University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1915-09-01


month before when it was smothered
deep in snow. On the day they re-
turned to it the sun was shining
warmly in the first glorious days OF
spring warmth. Everywhere, big and
small, there were the rushing torrents
of melting SHOWS and the crackle OF
crumbling ice, the dying cries of thaw-
ing rock and earth and tree. and each
night for many nights past the cold
pale glow of the aurora borealis had
crept farther and farther toward the
Pole in fading glory. So early as this
the poplar buds had begun to swell
and the air was filled with the sweet
odor of balsam, spruce and cedar.
Where there had been famine and
death and stiffness six weeks before,
Kazan and Gray Wolf now stood at
the edge of the swamp and breathej
the earthly smells of spring, and lis
tened to the sounds of life. Over their
heads a pair of newly-mated moose
birds futtered and scoldei at them. A
big jay sat plunging himself in the
sunshine. Farther in they heard the
crack of stick broken under heavy
| hoof. From the ridge behind them
they caught the raw scent of mother
bear, busy pulling down the tender
poplar buds for her six-weeks-old
cubs, born while she was still deep in
her winter sleep.
In the warmth of the sun and the
sweetness of the air there breathed
to Gray Wolf the mystery of matehood
and of motherhood. She whined soft
ly and rubbed her blind face against
Kazan. For days, in her way, she
tried to tell him. More than ever
she wanted to curl herself up in that
warm dry nest under the windfall.
She had no desire to hunt The crack
of the dry stick under cloven hoof
and the warm scent of the she-bear
and her cubs reused none of the old
instincts in her. She wanted to curl
herself up in the old windfall-and
wait And she tried hard to make Ka-
zan understand her desire.
Now that the snow was gone they
found that a narrow creek lay between
them and the knoll on which the
windfall was situated Gray Wolf
picked up her ears at the tumult of
the little torrent. Since the day of
the Fire, when KaZan and she had
saved themselves on the sandbar, she
had ceased to have the inherent wolf
horror of water She followed fear
lessly, even eagerly. behind Kazan as
he sought place where they could
ford the rushing little stream. On the
other side Kazan could see the big
windfall. Gray Wolf could smell it
and she whined joyously, with her
blind face turned toward it. A hun
dred yards up the stream big cedar
had fallen over 1t and Kazan began
to cross. For a moment Gray Wolf
hesitated, and then followed Side by
side they trotted to the windfall. With
their heads and shoulders in the dark
opening to their nest they scented the
air long and cautiously. Then they
entered. Kazan heard Gray Wolf as
she flung herself down on the dry
floor of the snug cavern. She was
painting, not from exhaustion, but be-
cause she was filled with a sensation
of contentment and happiness. In the
darkness KaZan's own jaws fell apart.
He, too, was glad to get back to their
old home. He went to Gray Wolf and,
painting still harder, she licked his
face. 1t had but one meaning. And
Kazan understood
For a moment he lay down beside
her, listening. and eying the opening
to their nest. Then he began to sniff
about the log walls. He was close to
the opening when sudden fresh
scent came to him, and he grew rigid,
and his bristles stood up. The scent
was followed by whimpering, baby
ish chatter A porcupine entered the
opening and proceeded to advance in
its foolish fashion, still chattering in
that babyish way that has made its
life inviolable at the hands of man.
Kazan had heard that sound before,
and like all other beasts had learned
to ignore the presence of the innocu-
GUS creature that made it. But just
now he did not stop to consider that
what he saw was porcupine and
that at his first snarl the good-humored
little creature would waddle away as
fast as it could, still chattering baby
talk to itself. His first reasoning was
that it was live thing invading the
home to which Gray Wolf and he had
just returned. A day later, or per-