STEPPING-STONES 29 



to slay the largest of the bush people so simply. 

 Round about his sinewy body he wore a long coat 

 made of caribou skin, and decorated most in- 

 geniously round the hem by bits of vari-coloured 

 furs let in. 



The two-legged conqueror flayed his victim, and 

 then, cutting off a choice bit of meat — that which 

 lies alongside the back-bone — he turned down the 

 trail, carrying his load on his shoulder. With a 

 gesture of authority he ordered Apukwa to heel, 

 never doubting but that she would obey. And 

 the wolf followed. The impelling air of the man, 

 though he was smaller far than the caribou, the 

 bear, or the moose, spoke with a force as mighty 

 in its way as the thunder or the rain. 



And as they went Apukwa watched the limit- 

 less freedom of her new leader's gait. He walked 

 as though the whole world lay beneath his moc- 

 casined feet, and it was wholly his ! 



It was of his walk she spoke most, as she told 

 her story to the survivors of the once great wolf 

 pack, standing at the aperture in the rough hut of 

 skins belonging to her master. 



" He moves," she said, " like us — like the bush 

 people. Like this !" And loping forward a few 



