Evening star., 1924-08-04
.tcontinued from Yesterdays Starr


The hair bristled up on the gray
cubs back, but it bristled silently.
How was he to know that this thing
that shifted was a thing at which to
bristle? 1t was not born of any
knowledge of his, yet it was the Wis
. ible expression of the fear that was
in him, and for which, in his own
life, there was no accounting. But
fear was accompanied by another in
Stinct-that of concealment. The cub
was in frenzy of terror, yet he lay
without movement of sound, frozen,
petrified into immobility, to all ap-
pearanceS dead. His mother, coming
home, growled as she smelt the VOL
VerineS track, and bounded into the
cave and licked and nozzled him with
undue vehemence of affection. And
the cub felt that somehow he had
escaped a great hurt.
But there were other forces at work
in the cub, the greatest of which was
growth Instinct and law demanded
of him obedience But growth de-
n1anded disobedience. His mother
and fear impelled him to keep away
from the white wall Growth is life
and life is forever destined to make
for light So there was no damming
up the tide of life that was rising
within him-rising with every mouth
full of meat he swallowed, with every
breath he drew. In the end, one day
fear and obedience were swept away
by the rush of life, and the cub strad-
died and sprawled toward the en-
trance.
Unlike any other wall with which
he had had experience, this wall
seemed to- recede from him as he ap-
preached. No hard surface collded
with the tender little nose he thrust
out tentatively before him. The sub
stance of the wall seemed a perme-
able and yielding as light. And as
condition, in his eyes, had the seem
Ing form, so he entered into what had
been wall to him and bathed in the
substance that composed it.
1t was bewildering. He was sprawl
ing through solidity. And ever the
light grew brighter. Fear urged him
TO go back, but growth drove him on
Suddenly he found himself at the
mouth of the cave. The wall, inside
which he had thought himself, as sud-
denly leaped back before him to an
!nmeasurable distance. The light
had become painfully bright. He
was dazzled by it. Likewise he was
made dizzy by this abrupt and tre-
mendous extension of space. Auto
natcally, his eyes were adjusting
themselves to the brightness. focus
ing themselves to meet the Increased
distance of objects. At first, the wall
had leaped beyond his vision He now
saw 1t again; but it had taken upon
itself remarkable remoteness. Also.
It's appearance had changed. 1t was
now variegated wall, composed of
the trees that fringed the stream.
tne opposing mountain that lowered
above the trees. and the sky that out
lowered the mountain
- "A great fear came upon him. This
was more of the terrible unknown.
ae crouched down on the lip of the
cave and gazed out on the world He
was very much afraid. Because 1t
was unknown, it was hostile to him.
therefore the hair stood up on end
along his back and his lips wrinkled
weakly in an attempt at a ferociouS
and intimidating snarl. out of his
punlneSS and fright he challenged and
n1enaced the whole wide world.
Nothing happened. He continued to
gaze. and in his interest he forgot to
snarl. Also, he forgot to be, afraid
For the time, fear had been routed
by growth. while growth had assum-
cd the guise of curiosity. He began
20 notice near objects-an open por-
uon OF the stream that flashed in the
sun, the blasted pine tree that stood
At the base of the slope, and the slope
Itself, that ran right up to him and
ceased two feet beneath the lip OF
one cave on which he crouched.
Now the gray cub had lived all his
days on a level floor. He had never
experienced the hurt of a fall. He
dld not know what a fall was So
ne stepped boldly out upon the air
HIS hind-legs still rested on the cave
lip, so he fell forward head down
ward. The earth struck him a
marsh blow on the nose that made
him yelp Then he began rolling
down the slope, over and over. He
was in panic of terror. The un-
known had caught him at last 1t
had gripped savagely hold of him and
was about to wreak upon him some
terrlhc hurt Growth was now
routed by fear, and he ki-yi'd like
any frightened puppy
The unknown bore him on he knew
not to what frightful hurt, and he
yelped and ki-yi'd INCREASINGLY. This
was a different proposition from
crouching in frozen fear while the
unknown lurked just alongside Now
the unknown had caught tight hold
OF him. Silence would do no good Be-
sides 1T was not fear, but terror
that convulsed him.
But the slope grew more gradual,
and its base was grass-covered
Here the cub lost momentum When
at last he came to a stop. he gave
one last agonized yelp and then a
long, Whimpering wall. Also, and