THE FOREST KING 161 



birds, any small furred or feathered thing, all were 

 fish to his fine-meshed net. When bringing in 

 food for his mate, the beast trotted crouchingly 

 along the path by the stream ; but when he 

 emerged to hunt again, he stole forth with his head 

 turned obliquely, one ear forward and the other 

 back. 



And so on to the summer's day, when the she- 

 wolf brought six whelps to drink at the water's 

 edge, and the moose, standing unafraid, but with 

 a sinking at his heart as he thought of the winter 

 ahead, saw them learn to lap, and how to conceal 

 unwanted portions of food by shovelling a hole in 

 the earth with their noses. The malamutes at the 

 post had enough of the dog in them to bury 

 treasure by the aid of their paws. It was curious 

 that their cousins of the wilderness should prefer 

 their noses. 



Day after day the lessons went on. Had 

 Moosewa been a wolf himself, he could not have 

 understood more clearly that it is never safe to 

 quit cover without the quick right and left glance, 

 or to leave cover to windward. Wise wolves, who 

 know their wild thoroughly, slink along its margin 

 until the open wind sweeps towards them. 



21 



