Evening star., 1924-07-31

shadows, in the moonlight, they came
upon a runway. Both noses went
down to the footprints in the snow.
These footprints were very fresh. One
Eye ran ahead cautiously, his mate
at his heels. The broad pads of their
feet were spread wide and in contact
with the snow were like velvet. One
Eye caught sight of a dim movement
His sliding gait had been deceptively
swift, but it was as nothing to the
speed at which he now ran. Before
him was bounding the faint patch Of
white he had discovered.
alley flanked on either side by a
growth of young spruce. Through
the trees the mouth of the alley could
be seen, opening out on moonlit
glade. Old One Eye was rapidly
overhauling the fleeing shape of
white. Bound by bound he gained.
and his teeth would be sinking into
it. But taht leap was never made.
High in the air, and straight up,
scared the shape Of white, now a
leaped and bounded. executing a fan
tastic dance there above him in the
air and never once returning to earth
One Eye sprang back with a snort
to the snow and crouched, snarling
not understand But the she-wolf
coolly thrust past him. She poised
for a moment, then sprang for the
but not so high as the quarry. and
her teeth clipped emptily together
with a metallic snap. She made an
other leap, and another.
Her mate had slowly relaved from
his crouch and was watching her
He now evinced displeasure at her
repeated failures, and himself made
mighty spring upward. His teeth
closed upon the rabbit, and he bore 1t
back to earth with him. But at the
same time there was a suspicious
cracking movement beside him, and
his anstonished eye saw a young
spruce spaling bending down above
him to strike him. His jaws let go
their grip, and he leaped backward
to escape this strange danger, ms ms
lips drawn back from his fangs, his
throat snarling, every hair bristling
with rage and fright. And in that
moment the sapling reared its slen-
der length upright and the rabbit
scared dancing, in the air again.
sank her fangs into her mates shoul-
der in reproof; and he, frightened,
unaware Of what constituted this
new onslaught, struck back fero-
ciously and in still greater fright,
ripping down the side of the She
| VOLTS muzzle. For him to resent
such reproof was equally unexpected
| to her. and she sprang upon him in
snarling indignation. Then he dis
covered his mistake and tried to
| placate her. But she proceeded to
punish him roundly, until he gave
over all attempts at placation, and
whirled in a circle, his head away
from her, his shoulders receiving the
punishment of her teeth.
| In the meantime the rabbit danced
| oh n a n Sha-wOlf
sat down in the snow, and old Eye
Eye, now more in fear of his mate
than of the mysterious sapling, again
I sprang for the rabbit AS he sank
kept his eye on the sapling. AS be-
fore, it followed him back to earth.
He crouched down under the impend-
ing blow. his hair bristling. but his
teeth still keeping tight hold of the
rabbit. But the blow did not fall.
The sapling remained bent above
him. When he moved it moved, and
he growled at it through his clenched
jaws; when he remained still, 1t re-
maiRed still, and he concluded it was
safter to continue remaining still.
| Yet the warm blood OF the rabbit
tasted good in his mouth.
1t was his mate who relieved him
from the Quandary in which he found
| himself. She took the rabbit from
him. and while the sapling swayed
she calmly gnawed off the rabbits
head. At once the sapling shot up,
and after that gave no more trouble.
remaining in the decorous and per-
pendicular position in which nature
had intended it to grow. Then, be-
| tween them, the she-wolf and One
Eye devoured. the game which the
mysterious sapling had caught for
him.
There were other run-ways and al
| leys where rabbits were hanging in
the air, and the wolf-pair pros
pected them all, the she-wolf lead
ing the way, old One Eye following
and observant. learning the method
Of robbins snares-a knowledge des-
tined to stand him in good stead in
/ the days to come.