BIRTH AND INFANT DAYS 9 



budding lilies, until, suddenly, she lunged forward 

 and the water took her, buoying her up as it did 

 the beavers. Nothing but her head showed above 

 the smooth surface. She was undoubtedly moving 

 away from the islet, away from the calf Frantically 

 he ran to and fro amid the moist grasses of the 

 shore bleating, bleating piteously. But the swim- 

 mer did not seem to hear or heed his cries, and 

 presently the distance between the cow and the 

 stretch of country where the big trees grew, and 

 over which Keneu in his eyrie kept vigilant watch, 

 diminished to nothing. 



She was high in the water now, and the calf, 

 with wonderment in his pathetic eyes, saw his 

 mother shake herself free of the lagoon and com- 

 mence climbing the steepness of the opposite bank. 

 Just for a moment she stood on its summit, a mere 

 speck against the fretted silhouette of dark trees 

 behind her. Then, like a grey wraith, she vanished 

 into the waiting shadows. 



Would she ever come back ? the calf asked him- 

 self broken-heartedly. And if she did not, what 

 would become of him ? His idea of browsing was 

 as yet but an idea ; the sprouting stems of the larch 

 and willows were too tough for him to tackle, and his 



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