Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-06

! JTJuREE hundred Yards below Thor was a
| | clump of baIsams n small thick patch
! that grew close to the edge Of the miniature
! lake whose water Crcpt around the iarther
end Of the hollow. In that clump there was
! a CarihOu-pcrhaps two or three. Thor
| knew that as surely as though he saw them.
! The wcnipow or lying down" smell Of
| hoofed game was as different from the
| nechisoo, or grazing SMELL" to Thor as
| day from night one hung eluSlvely in the
j air like the faint and shifting breath of a
| passing woman's scented dress and hair 4;
| the other came hot and heavy, close to the
earth, like the odor of a broken bottle Of
| perfume.
Even Mustwa now caught the scent as
he crcpt up close behind the big grizzly and
! lay down
For fully ten minutes Thor did not move ;
| his eyes took in the hollow, the edge of the
| lake and the approach to the timber. and
his nose gauged the wind as accurately as
the pointing of n compass. The reason he
remained quiet was that he was almost on
the danger-line. In other words, the noun
tains and the sudden dip had formed a
| "splt wind" in the hollow, and had Thor
appeared fifty yards above where he now
crouched the keen-scented caribou would
have got full wind Of him.
with his little ears cooked forward and
new gleam Of understanding in his eyes
MQSkWa now looked upon MS UTSl lesson
in game stalking. CrouChed so low that he
seemed to be travelling on his belly, Thor
moved slowly and nOiselessly toward the
creek the huge ruff just forward Of his
shoulders standing out like the stiffened
spine of a dogs back. Muskwa followed
For fully a hundred yards Thor continued
his detour and three times in that hundred
yards he paused to sniff in the direction of
the timber At last he was satisfied. The
wind was full in his face, and 1t was rich
with promise.
He began to advance in a sinking, roll
ing. rock-shouldered motion, taking shorter
stems now and with every muscle in his
great body ready for action Within two
minutes he reached the edge Of the balsams
and there he paused again. The cracking
of underbrush came distinctly, The caribou
were up, but they were not alarmed. They
were going forth to drink and Craze
Thor moved again parallel to the sound
This brought him quickly TO the edge OF
the timber. and there he Stood concealed
nv foliage but with the lake and the short
stretch Of meadow in view. A big bull
caribou came out first His horns were
half grown and in velvet A two-year-old
followed round and sleek and glistenlng
like brown velvet in the sunset For two
minutes the bull stood alert, eyes, ears and
nostrils seeking for danger signals at his
heels the younger animal nibbled less sus-
piciously at the grass Then lowering his
head until his antlers swept back over his
sboulders the old bull started slowly toward
Ybe lake for his evening drink, The two
vear-old followed-and Thor came out softly
from his hiding place.
For a single moment he seemed 10 gather
himse1f-and then he started. Fifty feet
separated him from the caribou, He had
covered half that distance like a huge roll
ing ball when the animals heard him. They
were OFF like arrows sprung from the bow.
But they were too late II would have
taken a swift horse TO beat Thor and he
had already gained momentum.
Like the wind he bore down on the flank
of the two-year-old, swung little TO one
side and then without any apparent effort
--stlll like . huge ball---he bounded In ana
apWnrd, aud ne anott rage Naa done.