostrils. He was dazed and half blinded. He leapt +again, and the club caught him once more. He heard Le Beau's ferocious +cry of joy. A third, a fourth, and a fifth time he went down under the +club, and Le Beau no longer laughed, but swung his weapon with a look +that was half fear in his eyes. The sixth time the club missed, and +Miki's jaws closed against The Brute's chest, ripping away the thick +coat and shirt as if they had been of paper, and leaving on Le Beau's +skin a bleeding gash. Ten inches more--a little better vision in his +blood-dimmed eyes--and he would have reached the man's throat. A great +cry rose out of Le Beau. For an instant he felt the appalling nearness +of death. + +"Netah! Netah!" he cried, and swung the club wildly. + +Netah did not respond. It may be that in this moment he sensed the fact +that it was his master who had made him into a monster. About him was +the wilderness, opening its doors of freedom. When Le Beau called again +The Killer was slinking away, dripping blood as he went--and this was +the last that Le Beau saw of him. Probably he joined the wolves, for +The Killer was a quarter-strain wild. + +Le Beau got no more than a glimpse of him as he disappeared. His +club-arm shot out again, a clean miss; and this time it was pure chance +that saved him. The trap-chain caught, and Miki fell back when his hot +breath was almost at The Brute's jugular. He fell upon his side. Before +he could recover himself the club was pounding his head into the snow. +The world grew black. He no longer had the power to move. Lying as if +dead he still heard over him the panting, exultant voice of the +man-beast. For Le Beau, black though his heart was, could not keep back +a prayerful cry of thankfulness that he was victor--and had missed +death, though by a space no wider than the link of a chain. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + + +Nanette, the woman, saw Jacques come out of the edge of the timber late +in the afternoon, dragging something on the snow behind him. In her +heart, ever since her husband had begun to talk about him, she had kept +secret to herself a pity for the wild dog. Long before the last baby +had come she had loved a dog. It was this dog that had given her the +only real affection she had known in the company of The Brute, and with +barbarous cruelty Le Beau had driven it from her. Nanette herself had +encouraged it to seek freedom in the wilderness, as Netah had at last +sought his. Therefore she had prayed that the wild dog of the trapline +might escape. + +As Le Beau came nearer she saw that what he drew after him upon the +snow was a sledge-drag made of four lengths of sapling, and when, a +moment later, she looked down at its burden, she gave a little cry of +horror. + +Miki's four feet were tied so firmly to the pieces of sapling that he +could not move. A cord about his neck was fastened to one of the +crossbars, and over his jaws Le Beau had improvised a muzzle of +unbreakable BABICHE thong. He had done all this before Miki regained +consciousness after the clubbing. The woman stared, and there was a +sudden catch in her breath after the little cry that had fallen from +her lips. Many times she had seen Jacques club his dogs, but never had +she seen one clubbed like this. Miki's head and shoulders were a mass +of frozen blood. And then she saw his eyes. They were looking straight +up at her. She turned, fearing that Jacques might see what was in her +face. + +Le Beau dragged his burden straight into the cabin, and then stood back +and rubbed his hands as he looked at Miki on the floor. Nanette saw +that he was in a strangely good humour, and waited. + +"By the Blessed Saints, but you should have seen him kill +Netah--almost," he exulted. "OUI; he had him down by the throat quicker +than you could flash your eye, and twice he was within an inch of my +life when I fought him with the club. DIEU! I say, what will happen to +Durant's dog when they meet at Post Fort 0' God? I will make a side +wager that he kills him before the second-hand of LE FACTEUR'S watch, +goes round twice. He is splendid! Watch him, Nanette, while I go make a +corral for him alone. If I put him in with the pack he will kill them +all." + +Miki's eyes followed him as he disappeared through the cabin door. Then +he looked swiftly back to Nanette. She had drawn nearer. Her eyes were +shining as she bent over him. A snarl rose in Miki's throat, and died +there. For the first time he was looking upon WOMAN. He sensed, all at +once, a difference as vast as the world itself. In his bruised and +broken body his heart stood still. Nanette spoke to him. Never in his +life had he heard a voice like hers--soft and gentle, with a breaking +sob in it; and then--miracle of miracles--she had dropped on her knees +and her hands were at his head! + +In that instant his spirit leapt back through the generations--back +beyond his father, and his father's father; back to that far day when +the blood in the veins of his race was "just dog," and he romped with +children, and listened to the call of woman, and worshipped at the +shrine of humankind. And now the woman had run quickly to the stove, +and was back again with a dish of warm water and a soft cloth, and was +bathing his head, talking to him all the time in that gentle, +half-sobbing voice of pity and of love. He closed his eyes--no longer +afraid. A great sigh heaved out of his body. He wanted to put out his +tongue and lick the slim white hands that were bringing him peace and +comfort. And then the strangest thing of all happened. In the crib the +baby sat up and began to prattle. It was a new note to Miki, a new song +of Life's spring-tide to him, but it thrilled him as nothing else in +all the world had ever thrilled him before. He opened his eyes +wide--and whined. + +A laugh of joy--new and strange even to herself--came into the woman's +voice, and she ran to the crib and returned with the baby in her arms. +She knelt down beside him again, and the baby, at sight of this strange +plaything on the floor, thrust out its little arms, and kicked its tiny +moccasined feet, and cooed and laughed and squirmed until Miki strained +at his thongs to get a little nearer that he might touch this wonderful +creature with his nose. He forgot his pain. He no longer sensed the +agony of his bruised and beaten jaws. He did not feel the numbness of +his tightly bound and frozen legs. Every instinct in him was centred in +these two. + +And the woman, now, was beautiful. She UNDERSTOOD; and the gentle heart +throbbed in her bosom, forgetful of The Brute. Her eyes glowed with the +soft radiance of stars. Into her pale cheeks came a sweet flush. She +sat the baby down, and with the cloth and warm water continued to bathe +Miki's head. Le Beau, had he been human, must have worshipped her then +as she knelt there, all that was pure and beautiful in motherhood, an +angel of mercy, radiant for a moment in her forgetfulness of HIM. And +Le Beau DID enter--and see her--so quietly that for a space she did not +realize his presence; and with him staring down on her she continued to +talk and laugh and half sob, and the baby kicked and prattled and flung +out its little arms wildly in the joy of these exciting moments. + +Le Beau's thick lips drew back in an ugly leer, and he gave a savage +curse. Nanette flinched as if struck a blow. + +"Get up, you fool!" he snarled. + +She obeyed, shrinking back with the baby in her arms. Miki saw the +change, and the greenish fire returned into his eyes when he caught +sight of Le Beau. A deep and wolfish snarl rose in his throat. + +Le Beau turned on Nanette. The glow and the flush had not quite gone +from her eyes and cheeks as she stood with the baby hugged up to her +breast, and her big shining braid had fallen over her shoulder, +glistening with a velvety fire in the light that came through the +western window. But Le Beau saw nothing of this. + +"If you make a POOS (a house-kitten) of that dog--a thing like you made +of Minoo, the breed-bitch, I will--" + +He did not finish, but his huge hands were clinched, and there was an +ugly passion in his eyes. Nanette needed no more than that. She +understood. She had received many blows, but there was the memory of +one that never left her, night or day. Some day, if she could ever get +to Post Fort O' God, and had the courage, she would tell LE FACTEUR of +that blow--how Jacques Le Beau, her husband, struck it at the nursing +time, and her bosom was so hurt that the baby of two years ago had +died. She would tell it, when she knew she and the baby would be safe +from the vengeance of the Brute. And only LE FACTEUR--the Big Man at +Post Fort O' God a hundred miles away--was powerful enough to save her. + +It was well that Le Beau did not read this thought in her mind now. +With his warning he turned to Miki and dragged him out of the cabin to +a cage made of saplings in which the winter before he had kept two live +foxes. A small chain ten feet in length he fastened around Miki's neck +and then to one of the sapling bars before he thrust his prisoner +inside the door of the prison and freed him by cutting the BABICHE +thongs with a knife. + +For several minutes after that Miki lay still while the blood made its +way slowly through his numbed and half-frozen limbs. At last he +staggered to his feet, and then it was that Le Beau chuckled jubilantly +and turned back to the cabin. + +And now followed many days that were days of hell and torment for +him--an unequal struggle between the power of The Brute and the spirit +of the Dog. + +"I must break you--OW! by the Christ! I WILL break you!"--Le Beau would +say time and again when he came with the club and the whip. "I will +make you crawl to me--OUI, and when I say fight you will fight!" + +It was a small cage, so small that Miki could not get away from the +reach of the club and the whip. They maddened him--for a time, and Le +Beau's ugly soul was filled with joy as Miki launched himself again and +again at the sapling bars, tearing at them with his teeth and frothing +blood like a wolf gone mad. For twenty years Le Beau had trained +fighting dogs, and this was his way. So he had done with Netah until +The Killer was mastered, and at his call crept to him on his belly. + +Three times, from a window in the cabin, Nanette looked forth on these +horrible struggles between the man and the dog, and the third time she +buried her face in her arms and sobbed; and when Le Beau came in and +found her crying he dragged her to the window and made her look out +again at Miki, who lay bleeding and half dead in the cage. It was a +morning on which he started the round of his traps, and he was always +gone until late the following day. And never was he more than well out +of sight than Nanette would run out and go to the cage. + +It was then that Miki forgot The Brute. At times so beaten and blinded +that he could scarcely stand or see, he would crawl to the bars of the +cage and caress the soft hands that Nanette held in fearlessly to him. +And then, after a little, Nanette began to bring the baby out with her, +bundled up like a little Eskimo, and in his joy Miki whimpered and +wagged his tail and grovelled in his worship before these two. + +It was in the second week of his captivity that the wonderful thing +happened. Le Beau was gone, and there was a raging blizzard outside to +which Nanette dared not expose the baby. So she went to the cage, and +with a heart that beat wildly, she unbarred the door--and brought Miki +into the cabin! If Le Beau should ever discover what she had done--! + +The thought made her shiver. + +After this first time she brought him into the cabin again and again. +Once her heart stood still when Le Beau saw blood on the floor, and his +eyes shot at her suspiciously. Then she lied. + +"I cut my finger she said," and a moment later, with her back to him, +she DID cut it, and when Jacques looked at her hand he saw a cloth +about the finger, with blood-stain on it. + +After that Nanette always watched the floor carefully. + +More and more this cabin, with the woman and the baby in it, became a +paradise for Miki. Then came the time when Nanette dared to keep him in +the cabin with her all night, and lying close to the precious cradle +Miki never once took his eyes from her. It was late when she prepared +for bed. She changed into a long, soft robe, and then, sitting near +Miki, with her bare little feet in the fireglow, she took down her +wonderful hair and began brushing it. It was the first time Miki had +seen this new and marvellous garment about her. It fell over her +shoulders and breast and almost to the floor in a shimmering glory, and +the scent of it was so sweet that Miki crept a few inches nearer, and +whimpered softly. After she had done brushing it Miki watched her as +her slim fingers plaited it into two braids; and then, before she put +the light out, a still more curious thing happened. She went to her +bed, made of saplings, against the wall, and from its hiding place +under the blankets drew forth tenderly a little ivory Crucifix. With +this in her hands she knelt upon the log floor, and Miki listened to +her prayer. He did not know, but she was asking God to be good to her +baby--the little Nanette in the crib. + +After that she cuddled the baby up in her arms, and put out the light, +and went to bed; and through all the hours of the night Miki made no +sound that would waken them. + +In the morning, when Nanette opened her eyes, she found Miki with his +head resting on the edge of the bed, close to the baby that was nestled +against her bosom. + +That morning, as she built the fire, something strange and stirring in +Nanette's breast made her sing. Le Beau would be away until dark that +night, and she would never dare to tell him what she and the baby and +the dog were going to do. It was her birthday. Twenty-six; and it +seemed to her that she had lived the time of two lives! And eight of +those years with The Brute! But to-day they would celebrate, they +three. All the morning the cabin was filled with a new spirit--a new +happiness. + +Years ago, before she had met Le Beau, the Indians away back on the +Waterfound had called Nanette "Tanta Penashe" ("the Little Bird") +because of the marvellous sweetness of her voice. And this morning she +sang as she prepared the birthday feast; the sun flooded through the +windows, and Miki whimpered happily and thumped his tail, and the baby +cackled and crowed, and The Brute was forgotten. In that forgetfulness +Nanette was a girl again, sweet and beautiful as in those days when old +Jackpine, the Cree--who was now dead--had told her that she was born of +the flowers. The wonderful dinner was ready at last, and to the baby's +delight Nanette induced Miki to sit on a chair at the table. He felt +foolish there, and he looked so foolish that Nanette laughed until her +long dark lashes were damp with tears; and then, when Miki slunk down +from the chair, feeling his shame horribly, she ran to him and put her +arms around him and pleaded with him until he took his place at the +table again. + +So the day passed until mid-afternoon, when Nanette cleared away all +signs of the celebration and locked Miki in his cage. It was fortunate +she was ahead of time, for scarcely was she done when Le Beau came into +the edge of the clearing, and with him was Durant, his acquaintance and +rival from the edge of the Barrens farther north. Durant had sent his +outfit on to Port O' God by an Indian, and had struck south and west +with two dogs and a sledge to visit a cousin for a day or two. He was +on his way to the Post when he came upon Le Beau on his trapline. + +Thus much Le Beau told Nanette, and Nanette looked at Durant with +startled eyes. They were a good pair, Jacques and his guest, only that +Durant was older. She had become somewhat accustomed to the brutality +in Le Beau's face, but she thought that Durant was a monster. He made +her afraid, and she was glad when they went from the cabin. + +"Now I will show you the BETE that is going to kill your POOS as easily +as your lead-whelp killed that rabbit to-day, m'sieu," exulted Jacques. +"I have told you but you have not seen!" + +And he took with him the club and the whip. + +Like a tiger fresh out of the jungles Miki responded to the club and +the whip to-day, until Durant himself stood aghast, and exclaimed under +his breath: "MON DIEU! he is a devil!" + +From the window Nanette saw what was happening, and out of her rose a +cry of anguish. Sudden as a burst of fire there arose in +her--triumphant at last and unafraid--that thing which for years The +Brute had crushed back: her womanhood resurrected! Her soul broken free +of its shackles! Her faith, her strength, her courage! She turned from +the window and ran to the door, and out over the snow to the cage; and +for the first time in her life she struck at Le Beau, and beat fiercely +at the arm that was wielding the club. + +"You beast!" she cried. "I tell you, you SHALL NOT! Do you hear? You +SHALL NOT!" + +Paralyzed with amazement, The Brute stood still. Was this Nanette, his +slave? This wonderful creature with eyes that were glowing fire and +defiance, and a look in her face that he had never seen in any woman's +face before? NON--impossible! Hot rage rose in him, and with a single +sweep of his powerful arm he flung her back so that she fell to the +earth. With a wild curse he lifted the bar of the cage door. + +"I will kill him, now; I will KILL him!" he almost shrieked. "And it is +YOU--YOU--you she-devil! who shall eat his heart alive! I will force it +down your throat: I will--" + +He was dragging Miki forth by the chain. The club rose as Miki's head +came through. In another instant it would have beaten his head to a +pulp--but Nanette was between it and the dog like a flash, and the blow +went wild. It was with his fist that Le Beau struck out now, and the +blow caught Nanette on the shoulder and sent her frail body down with a +crash. The Brute sprang upon her. His fingers gripped in her thick, +soft hair. + +And then-- + +From Durant came a warning cry. It was too late. A lean gray streak of +vengeance and retribution, Miki was at the end of his chain and at Le +Beau's throat. Nanette HEARD! Through dazed eyes she SAW! She reached +out gropingly and struggled to her feet, and looked just once down upon +the snow. Then, with a terrible cry, she staggered toward the cabin. + +When Durant gathered courage to drag Le Beau out of Miki's reach Miki +made no movement to harm him. Again, perhaps, it was the Beneficent +Spirit that told him his duty was done. He went back into his cage, and +lying there on his belly looked forth at Durant. + +And Durant, looking at the blood-stained snow and the dead body of The +Brute, whispered to himself again: + +"MON DIEU! he is a devil!" + +In the cabin, Nanette was upon her knees before the crucifix. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + + +There are times when death is a shock, but not a grief. And so it was +with Nanette Le Beau. With her own eyes she had looked upon the +terrible fate of her husband, and it was not in her gentle soul to weep +or wish him alive again. At last there had overtaken him what LE BON +DIEU had intended him to receive some day: justice. And for the baby's +sake more than her own Nanette was not sorry. Durant, whose soul was +only a little less wicked than the dead man's, had not even waited for +a prayer--had not asked her what to do. He had chopped a hole in the +frozen earth and had buried Le Beau almost before his body was cold. +And Nanette was not sorry for that. The Brute was gone. He was gone for +ever. He would never strike her again. And because of the baby she +offered up a prayer of gratitude to God. + +In his prison-cage of sapling bars Miki cringed on his belly at the end +of his chain. He had scarcely moved since those terrible moments in +which he had torn the life out of the man-brute's throat. He had not +even growled at Durant when he dragged the body away. Upon him had +fallen a fearful and overwhelming oppression. He was not thinking of +his own brutal beatings, or of the death which Le Beau had been about +to inflict upon him with the club; he did not feel the presence of pain +in his bruised and battered body, nor in his bleeding jaws and +whip-lashed eyes. He was thinking of Nanette, the woman. Why had she +run away with that terrible cry when he killed the man-beast? Was it +not the man-beast who had struck her down, and whose hands were at her +white throat when he sprang the length of his chain and tore out his +jugular? Then why was it that she ran away, and did not come back? + +He whimpered softly. + +The afternoon was almost gone, and the early gloom of mid-winter night +in the Northland was settling thickly over the forests. In that gloom +the dark face of Durant appeared at the bars of Miki's prison. +Instinctively Miki had hated this foxhunter from the edge of the +Barrens, just as he had hated Le Beau, for in their brutish faces as +well as in their hearts they were like brothers. Yet he did not growl +at Durant as he peered through. He did not even move. + +"UGH! LE DIABLE!" shuddered Durant. + +Then he laughed. It was a low, terrible laugh, half smothered in his +coarse black beard, and it sent an odd chill through Miki. + +He turned after that and went into the cabin. + +Nanette rose to meet him, her great dark eyes glowing in a face dead +white. She had not yet risen above the shock of Le Beau's tragic death, +and yet in those eyes there was already something re-born. It had not +been there when Durant came to the cabin with Le Beau that afternoon. +He looked at her strangely as she stood with the baby in her arms. She +was another Nanette. He felt uneasy. Why was it that a few hours ago he +had laughed boldly when her husband had cursed her and said vile things +in her presence--and now he could not meet the steady gaze of her eyes? +DIEU! he had never before observed how lovely she was! He drew himself +together, and stated the business in his mind. + +"You will not want the dog," he said. "I will take him away." + +Nanette did not answer. She seemed scarcely to be breathing as she +looked at him. It seemed to him that she was waiting for him to +explain; and then the inspiration to lie leapt into his mind. + +"You know, there was to be the big fight between HIS dog and mine at +Post Fort O' God at the New Year carnival," he went on, shuffling his +heavy feet. "For that, Jacques--your husband--was training the wild +dog. And when I saw that OOCHUN--that wolf devil--tearing at the bars +of the cage I knew he would kill my dog as a fox kills a rabbit. So we +struck a bargain, and for the two cross foxes and the ten red which I +have outside I bought him." (The VRAISEMBLANCE of his lie gave him +courage. It sounded like truth, and Jacques, the dead man, was not +there to repudiate his claim.) "So he is mine," he finished a little +exultantly, "and I will take him to the Post, and will fight him +against any dog or wolf in all the North. Shall I bring in the skins, +MADAME?" + +"He is not for sale," said Nanette, the glow in her eyes deepening. "He +is my dog--mine and the baby's. Do you understand, Henri Durant? HE IS +NOT FOR SALE!" + +"OUI," gasped Durant, amazed. + +"And when you reach Post Fort O' God, m'sieu, you will tell LE FACTEUR +that Jacques is dead, and how he died, and say that some one must be +sent for the baby and me. We will stay here until then." + +"OUI," said Durant again, backing to the door. + +He had never seen her like that. He wondered how Jacques Le Beau could +swear at her, and strike her. For himself, he was afraid. Standing +there with those wonderful eyes and white face, with the baby in her +arms, and her shining hair over her breasts, she made him think of a +picture he had once seen of the Blessed Lady. + +He went out through the door and back to the sapling cage where Miki +lay. Softly he spoke through the bars. + +"OW, BETE" he called; "she will not sell you. She keeps you because you +fought for her, and killed MON AMI, Jacques Le Beau. And so I must take +you my own way. In a little while the moon will be up, and then I will +slip a noose over your head at the end of a pole, and will choke you so +quickly she will not hear a sound. And who will know where you are +gone, if the cage door is left open? And you will fight for me at Post +Fort 0' God. MON DIEU! how you will fight! I swear it will do the ghost +of Jacques Le Beau good to see what happens there." + +He went away, to where he had left his light sledge and two dogs in the +edge of the timber, and waited for the moon to rise. + +Still Miki did not move, A light had appeared in the window of the +cabin, and his eyes were fixed on it yearningly as the low whine +gathered in his throat again. His world no longer lay beyond that +window. The Woman and the baby had obliterated in him all desire but to +be with them. + +In the cabin Nanette was thinking of him--and of Durant. The man's +words came to her again, vividly, significantly: "YOU WILL NOT WANT THE +DOG." Yes, all the forest people would say that same thing--even LE +FACTEUR himself, when he heard. SHE WOULD NOT WANT THE DOG! And why +not? Because he had killed Jacques Le Beau, her husband, in defence of +her? Because he had freed her from the bondage of The Brute? Because +God had sent him to the end of his chain in that terrible moment that +the baby Nanette might live, as the OTHER had not, and that she might +grow up with laughter on her lips instead of sobs? In her there rose +suddenly a thought that fanned the new flame in her heart. It MUST have +been LE BON DIEU! Others might doubt, but she--never. She recalled all +that Le Beau had told her about the wild dog--how for many days he had +robbed the traps, and the terrific fight he had made when at last he +was caught. And of all that The Brute had said there stood out most the +words he had spoken one day. + +"He is a devil, but he was not born of wolf. NON, some time, a long +time ago, he was a white man's dog." + +A WHITE MAN'S DOG! + +Her soul thrilled. Once--a long time ago--he had known a master with a +white heart, just as she had known a girlhood in which the flowers +bloomed and the birds sang. She tried to look back, but she could not +see very far. She could not vision that day, less than a year ago, when +Miki, an angular pup, came down out of the Farther North with +Challoner; she could not vision the strange comradeship between the pup +and Neewa, the little black bear cub, nor that tragic day when they had +fallen out of Challoner's canoe into the swift stream that had carried +them over the waterfall and into the Great Adventure which had turned +Neewa into a grown bear and Miki into a wild dog. But in her heart she +FELT the things which she could not see. Miki had not come by chance. +Something greater than that had sent him. + +She rose quietly, so that she would not waken the baby in the crib, and +opened the door. The moon was just rising over the forest and through +the glow of it she went to the cage. She heard the dog's joyous whine, +and then she felt the warm caress of his tongue upon her bare hands as +she thrust them between the sapling bars. + +"NON, NON; you are not a devil," she cried softly, her voice filled +with a strange tremble. "O-o-ee, my SOKETAAO, I prayed, PRAYED--and you +came. Yes, on my knees each night I prayed to Our Blessed Lady that she +might have mercy on my baby, and make the sun in heaven shine for her +through all time. AND YOU CAME! And the dear God does not send devils +in answer to prayer. NON; never!" + +And Miki, as though some spirit had given him the power to understand, +rested the weight of his bruised and beaten head on her hands. + +From the edge of the forest Durant was watching. He had caught the +flash of light from the door and had seen Nanette go to the cage, and +his eyes did not leave her until she returned into the cabin. He +laughed as he went to his fire and finished making the WAHGUN he was +fastening to the end of a long pole. This WAHGUN and the pole added to +his own cleverness were saving him twelve good fox skins, and he +continued to chuckle there in the fireglow as he thought how easy it +was to beat a woman's wits. Nanette was a fool to refuse the pelts, and +Jacques was--dead. It was a most lucky combination of circumstances for +him. Fortune had surely come his way. On LE BETE, as he called the wild +dog, he would gamble all that he possessed in the big fight. And he +would win. + +He waited until the light in the cabin went out before he approached +the cage again. Miki heard him coming. At a considerable distance he +saw him, for the moon was already turning the night into day. Durant +knew the ways of dogs. With them he employed a superior reason where Le +Beau had used the club and the rawhide. So he came up openly and +boldly, and, as if by accident, dropped the end of the pole between the +bars. With his hands against the cage, apparently unafraid, he began +talking in a casual way. He was different from Le Beau. Miki watched +him closely for a space and then let his eyes rest again on the +darkened cabin window. Stealthily Durant began to take advantage of his +opportunity. A little at a time he moved the end of the pole until it +was over Miki's head, with the deadly bowstring and its open noose +hanging down. He was an adept in the use of the WAHGUN. Many foxes and +wolves, and even a bear, he had caught that way. Miki, numbed by the +cold, scarcely felt the BABICHE noose as it settled softly about his +neck. He did not see Durant brace himself, with his feet against the +running-log of the cage. + +Then, suddenly, Durant lurched himself backward, and it seemed to Miki +as though a giant trap of steel had closed about his neck. Instantly +his wind was cut off. He could make no sound as he struggled +frantically to free himself. Hand over hand Durant dragged him to the +bars, and there, with his feet still braced, he choked with his whole +weight until--when at last he let up on the WAHGUN--Miki collapsed as +if dead. Ten seconds later Durant was looping a muzzle over his closed +jaws. He left the cage door open when he went back to his sledge, +carrying Miki in his arms. Nanette's slow wits would never guess, he +told himself. She would think that LE BETE had escaped into the forest. + +It was not his scheme to club Miki into serfdom, as Le Beau had failed +to do. Durant was wiser than that. In his crude and merciless way he +had come to know certain phenomena of the animal mind. He was not a +psychologist; oh the other hand brutality had not utterly blinded him. +So, instead of lashing Miki to the sledge as Le Beau had fastened him +to his improvised drag, Durant made his captive comfortable, covering +him with a warm blanket before he began his journey eastward. He made +sure, however, that there was no flaw in the muzzle about Miki's jaws, +and that the free end of the chain to which he was still fastened was +well hitched to the Gee-bar of his sledge. + +When these things were done Durant set off in the direction of Fort O' +God, and if Jacques Le Beau could have seen him then he would have had +good reason to guess at his elation. By taint of birth and blood Durant +was a gambler first, and a trapper afterward. He set his traps that he +might have the thrill of wagering his profits, and for half a dozen +successive years he had won at the big annual dog fight at Post Fort O' +God. But this year he had been half afraid. His fear had not been of +Jacques Le Beau and Netah, but of the halfbreed away over on Red Belly +Lake. Grouse Piet was the halfbreed's name, and the "dog" that he was +going to put up at the fight was half wolf. Therefore, in the foolish +eagerness of his desire, had Durant offered two cross foxes and ten +reds--the price of five dogs and not one--for the possession of Le +Beau's wild dog. And now that he had him for nothing, and Nanette was +poorer by twelve skins, he was happy. For he had now a good match for +Grouse Piet's half wolf, and he would chance his money and his credit +at the Post to the limit. + +When Miki came back to his senses Durant stopped his dogs, for he had +been watching closely for this moment. He bent over the sledge and +began talking, not in Le Beau's brutal way, but in a careless chummy +sort of voice, and with his mittened hand he patted his captive's head. +This was a new thing to Miki, for he knew that it was not the hand of +Nanette, but of a man-beast, and the softness of his nest in the +blanket, over which Henri had thrown a bear skin, was also new. A short +time ago he was frozen and stiff. Now he was warm and comfortable. So +he did not move. And Durant exulted in his cleverness. He did not +travel far in the night, but stopped four or five miles from Nanette's +cabin, and built a fire. Over this he boiled coffee and roasted meat. +He allowed the meat to roast slowly, turning it round and round on a +wooden spit, so that the aroma of it grew thick and inviting in the +air. He had fastened his two sledge dogs fifty paces away, but the +sledge was close to the fire, and he watched the effect on Miki of the +roasting meat. Since the days of his puppyhood with Challoner a smell +like that which came from the meat had not filled Miki's nostrils, and +at last Durant saw him lick his chops and heard the click of his teeth. +He chuckled in his beard. Still he waited another quarter of an hour. +Then he pulled the meat off the spit, cut it up, and gave a half of it +to Miki. And Miki ate it ravenously. + +A clever man was Henri Durant! + + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + + +During the last few days in December all trails for ten thousand square +miles around led to Post Fort 0' God. It was the eve of OOSKE +PIPOON--of the New Year--the mid-winter carnival time of the people of +the wilderness, when from teepees and cabins far and near come the +trappers and their families to sell their furs and celebrate for a few +days with others of their kind. To this New Year gathering men, women, +and children look forward through long and weary months. The trapper's +wife has no neighbour. Her husband's "line" is a little kingdom +inviolate, with no other human life within many miles of it; so for the +women the OOSKE PIPOON is a time of rejoicing; for the children it is +the "big circus," and for the men a reward for the labour and hardship +of catching their fur. During these few days old acquaintanceships are +renewed and new ones are made. It is here that the "news" of the +trackless wilderness is spread, the news of deaths, of marriages, and +of births; of tragic happenings that bring horror and grief and tears, +and of others that bring laughter and joy. For the first and last time +in all the seven months' winter the people of the forests "come to +town." Indian, halfbreed, "blood," and white man, join in the holiday +without distinction of colour or creed. + +This year there was to be a great caribou roast, a huge barbecue, at +Fort O' God, and by the time Henri Durant came within half a dozen +miles of the Post the trails from north and south and east and west +were beaten hard by the tracks of dogs and men. That year a hundred +sledges came in from the forests, and with them were three hundred men +and women and children and half a thousand dogs. + +Durant was a day later than he had planned to be, but he had made good +use of his time. For Miki, while still muzzled, now followed at the end +of the babiche that was tied to Henri's sledge. In the afternoon of the +third day after leaving Nanette Le Beau's cabin Durant turned off the +main-travelled trail until he came to the shack of Andre Ribon, who +kept the Factor and his people at the Post supplied with fresh meat. +Andre, who was becoming over-anxious at Durant's delay, was still +waiting when his friend came. It was here that Henri's Indian had left +his fighting dog, the big husky. And here he left Miki, locked in +Andre's shack. Then the two men went on to the Post which was only a +mile away. + +Neither he nor Ribon returned that night. The cabin was empty. And with +the beginning of dusk Miki began to hear weird and strange sounds which +grew louder as darkness settled deeper. It was the sound of the +carnival at the Post--the distant tumult of human voice mingled with +the howling of a hundred dogs. He had never heard anything like it +before, and for a long time he listened without moving. Then he stood +up like a man before the window with this fore-paws resting against the +heavy sash. Ribon's cabin was at the crest of a knoll that over-looked +the frozen lake, and far off, over the tops of the scrub timber that +fringed the edge of it, Miki saw the red glow in the sky made by a +score of great camp fires. He whined, and dropped on his four feet +again. It was a long wait between that and another day. But the cabin +was more comfortable than Le Beau's prison-cage had been. All through +the night his restless slumber was filled with visions of Nanette and +the baby. + +Durant and Ribon did not return until nearly noon the next day. They +brought with them fresh meat, of which Miki ate ravenously, for he was +hungry. In an unresponsive way he tolerated the advances of these two. +A second night he was left alone in the cabin. When Durant and Ribon +came back again in the early dawn they brought with them a cage four +feet square made of small birch saplings. The open door of this cage +they drew close to the door of the cabin, and by means of a chunk of +fresh meat Miki was induced to enter through it. Instantly the trap +fell, and he was a prisoner. The cage was already fastened on a wide +toboggan, and scarcely was the sun up when Miki was on his way to Fort +O' God. + +This was the big day at the carnival--the day of the caribou-roast and +the fight. For many minutes before they came in sight of Fort O' God +Miki heard the growing sound. It amazed him, and he stood up on his +feet in his cage, rigid and alert, utterly unconscious of the men who +were pulling him. He was looking ahead of them, and Durant chuckled +exultantly as they heard him growl, and his teeth click. + +"Oui, he will fight! He would fight NOW," he chuckled. + +They were following the shore of a lake. Suddenly they came around the +end of a point, and all of Fort O' God lay on the rising shelf of the +shore ahead of them. The growl died in Miki's throat. His teeth shut +with a last click. For an instant his heart seemed to grow dead and +still. Until this moment his world had held only half a dozen human +beings. Now, so suddenly that he had no flash of warning, he saw a +hundred of them, two hundred, three hundred. At sight of Durant and the +cage a swarm of them began running down to the shore. And everywhere +there were wolves, so many of them that his senses grew dazed as he +stared. His cage was the centre of a clamouring, gesticulating horde of +men and boys as it was dragged up the slope. Women began joining the +crowd, many of them with small children in their arms. Then his journey +came to an end. He was close to another cage, and in that cage was a +beast like himself. Beside this cage there stood a tall, swarthy, +shaggy-headed halfbreed who looked like a pirate. The man was Grouse +Piet, Durant's rival. + +A contemptuous leer was on his thick-lipped face as he looked at Miki. +He turned, and to the group of dark-faced Indians and breeds about him +he said something that roused a guttural laugh. + +Durant's face flamed red. + +"Laugh, you heathen," he challenged, "but don't forget that Henri +Durant is here to take your bets!" Then he shook the two cross and ten +red foxes in the face of Grouse Piet. + +"Cover them, Grouse Piet," he cried. "And I have ten times more where +they came from!" + +With his muzzle lifted, Miki was sniffing the air. It was filled with +strange scents, heavy with the odours of men, of dogs, and of the five +huge caribou roasting on their spits fifteen feet over the big fires +that were built under them. For ten hours those caribou would roast, +turning slowly on spits as thick as a man's leg. The fight was to come +before the feast. + +For an hour the clatter and tumult of voices hovered about the two +cages. Men appraised the fighters and made their bets, and Grouse Piet +and Henri Durant made their throats hoarse flinging banter and contempt +at each other. At the end of the hour the crowd began to thin out. In +the place of men and women half a hundred dark-visaged little children +crowded about the cages. It was not until then that Miki caught +glimpses of the hordes of beasts fastened in ones and twos and groups +in the edge of the clearing. His nostrils had at last caught the +distinction. They were not wolves. They were like himself. + +It was a long time before his eyes rested steadily on the wolf-dog in +the other cage. He went to the edge of his bars and sniffed. The +wolf-dog thrust his gaunt muzzle toward him. He made Miki think of the +huge wolf he had fought one day on the edge of the cliff, and +instinctively he showed his fangs, and snarled. The wolf-dog snarled +back. Henri Durant rubbed his hands exultantly, and Grouse Piet laughed +softly. + +"Oui; they will FIGHT!" said Henri again. + +"Ze wolf, he will fight, oui," said Grouse Piet. "But your dog, m'sieu, +he be vair seek, lak a puppy, w'en ze fight come!" + +A little later Miki saw a white man standing close to his cage. It was +MacDonnell, the Scotch factor. He gazed at Miki and the wolf-dog with +troubled eyes. Ten minutes later, in the little room which he had made +his office, he was saying to a younger man: + +"I'd like to stop it, but I can't. They wouldn't stand for it. It would +lose us half a season's catch of fur. There's been a fight like this at +Fort O' God for the last fifty years, and I don't suppose, after all, +that it's any worse than one of the prize fights down there. Only, in +this case--" + +"They kill," said the younger man. + +"Yes, that's it. Usually one of the dogs dies." + +The younger man knocked the ash out of his pipe. + +"I love dogs," he said, simply. "There'll never be a fight at my post, +Mac--unless it's between men. And I'm not going to see this fight, +because I'm afraid I'd kill some one if I did." + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY + + +It was two o'clock in the afternoon. The caribou were roasting brown. +In two more hours the feast would begin. The hour of the fight was at +hand. + +In the centre of the clearing three hundred men, women, and children +were gathered in a close circle about a sapling cage ten feet square. +Close to this cage, one at each side, were drawn the two smaller cages. +Beside one of these cages stood Henri Durant; beside the other, Grouse +Piet. They were not bantering now. Their faces were hard and set. And +three hundred pairs of eyes were staring at them, and three hundred +pairs of ears waiting for the thrilling signal. + +It came--from Grouse Piet. + +With a swift movement Durant pulled up the door of Miki's cage. Then, +suddenly, he prodded him from behind with a crotched stick, and with a +single leap Miki was in the big cage. Almost at the same instant the +wolf-dog leapt from Grouse Piet's cage, and the two faced each other in +the arena. + +With the next breath he drew Durant could have groaned. What happened +in the following half minute was a matter of environment with Miki. In +the forest the wolf-dog would have interested him to the exclusion of +everything else, and he would have looked upon him as another Netah or +a wild wolf. But in his present surroundings the idea of fighting was +the last to possess him. He was fascinated by that grim and waiting +circle of faces closing in the big cage; he scrutinized it, turning his +head sharply from point to point, as if hoping to see Nanette and the +baby, or even Challoner his first master. To the wolf-dog Grouse Piet +had given the name of Taao, because of the extraordinary length of his +fangs; and of Taao, to Durant's growing horror, Miki was utterly +oblivious after that first head-on glance. He trotted to the edge of +the cage and thrust his nose between the bars, and a taunting laugh +rose out of Grouse Piet's throat. Then he began making a circle of the +cage, his sharp eyes on the silent ring of faces. Taao stood in the +centre of the cage, and not once did his reddish eyes leave Miki. What +was outside of the cage held small interest for him. He understood his +business, and murder was bred in his heart. For a space during which +Durant's heart beat like a hammer Taao turned, as if on a pivot, +following Miki's movement, and the crest on his spine stood up like +bristles. + +Then Miki stopped, and in that moment Durant saw the end of all his +hopes. Without a sound the wolf-dog was at his opponent. A bellow rose +from Grouse Piet's lips. A deep breath passed through the circle of +spectators, and Durant felt a cold chill run up his back to the roots +of his hair. What happened in the next instant made men's hearts stand +still. In that first rush Miki should have died. Grouse Piet expected +him to die, and Durant expected him to die. But in the last fractional +bit of the second in which the wolf-dog's jaws closed, Miki was +transformed into a thing of living lightning. No man had ever seen a +movement swifter than that with which he turned on Taao. Their jaws +clashed. There was a sickening grinding of bone, and in another moment +they were rolling and twisting together on the earth floor. Neither +Grouse Piet nor Durant could see what was happening. They forgot even +their own bets in the horror of that fight. Never had there been such a +fight at Fort O' God. + +The sound of it reached to the Company's store. In the door, looking +toward the big cage, stood the young white man. He heard the snarling, +the clashing of teeth, and his jaws set heavily and a dull flame burned +in his eyes. His breath came in a sudden gasp. + +"DAMN!" he cried, softly. + +His hands clenched, and he stepped slowly down from the door and went +toward the cage. It was over when he made his way through the ring of +spectators. The fight had ended as suddenly as it had begun, and Grouse +Piet's wolf-dog lay in the centre of the cage with a severed jugular. +Miki looked as though he might be dying. Durant had opened the door and +had slipped a rope over his head, and outside the cage Miki stood +swaying on his feet, red with blood, and half blind. His flesh was red +and bleeding in a dozen places, and a stream of blood trickled from his +mouth. A cry of horror rose to the young white man's lips as he looked +down at him. + +And then, almost in the same breath, there came a still stranger cry. + +"Good God! Miki--Miki--Miki--" + +Beating upon his brain as if from a vast distance, coming to him +through the blindness of his wounds, Miki heard that voice. + +The VOICE! THE voice that had lived with him in all his dreams, the +voice he had waited for, and searched for, and knew that some day he +would find. The voice of Challoner, his master! + +He dropped on his belly, whining, trying to see through the film of +blood in his eyes; and lying there, wounded almost unto death, his tail +thumped the ground in recognition. And then, to the amazement of all +who beheld, Challoner was down upon his knees beside him, and his arms +were about him, and Miki's lacerated tongue was reaching for his hands, +his face, his clothes. + +"Miki--Miki--Miki!" + +Durant's hand fell heavily upon Challoner's shoulder. + +It was like the touch of a red-hot iron to Challoner. In a flash he was +on his feet, facing him. + +"He's mine," Challoner cried, trying to hold back his passion. "He's +mine you--you devil!" + +And then, powerless to hold back his desire for vengeance, his clenched +fist swung like a rock to Durant's heavy jaw, and the Frenchman went to +the ground. For a moment Challoner stood over him, but he did not move. +Fiercely he turned upon Grouse Piet and the crowd. Miki was cringing at +his feet again. Pointing to him, Challoner cried loudly, so all could +hear. + +"He's my dog. Where this beast got him I don't know. But he's mine. +Look for yourselves! See--see him lick my hand. Would he do that for +HIM? And look at that ear. There's no other ear in all the north cut +like that. I lost him almost a year ago, but I'd know him among ten +thousand by that ear. By God!--if I had known--" + +He elbowed his way through the breeds and Indians, leading Miki by the +rope Durant had slipped over the dog's head. He went to MacDonnell, and +told him what had happened. He told of the preceding spring, and of the +accident in which Miki and the bear cub were lost from his canoe and +swept over the waterfall. After registering his claim against whatever +Durant might have to say he went to the shack in which he was staying +at Fort 0' God. + +An hour later Challoner sat with Miki's big head between his two hands, +and talked to him. He had bathed and dressed his wounds, and Miki could +see. His eyes were on his master's face, and his hard tail thumped the +floor. Both were oblivious of the sounds of the revellers outside; the +cries of men, the shouting of boys, the laughter of women, and the +incessant barking of dogs. In Challoner's eyes there was a soft glow. + +"Miki, old boy, you haven't forgotten a thing--not a dam' thing, have +you? You were nothing but an onery-legged pup then, but you didn't +forget! Remember what I told you, that I was going to take you and the +cub down to the Girl? Do you remember? The Girl I said was an angel, +and 'd love you to death, and all that? Well, I'm glad something +happened--and you didn't go. It wasn't the same when I got back, an' +SHE wasn't the same, Miki. Lord, she'd got married, AND HAD TWO KIDS! +Think of that, old scout--TWO! How the deuce could she have taken care +of you and the cub, eh? And nothing else was the same, Boy. Three years +in God's Country--up here where you burst your lungs just for the fun +of drinking in air--changed me a lot, I guess. Inside a week I wanted +to come back, Miki. Yessir, I was SICK to come back. So I came. And +we're going to stick now, Miki. You're going with me up to that new +Post the Company has given me. From now on we're pals. Understand, old +scout, we're PALS!" + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + + +It was late the night of the big feast at Post Fort O' God that +MacDonnell, the factor, sent for Challoner. Challoner was preparing for +bed when an Indian boy pounded on the door of his shack and a moment +later gave him the message. He looked at his watch. It was eleven +o'clock. What could the Factor want of him at that hour, he wondered? +Flat on his belly near the warm box stove Miki watched his new-found +master speculatively as he pulled on his boots. His eyes were wide open +now. Challoner had washed from him the blood of the terrific fight of +that afternoon. + +"Something to do with that devil of a Durant," growled Challoner, +looking at the battle-scarred dog. "Well, if he hopes to get YOU again, +Miki, he's barking up the wrong tree. You're MINE!" + +Miki thumped his hard tail on the floor and wriggled toward his master +in mute adoration. Together they went out into the night. + +It was a night of white moonlight and a multitude of stars. The four +great fires over which the caribou had roasted for the savage barbecue +that day were still burning brightly. In the edge of the forest that +ringed in the Post were the smouldering embers of a score of smaller +fires. Back of these fires were faintly outlined the gray shadows of +teepees and tents. In these shelters the three hundred halfbreeds and +Indians who had come in from the forest trails to the New Year carnival +at the Post were sleeping. Only here and there was there a movement of +life. Even the dogs were quiet after the earlier hours of excitement +and gluttony. + +Past the big fires, with their huge spits still standing, Challoner +passed toward the Factor's quarters. Miki sniffed at the freshly picked +bones. Beyond these bones there was no sign of the two thousand pounds +of flesh that had roasted that day on the spits. Men, women, children, +and dogs had stuffed themselves until there was nothing left. It was +the silence of Mutai--the "belly god"--the god who eats himself to +sleep each night--that hovered strangely over this Post of Fort O' God, +three hundred miles from civilization. + +There was a light in the Factor's room, and Challoner entered with Miki +at his heels. MacDonnell, the Scotchman, was puffing moodily on his +pipe. There was a worried look in his ruddy face as the younger man +seated himself, and his eyes were on Miki. + +"Durant has been here," he said. "He's ugly. I'm afraid of trouble. If +you hadn't struck him--" + +Challoner shrugged his shoulders as he filled his own pipe from the +Factor's tobacco. + +"You see--you don't just understand the situation at Fort 0' God," went +on MacDonnell. "There's been a big dog fight here at New Year for the +last fifty years. It's become a part of history, a part of Fort O' God +itself, and that's why in my own fifteen years here I haven't tried to +stop it. I believe it would bring on a sort of--revolution. I'd wager a +half of my people would go to another post with their furs. That's why +all the sympathy seems to be with Durant. Even Grouse Piet, his rival, +tells him he's a fool to let you get away with him that way. Durant +says that dog is HIS." + +MacDonnell nodded at Miki, lying at Challoner's feet. + +"Then he lies," said Challoner quietly. + +"He says he bought him of Jacques Le Beau." + +"Then Le Beau sold a dog that didn't belong to him." + +For a moment MacDonnell was silent. Then he said: + +"But that wasn't what I had you come over for, Challoner. Durant told +me something that froze my blood to-night. Your outfit starts for your +post up in the Reindeer Lake county to-morrow, doesn't it?" + +"In the morning." + +"Then could you, with one of my Indians and a team, arrange to swing +around by way of the Jackson's Knee? You'd lose a week, but you could +overtake your outfit before it reached the Reindeer--and it would be a +mighty big favour to me. There's a--a HELL of a thing happened over +there." + +Again he looked at Miki. + +"GAWD!" he breathed. + +Challoner waited. He thought he saw a shudder pass through the Factor's +shoulders. + +"I'd go myself--I ought to, but this frosted lung of mine has made me +sit tight this winter, Challoner. I OUGHT to go. Why--(a sudden glow +shot into his eyes)--I knew this Nanette Le Beau when she was SO HIGH, +fifteen years ago. I watched her grow up, Challoner. If I hadn't been +married--then--I'd have fallen in love with her. Do you know her, +Challoner? Did you ever see Nanette Le Beau?" + +Challoner shook his head. + +"An angel--if God ever made one," declared MacDonnell through his red +beard. "She lived over beyond the Jackson's Knee with her father. And +he died, froze to death crossing Red Eye Lake one night. I've always +thought Jacques Le Beau MADE her marry him after that. Or else she +didn't know, or was crazed, or frightened at being alone. Anyway, she +married him. It was five years ago I saw her last. Now and then I've +heard things, but I didn't believe--not all of them. I didn't believe +that Le Beau beat her, and knocked her down when he wanted to. I didn't +believe he dragged her through the snow by her hair one day until she +was nearly dead. They were just rumours, and he was seventy miles away. +But I believe them now. Durant came from their place, and I guess he +told me a whole lot of the truth--to save that dog." + +Again he looked at Miki. + +"You see, Durant tells me that Le Beau caught the dog in one of his +traps, took him to his cabin, and tortured him into shape for the big +fight. When Durant came he was so taken with the dog that he bought +him, and it was while Le Beau was driving the dog mad in his cage to +show his temper that Nanette interfered. Le Beau knocked her down, and +then jumped on her and was pulling her hair and choking her when the +dog went for him and killed him. That's the story. Durant told me the +truth through fear that I'd have the dog shot if he was an out-and-out +murderer. And that's why I want you to go by way of the Jackson's Knee. +I want you to investigate, and I want you to do what you can for +Nanette Le Beau. My Indian will bring her back to Port O' God." + +With Scotch stoicism MacDonnell had repressed whatever excitement he +may have felt. He spoke quietly. But the curious shudder went through +his shoulders again. Challoner stared at him in blank amazement. + +"You mean to say that Miki--this dog--has killed a man?" + +"Yes. He killed him, Durant says, just as he killed Grouse Piet's +wolf-dog in the big fight to-day. UGH!" As Challoner's eyes fell slowly +upon Miki, the Factor added: "But Grouse Piet's dog was better than the +man. If what I hear about Le Beau was true he's better dead than alive. +Challoner, if you didn't think it too much trouble, and could go that +way--and see Nanette--" + +"I'll go," said Challoner, dropping a hand to Miki's head. + +For half an hour after that MacDonnell told him the things he knew +about Nanette Le Beau. When Challoner rose to go the Factor followed +him to the door. + +"Keep your eyes open for Durant," he warned. "That dog is worth more to +him than all his winnings to-day, and they say his stakes were big. He +won heavily from Grouse Piet, but the halfbreed is thick with him now. +I know it. So watch out." + +Out in the open space, in the light of the moon and stars, Challoner +stood far a moment with Miki's forepaws resting against his breast. The +dog's head was almost on a level with his shoulders. + +"D'ye remember when you fell out of the canoe, Boy?" he asked softly. +"Remember how you 'n' the cub were tied in the bow, an' you got to +scrapping and fell overboard just above the rapids? Remember? By Jove! +those rapids pretty near got ME, too. I thought you were dead, +sure--both of you. I wonder what happened to the cub?" + +Miki whined in response, and his whole body trembled. + +"And since then you've killed a man," added Challoner, as if he still +could not quite believe. "And I'm to take you back to the woman. That's +the funny thing about it. You're going back to HER, and if she says +kill you--" + +He dropped Miki's forefeet and went on to the cabin. At the threshold a +low growl rose in Miki's throat. Challoner laughed, and opened the +door. They went in, and the dog's growl was a menacing snarl. Challoner +had left his lamp burning low, and in the light of it he saw Henri +Durant and Grouse Piet waiting for him. He turned up the wick, and +nodded. + +"Good evening. Pretty late for a call, isn't it?" + +Grouse Piet's stolid face did not change its expression. It struck +Challoner, as he glanced at him, that in head and shoulders he bore a +grotesque resemblance to a walrus. Durant's eyes were dully ablaze. His +face was swollen where Challoner had struck him. Miki, stiffened to the +hardness of a knot, and still snarling under his breath, had crawled +under Challoner's bunk. Durant pointed to him. + +"We've come after that dog," he said. + +"You can't have him, Durant," replied Challoner, trying hard to make +himself appear at ease in a situation that sent a chill up his back. As +he spoke he was making up his mind why Grouse Piet had come with +Durant. They were giants, both of them: more than that--monsters. +Instinctively he had faced them with the small table between them. "I'm +sorry I lost my temper out there," he continued. "I shouldn't have +struck you, Durant. It wasn't your fault--and I apologize. But the dog +is mine. I lost him over in the Jackson's Knee country, and if Jacques +Le Beau caught him in a trap, and sold him to you, he sold a dog that +didn't belong to him. I'm willing to pay you back what you gave for +him, just to be fair. How much was it?" + +Grouse Piet had risen to his feet. Durant came to the opposite edge of +the table, and leaned over it. Challoner wondered how a single blow had +knocked him down. + +"Non, he is not for sale." Durant's voice was low; so low that it +seemed to choke him to get it out. It was filled with a repressed +hatred. Challoner saw the great cords of his knotted hands bulging +under the skin as he gripped the edge of the table. "M'sieu, we have +come for that dog. Will you let us take him?" + +"I will pay you back what you gave for him, Durant. I will add to the +price." + +"Non. He is mine. Will you give him back--NOW?" + +"No!" + +Scarcely was the word out of his mouth when Durant flung his whole +weight and strength against the table. Challoner had not expected the +move--just yet. With a bellow of rage and hatred Durant was upon him, +and under the weight of the giant he crashed to the floor. With them +went the table and lamp. There was a vivid splutter of flame and the +cabin was in darkness, except where the moon-light flooded through the +one window. Challoner had looked for something different. He had +expected Durant to threaten before he acted, and, sizing up the two of +them, he had decided to reach the edge of his bunk during the +discussion. Under the pillow was his revolver. It was too late now. +Durant was on him, fumbling in the darkness for his throat, and as he +flung one arm upward to get a hook around the Frenchman's neck he heard +Grouse Piet throw the table back. The next instant they were rolling in +the moonlight on the floor, and Challoner caught a glimpse of Grouse +Piet's huge bulk bending over them. Durant's head was twisted under his +arm, but one of the giant's hands had reached his throat. The halfbreed +saw this, and he cried out something in a guttural voice. With a +tremendous effort Challoner rolled himself and his adversary out of the +patch of light into darkness again. Durant's thick neck cracked. Again +Grouse Piet called out in that guttural, questioning voice. Challoner +put every ounce of his energy into the crook of his arm, and Durant did +not answer. + +Then the weight of Grouse Piet fell upon them, and his great hands +groped for Challoner's neck. His thick fingers found Durant's beard +first, then fumbled for Challoner, and got their hold. Ten seconds of +their terrific grip would have broken his neck. But the fingers never +closed. A savage cry of agony burst from Grouse Piet's lips, and with +that cry, ending almost in a scream, came the snap of great jaws and +the rending snarl of fangs in the darkness. Durant heard, and with a +great heave of his massive body he broke free from Challoner's grip, +and leapt to his feet. In a flash Challoner was at his bunk, facing his +enemies with the revolver in his hand. + +Everything had happened quickly. Scarcely more than a minute had passed +since the overturning of the table, and now, in the moment when the +situation had turned in his favour, a sudden swift and sickening horror +seized upon Challoner. Bloody and terrible there rose before him the +one scene he had witnessed that day in the big cage where Miki and the +wolf-dog had fought. And there--in that darkness of the cabin-- + +He heard a moaning cry and the crash of a body to the floor. + +"Miki, Miki," he cried. "Here! Here!" + +He dropped his revolver and sprang to the door, flinging it wide open. + +"For God's sake get out!" he cried. "GET OUT!" + +A bulk dashed past him into the night. He knew it was Durant. Then he +leapt to the dark shadows on the floor and dug his two hands into the +loose hide at the back of Miki's neck, dragging him back, and shouting +his name. He saw Grouse Piet crawling toward the door. He saw him rise +to his feet, silhouetted for a moment against the starlight, and +stagger out into the night. And then he felt Miki's weight slinking +down to the floor, and under his hands the dog's muscles grew limp and +saggy. For two or three minutes he continued to kneel beside him before +he closed the cabin door and lighted another lamp. He set up the +overturned table and placed the lamp on it. Miki had not moved. He lay +flat on his belly, his head between his forepaws, looking up at +Challoner with a mute appeal in his eyes. + +Challoner reached out his two arms. + +"Miki!" + +In an instant Miki was up against him, his forefeet against his breast, +and with his arms about the dog's shoulders Challoner's eyes took in +the floor. On it were wet splashes and bits of torn clothing. + +His arms closed more tightly. + +"Miki, old boy, I'm much obliged," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + + +The next morning Challoner's outfit of three teams and four men left +north and west for the Reindeer Lake country on the journey to his new +post at the mouth of the Cochrane. An hour later Challoner struck due +west with a light sledge and a five-dog team for the Jackson's Knee. +Behind him followed one of MacDonnell's Indians with the team that was +to bring Nanette to Fort O' God. + +He saw nothing more of Durant and Grouse Piet, and accepted +MacDonnell's explanation that they had undoubtedly left the Post +shortly after their assault upon him in the cabin. No doubt their +disappearance had been hastened by the fact that a patrol of the Royal +Northwest Mounted Police on its way to York Factory was expected at +Fort O' God that day. + +Not until the final moment of departure was Miki brought from the cabin +and tied to the gee-bar of Challoner's sledge. When he saw the five +dogs squatted on their haunches he grew rigid and the old snarl rose in +his throat. Under Challoner's quieting words he quickly came to +understand that these beasts were not enemies, and from a rather +suspicious toleration of them he very soon began to take a new sort of +interest in them. It was a friendly team, bred in the south and without +the wolf strain. + +Events had come to pass so swiftly and so vividly in Miki's life during +the past twenty-four hours that for many miles after they left Fort O' +God his senses were in an unsettled state of anticipation. His brain +was filled with a jumble of strange and thrilling pictures. Very far +away, and almost indistinct, were the pictures of things that had +happened before he was made a prisoner by Jacques Le Beau. Even the +memory of Neewa was fading under the thrill of events at Nanette's +cabin and at Fort O' God. The pictures that blazed their way across his +brain now were of men, and dogs, and many other things that he had +never seen before. His world had suddenly transformed itself into a +host of Henri Durants and Grouse Piets and Jacques Le Beaus, two-legged +beasts who had clubbed him, and half killed him, and who had made him +fight to keep the life in his body. He had tasted their blood in his +vengeance. And he watched for them now. The pictures told him they were +everywhere. He could imagine them as countless as the wolves, and as he +had seen them crowded round the big cage in which he had slain the +wolf-dog. + +In all of this excited and distorted world there was only one +Challoner, and one Nanette, and one baby. All else was a chaos of +uncertainty and of dark menace. Twice when the Indian came up close +behind them Miki whirled about with a savage snarl. Challoner watched +him, and understood. + +Of the pictures in his brain one stood out above all others, definite +and unclouded, and that was the picture of Nanette. Yes, even above +Challoner himself. There lived in him the consciousness of her gentle +hands; her sweet, soft voice; the perfume of her hair and clothes and +body--the WOMAN of her; and a part of the woman--as the hand is a part +of the body--was the baby. It was this part of Miki that Challoner +could not understand, and which puzzled him when they made camp that +night. He sat for a long time beside the fire trying to bring back the +old comradeship of the days of Miki's puppyhood. But he only partly +succeeded. Miki was restive. Every nerve in his body seemed on edge. +Again and again he faced the west, and always when he sniffed the air +in that direction there came a low whine in his throat. + +That night, with doubt in his heart, Challoner fastened him near the +tent with a tough rope of babiche. + +For a long time after Challoner had gone to bed Miki sat on his +haunches close to the spruce to which he was fastened. It must have +been ten o'clock, and the night was so still that the snap of a dying +ember in the fire was like the crack of a whip to his ears. Miki's eyes +were wide open and alert. Near the slowly burning logs, wrapped in his +thick blankets, he could make out the motionless form of the Indian, +asleep. Back of him the sledge-dogs had wallowed their beds in the snow +and were silent. The moon was almost straight overhead, and a mile or +two away a wolf pointed his muzzle to the radiant glow of it and +howled. The sound, like a distant calling voice, added new fire to the +growing thrill in Miki's blood. He turned in the direction of the +wailing voice. He wanted to call back. He wanted to throw up his head +and cry out to the forests, and the moon, and the starlit sky. But only +his jaws clicked, and he looked at the tent in which Challoner was +sleeping. He dropped down upon his belly in the snow. But his head was +still alert and listening. The moon had already begun its westward +decline. The fire burned out until the logs were only a dull and +slumbering glow; the hand of Challoner's watch passed midnight, and +still Miki was wide-eyed and restless in the thrill of the thing that +was upon him. And then at last The Call that was coming to him from out +of the night became his master, and he gnawed the babiche in two. It +was the call of the Woman--of Nanette and the baby. + +In his freedom Miki sniffed at the edge of Challoner's tent. His back +sagged. His tail drooped. He knew that in this hour he was betraying +the master for whom he had waited so long, and who had lived so vividly +in his dreams. It was not reasoning, but an instinctive oppression of +fact. He would come back. That conviction burned dully in his brain. +But now--to-night--he must go. He slunk off into the darkness. With the +stealth of a fox he made his way between the sleeping dogs. Not until +he was a quarter of a mile from the camp did he straighten out, and +then a gray and fleeting shadow he sped westward under the light of the +moon. + +There was no hesitation in the manner of his going. Free of the pain of +his wounds, strong-limbed, deep-lunged as the strongest wolf of the +forests, he went on tirelessly. Rabbits bobbing out of his path did not +make him pause; even the strong scent of a fisher-cat almost under his +nose did not swerve him a foot from his trail. Through swamp and deep +forest, over lake and stream, across open barren and charred burns his +unerring sense of orientation led him on. Once he stopped to drink +where the swift current of a creek kept the water open. Even then he +gulped in haste--and shot on. The moon drifted lower and lower until it +sank into oblivion. The stars began to fade away The little ones went +out, and the big ones grew sleepy and dull. A great snow-ghostly gloom +settled over the forest world. + +In the six hours between midnight and dawn he covered thirty-five miles. + +And then he stopped. Dropping on his belly beside a rock at the crest +of a ridge he watched the birth of day. With drooling jaws and panting +breath he rested, until at last the dull gold of the winter sun began +to paint the eastern sky. And then came the first bars of vivid +sunlight, shooting over the eastern ramparts as guns flash from behind +their battlements, and Miki rose to his feet and surveyed the morning +wonder of his world. Behind him was Fort O' God, fifty miles away; +ahead of him the cabin--twenty. It was the cabin he faced as he went +down from the ridge. + +As the miles between him and the cabin grew fewer and fewer he felt +again something of the oppression that had borne upon him at +Challoner's tent. And yet it was different. He had run his race. He had +answered The Call. And now, at the end, he was seized by a fear of what +his welcome would be. For at the cabin he had killed a man--and the man +had belonged to the woman. His progress became more hesitating. +Mid-forenoon found him only half a mile from the home of Nanette and +the baby. His keen nostrils caught the faint tang of smoke in the air. +He did not follow it up, but circled like a wolf, coming up stealthily +and uncertainly until at last he looked out into the little clearing +where a new world had come into existence for him. He saw the sapling +cage in which Jacques Le Beau had kept him a prisoner; the door of that +cage was still open, as Durant had left it after stealing him; he saw +the ploughed-up snow where he had leapt upon the man-brute--and he +whined. + +He was facing the cabin door--and the door was wide open. He could see +no life, but he could SMELL it. And smoke was rising from the chimney. +He slunk across the open. In the manner of his going there was an +abject humiliation--a plea for mercy if he had done wrong, a prayer to +the creatures he worshipped that he might not be driven away. + +He came to the door, and peered in. The room was empty. Nanette was not +there. Then his ears shot forward and his body grew suddenly tense, and +he listened, listened, LISTENED to a soft, cooing sound that was coming +from the crib. He swallowed hard; the faintest whine rose in his throat +and his claws CLICKED, CLICKED, CLICKED, across the floor and he thrust +his great head over the side of the little bed. The baby was there. +With his warm tongue he kissed it--just once--and then, with another +deep breath, lay down on the floor. + +He heard footsteps. Nanette came in with her arms filled with blankets; +she carried these into the smaller room, and returned, before she saw +him. For a moment she stared. Then, with a strange little cry, she ran +to him; and once more he felt her arms about him; and he cried like a +puppy with his muzzle against her breast, and Nanette laughed and +sobbed, and in the crib the baby kicked and squealed and thrust her +tiny moccasined feet up into the air. + +"Ao-oo tap-wa-mukun" ("When the devil goes heaven comes in,") say the +Crees. And with the death of Le Beau, her husband, the devil had gone +out of life for Nanette. She was more beautiful than ever. Heaven was +in the dark, pure glow of her eyes. She was no longer like a dog under +the club and the whip of a brute, and in the re-birth of her soul she +was glorious. Youth had come back to her--freed from the yoke of +oppression. She was happy. Happy with her baby, with freedom, with the +sun and the stars shining for her again; and with new hope, the +greatest star of all. Again on the night of that first day of his +return Miki crept up to her when she was brushing her glorious hair. He +loved to put his muzzle in it; he loved the sweet scent of it; he loved +to put his head on her knees and feel it smothering him. And Nanette +hugged him tight, even as she hugged the baby, for it was Miki who had +brought her freedom, and hope, and life. What had passed was no longer +a tragedy. It was justice. God had sent Miki to do for her what a +father or a brother would have done. + +And the second night after that, when Challoner came early in the +darkness, it happened that Nanette had her hair down in that same way; +and Challoner, seeing her thus, with the lampglow shining in her eyes, +felt that the world had taken a sudden swift turn under his feet--that +through all his years he had been working forward to this hour. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE + + +With the coming of Challoner to the cabin of Nanette Le Beau there was +no longer a shadow of gloom in the world for Miki. He did not reason +out the wonder of it, nor did he have a foreboding for the future. It +was the present in which he lived--the precious hours in which all the +creatures he had ever loved were together. And yet, away back in his +memory of those things that had grown deep in his soul, was the picture +of Neewa, the bear; Neewa, his chum, his brother, his fighting comrade +of many battles, and he thought of the cold and snow-smothered cavern +at the top of the ridge in which Neewa had buried himself in that long +and mysterious sleep that was so much like death. But it was in the +present that he lived. The hours lengthened themselves out into days, +and still Challoner did not go, nor did Nanette leave with the Indian +for Fort O' God. The Indian returned with a note for MacDonnell in +which Challoner told the Factor that something was the matter with the +baby's lungs, and that she could not travel until the weather, which +was intensely cold, grew warmer. He asked that the Indian be sent back +with certain supplies. + +In spite of the terrific cold which followed the birth of the new year +Challoner had put up his tent in the edge of the timber a hundred yards +from the cabin, and Miki divided his time between the cabin and the +tent. For him they were glorious days. And for Challoner-- + +In a way Miki saw, though it was impossible for him to comprehend. As +the days lengthened into a week, and the week into two, there was +something in the glow of Nanette's eyes that had never been there +before, and in the sweetness of her voice a new thrill, and in her +prayers at night the thankfulness of a new and great joy. + +And then, one day, Miki looked up from where he was lying beside the +baby's crib and he saw Nanette in his master's arms, her face turned up +to him, her eyes filled with the glory of the stars, and Challoner was +saying something which transformed her face into the face of an angel. +Miki was puzzled. And he was more puzzled when Challoner came from +Nanette to the crib, and snuggled the baby up in his arms; and the +woman--looking at them both for a moment with that wonderful look in +her eyes--suddenly covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Half a +snarl rose in Miki's throat, but in that moment Challoner had put his +arm around Nanette too, and Nanette's arms were about him and the baby, +and she was sobbing something which for the life of him Miki could make +neither head nor tail of. And yet he knew that he must not snarl or +spring. He felt the wonder-thrill of the new thing that had come into +the cabin; he gulped hard, and looked. A moment or two later Nanette +was on her knees beside him, and her arms were around him, just as they +had been around the man. And Challoner was dancing like a boy--cooing +to the baby in his arms. Then he, too, dropped down beside Miki, and +cried: + +"My Gawd! Miki--I'VE GOT A FAM'LY!" + +And Miki tried to understand. + +That night, after supper, he saw Challoner unbraid Nanette's glorious +hair, and brush it. They laughed like two happy children. Miki tried +still harder to understand. + +When Challoner went to go to his tent in the edge of the forest he took +Nanette in his arms, and kissed her, and stroked her shining hair; and +Nanette took his face between her hands and smiled and almost cried in +her joy. + +After that Miki DID understand. He knew that happiness had come to all +who were in that cabin. + +Now that his world was settled, Miki took once more to hunting. The +thrill of the trail came back to him, and wider and wider grew his +range from the cabin. Again he followed Le Beau's old trapline. But the +traps were sprung now. He had lost a great deal of his old caution. He +had grown fatter. He no longer scented danger in every whiff of the +wind. It was in the third week of Challoner's stay at the cabin, the +day which marked the end of the cold spell and the beginning of warm +weather, that Miki came upon an old dead-fall in a swamp a full ten +miles from the clearing. Le Beau had set it for lynx, but nothing had +touched the bait, which was a chunk of caribou flesh, frozen solid as a +rock. Curiously Miki began smelling of it. He no longer feared danger. +Menace had gone out of his world. He nibbled. He pulled--and the log +crashed down to break his back. Only by a little did it fail. For +twenty-four hours it held him helpless and crippled. Then, fighting +through all those hours, he dragged himself out from under it. With the +rising temperature a soft snow had fallen, covering all tracks and +trails. Through this snow Miki dragged himself, leaving a path like +that of an otter in the mud, for his hind quarters were helpless. His +back was not broken; it was temporarily paralyzed by the blow and the +weight of the log. + +He made in the direction of the cabin, but every foot that he dragged +himself was filled with agony, and his progress was so slow that at the +end of an hour he had not gone more than a quarter of a mile. Another +night found him less than two miles from the deadfall. He pulled +himself under a shelter of brush and lay there until dawn. All through +that day he did not move. The next, which was the fourth since he had +left the cabin to hunt, the pain in his back was not so great. But he +could pull himself through the snow only a few yards at a time. Again +the good spirit of the forests favoured him for in the afternoon he +came upon the partly eaten carcass of a buck killed by the wolves. The +flesh was frozen but he gnawed at it ravenously. Then he found himself +a shelter under a mass of fallen tree-tops, and for ten days thereafter +he lay between life and death. He would have died had it not been for +the buck. To the carcass he managed to drag himself, sometimes each day +and sometimes every other day, and kept himself from starving. It was +the end of the second week before he could stand well on his feet. The +fifteenth day he returned to the cabin. + +In the edge of the clearing there fell upon him slowly a foreboding of +great change. The cabin was there. It was no different than it had been +fifteen days ago. But out of the chimney there came no smoke, and the +windows were white with frost. About it the snow lay clean and white, +like an unspotted sheet. He made his way hesitatingly across the +clearing to the door. There were no tracks. Drifted snow was piled high +over the sill. He whined, and scratched at the door. There was no +answer. And he heard no sound. + +He went back into the edge of the timber, and waited. He waited all +through that day, going occasionally to the cabin, and smelling about +it, to convince himself that he had not made a mistake. When darkness +came he hollowed himself out a bed in the fresh snow close to the door +and lay there all through the night. Day came again, gray and empty and +still there was no smoke from the chimney or sound from within the log +walls, and at last he knew that Challoner and Nanette and the baby were +gone. But he was hopeful. He no longer listened for sound from within +the cabin, but watched and listened for them to come from out of the +forest. He made short quests, hunting now on this side and now on that +of the cabin, sniffing futilely at the fresh and trackless snow and +pointing the wind for minutes at a time. In the afternoon, with a +forlorn slouch to his body, he went deeper into the forest to hunt for +a rabbit. When he had killed and eaten his supper he returned again and +slept a second night in the burrow beside the door. A third day and a +third night he remained, and the third night he heard the wolves +howling under a clear and star-filled sky, and from him there came his +first cry--a yearning, grief-filled cry that rose wailingly out of the +clearing; the entreaty for his master, for Nanette, and the baby. It +was not an answer to the wolves. In its note there was a trembling +fear, the voicing of a thing that had grown into hopelessness. + +And now there settled upon him a loneliness greater than any loneliness +he had ever known. Something seemed to whisper to his canine brain that +all he had seen and felt had been but a dream, and that he was face to +face with his old world again, its dangers, its vast and soul-breaking +emptiness, its friendlessness, its ceaseless strife for existence. His +instincts, dulled by the worship of what the cabin had held, became +keenly alive. He sensed again the sharp thrill of danger, which comes +of ALONENESS, and his old caution fell upon him, so that the fourth day +he slunk around the edge of the clearing like a wolf. + +The fifth night he did not sleep in the clearing but found himself a +windfall a mile back in the forest. That night he had strange and +troubled dreams. They were not of Challoner, or of Nanette and the +baby, nor were they of the fight and the unforgettable things he had +seen at the Post. His dreams were of a high and barren ridge smothered +in deep snow, and of a cavern that was dark and deep. Again he was with +his brother and comrade of days that were gone--Neewa the bear. He was +trying to waken him, and he could feel the warmth of his body and hear +his sleepy, protesting grunts. And then, later, he was fighting again +in the paradise of black currants, and with Neewa was running for his +life from the enraged she-bear who had invaded their coulee. When he +awoke suddenly from out of these dreams he was trembling and his +muscles were tense. He growled in the darkness. His eyes were round +balls of searching fire. He whined softly and yearningly in that pit of +gloom under the windfall, and for a moment or two he listened, for he +thought that Neewa might answer. + +For a month after that night he remained near the cabin. At least once +each day, and sometimes at night, he would return to the clearing. And +more and more frequently he was thinking of Neewa. Early in March came +the Tiki-Swao--(the Big Thaw). For a week the sun shone without a cloud +in the sky. The air was warm. The snow turned soft underfoot and on the +sunny sides of slopes and ridges it melted away into trickling streams +or rolled down in "slides" that were miniature avalanches. The world +was vibrant with a new thrill. It pulsed with the growing heart-beat of +spring, and in Miki's soul there arose slowly a new hope, a new +impression a new inspiration that was the thrilling urge of a wonderful +instinct. NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! + +It came to him at last like a voice which he could understand. The +trickling music of the growing streams sang it to him; he heard it in +the warm winds that were no longer filled with the blast of winter; he +caught it in the new odours that were rising out of the earth; he +smelled it in the dank, sweet perfume of the black woods-soil. The +thing thrilled him. It called him. And he KNEW! + +NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! + +He responded to the call. It was in the nature of things that no power +less than physical force could hold him back. And yet he did not travel +as he had travelled from Challoner's camp to the cabin of Nanette and +the baby. There had been a definite object there, something to achieve, +something to spur him on to an immediate fulfilment. Now the thing that +drew him, at first, was an overpowering impulse, not a reality. For two +or three days his trail westward was wandering and indefinite. Then it +straightened out, and early in the morning of the fifth day he came +from a deep forest into a plain, and across that plain he saw the +ridge. For a long time he gazed over the level space before he went on. + +In his brain the pictures of Neewa were becoming clearer and clearer. +After all, it seemed only yesterday or the day before that he had gone +away from that ridge. Then it was smothered in snow, and a gray, +terrible gloom had settled upon the earth. Now there was but little +snow, and the sun was shining, and the sky was blue again. He went on, +and sniffed along the foot of the ridge; he had not forgotten the way. +He was not excited, because time had ceased to have definite import for +him. Yesterday he had come down from that ridge, and to-day he was +going back. He went straight to the mouth of Neewa's den, which was +uncovered now, and thrust in his head and shoulders, and sniffed. Ah! +but that lazy rascal of a bear was a sleepy-head! He was still +sleeping. Miki could smell him. Listening hard, he could HEAR him. + +He climbed over the low drift of snow that had packed itself in the +neck of the cavern and entered confidently into the darkness. He heard +a soft, sleepy grunt and a great sigh. He almost stumbled over Neewa, +who had changed his bed. Again Neewa grunted, and Miki whined. He ran +his muzzle into Neewa's fresh, new coat of spring fur and smelled his +way to Neewa's ear. After all, it was only yesterday! And he remembered +everything now! So he gave Neewa's ear a sudden sharp nip with his +teeth, and then he barked in that low, throaty way that Neewa had +always understood. + +"Wake up, Neewa," it all said. "Wake up! The snow is gone, and it's +fine out to-day. WAKE UP!" + +And Neewa, stretching himself, gave a great yawn. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR + + +Meshaba, the old Cree, sat on the sunny side of a rock on the sunny +side of a slope that looked up and down the valley. Meshaba--who many, +many years ago had been called The Giant--was very old. He was so old +that even the Factor's books over at Fort O' God had no record of his +birth; nor the "post logs" at Albany House, or Cumberland House, or +Norway House, or Fort Churchill. Perhaps farther north, at Lac La +Biche, at Old Fort Resolution, or at Fort McPherson some trace of him +might have been found. His skin was crinkled and weather-worn, like dry +buckskin, and over his brown, thin face his hair fell to his shoulders, +snow-white. His hands were thin, even his nose was thin with the +thinness of age. But his eyes were still like dark garnets, and down +through the greater part of a century their vision had come undimmed. + +They roved over the valley now. At Meshaba's back, a mile on the other +side of the ridge, was the old trapper's cabin, where he lived alone. +The winter had been long and cold, and in his gladness at the coming of +spring Meshaba had come up the ridge to bask in the sun and look out +over the changing world. For an hour his eyes had travelled up and down +the valley like the eyes of an old and wary hawk. The dark spruce and +cedar forest edged in the far side of the valley; between that and the +ridge rolled the meadowy plain--still covered with melting snow in +places, and in others bare and glowing, a dull green in the sunlight. +From where he sat Meshaba could also see a rocky scarp of the ridge +that projected out into the plain a hundred yards away. But this did +not interest him, except that if it had not been in his line of vision +he could have seen a mile farther down the valley. + +In that hour of Sphinx-like watching, while the smoke curled slowly up +from his black pipe, Meshaba had seen life. Half a mile from where he +was sitting a band of caribou had come out of the timber and wandered +into a less distant patch of low bush. They had not thrilled his old +blood with the desire to kill, for there was already a fresh carcass +hung up at the back of his cabin. Still farther away he had seen a +hornless moose, so grotesque in its spring ugliness that the +parchment-like skin of his face had cracked for half an instant in a +smile, and out of him had come a low and appreciative grunt; for +Meshaba, in spite of his age, still had a sense of humour left. Once he +had seen a wolf, and twice a fox, and now his eyes were on an eagle +high over his head. Meshaba would not have shot that eagle, for year +after year it had come down through time with him, and it was always +there soaring in the sun when spring came. So Meshaba grunted as he +watched it, and was glad that Upisk had not died during the winter. + +"Kata y ati sisew," he whispered to himself, a glow of superstition in +his fiery eyes. "We have lived long together, and it is fated that we +die together, Oh Upisk. The spring has come for us many times, and soon +the black winter will swallow us up for ever." + +His eyes shifted slowly, and then they rested on the scarp of the ridge +that shut out his vision. His heart gave a sudden thump in his body. +His pipe fell from his mouth to his hand; and he stared without moving, +stared like a thing of rock. + +On a flat sunlit shelf not more than eighty or ninety yards away stood +a young black bear. In the warm glow of the sunlight the bear's spring +coat shone like polished jet. But it was not the sudden appearance of +the bear that amazed Meshaba. It was the fact that another animal was +standing shoulder to shoulder with Wakayoo, and that it was not a +brother bear, but a huge wolf. Slowly one of his thin hands rose to his +eyes and he wiped away what he thought must surely be a strange +something that was fooling his vision. In all his eighty years and odd +he had never known a wolf to be thus friendly with a bear. Nature had +made them enemies. Nature had fore-doomed their hatred to be the +deepest hatred of the forests. Therefore, for a space, Meshaba doubted +his eyes. But in another moment he saw that the miracle had truly come +to pass. For the wolf turned broadside to him and it WAS a wolf! A +huge, big-boned beast that stood as high at the shoulders as Wakayoo, +the bear; a great beast, with a great head, and-- + +It was then that Meshaba's heart gave another thump, for the tail of a +wolf is big and bushy in the springtime, and the tail of this beast was +as bare of hair as a beaver's tail! + +"Ohne moosh!" gasped Meshaba, under his breath--"a dog!" + +He seemed to draw slowly into himself, slinking backward. His rifle +stood just out of reach on the other side of the rock. + +At the other end of that eighty or ninety yards Neewa and Miki stood +blinking in the bright sunlight, with the mouth of the cavern in which +Neewa had slept so many months just behind them. Miki was puzzled. +Again it seemed to him that it was only yesterday, and not months ago, +that he had left Neewa in that den, sleeping his lazy head off. And now +that he had returned to him after his own hard winter in the forests he +was astonished to find Neewa so big. For Neewa had grown steadily +through his four months' nap and he was half again as big as when he +went to sleep. Could Miki have spoken Cree, and had Meshaba given him +the opportunity, he might have explained the situation. + +"You see, Mr. Indian"--he might have said--"this dub of a bear and I +have been pals from just about the time we were born. A man named +Challoner tied us together first when Neewa, there, was just about as +big as your head, and we did a lot of scrapping before we got properly +acquainted. Then we got lost, and after that we hitched up like +brothers; and we had a lot of fun and excitement all through last +summer, until at last, when the cold weather came, Neewa hunted up this +hole in the ground and the lazy cuss went to sleep for all winter. I +won't mention what happened to me during the winter. It was a-plenty. +So this spring I had a hunch it was about time for Neewa to get the +cobwebs out of his fool head, and came back. And--here we are! But tell +me this: WHAT MAKES NEEWA SO BIG?" + +It was at least that thought--the bigness of Neewa--that was filling +Miki's head at the present moment. And Meshaba, in place of listening +to an explanation, was reaching for his rifle--while Neewa, with his +brown muzzle sniffing the wind, was gathering in a strange smell. Of +the three, Neewa saw nothing to be wondered at in the situation itself. +When he had gone to sleep four and a half months ago Miki was at his +side; and to-day, when he awoke, Miki was still at his side. The four +and a half months meant nothing to him. Many times he and Miki had gone +to sleep, and had awakened together. For all the knowledge he had of +time it might have been only last night that he had fallen asleep. + +The one thing that made Neewa uneasy now was that strange odour he had +caught in the air. Instinctively he seized upon it as a menace--at +least as something that he would rather NOT smell than smell. So he +turned away with a warning WOOF to Miki. When Meshaba peered around the +edge of the rock, expecting an easy shot, he caught only a flash of the +two as they were disappearing. He fired quickly. + +To Miki and Neewa the report of the rifle and the moaning whirr of the +bullet over their backs recalled memories of a host of things, and +Neewa settled down to that hump-backed, flat-eared flight of his that +kept Miki pegging along at a brisk pace for at least a mile. Then Neewa +stopped, puffing audibly. Inasmuch as he had had nothing to eat for a +third of a year, and was weak from long inactivity, the run came within +an ace of putting him out of business. It was several minutes before he +could gather his wind sufficiently to grunt. Miki, meanwhile, was +carefully smelling of him from his rump to his muzzle. There was +apparently nothing missing, for he gave a delighted little yap at the +end, and, in spite of his size and the dignity of increased age, he +began frisking about Neewa In a manner emphatically expressive of his +joy at his comrade's awakening. + +"It's been a deuce of a lonely winter, Neewa, and I'm tickled to death +to see you on your feet again," his antics said. "What'll we do? Go for +a hunt?" + +This seemed to be the thought in Neewa's mind, for he headed straight +up the valley until they came to an open fen where he proceeded to +quest about for a dinner of roots and grass; and as he searched he +grunted--grunted in his old, companionable, cubbish way. And Miki, +hunting with him, found that once more the loneliness had gone out of +his world. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE + + +To Miki and Neewa, especially Neewa, there seemed nothing extraordinary +in the fact that they were together again, and that their comradeship +was resumed. Although during his months of hibernation Neewa's body had +grown, his mind had not changed its memories or its pictures. It had +not passed through a mess of stirring events such as had made the +winter a thrilling one for Miki, and so it was Neewa who accepted the +new situation most casually. He went on feeding as if nothing at all +unusual had happened during the past four months, and after the edge +had gone from his first hunger he fell into his old habit of looking to +Miki for leadership. And Miki fell into the old ways as though only a +day or a week and not four months had lapsed in their brotherhood. It +is possible that he tried mightily to tell Neewa what had happened. At +least he must have had that desire--to let him know in what a strange +way he had found his old master, Challoner, and how he had lost him +again. And also how he found the woman, Nanette, and the little baby +Nanette, and how for a long time he had lived with them and loved them +as he had never loved anything else on earth. + +It was the old cabin, far to the north and east, that drew him now--the +cabin in which Nanette and the baby had lived; and it was toward this +cabin that he lured Neewa during the first two weeks of their hunting. +They did not travel quickly, largely because of Neewa's voracious +spring appetite and the fact that it consumed nine tenths of his waking +hours to keep full on such provender as roots and swelling buds and +grass. During the first week Miki grew either hopeless or disgusted in +his hunting. One day he killed five rabbits and Neewa ate four of them +and grunted piggishly for more. + +If Miki had stood amazed and appalled at Neewa's appetite in the days +of their cubhood and puppyhood a year ago, he was more than astounded +now, for in the matter of food Neewa was a bottomless pit. On the other +hand he was jollier than ever, and in their wrestling matches he was +almost more than a match for Miki, being nearly again as heavy. He very +soon acquired the habit of taking advantage of this superiority of +weight, and at unexpected moments he would hop on Miki and pin him to +the ground, his fat body smothering him like a huge soft cushion, and +his arms holding him until at times Miki could scarcely squirm. Now and +then, hugging him in this embrace, he would roll over and over, both of +them snarling and growling as though in deadly combat. This play, +though he was literally the under dog, delighted Miki until one day +they rolled over the edge of a deep ravine and crashed in a +dog-and-bear avalanche to the bottom. After that, for a long time, +Neewa did not roll with his victim. Whenever Miki wanted to end a bout, +however, all he had to do was to give Neewa a sharp nip with his long +fangs and the bear would uncoil himself and hop to his feet like a +spring. He had a most serious respect for Miki's teeth. + +But Miki's greatest moments of joy were where Neewa stood up +man-fashion. Then was a real tussle. And his greatest hours of disgust +were when Neewa stretched himself out in a tree for a nap. + +It was the beginning of the third week before they came one day to the +cabin. There was no change in it, and Miki's body sagged disconsolately +as he and Neewa looked at it from the edge of the clearing. No smoke, +no sign of life, and the window was broken now--probably by an +inquisitive bear or a wolverine. Miki went to the window and stood up +to it, sniffing inside. The SMELL was still there--so faint that he +could only just detect it. But that was all. The big room was empty +except for the stove, a table and a few bits of rude furniture. All +else was gone. Three or four times during the next half hour Miki stood +up at the window, and at last Neewa--urged by his curiosity--did +likewise. He also detected the faint odour that was left in the cabin. +He sniffed at it for a long time. It was like the smell he had caught +the day he came out of his den--and yet different. It was fainter, more +elusive, and not so unpleasant. + +For a month thereafter Miki insisted on hunting in the vicinity of the +cabin, held there by the "pull" of the thing which he could neither +analyze nor quite understand. Neewa accepted the situation +good-naturedly for a time. Then he lost patience and surrendered +himself to a grouch for three whole days during which he wandered at +his own sweet will. To preserve the alliance Miki was compelled to +follow him. Berry time--early July--found them sixty miles north and +west of the cabin, in the edge of the country where Neewa was born. + +But there were few berries that summer of bebe nak um geda (the summer +of drought and fire). As early as the middle of July a thin, gray film +began to hover in palpitating waves over the forests. For three weeks +there had been no rain. Even the nights were hot and dry. Each day the +factors at their posts looked out with anxious eyes over their domains, +and by the first of August every post had a score of halfbreeds and +Indians patrolling the trails on the watch for fire. In their cabins +and teepees the forest dwellers who had not gone to pass the summer at +the posts waited and watched; each morning and noon and night they +climbed tall trees and peered through that palpitating gray film for a +sign of smoke. For weeks the wind came steadily from the south and +west, parched as though swept over the burning sands of a desert. +Berries dried up on the bushes; the fruit of the mountain ash shriveled +on its stems; creeks ran dry; swamps turned into baked peat, and the +poplar leaves hung wilted and lifeless, too limp to rustle in the +breeze. Only once or twice in a lifetime does the forest dweller see +poplar leaves curl up and die like that, baked to death in the summer +sun. It is Kiskewahoon (the Danger Signal). Not only the warning of +possible death in a holocaust of fire, but the omen of poor hunting and +trapping in the winter to come. + +Miki and Neewa were in a swamp country when the fifth of August came. +In the lowland it was sweltering. Neewa's tongue hung from his mouth, +and Miki was panting as they made their way along a black and sluggish +stream that was like a great ditch and as dead as the day itself. There +was no visible sun, but a red and lurid glow filled the sky--the sun +struggling to fight its way through the smothering film that had grown +thicker over the earth. Because they were in a "pocket"--a sweep of +tangled country lower than the surrounding country--Neewa and Miki were +not caught in this blackening cloud. Five miles away they might have +heard the thunder of cloven hoofs and the crash of heavy bodies in +their flight before the deadly menace of fire. As it was they made +their way slowly through the parched swamp, so that it was midday when +they came out of the edge of it and up through a green fringe of timber +to the top of a ridge. Before this hour neither had passed through the +horror of a forest fire. But it seized upon them now. It needed no past +experience. The cumulative instinct of a thousand generations leapt +through their brains and bodies. Their world was in the grip of +Iskootao (the Fire Devil). To the south and the east and the west it +was buried in a pall like the darkness of night, and out of the far +edge of the swamp through which they had come they caught the first +livid spurts of flame. From that direction, now that they were out of +the "pocket," they felt a hot wind, and with that wind came a dull and +rumbling roar that was like the distant moaning of a cataract. They +waited, and watched, struggling to get their bearings, their minds +fighting for a few moments in the gigantic process of changing instinct +into reasoning and understanding. Neewa, being a bear, was afflicted +with the near-sightedness of his breed, and he could see neither the +black tornado of smoke bearing down upon them nor the flames leaping +out of the swamp. But he could SMELL, and his nose was twisted into a +hundred wrinkles, and even ahead of Miki he was ready for flight. But +Miki, whose vision was like a hawk's, stood as if fascinated. + +The roaring grew more distinct. It seemed on all sides of them. But it +was from the south that there came the first storm of ash rushing +noiselessly ahead of the fire, and after that the smoke. It was then +that Miki turned with a strange whine but it was Neewa now who took the +lead--Neewa, whose forebears had ten thousand times run this same wild +race with death in the centuries since their world was born. He did not +need the keenness of far vision now. He KNEW. He knew what was behind, +and what was on either side, and where the one trail to safety lay; and +in the air he felt and smelled the thing that was death. Twice Miki +made efforts to swing their course into the east, but Neewa would have +none of it. With flattened ears he went on NORTH. Three times Miki +stopped to turn and face the galloping menace behind them, but never +for an instant did Neewa pause. Straight on--NORTH, NORTH, NORTH--north +to the higher lands, the big waters, the open plains. + +They were not alone. A caribou sped past them with the swiftness of the +wind itself. "FAST, FAST, FAST!"--Neewa's instinct cried; "but--ENDURE! +For the caribou, speeding even faster than the fire, will fall of +exhaustion shortly and be eaten up by the flames. FAST--but ENDURE!" + +And steadily, stoically, at his loping gait Neewa led on. + +A bull moose swung half across their trail from the west, wind-gone and +panting as though his throat were cut. He was badly burned, and running +blindly into the eastern wall of fire. + +Behind and on either side, where the flames were rushing on with the +pitiless ferocity of hunnish regiments, the harvest of death was a vast +and shuddering reality. In hollow logs, under windfalls, in the thick +tree-tops, and in the earth itself, the smaller things of the +wilderness sought their refuge--and died. Rabbits became leaping balls +of flame, then lay shrivelled and black; the marten were baked in their +trees; fishers and mink and ermine crawled into the deepest corners of +the windfalls and died there by inches; owls fluttered out of their +tree-tops, staggered for a few moments in the fiery air, and fell down +into the heart of the flame. No creature made a sound--except the +porcupines; and as they died they cried like little children. + +In the green spruce and cedar timber, heavy with the pitch that made +their thick tops spurt into flame like a sea of explosive, the fire +rushed on with a tremendous roar. From it--in a straight race--there +was no escape for man or beast. Out of that world of conflagration +there might have risen one great, yearning cry to heaven: +WATER--WATER--WATER! Wherever there was water there was also hope--and +life. Breed and blood and wilderness feuds were forgotten in the great +hour of peril. Every lake became a haven of refuge. + +To such a lake came Neewa, guided by an unerring instinct and sense of +smell sharpened by the rumble and roar of the storm of fire behind him. +Miki had "lost" himself; his senses were dulled; his nostrils caught no +scent but that of a world in flames--so, blindly, he followed his +comrade. The fire was enveloping the lake along its western shore, and +its water was already thickly tenanted. It was not a large lake, and +almost round. Its diameter was not more than two hundred yards. Farther +out--a few of them swimming, but most of them standing on bottom with +only their heads out of water--were a score of caribou and moose. Many +other shorter-legged creatures were swimming aimlessly, turning this +way and that, paddling their feet only enough to keep afloat. On the +shore where Neewa and Miki paused was a huge porcupine, chattering and +chuckling foolishly, as if scolding all things in general for having +disturbed him at dinner. Then he took to the water. A little farther up +the shore a fisher-cat and a fox hugged close to the water line, +hesitating to wet their precious fur until death itself snapped at +their heels; and as if to bring fresh news of this death a second fox +dragged himself wearily out on the shore, as limp as a wet rag after +his swim from the opposite shore, where the fire was already leaping in +a wall of flame. And as this fox swam in, hoping to find safety, an old +bear twice as big as Neewa, crashed panting from the undergrowth, +plunged into the water, and swam OUT. Smaller things were creeping and +crawling and slinking along the shore; little red-eyed ermine, marten, +and mink, rabbits, squirrels, and squeaking gophers, and a horde of +mice. And at last, with these things which he would have devoured so +greedily running about him, Neewa waded slowly out into the water. Miki +followed until he was submerged to his shoulders. Then he stopped. The +fire was close now, advancing like a race-horse. Over the protecting +barrier of thick timber drove the clouds of smoke and ash. Swiftly the +lake became obliterated, and now out of that awful chaos of blackness +and smoke and heat there rose strange and thrilling cries; the bleating +of a moose calf that was doomed to die and the bellowing, terror-filled +response of its mother; the agonized howling of a wolf; the terrified +barking of a fox, and over all else the horrible screaming of a pair of +loons whose home had been transformed into a sea of flame. + +Through the thickening smoke and increasing heat Neewa gave his call to +Miki as he began to swim, and with an answering whine Miki plunged +after him, swimming so close to his big black brother that his muzzle +touched the other's flank. In mid-lake Neewa did as the other swimming +creatures were doing--paddled only enough to keep himself afloat; but +for Miki, big of bone and unassisted by a life-preserver of fat, the +struggle was not so easy. He was forced to swim to keep afloat. A dozen +times he circled around Neewa, and then, with something of the +situation driven upon him, he came up close to the bear and rested his +forepaws on his shoulders. + +The lake was now encircled by a solid wall of fire. Blasts of flame +shot up the pitch-laden trees and leapt for fifty feet into the +blistering air. The roar of the conflagration was deafening. It drowned +all sound that brute agony and death may have made. And its heat was +terrific. For a few terrible minutes the air which Miki drew into his +lungs was like fire itself. Neewa plunged his head under water every +few seconds, but it was not Miki's instinct to do this. Like the wolf +and the fox and the fisher-cat and the lynx it was his nature to die +before completely submerging himself. + +Swift as it had come the fire passed; and the walls of timber that had +been green a few moments before were black and shrivelled and dead; and +sound swept on with the flame until it became once more only a low and +rumbling murmur. + +To the black and smouldering shores the live things slowly made their +way. Of all the creatures that had taken refuge in the lake many had +died. Chief of those were the porcupines. All had drowned. + +Close to the shore the heat was still intense, and for hours the earth +was hot with smouldering fire. All the rest of that day and the night +that followed no living thing moved out of the shallow water. And yet +no living thing thought to prey upon its neighbour. The great peril had +made of all beasts kin. + +A little before dawn of the day following the fire relief came. A +deluge of rain fell, and when day broke and the sun shone through a +murky heaven there was left no sign of what the lake had been, except +for the dead bodies that floated on its surface or lined its shores. +The living things had returned into their desolated wilderness--and +among them Neewa and Miki. + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX + + +For many days after the Great Fire it was Neewa who took the lead. All +their world was a black and lifeless desolation and Miki would not have +known which way to turn. Had it been a local fire of small extent he +would have "wandered" out of its charred path. But the conflagration +had been immense. It had swept over a vast reach of country, and for a +half of the creatures who had saved themselves in the lakes and streams +there was only a death by starvation left. + +But not for Neewa and his breed. Just as there had been no indecision +in the manner and direction of his flight before the fire so there was +now no hesitation in the direction he chose to seek a live world again. +It was due north and west--as straight as a die. If they came to a +lake, and went around it, Neewa would always follow the shore until he +came directly opposite his trail on the other side of the lake--and +then strike north and west again. He travelled steadily, not only by +day but also by night, with only short intervals of rest, and the +dawning of the second morning found Miki more exhausted than the bear. + +There were many evidences now that they had reached a point where the +fire had begun to burn itself out. Patches of green timber were left +standing, there were swamps unscathed by the flames, and here and there +they came upon green patches of meadow. In the swamps and timber they +feasted, for these oases in what had been a sea of flame were filled +with food ready to be preyed upon and devoured. For the first time +Neewa refused to stop because there was plenty to eat. The sixth day +they were a hundred miles from the lake in which they had sought refuge +from the fire. + +It was a wonderful country of green timber, of wide plains and of many +lakes and streams--cut up by a thousand usayow (low ridges), which made +the best of hunting. Because it was a country of many waters, with live +streams running between the ridges and from lake to lake, it had not +suffered from the drought like the country farther south. For a month +Neewa and Miki hunted in their new paradise, and became fat and happy +again. + +It was in September that they came upon a strange thing in the edge of +a swamp. At first Miki thought that it was a cabin; but it was a great +deal smaller than any cabin he had known. It was not much larger than +the cage of saplings in which Le Beau had kept him. But it was made of +heavy logs, and the logs were notched so that nothing could knock them +down. And these logs, instead of lying closely one on the other, had +open spaces six or eight inches wide between them. And there was a +wide-open door. From this strange contraption there came a strong odour +of over-ripened fish. The smell repelled Miki. But it was a powerful +attraction to Neewa, who persisted in remaining near it in spite of all +Miki could do to drag him away. Finally, disgusted at his comrade's bad +taste, Miki sulked off alone to hunt. It was some time after that +before Neewa dared to thrust his head and shoulders through the +opening. The smell of the fish made his little eyes gleam. Cautiously +he stepped inside the queer looking thing of logs. Nothing happened. He +saw the fish, all he could eat, just on the other side of a sapling +against which he must lean to reach them. He went deliberately to the +sapling, leaned over, and then!-- + +"CRASH!" + +He whirled about as if shot. There was no longer an opening where he +had entered. The sapling "trigger" had released an over-head door, and +Neewa was a prisoner. He was not excited, but accepted the situation +quite coolly, probably having no doubt in his mind that somewhere there +was an aperture between the logs large enough for him to squeeze +through. After a few inquisitive sniffs he proceeded to devour the +fish. He was absorbed in his odoriferous feast when out of a clump of +dwarf balsams a few yards away appeared an Indian. He quickly took in +the situation, turned, and disappeared. + +Half an hour later this Indian ran into a clearing in which were the +recently constructed buildings of a new Post. He made for the Company +store. In the fur-carpeted "office" of this store a man was bending +fondly over a woman. The Indian saw them as he entered, and chuckled. +"Sakehewawin" ("the love couple"); that was what they had already come +to call them at Post Lac Bain--this man and woman who had given them a +great feast when the missioner had married them not so very long ago. +The man and the woman stood up when the Indian entered, and the woman +smiled at him. She was beautiful. Her eyes were glowing, and there was +the flush of a flower in her cheeks. The Indian felt the worship of her +warm in his heart. + +"Oo-ee, we have caught the bear," he said. "But it is napao (a +he-bear). There is no cub, Iskwao Nanette!" + +The white man chuckled. + +"Aren't we having the darndest luck getting you a cub for a house-pet, +Nanette?" he asked. "I'd have sworn this mother and her cub would have +been easily caught. A he-bear! We'll have to let him loose, Mootag. His +pelt is good for nothing. Do you want to go with us and see the fun, +Nanette?" + +She nodded, her little laugh filled with the joy of love and life. + +"Oui. It will be such fun--to see him go!" + +Challoner led the way, with an axe in his hand; and with him came +Nanette, her hand in his. Mootag followed with his rifle, prepared for +an emergency. From the thick screen of balsams Challoner peered forth, +then made a hole through which Nanette might look at the cage and its +prisoner. For a moment or two she held her breath as she watched Neewa +pacing back and forth, very much excited now. Then she gave a little +cry, and Challoner felt her fingers pinch his own sharply. Before he +knew what she was about to do she had thrust herself through the screen +of balsams. + +Close to the log prison, faithful to his comrade in the hour of peril, +lay Miki. He was exhausted from digging at the earth under the lower +log, and he had not smelled or heard anything of the presence of others +until he saw Nanette standing not twenty paces away. His heart leapt up +into his panting throat. He swallowed, as though to get rid of a great +lump; he stared. And then, with a sudden, yearning whine, he sprang +toward her. With a yell Challoner leapt out of the balsams with +uplifted axe. But before the axe could fall, Miki was in Nanette's +arms, and Challoner dropped his weapon with a gasp of amazement--and +one word: + +"MIKI!" + +Mootag, looking on in stupid astonishment, saw both the man and the +woman making a great fuss over a strange and wild-looking beast that +looked as if it ought to be killed. They had forgotten the bear. And +Miki, wildly joyous at finding his beloved master and mistress, had +forgotten him also. It was a prodigious WHOOF from Neewa himself that +brought their attention to him. Like a flash Miki was back at the pen +smelling of Neewa's snout between two of the logs, and with a great +wagging of tail trying to make him understand what had happened. + +Slowly, with a thought born in his head that made him oblivious of all +else but the big black brute in the pen, Challoner approached the trap. +Was it possible that Miki could have made friends with any other bear +than the cub of long ago? He drew in a deep breath as he looked at +them. Neewa's brown-tipped nose was thrust between two of the logs and +MIKI WAS LICKING IT WITH HIS TONGUE! He held out a hand to Nanette, and +when she came to him he pointed for a space, without speaking. + +Then he said: + +"It is the cub, Nanette. You know--the cub I have told you about. +They've stuck together all this time--ever since I killed the cub's +mother a year and a half ago, and tied them together on a piece of +rope. I understand now why Miki ran away from us when we were at the +cabin. He went back--to the bear." + +To-day if you strike northward from Le Pas and put your canoe in the +Rat River or Grassberry waterways, and thence paddle and run with the +current down the Reindeer River and along the east shore of Reindeer +Lake you will ultimately come to the Cochrane--and Post Lac Bain. It is +one of the most wonderful countries in all the northland. Three hundred +Indians, breeds and French, come with their furs to Lac Bain. Not a +soul among them--man, woman, or child--but knows the story of the "tame +bear of Lac Bain"--the pet of l'ange, the white angel, the Factor's +wife. + +The bear wears a shining collar and roams at will in the company of a +great dog, but, having grown huge and fat now, never wanders far from +the Post. And it is an unwritten law in all that country that the +animal must not be harmed, and that no bear traps shall be set within +five miles of the Company buildings. Beyond that limit the bear never +roams; and when it comes cold, and he goes into his long sleep, he +crawls into a deep warm cavern that has been dug for him under the +Company storehouse. And with him, when the nights come, sleeps Miki the +dog. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Nomads of the North, by James Oliver Curwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOMADS OF THE NORTH *** + +***** This file should be named 4704.txt or 4704.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/7/0/4704/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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We need your donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 +Find out about how to make a donation at the bottom of this file. + + + +Title: Nomads Of The North + +Author: James Oliver Curwood + +Release Date: December, 2003 [Etext #4704] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 3, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Nomads Of The North, by James Oliver Curwood +***********This file should be named nmdnt10.txt or nmdnt10.zip*********** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, nmdnt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, nmdnt10a.txt + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep etexts in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +The "legal small print" and other information about this book +may now be found at the end of this file. Please read this +important information, as it gives you specific rights and +tells you about restrictions in how the file may be used. + + + + + + + + + + +NOMADS OF THE NORTH + +A STORY OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE UNDER THE OPEN STARS + +BY JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD + + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + + +It was late in the month of March, at the dying-out of the Eagle +Moon, that Neewa the black bear cub got his first real look at the +world. Noozak, his mother, was an old bear, and like an old person +she was filled with rheumatics and the desire to sleep late. So +instead of taking a short and ordinary nap of three months this +particular winter of little Neewa's birth she slept four, which, +made Neewa, who was born while ms mother was sound asleep, a +little over two months old instead of six weeks when they came out +of den. + +In choosing this den Noozak had gone to a cavern at the crest of a +high, barren ridge, and from this point Neewa first looked down +into the valley. For a time, coming out of darkness into sunlight, +he was blinded. He could hear and smell and feel many things +before he could see. And Noozak, as though puzzled at finding +warmth and sunshine in place of cold and darkness, stood for many +minutes sniffing the wind and looking down upon her domain. + +For two weeks an early spring had been working its miracle of +change in that wonderful country of the northland between +Jackson's Knee and the Shamattawa River, and from north to south +between God's Lake and the Churchill. + +It was a splendid world. From the tall pinnacle of rock on which +they stood it looked like a great sea of sunlight, with only here +and there patches of white snow where the winter winds had piled +it deep. Their ridge rose up out of a great valley. On all sides +of them, as far as a man's eye could have reached, there were blue +and black patches of forest, the shimmer of lakes still partly +frozen, the sunlit sparkle of rivulet and stream, and the greening +open spaces out of which rose the perfumes of the earth. These +smells drifted up like tonic and food to the nostrils of Noozak +the big bear. Down there the earth was already swelling with life. +The buds on the poplars were growing fat and near the bursting +point; the grasses were sending out shoots tender and sweet; the +camas were filling with juice; the shooting stars, the dog-tooth +violets, and the spring beauties were thrusting themselves up into +the warm glow of the sun, inviting Noozak and Neewa to the feast. +All these things Noozak smelled with the experience and the +knowledge of twenty years of life behind her--the delicious aroma +of the spruce and the jackpine; the dank, sweet scent of water- +lily roots and swelling bulbs that came from a thawed-out fen at +the foot of the ridge; and over all these things, overwhelming +their individual sweetnesses in a still greater thrill of life, +the smell of the heart itself! + +And Neewa smelled them. His amazed little body trembled and +thrilled for the first time with the excitement of life. A moment +before in darkness, he found himself now in a wonderland of which +he had never so much as had a dream. In these few minutes Nature +was at work upon him. He possessed no knowledge, but instinct was +born within him. He knew this was HIS world, that the sun and the +warmth were for him, and that the sweet things of the earth were +inviting him into his heritage. He puckered up his little brown +nose and sniffed the air, and the pungency of everything that was +sweet and to be yearned for came to him. + +And he listened. His pointed ears were pricked forward, and up to +him came the drone of a wakening earth. Even the roots of the +grasses must have been singing in their joy, for all through that +sunlit valley there was the low and murmuring music of a country +that was at peace because it was empty of men. Everywhere was the +rippling sound of running water, and he heard strange sounds that +he knew was life; the twittering of a rock-sparrow, the silver- +toned aria of a black-throated thrush down in the fen, the shrill +paean of a gorgeously coloured Canada jay exploring for a nesting +place in a brake of velvety balsam. And then, far over his head, a +screaming cry that made him shiver. It was instinct again that +told him in that cry was danger. Noozak looked up, and saw the +shadow of Upisk, the great eagle, as it flung itself between the +sun and the earth. Neewa saw the shadow, and cringed nearer to his +mother. + +And Noozak--so old that she had lost half her teeth, so old that +her bones ached on damp and chilly nights, and her eyesight was +growing dim--was still not so old that she did not look down with +growing exultation upon what she saw. Her mind was travelling +beyond the mere valley in which they had wakened. Off there beyond +the walls of forest, beyond the farthest lake, beyond the river +and the plain, were the illimitable spaces which gave her home. To +her came dully a sound uncaught by Neewa--the almost +unintelligible rumble of the great waterfall. It was this, and the +murmur of a thousand trickles of running water, and the soft wind +breathing down in the balsam and spruce that put the music of +spring into the air. + +At last Noozak heaved a great breath out of her lungs and with a +grunt to Neewa began to lead the way slowly down among the rocks +to the foot of the ridge. + +In the golden pool of the valley it was even warmer than on the +crest of the ridge. Noozak went straight to the edge of the +slough. Half a dozen rice birds rose with a whir of wings that +made Neewa almost upset himself. Noozak paid no attention to them. +A loon let out a squawky protest at Noozak's soft-footed +appearance, and followed it up with a raucous screech that raised +the hair on Neewa's spine. And Noozak paid no attention to this. +Neewa observed these things. His eye was on her, and instinct had +already winged his legs with the readiness to run if his mother +should give the signal. In his funny little head it was developing +very quickly that his mother was a most wonderful creature. She +was by all odds the biggest thing alive--that is, the biggest that +stood on legs, and moved. He was confident of this for a space of +perhaps two minutes, when they came to the end of the fen. And +here was a sudden snort, a crashing of bracken, the floundering of +a huge body through knee-deep mud, and a monstrous bull moose, +four times as big as Noozak, set off in lively flight. Neewa's +eyes all but popped from his head. And STILL Noozak PAID NO +ATTENTION! + +It was then that Neewa crinkled up his tiny nose and snarled, just +as he had snarled at Noozak's ears and hair and at sticks he had +worried in the black cavern. A glorious understanding dawned upon +him. He could snarl at anything he wanted to snarl at, no matter +how big. For everything ran away from Noozak his mother. + +All through this first glorious day Neewa was discovering things, +and with each hour it was more and more impressed upon him that +his mother was the unchallenged mistress of all this new and +sunlit domain. + +Noozak was a thoughtful old mother of a bear who had reared +fifteen or eighteen families in her time, and she travelled very +little this first day in order that Neewa's tender feet might +toughen up a bit. They scarcely left the fen, except to go into a +nearby clump of trees where Noozak used her claws to shred a +spruce that they might get at the juice and slimy substance just +under the bark. Neewa liked this dessert after their feast of +roots and bulbs, and tried to claw open a tree on his own account. +By mid-afternoon Noozak had eaten until her sides bulged out, and +Neewa himself--between his mother's milk and the many odds and +ends of other things--looked like an over-filled pod. Selecting a +spot where the declining sun made a warm oven of a great white +rock, lazy old Noozak lay down for a nap, while Neewa, wandering +about in quest of an adventure of his own, came face to face with +a ferocious bug. + +The creature was a giant wood-beetle two inches long. Its two +battling pincers were jet black, and curved like hooks of iron. It +was a rich brown in colour and in the sunlight its metallic armour +shone in a dazzling splendour. Neewa, squatted flat on his belly, +eyed it with a swiftly beating heart. The beetle was not more than +a foot away, and ADVANCING! That was the curious and rather +shocking part of it. It was the first living thing he had met with +that day that had not run away. As it advanced slowly on its two +rows of legs the beetle made a clicking sound that Neewa heard +quite distinctly. With the fighting blood of his father, +Soominitik, nerving him on to the adventure he thrust out a +hesitating paw, and instantly Chegawasse, the beetle, took upon +himself a most ferocious aspect. His wings began humming like a +buzz-saw, his pincers opened until they could have taken in a +man's finger, and he vibrated on his legs until it looked as +though he might be performing some sort of a dance. Neewa jerked +his paw back and after a moment or two Chegawasse calmed himself +and again began to ADVANCE! + +Neewa did not know, of course, that the beetle's field of vision +ended about four inches from the end of his nose; the situation, +consequently, was appalling. But it was never born in a son of a +father like Soominitik to run from a bug, even at nine weeks of +age. Desperately he thrust out his paw again, and unfortunately +for him one of his tiny claws got a half Nelson on the beetle and +held Chegawasse on his shining back so that he could neither buzz +not click. A great exultation swept through Neewa. Inch by inch he +drew his paw in until the beetle was within reach of his sharp +little teeth. Then he smelled of him. + +That was Chegawasse's opportunity. The pincers closed and Noozak's +slumbers were disturbed by a sudden bawl of agony. When she raised +her head Neewa was rolling about as if in a fit. He was scratching +and snarling and spitting. Noozak eyed him speculatively for some +moments, then reared herself slowly and went to him. With one big +paw she rolled him over--and saw Chegawasse firmly and +determinedly attached to her offspring's nose. Flattening Neewa on +his back so that he could not move she seized the beetle between +her teeth, bit slowly until Chegawasse lost his hold, and then +swallowed him. + +From then until dusk Neewa nursed his sore nose. A little before +dark Noozak curled herself up against the big rock, and Neewa took +his supper. Then he made himself a nest in the crook of her big, +warm forearm. In spite of his smarting nose he was a happy bear, +and at the end of his first day he felt very brave and very +fearless, though he was but nine weeks old. He had come into the +world, he had looked upon many things, and if he had not conquered +he at least had gone gloriously through the day. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + + +That night Neewa had a hard attack of Mistu-puyew, or stomach- +ache. Imagine a nursing baby going direct from its mother's breast +to a beefsteak! That was what Neewa had done. Ordinarily he would +not have begun nibbling at solid foods for at least another month, +but nature seemed deliberately at work in a process of intensive +education preparing him for the mighty and unequal struggle which +he would have to put up a little later. For hours Neewa moaned and +wailed, and Noozak muzzled his bulging little belly with her nose, +until finally he vomited and was better. + +After that he slept. When he awoke he was startled by opening his +eyes full into the glare of a great blaze of fire. Yesterday he +had seen the sun, golden and shimmering and far away. But this was +the first time he had seen it come up over the edge of the world +on a spring morning in the Northland. It was as red as blood, and +as he stared it rose steadily and swiftly until the flat side of +it rounded out and it was a huge ball of SOMETHING. At first he +thought it was Life--some monstrous creature sailing up over the +forest toward them--and he turned with a whine of enquiry to his +mother. Whatever it was, Noozak was unafraid. Her big head was +turned toward it, and she was blinking her eyes in solemn comfort. +It was then that Neewa began to feel the pleasing warmth of the +red thing, and in spite of his nervousness he began to purr in the +glow of it. From red the sun turned swiftly to gold, and the whole +valley was transformed once more into a warm and pulsating glory +of life. + +For two weeks after this first sunrise in Neewa's life Noozak +remained near the ridge and the slough. Then came the day, when +Neewa was eleven weeks old, that she turned her nose toward the +distant black forests and began the summer's peregrination. +Neewa's feet had lost their tenderness, and he weighed a good six +pounds. This was pretty good considering that he had only weighed +twelve ounces at birth. + +From the day when Noozak set off on her wandering TREK Neewa's +real adventures began. In the dark and mysterious caverns of the +forests there were places where the snow still lay unsoftened by +the sun, and for two days Neewa yearned and whined for the sunlit +valley. They passed the waterfall, where Neewa looked for the +first tune on a rushing torrent of water. Deeper and darker and +gloomier grew the forest Noozak was penetrating. In this forest +Neewa received his first lessons in hunting. Noozak was now well +in the "bottoms" between the Jackson's Knee and Shamattawa +waterway divides, a great hunting ground for bears in the early +spring. When awake she was tireless in her quest for food, and was +constantly digging in the earth, or turning over stones and +tearing rotting logs and stumps into pieces. The little gray wood- +mice were her piece de resistance, small as they were, and it +amazed Neewa to see how quick his clumsy old mother could be when +one of these little creatures was revealed. There were times when +Noozak captured a whole family before they could escape. And to +these were added frogs and toads, still partly somnambulent; many +ants, curled up as if dead, in the heart of rotting logs; and +occasional bumble-bees, wasps, and hornets. Now and then Neewa +took a nibble at these things. On the third day Noozak uncovered a +solid mass of hibernating vinegar ants as large as a man's two +fists, and frozen solid. Neewa ate a quantity of these, and the +sweet, vinegary flavour of them was delicious to his palate. + +As the days progressed, and living things began to crawl out from +under logs and rocks, Neewa discovered the thrill and excitement +of hunting on his own account. He encountered a second beetle, and +killed it. He killed his first wood-mouse. Swiftly there were +developing in him the instincts of Soominitik, his scrap-loving +old father, who lived three or four valleys to the north of their +own, and who never missed an opportunity to get into a fight. At +four months of age, which was late in May, Neewa was eating many +things that would have killed most cubs of his age, and there +wasn't a yellow streak in him from the tip of his saucy little +nose to the end of his stubby tail. He weighed nine pounds at this +date and was as black as a tar-baby. + +It was early in June that the exciting event occurred which +brought about the beginning of the big change in Neewa's life, and +it was on a day so warm and mellow with sunshine that Noozak +started in right after dinner to take her afternoon nap. They were +out of the lower timber country now, and were in a valley through +which a shallow stream wriggled and twisted around white sand-bars +and between pebbly shores. Neewa was sleepless. He had less desire +than ever to waste a glorious afternoon in napping. With his +little round eyes he looked out on a wonderful world, and found it +calling to him. He looked at his mother, and whined. Experience +told him that she was dead to the world for hours to come, unless +he tickled her foot or nipped her ear, and then she would only +rouse herself enough to growl at him. He was tired of that. He +yearned for something more exciting, and with his mind suddenly +made up he set off in quest of adventure. + +In that big world of green and golden colours he was a little +black ball nearly as wide as he was long. He went down to the +creek, and looked back. He could still see his mother. Then his +feet paddled in the soft white sand of a long bar that edged the +shore, and he forgot Noozak. He went to the end of the bar, and +turned up on the green shore where the young grass was like velvet +under his paws. Here he began turning over small stones for ants. +He chased a chipmunk that ran a close and furious race with him +for twenty seconds. A little later a huge snow-shoe rabbit got up +almost under his nose, and he chased that until in a dozen long +leaps Wapoos disappeared in a thicket. Neewa wrinkled up his nose +and emitted a squeaky snarl. Never had Soominitik's blood run so +riotously within him. He wanted to get hold of something. For the +first time in his life he was yearning for a scrap. He was like a +small boy who the day after Christmas has a pair of boxing gloves +and no opponent. He sat down and looked about him querulously, +still wrinkling his nose and snarling defiantly. He had the whole +world beaten. He knew that. Everything was afraid of his mother. +Everything was afraid of HIM. It was disgusting--this lack of +something alive for an ambitious young fellow to fight. After all, +the world was rather tame. + +He set off at a new angle, came around the edge of a huge rock, +and suddenly stopped. + +From behind the other end of the rock protruded a huge hind paw. +For a few moments Neewa sat still, eyeing it with a growing +anticipation. This time he would give his mother a nip that would +waken her for good! He would rouse her to the beauty and the +opportunities of this day if there was any rouse in him! So he +advanced slowly and cautiously, picked out a nice bare spot on the +paw, and sank his little teeth in it to the gums. + +There followed a roar that shook the earth. Now it happened that +the paw did not belong to Noozak, but was the personal property of +Makoos, an old he-bear of unlovely disposition and malevolent +temper. But in him age had produced a grouchiness that was not at +all like the grandmotherly peculiarities of old Noozak. Makoos was +on his feet fairly before Neewa realized that he had made a +mistake. He was not only an old bear and a grouchy bear, but he +was also a hater of cubs. More than once in his day he had +committed the crime of cannibalism. He was what the Indian hunter +calls uchan--a bad bear, an eater of his own kind, and the instant +his enraged eyes caught sight of Neewa he let out another roar. + +At that Neewa gathered his fat little legs under his belly and was +off like a shot. Never before in his life had he run as he ran +now. Instinct told him that at last he had met something which was +not afraid of him, and that he was in deadly peril. He made no +choice of direction, for now that he had made this mistake he had +no idea where he would find his mother. He could hear Makoos +coming after him, and as he ran he set up a bawling that was +filled with a wild and agonizing prayer for help. That cry reached +the faithful old Noozak. In an instant she was on her feet--and +just in time. Like a round black ball shot out of a gun Neewa sped +past the rock where she had been sleeping, and ten jumps behind +him came Makoos. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his mother, +but his momentum carried him past her. In that moment Noozak leapt +into action. As a football player makes a tackle she rushed out +just in time to catch old Makoos with all her weight full +broadside in the ribs, and the two old bears rolled over and over +in what to Neewa was an exciting and glorious mix-up. + +He had stopped, and his eyes bulged out like shining little onions +as he took in the scene of battle. He had longed for a fight but +what he saw now fairly paralyzed him. The two bears were at it, +roaring and tearing each other's hides and throwing up showers of +gravel and earth in their deadly clinch. In this first round +Noozak had the best of it. She had butted the wind out of Makoos +in her first dynamic assault, and now with her dulled and broken +teeth at his throat she was lashing him with her sharp hind claws +until the blood streamed from the old barbarian's sides and he +bellowed like a choking bull. Neewa knew that it was his pursuer +who was getting the worst of it, and with a squeaky cry for his +mother to lambast the very devil out of Makoos he ran back to the +edge of the arena, his nose crinkled and his teeth gleaming in a +ferocious snarl. He danced about excitedly a dozen feet from the +fighters, Soominitik's blood filling him with a yearning for the +fray and yet he was afraid. + +Then something happened that suddenly and totally upset the +maddening joy of his mother's triumph. Makoos, being a he-bear, +was of necessity skilled in fighting, and all at once he freed +himself from Noozak's jaws, wallowed her under him, and in turn +began ripping the hide off old Noozak's carcass in such quantities +that she let out an agonized bawling that turned Neewa's little +heart into stone. + +It is a matter of most exciting conjecture what a small boy will +do when he sees his father getting licked. If there is an axe +handy he is liable to use it. The most cataclysmic catastrophe +that cam come into his is to have a father whom some other boy's +father has given a walloping. Next to being President of the +United States the average small boy treasures the desire to +possess a parent who can whip any other two-legged creature that +wears trousers. And there were a lot of human things about Neewa. +The louder his mother bawled the more distinctly he felt the shock +of his world falling about him. If Noozak had lost a part of her +strength in her old age her voice, at least, was still unimpaired, +and such a spasm of outcry as she emitted could have been heard at +least half a mile away. + +Neewa could stand no more. Blind with rage, he darted in. It was +chance that closed his vicious little jaws on a toe that belonged +to Makoos, and his teeth sank into the flesh like two rows of +ivory needles. Makoos gave a tug, but Neewa held on, and bit +deeper. Then Makoos drew up his leg and sent it out like a +catapault, and in spite of his determination to hang on Neewa +found himself sailing wildly through the air. He landed against a +rock twenty feet from the fighters with a force that knocked the +wind out of him, and for a matter of eight or ten seconds after +that he wobbled dizzily in his efforts to stand up. Then his +vision and his senses returned and he gazed on a scene that +brought all the blood pounding back into his body again. + +Makoos was no longer fighting, but was RUNNING AWAY--and there was +a decided limp in his gait! + +Poor old Noozak was standing on her feet, facing the retreating +enemy. She was panting like a winded calf. Her jaws were agape. +Her tongue lolled out, and blood was dripping in little trickles +from her body to the ground. She had been thoroughly and +efficiently mauled. She was beyond the shadow of a doubt a whipped +bear. Yet in that glorious flight of the enemy Neewa saw nothing +of Noozak's defeat. Their enemy was RUNNING AWAY! Therefore, he +was whipped. And with excited little squeaks of joy Neewa ran to +his mother. + + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + + +As they stood in the warm sunshine of this first day of June, +watching the last of Makoos as he fled across the creek bottom, +Neewa felt very much like an old and seasoned warrior instead of a +pot-bellied, round-faced cub of four months who weighed nine +pounds and not four hundred. + +It was many minutes after Neewa had sunk his ferocious little +teeth deep into the tenderest part of the old he-bear's toe before +Noozak could get her wind sufficiently to grunt. Her sides were +pumping like a pair of bellows, and after Makoos had disappeared +beyond the creek Neewa sat down on his chubby bottom, perked his +funny ears forward, and eyed his mother with round and glistening +eyes that were filled with uneasy speculation. With a wheezing +groan Noozak turned and made her way slowly toward the big rock +alongside which she had been sleeping when Neewa's fearful cries +for help had awakened her. Every bone in her aged body seemed +broken or dislocated. She limped and sagged and moaned as she +walked, and behind her were left little red trails of blood in the +green grass. Makoos had given her a fine pummeling. + +She lay down, gave a final groan, and looked at Neewa, as if to +say: + +"If you hadn't gone off on some deviltry and upset that old +viper's temper this wouldn't have happened. And now--look at ME!" + +A young bear would have rallied quickly from the effects of the +battle, but Noozak lay without moving all the rest of that +afternoon, and the night that followed. And that night was by all +odds the finest that Neewa had ever seen. Now that the nights were +warm, he had come to love the moon even more than the sun, for by +birth and instinct he was more a prowler in darkness than a hunter +of the day. The moon rose out of the east in a glory of golden +fire. The spruce and balsam forests stood out like islands in a +yellow sea of light, and the creek shimmered and quivered like a +living thing as it wound its way through the glowing valley. But +Neewa had learned his lesson, and though the moon and the stars +called to him he hung close to his mother, listening to the +carnival of night sound that came to him, but never moving away +from her side. + +With the morning Noozak rose to her feet, and with a grunting +command for Neewa to follow she slowly climbed the sun-capped +ridge. She was in no mood for travel, but away back in her head +was an unexpressed fear that villainous old Makoos might return, +and she knew that another fight would do her up entirely, in which +event Makoos would make a breakfast of Neewa. So she urged herself +down the other side of the ridge, across a new valley, and through +a cut that opened like a wide door into a rolling plain that was +made up of meadows and lakes and great sweeps of spruce and cedar +forest. For a week Noozak had been making for a certain creek in +this plain, and now that the presence of Makoos threatened behind +she kept at her journeying until Neewa's short, fat legs could +scarcely hold up his body. + +It was mid-afternoon when they reached the creek, and Neewa was so +exhausted that he had difficulty in climbing the spruce up which +his mother sent him to take a nap. Finding a comfortable crotch he +quickly fell asleep--while Noozak went fishing. + +The creek was alive with suckers, trapped in the shallow pools +after spawning, and within an hour she had the shore strewn with +them. When Neewa came down out of his cradle, just at the edge of +dusk, it was to a feast at which Noozak had already stuffed +herself until she looked like a barrel. This was his first meal of +fish, and for a week thereafter he lived in a paradise of fish. He +ate them morning, noon, and night, and when he was too full to eat +he rolled in them. And Noozak stuffed herself until it seemed her +hide would burst. Wherever they moved they carried with them a +fishy smell that grew older day by day, and the older it became +the more delicious it was to Neewa and his mother. And Neewa grew +like a swelling pod. In that week he gained three pounds. He had +given up nursing entirely now, for Noozak--being an old bear--had +dried up to a point where she was hopelessly disappointing. + +It was early in the evening of the eighth day that Neewa and his +mother lay down in the edge of a grassy knoll to sleep after their +day's feasting. Noozak was by all odds the happiest old bear in +all that part of the northland. Food was no longer a problem for +her. In the creek, penned up in the pools, were unlimited +quantities of it, and she had encountered no other bear to +challenge her possession of it. She looked ahead to uninterrupted +bliss in their happy hunting grounds until midsummer storms +emptied the pools, or the berries ripened. And Neewa, a happy +little gourmand, dreamed with her. + +It was this day, just as the sun was setting, that a man on his +hands and knees was examining a damp patch of sand five or six +miles down the creek. His sleeves were rolled up, baring his brown +arms halfway to the shoulders and he wore no hat, so that the +evening breeze ruffled a ragged head of blond hair that for a +matter of eight or nine months had been cut with a hunting knife. + +Close on one side of this individual was a tin pail, and on the +other, eying him with the keenest interest, one of the homeliest +and yet one of the most companionable-looking dog pups ever born +of a Mackenzie hound father and a mother half Airedale and half +Spitz. + +With this tragedy of blood in his veins nothing in the world could +have made the pup anything more than "just dog." His tail,-- +stretched out straight on the sand, was long and lean, with a knot +at every joint; his paws, like an overgrown boy's feet, looked +like small boxing-gloves; his head was three sizes too big for his +body, and accident had assisted Nature in the perfection of her +masterpiece by robbing him of a half of one of his ears. As he +watched his master this half of an ear stood up like a galvanized +stub, while the other--twice as long--was perked forward in the +deepest and most interested enquiry. Head, feet, and tail were +Mackenzie hound, but the ears and his lank, skinny body was a +battle royal between Spitz and Airedale. At his present +inharmonious stage of development he was the doggiest dog-pup +outside the alleys of a big city. + +For the first time in several minutes his master spoke, and Miki +wiggled from stem to stern in appreciation of the fact that it was +directly to him the words were uttered. + +"It's a mother and a cub, as sure as you're a week old, Miki," he +said. "And if I know anything about bears they were here some time +to-day!" + +He rose to his feet, made note of the deepening shadows in the +edge of the timber, and filled his pail with water. For a few +moments the last rays of the sun lit up his face. It was a strong, +hopeful face. In it was the joy of life. And now it was lighted up +with a sudden inspiration, and a glow that was not of the forest +alone came into his eyes, as he added: + +"Miki, I'm lugging your homely carcass down to the Girl because +you're an unpolished gem of good nature and beauty--and for those +two things I know she'll love you. She is my sister, you know. +Now, if I could only take that cub along with you----" + +He began to whistle as he turned with his pail of water in the +direction of a thin fringe of balsams a hundred yards away. + +Close at his heels followed Miki. + +Challoner, who was a newly appointed factor of the Great Hudson's +Bay Company, had pitched his camp at tie edge of the lake dose to +the mouth of the creek. There was not much to it--a battered tent, +a still more battered canoe, and a small pile of dunnage. But in +the last glow of the sunset it would have spoken volumes to a man +with an eye trained to the wear and the turmoil of the forests. It +was the outfit of a man who had gone unfearing to the rough edge +of the world. And now what was left of it was returning with him. +To Challoner there was something of human comradeship in these +remnants of things that had gone through the greater part of a +year's fight with him. The canoe was warped and battered and +patched; smoke and storm had blackened his tent until it was the +colour of rusty char, and his grub sacks were next to empty. + +Over a small fire title contents of a pan and a pot were brewing +when he returned with Miki at his heels, and close to the heat was +a battered and mended reflector in which a bannock of flour and +water was beginning to brown. In one of the pots was coffee, in +the other a boiling fish. + +Miki sat down on his angular haunches so that the odour of the +fish filled his nostrils. This, he had discovered, was the next +thing to eating. His eyes, as they followed Challoner's final +preparatory movements, were as bright as garnets, and every third +or fourth breath he licked his chops, and swallowed hungrily. +That, in fact, was why Miki had got his name. He was always +hungry, and apparently always empty, no matter how much he ate. +Therefore his name, Miki, "The drum." + +It was not until they had eaten the fish and the bannock, and +Challoner had lighted his pipe, that he spoke what was in his +mind. + +"To-morrow I'm going after that bear," he said. + +Miki, curled up near the dying embers, gave his tail a club-like +thump in evidence of the fact that he was listening. + +"I'm going to pair you up with the cub, and tickle the Girl to +death." + +Miki thumped his tail harder than before. + +"Fine," he seemed to say. + +"Just think of it," said Challoner, looking over Miki's head a +thousand miles away, "Fourteen months--and at last we're going +home. I'm going to train you and the cub for that sister of mine. +Eh, won't you like that? You don't know what she's like, you +homely little devil, or you wouldn't sit there staring at me like +a totem-pole pup! And it isn't in your stupid head to imagine how +pretty she is. You saw that sunset to-night? Well, she's prettier +than THAT if she is my sister. Got anything to add to that, Miki? +If not, let's say our prayers and go to bed!" + +Challoner rose and stretched himself. His muscles cracked. He felt +life surging like a giant within him. + +And Miki, thumping his tail until this moment, rose on his +overgrown legs and followed his master into their shelter. + +It was in the gray light of the early summer dawn when Challoner +came forth again, and rekindled the fire. Miki followed a few +moments later, and his master fastened the end of a worn tent-rope +around his neck and tied the rope to a sapling. Another rope of +similar length Challoner tied to the corners of a grub sack so +that it could be carried over his shoulder like a game bag. With +the first rose-flush of the sun he was ready for the trail of +Neewa and his mother. Miki set up a melancholy wailing when he +found himself left behind, and when Challoner looked back the pup +was tugging and somersaulting at the end of his rope like a +jumping-jack. For a quarter of a mile up the creek he could hear +Miki's entreating protest. + +To Challoner the business of the day was not a matter of personal +pleasure, nor was it inspired alone by his desire to possess a cub +along with Miki. He needed meat, and bear pork thus early in the +season would be exceedingly good; and above all else he needed a +supply of fat. If he bagged this bear, time would be saved all the +rest of the way down to civilization. + +It was eight o'clock when he struck the first unmistakably fresh +signs of Noozak and Neewa. It was at the point where Noozak had +fished four or five days previously, and where they had returned +yesterday to feast on the "ripened" catch. Challoner was elated. +He was sure that he would find the pair along the creek, and not +far distant. The wind was in his favour, and he began to advance +with greater caution, his rifle ready for the anticipated moment. +For an hour he travelled steadily and quietly, marking every sound +and movement ahead of him, and wetting his finger now and then to +see if the wind had shifted. After all, it was not so much a +matter of human cunning. Everything was in Challoner's favour. + +In a wide, flat part of the valley where the creek split itself +into a dozen little channels, and the water rippled between sandy +bars and over pebbly shallows, Neewa and his mother were nosing +about lazily for a breakfast of crawfish. The world had never +looked more beautiful to Neewa. The sun made the soft hair on his +back fluff up like that of a purring cat. He liked the plash of +wet sand under his feet and the singing gush of water against his +legs. He liked the sound that was all about him, the breath of the +wind, the whispers that came out of the spruce-tops and the +cedars, the murmur of water, the TWIT-TWIT of the rock rabbits, +the call of birds; and more than all else the low, grunting talk +of his mother. + +It was in this sun-bathed sweep of the valley that Noozak caught +the first whiff of danger. It came to her in a sudden twist of the +wind--the smell of man! + +Instantly she was turned into rock. There was still the deep scar +in her shoulder which had come, years before, with that same smell +of the one enemy she feared. For three summers she had not caught +the taint in her nostrils and she had almost forgotten its +existence. Now, so suddenly that it paralyzed her, it was warm and +terrible in the breath of the wind. + +In this moment, too, Neewa seemed to sense the nearness of an +appalling danger. Two hundred yards from Challoner he stood a +motionless blotch of jet against the white of the sand about him, +his eyes on his mother, and his sensitive little nose trying to +catch the meaning of the menace in the air. + +Then came a thing he had never heard before--a splitting, cracking +roar--something that was almost like thunder and yet unlike it; +and he saw his mother lurch where she stood and crumple down all +at once on her fore legs. + +The next moment she was up, with a wild WHOOF in her voice that +was new to him--a warning for him to fly for his life. + +Like all mothers who have known the comradeship and love of a +child, Noozak's first thought was of him. Reaching out a paw she +gave him a sudden shove, and Neewa legged it wildly for the near- +by shelter of the timber. Noozak followed. A second shot came, and +close over her head there sped a purring, terrible sound. But +Noozak did not hurry. She kept behind Neewa, urging him on even as +that pain of a red-hot iron in her groin filled her with agony. +They came to the edge of the timber as Challoner's third shot bit +under Noozak's feet. + +A moment more and they were within the barricade of the timber. +Instinct guided Neewa into the thickest part of it, and close +behind him Noozak fought with the last of her dying strength to +urge him on. In her old brain there was growing a deep and +appalling shadow, something that was beginning to cloud her vision +so that she could not see, and she knew that at last she had come +to the uttermost end of her trail. With twenty years of life +behind her, she struggled now for a last few seconds. She stopped +Neewa close to a thick cedar, and as she had done many times +before she commanded him to climb it. Just once her hot tongue +touched his face in a final caress. Then she turned to fight her +last great fight. + +Straight into the face of Challoner she dragged herself, and fifty +feet from the spruce she stopped and waited for him, her head +drooped between her shoulders, her sides heaving, her eyes dimming +more and more, until at last she sank down with a great sigh, +barring the trail of their enemy. For a space, it may be, she saw +once more the golden moons and the blazing suns of those twenty +years that were gone; it may be that the soft, sweet music of +spring came to her again, filled with the old, old song of life, +and that Something gracious and painless descended upon her as a +final reward for a glorious motherhood on earth. + +When Challoner came up she was dead. + +From his hiding place in a crotch of the spruce Neewa looked down +on the first great tragedy of his life, and the advent of man. The +two-legged beast made him cringe deeper into his refuge, and his +little heart was near breaking with the terror that had seized +upon him. He did not reason. It was by no miracle of mental +process that he knew something terrible had happened, and that +this tall, two-legged creature was the cause of it. His little +eyes were blazing, just over the level of the crotch. He wondered +why his mother did not get up and fight when this new enemy came. +Frightened as he was he was ready to snarl if she would only wake +up--ready to hurry down the tree and help her as he had helped her +in the defeat of Makoos, the old he-bear. But not a muscle of +Noozak's huge body moved as Challoner bent over her. She was stone +dead. + +Challoner's face was flushed with exultation. Necessity had made +of him a killer. He saw in Noozak a splendid pelt, and a provision +of meat that would carry him all the rest of the way to the +southland. He leaned his rifle against a tree and began looking +about for the cub. Knowledge of the wild told him it would not be +far from its mother, and he began looking into the trees and the +near-by thickets. + +In the shelter of his crotch, screened by the thick branches, +Neewa made himself as small as possible during the search. At the +end of half an hour Challoner disappointedly gave up his quest, +and went back to the creek for a drink before setting himself to +the task of skinning Noozak. + +No sooner was he gone than Neewa's little head shot up alertly. +For a few moments he watched, and then slipped backward down the +trunk of the cedar to the ground. He gave his squealing call, but +his mother did not move. He went to her and stood beside her +motionless head, sniffing the man-tainted air. Then he muzzled her +jowl, butted his nose under her neck, and at last nipped her ear-- +always his last resort in the awakening process. He was puzzled. +He whined softly, and climbed upon his mother's big, soft back, +and sat there. Into his whine there came a strange note, and then +out of his throat there rose a whimpering cry that was like the +cry of a child. + +Challoner heard that cry as he came back, and something seemed to +grip hold of his heart suddenly, and choke him. He had heard +children crying like that; and it was the motherless cub! + +Creeping up behind a dwarf spruce he looked where Noozak lay dead, +and saw Neewa perched on his mother's back. He had killed many +things in his time, for it was his business to kill, and to barter +in the pelts of creatures that others killed. But he had seen +nothing like this before, and he felt all at once as if he had +done murder. + +"I'm sorry," he breathed softly, "you poor little devil; I'm +sorry!" + +It was almost a prayer--for forgiveness. Yet there was but one +thing to do now. So quietly that Neewa failed to hear him he crept +around with the wind and stole up behind. He was within a dozen +feet of Neewa before the cub suspected danger. Then it was too +late. In a swift rush Challoner was upon him and, before Neewa +could leave the back of his mother, had smothered him in the folds +of the grub sack. + +In all his life Challoner had never experienced a livelier five +minutes than the five that followed. Above Neewa's grief and his +fear there rose the savage fighting blood of old Soominitik, his +father. He clawed and bit and kicked and snarled. In those five +minutes he was five little devils all rolled into one, and by the +time Challoner had the rope fastened about Neewa's neck, and his +fat body chucked into the sack, his hands were scratched and +lacerated in a score of places. + +In the sack Neewa continued to fight until he was exhausted, while +Challoner skinned Noozak and cut from her the meat and fats which +he wanted. The beauty of Noozak's pelt brought a glow into his +eyes. In it he rolled the meat and fats, and with babiche thong +bound the whole into a pack around which he belted the dunnage +ends of his shoulder straps. Weighted under the burden of sixty +pounds of pelt and meat he picked up his rifle--and Neewa. It had +been early afternoon when he left. It was almost sunset when he +reached camp. Every foot of the way, until the last half mile, +Neewa fought like a Spartan. + +Now he lay limp and almost lifeless in his sack, and when Miki +came up to smell suspiciously of his prison he made no movement of +protest. All smells were alike to him now, and of sounds he made +no distinction. Challoner was nearly done for. Every muscle and +bone in his body had its ache. Yet in his face, sweaty and grimed, +was a grin of pride. + +"You plucky little devil," he said, contemplating the limp sack as +he loaded his pipe for the first time that afternoon. "You--you +plucky little devil!" + +He tied the end of Neewa's rope halter to a sapling, and began +cautiously to open the grub sack. Then he rolled Neewa out on the +ground, and stepped back. In that hour Neewa was willing to accept +a truce so far as Challoner was concerned. But it was not +Challoner that his half-blinded eyes saw first as he rolled from +his bag. It was Miki! And Miki, his awkward body wriggling with +the excitement of his curiosity, was almost on the point of +smelling of him! + +Neewa's little eyes glared. Was that ill-jointed lop-eared +offspring of the man-beast an enemy, too? Were those twisting +convolutions of this new creature's body and the club-like swing +of his tail an invitation to fight? He judged so. Anyway, here was +something of his size, and like a flash he was at the end of his +rope and on the pup. Miki, a moment before bubbling over with +friendship and good cheer, was on his back in an instant, his +grotesque legs paddling the air and his yelping cries for help +rising in a wild clamour that filled the golden stillness of the +evening with an unutterable woe. + +Challoner stood dumbfounded. In another moment he would have +separated the little fighters, but something happened that stopped +him. Neewa, standing squarely over Miki, with Miki's four over- +grown paws held aloft as if signalling an unqualified surrender, +slowly drew his teeth from the pup's loose hide. Again he saw the +man-beast. Instinct, keener than a clumsy reasoning, held him for +a few moments without movement, his beady eyes on Challoner. In +midair Miki wagged his paws; he whined softly; his hard tail +thumped the ground as he pleaded for mercy, and he licked his +chops and tried to wriggle, as if to tell Neewa that he had no +intention at all to do him harm. Neewa, facing Challoner, snarled +defiantly. He drew himself slowly from over Miki. And Miki, afraid +to move, still lay on his back with his paws in the air. + +Very slowly, a look of wonder in his face, Challoner drew back +into the tent and peered through a rent in the canvas. + +The snarl left Neewa's face. He looked at the pup. Perhaps away +back in some corner of his brain the heritage of instinct was +telling him of what he had lost because of brothers and sisters +unborn--the comradeship of babyhood, the play of children. And +Miki must have sensed the change in the furry little black +creature who a moment ago was his enemy. His tail thumped almost +frantically, and he swung out his front paws toward Neewa. Then, a +little fearful of what might happen, he rolled on his side. Still +Neewa did not move. Joyously Miki wriggled. + +A moment later, looking through the slit in the canvas, Challoner +saw them cautiously smelling noses. + + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + + +That night came a cold and drizzling rain from out of the north +and the east. In the wet dawn Challoner came out to start a fire, +and in a hollow under a spruce root he found Miki and Neewa +cuddled together, sound asleep. + +It was the cub who first saw the man-beast, and for a brief space +before the pup roused himself Neewa's shining eyes were fixed on +the strange enemy who had so utterly changed his world for him. +Exhaustion had made him sleep through the long hours of that first +night of captivity, and in sleep he had forgotten many things. But +now it all came back to him as he cringed deeper into his shelter +under the root, and so softly that only Miki heard him he +whimpered for his mother. + +It was the whimper that roused Miki. Slowly he untangled himself +from the ball into which he had rolled, stretched his long and +overgrown legs, and yawned so loudly that the sound reached +Challoner's ears. The man turned and saw two pairs of eyes fixed +upon him from the sheltered hollow under the root. The pup's one +good ear and the other that was half gone stood up alertly, as he +greeted his master with the boundless good cheer of an +irrepressible comradeship. Challoner's face, wet with the drizzle +of the gray skies and bronzed by the wind and storm of fourteen +months in the northland, lighted up with a responsive grin, and +Miki wriggled forth weaving and twisting himself into grotesque +contortions expressive of happiness at being thus directly smiled +at by his master. + +With all the room under the root left to him Neewa pulled himself +back until only his round head was showing, and from this fortress +of temporary safety his bright little eyes glared forth at his +mother's murderer. + +Vividly the tragedy of yesterday was before him again--the warm, +sun-filled creek bottom in which he and Noozak, his mother, were +hunting a breakfast of crawfish when the man-beast came; the crash +of strange thunder, their flight into the timber, and the end of +it all when his mother turned to confront their enemy. And yet it +was not the death of his mother that remained with him most +poignantly this morning. It was the memory of his own terrific +fight with the white man, and his struggle afterward in the black +and suffocating depths of the bag in which Challoner had brought +him to his camp. Even now Challoner was looking at the scratches +on his hands. He advanced a few steps, and grinned down at Neewa, +just as he had grinned good-humouredly at Miki, the angular pup. + +Neewa's little eyes blazed. + +"I told you last night that I was sorry," said Challoner, speaking +as if to one of his own kind. + +In several ways Challoner was unusual, an out-of-the-ordinary type +in the northland. He believed, for instance, in a certain specific +psychology of the animal mind, and had proven to his own +satisfaction that animals treated and conversed with in a matter- +of-fact human way frequently developed an understanding which he, +in his unscientific way, called reason. + +"I told you I was sorry," he repeated, squatting on his heels +within a yard of the root from under which Neewa's eyes were +glaring at him, "and I am. I'm sorry I killed your mother. But we +had to have meat and fat. Besides, Miki and I are going to make it +up to you. We're going to take you along with us down to the Girl, +and if you don't learn to love her you're the meanest, lowest-down +little cuss in all creation and don't deserve a mother. You and +Miki are going to be brothers. His mother is dead, too--plum +starved to death, which is worse than dying with a bullet in your +lung. And I found Miki just as I found you, hugging up close to +her an' crying as if there wasn't any world left for him. So cheer +up, and give us your paw. Let's shake!" + +Challoner held out his hand. Neewa was as motionless as a stone. A +few moments before he would have snarled and bared his teeth. But +now he was dead still. This was by all odds the strangest beast he +had ever seen. Yesterday it had not harmed him, except to put him +into the bag. And now it did not offer to harm him. More than +that, the talk it made was not unpleasant, or threatening. His +eyes took in Miki. The pup had squeezed himself squarely between +Challoner's knees and was looking at him in a puzzled, questioning +sort of way, as if to ask: "Why don't you come out from under that +root and help get breakfast?" + +Challoner's hand came nearer, and Neewa crowded himself back until +there was not another inch of room for him to fill. Then the +miracle happened. The man-beast's paw touched his head. It sent a +strange and terrible thrill through him. Yet it did not hurt. If +he had not wedged himself in so tightly he would have scratched +and bitten. But he could do neither. + +Slowly Challoner worked his fingers to the loose hide at the back +of Neewa's neck. Miki, surmising that something momentous was +about to happen, watched the proceedings with popping eyes. Then +Challoner's fingers closed and the next instant he dragged Neewa +forth and held him at arm's length, kicking and squirming, and +setting up such a bawling that in sheer sympathy Miki raised his +voice and joined in the agonized orgy of sound. Half a minute +later Challoner had Neewa once more in the prison-sack, but this +time he left the cub's head protruding, and drew in the mouth of +the sack closely about his neck, fastening it securely with a +piece of babiche string. Thus three quarters of Neewa was +imprisoned in the sack, with only his head sticking out. He was a +cub in a poke. + +Leaving the cub to roll and squirm in protest Challoner went about +the business of getting breakfast. For once Miki found a +proceeding more interesting than that operation, and he hovered +about Neewa as he struggled and bawled, trying vainly to offer him +some assistance in the matter of sympathy. Finally Neewa lay +still, and Miki sat down close beside him and eyed his master with +serious questioning if not actual disapprobation. + +The gray sky was breaking with the promise of the sun when +Challoner was ready to renew his long journey into the southland. +He packed his canoe, leaving Neewa and Miki until the last. In the +bow of the canoe he made a soft nest of the skin taken from the +cub's mother. Then he called Miki and tied the end of a worn rope +around his neck, after which he fastened the other end of this +rope around the neck of Neewa. Thus he had the cub and the pup on +the same yard-long halter. Taking each of the twain by the scruff +of the neck he carried them to the canoe and placed them in the +nest he had made of Noozak's hide. + +"Now you youngsters be good," he warned. "We're going to aim at +forty miles to-day to make up for the time we lost yesterday." + +As the canoe shot out a shaft of sunlight broke through the sky +low in the east. + + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + + +During the first few moments in which the canoe moved swiftly over +the surface of the lake an amazing change had taken place in +Neewa. Challoner did not see it, and Miki was unconscious of it. +But every fibre in Neewa's body was atremble, and his heart was +thumping as it had pounded on that glorious day of the fight +between his mother and the old he-bear. It seemed to him that +everything that he had lost was coming back to him, and that all +would be well very soon--FOR HE SMELLED HIS MOTHER! And then he +discovered that the scent of her was warm and strong in the furry +black mass under his feet, and he smothered himself down in it, +flat on his plump little belly, and peered at Challoner over his +paws. + +It was hard for him to understand--the man-beast back there, +sending the canoe through the water, and under him his mother, +warm and soft, but so deadly still! He could not keep the whimper +out of his throat--his low and grief-filled call for HER. And +there was no answer, except Miki's responsive whine, the crying of +one child for another. Neewa's mother did not move. She made no +sound. And he could see nothing of her but her black and furry +skin--without head, without feet, without the big, bald paws he +had loved to tickle, and the ears he had loved to nip. There was +nothing of her but the patch of black skin--and the SMELL. + +But a great comfort warmed his frightened little soul. He felt the +protecting nearness of an unconquerable and abiding force and in +the first of the warm sunshine his back fluffed up, and he thrust +his brown nose between his paws and into his mother's fur. Miki, +as if vainly striving to solve the mystery of his new-found chum, +was watching him closely from between his own fore-paws. In his +comical head--adorned with its one good ear and its one bad one, +and furthermore beautified by the outstanding whiskers inherited +from his Airedale ancestor--he was trying to come to some sort of +an understanding. At the outset he had accepted Neewa as a friend +and a comrade--and Neewa had thanklessly given him a good mauling +for his trouble. That much Miki could forgive and forget. What he +could not forgive was the utter lack of regard which Neewa seemed +to possess for him. His playful antics had gained no recognition +from the cub. When he had barked and hopped about, flattening and +contorting himself in warm invitation for him to join in a game of +tag or a wrestling match, Neewa had simply stared at him like an +idiot. He was wondering, perhaps, if Neewa would enjoy anything +besides a fight. It was a long time before he decided to make +another experiment. + +It was, as a matter of fact, halfway between breakfast and noon. +In all that time Neewa had scarcely moved, and Miki was finding +himself bored to death. The discomfort of last night's storm was +only a memory, and overhead there was a sun unshadowed by cloud. +More than an hour before Challoner's canoe had left the lake, and +was now in the clear-running water of a stream that was making its +way down the southward slope of the divide between Jackson's Knee +and the Shamattawa. It was a new stream to Challoner, fed by the +large lake above, and guarding himself against the treachery of +waterfall and rapid he kept a keen lookout ahead. For a matter of +half an hour the water had been growing steadily swifter, and +Challoner was satisfied that before very long he would be +compelled to make a portage. A little later he heard ahead of him +the low and steady murmur which told him he was approaching a +danger zone. As he shot around the next bend, hugging fairly close +to shore, he saw, four or five hundred yards below him, a rock- +frothed and boiling maelstrom of water. + +Swiftly his eyes measured the situation. The rapids ran between an +almost precipitous shore on one side and a deep forest on the +other. He saw at a glance that it was the forest side over which +he must make the portage, and this was the shore opposite him and +farthest away. Swinging his canoe at a 45-degree angle he put all +the strength of body and arms into the sweep of his paddle. There +would be just time to reach the other shore before the current +became dangerous. Above the sweep of the rapids he could now hear +the growling roar of a waterfall below. + +It was at this unfortunate moment that Miki decided to venture one +more experiment with Neewa. With a friendly yip he swung out one +of his paws. Now Miki's paw, for a pup, was monstrously big, and +his foreleg was long and lanky, so that when the paw landed +squarely on the end of Neewa's nose it was like the swing of a +prize-fighter's glove. The unexpectedness of it was a further +decisive feature in the situation; and, on top of this, Miki swung +his other paw around like a club and caught Neewa a jolt in the +eye. This was too much, even from a friend, and with a sudden +snarl Neewa bounced out of his nest and clinched with the pup. + +Now the fact was that Miki, who had so ingloriously begged for +mercy in their first scrimmage, came of fighting stock himself. +Mix the blood of a Mackenzie hound--which is the biggest-footed, +biggest-shouldered, most powerful dog in the northland--with the +blood of a Spitz and an Airedale and something is bound to come of +it. While the Mackenzie dog, with his ox-like strength, is +peaceable and good-humoured in all sorts of weather, there is a +good deal of the devil in the northern Spitz and Airedale and it +is a question which likes a fight the best. And all at once good- +humoured little Miki felt the devil rising in him. This time he +did not yap for mercy. He met Neewa's jaws, and in two seconds +they were staging a first-class fight on the bit of precarious +footing in the prow of the canoe. + +Vainly Challoner yelled at them as he paddled desperately to beat +out the danger of the rapids. Neewa and Miki were too absorbed to +hear him. Miki's four paws were paddling the air again, but this +time his sharp teeth were firmly fixed in the loose hide under +Neewa's neck, and with his paws he continued to kick and bat in a +way that promised effectively to pummel the wind out of Neewa had +not the thing happened which Challoner feared. Still in a clinch +they rolled off the prow of the canoe into the swirling current of +the stream. + +For ten seconds or so they utterly disappeared. Then they bobbed +up, a good fifty feet below him, their heads close together as +they sped swiftly toward the doom that awaited them, and a choking +cry broke from Challoner's lips. He was powerless to save them, +and in his cry was the anguish of real grief. For many weeks Miki +had been his only chum and comrade. + +Held together by the yard-long rope to which they were fastened, +Miki and Neewa swept into the frothing turmoil of the rapids. For +Miki it was the kindness of fate that had inspired his master to +fasten him to the same rope with Neewa. Miki, at three months of +age--weight, fourteen pounds--was about 80 per cent. bone and only +a half of 1 per cent. fat; while Neewa, weight thirteen pounds, +was about 90 per cent. fat. Therefore Miki had the floating +capacity of a small anchor, while Neewa was a first-class life- +preserver, and almost unsinkable. + +In neither of the youngsters was there a yellow streak. Both were +of fighting stock, and, though Miki was under water most of the +time during their first hundred-yard dash through the rapids, +never for an instant did he give up the struggle to keep his nose +in the air. Sometimes he was on his back and sometimes on his +belly; but no matter what his position, he kept his four overgrown +paws going like paddles. To an extent this helped Neewa in the +heroic fight he was making to keep from shipping too much water +himself. Had he been alone his ten or eleven pounds of fat would +have carried him down-stream like a toy balloon covered with fur, +but, with the fourteen-pound drag around his neck, the problem of +not going under completely was a serious one. Half a dozen times +he did disappear for an instant when some undertow caught Miki and +dragged him down--head, tail, legs, and all. But Neewa always rose +again, his four fat legs working for dear life. + +Then came the waterfall. By this time Miki had become accustomed +to travelling under water, and the full horror of the new +cataclysm into which they were plunged was mercifully lost to him. +His paws had almost ceased their motion. He was still conscious of +the roar in his ears, but the affair was less unpleasant than it +was at the beginning. In fact, he was drowning. To Neewa the +pleasant sensations of a painless death were denied. No cub in the +world was wider awake than he when the final catastrophe came. His +head was well above water and he was clearly possessed of all his +senses. Then the river itself dropped out from under him and he +shot down in an avalanche of water, feeling no longer the drag of +Miki's weight at his neck. + +How deep the pool was at the bottom of the waterfall Challoner +might have guessed quite accurately. Could Neewa have expressed an +opinion of his own, he would have sworn that it was a mile. Miki +was past the stage of making estimates, or of caring whether it +was two feet or two leagues. His paws had ceased to operate and he +had given himself up entirely to his fate. But Neewa came up +again, and Miki followed, like a bobber. He was about to gasp his +last gasp when the force of the current, as it swung out of the +whirlpool, flung Neewa upon a bit of partly submerged driftage, +and in a wild and strenuous effort to make himself safe Neewa +dragged Miki's head out of water so that the pup hung at the edge +of the driftage like a hangman's victim at the end of his rope. + + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + + +It is doubtful whether in the few moments that followed, any +clear-cut mental argument passed through Neewa's head. It is too +much to suppose that he deliberately set about assisting the half- +dead and almost unconscious Miki from his precarious position. His +sole ambition was to get himself where it was safe and dry, and to +do this he of necessity had to drag the pup with him. So Neewa +tugged at the end of his rope, digging his sharp little claws into +the driftwood, and as he advanced Miki was dragged up head +foremost out of the cold and friendless stream. It was a simple +process. Neewa reached a log around which the water was eddying, +and there he flattened himself down and hung on as he had never +hung to anything else in his life. The log was entirely hidden +from shore by a dense growth of brushwood. Otherwise, ten minutes +later Challoner would have seen them. + +As it was, Miki had not sufficiently recovered either to smell or +hear his master when Challoner came to see if there was a +possibility of his small comrade being alive. And Neewa only +hugged the log more tightly. He had seen enough of the man-beast +to last him for the remainder of his life. It was half an hour +before Miki began to gasp, and cough, and gulp up water, and for +the first time since their scrap in the canoe the cub began to +take a live interest in him. In another ten minutes Miki raised +his head and looked about him. At that Neewa gave a tug on the +rope, as if to advise him that it was time to get busy if they +were expected to reach shore. And Miki, drenched and forlorn, +resembling more a starved bone than a thing of skin and flesh, +actually made an effort to wag his tail when he saw Neewa. + +He was still in a couple of inches of water, and with a hopeful +eye on the log upon which Neewa was squatted he began to work his +wobbly legs toward it. It was a high log, and a dry log, and when +Miki reached it his unlucky star was with him again. Cumbrously he +sprawled himself against it, and as he scrambled and scraped with +his four awkward legs to get up alongside Neewa he gave to the log +the slight push which it needed to set it free of the sunken +driftage. Slowly at first the eddying current carried one end of +the log away from its pier. Then the edge of the main current +caught at it, viciously--and so suddenly that Miki almost lost his +precarious footing, the log gave a twist, righted itself, and +began, to scud down stream at a speed that would have made +Challoner hug his breath had he been in their position with his +faithful canoe. + +In fact, Challoner was at this very moment portaging the rapids +below the waterfall. To have set his canoe in them where Miki and +Neewa were gloriously sailing he would have considered an +inexcusable hazard, and as a matter of safety he was losing the +better part of a couple of hours by packing his outfit through the +forest to a point half a mile below. That half mile was to the cub +and the pup a show which was destined to live in their memories +for as long as they were alive. + +They were facing each other about amidships of the log, Neewa +flattened tight, his sharp claws dug in like hooks, and his little +brown eyes half starting from his head. It would have taken a +crowbar to wrench him from the log. But with Miki it was an open +question from the beginning whether he would weather the storm. He +had no claws that he could dig into the wood, and it was +impossible for him to use his clumsy legs as Neewa used his--like +two pairs of human arms. All he could do was to balance himself, +slipping this way or that as the log rolled or swerved in its +course, sometimes lying across it and sometimes lengthwise, and +every moment with the jaws of uncertainty open wide for him. +Neewa's eyes never left him for an instant. Had they been gimlets +they would have bored holes. From the acuteness of this life-and- +death stare one would have given Neewa credit for understanding +that his own personal safety depended not so much upon his claws +and his hug as upon Miki's seamanship. If Miki went overboard +there would be left but one thing for him to do--and that would be +to follow. + +The log, being larger and heavier at one end than at the other, +swept on without turning broadside, and with the swiftness and +appearance of a huge torpedo. While Neewa's back was turned toward +the horror of frothing water and roaring rock behind him, Miki, +who was facing it, lost none of its spectacular beauty. Now and +then the log shot into one of the white masses of foam and for an +instant or two would utterly disappear; and at these intervals +Miki would hold his breath and close his eyes while Neewa dug his +toes in still deeper. Once the log grazed a rock. Six inches more +and they would have been without a ship. Their trip was not half +over before both cub and pup looked like two round balls of lather +out of which their eyes peered wildly. + +Swiftly the roar of the cataract was left behind; the huge rocks +around which the current boiled and twisted with a ferocious +snarling became fewer; there came open spaces in which the log +floated smoothly and without convulsions, and then, at last, the +quiet and placid flow of calm water. Not until then did the two +balls of suds make a move. For the first time Neewa saw the whole +of the thing they had passed through, and Miki, looking down +stream, saw the quiet shores again, the deep forest, and the +stream aglow with the warm sun. He drew in a breath that filled +his whole body and let it out again with a sigh of relief so deep +and sincere that it blew out a scatter of foam from the ends of +his nose and whiskers. For the first time he became conscious of +his own discomfort. One of his hind legs was twisted under him, +and a foreleg was under his chest. The smoothness of the water and +the nearness of the shores gave him confidence, and he proceeded +to straighten himself. Unlike Neewa he was an experienced +VOYAGEUR. For more than a month he had travelled steadily with +Challoner in his canoe, and of ordinarily decent water he was +unafraid. So he perked up a little, and offered Neewa a +congratulatory yip that was half a whine. + +But Neewa's education had travelled along another line, and while +his experience in a canoe had been confined to that day he did +know what a log was. He knew from more than one adventure of his +own that a log in the water is the next thing to a live thing, and +that its capacity for playing evil jokes was beyond any +computation that he had ever been able to make. That was where +Miki's store of knowledge was fatally defective. Inasmuch as the +log had carried them safely through the worst stretch of water he +had ever seen he regarded it in the light of a first-class canoe-- +with the exception that it was unpleasantly rounded on top. But +this little defect did not worry him. To Neewa's horror he sat up +boldly, and looked about him. + +Instinctively the cub hugged the log still closer, while Miki was +seized with an overwhelming desire to shake from himself the mass +of suds in which, with the exception of the end of his tail and +his eyes, he was completely swathed. He had often shaken himself +in the canoe; why not here? Without either asking or answering the +question he did it. + +Like the trap of a gibbet suddenly sprung by the hangman, the log +instantly responded by turning half over. Without so much as a +wail Miki was off like a shot, hit the water with a deep and +solemn CHUG, and once more disappeared as completely as if he had +been made of lead. + +Finding himself completely submerged for the first time, Neewa +hung on gloriously, and when the log righted itself again he was +tenaciously hugging his old place, all the froth washed from him. +He looked for Miki--but Miki was gone. And then he felt once more +that choking drag on his neck! Of necessity, because his head was +pulled in the direction of the rope, he saw where the rope +disappeared in the water. But there was no Miki. The pup was down +too far for Neewa to see. With the drag growing heavier and +heavier--for here there was not much current to help Miki along-- +Neewa hung on like grim death. If he had let go, and had joined +Miki in the water, the good fortune which was turning their way +would have been missed. For Miki, struggling well under water, was +serving both as an anchor and a rudder; slowly the log shifted its +course, was caught in a beach-eddy, and drifted in close to a +muddy bank. + +With one wild leap Neewa was ashore. Feeling the earth under his +feet he started to run, and the result was that Miki came up +slowly through the mire and spread himself out like an overgrown +crustacean while he got the wind back into his lungs. Neewa, +sensing the fact that for a few moments his comrade was physically +unfit for travel, shook himself, and waited. Miki picked up +quickly. Within five minutes he was on his feet shaking himself so +furiously that Neewa became the centre of a shower of mud and +water. + +Had they remained where they were, Challoner would have found them +an hour or so later, for he paddled that way, close inshore, +looking for their bodies. It may be that the countless generations +of instinct back of Neewa warned him of that possibility, for +within a quarter of an hour after they had landed he was leading +the way into the forest, and Miki was following. It was a new +adventure for the pup. + +But Neewa began to recover his good cheer. For him the forest was +home even if his mother was missing. After his maddening +experiences with Miki and the man-beast the velvety touch of the +soft pine-needles under his feet and the familiar smells of the +silent places filled him with a growing joy. He was back in his +old trails. He sniffed the air and pricked up his ears, thrilled +by the enlivening sensations of knowing that he was once more the +small master of his own destiny. It was a new forest, but Neewa +was undisturbed by this fact. All forests were alike to him, +inasmuch as several hundred thousand square miles were included in +his domain and it was impossible for him to landmark them all. + +With Miki it was different. He not only began to miss Challoner +and the river, but became more and more disturbed the farther +Neewa led him into the dark and mysterious depths of the timber. +At last he decided to set up a vigorous protest, and in line with +this decision he braced himself so suddenly that Neewa, coming to +the end of the rope, flopped over on his back with an astonished +grunt. Seizing his advantage Miki turned, and tugging with the +horse-like energy of his Mackenzie father he started back toward +the river, dragging Neewa after him for a space of ten or fifteen +feet before the cub succeeded in regaining his feet. + +Then the battle began. With their bottoms braced and their +forefeet digging into the soft earth, they pulled on the rope in +opposite directions until their necks stretched and their eyes +began to pop. Neewa's pull was steady and unexcited, while Miki, +dog-like, yanked and convulsed himself in sudden backward jerks +that made Neewa give way an inch at a time. It was, after all, +only a question as to which possessed the most enduring neck. +Under Neewa's fat there was as yet little real physical strength. +Miki had him handicapped there. Under the pup's loose hide and his +overgrown bones there was a lot of pull, and after bracing himself +heroically for another dozen feet Neewa gave up the contest and +followed in the direction chosen by Miki. + +While the instincts of Neewa's breed would have taken him back to +the river as straight as a die, Miki's intentions were better than +was his sense of orientation. Neewa followed in a sweeter temper +when he found that his companion was making an unreasonable circle +which was taking them a little more slowly, but just as surely, +away from the danger-ridden stream. At the end of another quarter +of an hour Miki was utterly lost; he sat down on his rump, looked +at Neewa, and confessed as much--with a low whine. Neewa did not +move. His sharp little eyes were fixed suddenly on an object that +hung to a low bush half a dozen paces from them. Before the man- +beast's appearance the cub had spent three quarters of his time in +eating, but since yesterday morning he had not swallowed so much +as a bug. He was completely empty, and the object he saw hanging +to the bush set every salivary gland in his mouth working. It was +a wasp's nest. Many times in his young life he had seen Noozak, +his mother, go up to nests like that, tear them down, crush them +under her big paw, and then invite him to the feast of dead wasps +within. For at least a month wasps had been included in his daily +fare, and they were as good as anything he knew of. He approached +the nest; Miki followed. When they were within three feet of it +Miki began to take notice of a very distinct and peculiarly +disquieting buzzing sound. Neewa was not at all alarmed; judging +the distance of the nest from the ground, he rose on his hind +feet, raised his arms, and gave it a fatal tug. + +Instantly the drone which Miki had heard changed into the angry +buzzing of a saw. Quick as a flash Neewa's mother would have had +the nest under her paws and the life crushed out of it, while +Neewa's tug had only served partly to dislodge the home of Ahmoo +and his dangerous tribe. And it happened that Ahmoo was at home +with three quarters of his warriors. Before Neewa could give the +nest a second tug they were piling out of it in a cloud and +suddenly a wild yell of agony rose out of Miki. Ahmoo himself had +landed on the end of the dog's nose. Neewa made no sound, but +stood for a moment swiping at his face with both paws, while Miki, +still yelling, ran the end of his crucified nose into the ground. +In another moment every fighter in Ahmoo's army was busy. Suddenly +setting up a bawling on his own account Neewa turned tail to the +nest and ran. Miki was not a hair behind him. In every square inch +of his tender hide he felt the red-hot thrust of a needle. It was +Neewa that made the most noise. His voice was one continuous bawl, +and to this bass Miki's soprano wailing added the touch which +would have convinced any passing Indian that the loup-garou devils +were having a dance. + +Now that their foes were in disorderly flight the wasps, who are +rather a chivalrous enemy, would have returned to their upset +fortress had not Miki, in his mad flight, chosen one side of a +small sapling and Neewa the other--a misadventure that stopped +them with a force almost sufficient to break their necks. +Thereupon a few dozen of Ahmoo's rear guard started in afresh. +With his fighting blood at last aroused, Neewa swung out and +caught Miki where there was almost no hair on his rump. Already +half blinded, and so wrought up with pain and terror that he had +lost all sense of judgment or understanding, Miki believed that +the sharp dig of Neewa's razor-like claws was a deeper thrust than +usual of the buzzing horrors that overwhelmed him, and with a +final shriek he proceeded to throw a fit. + +It was the fit that saved them. In his maniacal contortions he +swung around to Neewa's side of the sapling, when, with their +halter once more free from impediment, Neewa bolted for safety. +Miki followed, yelping at every jump. No longer did Neewa feel a +horror of the river. The instinct of his kind told him that he +wanted water, and wanted it badly. As straight as Challoner might +have set his course by a compass he headed for the stream, but he +had proceeded only a few hundred feet when they came upon a tiny +creek across which either of them could have jumped. Neewa jumped +into the water, which was four or five inches deep, and for the +first time in his life Miki voluntarily took a plunge. For a long +time they lay in the cooling rill. + +The light of day was dim and hazy before Miki's eyes, and he was +beginning to swell from the tip of his nose to the end of his bony +tail. Neewa, being so much fat, suffered less. He could still see, +and, as the painful hours passed, a number of things were +adjusting themselves in his brain. All this had begun with the +man-beast. It was the man-beast who had taken his mother from him. +It was the man-beast who had chucked him into the dark sack, and +it was the man-beast who had FASTENED THE ROPE AROUND HIS NECK. +Slowly the fact was beginning to impinge itself upon him that the +rope was to blame for everything. + +After a long time they dragged themselves out of the rivulet and +found a soft, dry hollow at the foot of a big tree. Even to Neewa, +who had the use of his eyes, it was growing dark in the deep +forest. The sun was far in the west. And the air was growing +chilly. Flat on his belly, with his swollen head between his fore +paws, Miki whined plaintively. + +Again and again Neewa's eyes went to the rope as the big thought +developed itself in his head. He whined. It was partly a yearning +for his mother, partly a response to Miki. He drew closer to the +pup, filled with the irresistible desire for comradeship. After +all, it was not Miki who was to blame. It was the man-beast--and +THE ROPE! + +The gloom of evening settled more darkly about them, and snuggling +himself still closer to the pup Neewa drew the rope between his +fore paws. With a little snarl he set his teeth in it. And then, +steadily, he began to chew. Now and then he growled, and in the +growl there was a peculiarly communicative note, as if he wished +to say to Miki: + +"Don't you see?--I'm chewing this thing in two. I'll have it done +by morning. Cheer up! There's surely a better day coming." + + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + + +The morning after their painful experience with the wasp's nest, +Neewa and Miki rose on four pairs of stiff and swollen legs to +greet a new day in the deep and mysterious forest into which the +accident of the previous day had thrown them. The spirit of +irrepressible youth was upon them, and, though Miki was so swollen +from the stings of the wasps that his lank body and overgrown legs +were more grotesque than ever, he was in no way daunted from the +quest of further adventure. + +The pup's face was as round as a moon, and his head was puffed up +until Neewa might reasonably have had a suspicion that it was on +the point of exploding. But Miki's eyes--as much as could be seen +of them--were as bright as ever, and his one good ear and his one +half ear stood up hopefully as he waited for the cub to give some +sign of what they were going to do. The poison in his system no +longer gave him discomfort. He felt several sizes too large--but, +otherwise, quite well. + +Neewa, because of his fat, exhibited fewer effects of his battle +with the wasps. His one outstanding defect was an entirely closed +eye. With the other, wide open and alert, he looked about him. In +spite of his one bad eye and his stiff legs he was inspired with +the optimism of one who at last sees fortune turning his way. He +was rid of the man-beast, who had killed his mother; the forests +were before him again, open and inviting, and the rope with which +Challoner had tied him and Miki together he had successfully +gnawed in two during the night. Having dispossessed himself of at +least two evils it would not have surprised him much if he had +seen Noozak, his mother, coming up from out of the shadows of the +trees. Thought of her made him whine. And Miki, facing the vast +loneliness of his new world, and thinking of his master, whined in +reply. + +Both were hungry. The amazing swiftness with which their +misfortunes had descended upon them had given them no time in +which to eat. To Miki the change was more than astonishing; it was +overwhelming, and he held his breath in anticipation of some new +evil while Neewa scanned the forest about them. + +As if assured by this survey that everything was right, Neewa +turned his back to the sun, which had been his mother's custom, +and set out. + +Miki followed. Not until then did he discover that every joint in +his body had apparently disappeared. His neck was stiff, his legs +were like stilts, and five times in as many minutes he stubbed his +clumsy toes and fell down in his efforts to keep up with the cub. +On top of this his eyes were so nearly closed that his vision was +bad, and the fifth time he stumbled he lost sight of Neewa +entirely, and sent out a protesting wail. Neewa stopped and began +prodding with his nose under a rotten log. When Miki came up Neewa +was flat on his belly, licking up a colony of big red vinegar ants +as fast as he could catch them. Miki studied the proceeding for +some moments. It soon dawned upon him that Neewa was eating +something, but for the life of him he couldn't make out what it +was. Hungrily he nosed close to Neewa's foraging snout. He licked +with his tongue where Neewa licked, and he got only dirt. And all +the time Neewa was giving his jolly little grunts of satisfaction. +It was ten minutes before he hunted out the last ant and went on. + +A little later they came to a small open space where the ground +was wet, and after sniffing about a bit, and focussing his one +good eye here and there, Neewa suddenly began digging. Very +shortly he drew out of the ground a white object about the size of +a man's thumb and began to crunch it ravenously between his jaws. +Miki succeeded in capturing a fair sized bit of it. Disappointment +followed fast. The thing was like wood; after rolling it in his +mouth a few times he dropped it in disgust, and Neewa finished the +remnant of the root with a thankful grunt. + +They proceeded. For two heartbreaking hours Miki followed at +Neewa's heels, the void in his stomach increasing as the swelling +in his body diminished. His hunger was becoming a torture. Yet not +a bit to eat could he find, while Neewa at every few steps +apparently discovered something to devour. At the end of the two +hours the cub's bill of fare had grown to considerable +proportions. It included, among other things, half a dozen green +and black beetles; numberless bugs, both hard and soft; whole +colonies of red and black ants; several white grubs dug out of the +heart of decaying logs; a handful of snails; a young frog; the egg +of a ground-plover that had failed to hatch; and, in the vegetable +line, the roots of two camas and one skunk cabbage. Now and then +he pulled down tender poplar shoots and nipped the ends off. +Likewise he nibbled spruce and balsam gum whenever he found it, +and occasionally added to his breakfast a bit of tender grass. + +A number of these things Miki tried. He would have eaten the frog, +but Neewa was ahead of him there. The spruce and balsam gum +clogged up his teeth and almost made him vomit because of its +bitterness. Between a snail and a stone he could find little +difference, and as the one bug he tried happened to be that +asafoetida-like creature known as a stink-bug he made no further +efforts in that direction. He also bit off a tender tip from a +ground-shoot, but instead of a young poplar it was Fox-bite, and +shrivelled up his tongue for a quarter of an hour. At last he +arrived at the conclusion that, up to date, the one thing in +Neewa's menu that he COULD eat was grass. + +In the face of his own starvation his companion grew happier as he +added to the strange collection in his stomach. In fact, Neewa +considered himself in clover and was grunting his satisfaction +continually, especially as his bad eye was beginning to open and +he could see things better. Half a dozen times when he found fresh +ant nests he invited Miki to the feast with excited little +squeals. Until noon Miki followed like a faithful satellite at his +heels. The end came when Neewa deliberately dug into a nest +inhabited by four huge bumble-bees, smashed them all, and ate +them. + +From that moment something impressed upon Miki that he must do his +own hunting. With the thought came a new thrill. His eyes were +fairly open now, and much of the stiffness had gone from his legs. +The blood of his Mackenzie father and of his half Spitz and half +Airedale mother rose up in him in swift and immediate demand, and +he began to quest about for himself. He found a warm scent, and +poked about until a partridge went up with a tremendous thunder of +wings. It startled him, but added to the thrill. A few minutes +later, nosing under a pile of brush, he came face to face with his +dinner. + +It was Wahboo, the baby rabbit. Instantly Miki was at him, and had +a firm hold at the back of Wahboo's back. Neewa, hearing the +smashing of the brush and the squealing of the rabbit, stopped +catching ants and hustled toward the scene of action. The +squealing ceased quickly and Miki backed himself out and faced +Neewa with Wahboo held triumphantly in his jaws. The young rabbit +had already given his last kick, and with a fierce show of +growling Miki began tearing the fur off. Neewa edged in, grunting +affably. Miki snarled more fiercely. Neewa, undaunted, continued +to express his overwhelming regard for Miki in low and +supplicating grunts--and smelled the rabbit. The snarl in Miki's +throat died away. He may have remembered that Neewa had invited +him more than once to partake of his ants and bugs. Together they +ate the rabbit. Not until the last bit of flesh and the last +tender bone were gone did the feast end, and then Neewa sat back +on his round bottom and stuck out his little red tongue for the +first time since he had lost his mother. It was the cub sign of a +full stomach and a blissful mind. He could see nothing to be more +desired at the present time than a nap, and stretching himself +languidly he began looking about for a tree. + +Miki, on the other hand, was inspired to new action by the +pleasurable sensation of being comfortably filled. Inasmuch as +Neewa chewed his food very carefully, while Miki, paying small +attention to mastication, swallowed it in chunks, the pup had +succeeded in getting away with about four fifths of the rabbit. So +he was no longer hungry. But he was more keenly alive to his +changed environment than at any time since he and Neewa had fallen +out of Challoner's canoe into the rapids. For the first time he +had killed, and for the first time he had tasted warm blood, and +the combination added to his existence an excitement that was +greater than any desire he might have possessed to lie down in a +sunny spot and sleep. Now that he had learned the game, the +hunting instinct trembled in every fibre of his small being. He +would have gone on hunting until his legs gave way under him if +Neewa had not found a napping-place. + +Astonished half out of his wits he watched Neewa as he leisurely +climbed the trunk of a big poplar. He had seen squirrels climb +trees--just as he had seen birds fly--but Neewa's performance held +him breathless; and not until the cub had stretched himself out +comfortably in a crotch did Miki express himself. Then he gave an +incredulous yelp, sniffed at the butt of the tree, and made a +half-hearted experiment at the thing himself. One flop on his back +convinced him that Neewa was the tree-climber of the partnership. +Chagrined, he wandered back fifteen or twenty feet and sat down to +study the situation. He could not perceive that Neewa had any +special business up the tree. Certainly he was not hunting for +bugs. He yelped half a dozen times, but Neewa made no answer. At +last he gave it up and flopped himself down with a disconsolate +whine. + +But it was not to sleep. He was ready and anxious to go on. He +wanted to explore still further the mysterious and fascinating +depths of the forest. He no longer felt the strange fear that had +been upon him before he killed the rabbit. In two minutes under +the brush-heap Nature had performed one of her miracles of +education. In those two minutes Miki had risen out of whimpering +puppyhood to new power and understanding. He had passed that +elemental stage which his companionship with Challoner had +prolonged. He had KILLED, and the hot thrill of it set fire to +every instinct that was in him. In the half hour during which he +lay flat on his belly, his head alert and listening, while Neewa +slept, he passed half way from puppyhood to dogdom. He would never +know that Hela, his Mackenzie hound father, was the mightiest +hunter in all the reaches of the Little Fox country, and that +alone he had torn down a bull caribou. But he FELT it. There was +something insistent and demanding in the call. And because he was +answering that call, and listening eagerly to the whispering +voices of the forest, his quick ears caught the low, chuckling +monotone of Kawook, the porcupine. + +Miki lay very still. A moment later he heard the soft clicking of +quills, and then Kawook came out in the open and stood up on his +hind feet in a patch of sunlight. + +For thirteen years Kawook had lived undisturbed in this particular +part of the wilderness, and in his old age he weighed thirty +pounds if he weighed an ounce. On this afternoon, coming for his +late dinner, he was feeling even more than usually happy. His +eyesight at best was dim. Nature had never intended him to see +very far, and had therefore quilted him heavily with the barbed +shafts of his protecting armour. Thirty feet away he was entirely +oblivious of Miki, at least apparently so; and Miki hugged the +ground closer, warned by the swiftly developing instinct within +him that here was a creature it would be unwise to attack. + +For perhaps a minute Kawook stood up, chuckling his tribal song +without any visible movement of his body. He stood profile to +Miki, like a fat alderman. He was so fat that his stomach bulged +out in front like the half of a balloon, and over this stomach his +hands were folded in a peculiarly human way, so that he looked +more like an old she-porcupine than a master in his tribe. + +It was not until then that Miki observed Iskwasis, the young +female porcupine, who had poked herself slyly out from under a +bush near Kawook. In spite of his years the red thrill of romance +was not yet gone from the old fellow's bones, and he immediately +started to give an exhibition of his good breeding and elegance. +He began with his ludicrous love-making dance, hopping from one +foot to the other until his fat stomach shook, and chuckling +louder than ever. The charms of Iskwasis were indeed sufficient to +turn the head of an older beau than Kawook. She was a distinctive +blonde; in other words, one of those unusual creatures of her +kind, an albino. Her nose was pink, the palms of her little feet +were pink, and each of her pretty pink eyes was set in an iris of +sky-blue. It was evident that she did not regard old Kawook's +passion-dance with favour and sensing this fact Kawook changed his +tactics and falling on all four feet began to chase his spiky tail +as if he had suddenly gone mad. When he stopped, and looked to see +what effect he had made he was clearly knocked out by the fact +that Iskwasis had disappeared. + +For another minute he sat stupidly, without making a sound. Then +to Miki's consternation he started straight for the tree in which +Neewa was sleeping. As a matter of fact, it was Kawook's dinner- +tree, and he began climbing it, talking to himself all the time. +Miki's hair began to stand on end. He did not know that Kawook, +like all his kind, was the best-natured fellow in the world, and +had never harmed anything in his life unless assaulted first. +Lacking this knowledge he set up a sudden frenzy of barking to +warn Neewa. + +Neewa roused himself slowly, and when he opened his eyes he was +looking into a spiky face that sent him into a convulsion of +alarm. With a suddenness that came within an ace of toppling him +from his crotch he swung over and scurried higher up the tree. +Kawook was not at all excited. Now that Iskwasis was gone he was +entirely absorbed in the anticipation of his dinner. He continued +to clamber slowly upward, and at this the horrified Neewa backed +himself out on a limb in order that Kawook might have an +unobstructed trail up the tree. + +Unfortunately for Neewa it was on this limb that Kawook had eaten +his last meal, and he began working himself out on it, still +apparently oblivious of the fact that the cub was on the same +branch. At this Miki sent up such a series of shrieking yelps from +below that Kawook seemed at last to realize that something unusual +was going on. He peered down at Miki who was making vain efforts +to jump up the trunk of the tree; then he turned and, for the +first time, contemplated Neewa with some sign of interest. Neewa +was hugging the limb with both forearms and both hind legs. To +retreat another foot on the branch that was already bending +dangerously under his weight seemed impossible. + +It was at this point that Kawook began to scold fiercely. With a +final frantic yelp Miki sat back on his haunches and watched the +thrilling drama above him. A little at a time Kawook advanced, and +inch by inch Neewa retreated, until at last he rolled clean over +and was hanging with his back toward the ground. It was then that +Kawook ceased his scolding and calmly began eating his dinner. For +two or three minutes Neewa kept his hold. Twice he made efforts to +pull himself up so that he could get the branch under him. Then +his hind feet slipped. For a dozen seconds he hung with his two +front paws--then shot down through fifteen feet of space to the +ground. Close to Miki he landed with a thud that knocked the wind +out of him. He rose with a grunt, took one dazed look up the tree, +and without further explanation to Miki began to leg it deeper +into the forest--straight into the face of the great adventure +which was to be the final test for these two. + + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + + +Not until he had covered at least a quarter of a mile did Neewa +stop. To Miki it seemed as though they had come suddenly out of +day into the gloom of evening. That part of the forest into which +Neewa's flight had led them was like a vast, mysterious cavern. +Even Challoner would have paused there, awed by the grandeur of +its silence, held spellbound by the enigmatical whispers that made +up its only sound. The sun was still high in the heavens, but not +a ray of it penetrated the dense green canopy of spruce and balsam +that hung like a wall over the heads of Miki and Neewa. About them +was no bush, no undergrowth; under their feet was not a flower or +a spear of grass. Nothing but a thick, soft carpet of velvety +brown needles under which all life was smothered. It was as if the +forest nymphs had made of this their bedchamber, sheltered through +all the seasons of the year from wind and rain and snow; or else +that the were-wolf people--the loup-garou--had chosen it as their +hiding-place and from its weird and gloomy fastnesses went forth +on their ghostly missions among the sons of men. + +Not a bird twittered in the trees. There was no flutter of life in +their crowded branches. Everything was so still that Miki heard +the excited throbbing of life in his own body. He looked at Neewa, +and in the gloom the cub's eyes were glistening with a strange +fire. Neither of them was afraid, yet in that cavernous silence +their comradeship was born anew, and in it there was something now +that crept down into their wild little souls and filled the +emptiness that was left by the death of Neewa's mother and the +loss of Miki's master. The pup whined gently, and in his throat +Neewa made a purring sound and followed it with a squeaky grunt +that was like the grunt of a little pig. They edged nearer, and +stood shoulder to shoulder facing their world. They went on after +a little, like two children exploring the mystery of an old and +abandoned house. They were not hunting, yet every hunting instinct +in their bodies was awake, and they stopped frequently to peer +about them, and listen, and scent the air. + +To Neewa it all brought back a memory of the black cavern in which +he was born. Would Noozak, his mother, come up presently out of +one of those dark forest aisles? Was she sleeping here, as she had +slept in the darkness of their den? The questions may have come +vaguely in his mind. For it was like the cavern, in that it was +deathly still; and a short distance away its gloom thickened into +black pits. Such a place the Indians called MUHNEDOO--a spot in +the forest blasted of all life by the presence of devils; for only +devils would grow trees so thick that sunlight never penetrated. +And only owls held the companionship of the evil spirits. + +Where Neewa and Miki stood a grown wolf would have paused, and +turned back; the fox would have slunk away, hugging the ground; +even the murderous-hearted little ermine would have peered in with +his beady red eyes, unafraid, but turned by instinct back into the +open timber. For here, in spite of the stillness and the gloom, +THERE WAS LIFE. It was beating and waiting in the ambush of those +black pits. It was rousing itself, even as Neewa and Miki went on +deeper into the silence, and eyes that were like round balls were +beginning to glow with a greenish fire. Still there was no sound, +no movement in the dense overgrowth of the trees. Like the imps of +MUHNEDOO the monster owls looked down, gathering their slow wits-- +and waiting. + +And then a huge shadow floated out of the dark chaos and passed so +close over the heads of Neewa and Miki that they heard the +menacing purr of giant wings. As the wraith-like creature +disappeared there came back to them a hiss and the grating snap of +a powerful beak. It sent a shiver through Miki. The instinct that +had been fighting to rouse itself within him flared up like a +powder-flash. Instantly he sensed the nearness of an unknown and +appalling danger. + +There was sound about them now--movement in the trees, ghostly +tremours in the air, and the crackling, metallic SNAP--SNAP--SNAP +over their heads. Again Miki saw the great shadow come and go. It +was followed by a second, and a third, until the vault under the +trees seemed filled with shadows; and with each shadow came nearer +that grating menace of powerfully beaked jaws. Like the wolf and +the fox he cringed down, hugging the earth. But it was no longer +with the whimpering fear of the pup. His muscles were drawn tight, +and with a snarl he bared his fangs when one of the owls swooped +so low that he felt the beat of its wings. Neewa responded with a +sniff that a little later in his life would have been the defiant +WHOOF of his mother. Bear-like he was standing up. And it was upon +him that one of the shadows descended--a monstrous feathered bolt +straight out of darkness. + +Six feet away Miki's blazing eyes saw his comrade smothered under +a gray mass, and for a moment or two he was held appalled and +lifeless by the thunderous beat of the gargantuan wings. No sound +came from Neewa. Flung on his back, he was digging his claws into +feathers so thick and soft that they seemed to have no heart or +flesh. He felt upon him the presence of the Thing that was death. +The beat of the wings was like the beat of clubs: they drove the +breath out of his body, they blinded his senses, yet he continued +to tear fiercely with his claws into a fleshless breast. + +In his first savage swoop Oohoomisew, whose great wings measured +five feet from tip to tip, had missed his death-grip by the +fraction of an inch. His powerful talons that would have buried +themselves like knives in Neewa's vitals closed too soon, and were +filled with the cub's thick hair and loose hide. Now he was +beating his prey down with his wings until the right moment came +for him to finish the killing with the terrific stabbing of his +beak. Half a minute of that and Neewa's face would be torn into +pieces. + +It was the fact that Neewa made no sound, that no cry came from +him, that brought Miki to his feet with his lips drawn back and a +snarl in his throat. All at once fear went out of him and in its +place came a wild and almost joyous exultation. He recognized +their enemy--A BIRD. To him birds were a prey, and not a menace. A +dozen times in their journey down from the Upper Country Challoner +had shot big Canada geese and huge-winged cranes. Miki had eaten +their flesh. Twice he had pursued wounded cranes, yapping at the +top of his voice, AND THEY HAD RUN FROM HIM. He did not bark or +yelp now. Like a flash he launched himself into the feathered mass +of the owl. His fourteen pounds of flesh and bone landed with the +force of a stone, and Oohoomisew was torn from his hold and flung +with a great flutter of wings upon his side. + +Before he could recover his balance Miki was at him again, +striking full at his head, where he had struck at the wounded +crane. Oohoomisew went flat on his back--and for the first time +Miki let out of his throat a series of savage and snarling yelps. +It was a new sound to Oohoomisew and his blood-thirsty brethren +watching the struggle from out of the gloom. The snapping beaks +drifted farther away, and Oohoomisew, with a, sudden sweep of +wings, vaulted into the air. + +With his big forefeet planted firmly and his snarling face turned +up to the black wall of the tree-tops Miki continued to bark and +howl defiantly. He wanted the bird to come back. He wanted to tear +and rip at its feathers, and as he sent out his frantic challenge +Neewa rolled over, got on his feet, and with a warning squeal to +Miki once more set off in flight. If Miki was ignorant in the +matter, HE at least understood the situation. Again it was the +instinct born of countless generations. He knew that in the black +pits about them hovered death--and he ran as he had never run +before in his life. As Miki followed, the shadows were beginning +to float nearer again. + +Ahead of them they saw a glimmer of sunshine. The trees grew +taller, and soon the day began breaking through so that there were +no longer the cavernous hollows of gloom about them. If they had +gone on another hundred yards they would have come to the edge of +the big plain, the hunting grounds of the owls. But the flame of +self-preservation was hot in Neewa's head; he was still dazed by +the thunderous beat of wings; his sides burned where Oohoomisew's +talons had scarred his flesh; so, when he saw in his path a +tangled windfall of tree trunks he dived into the security of it +so swiftly that for a moment or two Miki wondered where he had +gone. + +Crawling into the windfall after him Miki turned and poked out his +head. He was not satisfied. His lips were still drawn back, and he +continued to growl. He had beaten his enemy. He had knocked it +over fairly, and had filled his jaws with its feathers. In the +face of that triumph he sensed the fact that he had run away in +following Neewa, and he was possessed with the desire to go back +and have it out to a finish. It was the blood of the Airedale and +the Spitz growing stronger in him, fearless of defeat; the blood +of his father, the giant hunting-hound Hela. It was the demand of +his breed, with its mixture of wolfish courage and fox-like +persistency backed by the powerful jaws and Herculean strength of +the Mackenzie hound, and if Neewa had not drawn deeper under the +windfall he would have gone out again and yelped his challenge to +the feathered things from which they had fled. + +Neewa was smarting under the red-hot stab of Oohoomisew's talons, +and he wanted no more of the fight that came out of the air. He +began licking his wounds, and after a while Miki went back to him +and smelled of the fresh, warm blood. It made him growl. He knew +that it was Neewa's blood, and his eyes glowed like twin balls of +fire as they watched the opening through which they had entered +into the dark tangle of fallen trees. + +For an hour he did not move, and in that hour, as in the hour +after the killing of the rabbit, he GREW. When at last he crept +out cautiously from under the windfall the sun was sinking behind +the western forests. He peered about him, watching for movement +and listening for sound. The sagging and apologetic posture of +puppyhood was gone from him. His overgrown feet stood squarely on +the ground; his angular legs were as hard as if carven out of +knotty wood; his body was tense, his ears stood up, his head was +rigidly set between the bony shoulders that already gave evidence +of gigantic strength to come. About him he knew was the Big +Adventure. The world was no longer a world of play and of +snuggling under the hands of a master. Something vastly more +thrilling had come into it now. + +After a time he dropped on his belly close to the opening under +the windfall and began chewing at the end of rope which dragged +from about his neck. The sun sank lower. It disappeared. Still he +waited for Neewa to come out and lie with him in the open. As the +twilight thickened into deeper gloom he drew himself into the edge +of the door under the windfall and found Neewa there. Together +they peered forth into the mysterious night. + +For a time there was the utter stillness of the first hour of +darkness in the northland. Up in the clear sky the stars came out +in twos and then in glowing constellations. There was an early +moon. It was already over the edge of the forests, flooding the +world with a golden glow, and in that glow the night was filled +with grotesque black shadows that had neither movement nor sound. +Then the silence was broken. From out of the owl-infested pits +came a strange and hollow sound. Miki had heard the shrill +screeching and the TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O, TU-WHO-O-O of the +little owls, the trap-pirates, but never this voice of the strong- +winged Jezebels and Frankensteins of the deeper forests--the real +butchers of the night. It was a hollow, throaty sound--more a moan +than a cry; a moan so short and low that it seemed born of +caution, or of fear that it would frighten possible prey. For a +few minutes pit after pit gave forth each its signal of life, and +then there was a silence of voice, broken at intervals by the +faint, crashing sweep of great wings in the spruce and balsam tops +as the hunters launched themselves up and over them in the +direction of the plain. + +The going forth of the owls was only the beginning of the night +carnival for Neewa and Miki. For a long time they lay side by +side, sleepless, and listening. Past the windfall went the padded +feet of a fisher-cat, and they caught the scent of it; to them +came the far cry of a loon, the yapping of a restless fox, and the +MOOING of a cow moose feeding in the edge of a lake on the farther +side of the plain. And then, at last, came the thing that made +their blood run faster and sent a deeper thrill into their hearts. + +It seemed a vast distance away at first--the hot throated cry of +wolves on the trail of meat. It was swinging northward into the +plain, and this shortly brought the cry with the wind, which was +out of the north and the west. The howling of the pack was very +distinct after that, and in Miki's brain nebulous visions and +almost unintelligible memories were swiftly wakening into life. It +was not Challoner's voice that he heard, but it was A VOICE THAT +HE KNEW. It was the voice of Hela, his giant father; the voice of +Numa, his mother; the voice of his kind for a hundred and a +thousand generations before him, and it was the instinct of those +generations and the hazy memory of his earliest puppyhood that +were impinging the thing upon him. A little later it would take +both intelligence and experience to make him discriminate the +hair-breadth difference between wolf and dog. And this voice of +his blood was COMING! It bore down upon them swiftly, fierce and +filled with the blood-lust of hunger. He forgot Neewa. He did not +observe the cub when he slunk back deeper under the windfall. He +rose up on his feet and stood stiff and tense, unconscious of all +things but that thrilling tongue of the hunt-pack. + +Wind-broken, his strength failing him, and his eyes wildly +searching the night ahead for the gleam of water that might save +him, Ahtik, the young caribou bull, raced for his life a hundred +yards ahead of the wolves. The pack had already flung itself out +in the form of a horse-shoe, and the two ends were beginning to +creep up abreast of Ahtik, ready to close in for the hamstring-- +and the kill. In these last minutes every throat was silent, and +the young bull sensed the beginning of the end. Desperately he +turned to the right and plunged into the forest. + +Miki heard the crash of his body and he hugged close to the +windfall. Ten seconds later Ahtik passed within fifty feet of him, +a huge and grotesque form in the moonlight, his coughing breath +filled with the agony and hopelessness of approaching death. As +swiftly as he had come he was gone, and in his place followed half +a score of noiseless shadows passing so quickly that to Miki they +were like the coming and the going of the wind. + +For many minutes after that he stood and listened but again +silence had fallen upon the night. After a little he went back +into the windfall and lay down beside Neewa. + +Hours that followed he passed in restless snatches of slumber. He +dreamed of things that he had forgotten. He dreamed of Challoner. +He dreamed of chill nights and the big fires; he heard his +master's voice and he felt again the touch of his hand; but over +it all and through it all ran that wild hunting voice of his own +kind. + +In the early dawn he came out from under the windfall and smelled +of the trail where the wolves and the caribou had passed. +Heretofore it was Neewa who had led in their wandering; now it was +Neewa that followed. His nostrils filled with the heavy scent of +the pack, Miki travelled steadily in the direction of the plain. +It took him half an hour to reach the edge of it. After that he +came to a wide and stony out-cropping of the earth over which he +nosed the spoor to a low and abrupt descent into the wider range +of the valley. + +Here he stopped. + +Twenty feet under him and fifty feet away lay the partly devoured +carcass of the young bull. It was not this fact that thrilled him +until his heart stood still. From out of the bushy plain had come +Maheegun, a renegade she-wolf, to fill herself of the meat which +she had not helped to kill. She was a slinking, hollow-backed, +quick-fanged creature, still rib-thin from the sickness that had +come of eating a poison-bait; a beast shunned by her own kind--a +coward, a murderess even of her own whelps. But she was none of +these things to Miki. In her he saw in living flesh and bone what +his memory and his instinct recalled to him of his mother. And his +mother had come before Challoner, his master. + +For a minute or two he lay trembling, and then he went down, as he +would have gone to Challoner; with great caution, with a wilder +suspense, but with a strange yearning within him that the man's +presence would have failed to rouse. He was very close to Maheegun +before she was conscious that he was near. The Mother-smell was +warm in his nose now; it filled him with a great joy; and yet--he +was afraid. But it was not a physical fear. Flattened on the +ground, with his head between his fore-paws, he whined. + +Like a flash the she-wolf turned, her fangs bared the length of +her jaws and her bloodshot eyes aglow with menace and suspicion. +Miki had no time to make a move or another sound. With the +suddenness of a cat the outcast creature was upon him. Her fangs +slashed him just once--and she was gone. Her teeth had drawn blood +from his shoulder, but it was not the smart of the wound that held +him for many moments as still as if dead. The Mother-smell was +still where Maheegun had been. But his dreams had crumbled. The +thing that had been Memory died away at last in a deep breath that +was broken by a whimper of pain. For him, even as for Neewa, there +was no more a Challoner, and no longer a mother. But there +remained--the world! In it the sun was rising. Out of it came the +thrill and the perfume of life. And close to him--very close--was +the rich, sweet smell of meat. + +He sniffed hungrily. Then he turned, and saw Neewa's black and +pudgy body tumbling down the slope of the dip to join him in the +feast. + + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + + +Had Makoki, the leather-faced old Cree runner between God's Lake +and Fort Churchill, known the history of Miki and Neewa up to the +point where they came to feast on the fat and partly devoured +carcass of the young caribou bull, he would have said that Iskoo +Wapoo, the Good Spirit of the beasts, was watching over them most +carefully. For Makoki had great faith in the forest gods as well +as in those of his own tepee. He would have given the story his +own picturesque version, and would have told it to the little +children of his son's children; and his son's children would have +kept it in their memory for their own children later on. + +It was not in the ordained nature of things that a black bear cub +and a Mackenzie hound pup with a dash of Airedale and Spitz in him +should "chum up" together as Neewa and Miki had done. Therefore, +he would have said, the Beneficent Spirit who watched over the +affairs of four-legged beasts must have had an eye on them from +the beginning. It was she--Iskoo Wapoo was a goddess and not a god +--who had made Challoner kill Neewa's mother, the big black bear; +and it was she who had induced him to tie the pup and the cub +together on the same piece of rope, so that when they fell out of +the white man's canoe into the rapids they would not die, but +would be company and salvation for each other. NESWA-PAWUK ("two +little brothers") Makoki would have called them; and had it come +to the test he would have cut off a finger before harming either +of them. But Makoki knew nothing of their adventures, and on this +morning when they came down to the feast he was a hundred miles +away, haggling with a white man who wanted a guide. He would never +know that Iskoo Wapoo was at his side that very moment, planning +the thing that was to mean so much in the lives of Neewa and Miki. + +Meanwhile Neewa and Miki went at their breakfast as if starved. +They were immensely practical. They did not look back on what had +happened, but for the moment submerged themselves completely in +the present. The few days of thrill and adventure through which +they had gone seemed like a year. Neewa's yearning for his mother +had grown less and less insistent, and Miki's lost master counted +for nothing now, as things were going with him. Last night was the +big, vivid thing in their memories--their fight for life with the +monster owls, their flight, the killing of the young caribou bull +by the wolves, and (with Miki) the short, bitter experience with +Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. His shoulder burned where she had +torn at him with her teeth. But this did not lessen his appetite. +Growling as he ate, he filled himself until he could hold no more. + +Then he sat back on his haunches and looked in the direction +Maheegun had taken. + +It was eastward, toward Hudson Bay, over a great plain that lay +between two ridges that were like forest walls, yellow and gold in +the morning sun. He had never seen the world as it looked to him +now. The wolves had overtaken the caribou on a scarp on the high +ground that thrust itself out like a short fat thumb from the +black and owl-infested forest, and the carcass lay in a meadowy +dip that overhung the plain. From the edge of this dip Miki could +look down--and so far away that the wonder of what he saw +dissolved itself at last into the shimmer of the sun and the blue +of the sky. Within his vision lay a paradise of marvellous +promise; wide stretches of soft, green meadow; clumps of timber, +park-like until they merged into the deeper forest that began with +the farther ridge; great patches of bush radiant with the +colouring of June; here and there the gleam of water, and half a +mile away a lake that was like a giant mirror set in a purplish- +green frame of balsam and spruce. + +Into these things Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gone. He wondered +whether she would come back. He sniffed the air for her. But there +was no longer the mother-yearning in his heart. Something had +already begun to tell him of the vast difference between the dog +and the wolf. For a few moments, still hopeful that the world held +a mother for him, he had mistaken her for the one he had lost. But +he understood now. A little more and Maheegun's teeth would have +snapped his shoulder, or slashed his throat to the jugular. TEBAH- +GONE-GAWIN (the One Great Law) was impinging itself upon him, the +implacable law of the survival of the fittest. To live was to +fight--to kill; to beat everything that had feet or wings. The +earth and the air held menace for him. Nowhere, since he had lost +Challoner, had he found friendship except in the heart of Neewa, +the motherless cub. And he turned toward Neewa now, growling at a +gay-plumaged moose-bird that was hovering about for a morsel of +meat. + +A few minutes before, Neewa had weighed a dozen pounds; now he +weighed fourteen or fifteen. His stomach was puffed out like the +sides of an overfilled bag, and he sat humped up in a pool of warm +sunshine licking his chops and vastly contented with himself and +the world. Miki rubbed up to him, and Neewa gave a chummy grunt. +Then he rolled over on his fat back and invited Miki to play. It +was the first time; and with a joyous yelp Miki jumped into him. +Scratching and biting and kicking, and interjecting their friendly +scrimmage with ferocious growling on Miki's part and pig-like +grunts and squeals on Neewa's, they rolled to the edge of the dip. +It was a good hundred feet to the bottom--a steep, grassy slope +that ran to the plain--and like two balls they catapulted the +length of it. For Neewa it was not so bad. He was round and fat, +and went easily. + +With Miki it was different. He was all legs and skin and angular +bone, and he went down twisting and somersaulting and tying +himself into knots until by the time he struck the hard strip of +shale at the edge of the plain he was drunk with dizziness and the +breath was out of his body. He staggered to his feet with a gasp. +For a space the world was whirling round and round in a sickening +circle. Then he pulled himself together, and made out Neewa a +dozen feet away. + +Neewa was just awakening to the truth of an exhilarating +discovery. Next to a boy on a sled, or a beaver on its tail, no +one enjoys a "slide" more than a black bear cub, and as Miki +rearranged his scattered wits Neewa climbed twenty or thirty feet +up the slope and deliberately rolled down again! Miki's jaws fell +apart in amazement. Again Neewa climbed up and rolled down--and +Miki ceased to breathe altogether. Five times he watched Neewa go +that twenty or thirty feet up the grassy slope and tumble down. +The fifth time he waded into Neewa and gave him a rough-and-tumble +that almost ended in a fight. + +After that Miki began exploring along the foot of the slope, and +for a scant hundred yards Neewa humoured him by following, but +beyond that point he flatly refused to go. In the fourth month of +his exciting young life Neewa was satisfied that Nature had given +him birth that he might have the endless pleasure of filling his +stomach. For him, eating was the one and only excuse for existing. +In the next few months he had a big job on his hands if he kept up +the record of his family, and the fact that Miki was apparently +abandoning the fat and juicy carcass of the young bull filled him +with alarm and rebellion. Straightway he forgot all thought of +play and started back up the slope on a mission that was 100 per +cent. business. + +Observing this, Miki gave up his idea of exploration and joined +him. They reached the shelf of the dip twenty yards from the +carcass of the bull, and from a clutter of big stones looked forth +upon their meat. In that moment they stood dumb and paralyzed. Two +gigantic owls were tearing at the carcass. To Miki and Neewa these +were the monsters of the black forest out of which they had +escaped so narrowly with their lives. But as a matter of fact they +were not of Oohoomisew's breed of night-seeing pirates. They were +Snowy Owls, unlike all others of their kind in that their vision +was as keen as a hawk's in the light of broad day. Mispoon, the +big male, was immaculately white. His mate, a size or two smaller, +was barred with brownish-slate colour--and their heads were round +and terrible looking because they had no ear-tufts. Mispoon, with +his splendid wings spread half over the carcass of Ahtik, the dead +bull, was rending flesh so ravenously with his powerful beak that +Neewa and Miki could hear the sound of it. Newish, his mate, had +her head almost buried in Ahtik's bowels. The sight of them and +the sound of their eating were enough to disturb the nerves of an +older bear than Neewa, and he crouched behind a stone, with just +his head sticking out. + +In Miki's throat was a sullen growl. But he held it back, and +flattened himself on the ground. The blood of the giant hunter +that was his father rose in him again like fire. The carcass was +his meat, and he was ready to fight for it. Besides, had he not +whipped the big owl in the forest? But here there were two. The +fact held him flattened on his belly a moment or two longer, and +in that brief space the unexpected happened. + +Slinking up out of the low growth of bush at the far edge of the +dip lie saw Maheegun, the renegade she-wolf. Hollow-backed, red- +eyed, her bushy tail hanging with the sneaky droop of the +murderess, she advanced over the bit of open, a gray and vengeful +shadow. Furtive as she was, she at least acted with great +swiftness. Straight at Mispoon she launched herself with a snarl +and snap of fangs that made Miki hug the ground still closer. + +Deep into Mispoon's four-inch armour of feathers Maheegun buried +her fangs. Taken at a disadvantage Mispoon's head would have been +torn from his body before he could have gathered himself for +battle had it not been for Newish. Pulling her blood stained head +from Ahtik's flesh and blood she drove at Maheegun with a throaty, +wheezing scream--a cry that was like the cry of no other thing +that lived. Into the she-wolf's back she sank her beak and talons +and Maheegun gave up her grip on Mispoon and tore ferociously at +her new assailant. For a space Mispoon was saved, but it was at a +terrible sacrifice to Newish. With a single lucky slash of her +long-fanged jaws, Maheegun literally tore one of Newish's great +wings from her body. The croak of agony that came out of her may +have held the death-note for Mispoon, her mate; for he rose on his +wings, poised himself for an instant, and launched himself at the +she-wolf's back with a force that drove Maheegun off her feet. + +Deep into her loins the great owl sank his talons, gripping at the +renegade's vitals with an avenging and ferocious tenacity. In that +hold Maheegun felt the sting of death. She flung herself on her +back; she rolled over and over, snarling and snapping and clawing +the air in her efforts to free herself of the burning knives that +were sinking still deeper into her bowels. Mispoon hung on, +rolling as she rolled, beating with his giant wings, fastening his +talons in that clutch that death could not shake loose. On the +ground his mate was dying. Her life's blood was pouring out of the +hole in her side, but with the dimming vision of death she made a +last effort to help Mispoon. And Mispoon, a hero to the last, kept +his grip until he was dead. + +Into the edge of the bush Maheegun dragged herself. There she +freed herself of the big owl. But the deep wounds were still in +her sides. The blood dripped from her belly as she made her way +down into the thicker cover, leaving a red trail behind her. A +quarter of a mile away she lay down under a clump of dwarf spruce; +and there, a little later, she died. + +To Neewa and Miki--and especially to the son of Hela--the grim +combat had widened even more that subtle and growing comprehension +of the world as it existed for them. It was the unforgettable +wisdom of experience backed by an age-old instinct and the +heredity of breed. They had killed small things--Neewa, his bugs +and his frogs and his bumble-bees; Miki, his rabbit--they had +fought for their lives; they had passed through experiences that, +from the beginning, had been a gamble with death; but it had +needed the climax of a struggle such as they had seen with their +own eyes to open up the doors that gave them a new viewpoint of +life. + +It was many minutes before Miki went forth and smelled of Newish, +the dead owl. He had no desire now to tear at her feathers in the +excitement of an infantile triumph and ferocity. Along with +greater understanding a new craft and a new cunning were born in +him. The fate of Mispoon and his mate had taught him the priceless +value of silence and of caution, for he knew now that in the world +there were many things that were not afraid of him, and many +things that would not run away from him. He had lost his fearless +and blatant contempt for winged creatures; he had learned that the +earth was not made for him alone, and that to hold his small place +on it he must fight as Maheegun and the owls had fought. This was +because in Miki's veins was the red fighting blood of a long line +of ancestors that reached back to the wolves. + +In Neewa the process of deduction was vastly different. His breed +was not the fighting breed, except as it fought among its own +kind. It did not make a habit of preying upon other beasts, and no +other beast preyed upon it. This was purely an accident of birth-- +the fact that no other creature in all his wide domain was +powerful enough, either alone or in groups, to defeat a grown +black bear in open battle. Therefore Neewa learned nothing of +fighting in the tragedy of Maheegun and the owls. His profit, if +any, was in a greater caution. And his chief interest was in the +fact that Maheegun and the two owls had not devoured the young +bull. His supper was still safe. + +With his little round eyes on the alert for fresh trouble he kept +himself safely hidden while he watched Miki investigating the +scene of battle. From the body of the owl Miki went to Ahtik, and +from Ahtik he sniffed slowly over the trail which Maheegun had +taken into the bush. In the edge of the cover he found Mispoon. He +did not go farther, but returned to Neewa, who by this time had +made up his mind that he could safely come out into the open. + +Fifty times that day Miki rushed to the defense of their meat. The +big-eyed, clucking moose-birds were most annoying. Next to them +the Canada jays were most persistent. Twice a little gray-coated +ermine, with eyes as red as garnets, came in to get his fill of +blood. Miki was at him so fiercely that he did not return a third +time. By noon the crows had got scent or sight of the carcass and +were circling overhead, waiting for Neewa and Miki to disappear. +Later, they set up a raucous protest from the tops of the trees in +the edge of the forest. + +That night the wolves did not return to the dip. Meat was too +plentiful, and those that were over their gorge were off on a +fresh kill far to the west. Once or twice Neewa and Miki heard +their distant cry. + +Again through a star-filled radiant night they watched and +listened, and slept at times. In the soft gray dawn they went +forth once more to their feast. + +And here is where Makoki, the old Cree runner, would have +emphasized the presence of the Beneficent Spirit. For day followed +day, and night followed night, and Ahtik's flesh and blood put +into Neewa and Miki a strength and growth that developed +marvellously. By the fourth day Neewa had become so fat and sleek +that he was half again as big as on the day he fell out of the +canoe. Miki had begun to fill out. His ribs could no longer be +counted from a distance. His chest was broadening and his legs +were losing some of their angular clumsiness. Practice on Ahtik's +bones had strengthened his jaws. With his development he felt less +and less the old puppyish desire to play--more and more the +restlessness of the hunter. The fourth night he heard again the +wailing hunt-cry of the wolves, and it held a wild and thrilling +note for him. + +With Neewa, fat and good humour and contentment were all +synonymous. As long as the meat held out there was no very great +temptation for him beyond the dip and the slope. Two or three +times a day he went down to the creek; and every morning and +afternoon--especially about sunset--he had his fun rolling +downhill. In addition to this he began taking his afternoon naps +in the crotch of a small sapling. As Miki could see neither sense +nor sport in tobogganing, and as he could not climb a tree, he +began to spend more and more time in venturing up and down the +foot of the ridge. He wanted Neewa to go with him on these +expeditions. He never set out until he had entreated Neewa to come +down out of his tree, or until he had made an effort to coax him +away from the single trail he had made to the creek and back. +Neewa's obstinacy would never have brought about any real +unpleasantness between them. Miki thought too much of him for +that; and if it had come to a final test, and Neewa had thought +that Miki would not return, he would undoubtedly have followed +him. + +It was another and a more potent thing than an ordinary quarrel +that placed the first great barrier between them. Now it happened +that Miki was of the breed which preferred its meat fresh, while +Neewa liked his "well hung." And from the fourth day onward, what +was left of Ahtik's carcass was ripening. On the fifth day Miki +found the flesh difficult to eat; on the sixth, impossible. To +Neewa it became increasingly delectable as the flavour grew and +the perfume thickened. On the sixth day, in sheer delight, he +rolled in it. That night, for the first time, Miki could not sleep +with him. + +The seventh day brought the climax. Ahtik now fairly smelled to +heaven. The odour of him drifted up and away on the soft June wind +until all the crows in the country were gathering. It drove Miki, +slinking like a whipped cur, down into the creek bottom. When +Neewa came down for a drink after his morning feast Miki sniffed +him over for a moment and then slunk away from him again. As a +matter of fact, there was small difference between Ahtik and Neewa +now, except that one lay still and the other moved. Both smelled +dead; both were decidedly "well hung." Even the crows circled over +Neewa, wondering why it was that he walked about like a living +thing. + +That night Miki slept alone under a clump of bush in the creek +bottom. He was hungry and lonely, and for the first time in many +days he felt the bigness and emptiness of the world. He wanted +Neewa. He whined for him in the starry silence of the long hours +between sunset and dawn. The sun was well up before Neewa came +down the hill. He had finished his breakfast and his morning roll, +and he was worse than ever. Again Miki tried to coax him away but +Neewa was disgustingly fixed in his determination to remain in his +present glory. And this morning he was more than usually anxious +to return to the dip. All of yesterday he had found it necessary +to frighten the crows away from his meat, and to-day they were +doubly persistent in their efforts to rob him. With a grunt and a +squeal to Miki he hustled back up the hill after he had taken his +drink. + +His trail entered the dip through the pile of rocks from which +Miki and he had watched the battle between Maheegun and the two +owls, and as a matter of caution he always paused for a few +moments among these rocks to make sure that all was well in the +open. This morning he received a decided shock. Ahtik's carcass +was literally black with crows. Kakakew and his Ethiopic horde of +scavengers had descended in a cloud, and they were tearing and +fighting and beating their wings about Ahtik as if all of them had +gone mad. Another cloud was hovering in air; every bush and near- +by sapling was bending under the weight of them, and in the sun +their jet-black plumage glistened as if they had just come out of +the bath of a tinker's pot. Neewa stood astounded. He was not +frightened; he had driven the cowardly robbers away many times. +But never had there been so many of them. He could see no trace of +his meat. Even the ground about it was black. + +He rushed out from the rocks with his lips drawn back, just as he +had rushed a dozen or more times before. There was a mighty roar +of wings. The air was darkened by them, and the ravenish screaming +that followed could have been heard a mile away. This time Kakakew +and his mighty crew did not fly back to the forest. Their number +gave them courage. The taste of Ahtik's flesh and the flavour of +it in their nostrils intoxicated them, to the point of madness, +with desire. Neewa was dazed. Over him, behind him, on all sides +of him they swept and circled, croaking and screaming at him, the +boldest of them swooping down to beat at him with their wings. +Thicker grew the menacing cloud, and then suddenly it descended +like an avalanche. It covered Ahtik again. In it Neewa was fairly +smothered. He felt himself buried under a mass of wings and +bodies, and he began fighting, as he had fought the owls. A score +of pincer-like black beaks fought to get at his hair and hide; +others stabbed at his eyes; he felt his ears being pulled from his +head, and the end of his nose was a bloody cushion within a dozen +seconds. The breath was beaten out of him; he was blinded, and +dazed, and every square inch of him was aquiver with its own +excruciating pain. He forgot Ahtik. The one thing in the world he +wanted most was a large open space in which to run. + +Putting all his strength into the effort he struggled to his feet +and charged through the mass of living things about him. At this +sign of defeat many of the crows left him to join in the feast. By +the time he was half way to the cover into which Maheegun had gone +all but one had left him. That one may have been Kakakew himself. +He had fastened himself like a rat-trap to Neewa's stubby tail, +and there he hung on like grim death while Neewa ran. He kept his +hold until his victim was well into the cover. Then he flopped +himself into the air and rejoined his brethren at the putrified +carcass of the bull. + +If ever Neewa had wanted Miki he wanted him now. Again his entire +viewpoint of the world was changed. He was stabbed in a hundred +places. He burned as if afire. Even the bottoms of his feet hurt +him when he stepped on them, and for half an hour he hid himself +under a bush, licking his wounds and sniffing the air for Miki. + +Then he went down the slope into the creek bottom, and hurried to +the foot of the trail he had made to and from the dip. Vainly he +quested about him for his comrade. He grunted and squealed, and +tried to catch the scent of him in the air. He ran up the creek a +distance, and back again. Ahtik counted as nothing now. + +Miki was gone. + + + + + +CHAPTER TEN + + +A quarter of a mile away Miki had heard the clamour of the crows. +But he was in no humour to turn back, even had he guessed that +Neewa was in need of his help. He was hungry from long fasting +and, for the present, his disposition had taken a decided turn. He +was in a mood to tackle anything in the eating line, no matter how +big, but he was a good mile from the dip in the side of the ridge +before he found even a crawfish. He crunched this down, shell and +all. It helped to take the bad taste out of his mouth. + +The day was destined to hold for him still another unforgettable +event in his life. Now that he was alone the memory of his master +was not so vague as it had been yesterday, and the days before. +Brain-pictures came back to him more vividly as the morning +lengthened into afternoon, bridging slowly but surely the gulf +that Neewa's comradeship had wrought. For a time the exciting +thrill of his adventure was gone. Half a dozen times he hesitated +on the point of turning back to Neewa. It was hunger that always +drove him on a little farther. He found two more crawfish. Then +the creek deepened and its water ran slowly, and was darker. Twice +he chased old rabbits, that got away from him easily. Once he came +within an ace of catching a young one. Frequently a partridge rose +with a thunder of wings. He saw moose-birds, and jays, and many +squirrels. All about him was meat which it was impossible for him +to catch. Then fortune turned his way. Poking his head into the +end of a hollow log he cornered a rabbit so completely that there +was no escape. During the next few minutes he indulged in the +first square meal he had eaten for three days. + +So absorbed was he in his feast that he was unconscious of a new +arrival on the scene. He did not hear the coming of Oochak, the +fisher-cat; nor, for a few moments, did he smell him. It was not +in Oochak's nature to make a disturbance. He was by birth and +instinct a valiant hunter and a gentleman, and when he saw Miki +(whom he took to be a young wolf) feeding on a fresh kill, he made +no move to demand a share for himself. Nor did he run away. He +would undoubtedly have continued on his way very soon if Miki had +not finally sensed his presence, and faced him. + +Oochak had come from the other side of the log, and stood not more +than six feet distant. To one who knew as little of his history as +Miki there was nothing at all ferocious about him. He was shaped +like his cousins, the weazel, the mink, and the skunk. He was +about half as high as Miki, and fully as long, so that his two +pairs of short legs seemed somewhat out of place, as on a +dachshund. He probably weighed between eight and ten pounds, had a +bullet head, almost no ears, and atrocious whiskers. Also he had a +bushy tail and snapping little eyes that seemed to bore clean +through whatever he looked at. To Miki his accidental presence was +a threat and a challenge. Besides, Oochak looked like an easy +victim if it came to a fight. So he pulled back his lips and +snarled. + +Oochak accepted this as an invitation for him to move on, and +being a gentleman who respected other people's preserves he made +his apologies by beginning a velvet-footed exit. This was too much +for Miki, who had yet to learn the etiquette of the forest trails. +Oochak was afraid of him. He was running away! With a triumphant +yelp Miki took after him. After all, it was simply a mistake in +judgment. (Many two-footed animals with bigger brains than Miki's +had made similar mistakes.) For Oochak, attending always to his +own business, was, for his size and weight, the greatest little +fighter in North America. + +Just what happened in the one minute that followed his assault +Miki would never be able quite to understand. It was not in +reality a fight; it was a one-sided immolation, a massacre. His +first impression was that he had tackled a dozen Oochaks instead +of one. Beyond that first impression his mind did not work, nor +did his eyes visualize. He was whipped as he would never be +whipped again in his life. He was cut and bruised and bitten; he +was strangled and stabbed; he was so utterly mauled that for a +space after Oochak had gone he continued to rake the air with his +paws, unconscious of the fact that the affair was over. When he +opened his eyes, and found himself alone, he slunk into the hollow +log where he had cornered the rabbit. + +In there he lay a good half hour, trying hard to comprehend just +what had happened. The sun was setting when he dragged himself +out. He limped. His one good ear was bitten clean through. There +were bare spots on his hide where Oochak had scraped the hair off. +His bones ached, his throat was sore, and there was a lump over +one eye. He looked longingly back over the "home" trail. Up there +was Neewa. With the lengthening shadows of the day's end a great +loneliness crept upon him and a desire to turn back to his +comrade. But Oochak had gone that way--and he did not want to meet +Oochak again. + +He wandered a little farther south and east, perhaps a quarter of +a mile, before the sun disappeared entirely. In the thickening +gloom of twilight he struck the Big Rock portage between the +Beaver and the Loon. + +It was not a trail. Only at rare intervals did wandering voyageurs +coming down from the north make use of it in their passage from +one waterway to the other. Three or four times a year at the most +would a wolf have caught the scent of man in it. It was there +tonight, so fresh that Miki stopped when he came to it as if +another Oochak had risen before him. For a space he was turned +into the rigidity of rock by a single overwhelming emotion. All +other things were forgotten in the fact that he had struck the +trail of a man--AND, THEREFORE, THE TRAIL OF CHALLONER, HIS +MASTER. He began to follow it--slowly at first, as if fearing that +it might get away from him. Darkness came, and he was still +following it. In the light of the stars he persisted, all else +crowded from him but the homing instinct of the dog and the desire +for a master. + +At last he came almost to the shore of the Loon, and there he saw +the campfire of Makoki and the white man. + +He did not rush in. He did not bark or yelp; the hard schooling of +the wilderness had already set its mark upon him. He slunk in +cautiously--then stopped, flat on his belly, just outside the rim +of firelight. Then he saw that neither of the men was Challoner. +But both were smoking, as Challoner had smoked. He could hear +their voices, and they were like Challoner's voice. And the camp +was the same--a fire, a pot hanging over it, a tent, and in the +air the odours of recently cooked things. + +Another moment or two and he would have gone into the firelight. +But the white man rose to his feet, stretched himself as he had +often seen Challoner stretch, and picked up a stick of wood as big +as his arm. He came within ten feet of Miki, and Miki wormed +himself just a little toward him, and stood up on his feet. It +brought him into a half light. His eyes were aglow with the +reflection of the fire. And the man saw him. + +In a flash the club he held was over his head; it swung through +the air with the power of a giant arm behind it and was launched +straight at Miki. Had it struck squarely it would have killed him. +The big end of it missed him; the smaller end landed against his +neck and shoulder, driving him back into the gloom with such force +and suddenness that the man thought he had done for him. He called +out loudly to Makoki that he had killed a young wolf or a fox, and +dashed out into the darkness. + +The club had knocked Miki fairly into the heart of a thick ground +spruce. There he lay, making no sound, with a terrible pain in his +shoulder. Between himself and the fire he saw the man bend over +and pick up the club. He saw Makoki hurrying toward him with +ANOTHER club, and under his shelter he made himself as small as he +could. He was filled with a great dread, for now he understood the +truth. THESE men were not Challoner. They were hunting for him-- +with clubs in their hands. He knew what the clubs meant. His +shoulder was almost broken. + +He lay very still while the men searched about him. The Indian +even poked his stick into the thick ground spruce. The white man +kept saying that he was sure he had made a hit, and once he stood +so near that Miki's nose almost touched his boot. He went back and +added fresh birch to the fire, so that the light of it illumined a +greater space about them. Miki's heart stood still. But the men +searched farther on, and at last went back to the fire. + +For an hour Miki did not move. The fire burned itself low. The old +Cree wrapped himself in a blanket, and the white man went into his +tent. Not until then did Miki dare to crawl out from under the +spruce. With his bruised shoulder making him limp at every step he +hurried back over the trail which he had followed so hopefully a +little while before. The man-scent no longer made his heart beat +swiftly with joy. It was a menace now. A warning. A thing from +which he wanted to get away. He would sooner have faced Oochak +again, or the owls, than the white man with his club. With the +owls he could fight, but in the club he sensed an overwhelming +superiority. + +The night was very still when he dragged himself back to the +hollow log in which he had killed the rabbit. He crawled into it, +and nursed his wounds through all the rest of the hours of +darkness. In the early morning he came out and ate the rest of the +rabbit. + +After that he faced the north and west--where Neewa was. There was +no hesitation now. He wanted Neewa again. He wanted to muzzle him +with his nose and lick his face even though he did smell to +heaven. He wanted to hear him grunt and squeal in his funny, +companionable way; he wanted to hunt with him again, and play with +him, and lie down beside him in a sunny spot and sleep. Neewa, at +last, was a necessary part of his world. + +He set out. + +And Neewa, far up the creek, still followed hopefully and +yearningly over the trail of Miki. + +Half way to the dip, in a small open meadow that was a glory of +sun, they met. There was no very great demonstration. They stopped +and looked at each other for a moment, as if to make sure that +there was no mistake. Neewa grunted. Miki wagged his tail. They +smelled noses. Neewa responded with a little squeal, and Miki +whined. It was as if they had said, + +"Hello, Miki!" + +"Hello, Neewa!" + +And then Neewa lay down in the sun and Miki sprawled himself out +beside him. After all, it was a funny world. It went to pieces now +and then, but it always came together again. And to-day their +world had thoroughly adjusted itself. Once more they were chums-- +and they were happy. + + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + + +It was the Flying-Up Moon--deep and slumbering midsummer--in all +the land of Keewatin. From Hudson Bay to the Athabasca and from +the Hight of Land to the edge of the Great Barrens, forest, plain, +and swamp lay in peace and forgetfulness under the sun-glowing +days and the star-filled nights of the August MUKOO-SAWIN. It was +the breeding moon, the growing moon, the moon when all wild life +came into its own once more. For the trails of this wilderness +world--so vast that it reached a thousand miles east and west and +as far north and south--were empty of human life. At the Hudson +Bay Company's posts--scattered here and there over the illimitable +domain of fang and claw--had gathered the thousands of hunters and +trappers, with their wives and children, to sleep and gossip and +play through the few weeks of warmth and plenty until the strife +and tragedy of another winter began. For these people of the +forests it was MUKOO-SAWIN--the great Play Day of the year; the +weeks in which they ran up new debts and established new credits +at the Posts; the weeks in which they foregathered at every Post +as at a great fair--playing, and making love, and marrying, and +fattening up for the many days of hunger and gloom to come. + +It was because of this that the wild things had come fully into +the possession of their world for a space. There was no longer the +scent of man in all the wilderness. They were not hunted. There +were no traps laid for their feet, no poison-baits placed +temptingly where they might pass. In the fens and on the lakes the +wildfowl squawked and honked unfearing to their young, just +learning the power of wing; the lynx played with her kittens +without sniffing the air for the menace of man; the cow moose went +openly into the cool water of the lakes with their calves; the +wolverine and the marten ran playfully over the roofs of deserted +shacks and cabins; the beaver and the otter tumbled and frolicked +in their dark pools; the birds sang, and through all the +wilderness there was the drone and song of Nature as some Great +Power must at first have meant that Nature should be. A new +generation of wild things had been born. It was a season of Youth, +with tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of little +children of the wild playing their first play, learning their +first lessons, growing up swiftly to face the menace and doom of +their first winter. And the Beneficent Spirit of the forests, +anticipating what was to come, had prepared well for them. +Everywhere there was plenty. The blueberries, the blackberries, +the mountain-ash and the saskatoons were ripe; tree and vine were +bent low with their burden of fruit. The grass was green and +tender from the summer rains. Bulbous roots were fairly popping +out of the earth; the fens and the edges of the lakes were rich +with things to eat, overhead and underfoot the horn of plenty was +emptying itself without stint. + +In this world Neewa and Miki found a vast and unending +contentment. They lay, on this August afternoon, on a sun-bathed +shelf of rock that overlooked a wonderful valley. Neewa, stuffed +with luscious blueberries, was asleep. Miki's eyes were only +partly closed as he looked down into the soft haze of the valley. +Up to him came the rippling music of the stream running between +the rocks and over the pebbly bars below, and with it the soft and +languorous drone of the valley itself. He napped uneasily for half +an hour, and then his eyes opened and he was wide awake. He took a +sharp look over the valley. Then he looked at Neewa, who, fat and +lazy, would have slept until dark. It was always Miki who kept him +on the move. And now Miki barked at him gruffly two or three +times, and nipped at one of his ears. + +"Wake up!" he might have said. "What's the sense of sleeping on a +day like this? Let's go down along the creek and hunt something." + +Neewa roused himself, stretched his fat body, and yawned. Sleepily +his little eyes took in the valley. Miki got up and gave the low +and anxious whine which always told his companion that he wanted +to be on the move. Neewa responded, and they began making their +way down the green slope into the rich bottom between the two +ridges. + +They were now almost six months of age, and in the matter of size +had nearly ceased to be a cub and a pup. They were almost a dog +and a bear. Miki's angular legs were getting their shape; his +chest had filled out; his neck had grown until it no longer seemed +too small for his big head and jaws, and his body had increased in +girth and length until he was twice as big as most ordinary dogs +of his age. + +Neewa had lost his round, ball-like cubbishness, though he still +betrayed far more than Miki the fact that he was not many months +lost from his mother. But he was no longer filled with that +wholesome love of peace that had filled his earlier cubhood. The +blood of Soominitik was at last beginning to assert itself, and he +no longer sought a place of safety in time of battle--unless the +grimness of utter necessity made it unavoidable. In fact, unlike +most bears, he loved a fight. If there were a stronger term at +hand it might be applied to Miki, the true son of Hela. Youthful +as they were, they were already covered with scars that would have +made a veteran proud. Crows and owls, wolf-fang and fisher-claw +had all left their marks, and on Miki's side was a bare space +eight inches long left as a souvenir by a wolverine. + +In Neewa's funny round head there had grown, during the course of +events, an ambition to have it out some day with a citizen of his +own kind; but the two opportunities that had come his way were +spoiled by the fact that the other cubs' mothers were with them. +So now, when Miki led off on his trips of adventure, Neewa always +followed with another thrill than that of getting something to +eat, which so long had been his one ambition. Which is not to say +that Neewa had lost his appetite. He could eat more in one day +than Miki could eat in three, mainly because Miki was satisfied +with two or three meals a day while Neewa preferred one--a +continuous one lasting from dawn until dark. On the trail he was +always eating something. + +A quarter of a mile along the foot of the ridge, in a stony coulee +down which a tiny rivulet trickled, there grew the finest wild +currants in all the Shamattawa country. Big as cherries, black as +ink, and swelling almost to the bursting point with luscious +juice, they hung in clusters so thick that Neewa could gather them +by the mouthful. Nothing in all the wilderness is quite so good as +one of these dead-ripe black currants, and this coulee wherein +they grew so richly Neewa had preempted as his own personal +property. Miki, too, had learned to eat the currants; so to the +coulee they went this afternoon, for such currants as these one +can eat even when one is already full. Besides, the coulee was +fruitful for Miki in other ways. There were many young partridges +and rabbits in it--"fool hens" of tender flesh and delicious +flavour which he caught quite easily, and any number of gophers +and squirrels. + +To-day they had scarcely taken their first mouthful of the big +juicy currants when an unmistakable sound came to them. +Unmistakable because each recognized instantly what it meant. It +was the tearing down of currant bushes twenty or thirty yards +higher up the coulee. Some robber had invaded their treasure- +house, and instantly Miki bared his fangs while Neewa wrinkled up +his nose in an ominous snarl. Soft-footed they advanced toward the +sound until they came to the edge of a small open space which was +as flat as a table. In the centre of this space was a clump of +currant bushes not more than a yard in girth, and black with +fruit; and squatted on his haunches there, gathering the laden +bushes in his arms, was a young black bear about four sizes larger +than Neewa. + +In that moment of consternation and rage Neewa did not take size +into consideration. He was much in the frame of mind of a man +returning home to discover his domicile, and all it contained, in +full possession of another. At the same time here was his ambition +easily to be achieved--his ambition to lick the daylight out of a +member of his own kind. Miki seemed to sense this fact. Under +ordinary conditions he would have led in the fray, and before +Neewa had fairly got started, would have been at the impudent +interloper's throat. But now something held him back, and it was +Neewa who first shot out--like a black bolt--landing squarely in +the ribs of his unsuspecting enemy. + +(Old Makoki, the Cree runner, had he seen that attack, would +instantly have found a name for the other bear--"Petoot-a-wapis- +kum," which means, literally: "Kicked-off-his-Feet." Perhaps he +would have called him "Pete" for short. For the Cree believes in +fitting names to fact, and Petoot-a-wapis-kum certainly fitted the +unknown bear like a glove.) + +Taken utterly by surprise, with his mouth full of berries, he was +bowled over like an overfilled bag under the force of Neewa's +charge. So complete was his discomfiture for the moment that Miki, +watching the affair with a yearning interest, could not keep back +an excited yap of approbation. Before Pete could understand what +had happened, and while the berries were still oozing from his +mouth, Neewa was at his throat--and the fun began. + +Now bears, and especially young bears, have a way of fighting that +is all their own. It reminds one of a hair-pulling contest between +two well-matched ladies. There are no rules to the game-- +absolutely none. As Pete and Neewa clinched, their hind legs began +to do the fighting, and the fur began to fly. Pete, being already +on his back--a first-class battling position for a bear--would +have possessed an advantage had it not been for Neewa's ferocious +hold at his throat. As it was, Neewa sank his fangs in to their +full length, and scrubbed away for dear life with his sharp hind +claws. Miki drew nearer at sight of the flying fur, his soul +filled with joy. Then Pete got one leg into action, and then the +other, and Miki's jaws came together with a sudden click. Over and +over the two fighters rolled, Neewa holding to his throat-grip, +and not a squeal or a grunt came from either of them. Pebbles and +dirt flew along with hair and fur. Stones rolled with a clatter +down the coulee. The very air trembled with the thrill of combat. +In Miki's attitude of tense waiting there was something now of +suspicious anxiety. With eight furry legs scratching and tearing +furiously, and the two fighters rolling and twisting and +contorting themselves like a pair of windmills gone mad, it was +almost impossible for Miki to tell who was getting the worst of +it--Neewa or Pete; at least he was in doubt for a matter of three +or four minutes. + +Then he recognized Neewa's voice. It was very faint, but for all +that it was an unmistakable bawl of pain. + +Smothered under Pete's heavier body Neewa began to realize, at the +end of those three or four minutes, that he had tackled more than +was good for him. It was altogether Pete's size and not his +fighting qualities, for Neewa had him outpointed there. But he +fought on, hoping for some good turn of luck, until at last Pete +got him just where he wanted him and began raking him up and down +his sides until in another three minutes he would have been half +skinned if Miki hadn't judged the moment ripe for intervention. +Even then Neewa was taking his punishment without a howl. + +In another instant Miki had Pete by the ear. It was a grim and +terrible hold. Old Soominitik himself would have bawled lustily in +the circumstances. Pete raised his voice in a howl of agony. He +forgot everything else but the terror and the pain of this new +SOMETHING that had him by the ear, and he rent the air with his +outcry. His lamentation poured in an unbroken spasm of sound from +his throat. Neewa knew that Miki was in action. + +He pulled himself from under the young interloper's body--and not +a second too soon. Down the coulee, charging like a mad bull, came +Pete's mother. Neewa was off like a shot just as she made a +powerful swing at him. The blow missed, and the old bear turned +excitedly to her bawling offspring. Miki, hanging joyously to his +victim, was oblivious of his danger until Pete's mother was almost +upon him. He caught sight of her just as her long arm shot out +like a wooden beam. He dodged; and the blow intended for him +landed full against the side of the unfortunate Pete's head with a +force that took him clean off his feet and sent him flying like a +football twenty yards down the coulee. + +Miki did not wait for further results. Quick as a flash he was in +a currant thicket tearing down the little gulch after Neewa. They +came out on the plain together, and for a good ten minutes they +did not halt in their flight long enough to look back. When they +did, the coulee was a mile away. They sat down, panting. Neewa's +red tongue was hanging out in his exhaustion. He was scratched and +bleeding; loose hair hung all over him. As he looked at Miki there +was something in the dolorous expression of Neewa's face which was +a confession of the fact that he realized Pete had licked him. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + + +After the fight in the coulee there was no longer a thought on the +part of Neewa and Miki of returning to the Garden of Eden in which +the black currants grew so lusciously. From the tip of his tail to +the end of his nose Miki was an adventurer, and like the nomadic +rovers of old he was happiest when on the move. The wilderness had +claimed him now, body and soul, and it is probable that he would +have shunned a human camp at this stage of his life, even as Neewa +would have shunned it. But in the lives of beasts, as well as in +the lives of men, Fate plays her pranks and tricks, and even as +they turned into the vast and mystery-filled spaces of the great +lake and waterway-country, to the west, events were slowly shaping +themselves into what was to be perhaps the darkest hour of gloom +in the life of Miki, son of Hela. + +Through six glorious and sun-filled weeks of late summer and early +autumn--until the middle of September--Miki and Neewa ranged the +country westward, always heading toward the setting sun, the +country of Jackson's Knee, of the Touchwood and the Clearwater, +and God's Lake. In this country they saw many things. It was a +region a hundred miles square which the handiwork of Nature had +made into a veritable kingdom of the wild. They came upon great +beaver colonies in the dark and silent places; they watched the +otter at play; they came upon moose and caribou so frequently that +they no longer feared or evaded them, but walked out openly into +the meadows or down to the edge of the swamps where they were +feeding. It was here that Miki learned the great lesson that claw +and fang were made to prey upon cloven hoof and horn, for the +wolves were thick, and a dozen times they came upon their kills, +and even more frequently heard the wild tongue of the hunting- +packs. Since his experience with Maheegun he no longer had the +desire to join them. And now Neewa no longer insisted on remaining +near meat when they found it. It was the beginning of the KWASKA- +HAO in Neewa--the instinctive sensing of the Big Change. + +Until early in October Miki could see but little of this change in +his comrade. It was then that Neewa became more and more restless, +and this restlessness grew as the chill nights came, and autumn +breathed more heavily in the air. It was Neewa who took the lead +in their peregrinations now, and he seemed always to be questing +for something--a mysterious something which Miki could neither +smell nor see. He no longer slept for hours at a time. By mid- +October he slept scarcely at all, but roved through most of the +hours of night as well as day, eating, eating, eating, and always +smelling the wind for that elusive thing which Nature was +commanding him to seek and find. Ceaselessly he was nosing under +windfalls and among the rocks, and Miki was always near him, +always on the QUI VIVE for battle with the thing that Neewa was +hunting out. And it seemed to be never found. + +Then Neewa turned back to the east, drawn by the instinct of his +forefathers; back toward the country of Noozak, his mother, and of +Soominitik, his father; and Miki followed. The nights grew more +and more chill. The stars seemed farther away, and no longer was +the forest moon red like blood. The cry of the loon had a moaning +note in it, a note of grief and lamentation. And in their shacks +and tepees the forest people sniffed the air of frosty mornings, +and soaked their traps in fish-oil and beaver-grease, and made +their moccasins, and mended snow-shoe and sledge, for the cry of +the loon said that winter was creeping down out of the North. And +the swamps grew silent. The cow moose no longer mooed to her +young. In place of it, from the open plain and "burn" rose the +defiant challenge of bull to bull and the deadly clash of horn +against horn under the stars of night. The wolf no longer howled +to hear his voice. In the travel of padded feet there came to be a +slinking, hunting caution. In all the forest world blood was +running red again. + +And then--November. + +Perhaps Miki would never forget that first day when the snow came. +At first he thought all the winged things in the world were +shedding their white feathers. Then he felt the fine, soft touch +of it under his feet, and the chill. It sent the blood rushing +like a new kind of fire through his body; a wild and thrilling +joy--the exultation that leaps through the veins of the wolf when +the winter comes. + +With Neewa its effect was different--so different that even Miki +felt the oppression of it, and waited vaguely and anxiously for +what was to come. And then, on this day of the first snow, he saw +his comrade do a strange and unaccountable thing. He began to eat +things that he had never touched as food before. He lapped up soft +pine needles, and swallowed them. He ate of the dry, pulpy +substance of rotted logs. And then he went into a great cleft +broken into the heart of a rocky ridge, and found at last the +thing for which he had been seeking. It was a cavern--deep, and +dark, and warm. + +Nature works in strange ways. She gives to the birds of the air +eyes which men may never have, and she gives to the beasts of the +earth an instinct which men may never know. For Neewa had come +back to sleep his first Long Sleep in the place of his birth--the +cavern in which Noozak, his mother, had brought him into the +world. + +His old bed was still there, the wallow in the soft sand, the +blanket of hair Noozak had shed; but the smell of his mother was +gone. In the nest where he was born Neewa lay down, and for the +last time he grunted softly to Miki. It was as if he felt upon him +the touch of a hand, gentle but inevitable, which he could no +longer refuse to obey, and to Miki was saying, for the last time: +"Good-night!" + +That night the PIPOO KESTIN--the first storm of +winter--came like an avalanche from out of the North. With it came +a wind that was like the roaring of a thousand bulls, and over all +the land of the wild there was nothing that moved. Even in the +depth of the cavern Miki heard the beat and the wail of it and the +swishing of the shot-like snow beyond the door through which they +had come, and he snuggled close to Neewa, content that they had +found shelter. + +With the day he went to the slit in the face of the rock, and in +his astonishment he made no sound, but stared forth upon a world +that was no longer the world he had left last night. Everywhere it +was white--a dazzling, eye-blinding white. The sun had risen. It +shot a thousand flashing shafts of radiant light into Miki's eyes. +So far as his vision could reach the earth was as if covered with +a robe of diamonds. From rock and tree and shrub blazed the fire +of the sun; it quivered in the tree-tops, bent low with their +burden of snow; it was like a sea in the valley, so vivid that the +unfrozen stream running through the heart of it was black. Never +had Miki seen a day so magnificent. Never had his heart pounded at +the sight of the sun as it pounded now, and never had his blood +burned with a wilder exultation. He whined, and ran back to Neewa. +He barked in the gloom of the cavern and gave his comrade a nudge +with his nose. Neewa grunted sleepily. He stretched himself, +raised his head for an instant, and then curled himself into a +ball again. Vainly Miki protested that it was day, and time for +them to be moving. Neewa made no response, and after a while Miki +returned to the mouth of the cavern, and looked back to see if +Neewa was following him. Then, disappointed, he went out into the +snow. For an hour he did not move farther than ten feet away from +the den. Three times he returned to Neewa and urged him to get up +and come out where it was light. In that far corner of the cavern +it was dark, and it was as if he were trying to tell Neewa that he +was a dunce to lie there still thinking it was night when the sun +was up outside. But he failed. Neewa was in the edge of his Long +Sleep--the beginning of USKE-POW-A-MEW, the dream land of the +bears. + +Annoyance, the desire almost to sink his teeth in Neewa's ear, +gave place slowly to another thing in Miki. The instinct that +between beasts is like the spoken reason of men stirred in a +strange and disquieting way within him. He became more and more +uneasy. There was almost distress in his restlessness as he +hovered about the mouth of the cavern. A last time he went to +Neewa, and then he started alone down into the valley. + +He was hungry, but on this first day after the storm there was +small chance of him finding anything to eat. The snowshoe rabbits +were completely buried under their windfalls and shelters, and lay +quietly in their warm nests. Nothing had moved during the hours of +the storm. There were no trails of living things for him to +follow, and in places he sank to his shoulders in the soft snow. +He made his way to the creek. It was no longer the creek he had +known. It was edged with ice. There was something dark and +brooding about it now. The sound it made was no longer the +rippling song of summer and golden autumn. There was a threat in +its gurgling monotone--a new voice, as if a black and forbidding +spirit had taken possession of it and was warning him that the +times had changed, and that new laws and a new force had come to +claim sovereignty in the land of his birth. + +He drank of the water cautiously. It was cold--ice-cold. Slowly it +was being impinged upon him that in the beauty of this new world +that was his there was no longer the warm and pulsing beat of the +heart that was life. He was alone. ALONE! Everything else was +covered up; everything else seemed dead. + +He went back to Neewa and lay close to him all through the day. +And through the night that followed he did not move again from the +cavern. He went only as far as the door and saw celestial spaces +ablaze with stars and a moon that rode up into the heavens like a +white sun. They, too, seemed no longer like the moon and stars he +had known. They were terribly still and cold. And under them the +earth was terribly white and silent. + +With the coming of dawn he tried once more to awaken Neewa. But +this time he was not so insistent. Nor did he have the desire to +nip Neewa with his teeth. Something had happened--something which +he could not understand. He sensed the thing, but he could not +reason it. And he was filled with a strange and foreboding fear. + +He went down again to hunt. Under the glory of the moon and stars +it had been a wild night of carnival for the rabbits, and in the +edge of the timber Miki found the snow beaten hard in places with +their tracks. It was not difficult for him to stalk his breakfast +this morning. He made his kill, and feasted. He killed again after +that, and still again. He could have gone on killing, for now that +the snow betrayed them, the hiding-places of the rabbits were so +many traps for them. Miki's courage returned. He was fired again +with the joy of life. Never had he known such hunting, never had +he found such a treasure-house before--not even in the coulee +where the currants grew. He ate until he could eat no more, and +then he went back to Neewa, carrying with him one of the rabbits +he had slain. He dropped it in front of his comrade, and whined. +Even then Neewa did not respond, except to draw a deeper breath, +and change his position a little. + +That afternoon, for the first time in many hours, Neewa rose to +his feet, stretched himself, and sniffed of the dead rabbit. But +he did not eat. To Miki's consternation he rolled himself round +and round in his nest of sand and went to sleep again. + +The next day, at about the same time, Neewa roused himself once +more. This time he went as far as the mouth of the den, and lapped +up a few mouthfuls of snow. But he still refused to eat the +rabbit. Again it was Nature telling him that he must not disturb +the pine needles and dry bark with which he had padded his stomach +and intestines. And he went to sleep again. He did not get up +after that. + +Day followed day, and, growing lonelier as the winter deepened, +Miki hunted alone. All through November he came back each night +and slept with Neewa. And Neewa was as if dead, except that his +body was warm, and he breathed, and made little sounds now and +then in his throat. But this did not satisfy the great yearning +that was becoming more and more insistent in Miki's soul, the +overwhelming desire for company, for a brotherhood on the trail. +He loved Neewa. Through the first long weeks of winter he returned +to him faithfully; he brought him meat. He was filled with a +strange grief--even greater than if Neewa had been dead. For Miki +knew that he was alive, and he could not account for the thing +that had happened. Death he would have understood, and FROM death +he would have gone away--for good. + +So it came that one night, having hunted far, Miki remained away +from the den for the first time, and slept under a deep windfall. +After that it was still harder for him to resist the CALL. A +second and a third night he went away; and then came the time-- +inevitable as the coming and going of the moon and stars--when +understanding at last broke its way through his hope and his fear, +and something told him that Neewa would never again travel with +him as through those glorious days of old, when shoulder to +shoulder they had faced together the comedies and tragedies of +life in a world that was no longer soft and green and warm with a +golden sun, but white, and still, and filled with death. + +Neewa did not know when Miki went away from the den for the last +time. And yet it may be that even in his slumber the Beneficent +Spirit may have whispered that Miki was going, for there were +restlessness and disquiet in Neewa's dreamland for many days +thereafter. + +"Be quiet--and sleep!" the Spirit may have whispered. "The Winter +is long. The rivers are black and chill, the lakes are covered +with floors of ice, and the waterfalls are frozen like great white +giants. Sleep! For Miki must go his way, just as the waters of the +streams must go their way to the sea. For he is Dog. And you are +Bear. SLEEP!" + + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + + +In many years there had not been such a storm in all the Northland +as that which followed swiftly in the trail of the first snows +that had driven Neewa into his den--the late November storm of +that year which will long be remembered as KUSKETA PIPPOON (the +Black Year), the year of great and sudden cold, of starvation and +of death. + +It came a week after Miki had left the cavern wherein Neewa was +sleeping so soundly. Preceding that, when all the forest world lay +under its mantle of white, the sun shone day after day, and the +moon and stars were as clear as golden fires in the night skies. +The wind was out of the west. The rabbits were so numerous they +made hard floors of the snow in thicket and swamp. Caribou and +moose were plentiful, and the early cry of wolves on the hunt was +like music in the ears of a thousand trappers in shack and teepee. + +With appalling suddenness came the unexpected. There was no +warning. The day had dawned with a clear sky, and a bright sun +followed the dawn. Then the world darkened so swiftly that men on +their traplines paused in amazement. With the deepening gloom came +a strange moaning, and there was something in that sound that +seemed like the rolling of a great drum--the knell of an impending +doom. It was THUNDER. The warning was too late. Before men could +turn back to safety, or build themselves shelters, the Big Storm +was upon them. For three days and three nights it raged like a mad +bull from out of the north. In the open barrens no living creature +could stand upon its feet. The forests were broken, and all the +earth was smothered. All things that breathed buried themselves-- +or died; for the snow that piled itself up in windrows and +mountains was round and hard as leaden shot, and with it came an +intense cold. + +On the third day it was sixty degrees below zero in the country +between the Shamattawa and Jackson's Knee. Not until the fourth +day did living things begin to move. Moose and caribou heaved +themselves up out of the thick covering of snow that had been +their protection; smaller animals dug their way out of the heart +of deep drifts and mounds; a half of the rabbits and birds were +dead. But the most terrible toll was of men. Many of those who +were caught out succeeded in keeping the life within their bodies, +and dragged themselves back to teepee and shack. But there were +also many who did not return--five hundred who died between Hudson +Bay and the Athabasca in those three terrible days of the KUSKETA +PIPPOON. + +In the beginning of the Big Storm Miki found himself in the +"burnt" country of Jackson's Knee, and instinct sent him quickly +into deeper timber. Here he crawled into a windfall of tangled +trunks and tree-tops, and during the three days he did not move. +Buried in the heart of the storm, there came upon him an +overwhelming desire to return to Neewa's den, and to snuggle up to +him once more, even though Neewa lay as if dead. The strange +comradeship that had grown up between the two--their wanderings +together all through the summer, the joys and hardships of the +days and months in which they had fought and feasted like +brothers--were memories as vivid in his brain as if it had all +happened yesterday. And in the dark wind-fall, buried deeper and +deeper under the snow, he dreamed. + +He dreamed of Challoner, who had been his master in the days of +his joyous puppyhood; he dreamed of the time when Neewa, the +motherless cub, was brought into camp, and of the happenings that +had come to them afterward; the loss of his master, of their +strange and thrilling adventures in the wilderness, and last of +all of Neewa's denning-up. He could not understand that. Awake, +and listening to the storm, he wondered why it was that Neewa no +longer hunted with him, but had curled himself up into a round +ball, and slept a sleep from which he could not rouse him. Through +the long hours of the three days and nights of storm it was +loneliness more than hunger that ate at his vitals. When on the +morning of the fourth day he came out from under the windfall his +ribs were showing and there was a reddish film over his eyes. +First of all he looked south and east, and whined. + +Through twenty miles of snow he travelled back that day to the +ridge where he had left Neewa. On this fourth day the sun shone +like a dazzling fire. It was so bright that the glare of the snow +pricked his eyes, and the reddish film grew redder. There was only +a cold glow in the west when he came to the end of his journey. +Dusk had already begun to settle over the roofs of the forests +when he reached the ridge where Neewa had found the cavern. It was +no longer a ridge. The wind had piled the snow up over it in +grotesque and monstrous shapes. Rocks and bushes were obliterated. +Where the mouth of the cavern should have been was a drift ten +feet deep. Cold and hungry, thinned by his days and nights of +fasting, and with his last hope of comradeship shattered by the +pitiless mountains of snow, Miki turned back over his trail. There +was nothing left for him now but the old windfall, and his heart +was no longer the heart of the joyous comrade and brother of +Neewa, the bear. His feet were sore and bleeding, but still he +went on. The stars came out; the night was ghostly white in their +pale fire; and it was cold--terribly cold. The trees began to +snap. Now and then there came a report like a pistol-shot as the +frost snapped at the heart of timber. It was thirty degrees below +zero. And it was growing colder. With the windfall as his only +inspiration Miki drove himself on. Never had he tested his +strength or his endurance as he strained them now. Older dogs +would have fallen in the trail or have sought shelter or rest. But +Miki was the true son of Hela, his giant Mackenzie hound father, +and he would have continued until he triumphed--or died. + +But a strange thing happened. He had travelled twenty miles to the +ridge, and fifteen of the twenty miles back, when a shelf of snow +gave way under his feet and he was pitched suddenly downward. When +he gathered his dazed wits and stood up on his half frozen legs he +found himself in a curious place. He had rolled completely into a +wigwam-shaped shelter of spruce boughs and sticks, and strong in +his nostrils was the SMELL OF MEAT. He found the meat not more +than a foot from the end of his nose. It was a chunk of frozen +caribou flesh transfixed on a stick, and without questioning the +manner of its presence he gnawed at it ravenously. Only Jacques Le +Beau, who lived eight or ten miles to the east, could have +explained the situation. Miki had rolled into one of his trap- +houses, and it was the bait he was eating. + +There was not much of it, but it fired Miki's blood with new life. +There was smell in his nostrils now, and he began clawing in the +snow. After a little his teeth struck something hard and cold. It +was steel--a fisher trap. He dragged it up from under a foot of +snow, and with it came a huge rabbit. The snow had so protected +the rabbit that, although several days dead, it was not frozen +stiff. Not until the last bone of it was gone did Miki's feast +end. He even devoured the head. Then he went on to the windfall, +and in his warm nest slept until another day. + +That day Jacques Le Beau--whom the Indians called "Muchet-ta-aao" +(the One with an Evil Heart)--went over his trapline and rebuilt +his snow-smothered "houses" and re-set his traps. + +It was in the afternoon that Miki, who was hunting, struck his +trail in a swamp several miles from the windfall. No longer was +his soul stirred by the wild yearning for a master. He sniffed, +suspiciously, of Le Beau's snowshoe tracks and the crest along his +spine trembled as he caught the wind, and listened. He followed +cautiously, and a hundred yards farther on came to one of Le +Beau's KEKEKS or trap-shelters. Here too, there was meat--fixed on +a peg. Miki reached in. From under his fore-paw came a vicious +snap and the steel jaws of a trap flung sticks and snow into his +face. He snarled, and for a few moments he waited, with his eyes +on the trap. Then he stretched himself until he reached the meat, +without advancing his feet. Thus he had discovered the hidden +menace of the steel jaws, and instinct told him how to evade them. + +For another third of a mile he followed Le Beau's tracks. He +sensed the presence of a new and thrilling danger, and yet he did +not turn off the trail. An impulse which he was powerless to +resist drew him on. He came to a second trap, and this time he +robbed the bait-peg without springing the thing which he knew was +concealed close under it. His long fangs clicked as he went on. He +was eager for a glimpse of the man-beast. But he did not hurry. A +third, a fourth, and a fifth trap he robbed of their meat. + +Then, as the day ended, he swung westward and covered quickly the +five miles between the swamp and his windfall. + +Half an hour later Le Beau came back over the line. He saw the +first empty KEKEK, and the tracks in the snow. + +"TONNERRE!--a wolf!" he exclaimed. "And in broad day!" + +Then a slow look of amazement crept into his face, and he fell +upon his knees in the snow and examined the tracks. + +"NON!" he gasped. "It is a dog! A devil of a wild dog--robbing my +traps!" + +He rose to his feet, cursing. From the pocket of his coat he drew +a small tin box, and from this box he took a round ball of fat. In +the heart of the fat was a strychnine capsule. It was a poison- +bait, to be set for wolves and foxes. + +Le Beau chuckled exultantly as he stuck the deadly lure on the end +of the bait-peg. + +"OW, a wild dog," he growled. "I will teach him. To-morrow he will +be dead." + +On each of the five ravished bait-pegs he placed a strychnine +capsule rolled in its inviting little ball of fat. + + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + + +The next morning Miki set out again for the trapline of Jacques Le +Beau. It was not the thought of food easily secured that tempted +him. There would have been a greater thrill in killing for +himself. It was the trail, with its smell of the man-beast, that +drew him like a magnet. Where that smell was very strong he wanted +to lie down, and wait. Yet with his desire there was also fear, +and a steadily growing caution. He did not tamper with the first +KEKEK, nor with the second. At the third Le Beau had fumbled in +the placing of his bait, and for that reason the little ball of +fat was strong with the scent of his hands. A fox would have +turned away from it quickly. Miki, however, drew it from the peg +and dropped it in the snow between his forefeet. Then he looked +about him, and listened for a full minute. After that he licked +the ball of fat with his tongue. The scent of Le Beau's hands kept +him from swallowing it as he had swallowed the caribou meat. A +little suspiciously he crushed it slowly between his jaws. The fat +was sweet. He was about to gulp it down when he detected another +and less pleasant taste, and what remained in his mouth he spat +out upon the snow. But the acrid bite of the poison remained upon +his tongue and in his throat. It crept deeper--and he caught up a +mouthful of snow and swallowed it to put out the burning sensation +that was crawling nearer to his vitals. + +Had he devoured the ball of fat as he had eaten the other baits he +would have been dead within a quarter of an hour, and Le Beau +would not have gone far to find his body. As it was, he was +beginning to turn sick at the end of the fifteen minutes. A +premonition of the evil that was upon him drew him off the trail +and in the direction of the windfall. He had gone only a short +distance when suddenly his legs gave way under him, and he fell. +He began to shiver. Every muscle in his body trembled. His teeth +clicked. His eyes grew wide, and it was impossible for him to +move. And then, like a hand throttling him, there came a strange +stiffness in the back of his neck, and his breath hissed chokingly +out of his throat. The stiffness passed like a wave of fire +through his body. Where his muscles had trembled and shivered a +moment before they now became rigid and lifeless. The throttling +grip of the poison at the base of his brain drew his head back +until his muzzle was pointed straight up to the sky. Still he made +no cry. For a space every nerve in his body was at the point of +death. + +Then came the change. As though a string had snapped, the horrible +grip left the back of his neck; the stiffness shot out of his body +in a flood of shivering cold, and in another moment he was +twisting and tearing up the snow in mad convulsions. The spasm +lasted for perhaps a minute. When it was over Miki was panting. +Streams of saliva dripped from his jaws into the snow. But he was +alive. Death had missed him by a hair, and after a little he +staggered to his feet and continued on his way to the windfall. + +Thereafter Jacques Le Beau might place a million poison capsules +in his way and he would not touch them. Never again would he steal +the meat from a bait-peg. + +Two days later Le Beau saw where Miki had fought his fight with +death in the snow and his heart was black with rage and +disappointment. He began to follow the footprints of the dog. It +was noon when he came to the windfall and saw the beaten path +where Miki entered it. On his knees he peered into the cavernous +depths--and saw nothing. But Miki, lying watchfully, saw the man, +and he was like the black, bearded monster who had almost killed +him with a club a long time ago. And in his heart, too, there was +disappointment, for away back in his memory of things there was +always the thought of Challoner--the master he had lost; and it +was never Challoner whom he found when he came upon the man smell. + +Le Beau heard his growl, and the man's blood leapt excitedly as he +rose to his feet. He could not go in after the wild dog, and he +could not lure him out. But there was another way. He would drive +him out with fire! + +Deep back in his fortress, Miki heard the crunch of Le Beau's feet +in the snow. A few minutes later he saw the man-beast again +peering into his lair. + +"BETE, BETE," he called half tauntingly, and again Miki growled. + +Jacques was satisfied. The windfall was not more than thirty or +forty feet in diameter, and about it the forest was open and clear +of undergrowth. It would be impossible for the wild dog to get +away from his rifle. + +A second time he went around the piled-up mass of fallen timber. +On three sides it was completely smothered under the deep snow. +Only where Miki's trail entered was it open. + +Getting the wind behind him Le Beau made his ISKOO of birch-bark +and dry wood at the far end of the windfall. The seasoned logs and +tree-tops caught the fire like tinder, and within a few minutes +the flames began to crackle and roar in a manner that made Miki +wonder what was happening. For a space the smoke did not reach +him. Le Beau, watching, with his rifle in his bare hands, did not +for an instant let his eyes leave the spot where the wild dog must +come out. + +Suddenly a pungent whiff of smoke filled Miki's nostrils, and a +thin white cloud crept in a ghostly veil between him and the +opening. A crawling, snake-like rope of it began to pour between +two logs within a yard of him, and with it the strange roaring +grew nearer and more menacing. Then, for the first time, he saw +lightning flashes of yellow flame through the tangled debris as +the fire ate into the heart of a mass of pitch-filled spruce. In +another ten seconds the flames leapt twenty feet into the air, and +Jacques Le Beau stood with his rifle half to his shoulder, ready +to kill. + +Appalled by the danger that was upon him, Miki did not forget Le +Beau. With an instinct sharpened to fox-like keenness his mind +leapt instantly to the truth of the matter. It was the man-beast +who had set this new enemy upon him; and out there, just beyond +the opening, the man-beast was waiting. So, like the fox, he did +what Le Beau least expected. He crawled back swiftly through the +tangled tops until he came to the wall of snow that shut the +windfall in, and through this he burrowed his way almost as +quickly as the fox himself would have done it. With his jaws he +tore through the half-inch outer crust, and a moment later stood +in the open, with the fire between him and Le Beau. + +The windfall was a blazing furnace, and suddenly Le Beau ran back +a dozen steps so that he could see on the farther side. A hundred +yards away he saw Miki making for the deeper forest. + +It was a clear shot. At that distance Le Beau would have staked +his life that it was impossible for him to miss. He did not hurry. +One shot, and it would be over. He raised his rifle, and in that +instant a wisp of smoke came like the lash of a whip with the wind +and caught him fairly in the eyes, and his bullet passed three +inches over Miki's head. The whining snarl of it was a new thing +to Miki. But he recognized the thunder of the gun--and he knew +what a gun could do. To Le Beau, still firing at him through the +merciful cloud of smoke, he was like a gray streak flashing to the +thick timber. Three times more Le Beau fired. From the edge of a +dense clump of spruce Miki flung back a defiant howl. He +disappeared as Le Beau's last shot shovelled up the snow at his +heels. + +The narrowness of his escape from the man-beast did not frighten +Miki out of the Jackson's Knee country. If anything, it held him +more closely to it. It gave him something to think about besides +Neewa and his aloneness. As the fox returns to peer stealthily +upon the deadfall that has almost caught him, so the trapline was +possessed now of a new thrill for Miki. Heretofore the man-smell +had held for him only a vague significance; now it marked the +presence of a real and concrete danger. And he welcomed it. His +wits were sharpened. The fascination of the trapline was deadlier +than before. + +From the burned windfall he made a wide detour to a point where Le +Beau's snowshoe trail entered the edge of the swamp; and here, +hidden in a thick clump of bushes, he watched him as he travelled +homeward half an hour later. + +From that day he hung like a grim, gray ghost to the trapline. +Silent-footed, cautious, always on the alert for the danger which +threatened him, he haunted Jacques Le Beau's thoughts and +footsteps with the elusive persistence of a were-wolf--a loup- +garou of the Black Forest. Twice in the next week Le Beau caught a +flash of him. Three times he heard him howl. And twice he followed +his trail until, in despair and exhaustion, he turned back. Never +was Miki caught unaware. He ate no more baits in the trap-houses. +Even when Le Beau lured him with the whole carcass of a rabbit he +would not touch it, nor would he touch a rabbit frozen dead in a +snare. From Le Beau's traps he took only the living things, +chiefly birds and squirrels and the big web-footed snowshoe +rabbits. And because a mink jumped at him once, and tore open his +nose, he destroyed a number of minks so utterly that their pelts +were spoiled. He found himself another windfall, but instinct +taught him now never to go to it directly, but to approach it, and +leave it, in a roundabout way. + +Day and night Le Beau, the man-brute, plotted against him. He set +many poison-baits. He killed a doe, and scattered strychnine in +its entrails. He built deadfalls, and baited them with meat soaked +in boiling fat. He made himself a "blind" of spruce and cedar +boughs, and sat for long hours, watching with his rifle. And still +Miki was the victor. + +One day Miki found a huge fisher-cat in one of the traps. He had +not forgotten the battle of long ago with Oochak, the other +fisher-cat, or the whipping he had received. But there was no +thought of vengeance in his heart on the early evening he became +acquainted with Oochak the Second. Usually he was in his windfall +at dusk, but this afternoon a great and devouring loneliness had +held him on the trail. The spirit of Kuskayetum--the hand of the +mating-god--was pressing heavily upon him; the consuming desire of +flesh and blood for the companionship of other flesh and blood. It +burned in his veins like a fever. It took away from him all +thought of hunger or of the hunt. In his soul was a vast, unfilled +yearning. + +It was then that he came upon Oochak. Perhaps it was the same +Oochak of months ago. If so, he had grown even as Miki had grown. +He was splendid, with his long silken fur and his sleek body, and +he was not struggling, but sat awaiting his fate without +excitement. To Miki he looked warm and soft and comfortable. It +made him think of Neewa, and the hundred and one nights they had +slept together. His desire leapt out to Oochak. He whined softly +as he advanced. He would make friends. Even with Oochak, his old +enemy, he would lie down in peace and happiness, so great was the +gnawing emptiness in his heart. + +Oochak made no response, nor did he move, but sat furred up like a +huge soft ball, watching Miki as he crept nearer on his belly. +Something of the old puppishness came back into the dog. He +wriggled and thumped his tail, and as he whined again he seemed to +say. + +"Let's forget the old trouble, Oochak. Let's be friends. I've got +a fine windfall--and I'll kill you a rabbit." + +And still Oochak did not move or make a sound. At last Miki could +almost reach out with his forepaws and touch him. He dragged +himself still nearer, and his tail thumped harder. + +"And I'll get you out of the trap," he may have been saying. "It's +the man-beast's trap--and I hate him." + +And then, so suddenly that Miki had no chance to guard himself, +Oochak sprang the length of the trap-chain and was at him. With +teeth and razor-edged claws he tore deep gashes in Miki's nose. +Even then the blood of battle rose slowly in him, and he might +have retreated had not Oochak's teeth got a hold in his shoulder. +With a roar he tried to shake himself free, but Oochak held on. +Then his jaws snapped at the back of the fisher-cat's neck. When +he was done Oochak was dead. + +He slunk away, but in him there was no more the thrill of the +victor. He had killed, but in killing he had found no joy. Upon +him--the four-footed beast--had fallen at last the oppression of +the thing that drives men mad. He stood in the heart of a vast +world, and for him that world was empty. He was an outcast. His +heart crying out for comradeship, he found that all things feared +him or hated him. He was a pariah; a wanderer without a friend or +a home. He did not reason these things but the gloom of them +settled upon him like black night. + +He did not return to his windfall. In a little open he sat on his +haunches, listening to the night sounds, and watching the stars as +they came out. There was an early moon, and as it came up over the +forest, a great throbbing red disc that seemed filled with life, +he howled mournfully in the face of it. He wandered out into a big +burn a little later, and there the night was like day, so clear +that his shadow followed him and all other things about him cast +shadows, And then, all at once, he caught in the night wind a +sound which he had heard many times before. + +It came from far away, and it was like a whisper at first, an echo +of strange voices riding on the wind, A hundred times he had heard +that cry of the wolves. Since Maheegun, the she-wolf, had gashed +his shoulder so fiercely away back in the days of his puppyhood +he had evaded the path of that cry. He had learned, in a way, to +hate it. But he could not wipe out entirely the thrill that came +with that call of the blood. And to-night it rode over all his +fear and hatred. Out there was COMPANY. Whence the cry came the +wild brethren were running two by two, and three by three, and +there was COMRADESHIP. His body quivered. An answering cry rose in +his throat, dying away in a whine, and for an hour after that he +heard no more of the wolf-cry in the wind. The pack had swung to +the west--so far away that their voices were lost. And it passed-- +with the moon straight over them--close to the shack of Pierrot, +the halfbreed. + +In Pierrot's cabin was a white man, on his way to Fort O' God. He +saw that Pierrot crossed himself, and muttered. + +"It is the mad pack," explained Pierrot then. "M'sieu, they have +been KESKWAO since the beginning of the new moon. In them are the +spirits of devils." + +He opened the cabin door a little, so that the mad cry of the +beasts came to them plainly. When he closed it there was in his +eyes a look of strange fear. + +"Now and then wolves go like that--KESKWAO (stark mad)--in the +dead of winter," he shuddered. "Three days ago there were twenty +of them, m'sieu, for I saw them with my own eyes, and counted +their tracks in the snow. Since then they been murdered and torn +into strings by the others of the pack. Listen to them ravin'! Can +you tell me why, m'sieu? Can you tell me why wolves sometimes go +mad in the heart of winter when there is no heat or rotten meat to +turn them sick? NON? But I can tell you. They are the loups- +garous; in their bodies ride the spirits of devils, and there they +will ride until the bodies die. For the wolves that go mad in the +deep snows always die, m'sieu. That is the strange part of it. +THEY DIE!" + +And then it was, swinging eastward from the cabin of Pierrot, that +the mad wolves of Jackson's Knee came into the country of the big +swamp wherein trees bore the Double-X blaze of Jacques Le Beau's +axe. There were fourteen of them running in the moonlight. What it +is that now and then drives a wolf-pack mad in the dead of winter +no man yet has wholly learned. Possibly it begins with a "bad" +wolf; just as a "bad" sledge-dog, nipping and biting his fellows, +will spread his distemper among them until the team becomes an +ugly, quarrelsome horde. Such a dog the wise driver kills--or +turns loose. + +The wolves that bore down upon Le Beau's country were red-eyed and +thin. Their bodies were covered with gashes, and the mouths of +some frothed blood. They did not run as wolves run for meat. They +were a sinister and suspicious lot, with a sneaking droop to their +haunches, and their cry was not the deep-throated cry of the hunt- +pack but a ravening clamour that seemed to have no leadership or +cause. Scarcely was the sound of their tongues gone beyond the +hearing of Pierrot's ears than one of the thin gray beasts rubbed +against the shoulder of another, and the second turned with the +swiftness of a snake, like the "bad" dog of the traces, and struck +his fangs deep into the first wolf's flesh. Could Pierrot have +seen, he would have understood then how the four he had found had +come to their end. + +Swift as the snap of a whip-lash the fight between the two was on. +The other twelve of the pack stopped. They came back, circling in +cautiously and grimly silent about their fighting comrades. They +ranged themselves in a ring, as men gather about a fistic battle; +and there they waited, their jaws drooling, their fangs clicking, +a low and eager whining smothered in their throats. And then the +thing happened. One of the fighting wolves went down. He was on +his back--and the end came. The twelve wolves were upon him as +one, and, like those Pierrot had seen, he was torn to pieces, and +his flesh devoured. After that the thirteen went on deeper into Le +Beau's country. + +Miki heard them again, after that hour's interval of silence. +Farther and farther he had wandered from the forest. He had +crossed the "burn," and was in the open plain, with the rough +ridges cutting through and the big river at the edge of it. It was +not so gloomy out here, and his loneliness weighed upon him less +heavily than in the deep timber. + +And across this plain came the voice of the wolves. + +He did not move away from it to-night. He waited, silhouetted +against the vivid starlight at the crest of a rocky knoll, and the +top of this knoll was so small that another could not have stood +beside him without their shoulders touching. On all sides of him +the plain swept away in the white light of the stars and moon; +never had the desire to respond to the wild brethren urged itself +upon him more fiercely than now. He flung back his head, until his +black-tipped muzzle pointed up to the stars, and the voice rolled +out of his throat. But it was only half a howl. Even then, +oppressed by his great loneliness, there gripped him that +something instinctive which warned him against betrayal. After +that he remained quiet, and as the wolves drew nearer his body +grew tense, his muscles hardened, and in his throat there was the +low whispering of a snarl instead of a howl. He sensed danger. He +had caught, in the voice of the wolves, the ravening note that had +made Pierrot cross himself and mutter of the loups-garous, and he +crouched down on his belly at the top of the rocky mound. + +Then he saw them. They were sweeping like dark and swiftly moving +shadows between him and the forest. Suddenly they stopped, and for +a few moments no sound came from them as they packed themselves +closely on the scent of his fresh trail in the snow. And then they +surged in his direction; this time there was a still fiercer +madness in the wild cry that rose from their throats. In a dozen +seconds they were at the mound. They swept around it and past it, +all save one--a huge gray brute who shot up the hillock straight +at the prey the others had not yet seen. There was a snarl in +Miki's throat as he came. Once more he was facing the thrill of a +great fight. Once more the blood ran suddenly hot in his veins, +and fear was driven from him as the wind drives smoke from a fire. +If Neewa were only there now, to fend at his back while he fought +in front! He stood up on his feet. He met the up-rushing pack- +brute head to head. Their jaws clashed, and the wild wolf found +jaws at last that crunched through his own as if they had been +whelp's bone, and he rolled and twisted back to the plain in a +dying agony. But not until another gray form had come to fill his +place. Into the throat of this second Miki drove his fangs as the +wolf came over the crest. It was the slashing, sabre-like stroke +of the north-dog, and the throat of the wolf was torn open and the +blood poured out as if emptied by the blade of a knife. Down he +plunged to join the first, and in that instant the pack swept up +and over Miki, and he was smothered under the mass of their +bodies. Had two or three attacked him at once he would have died +as quickly as the first two of his enemies had come to their end. +Numbers saved him in the first rush. On the level of the plain he +would have been torn into pieces like a bit of cloth, but on the +space at the top of the KOPJE, no larger than the top of a table, +he was lost for a few seconds under the snarling and rending horde +of his enemies. Fangs intended for him sank into other wolf-flesh; +the madness of the pack became a blind rage, and the assault upon +Miki turned into a slaughter of the wolves themselves. On his +back, held down by the weight of bodies, Miki drove his fangs +again and again into flesh. A pair of jaws seized him in the +groin, and a shock of agony swept through him. It was a death- +grip, sinking steadily into his vitals. Just in time another pair +of jaws seized the wolf who held him, and the hold in his groin +gave way. In that moment Miki felt himself plunging down the steep +side of the knoll, and after him came a half of what was left +alive of the pack. + +The fighting devils in Miki's brain gave way all at once to that +cunning of the fox which had served him even more than claw and +fang in times of great danger. Scarcely had he reached the plain +before he was on his feet, and no sooner had he touched his feet +than he was off like the wind in direction of the river. He had +gained a fifty-yard start before the first of the wolves +discovered his flight. There were only eight that followed him +now. Of the thirteen mad beasts five were dead or dying at the +foot of the hillock. Of these Miki had slain two. The others had +fallen at the fangs of their own brethren. + +Half a mile away were the steep cliffs of the river, and at the +edge of these cliffs was a great cairn of rocks in which for one +night Miki had sought shelter. He had not forgotten the tunnel +into the tumbled mass of rock debris, nor how easily it could be +defended from within. Once in that tunnel he would turn in the +door of it and slaughter his enemies one by one, for only one by +one could they attack him. But he had not reckoned with that huge +gray form behind him that might have been named Lightning, the +fiercest and swiftest of all the mad wolves of the pack. He sped +ahead of his slower-footed companions like a streak of light, and +Miki had made but half the distance to the cairn when he heard the +panting breath of Lightning behind him. Even Hela, his father, +could not have run more swiftly than Miki, but great as was Miki's +speed, Lightning ran more swiftly. Two thirds of the distance to +the cliff and the huge wolf's muzzle was at Miki's flank. With a +burst of speed Miki gained a little. Then steadily Lightning drew +abreast of him, a grim and merciless shadow of doom. + +A hundred yards farther on and a little to the right was the +cairn. But Miki could not run to the right without turning into +Lightning's jaws, and he realized now that if he reached the cairn +his enemy would be upon him before he could dive into the tunnel +and face about. To stop and fight would be death, for behind he +could hear the other wolves. Ten seconds more and the chasm of the +river yawned ahead of them. + +At its very brink Miki swung and struck at Lightning. He sensed +death now, and in the face of death all his hatred turned upon the +one beast that had run at his side. In an instant they were down. +Two yards from the edge of the cliff, and Miki's jaws were at +Lightning's throat when the pack rushed upon them. They were swept +onward. The earth flew out from under their feet, and they were in +space. Grimly Miki held to the throat of his foe. Over and over +they twisted in mid-air, and then came a terrific shock. Lightning +was under. Yet so great was the shock, that, even though the +wolf's huge body was under him like a cushion, Miki was stunned +and dazed. A minute passed before he staggered to his feet. +Lightning lay still, the life smashed out of him. A little beyond +him lay the bodies of two other wolves that in their wild rush had +swept over the cliff. + +Miki looked up. Between him and the stars he could see the top of +the cliff, a vast distance above him. One after the other he +smelled at the bodies of the three dead wolves. Then he limped +slowly along the base of the cliff until he came to a fissure +between two huge rocks. Into this he crept and lay down, licking +his wounds. After all there were worse things in the world than Le +Beau's trapline. Perhaps there were even worse things than men. + +After a time he stretched his great head out between his fore- +paws, and slowly the starlight grew dimmer, and the snow less +white, and he slept. + + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + + +In a twist of Three Jackpine River, buried in the deep of the +forest between the Shamattawa country and Hudson Bay, was the +cabin in which lived Jacques Le Beau, the trapper. There was not +another man in all that wilderness who was the equal of Le Beau in +wickedness--unless it was Durant, who hunted foxes a hundred miles +north, and who was Jacques's rival in several things. A giant in +size, with a heavy, sullen face and eyes which seemed but half- +hidden greenish loopholes for the pitiless soul within him--if he +had a soul at all--Le Beau was a "throw-back" of the worst sort. +In their shacks and teepees the Indians whispered softly that all +the devils of his forebears had gathered in him. + +It was a grim kind of fate that had given to Le Beau a wife. Had +she been a witch, an evil-doer and an evil-thinker like himself, +the thing would not have been such an abortion of what should have +been. But she was not that. Sweet-faced, with something of unusual +beauty still in her pale cheeks and starving eyes--trembling at +his approach and a slave in his presence--she was, like his dogs, +the PROPERTY of The Brute. And the woman had a baby. One had +already died; and it was the thought that this one might die, as +the other had died, that brought at times the new flash of fire +into her dark eyes. + +"Le bon Dieu--I pray to the Blessed Angels--I swear you SHALL +live!" she would cry to it at times, hugging it close to her +breast. And it was at these times that the fire came into her +eyes, and her pale cheeks flushed with a smouldering bit of the +flame that had once been her beauty. "Some day--SOME DAY--" + +But she never finished, even to the child, what was in her mind. +Sometimes her dreams were filled with visions. The world was still +young, and SHE was not old. She was thinking of that as she stood +before the cracked bit of mirror in the cabin, brushing out her +hair, that was black and shining and so long that it fell to her +hips. Of her beauty her hair had remained. It was defiant of The +Brute. And deep back in her eyes, and in her face, there were +still the living, hidden traces of her girlhood heritage ready to +bloom again if Fate, mending its error at last, would only take +away forever the crushing presence of the Master. She stood a +little longer before the bit of glass when she heard the crunching +of footsteps in the snow outside. + +Swiftly what had been in her face was gone. Le Beau had been away +on his trapline since yesterday, and his return filled her with +the old dread. Twice he had caught her before the mirror and had +called her vile names for wasting her time in admiring herself +when she might have been scraping the fat from his pelts. The +second time he had sent her reeling back against the wall, and had +broken the mirror until the bit she treasured now was not much +larger than her two slim hands. She would not be caught again. She +ran with the glass to the place where she kept it in hiding, and +then quickly she wove the heavy strands of her hair into a braid. +The strange, dead look of fear and foreboding closed like a veil +over the secrets her eyes had disclosed to herself. She turned, as +she always turned in her woman's hope and yearning, to greet him +when he entered. + +The Brute entered, a dark and surly monster. He was in a wicked +humour. His freshly caught furs he flung to the floor. He pointed +to them, and his eyes were narrowed to menacing slits as they fell +upon her. + +"He was there again--that devil!" he growled. "See, he has spoiled +the fisher, and he has cleaned out my baits and knocked down the +trap-houses. Par les mille cornes du diable, but I will kill him! +I have sworn to cut him into bits with a knife when I catch him-- +and catch him I will, to-morrow. See to it there--the skins--when +you have got me something to eat. Mend the fisher where he is torn +in two, and cover the seam well with fat so that the agent over at +the post will not discover it is bad. Tonnerre de Dieu!--that +brat! Why do you always keep his squalling until I come in? Answer +me, Bete!" + +Such was his greeting. He flung his snowshoes into a corner, +stamped the snow off his feet, and got himself a fresh plug of +black tobacco from a shelf over the stove. Then he went out again, +leaving the woman with a cold tremble in her heart and the wan +desolation of hopelessness in her face as she set about getting +him food. + +From the cabin Le Beau went to his dog-pit, a corral of saplings +with a shelter-shack in the centre of it. It was The Brute's boast +that he had the fiercest pack of sledge-dogs between Hudson Bay +and the Athabasca. It was his chief quarrel with Durant, his rival +farther north; and his ambition was to breed a pup that would kill +the fighting husky which Durant brought down to the Post with him +each winter at New Year. This season he had chosen Netah ("The +Killer") for the big fight at God's Lake. On the day he would +gamble his money and his reputation against Durant's, his dog +would be just one month under two years of age. It was Netah he +called from out of the pack now. + +The dog slunk to him with a low growl in his throat, and for the +first time something like joy shone in Le Beau's face. He loved to +hear that growl. He loved to see the red and treacherous glow in +Netah's eyes, and hear the menacing click of his jaws. Whatever of +nobility might have been in Netah's blood had been clubbed out by +the man. They were alike, in that their souls were dead. And +Netah, for a dog, was a devil. For that reason Le Beau had chosen +him to fight the big fight. + +Le Beau looked down at him, and drew a deep breath of +satisfaction. + +"OW! but you are looking fine, Netah," he exulted. "I can almost +see running blood in those devil-eyes of yours; OUI--red blood +that smells and runs, as the blood of Durant's POOS shall run when +you sink those teeth in its jugular. And to-morrow we are going to +give you the test--such a beautiful test!--with the wild dog that +is robbing my traps and tearing my fishers into bits. For I will +catch him, and you shall fight him until he is almost dead; and +then I shall cut his heart out alive, as I have promised, and you +will eat it while it is still beating, so that there will be no +excuse for your losing to that POOS which M'sieu Durant will bring +down. COMPRENEZ? It will be a beautiful test--to-morrow. And if +you fail I will kill you. OUI; if you so much as let a whimper out +of you, I will kill you--dead." + + + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN + + +That same night, ten miles to the west, Miki slept under a +windfall of logs and treetops not more than half a mile from Le +Beau's trapline. + +In the early dawn, when Le Beau left his cabin, accompanied by +Netah, The Killer, Miki came out from under his windfall after a +night of troublous dreams. He had dreamed of those first weeks +after he had lost his master, when Neewa was always at his side; +and the visions that had come to him filled him with an uneasiness +and a loneliness that made him whine as he stood watching the dark +shadows fading away before the coming of day. Could Le Beau have +seen him there, as the first of the cold sun struck upon him, the +words which he had repeated over and over to The Killer would have +stuck in his throat. For at eleven months of age Miki was a young +giant of his breed. He weighed sixty pounds, and none of that +sixty was fat. His body was as slim and as lean as a wolf's. His +chest was massive, and over it the muscles rolled like BABICHE +cord when he moved. His legs were like the legs of Hela, the big +Mackenzie hound who was his father; and with his jaws he could +crack a caribou bone as Le Beau might have cracked it with a +stone. For eight of the eleven months of his life the wilderness +had been his master; it had tempered him to the hardness of living +steel; it had wrought him without abeyance to age in the mould of +its pitiless schooling--had taught him to fight for his life, to +kill that he might live, and to use his brain before he used his +jaws. He was as powerful as Netah, The Killer, who was twice his +age, and with his strength he possessed a cunning and a quickness +which The Killer would never know. Thus had the raw wilderness +prepared him for this day. + +As the sun fired up the forest with a cold flame Miki set off in +direction of Le Beau's trapline. He came to where Le Beau had +passed yesterday and sniffed suspiciously of the man-smell that +was still strong in the snowshoe tracks. He had become accustomed +to this smell, but he had not lost his suspicion of it. It was +repugnant to him, even as it fascinated him. It filled him with an +inexplicable fear, and yet he found himself powerless to run away +from it. Three times in the last ten days he had seen the man- +brute himself. Once he had been hiding within a dozen yards of Le +Beau when he passed. + +This morning he headed straight for the swamp through which Le +Beau's traps were set. There the rabbits were thickest and it was +in the swamp that they most frequently got in Jacques's KEKEKS-- +the little houses he built of sticks and cedar boughs to keep the +snow off his baits. They were so numerous that they were a pest, +and each time that Le Beau made his trip over the line he found at +least two out of every three traps sprung by them, and therefore +made useless for the catching of fur. But, where there were many +rabbits there were also fishers and lynx, and in spite of the rage +which the plague of rabbits sent him into, Le Beau continued to +set his traps there. And now, in addition to the rabbits, he had +the wild dog to contend with. + +His heart was fired by a vengeful anticipation as he hurried on +through the glow of the early sun, with The Killer at his heels, +led by a BABICHE thong. Miki was nosing about the first trap-house +as Netah and Le Beau entered the edge of the swamp, three miles to +the east. + +It was in this KEKEK that Miki had killed the fisher-cat the +previous morning. It was empty now. Even the bait-peg was gone, +and there was no sign of a trap. A quarter of a mile farther on he +came to a second trap-house, and this also was empty. He was a bit +puzzled. And then he went on to the third house. He stood for +several minutes, sniffing the air still more suspiciously, before +he drew close to it. The man-tracks were thicker here. The snow +was beaten down with them, and the scent of Le Beau was so strong +in the air that for a space Miki believed he was near. Then he +advanced so that he got a look into the door of the trap-house. +Squatted there, staring at him with big round eyes, was a huge +snowshoe rabbit. A premonition of danger held Miki back. It was +something in the attitude of Wapoos, the old rabbit. He was not +like the others he had caught along Le Beau's line. He was not +struggling in a trap; he was not stretched out, half frozen, and +he was not dangling at the end of a snare. He was all furred up +into a warm and comfortable looking ball. As a matter of fact, Le +Beau had caught him with his hands in a hollow log, and had tied +him to the bait peg with a piece of buck-skin string; and after +that, just out of Wapoos's reach, he had set a nest of traps and +covered them with snow. + +Nearer and nearer to this menace drew Miki, in spite of the +unaccountable impulse that warned him to keep back. Wapoos, +fascinated by his slow and deadly advance, made no movement, but +sat as if frozen into stone. Then Miki was at him. His powerful +jaws closed with a crunch. In the same instant there came the +angry snap of steel and a fisher-trap closed on one of his hind +feet. With a snarl he dropped Wapoos and turned upon it, SNAP-- +SNAP--SNAP went three more of Jacques's nest of traps. Two of them +missed. The third caught him by a front paw. As he had caught +Wapoos, and as he had killed the fisher-cat, so now he seized this +new and savage enemy between his jaws. His fangs crunched on the +cold steel; he literally tore it from his paw so that blood +streamed forth and strained the snow red. Madly he twisted himself +to get at his hind foot. On this foot the fisher-trap had secured +a hold that was unbreakable. He ground it between his jaws until +the blood ran from his mouth. He was fighting it when Le Beau came +out from behind a clump of spruce twenty yards away with The +Killer at his heels. + +The Brute stopped. He was panting, and his eyes were aflame. Two +hundred yards away he had heard the clinking of the trap-chain. + +"OW! he is there," he gasped, tightening his hold on The Killer's +lead thong. "He is there, Netah, you Red Eye! That is the robber +devil you are to kill--almost. I will unfasten you, and then--GO +TO!" + +Miki, no longer fighting the trap, was eyeing them as they +advanced. In this moment of peril he felt no fear of the man. In +his veins the hot blood raged with a killing madness. The truth +leapt upon him in a flash of instinctive awakening. These two were +his enemies instead of the thing on his foot--the man-beast, and +Netah, The Killer. He remembered--as if it were yesterday. This +was not the first time he had seen a man with a club in his hand. +And Le Beau held a club. But he was not afraid. His steady eyes +watched Netah. Unleashed by his master, The Killer stood on stiff +legs a dozen feet away, the wiry crest along his spine erect, his +muscles tense. + +Miki heard the man-beast's voice. + +"Go to, you devil! GO TO!" + +Miki waited, without the quiver of a muscle. Thus much he had +learned of his hard lessons in the wilderness--to wait, and watch, +and use his cunning. He was flat on his belly, his nose between +his forepaws. His lips were drawn back a little, just a little; +but he made no sound, and his eyes were as steady as two points of +flame. Le Beau stared. He felt suddenly a new thrill, and it was +not the thrill of his desire for vengeance. Never had he seen a +lynx or a fox or a wolf in a trap like that. Never had he seen a +dog with eyes like the eyes that were on Netah. For a moment he +held his breath. + +Foot by foot, and then almost inch by inch, The Killer crept in. +Ten feet, eight, six--and all that time Miki made no move, never +winked an eye. With a snarl like that of a tiger, Netah came at +him. + +What happened then was the most marvellous thing that Jacques Le +Beau had ever seen. So swiftly that his eyes could scarcely follow +the movement, Miki had passed like a flash under the belly of +Netah, and turning then at the end of his trap chain he was at The +Killer's throat before Le Beau could have counted ten. They were +down, and The Brute gripped the club in his hand and stared like +one fascinated. He heard the grinding crunch of jaws, and he knew +they were the Wild Dog's jaws; he heard a snarl choking slowly +into a wheezing sob of agony, and he knew that the sound came from +The Eller. The blood rose into his face. The red fire in his eyes +grew livid--a blaze of exultation, of triumph. + +"TONNERRE DE DIEU! he is choking the life out of Netah!" he +gasped. "NON, I have never seen a dog like that. I will keep him +alive; and he shall fight Durant's POOS over at Post Fort O' God! +By the belly of Saint Gris, I say--" + +The Killer was as good as dead if left another minute. With +upraised club Le Beau advanced. As he sank his fangs deeper into +Netah's throat Miki saw the new danger out of the corner of his +eye. He loosed his jaws and swung himself free of The Killer as +the club descended. He only partly evaded the smashing blow, which +caught him on the shoulder and knocked him down. Quick as a flash +he was on his feet and had lunged at Le Beau. The Frenchman was a +master with the club. All his life he had used it, and he brought +it around in a sudden side-swing that landed with terrific force +against Miki's head. The blood spurted from his mouth and +nostrils. He was dazed and half blinded. He leapt again, and the +club caught him once more. He heard Le Beau's ferocious cry of +joy. A third, a fourth, and a fifth time he went down under the +club, and Le Beau no longer laughed, but swung his weapon with a +look that was half fear in his eyes. The sixth time the club +missed, and Miki's jaws closed against The Brute's chest, ripping +away the thick coat and shirt as if they had been of paper, and +leaving on Le Beau's skin a bleeding gash. Ten inches more--a +little better vision in his blood-dimmed eyes--and he would have +reached the man's throat. A great cry rose out of Le Beau. For an +instant he felt the appalling nearness of death. + +"Netah! Netah!" he cried, and swung the club wildly. + +Netah did not respond. It may be that in this moment he sensed the +fact that it was his master who had made him into a monster. About +him was the wilderness, opening its doors of freedom. When Le Beau +called again The Killer was slinking away, dripping blood as he +went--and this was the last that Le Beau saw of him. Probably he +joined the wolves, for The Killer was a quarter-strain wild. + +Le Beau got no more than a glimpse of him as he disappeared. His +club-arm shot out again, a clean miss; and this time it was pure +chance that saved him. The trap-chain caught, and Miki fell back +when his hot breath was almost at The Brute's jugular. He fell +upon his side. Before he could recover himself the club was +pounding his head into the snow. The world grew black. He no +longer had the power to move. Lying as if dead he still heard over +him the panting, exultant voice of the man-beast. For Le Beau, +black though his heart was, could not keep back a prayerful cry of +thankfulness that he was victor--and had missed death, though by a +space no wider than the link of a chain. + + + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN + + +Nanette, the woman, saw Jacques come out of the edge of the timber +late in the afternoon, dragging something on the snow behind him. +In her heart, ever since her husband had begun to talk about him, +she had kept secret to herself a pity for the wild dog. Long +before the last baby had come she had loved a dog. It was this dog +that had given her the only real affection she had known in the +company of The Brute, and with barbarous cruelty Le Beau had +driven it from her. Nanette herself had encouraged it to seek +freedom in the wilderness, as Netah had at last sought his. +Therefore she had prayed that the wild dog of the trapline might +escape. + +As Le Beau came nearer she saw that what he drew after him upon +the snow was a sledge-drag made of four lengths of sapling, and +when, a moment later, she looked down at its burden, she gave a +little cry of horror. + +Miki's four feet were tied so firmly to the pieces of sapling that +he could not move. A cord about his neck was fastened to one of +the crossbars, and over his jaws Le Beau had improvised a muzzle +of unbreakable BABICHE thong. He had done all this before Miki +regained consciousness after the clubbing. The woman stared, and +there was a sudden catch in her breath after the little cry that +had fallen from her lips. Many times she had seen Jacques club his +dogs, but never had she seen one clubbed like this. Miki's head +and shoulders were a mass of frozen blood. And then she saw his +eyes. They were looking straight up at her. She turned, fearing +that Jacques might see what was in her face. + +Le Beau dragged his burden straight into the cabin, and then stood +back and rubbed his hands as he looked at Miki on the floor. +Nanette saw that he was in a strangely good humour, and waited. + +"By the Blessed Saints, but you should have seen him kill Netah-- +almost," he exulted. "OUI; he had him down by the throat quicker +than you could flash your eye, and twice he was within an inch of +my life when I fought him with the club. DIEU! I say, what will +happen to Durant's dog when they meet at Post Fort 0' God? I will +make a side wager that he kills him before the second-hand of LE +FACTEUR'S watch, goes round twice. He is splendid! Watch him, +Nanette, while I go make a corral for him alone. If I put him in +with the pack he will kill them all." + +Miki's eyes followed him as he disappeared through the cabin door. +Then he looked swiftly back to Nanette. She had drawn nearer. Her +eyes were shining as she bent over him. A snarl rose in Miki's +throat, and died there. For the first time he was looking upon +WOMAN. He sensed, all at once, a difference as vast as the world +itself. In his bruised and broken body his heart stood still. +Nanette spoke to him. Never in his life had he heard a voice like +hers--soft and gentle, with a breaking sob in it; and then-- +miracle of miracles--she had dropped on her knees and her hands +were at his head! + +In that instant his spirit leapt back through the generations-- +back beyond his father, and his father's father; back to that far +day when the blood in the veins of his race was "just dog," and he +romped with children, and listened to the call of woman, and +worshipped at the shrine of humankind. And now the woman had run +quickly to the stove, and was back again with a dish of warm water +and a soft cloth, and was bathing his head, talking to him all the +time in that gentle, half-sobbing voice of pity and of love. He +closed his eyes--no longer afraid. A great sigh heaved out of his +body. He wanted to put out his tongue and lick the slim white +hands that were bringing him peace and comfort. And then the +strangest thing of all happened. In the crib the baby sat up and +began to prattle. It was a new note to Miki, a new song of Life's +spring-tide to him, but it thrilled him as nothing else in all the +world had ever thrilled him before. He opened his eyes wide--and +whined. + +A laugh of joy--new and strange even to herself--came into the +woman's voice, and she ran to the crib and returned with the baby +in her arms. She knelt down beside him again, and the baby, at +sight of this strange plaything on the floor, thrust out its +little arms, and kicked its tiny moccasined feet, and cooed and +laughed and squirmed until Miki strained at his thongs to get a +little nearer that he might touch this wonderful creature with his +nose. He forgot his pain. He no longer sensed the agony of his +bruised and beaten jaws. He did not feel the numbness of his +tightly bound and frozen legs. Every instinct in him was centred +in these two. + +And the woman, now, was beautiful. She UNDERSTOOD; and the gentle +heart throbbed in her bosom, forgetful of The Brute. Her eyes +glowed with the soft radiance of stars. Into her pale cheeks came +a sweet flush. She sat the baby down, and with the cloth and warm +water continued to bathe Miki's head. Le Beau, had he been human, +must have worshipped her then as she knelt there, all that was +pure and beautiful in motherhood, an angel of mercy, radiant for a +moment in her forgetfulness of HIM. And Le Beau DID enter--and see +her--so quietly that for a space she did not realize his presence; +and with him staring down on her she continued to talk and laugh +and half sob, and the baby kicked and prattled and flung out its +little arms wildly in the joy of these exciting moments. + +Le Beau's thick lips drew back in an ugly leer, and he gave a +savage curse. Nanette flinched as if struck a blow. + +"Get up, you fool!" he snarled. + +She obeyed, shrinking back with the baby in her arms. Miki saw the +change, and the greenish fire returned into his eyes when he +caught sight of Le Beau. A deep and wolfish snarl rose in his +throat. + +Le Beau turned on Nanette. The glow and the flush had not quite +gone from her eyes and cheeks as she stood with the baby hugged up +to her breast, and her big shining braid had fallen over her +shoulder, glistening with a velvety fire in the light that came +through the western window. But Le Beau saw nothing of this. + +"If you make a POOS (a house-kitten) of that dog--a thing like you +made of Minoo, the breed-bitch, I will--" + +He did not finish, but his huge hands were clinched, and there was +an ugly passion in his eyes. Nanette needed no more than that. She +understood. She had received many blows, but there was the memory +of one that never left her, night or day. Some day, if she could +ever get to Post Fort O' God, and had the courage, she would tell +LE FACTEUR of that blow--how Jacques Le Beau, her husband, struck +it at the nursing time, and her bosom was so hurt that the baby of +two years ago had died. She would tell it, when she knew she and +the baby would be safe from the vengeance of the Brute. And only +LE FACTEUR--the Big Man at Post Fort O' God a hundred miles away-- +was powerful enough to save her. + +It was well that Le Beau did not read this thought in her mind +now. With his warning he turned to Miki and dragged him out of the +cabin to a cage made of saplings in which the winter before he had +kept two live foxes. A small chain ten feet in length he fastened +around Miki's neck and then to one of the sapling bars before he +thrust his prisoner inside the door of the prison and freed him by +cutting the BABICHE thongs with a knife. + +For several minutes after that Miki lay still while the blood made +its way slowly through his numbed and half-frozen limbs. At last +he staggered to his feet, and then it was that Le Beau chuckled +jubilantly and turned back to the cabin. + +And now followed many days that were days of hell and torment for +him--an unequal struggle between the power of The Brute and the +spirit of the Dog. + +"I must break you--OW! by the Christ! I WILL break you!"--Le Beau +would say time and again when he came with the club and the whip. +"I will make you crawl to me--OUI, and when I say fight you will +fight!" + +It was a small cage, so small that Miki could not get away from +the reach of the club and the whip. They maddened him--for a time, +and Le Beau's ugly soul was filled with joy as Miki launched +himself again and again at the sapling bars, tearing at them with +his teeth and frothing blood like a wolf gone mad. For twenty +years Le Beau had trained fighting dogs, and this was his way. So +he had done with Netah until The Killer was mastered, and at his +call crept to him on his belly. + +Three times, from a window in the cabin, Nanette looked forth on +these horrible struggles between the man and the dog, and the +third time she buried her face in her arms and sobbed; and when Le +Beau came in and found her crying he dragged her to the window and +made her look out again at Miki, who lay bleeding and half dead in +the cage. It was a morning on which he started the round of his +traps, and he was always gone until late the following day. And +never was he more than well out of sight than Nanette would run +out and go to the cage. + +It was then that Miki forgot The Brute. At times so beaten and +blinded that he could scarcely stand or see, he would crawl to the +bars of the cage and caress the soft hands that Nanette held in +fearlessly to him. And then, after a little, Nanette began to +bring the baby out with her, bundled up like a little Eskimo, and +in his joy Miki whimpered and wagged his tail and grovelled in his +worship before these two. + +It was in the second week of his captivity that the wonderful +thing happened. Le Beau was gone, and there was a raging blizzard +outside to which Nanette dared not expose the baby. So she went to +the cage, and with a heart that beat wildly, she unbarred the +door--and brought Miki into the cabin! If Le Beau should ever +discover what she had done--! + +The thought made her shiver. + +After this first time she brought him into the cabin again and +again. Once her heart stood still when Le Beau saw blood on the +floor, and his eyes shot at her suspiciously. Then she lied. + +"I cut my finger she said," and a moment later, with her back to +him, she DID cut it, and when Jacques looked at her hand he saw a +cloth about the finger, with blood-stain on it. + +After that Nanette always watched the floor carefully. + +More and more this cabin, with the woman and the baby in it, +became a paradise for Miki. Then came the time when Nanette dared +to keep him in the cabin with her all night, and lying close to +the precious cradle Miki never once took his eyes from her. It was +late when she prepared for bed. She changed into a long, soft +robe, and then, sitting near Miki, with her bare little feet in +the fireglow, she took down her wonderful hair and began brushing +it. It was the first time Miki had seen this new and marvellous +garment about her. It fell over her shoulders and breast and +almost to the floor in a shimmering glory, and the scent of it was +so sweet that Miki crept a few inches nearer, and whimpered +softly. After she had done brushing it Miki watched her as her +slim fingers plaited it into two braids; and then, before she put +the light out, a still more curious thing happened. She went to +her bed, made of saplings, against the wall, and from its hiding +place under the blankets drew forth tenderly a little ivory +Crucifix. With this in her hands she knelt upon the log floor, and +Miki listened to her prayer. He did not know, but she was asking +God to be good to her baby--the little Nanette in the crib. + +After that she cuddled the baby up in her arms, and put out the +light, and went to bed; and through all the hours of the night +Miki made no sound that would waken them. + +In the morning, when Nanette opened her eyes, she found Miki with +his head resting on the edge of the bed, close to the baby that +was nestled against her bosom. + +That morning, as she built the fire, something strange and +stirring in Nanette's breast made her sing. Le Beau would be away +until dark that night, and she would never dare to tell him what +she and the baby and the dog were going to do. It was her +birthday. Twenty-six; and it seemed to her that she had lived the +time of two lives! And eight of those years with The Brute! But +to-day they would celebrate, they three. All the morning the cabin +was filled with a new spirit--a new happiness. + +Years ago, before she had met Le Beau, the Indians away back on +the Waterfound had called Nanette "Tanta Penashe" ("the Little +Bird") because of the marvellous sweetness of her voice. And this +morning she sang as she prepared the birthday feast; the sun +flooded through the windows, and Miki whimpered happily and +thumped his tail, and the baby cackled and crowed, and The Brute +was forgotten. In that forgetfulness Nanette was a girl again, +sweet and beautiful as in those days when old Jackpine, the Cree-- +who was now dead--had told her that she was born of the flowers. +The wonderful dinner was ready at last, and to the baby's delight +Nanette induced Miki to sit on a chair at the table. He felt +foolish there, and he looked so foolish that Nanette laughed until +her long dark lashes were damp with tears; and then, when Miki +slunk down from the chair, feeling his shame horribly, she ran to +him and put her arms around him and pleaded with him until he took +his place at the table again. + +So the day passed until mid-afternoon, when Nanette cleared away +all signs of the celebration and locked Miki in his cage. It was +fortunate she was ahead of time, for scarcely was she done when Le +Beau came into the edge of the clearing, and with him was Durant, +his acquaintance and rival from the edge of the Barrens farther +north. Durant had sent his outfit on to Port O' God by an Indian, +and had struck south and west with two dogs and a sledge to visit +a cousin for a day or two. He was on his way to the Post when he +came upon Le Beau on his trapline. + +Thus much Le Beau told Nanette, and Nanette looked at Durant with +startled eyes. They were a good pair, Jacques and his guest, only +that Durant was older. She had become somewhat accustomed to the +brutality in Le Beau's face, but she thought that Durant was a +monster. He made her afraid, and she was glad when they went from +the cabin. + +"Now I will show you the BETE that is going to kill your POOS as +easily as your lead-whelp killed that rabbit to-day, m'sieu," +exulted Jacques. "I have told you but you have not seen!" + +And he took with him the club and the whip. + +Like a tiger fresh out of the jungles Miki responded to the club +and the whip to-day, until Durant himself stood aghast, and +exclaimed under his breath: "MON DIEU! he is a devil!" + +From the window Nanette saw what was happening, and out of her +rose a cry of anguish. Sudden as a burst of fire there arose in +her--triumphant at last and unafraid--that thing which for years +The Brute had crushed back: her womanhood resurrected! Her soul +broken free of its shackles! Her faith, her strength, her courage! +She turned from the window and ran to the door, and out over the +snow to the cage; and for the first time in her life she struck at +Le Beau, and beat fiercely at the arm that was wielding the club. + +"You beast!" she cried. "I tell you, you SHALL NOT! Do you hear? +You SHALL NOT!" + +Paralyzed with amazement, The Brute stood still. Was this Nanette, +his slave? This wonderful creature with eyes that were glowing +fire and defiance, and a look in her face that he had never seen +in any woman's face before? NON--impossible! Hot rage rose in him, +and with a single sweep of his powerful arm he flung her back so +that she fell to the earth. With a wild curse he lifted the bar of +the cage door. + +"I will kill him, now; I will KILL him!" he almost shrieked. "And +it is YOU--YOU--you she-devil! who shall eat his heart alive! I +will force it down your throat: I will--" + +He was dragging Miki forth by the chain. The club rose as Miki's +head came through. In another instant it would have beaten his +head to a pulp--but Nanette was between it and the dog like a +flash, and the blow went wild. It was with his fist that Le Beau +struck out now, and the blow caught Nanette on the shoulder and +sent her frail body down with a crash. The Brute sprang upon her. +His fingers gripped in her thick, soft hair. + +And then-- + +From Durant came a warning cry. It was too late. A lean gray +streak of vengeance and retribution, Miki was at the end of his +chain and at Le Beau's throat. Nanette HEARD! Through dazed eyes +she SAW! She reached out gropingly and struggled to her feet, and +looked just once down upon the snow. Then, with a terrible cry, +she staggered toward the cabin. + +When Durant gathered courage to drag Le Beau out of Miki's reach +Miki made no movement to harm him. Again, perhaps, it was the +Beneficent Spirit that told him his duty was done. He went back +into his cage, and lying there on his belly looked forth at +Durant. + +And Durant, looking at the blood-stained snow and the dead body of +The Brute, whispered to himself again: + +"MON DIEU! he is a devil!" + +In the cabin, Nanette was upon her knees before the crucifix. + + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN + + +There are times when death is a shock, but not a grief. And so it +was with Nanette Le Beau. With her own eyes she had looked upon +the terrible fate of her husband, and it was not in her gentle +soul to weep or wish him alive again. At last there had overtaken +him what LE BON DIEU had intended him to receive some day: +justice. And for the baby's sake more than her own Nanette was not +sorry. Durant, whose soul was only a little less wicked than the +dead man's, had not even waited for a prayer--had not asked her +what to do. He had chopped a hole in the frozen earth and had +buried Le Beau almost before his body was cold. And Nanette was +not sorry for that. The Brute was gone. He was gone for ever. He +would never strike her again. And because of the baby she offered +up a prayer of gratitude to God. + +In his prison-cage of sapling bars Miki cringed on his belly at +the end of his chain. He had scarcely moved since those terrible +moments in which he had torn the life out of the man-brute's +throat. He had not even growled at Durant when he dragged the body +away. Upon him had fallen a fearful and overwhelming oppression. +He was not thinking of his own brutal beatings, or of the death +which Le Beau had been about to inflict upon him with the club; he +did not feel the presence of pain in his bruised and battered +body, nor in his bleeding jaws and whip-lashed eyes. He was +thinking of Nanette, the woman. Why had she run away with that +terrible cry when he killed the man-beast? Was it not the man- +beast who had struck her down, and whose hands were at her white +throat when he sprang the length of his chain and tore out his +jugular? Then why was it that she ran away, and did not come back? + +He whimpered softly. + +The afternoon was almost gone, and the early gloom of mid-winter +night in the Northland was settling thickly over the forests. In +that gloom the dark face of Durant appeared at the bars of Miki's +prison. Instinctively Miki had hated this foxhunter from the edge +of the Barrens, just as he had hated Le Beau, for in their brutish +faces as well as in their hearts they were like brothers. Yet he +did not growl at Durant as he peered through. He did not even +move. + +"UGH! LE DIABLE!" shuddered Durant. + +Then he laughed. It was a low, terrible laugh, half smothered in +his coarse black beard, and it sent an odd chill through Miki. + +He turned after that and went into the cabin. + +Nanette rose to meet him, her great dark eyes glowing in a face +dead white. She had not yet risen above the shock of Le Beau's +tragic death, and yet in those eyes there was already something +re-born. It had not been there when Durant came to the cabin with +Le Beau that afternoon. He looked at her strangely as she stood +with the baby in her arms. She was another Nanette. He felt +uneasy. Why was it that a few hours ago he had laughed boldly when +her husband had cursed her and said vile things in her presence-- +and now he could not meet the steady gaze of her eyes? DIEU! he +had never before observed how lovely she was! He drew himself +together, and stated the business in his mind. + +"You will not want the dog," he said. "I will take him away." + +Nanette did not answer. She seemed scarcely to be breathing as she +looked at him. It seemed to him that she was waiting for him to +explain; and then the inspiration to lie leapt into his mind. + +"You know, there was to be the big fight between HIS dog and mine +at Post Fort O' God at the New Year carnival," he went on, +shuffling his heavy feet. "For that, Jacques--your husband--was +training the wild dog. And when I saw that OOCHUN--that wolf +devil--tearing at the bars of the cage I knew he would kill my dog +as a fox kills a rabbit. So we struck a bargain, and for the two +cross foxes and the ten red which I have outside I bought him." +(The VRAISEMBLANCE of his lie gave him courage. It sounded like +truth, and Jacques, the dead man, was not there to repudiate his +claim.) "So he is mine," he finished a little exultantly, "and I +will take him to the Post, and will fight him against any dog or +wolf in all the North. Shall I bring in the skins, MADAME?" + +"He is not for sale," said Nanette, the glow in her eyes +deepening. "He is my dog--mine and the baby's. Do you understand, +Henri Durant? HE IS NOT FOR SALE!" + +"OUI," gasped Durant, amazed. + +"And when you reach Post Fort O' God, m'sieu, you will tell LE +FACTEUR that Jacques is dead, and how he died, and say that some +one must be sent for the baby and me. We will stay here until +then." + +"OUI," said Durant again, backing to the door. + +He had never seen her like that. He wondered how Jacques Le Beau +could swear at her, and strike her. For himself, he was afraid. +Standing there with those wonderful eyes and white face, with the +baby in her arms, and her shining hair over her breasts, she made +him think of a picture he had once seen of the Blessed Lady. + +He went out through the door and back to the sapling cage where +Miki lay. Softly he spoke through the bars. + +"OW, BETE" he called; "she will not sell you. She keeps you +because you fought for her, and killed MON AMI, Jacques Le Beau. +And so I must take you my own way. In a little while the moon will +be up, and then I will slip a noose over your head at the end of a +pole, and will choke you so quickly she will not hear a sound. And +who will know where you are gone, if the cage door is left open? +And you will fight for me at Post Fort 0' God. MON DIEU! how you +will fight! I swear it will do the ghost of Jacques Le Beau good +to see what happens there." + +He went away, to where he had left his light sledge and two dogs +in the edge of the timber, and waited for the moon to rise. + +Still Miki did not move, A light had appeared in the window of the +cabin, and his eyes were fixed on it yearningly as the low whine +gathered in his throat again. His world no longer lay beyond that +window. The Woman and the baby had obliterated in him all desire +but to be with them. + +In the cabin Nanette was thinking of him--and of Durant. The man's +words came to her again, vividly, significantly: "YOU WILL NOT +WANT THE DOG." Yes, all the forest people would say that same +thing--even LE FACTEUR himself, when he heard. SHE WOULD NOT WANT +THE DOG! And why not? Because he had killed Jacques Le Beau, her +husband, in defence of her? Because he had freed her from the +bondage of The Brute? Because God had sent him to the end of his +chain in that terrible moment that the baby Nanette might live, as +the OTHER had not, and that she might grow up with laughter on her +lips instead of sobs? In her there rose suddenly a thought that +fanned the new flame in her heart. It MUST have been LE BON DIEU! +Others might doubt, but she--never. She recalled all that Le Beau +had told her about the wild dog--how for many days he had robbed +the traps, and the terrific fight he had made when at last he was +caught. And of all that The Brute had said there stood out most +the words he had spoken one day. + +"He is a devil, but he was not born of wolf. NON, some time, a +long time ago, he was a white man's dog." + +A WHITE MAN'S DOG! + +Her soul thrilled. Once--a long time ago--he had known a master +with a white heart, just as she had known a girlhood in which the +flowers bloomed and the birds sang. She tried to look back, but +she could not see very far. She could not vision that day, less +than a year ago, when Miki, an angular pup, came down out of the +Farther North with Challoner; she could not vision the strange +comradeship between the pup and Neewa, the little black bear cub, +nor that tragic day when they had fallen out of Challoner's canoe +into the swift stream that had carried them over the waterfall and +into the Great Adventure which had turned Neewa into a grown bear +and Miki into a wild dog. But in her heart she FELT the things +which she could not see. Miki had not come by chance. Something +greater than that had sent him. + +She rose quietly, so that she would not waken the baby in the +crib, and opened the door. The moon was just rising over the +forest and through the glow of it she went to the cage. She heard +the dog's joyous whine, and then she felt the warm caress of his +tongue upon her bare hands as she thrust them between the sapling +bars. + +"NON, NON; you are not a devil," she cried softly, her voice +filled with a strange tremble. "O-o-ee, my SOKETAAO, I prayed, +PRAYED--and you came. Yes, on my knees each night I prayed to Our +Blessed Lady that she might have mercy on my baby, and make the +sun in heaven shine for her through all time. AND YOU CAME! And +the dear God does not send devils in answer to prayer. NON; +never!" + +And Miki, as though some spirit had given him the power to +understand, rested the weight of his bruised and beaten head on +her hands. + +From the edge of the forest Durant was watching. He had caught the +flash of light from the door and had seen Nanette go to the cage, +and his eyes did not leave her until she returned into the cabin. +He laughed as he went to his fire and finished making the WAHGUN +he was fastening to the end of a long pole. This WAHGUN and the +pole added to his own cleverness were saving him twelve good fox +skins, and he continued to chuckle there in the fireglow as he +thought how easy it was to beat a woman's wits. Nanette was a fool +to refuse the pelts, and Jacques was--dead. It was a most lucky +combination of circumstances for him. Fortune had surely come his +way. On LE BETE, as he called the wild dog, he would gamble all +that he possessed in the big fight. And he would win. + +He waited until the light in the cabin went out before he +approached the cage again. Miki heard him coming. At a +considerable distance he saw him, for the moon was already turning +the night into day. Durant knew the ways of dogs. With them he +employed a superior reason where Le Beau had used the club and the +rawhide. So he came up openly and boldly, and, as if by accident, +dropped the end of the pole between the bars. With his hands +against the cage, apparently unafraid, he began talking in a +casual way. He was different from Le Beau. Miki watched him +closely for a space and then let his eyes rest again on the +darkened cabin window. Stealthily Durant began to take advantage +of his opportunity. A little at a time he moved the end of the +pole until it was over Miki's head, with the deadly bowstring and +its open noose hanging down. He was an adept in the use of the +WAHGUN. Many foxes and wolves, and even a bear, he had caught that +way. Miki, numbed by the cold, scarcely felt the BABICHE noose as +it settled softly about his neck. He did not see Durant brace +himself, with his feet against the running-log of the cage. + +Then, suddenly, Durant lurched himself backward, and it seemed to +Miki as though a giant trap of steel had closed about his neck. +Instantly his wind was cut off. He could make no sound as he +struggled frantically to free himself. Hand over hand Durant +dragged him to the bars, and there, with his feet still braced, he +choked with his whole weight until--when at last he let up on the +WAHGUN--Miki collapsed as if dead. Ten seconds later Durant was +looping a muzzle over his closed jaws. He left the cage door open +when he went back to his sledge, carrying Miki in his arms. +Nanette's slow wits would never guess, he told himself. She would +think that LE BETE had escaped into the forest. + +It was not his scheme to club Miki into serfdom, as Le Beau had +failed to do. Durant was wiser than that. In his crude and +merciless way he had come to know certain phenomena of the animal +mind. He was not a psychologist; oh the other hand brutality had +not utterly blinded him. So, instead of lashing Miki to the sledge +as Le Beau had fastened him to his improvised drag, Durant made +his captive comfortable, covering him with a warm blanket before +he began his journey eastward. He made sure, however, that there +was no flaw in the muzzle about Miki's jaws, and that the free end +of the chain to which he was still fastened was well hitched to +the Gee-bar of his sledge. + +When these things were done Durant set off in the direction of +Fort O' God, and if Jacques Le Beau could have seen him then he +would have had good reason to guess at his elation. By taint of +birth and blood Durant was a gambler first, and a trapper +afterward. He set his traps that he might have the thrill of +wagering his profits, and for half a dozen successive years he had +won at the big annual dog fight at Post Fort O' God. But this year +he had been half afraid. His fear had not been of Jacques Le Beau +and Netah, but of the halfbreed away over on Red Belly Lake. +Grouse Piet was the halfbreed's name, and the "dog" that he was +going to put up at the fight was half wolf. Therefore, in the +foolish eagerness of his desire, had Durant offered two cross +foxes and ten reds--the price of five dogs and not one--for the +possession of Le Beau's wild dog. And now that he had him for +nothing, and Nanette was poorer by twelve skins, he was happy. For +he had now a good match for Grouse Piet's half wolf, and he would +chance his money and his credit at the Post to the limit. + +When Miki came back to his senses Durant stopped his dogs, for he +had been watching closely for this moment. He bent over the sledge +and began talking, not in Le Beau's brutal way, but in a careless +chummy sort of voice, and with his mittened hand he patted his +captive's head. This was a new thing to Miki, for he knew that it +was not the hand of Nanette, but of a man-beast, and the softness +of his nest in the blanket, over which Henri had thrown a bear +skin, was also new. A short time ago he was frozen and stiff. Now +he was warm and comfortable. So he did not move. And Durant +exulted in his cleverness. He did not travel far in the night, but +stopped four or five miles from Nanette's cabin, and built a fire. +Over this he boiled coffee and roasted meat. He allowed the meat +to roast slowly, turning it round and round on a wooden spit, so +that the aroma of it grew thick and inviting in the air. He had +fastened his two sledge dogs fifty paces away, but the sledge was +close to the fire, and he watched the effect on Miki of the +roasting meat. Since the days of his puppyhood with Challoner a +smell like that which came from the meat had not filled Miki's +nostrils, and at last Durant saw him lick his chops and heard the +click of his teeth. He chuckled in his beard. Still he waited +another quarter of an hour. Then he pulled the meat off the spit, +cut it up, and gave a half of it to Miki. And Miki ate it +ravenously. + +A clever man was Henri Durant! + + + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN + + +During the last few days in December all trails for ten thousand +square miles around led to Post Fort 0' God. It was the eve of +OOSKE PIPOON--of the New Year--the mid-winter carnival time of the +people of the wilderness, when from teepees and cabins far and +near come the trappers and their families to sell their furs and +celebrate for a few days with others of their kind. To this New +Year gathering men, women, and children look forward through long +and weary months. The trapper's wife has no neighbour. Her +husband's "line" is a little kingdom inviolate, with no other +human life within many miles of it; so for the women the OOSKE +PIPOON is a time of rejoicing; for the children it is the "big +circus," and for the men a reward for the labour and hardship of +catching their fur. During these few days old acquaintanceships +are renewed and new ones are made. It is here that the "news" of +the trackless wilderness is spread, the news of deaths, of +marriages, and of births; of tragic happenings that bring horror +and grief and tears, and of others that bring laughter and joy. +For the first and last time in all the seven months' winter the +people of the forests "come to town." Indian, halfbreed, "blood," +and white man, join in the holiday without distinction of colour +or creed. + +This year there was to be a great caribou roast, a huge barbecue, +at Fort O' God, and by the time Henri Durant came within half a +dozen miles of the Post the trails from north and south and east +and west were beaten hard by the tracks of dogs and men. That year +a hundred sledges came in from the forests, and with them were +three hundred men and women and children and half a thousand dogs. + +Durant was a day later than he had planned to be, but he had made +good use of his time. For Miki, while still muzzled, now followed +at the end of the babiche that was tied to Henri's sledge. In the +afternoon of the third day after leaving Nanette Le Beau's cabin +Durant turned off the main-travelled trail until he came to the +shack of Andre Ribon, who kept the Factor and his people at the +Post supplied with fresh meat. Andre, who was becoming over- +anxious at Durant's delay, was still waiting when his friend came. +It was here that Henri's Indian had left his fighting dog, the big +husky. And here he left Miki, locked in Andre's shack. Then the +two men went on to the Post which was only a mile away. + +Neither he nor Ribon returned that night. The cabin was empty. And +with the beginning of dusk Miki began to hear weird and strange +sounds which grew louder as darkness settled deeper. It was the +sound of the carnival at the Post--the distant tumult of human +voice mingled with the howling of a hundred dogs. He had never +heard anything like it before, and for a long time he listened +without moving. Then he stood up like a man before the window with +this fore-paws resting against the heavy sash. Ribon's cabin was +at the crest of a knoll that over-looked the frozen lake, and far +off, over the tops of the scrub timber that fringed the edge of +it, Miki saw the red glow in the sky made by a score of great camp +fires. He whined, and dropped on his four feet again. It was a +long wait between that and another day. But the cabin was more +comfortable than Le Beau's prison-cage had been. All through the +night his restless slumber was filled with visions of Nanette and +the baby. + +Durant and Ribon did not return until nearly noon the next day. +They brought with them fresh meat, of which Miki ate ravenously, +for he was hungry. In an unresponsive way he tolerated the +advances of these two. A second night he was left alone in the +cabin. When Durant and Ribon came back again in the early dawn +they brought with them a cage four feet square made of small birch +saplings. The open door of this cage they drew close to the door +of the cabin, and by means of a chunk of fresh meat Miki was +induced to enter through it. Instantly the trap fell, and he was a +prisoner. The cage was already fastened on a wide toboggan, and +scarcely was the sun up when Miki was on his way to Fort O' God. + +This was the big day at the carnival--the day of the caribou-roast +and the fight. For many minutes before they came in sight of Fort +O' God Miki heard the growing sound. It amazed him, and he stood +up on his feet in his cage, rigid and alert, utterly unconscious +of the men who were pulling him. He was looking ahead of them, and +Durant chuckled exultantly as they heard him growl, and his teeth +click. + +"Oui, he will fight! He would fight NOW," he chuckled. + +They were following the shore of a lake. Suddenly they came around +the end of a point, and all of Fort O' God lay on the rising shelf +of the shore ahead of them. The growl died in Miki's throat. His +teeth shut with a last click. For an instant his heart seemed to +grow dead and still. Until this moment his world had held only +half a dozen human beings. Now, so suddenly that he had no flash +of warning, he saw a hundred of them, two hundred, three hundred. +At sight of Durant and the cage a swarm of them began running down +to the shore. And everywhere there were wolves, so many of them +that his senses grew dazed as he stared. His cage was the centre +of a clamouring, gesticulating horde of men and boys as it was +dragged up the slope. Women began joining the crowd, many of them +with small children in their arms. Then his journey came to an +end. He was close to another cage, and in that cage was a beast +like himself. Beside this cage there stood a tall, swarthy, +shaggy-headed halfbreed who looked like a pirate. The man was +Grouse Piet, Durant's rival. + +A contemptuous leer was on his thick-lipped face as he looked at +Miki. He turned, and to the group of dark-faced Indians and breeds +about him he said something that roused a guttural laugh. + +Durant's face flamed red. + +"Laugh, you heathen," he challenged, "but don't forget that Henri +Durant is here to take your bets!" Then he shook the two cross and +ten red foxes in the face of Grouse Piet. + +"Cover them, Grouse Piet," he cried. "And I have ten times more +where they came from!" + +With his muzzle lifted, Miki was sniffing the air. It was filled +with strange scents, heavy with the odours of men, of dogs, and of +the five huge caribou roasting on their spits fifteen feet over +the big fires that were built under them. For ten hours those +caribou would roast, turning slowly on spits as thick as a man's +leg. The fight was to come before the feast. + +For an hour the clatter and tumult of voices hovered about the two +cages. Men appraised the fighters and made their bets, and Grouse +Piet and Henri Durant made their throats hoarse flinging banter +and contempt at each other. At the end of the hour the crowd began +to thin out. In the place of men and women half a hundred dark- +visaged little children crowded about the cages. It was not until +then that Miki caught glimpses of the hordes of beasts fastened in +ones and twos and groups in the edge of the clearing. His nostrils +had at last caught the distinction. They were not wolves. They +were like himself. + +It was a long time before his eyes rested steadily on the wolf-dog +in the other cage. He went to the edge of his bars and sniffed. +The wolf-dog thrust his gaunt muzzle toward him. He made Miki +think of the huge wolf he had fought one day on the edge of the +cliff, and instinctively he showed his fangs, and snarled. The +wolf-dog snarled back. Henri Durant rubbed his hands exultantly, +and Grouse Piet laughed softly. + +"Oui; they will FIGHT!" said Henri again. + +"Ze wolf, he will fight, oui," said Grouse Piet. "But your dog, +m'sieu, he be vair seek, lak a puppy, w'en ze fight come!" + +A little later Miki saw a white man standing close to his cage. It +was MacDonnell, the Scotch factor. He gazed at Miki and the wolf- +dog with troubled eyes. Ten minutes later, in the little room +which he had made his office, he was saying to a younger man: + +"I'd like to stop it, but I can't. They wouldn't stand for it. It +would lose us half a season's catch of fur. There's been a fight +like this at Fort O' God for the last fifty years, and I don't +suppose, after all, that it's any worse than one of the prize +fights down there. Only, in this case--" + +"They kill," said the younger man. + +"Yes, that's it. Usually one of the dogs dies." + +The younger man knocked the ash out of his pipe. + +"I love dogs," he said, simply. "There'll never be a fight at my +post, Mac--unless it's between men. And I'm not going to see this +fight, because I'm afraid I'd kill some one if I did." + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY + + +It was two o'clock in the afternoon. The caribou were roasting +brown. In two more hours the feast would begin. The hour of the +fight was at hand. + +In the centre of the clearing three hundred men, women, and +children were gathered in a close circle about a sapling cage ten +feet square. Close to this cage, one at each side, were drawn the +two smaller cages. Beside one of these cages stood Henri Durant; +beside the other, Grouse Piet. They were not bantering now. Their +faces were hard and set. And three hundred pairs of eyes were +staring at them, and three hundred pairs of ears waiting for the +thrilling signal. + +It came--from Grouse Piet. + +With a swift movement Durant pulled up the door of Miki's cage. +Then, suddenly, he prodded him from behind with a crotched stick, +and with a single leap Miki was in the big cage. Almost at the +same instant the wolf-dog leapt from Grouse Piet's cage, and the +two faced each other in the arena. + +With the next breath he drew Durant could have groaned. What +happened in the following half minute was a matter of environment +with Miki. In the forest the wolf-dog would have interested him to +the exclusion of everything else, and he would have looked upon +him as another Netah or a wild wolf. But in his present +surroundings the idea of fighting was the last to possess him. He +was fascinated by that grim and waiting circle of faces closing in +the big cage; he scrutinized it, turning his head sharply from +point to point, as if hoping to see Nanette and the baby, or even +Challoner his first master. To the wolf-dog Grouse Piet had given +the name of Taao, because of the extraordinary length of his +fangs; and of Taao, to Durant's growing horror, Miki was utterly +oblivious after that first head-on glance. He trotted to the edge +of the cage and thrust his nose between the bars, and a taunting +laugh rose out of Grouse Piet's throat. Then he began making a +circle of the cage, his sharp eyes on the silent ring of faces. +Taao stood in the centre of the cage, and not once did his reddish +eyes leave Miki. What was outside of the cage held small interest +for him. He understood his business, and murder was bred in his +heart. For a space during which Durant's heart beat like a hammer +Taao turned, as if on a pivot, following Miki's movement, and the +crest on his spine stood up like bristles. + +Then Miki stopped, and in that moment Durant saw the end of all +his hopes. Without a sound the wolf-dog was at his opponent. A +bellow rose from Grouse Piet's lips. A deep breath passed through +the circle of spectators, and Durant felt a cold chill run up his +back to the roots of his hair. What happened in the next instant +made men's hearts stand still. In that first rush Miki should have +died. Grouse Piet expected him to die, and Durant expected him to +die. But in the last fractional bit of the second in which the +wolf-dog's jaws closed, Miki was transformed into a thing of +living lightning. No man had ever seen a movement swifter than +that with which he turned on Taao. Their jaws clashed. There was a +sickening grinding of bone, and in another moment they were +rolling and twisting together on the earth floor. Neither Grouse +Piet nor Durant could see what was happening. They forgot even +their own bets in the horror of that fight. Never had there been +such a fight at Fort O' God. + +The sound of it reached to the Company's store. In the door, +looking toward the big cage, stood the young white man. He heard +the snarling, the clashing of teeth, and his jaws set heavily and +a dull flame burned in his eyes. His breath came in a sudden gasp. + +"DAMN!" he cried, softly. + +His hands clenched, and he stepped slowly down from the door and +went toward the cage. It was over when he made his way through the +ring of spectators. The fight had ended as suddenly as it had +begun, and Grouse Piet's wolf-dog lay in the centre of the cage +with a severed jugular. Miki looked as though he might be dying. +Durant had opened the door and had slipped a rope over his head, +and outside the cage Miki stood swaying on his feet, red with +blood, and half blind. His flesh was red and bleeding in a dozen +places, and a stream of blood trickled from his mouth. A cry of +horror rose to the young white man's lips as he looked down at +him. + +And then, almost in the same breath, there came a still stranger +cry. + +"Good God! Miki--Miki--Miki--" + +Beating upon his brain as if from a vast distance, coming to him +through the blindness of his wounds, Miki heard that voice. + +The VOICE! THE voice that had lived with him in all his dreams, +the voice he had waited for, and searched for, and knew that some +day he would find. The voice of Challoner, his master! + +He dropped on his belly, whining, trying to see through the film +of blood in his eyes; and lying there, wounded almost unto death, +his tail thumped the ground in recognition. And then, to the +amazement of all who beheld, Challoner was down upon his knees +beside him, and his arms were about him, and Miki's lacerated +tongue was reaching for his hands, his face, his clothes. + +"Miki--Miki--Miki!" + +Durant's hand fell heavily upon Challoner's shoulder. + +It was like the touch of a red-hot iron to Challoner. In a flash +he was on his feet, facing him. + +"He's mine," Challoner cried, trying to hold back his passion. +"He's mine you--you devil!" + +And then, powerless to hold back his desire for vengeance, his +clenched fist swung like a rock to Durant's heavy jaw, and the +Frenchman went to the ground. For a moment Challoner stood over +him, but he did not move. Fiercely he turned upon Grouse Piet and +the crowd. Miki was cringing at his feet again. Pointing to him, +Challoner cried loudly, so all could hear. + +"He's my dog. Where this beast got him I don't know. But he's +mine. Look for yourselves! See--see him lick my hand. Would he do +that for HIM? And look at that ear. There's no other ear in all +the north cut like that. I lost him almost a year ago, but I'd +know him among ten thousand by that ear. By God!--if I had known-- +-" + +He elbowed his way through the breeds and Indians, leading Miki by +the rope Durant had slipped over the dog's head. He went to +MacDonnell, and told him what had happened. He told of the +preceding spring, and of the accident in which Miki and the bear +cub were lost from his canoe and swept over the waterfall. After +registering his claim against whatever Durant might have to say he +went to the shack in which he was staying at Fort 0' God. + +An hour later Challoner sat with Miki's big head between his two +hands, and talked to him. He had bathed and dressed his wounds, +and Miki could see. His eyes were on his master's face, and his +hard tail thumped the floor. Both were oblivious of the sounds of +the revellers outside; the cries of men, the shouting of boys, the +laughter of women, and the incessant barking of dogs. In +Challoner's eyes there was a soft glow. + +"Miki, old boy, you haven't forgotten a thing--not a dam' thing, +have you? You were nothing but an onery-legged pup then, but you +didn't forget! Remember what I told you, that I was going to take +you and the cub down to the Girl? Do you remember? The Girl I said +was an angel, and 'd love you to death, and all that? Well, I'm +glad something happened--and you didn't go. It wasn't the same +when I got back, an' SHE wasn't the same, Miki. Lord, she'd got +married, AND HAD TWO KIDS! Think of that, old scout--TWO! How the +deuce could she have taken care of you and the cub, eh? And +nothing else was the same, Boy. Three years in God's Country--up +here where you burst your lungs just for the fun of drinking in +air--changed me a lot, I guess. Inside a week I wanted to come +back, Miki. Yessir, I was SICK to come back. So I came. And we're +going to stick now, Miki. You're going with me up to that new Post +the Company has given me. From now on we're pals. Understand, old +scout, we're PALS!" + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE + + +It was late the night of the big feast at Post Fort O' God that +MacDonnell, the factor, sent for Challoner. Challoner was +preparing for bed when an Indian boy pounded on the door of his +shack and a moment later gave him the message. He looked at his +watch. It was eleven o'clock. What could the Factor want of him at +that hour, he wondered? Flat on his belly near the warm box stove +Miki watched his new-found master speculatively as he pulled on +his boots. His eyes were wide open now. Challoner had washed from +him the blood of the terrific fight of that afternoon. + +"Something to do with that devil of a Durant," growled Challoner, +looking at the battle-scarred dog. "Well, if he hopes to get YOU +again, Miki, he's barking up the wrong tree. You're MINE!" + +Miki thumped his hard tail on the floor and wriggled toward his +master in mute adoration. Together they went out into the night. + +It was a night of white moonlight and a multitude of stars. The +four great fires over which the caribou had roasted for the savage +barbecue that day were still burning brightly. In the edge of the +forest that ringed in the Post were the smouldering embers of a +score of smaller fires. Back of these fires were faintly outlined +the gray shadows of teepees and tents. In these shelters the three +hundred halfbreeds and Indians who had come in from the forest +trails to the New Year carnival at the Post were sleeping. Only +here and there was there a movement of life. Even the dogs were +quiet after the earlier hours of excitement and gluttony. + +Past the big fires, with their huge spits still standing, +Challoner passed toward the Factor's quarters. Miki sniffed at the +freshly picked bones. Beyond these bones there was no sign of the +two thousand pounds of flesh that had roasted that day on the +spits. Men, women, children, and dogs had stuffed themselves until +there was nothing left. It was the silence of Mutai--the "belly +god"--the god who eats himself to sleep each night--that hovered +strangely over this Post of Fort O' God, three hundred miles from +civilization. + +There was a light in the Factor's room, and Challoner entered with +Miki at his heels. MacDonnell, the Scotchman, was puffing moodily +on his pipe. There was a worried look in his ruddy face as the +younger man seated himself, and his eyes were on Miki. + +"Durant has been here," he said. "He's ugly. I'm afraid of +trouble. If you hadn't struck him--" + +Challoner shrugged his shoulders as he filled his own pipe from +the Factor's tobacco. + +"You see--you don't just understand the situation at Fort 0' God," +went on MacDonnell. "There's been a big dog fight here at New Year +for the last fifty years. It's become a part of history, a part of +Fort O' God itself, and that's why in my own fifteen years here I +haven't tried to stop it. I believe it would bring on a sort of-- +revolution. I'd wager a half of my people would go to another post +with their furs. That's why all the sympathy seems to be with +Durant. Even Grouse Piet, his rival, tells him he's a fool to let +you get away with him that way. Durant says that dog is HIS." + +MacDonnell nodded at Miki, lying at Challoner's feet. + +"Then he lies," said Challoner quietly. + +"He says he bought him of Jacques Le Beau." + +"Then Le Beau sold a dog that didn't belong to him." + +For a moment MacDonnell was silent. Then he said: + +"But that wasn't what I had you come over for, Challoner. Durant +told me something that froze my blood to-night. Your outfit starts +for your post up in the Reindeer Lake county to-morrow, doesn't +it?" + +"In the morning." + +"Then could you, with one of my Indians and a team, arrange to +swing around by way of the Jackson's Knee? You'd lose a week, but +you could overtake your outfit before it reached the Reindeer--and +it would be a mighty big favour to me. There's a--a HELL of a +thing happened over there." + +Again he looked at Miki. + +"GAWD!" he breathed. + +Challoner waited. He thought he saw a shudder pass through the +Factor's shoulders. + +"I'd go myself--I ought to, but this frosted lung of mine has made +me sit tight this winter, Challoner. I OUGHT to go. Why--(a sudden +glow shot into his eyes)--I knew this Nanette Le Beau when she was +SO HIGH, fifteen years ago. I watched her grow up, Challoner. If I +hadn't been married--then--I'd have fallen in love with her. Do +you know her, Challoner? Did you ever see Nanette Le Beau?" + +Challoner shook his head. + +"An angel--if God ever made one," declared MacDonnell through his +red beard. "She lived over beyond the Jackson's Knee with her +father. And he died, froze to death crossing Red Eye Lake one +night. I've always thought Jacques Le Beau MADE her marry him +after that. Or else she didn't know, or was crazed, or frightened +at being alone. Anyway, she married him. It was five years ago I +saw her last. Now and then I've heard things, but I didn't +believe--not all of them. I didn't believe that Le Beau beat her, +and knocked her down when he wanted to. I didn't believe he +dragged her through the snow by her hair one day until she was +nearly dead. They were just rumours, and he was seventy miles +away. But I believe them now. Durant came from their place, and I +guess he told me a whole lot of the truth--to save that dog." + +Again he looked at Miki. + +"You see, Durant tells me that Le Beau caught the dog in one of +his traps, took him to his cabin, and tortured him into shape for +the big fight. When Durant came he was so taken with the dog that +he bought him, and it was while Le Beau was driving the dog mad in +his cage to show his temper that Nanette interfered. Le Beau +knocked her down, and then jumped on her and was pulling her hair +and choking her when the dog went for him and killed him. That's +the story. Durant told me the truth through fear that I'd have the +dog shot if he was an out-and-out murderer. And that's why I want +you to go by way of the Jackson's Knee. I want you to investigate, +and I want you to do what you can for Nanette Le Beau. My Indian +will bring her back to Port O' God." + +With Scotch stoicism MacDonnell had repressed whatever excitement +he may have felt. He spoke quietly. But the curious shudder went +through his shoulders again. Challoner stared at him in blank +amazement. + +"You mean to say that Miki--this dog--has killed a man?" + +"Yes. He killed him, Durant says, just as he killed Grouse Piet's +wolf-dog in the big fight to-day. UGH!" As Challoner's eyes fell +slowly upon Miki, the Factor added: "But Grouse Piet's dog was +better than the man. If what I hear about Le Beau was true he's +better dead than alive. Challoner, if you didn't think it too much +trouble, and could go that way--and see Nanette--" + +"I'll go," said Challoner, dropping a hand to Miki's head. + +For half an hour after that MacDonnell told him the things he knew +about Nanette Le Beau. When Challoner rose to go the Factor +followed him to the door. + +"Keep your eyes open for Durant," he warned. "That dog is worth +more to him than all his winnings to-day, and they say his stakes +were big. He won heavily from Grouse Piet, but the halfbreed is +thick with him now. I know it. So watch out." + +Out in the open space, in the light of the moon and stars, +Challoner stood far a moment with Miki's forepaws resting against +his breast. The dog's head was almost on a level with his +shoulders. + +"D'ye remember when you fell out of the canoe, Boy?" he asked +softly. "Remember how you 'n' the cub were tied in the bow, an' +you got to scrapping and fell overboard just above the rapids? +Remember? By Jove! those rapids pretty near got ME, too. I thought +you were dead, sure--both of you. I wonder what happened to the +cub?" + +Miki whined in response, and his whole body trembled. + +"And since then you've killed a man," added Challoner, as if he +still could not quite believe. "And I'm to take you back to the +woman. That's the funny thing about it. You're going back to HER, +and if she says kill you--" + +He dropped Miki's forefeet and went on to the cabin. At the +threshold a low growl rose in Miki's throat. Challoner laughed, +and opened the door. They went in, and the dog's growl was a +menacing snarl. Challoner had left his lamp burning low, and in +the light of it he saw Henri Durant and Grouse Piet waiting for +him. He turned up the wick, and nodded. + +"Good evening. Pretty late for a call, isn't it?" + +Grouse Piet's stolid face did not change its expression. It struck +Challoner, as he glanced at him, that in head and shoulders he +bore a grotesque resemblance to a walrus. Durant's eyes were dully +ablaze. His face was swollen where Challoner had struck him. Miki, +stiffened to the hardness of a knot, and still snarling under his +breath, had crawled under Challoner's bunk. Durant pointed to him. + +"We've come after that dog," he said. + +"You can't have him, Durant," replied Challoner, trying hard to +make himself appear at ease in a situation that sent a chill up +his back. As he spoke he was making up his mind why Grouse Piet +had come with Durant. They were giants, both of them: more than +that--monsters. Instinctively he had faced them with the small +table between them. "I'm sorry I lost my temper out there," he +continued. "I shouldn't have struck you, Durant. It wasn't your +fault--and I apologize. But the dog is mine. I lost him over in +the Jackson's Knee country, and if Jacques Le Beau caught him in a +trap, and sold him to you, he sold a dog that didn't belong to +him. I'm willing to pay you back what you gave for him, just to be +fair. How much was it?" + +Grouse Piet had risen to his feet. Durant came to the opposite +edge of the table, and leaned over it. Challoner wondered how a +single blow had knocked him down. + +"Non, he is not for sale." Durant's voice was low; so low that it +seemed to choke him to get it out. It was filled with a repressed +hatred. Challoner saw the great cords of his knotted hands bulging +under the skin as he gripped the edge of the table. "M'sieu, we +have come for that dog. Will you let us take him?" + +"I will pay you back what you gave for him, Durant. I will add to +the price." + +"Non. He is mine. Will you give him back--NOW?" + +"No!" + +Scarcely was the word out of his mouth when Durant flung his whole +weight and strength against the table. Challoner had not expected +the move--just yet. With a bellow of rage and hatred Durant was +upon him, and under the weight of the giant he crashed to the +floor. With them went the table and lamp. There was a vivid +splutter of flame and the cabin was in darkness, except where the +moon-light flooded through the one window. Challoner had looked +for something different. He had expected Durant to threaten before +he acted, and, sizing up the two of them, he had decided to reach +the edge of his bunk during the discussion. Under the pillow was +his revolver. It was too late now. Durant was on him, fumbling in +the darkness for his throat, and as he flung one arm upward to get +a hook around the Frenchman's neck he heard Grouse Piet throw the +table back. The next instant they were rolling in the moonlight on +the floor, and Challoner caught a glimpse of Grouse Piet's huge +bulk bending over them. Durant's head was twisted under his arm, +but one of the giant's hands had reached his throat. The halfbreed +saw this, and he cried out something in a guttural voice. With a +tremendous effort Challoner rolled himself and his adversary out +of the patch of light into darkness again. Durant's thick neck +cracked. Again Grouse Piet called out in that guttural, +questioning voice. Challoner put every ounce of his energy into +the crook of his arm, and Durant did not answer. + +Then the weight of Grouse Piet fell upon them, and his great hands +groped for Challoner's neck. His thick fingers found Durant's +beard first, then fumbled for Challoner, and got their hold. Ten +seconds of their terrific grip would have broken his neck. But the +fingers never closed. A savage cry of agony burst from Grouse +Piet's lips, and with that cry, ending almost in a scream, came +the snap of great jaws and the rending snarl of fangs in the +darkness. Durant heard, and with a great heave of his massive body +he broke free from Challoner's grip, and leapt to his feet. In a +flash Challoner was at his bunk, facing his enemies with the +revolver in his hand. + +Everything had happened quickly. Scarcely more than a minute had +passed since the overturning of the table, and now, in the moment +when the situation had turned in his favour, a sudden swift and +sickening horror seized upon Challoner. Bloody and terrible there +rose before him the one scene he had witnessed that day in the big +cage where Miki and the wolf-dog had fought. And there--in that +darkness of the cabin-- + +He heard a moaning cry and the crash of a body to the floor. + +"Miki, Miki," he cried. "Here! Here!" + +He dropped his revolver and sprang to the door, flinging it wide +open. + +"For God's sake get out!" he cried. "GET OUT!" + +A bulk dashed past him into the night. He knew it was Durant. Then +he leapt to the dark shadows on the floor and dug his two hands +into the loose hide at the back of Miki's neck, dragging him back, +and shouting his name. He saw Grouse Piet crawling toward the +door. He saw him rise to his feet, silhouetted for a moment +against the starlight, and stagger out into the night. And then he +felt Miki's weight slinking down to the floor, and under his hands +the dog's muscles grew limp and saggy. For two or three minutes he +continued to kneel beside him before he closed the cabin door and +lighted another lamp. He set up the overturned table and placed +the lamp on it. Miki had not moved. He lay flat on his belly, his +head between his forepaws, looking up at Challoner with a mute +appeal in his eyes. + +Challoner reached out his two arms. + +"Miki!" + +In an instant Miki was up against him, his forefeet against his +breast, and with his arms about the dog's shoulders Challoner's +eyes took in the floor. On it were wet splashes and bits of torn +clothing. + +His arms closed more tightly. + +"Miki, old boy, I'm much obliged," he said. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO + + +The next morning Challoner's outfit of three teams and four men +left north and west for the Reindeer Lake country on the journey +to his new post at the mouth of the Cochrane. An hour later +Challoner struck due west with a light sledge and a five-dog team +for the Jackson's Knee. Behind him followed one of MacDonnell's +Indians with the team that was to bring Nanette to Fort O' God. + +He saw nothing more of Durant and Grouse Piet, and accepted +MacDonnell's explanation that they had undoubtedly left the Post +shortly after their assault upon him in the cabin. No doubt their +disappearance had been hastened by the fact that a patrol of the +Royal Northwest Mounted Police on its way to York Factory was +expected at Fort O' God that day. + +Not until the final moment of departure was Miki brought from the +cabin and tied to the gee-bar of Challoner's sledge. When he saw +the five dogs squatted on their haunches he grew rigid and the old +snarl rose in his throat. Under Challoner's quieting words he +quickly came to understand that these beasts were not enemies, and +from a rather suspicious toleration of them he very soon began to +take a new sort of interest in them. It was a friendly team, bred +in the south and without the wolf strain. + +Events had come to pass so swiftly and so vividly in Miki's life +during the past twenty-four hours that for many miles after they +left Fort O' God his senses were in an unsettled state of +anticipation. His brain was filled with a jumble of strange and +thrilling pictures. Very far away, and almost indistinct, were the +pictures of things that had happened before he was made a prisoner +by Jacques Le Beau. Even the memory of Neewa was fading under the +thrill of events at Nanette's cabin and at Fort O' God. The +pictures that blazed their way across his brain now were of men, +and dogs, and many other things that he had never seen before. His +world had suddenly transformed itself into a host of Henri Durants +and Grouse Piets and Jacques Le Beaus, two-legged beasts who had +clubbed him, and half killed him, and who had made him fight to +keep the life in his body. He had tasted their blood in his +vengeance. And he watched for them now. The pictures told him they +were everywhere. He could imagine them as countless as the wolves, +and as he had seen them crowded round the big cage in which he had +slain the wolf-dog. + +In all of this excited and distorted world there was only one +Challoner, and one Nanette, and one baby. All else was a chaos of +uncertainty and of dark menace. Twice when the Indian came up +close behind them Miki whirled about with a savage snarl. +Challoner watched him, and understood. + +Of the pictures in his brain one stood out above all others, +definite and unclouded, and that was the picture of Nanette. Yes, +even above Challoner himself. There lived in him the consciousness +of her gentle hands; her sweet, soft voice; the perfume of her +hair and clothes and body--the WOMAN of her; and a part of the +woman--as the hand is a part of the body--was the baby. It was +this part of Miki that Challoner could not understand, and which +puzzled him when they made camp that night. He sat for a long time +beside the fire trying to bring back the old comradeship of the +days of Miki's puppyhood. But he only partly succeeded. Miki was +restive. Every nerve in his body seemed on edge. Again and again +he faced the west, and always when he sniffed the air in that +direction there came a low whine in his throat. + +That night, with doubt in his heart, Challoner fastened him near +the tent with a tough rope of babiche. + +For a long time after Challoner had gone to bed Miki sat on his +haunches close to the spruce to which he was fastened. It must +have been ten o'clock, and the night was so still that the snap of +a dying ember in the fire was like the crack of a whip to his +ears. Miki's eyes were wide open and alert. Near the slowly +burning logs, wrapped in his thick blankets, he could make out the +motionless form of the Indian, asleep. Back of him the sledge-dogs +had wallowed their beds in the snow and were silent. The moon was +almost straight overhead, and a mile or two away a wolf pointed +his muzzle to the radiant glow of it and howled. The sound, like a +distant calling voice, added new fire to the growing thrill in +Miki's blood. He turned in the direction of the wailing voice. He +wanted to call back. He wanted to throw up his head and cry out to +the forests, and the moon, and the starlit sky. But only his jaws +clicked, and he looked at the tent in which Challoner was +sleeping. He dropped down upon his belly in the snow. But his head +was still alert and listening. The moon had already begun its +westward decline. The fire burned out until the logs were only a +dull and slumbering glow; the hand of Challoner's watch passed +midnight, and still Miki was wide-eyed and restless in the thrill +of the thing that was upon him. And then at last The Call that was +coming to him from out of the night became his master, and he +gnawed the babiche in two. It was the call of the Woman--of +Nanette and the baby. + +In his freedom Miki sniffed at the edge of Challoner's tent. His +back sagged. His tail drooped. He knew that in this hour he was +betraying the master for whom he had waited so long, and who had +lived so vividly in his dreams. It was not reasoning, but an +instinctive oppression of fact. He would come back. That +conviction burned dully in his brain. But now--to-night--he must +go. He slunk off into the darkness. With the stealth of a fox he +made his way between the sleeping dogs. Not until he was a quarter +of a mile from the camp did he straighten out, and then a gray and +fleeting shadow he sped westward under the light of the moon. + +There was no hesitation in the manner of his going. Free of the +pain of his wounds, strong-limbed, deep-lunged as the strongest +wolf of the forests, he went on tirelessly. Rabbits bobbing out of +his path did not make him pause; even the strong scent of a +fisher-cat almost under his nose did not swerve him a foot from +his trail. Through swamp and deep forest, over lake and stream, +across open barren and charred burns his unerring sense of +orientation led him on. Once he stopped to drink where the swift +current of a creek kept the water open. Even then he gulped in +haste--and shot on. The moon drifted lower and lower until it sank +into oblivion. The stars began to fade away The little ones went +out, and the big ones grew sleepy and dull. A great snow-ghostly +gloom settled over the forest world. + +In the six hours between midnight and dawn he covered thirty-five +miles. + +And then he stopped. Dropping on his belly beside a rock at the +crest of a ridge he watched the birth of day. With drooling jaws +and panting breath he rested, until at last the dull gold of the +winter sun began to paint the eastern sky. And then came the first +bars of vivid sunlight, shooting over the eastern ramparts as guns +flash from behind their battlements, and Miki rose to his feet and +surveyed the morning wonder of his world. Behind him was Fort O' +God, fifty miles away; ahead of him the cabin--twenty. It was the +cabin he faced as he went down from the ridge. + +As the miles between him and the cabin grew fewer and fewer he +felt again something of the oppression that had borne upon him at +Challoner's tent. And yet it was different. He had run his race. +He had answered The Call. And now, at the end, he was seized by a +fear of what his welcome would be. For at the cabin he had killed +a man--and the man had belonged to the woman. His progress became +more hesitating. Mid-forenoon found him only half a mile from the +home of Nanette and the baby. His keen nostrils caught the faint +tang of smoke in the air. He did not follow it up, but circled +like a wolf, coming up stealthily and uncertainly until at last he +looked out into the little clearing where a new world had come +into existence for him. He saw the sapling cage in which Jacques +Le Beau had kept him a prisoner; the door of that cage was still +open, as Durant had left it after stealing him; he saw the +ploughed-up snow where he had leapt upon the man-brute--and he +whined. + +He was facing the cabin door--and the door was wide open. He could +see no life, but he could SMELL it. And smoke was rising from the +chimney. He slunk across the open. In the manner of his going +there was an abject humiliation--a plea for mercy if he had done +wrong, a prayer to the creatures he worshipped that he might not +be driven away. + +He came to the door, and peered in. The room was empty. Nanette +was not there. Then his ears shot forward and his body grew +suddenly tense, and he listened, listened, LISTENED to a soft, +cooing sound that was coming from the crib. He swallowed hard; the +faintest whine rose in his throat and his claws CLICKED, CLICKED, +CLICKED, across the floor and he thrust his great head over the +side of the little bed. The baby was there. With his warm tongue +he kissed it--just once--and then, with another deep breath, lay +down on the floor. + +He heard footsteps. Nanette came in with her arms filled with +blankets; she carried these into the smaller room, and returned, +before she saw him. For a moment she stared. Then, with a strange +little cry, she ran to him; and once more he felt her arms about +him; and he cried like a puppy with his muzzle against her breast, +and Nanette laughed and sobbed, and in the crib the baby kicked +and squealed and thrust her tiny moccasined feet up into the air. + +"Ao-oo tap-wa-mukun" ("When the devil goes heaven comes in,") say +the Crees. And with the death of Le Beau, her husband, the devil +had gone out of life for Nanette. She was more beautiful than +ever. Heaven was in the dark, pure glow of her eyes. She was no +longer like a dog under the club and the whip of a brute, and in +the re-birth of her soul she was glorious. Youth had come back to +her--freed from the yoke of oppression. She was happy. Happy with +her baby, with freedom, with the sun and the stars shining for her +again; and with new hope, the greatest star of all. Again on the +night of that first day of his return Miki crept up to her when +she was brushing her glorious hair. He loved to put his muzzle in +it; he loved the sweet scent of it; he loved to put his head on +her knees and feel it smothering him. And Nanette hugged him +tight, even as she hugged the baby, for it was Miki who had +brought her freedom, and hope, and life. What had passed was no +longer a tragedy. It was justice. God had sent Miki to do for her +what a father or a brother would have done. + +And the second night after that, when Challoner came early in the +darkness, it happened that Nanette had her hair down in that same +way; and Challoner, seeing her thus, with the lampglow shining in +her eyes, felt that the world had taken a sudden swift turn under +his feet--that through all his years he had been working forward +to this hour. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE + + +With the coming of Challoner to the cabin of Nanette Le Beau there +was no longer a shadow of gloom in the world for Miki. He did not +reason out the wonder of it, nor did he have a foreboding for the +future. It was the present in which he lived--the precious hours +in which all the creatures he had ever loved were together. And +yet, away back in his memory of those things that had grown deep +in his soul, was the picture of Neewa, the bear; Neewa, his chum, +his brother, his fighting comrade of many battles, and he thought +of the cold and snow-smothered cavern at the top of the ridge in +which Neewa had buried himself in that long and mysterious sleep +that was so much like death. But it was in the present that he +lived. The hours lengthened themselves out into days, and still +Challoner did not go, nor did Nanette leave with the Indian for +Fort O' God. The Indian returned with a note for MacDonnell in +which Challoner told the Factor that something was the matter with +the baby's lungs, and that she could not travel until the weather, +which was intensely cold, grew warmer. He asked that the Indian be +sent back with certain supplies. + +In spite of the terrific cold which followed the birth of the new +year Challoner had put up his tent in the edge of the timber a +hundred yards from the cabin, and Miki divided his time between +the cabin and the tent. For him they were glorious days. And for +Challoner-- + +In a way Miki saw, though it was impossible for him to comprehend. +As the days lengthened into a week, and the week into two, there +was something in the glow of Nanette's eyes that had never been +there before, and in the sweetness of her voice a new thrill, and +in her prayers at night the thankfulness of a new and great joy. + +And then, one day, Miki looked up from where he was lying beside +the baby's crib and he saw Nanette in his master's arms, her face +turned up to him, her eyes filled with the glory of the stars, and +Challoner was saying something which transformed her face into the +face of an angel. Miki was puzzled. And he was more puzzled when +Challoner came from Nanette to the crib, and snuggled the baby up +in his arms; and the woman--looking at them both for a moment with +that wonderful look in her eyes--suddenly covered her face with +her hands and sobbed. Half a snarl rose in Miki's throat, but in +that moment Challoner had put his arm around Nanette too, and +Nanette's arms were about him and the baby, and she was sobbing +something which for the life of him Miki could make neither head +nor tail of. And yet he knew that he must not snarl or spring. He +felt the wonder-thrill of the new thing that had come into the +cabin; he gulped hard, and looked. A moment or two later Nanette +was on her knees beside him, and her arms were around him, just as +they had been around the man. And Challoner was dancing like a +boy--cooing to the baby in his arms. Then he, too, dropped down +beside Miki, and cried: + +"My Gawd! Miki--I'VE GOT A FAM'LY!" + +And Miki tried to understand. + +That night, after supper, he saw Challoner unbraid Nanette's +glorious hair, and brush it. They laughed like two happy children. +Miki tried still harder to understand. + +When Challoner went to go to his tent in the edge of the forest he +took Nanette in his arms, and kissed her, and stroked her shining +hair; and Nanette took his face between her hands and smiled and +almost cried in her joy. + +After that Miki DID understand. He knew that happiness had come to +all who were in that cabin. + +Now that his world was settled, Miki took once more to hunting. +The thrill of the trail came back to him, and wider and wider grew +his range from the cabin. Again he followed Le Beau's old +trapline. But the traps were sprung now. He had lost a great deal +of his old caution. He had grown fatter. He no longer scented +danger in every whiff of the wind. It was in the third week of +Challoner's stay at the cabin, the day which marked the end of the +cold spell and the beginning of warm weather, that Miki came upon +an old dead-fall in a swamp a full ten miles from the clearing. Le +Beau had set it for lynx, but nothing had touched the bait, which +was a chunk of caribou flesh, frozen solid as a rock. Curiously +Miki began smelling of it. He no longer feared danger. Menace had +gone out of his world. He nibbled. He pulled--and the log crashed +down to break his back. Only by a little did it fail. For twenty- +four hours it held him helpless and crippled. Then, fighting +through all those hours, he dragged himself out from under it. +With the rising temperature a soft snow had fallen, covering all +tracks and trails. Through this snow Miki dragged himself, leaving +a path like that of an otter in the mud, for his hind quarters +were helpless. His back was not broken; it was temporarily +paralyzed by the blow and the weight of the log. + +He made in the direction of the cabin, but every foot that he +dragged himself was filled with agony, and his progress was so +slow that at the end of an hour he had not gone more than a +quarter of a mile. Another night found him less than two miles +from the deadfall. He pulled himself under a shelter of brush and +lay there until dawn. All through that day he did not move. The +next, which was the fourth since he had left the cabin to hunt, +the pain in his back was not so great. But he could pull himself +through the snow only a few yards at a time. Again the good spirit +of the forests favoured him for in the afternoon he came upon the +partly eaten carcass of a buck killed by the wolves. The flesh was +frozen but he gnawed at it ravenously. Then he found himself a +shelter under a mass of fallen tree-tops, and for ten days +thereafter he lay between life and death. He would have died had +it not been for the buck. To the carcass he managed to drag +himself, sometimes each day and sometimes every other day, and +kept himself from starving. It was the end of the second week +before he could stand well on his feet. The fifteenth day he +returned to the cabin. + +In the edge of the clearing there fell upon him slowly a +foreboding of great change. The cabin was there. It was no +different than it had been fifteen days ago. But out of the +chimney there came no smoke, and the windows were white with +frost. About it the snow lay clean and white, like an unspotted +sheet. He made his way hesitatingly across the clearing to the +door. There were no tracks. Drifted snow was piled high over the +sill. He whined, and scratched at the door. There was no answer. +And he heard no sound. + +He went back into the edge of the timber, and waited. He waited +all through that day, going occasionally to the cabin, and +smelling about it, to convince himself that he had not made a +mistake. When darkness came he hollowed himself out a bed in the +fresh snow close to the door and lay there all through the night. +Day came again, gray and empty and still there was no smoke from +the chimney or sound from within the log walls, and at last he +knew that Challoner and Nanette and the baby were gone. But he was +hopeful. He no longer listened for sound from within the cabin, +but watched and listened for them to come from out of the forest. +He made short quests, hunting now on this side and now on that of +the cabin, sniffing futilely at the fresh and trackless snow and +pointing the wind for minutes at a time. In the afternoon, with a +forlorn slouch to his body, he went deeper into the forest to hunt +for a rabbit. When he had killed and eaten his supper he returned +again and slept a second night in the burrow beside the door. A +third day and a third night he remained, and the third night he +heard the wolves howling under a clear and star-filled sky, and +from him there came his first cry--a yearning, grief-filled cry +that rose wailingly out of the clearing; the entreaty for his +master, for Nanette, and the baby. It was not an answer to the +wolves. In its note there was a trembling fear, the voicing of a +thing that had grown into hopelessness. + +And now there settled upon him a loneliness greater than any +loneliness he had ever known. Something seemed to whisper to his +canine brain that all he had seen and felt had been but a dream, +and that he was face to face with his old world again, its +dangers, its vast and soul-breaking emptiness, its friendlessness, +its ceaseless strife for existence. His instincts, dulled by the +worship of what the cabin had held, became keenly alive. He sensed +again the sharp thrill of danger, which comes of ALONENESS, and +his old caution fell upon him, so that the fourth day he slunk +around the edge of the clearing like a wolf. + +The fifth night he did not sleep in the clearing but found himself +a windfall a mile back in the forest. That night he had strange +and troubled dreams. They were not of Challoner, or of Nanette and +the baby, nor were they of the fight and the unforgettable things +he had seen at the Post. His dreams were of a high and barren +ridge smothered in deep snow, and of a cavern that was dark and +deep. Again he was with his brother and comrade of days that were +gone--Neewa the bear. He was trying to waken him, and he could +feel the warmth of his body and hear his sleepy, protesting +grunts. And then, later, he was fighting again in the paradise of +black currants, and with Neewa was running for his life from the +enraged she-bear who had invaded their coulee. When he awoke +suddenly from out of these dreams he was trembling and his muscles +were tense. He growled in the darkness. His eyes were round balls +of searching fire. He whined softly and yearningly in that pit of +gloom under the windfall, and for a moment or two he listened, for +he thought that Neewa might answer. + +For a month after that night he remained near the cabin. At least +once each day, and sometimes at night, he would return to the +clearing. And more and more frequently he was thinking of Neewa. +Early in March came the Tiki-Swao--(the Big Thaw). For a week the +sun shone without a cloud in the sky. The air was warm. The snow +turned soft underfoot and on the sunny sides of slopes and ridges +it melted away into trickling streams or rolled down in "slides" +that were miniature avalanches. The world was vibrant with a new +thrill. It pulsed with the growing heart-beat of spring, and in +Miki's soul there arose slowly a new hope, a new impression a new +inspiration that was the thrilling urge of a wonderful instinct. +NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! + +It came to him at last like a voice which he could understand. The +trickling music of the growing streams sang it to him; he heard it +in the warm winds that were no longer filled with the blast of +winter; he caught it in the new odours that were rising out of the +earth; he smelled it in the dank, sweet perfume of the black +woods-soil. The thing thrilled him. It called him. And he KNEW! + +NEEWA WOULD BE WAKING NOW! + +He responded to the call. It was in the nature of things that no +power less than physical force could hold him back. And yet he did +not travel as he had travelled from Challoner's camp to the cabin +of Nanette and the baby. There had been a definite object there, +something to achieve, something to spur him on to an immediate +fulfilment. Now the thing that drew him, at first, was an +overpowering impulse, not a reality. For two or three days his +trail westward was wandering and indefinite. Then it straightened +out, and early in the morning of the fifth day he came from a deep +forest into a plain, and across that plain he saw the ridge. For a +long time he gazed over the level space before he went on. + +In his brain the pictures of Neewa were becoming clearer and +clearer. After all, it seemed only yesterday or the day before +that he had gone away from that ridge. Then it was smothered in +snow, and a gray, terrible gloom had settled upon the earth. Now +there was but little snow, and the sun was shining, and the sky +was blue again. He went on, and sniffed along the foot of the +ridge; he had not forgotten the way. He was not excited, because +time had ceased to have definite import for him. Yesterday he had +come down from that ridge, and to-day he was going back. He went +straight to the mouth of Neewa's den, which was uncovered now, and +thrust in his head and shoulders, and sniffed. Ah! but that lazy +rascal of a bear was a sleepy-head! He was still sleeping. Miki +could smell him. Listening hard, he could HEAR him. + +He climbed over the low drift of snow that had packed itself in +the neck of the cavern and entered confidently into the darkness. +He heard a soft, sleepy grunt and a great sigh. He almost stumbled +over Neewa, who had changed his bed. Again Neewa grunted, and Miki +whined. He ran his muzzle into Neewa's fresh, new coat of spring +fur and smelled his way to Neewa's ear. After all, it was only +yesterday! And he remembered everything now! So he gave Neewa's +ear a sudden sharp nip with his teeth, and then he barked in that +low, throaty way that Neewa had always understood. + +"Wake up, Neewa," it all said. "Wake up! The snow is gone, and +it's fine out to-day. WAKE UP!" + +And Neewa, stretching himself, gave a great yawn. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR + + +Meshaba, the old Cree, sat on the sunny side of a rock on the +sunny side of a slope that looked up and down the valley. Meshaba +--who many, many years ago had been called The Giant--was very old. +He was so old that even the Factor's books over at Fort O' God had +no record of his birth; nor the "post logs" at Albany House, or +Cumberland House, or Norway House, or Fort Churchill. Perhaps +farther north, at Lac La Biche, at Old Fort Resolution, or at Fort +McPherson some trace of him might have been found. His skin was +crinkled and weather-worn, like dry buckskin, and over his brown, +thin face his hair fell to his shoulders, snow-white. His hands +were thin, even his nose was thin with the thinness of age. But +his eyes were still like dark garnets, and down through the +greater part of a century their vision had come undimmed. + +They roved over the valley now. At Meshaba's back, a mile on the +other side of the ridge, was the old trapper's cabin, where he +lived alone. The winter had been long and cold, and in his +gladness at the coming of spring Meshaba had come up the ridge to +bask in the sun and look out over the changing world. For an hour +his eyes had travelled up and down the valley like the eyes of an +old and wary hawk. The dark spruce and cedar forest edged in the +far side of the valley; between that and the ridge rolled the +meadowy plain--still covered with melting snow in places, and in +others bare and glowing, a dull green in the sunlight. From where +he sat Meshaba could also see a rocky scarp of the ridge that +projected out into the plain a hundred yards away. But this did +not interest him, except that if it had not been in his line of +vision he could have seen a mile farther down the valley. + +In that hour of Sphinx-like watching, while the smoke curled +slowly up from his black pipe, Meshaba had seen life. Half a mile +from where he was sitting a band of caribou had come out of the +timber and wandered into a less distant patch of low bush. They +had not thrilled his old blood with the desire to kill, for there +was already a fresh carcass hung up at the back of his cabin. +Still farther away he had seen a hornless moose, so grotesque in +its spring ugliness that the parchment-like skin of his face had +cracked for half an instant in a smile, and out of him had come a +low and appreciative grunt; for Meshaba, in spite of his age, +still had a sense of humour left. Once he had seen a wolf, and +twice a fox, and now his eyes were on an eagle high over his head. +Meshaba would not have shot that eagle, for year after year it had +come down through time with him, and it was always there soaring +in the sun when spring came. So Meshaba grunted as he watched it, +and was glad that Upisk had not died during the winter. + +"Kata y ati sisew," he whispered to himself, a glow of +superstition in his fiery eyes. "We have lived long together, and +it is fated that we die together, Oh Upisk. The spring has come +for us many times, and soon the black winter will swallow us up +for ever." + +His eyes shifted slowly, and then they rested on the scarp of the +ridge that shut out his vision. His heart gave a sudden thump in +his body. His pipe fell from his mouth to his hand; and he stared +without moving, stared like a thing of rock. + +On a flat sunlit shelf not more than eighty or ninety yards away +stood a young black bear. In the warm glow of the sunlight the +bear's spring coat shone like polished jet. But it was not the +sudden appearance of the bear that amazed Meshaba. It was the fact +that another animal was standing shoulder to shoulder with +Wakayoo, and that it was not a brother bear, but a huge wolf. +Slowly one of his thin hands rose to his eyes and he wiped away +what he thought must surely be a strange something that was +fooling his vision. In all his eighty years and odd he had never +known a wolf to be thus friendly with a bear. Nature had made them +enemies. Nature had fore-doomed their hatred to be the deepest +hatred of the forests. Therefore, for a space, Meshaba doubted his +eyes. But in another moment he saw that the miracle had truly come +to pass. For the wolf turned broadside to him and it WAS a wolf! A +huge, big-boned beast that stood as high at the shoulders as +Wakayoo, the bear; a great beast, with a great head, and-- + +It was then that Meshaba's heart gave another thump, for the tail +of a wolf is big and bushy in the springtime, and the tail of this +beast was as bare of hair as a beaver's tail! + +"Ohne moosh!" gasped Meshaba, under his breath--"a dog!" + +He seemed to draw slowly into himself, slinking backward. His +rifle stood just out of reach on the other side of the rock. + +At the other end of that eighty or ninety yards Neewa and Miki +stood blinking in the bright sunlight, with the mouth of the +cavern in which Neewa had slept so many months just behind them. +Miki was puzzled. Again it seemed to him that it was only +yesterday, and not months ago, that he had left Neewa in that den, +sleeping his lazy head off. And now that he had returned to him +after his own hard winter in the forests he was astonished to find +Neewa so big. For Neewa had grown steadily through his four +months' nap and he was half again as big as when he went to sleep. +Could Miki have spoken Cree, and had Meshaba given him the +opportunity, he might have explained the situation. + +"You see, Mr. Indian"--he might have said--"this dub of a bear and +I have been pals from just about the time we were born. A man +named Challoner tied us together first when Neewa, there, was just +about as big as your head, and we did a lot of scrapping before we +got properly acquainted. Then we got lost, and after that we +hitched up like brothers; and we had a lot of fun and excitement +all through last summer, until at last, when the cold weather +came, Neewa hunted up this hole in the ground and the lazy cuss +went to sleep for all winter. I won't mention what happened to me +during the winter. It was a-plenty. So this spring I had a hunch +it was about time for Neewa to get the cobwebs out of his fool +head, and came back. And--here we are! But tell me this: WHAT +MAKES NEEWA SO BIG?" + +It was at least that thought--the bigness of Neewa--that was +filling Miki's head at the present moment. And Meshaba, in place +of listening to an explanation, was reaching for his rifle--while +Neewa, with his brown muzzle sniffing the wind, was gathering in a +strange smell. Of the three, Neewa saw nothing to be wondered at +in the situation itself. When he had gone to sleep four and a half +months ago Miki was at his side; and to-day, when he awoke, Miki +was still at his side. The four and a half months meant nothing to +him. Many times he and Miki had gone to sleep, and had awakened +together. For all the knowledge he had of time it might have been +only last night that he had fallen asleep. + +The one thing that made Neewa uneasy now was that strange odour he +had caught in the air. Instinctively he seized upon it as a +menace--at least as something that he would rather NOT smell than +smell. So he turned away with a warning WOOF to Miki. When Meshaba +peered around the edge of the rock, expecting an easy shot, he +caught only a flash of the two as they were disappearing. He fired +quickly. + +To Miki and Neewa the report of the rifle and the moaning whirr of +the bullet over their backs recalled memories of a host of things, +and Neewa settled down to that hump-backed, flat-eared flight of +his that kept Miki pegging along at a brisk pace for at least a +mile. Then Neewa stopped, puffing audibly. Inasmuch as he had had +nothing to eat for a third of a year, and was weak from long +inactivity, the run came within an ace of putting him out of +business. It was several minutes before he could gather his wind +sufficiently to grunt. Miki, meanwhile, was carefully smelling of +him from his rump to his muzzle. There was apparently nothing +missing, for he gave a delighted little yap at the end, and, in +spite of his size and the dignity of increased age, he began +frisking about Neewa In a manner emphatically expressive of his +joy at his comrade's awakening. + +"It's been a deuce of a lonely winter, Neewa, and I'm tickled to +death to see you on your feet again," his antics said. "What'll we +do? Go for a hunt?" + +This seemed to be the thought in Neewa's mind, for he headed +straight up the valley until they came to an open fen where he +proceeded to quest about for a dinner of roots and grass; and as +he searched he grunted--grunted in his old, companionable, cubbish +way. And Miki, hunting with him, found that once more the +loneliness had gone out of his world. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE + + +To Miki and Neewa, especially Neewa, there seemed nothing +extraordinary in the fact that they were together again, and that +their comradeship was resumed. Although during his months of +hibernation Neewa's body had grown, his mind had not changed its +memories or its pictures. It had not passed through a mess of +stirring events such as had made the winter a thrilling one for +Miki, and so it was Neewa who accepted the new situation most +casually. He went on feeding as if nothing at all unusual had +happened during the past four months, and after the edge had gone +from his first hunger he fell into his old habit of looking to +Miki for leadership. And Miki fell into the old ways as though +only a day or a week and not four months had lapsed in their +brotherhood. It is possible that he tried mightily to tell Neewa +what had happened. At least he must have had that desire--to let +him know in what a strange way he had found his old master, +Challoner, and how he had lost him again. And also how he found +the woman, Nanette, and the little baby Nanette, and how for a +long time he had lived with them and loved them as he had never +loved anything else on earth. + +It was the old cabin, far to the north and east, that drew him +now--the cabin in which Nanette and the baby had lived; and it was +toward this cabin that he lured Neewa during the first two weeks +of their hunting. They did not travel quickly, largely because of +Neewa's voracious spring appetite and the fact that it consumed +nine tenths of his waking hours to keep full on such provender as +roots and swelling buds and grass. During the first week Miki grew +either hopeless or disgusted in his hunting. One day he killed +five rabbits and Neewa ate four of them and grunted piggishly for +more. + +If Miki had stood amazed and appalled at Neewa's appetite in the +days of their cubhood and puppyhood a year ago, he was more than +astounded now, for in the matter of food Neewa was a bottomless +pit. On the other hand he was jollier than ever, and in their +wrestling matches he was almost more than a match for Miki, being +nearly again as heavy. He very soon acquired the habit of taking +advantage of this superiority of weight, and at unexpected moments +he would hop on Miki and pin him to the ground, his fat body +smothering him like a huge soft cushion, and his arms holding him +until at times Miki could scarcely squirm. Now and then, hugging +him in this embrace, he would roll over and over, both of them +snarling and growling as though in deadly combat. This play, +though he was literally the under dog, delighted Miki until one +day they rolled over the edge of a deep ravine and crashed in a +dog-and-bear avalanche to the bottom. After that, for a long time, +Neewa did not roll with his victim. Whenever Miki wanted to end a +bout, however, all he had to do was to give Neewa a sharp nip with +his long fangs and the bear would uncoil himself and hop to his +feet like a spring. He had a most serious respect for Miki's +teeth. + +But Miki's greatest moments of joy were where Neewa stood up man- +fashion. Then was a real tussle. And his greatest hours of disgust +were when Neewa stretched himself out in a tree for a nap. + +It was the beginning of the third week before they came one day to +the cabin. There was no change in it, and Miki's body sagged +disconsolately as he and Neewa looked at it from the edge of the +clearing. No smoke, no sign of life, and the window was broken +now--probably by an inquisitive bear or a wolverine. Miki went to +the window and stood up to it, sniffing inside. The SMELL was +still there--so faint that he could only just detect it. But that +was all. The big room was empty except for the stove, a table and +a few bits of rude furniture. All else was gone. Three or four +times during the next half hour Miki stood up at the window, and +at last Neewa--urged by his curiosity--did likewise. He also +detected the faint odour that was left in the cabin. He sniffed at +it for a long time. It was like the smell he had caught the day he +came out of his den--and yet different. It was fainter, more +elusive, and not so unpleasant. + +For a month thereafter Miki insisted on hunting in the vicinity of +the cabin, held there by the "pull" of the thing which he could +neither analyze nor quite understand. Neewa accepted the situation +good-naturedly for a time. Then he lost patience and surrendered +himself to a grouch for three whole days during which he wandered +at his own sweet will. To preserve the alliance Miki was compelled +to follow him. Berry time--early July--found them sixty miles +north and west of the cabin, in the edge of the country where +Neewa was born. + +But there were few berries that summer of bebe nak um geda (the +summer of drought and fire). As early as the middle of July a +thin, gray film began to hover in palpitating waves over the +forests. For three weeks there had been no rain. Even the nights +were hot and dry. Each day the factors at their posts looked out +with anxious eyes over their domains, and by the first of August +every post had a score of halfbreeds and Indians patrolling the +trails on the watch for fire. In their cabins and teepees the +forest dwellers who had not gone to pass the summer at the posts +waited and watched; each morning and noon and night they climbed +tall trees and peered through that palpitating gray film for a +sign of smoke. For weeks the wind came steadily from the south and +west, parched as though swept over the burning sands of a desert. +Berries dried up on the bushes; the fruit of the mountain ash +shriveled on its stems; creeks ran dry; swamps turned into baked +peat, and the poplar leaves hung wilted and lifeless, too limp to +rustle in the breeze. Only once or twice in a lifetime does the +forest dweller see poplar leaves curl up and die like that, baked +to death in the summer sun. It is Kiskewahoon (the Danger Signal). +Not only the warning of possible death in a holocaust of fire, but +the omen of poor hunting and trapping in the winter to come. + +Miki and Neewa were in a swamp country when the fifth of August +came. In the lowland it was sweltering. Neewa's tongue hung from +his mouth, and Miki was panting as they made their way along a +black and sluggish stream that was like a great ditch and as dead +as the day itself. There was no visible sun, but a red and lurid +glow filled the sky--the sun struggling to fight its way through +the smothering film that had grown thicker over the earth. Because +they were in a "pocket"--a sweep of tangled country lower than the +surrounding country--Neewa and Miki were not caught in this +blackening cloud. Five miles away they might have heard the +thunder of cloven hoofs and the crash of heavy bodies in their +flight before the deadly menace of fire. As it was they made their +way slowly through the parched swamp, so that it was midday when +they came out of the edge of it and up through a green fringe of +timber to the top of a ridge. Before this hour neither had passed +through the horror of a forest fire. But it seized upon them now. +It needed no past experience. The cumulative instinct of a +thousand generations leapt through their brains and bodies. Their +world was in the grip of Iskootao (the Fire Devil). To the south +and the east and the west it was buried in a pall like the +darkness of night, and out of the far edge of the swamp through +which they had come they caught the first livid spurts of flame. +From that direction, now that they were out of the "pocket," they +felt a hot wind, and with that wind came a dull and rumbling roar +that was like the distant moaning of a cataract. They waited, and +watched, struggling to get their bearings, their minds fighting +for a few moments in the gigantic process of changing instinct +into reasoning and understanding. Neewa, being a bear, was +afflicted with the near-sightedness of his breed, and he could see +neither the black tornado of smoke bearing down upon them nor the +flames leaping out of the swamp. But he could SMELL, and his nose +was twisted into a hundred wrinkles, and even ahead of Miki he was +ready for flight. But Miki, whose vision was like a hawk's, stood +as if fascinated. + +The roaring grew more distinct. It seemed on all sides of them. +But it was from the south that there came the first storm of ash +rushing noiselessly ahead of the fire, and after that the smoke. +It was then that Miki turned with a strange whine but it was Neewa +now who took the lead--Neewa, whose forebears had ten thousand +times run this same wild race with death in the centuries since +their world was born. He did not need the keenness of far vision +now. He KNEW. He knew what was behind, and what was on either +side, and where the one trail to safety lay; and in the air he +felt and smelled the thing that was death. Twice Miki made efforts +to swing their course into the east, but Neewa would have none of +it. With flattened ears he went on NORTH. Three times Miki stopped +to turn and face the galloping menace behind them, but never for +an instant did Neewa pause. Straight on--NORTH, NORTH, NORTH-- +north to the higher lands, the big waters, the open plains. + +They were not alone. A caribou sped past them with the swiftness +of the wind itself. "FAST, FAST, FAST!"--Neewa's instinct cried; +"but--ENDURE! For the caribou, speeding even faster than the fire, +will fall of exhaustion shortly and be eaten up by the flames. +FAST--but ENDURE!" + +And steadily, stoically, at his loping gait Neewa led on. + +A bull moose swung half across their trail from the west, wind- +gone and panting as though his throat were cut. He was badly +burned, and running blindly into the eastern wall of fire. + +Behind and on either side, where the flames were rushing on with +the pitiless ferocity of hunnish regiments, the harvest of death +was a vast and shuddering reality. In hollow logs, under +windfalls, in the thick tree-tops, and in the earth itself, the +smaller things of the wilderness sought their refuge--and died. +Rabbits became leaping balls of flame, then lay shrivelled and +black; the marten were baked in their trees; fishers and mink and +ermine crawled into the deepest corners of the windfalls and died +there by inches; owls fluttered out of their tree-tops, staggered +for a few moments in the fiery air, and fell down into the heart +of the flame. No creature made a sound--except the porcupines; and +as they died they cried like little children. + +In the green spruce and cedar timber, heavy with the pitch that +made their thick tops spurt into flame like a sea of explosive, +the fire rushed on with a tremendous roar. From it--in a straight +race--there was no escape for man or beast. Out of that world of +conflagration there might have risen one great, yearning cry to +heaven: WATER--WATER--WATER! Wherever there was water there was +also hope--and life. Breed and blood and wilderness feuds were +forgotten in the great hour of peril. Every lake became a haven of +refuge. + +To such a lake came Neewa, guided by an unerring instinct and +sense of smell sharpened by the rumble and roar of the storm of +fire behind him. Miki had "lost" himself; his senses were dulled; +his nostrils caught no scent but that of a world in flames--so, +blindly, he followed his comrade. The fire was enveloping the lake +along its western shore, and its water was already thickly +tenanted. It was not a large lake, and almost round. Its diameter +was not more than two hundred yards. Farther out--a few of them +swimming, but most of them standing on bottom with only their +heads out of water--were a score of caribou and moose. Many other +shorter-legged creatures were swimming aimlessly, turning this way +and that, paddling their feet only enough to keep afloat. On the +shore where Neewa and Miki paused was a huge porcupine, chattering +and chuckling foolishly, as if scolding all things in general for +having disturbed him at dinner. Then he took to the water. A +little farther up the shore a fisher-cat and a fox hugged close to +the water line, hesitating to wet their precious fur until death +itself snapped at their heels; and as if to bring fresh news of +this death a second fox dragged himself wearily out on the shore, +as limp as a wet rag after his swim from the opposite shore, where +the fire was already leaping in a wall of flame. And as this fox +swam in, hoping to find safety, an old bear twice as big as Neewa, +crashed panting from the undergrowth, plunged into the water, and +swam OUT. Smaller things were creeping and crawling and slinking +along the shore; little red-eyed ermine, marten, and mink, +rabbits, squirrels, and squeaking gophers, and a horde of mice. +And at last, with these things which he would have devoured so +greedily running about him, Neewa waded slowly out into the water. +Miki followed until he was submerged to his shoulders. Then he +stopped. The fire was close now, advancing like a race-horse. Over +the protecting barrier of thick timber drove the clouds of smoke +and ash. Swiftly the lake became obliterated, and now out of that +awful chaos of blackness and smoke and heat there rose strange and +thrilling cries; the bleating of a moose calf that was doomed to +die and the bellowing, terror-filled response of its mother; the +agonized howling of a wolf; the terrified barking of a fox, and +over all else the horrible screaming of a pair of loons whose home +had been transformed into a sea of flame. + +Through the thickening smoke and increasing heat Neewa gave his +call to Miki as he began to swim, and with an answering whine Miki +plunged after him, swimming so close to his big black brother that +his muzzle touched the other's flank. In mid-lake Neewa did as the +other swimming creatures were doing--paddled only enough to keep +himself afloat; but for Miki, big of bone and unassisted by a +life-preserver of fat, the struggle was not so easy. He was forced +to swim to keep afloat. A dozen times he circled around Neewa, and +then, with something of the situation driven upon him, he came up +close to the bear and rested his forepaws on his shoulders. + +The lake was now encircled by a solid wall of fire. Blasts of +flame shot up the pitch-laden trees and leapt for fifty feet into +the blistering air. The roar of the conflagration was deafening. +It drowned all sound that brute agony and death may have made. And +its heat was terrific. For a few terrible minutes the air which +Miki drew into his lungs was like fire itself. Neewa plunged his +head under water every few seconds, but it was not Miki's instinct +to do this. Like the wolf and the fox and the fisher-cat and the +lynx it was his nature to die before completely submerging +himself. + +Swift as it had come the fire passed; and the walls of timber that +had been green a few moments before were black and shrivelled and +dead; and sound swept on with the flame until it became once more +only a low and rumbling murmur. + +To the black and smouldering shores the live things slowly made +their way. Of all the creatures that had taken refuge in the lake +many had died. Chief of those were the porcupines. All had +drowned. + +Close to the shore the heat was still intense, and for hours the +earth was hot with smouldering fire. All the rest of that day and +the night that followed no living thing moved out of the shallow +water. And yet no living thing thought to prey upon its neighbour. +The great peril had made of all beasts kin. + +A little before dawn of the day following the fire relief came. A +deluge of rain fell, and when day broke and the sun shone through +a murky heaven there was left no sign of what the lake had been, +except for the dead bodies that floated on its surface or lined +its shores. The living things had returned into their desolated +wilderness--and among them Neewa and Miki. + + + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX + + +For many days after the Great Fire it was Neewa who took the lead. +All their world was a black and lifeless desolation and Miki would +not have known which way to turn. Had it been a local fire of +small extent he would have "wandered" out of its charred path. But +the conflagration had been immense. It had swept over a vast reach +of country, and for a half of the creatures who had saved +themselves in the lakes and streams there was only a death by +starvation left. + +But not for Neewa and his breed. Just as there had been no +indecision in the manner and direction of his flight before the +fire so there was now no hesitation in the direction he chose to +seek a live world again. It was due north and west--as straight as +a die. If they came to a lake, and went around it, Neewa would +always follow the shore until he came directly opposite his trail +on the other side of the lake--and then strike north and west +again. He travelled steadily, not only by day but also by night, +with only short intervals of rest, and the dawning of the second +morning found Miki more exhausted than the bear. + +There were many evidences now that they had reached a point where +the fire had begun to burn itself out. Patches of green timber +were left standing, there were swamps unscathed by the flames, and +here and there they came upon green patches of meadow. In the +swamps and timber they feasted, for these oases in what had been a +sea of flame were filled with food ready to be preyed upon and +devoured. For the first time Neewa refused to stop because there +was plenty to eat. The sixth day they were a hundred miles from +the lake in which they had sought refuge from the fire. + +It was a wonderful country of green timber, of wide plains and of +many lakes and streams--cut up by a thousand usayow (low ridges), +which made the best of hunting. Because it was a country of many +waters, with live streams running between the ridges and from lake +to lake, it had not suffered from the drought like the country +farther south. For a month Neewa and Miki hunted in their new +paradise, and became fat and happy again. + +It was in September that they came upon a strange thing in the +edge of a swamp. At first Miki thought that it was a cabin; but it +was a great deal smaller than any cabin he had known. It was not +much larger than the cage of saplings in which Le Beau had kept +him. But it was made of heavy logs, and the logs were notched so +that nothing could knock them down. And these logs, instead of +lying closely one on the other, had open spaces six or eight +inches wide between them. And there was a wide-open door. From +this strange contraption there came a strong odour of over-ripened +fish. The smell repelled Miki. But it was a powerful attraction to +Neewa, who persisted in remaining near it in spite of all Miki +could do to drag him away. Finally, disgusted at his comrade's bad +taste, Miki sulked off alone to hunt. It was some time after that +before Neewa dared to thrust his head and shoulders through the +opening. The smell of the fish made his little eyes gleam. +Cautiously he stepped inside the queer looking thing of logs. +Nothing happened. He saw the fish, all he could eat, just on the +other side of a sapling against which he must lean to reach them. +He went deliberately to the sapling, leaned over, and then!-- + +"CRASH!" + +He whirled about as if shot. There was no longer an opening where +he had entered. The sapling "trigger" had released an over-head +door, and Neewa was a prisoner. He was not excited, but accepted +the situation quite coolly, probably having no doubt in his mind +that somewhere there was an aperture between the logs large enough +for him to squeeze through. After a few inquisitive sniffs he +proceeded to devour the fish. He was absorbed in his odoriferous +feast when out of a clump of dwarf balsams a few yards away +appeared an Indian. He quickly took in the situation, turned, and +disappeared. + +Half an hour later this Indian ran into a clearing in which were +the recently constructed buildings of a new Post. He made for the +Company store. In the fur-carpeted "office" of this store a man +was bending fondly over a woman. The Indian saw them as he +entered, and chuckled. "Sakehewawin" ("the love couple"); that was +what they had already come to call them at Post Lac Bain--this man +and woman who had given them a great feast when the missioner had +married them not so very long ago. The man and the woman stood up +when the Indian entered, and the woman smiled at him. She was +beautiful. Her eyes were glowing, and there was the flush of a +flower in her cheeks. The Indian felt the worship of her warm in +his heart. + +"Oo-ee, we have caught the bear," he said. "But it is napao (a he- +bear). There is no cub, Iskwao Nanette!" + +The white man chuckled. + +"Aren't we having the darndest luck getting you a cub for a house- +pet, Nanette?" he asked. "I'd have sworn this mother and her cub +would have been easily caught. A he-bear! We'll have to let him +loose, Mootag. His pelt is good for nothing. Do you want to go +with us and see the fun, Nanette?" + +She nodded, her little laugh filled with the joy of love and life. + +"Oui. It will be such fun--to see him go!" + + Challoner led the way, with an axe in his hand; and with him came +Nanette, her hand in his. Mootag followed with his rifle, prepared +for an emergency. From the thick screen of balsams Challoner +peered forth, then made a hole through which Nanette might look at +the cage and its prisoner. For a moment or two she held her breath +as she watched Neewa pacing back and forth, very much excited now. +Then she gave a little cry, and Challoner felt her fingers pinch +his own sharply. Before he knew what she was about to do she had +thrust herself through the screen of balsams. + +Close to the log prison, faithful to his comrade in the hour of +peril, lay Miki. He was exhausted from digging at the earth under +the lower log, and he had not smelled or heard anything of the +presence of others until he saw Nanette standing not twenty paces +away. His heart leapt up into his panting throat. He swallowed, as +though to get rid of a great lump; he stared. And then, with a +sudden, yearning whine, he sprang toward her. With a yell +Challoner leapt out of the balsams with uplifted axe. But before +the axe could fall, Miki was in Nanette's arms, and Challoner +dropped his weapon with a gasp of amazement--and one word: + +"MIKI!" + +Mootag, looking on in stupid astonishment, saw both the man and +the woman making a great fuss over a strange and wild-looking +beast that looked as if it ought to be killed. They had forgotten +the bear. And Miki, wildly joyous at finding his beloved master +and mistress, had forgotten him also. It was a prodigious WHOOF +from Neewa himself that brought their attention to him. Like a +flash Miki was back at the pen smelling of Neewa's snout between +two of the logs, and with a great wagging of tail trying to make +him understand what had happened. + +Slowly, with a thought born in his head that made him oblivious of +all else but the big black brute in the pen, Challoner approached +the trap. Was it possible that Miki could have made friends with +any other bear than the cub of long ago? He drew in a deep breath +as he looked at them. Neewa's brown-tipped nose was thrust between +two of the logs and MIKI WAS LICKING IT WITH HIS TONGUE! He held +out a hand to Nanette, and when she came to him he pointed for a +space, without speaking. + +Then he said: + +"It is the cub, Nanette. You know--the cub I have told you about. +They've stuck together all this time--ever since I killed the +cub's mother a year and a half ago, and tied them together on a +piece of rope. I understand now why Miki ran away from us when we +were at the cabin. He went back--to the bear." + + To-day if you strike northward from Le Pas and put your canoe in +the Rat River or Grassberry waterways, and thence paddle and run +with the current down the Reindeer River and along the east shore +of Reindeer Lake you will ultimately come to the Cochrane--and +Post Lac Bain. It is one of the most wonderful countries in all +the northland. Three hundred Indians, breeds and French, come with +their furs to Lac Bain. Not a soul among them--man, woman, or +child--but knows the story of the "tame bear of Lac Bain"--the pet +of l'ange, the white angel, the Factor's wife. + +The bear wears a shining collar and roams at will in the company +of a great dog, but, having grown huge and fat now, never wanders +far from the Post. And it is an unwritten law in all that country +that the animal must not be harmed, and that no bear traps shall +be set within five miles of the Company buildings. Beyond that +limit the bear never roams; and when it comes cold, and he goes +into his long sleep, he crawls into a deep warm cavern that has +been dug for him under the Company storehouse. And with him, when +the nights come, sleeps Miki the dog. + +THE END + + + + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Nomads Of The North, by James Oliver Curwood +***********This file should be named nmdnt10.txt or nmdnt10.zip*********** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, nmdnt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, nmdnt10a.txt + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +More information about this book is at the top of this file. + +We are now trying to release all our etexts one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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