Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-17
CHAPTER Xxx

| n fbBD IN THE W1LDERN ESS.
A SOFT wind blowing from the south
II and east brought the scent Of the
invaders to Gray wolfs nose when they
were still half a mile away. She gave the
warning to Kazan and he. too, found the
strange scent In the air II grew stronger
as they advanced. When 200 yards from
the windfall they heard the sudden crash
OF n falling tree, and stopped. For n full
| minute they stood tense and listening
Then the silence was broken by squeak
ing cry, followed by a splash. Gray
VOLTS alert ears fell back and she turned
| her blind face understandingly toward
kazan, They trotted ahead slowly. APP
| preaching the windfall from behind. Not
| until they had reached the top of the
Knoll on which 1t was situated did Kazan
begin to sec the wonderful change that
had taken place during their absence.
Astounded, they stood while he stared
! There was no longer a little creek below
them.
Where IL had been was pond that
! reached almost to the foot of the knoll.
IL was fully a hundred feet in width and
the backwater had flooded the trees and
bush for five or six times that distance
toward the burn. They had come up
quietly and Broken Tooths dull-scented
workers were unaware of their presence.
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equal distance to the right of him four
or five Of the baby beavers we're at play
| building miniature dam of mud and
tiny twigs. On the opposite side of the
| pond was steep bank or feet high.
and here few of the older children
years old, but still not workmen-were
having great fun climbing the bank and
using II as toboggan slide. It was their
| splashing that Kazan and Gray Wolf
had heard. In a dozen different places the
older beavers were at work.
A few weeks before Kazan had looked
upon similar scene when he had re-
turned into the North from Broken
| Tooth's old home. II had not interested
him then. But a quick and thrilling
change swept through him now, The
beavers had ceased to be mere water ami
| mails, uneatable and with an odor that
| displeased him. They were invaders-and
enemies. His fangs barred silently. His
| crest stffened like the hair of n brush.
| and the muscles OF his forelegs and
shoulders stood out like whlpcords. Not
| sound came from him as he rushed
down upon Broken Tooth. The old beaver
| was oblivious of danger until Kazan was
| within 20 feet of him. Naturally slow of
| movement on land, he stood for an In
| stant stupefed. Then he swung down
from the tree as Kazan leaped upon him.
| over and over they rolled to the edge of
the bank. carried on by the dogs mo-
mentum. In another moment the thick
|
| like oil from under Kazan and Broken
! Tooth was safe in his element. two holes
| bitten clean through his fieshy tail. Baf-
| fed in his effort to get death-hold on
Broken Tooth, Kasan swung like flash
to the right. The young beavers had not
| moved Astonished and frightened at
| what they had seen, they stood as IL
stupefed. Not until they saw Kazan
| tearing toward them did they awaken to
action. Three of them reached the -"ater.
The fourth and hfth-baby beavers not
more than three months old-were too
| late. With single snap of his jaw
Kazan broke the back Of one. The other
| he pinned down by the throat and shook
| as a terrier shakes rat When Gray
Wolf trottod down to him both of the
! little beavers were dead She shifted at
their soft little bodies and whined. Per-
haps the baby creatures reminded her
| of runaway Ba-ree, her own baby, for
there was a note of longing in her whine
| as she nosed them, 1t was the mother
| whine.
But IL Gray Wolf had visions of her
own, KaZan understood nothing of them.
| He had killed two of the creatures that
| had dared TO invade their home, To the
| little beavers he had been as merciess
! as the gray lynx that had murdered
| Gray VOLTS first children on the top OF
the Sun Rock. Now that he had sunk
| his teeth into the flesh of his enemies
his blood was filled with Il frenzied desire
to kill He raved along the edge of the
| pond, snarling at the uneasy water under
which Broken Tooth had disappeared.
| All OF the beavers had taken refuge in
| the pond. and its surface was heaving
| with the passing of many bodies beneath.
| KaZan came 10 the end of the dam, This
| was new. Instlnctively he knew that II
| was the work of Broken Tooth and his
| tribe, and for a few moments he tore
| fiercey at the matted sticks and limbs.
/ A, tNENINa val ftFuf n
close to the dam. fifty feet out from the
| bank and Broken Tooth's big gray head
| appeared. For n tense half minute
| Broken Tooth and Kazan measured each
other at that distance. Then Broken
| Tooth drew his wet shining body out of
| the water to the top OF the dam, and
| squatted fiat. facing Kazan The old
| patriarch was alone. Not another beaver
| had shown himself,
! The surface of the pond had now be-
! come quiet. Vainly Kazan tried to dis
| cover a footing that would allow him TO
reach the watchful invader But be-
! tween the solid wall of the dam and the
bank there was tangled framework
! through which the water rushed with
some violence Three times Kazan fought
! to work his way through that tangle, and
| three times his efforts ended In sudden
| plunges into the water. All this time
! Broken Tooth did not move.
| When at last Kazan gave up the at
| tack the old engineer slipped over the
edge of the dam and disappeared under
| the water. He had learned that kazan.
| like the lynx, could not fight water and
| he spread the news among the members
| of his colony.
! Gray Wolf and Kazan returned TO the
windfall and lay in tn warm sun, Hair
| an hour later Broken Tooth drew himself
| out on the opposite shore of the pond. He
| was followed by other beavers. Across
| the water they resumed their work as II
nothing had happened. The tree-cutters
| returned to their trees. Half dozen
! worked in the water, carrying loads OF
| cement and twigs. The middle OF the
| pond was their dead line. Across this
moi one Of them passed. dozen times
| during the hour that followed one OF the
| beavers swan up to the dead line, and
| rested there looking at the shining
| bodies of the babies that kazan had
| kiIled. Perhaps 1t was the mother, and
| perhaps some finer Instinct unknown to
| Kazan told this 10 Gray Wolf. For Gray
/ Wolf went down twice TO snin at the
i dead bodies, and each time-without see
| ing-she went when the mother beaver
/ had come to the dead line.
/ The first fierce animus had worn itselI
/ from Kazan's blood. and he now watched
] the beavers closely. He had learned that
| they were not lighters. They were many
/ 10 one and yet they ran away from MIN