WHERE THE WAYS DIVIDE 235 



weirdness of the forest and the witchery of the 

 night, down open glades, Ut with shafts of silver 

 glory, beneath slanting shadows falling athwart the 

 eerie spaces, far out beyond the bend of the river, 

 and there he stopped to allot positions. 



Instead of giving the call in the open, as one 

 always sees it in pictures, the hunchback set himself 

 about four feet away fi'om the largest tree in his 

 vicinity, a huge holed hemlock, and as the grunting, 

 sighing, coughing roar struck against the tree-stem, 

 the sound broke up and rang through the woods, 

 broken, realistic, the actual insolent challenge of a 

 forest monarch spoiling for a fight. Again and 

 again the ringing call, full of pulsating life, an 

 imperious summons, afire with furious throbbing 

 passion. 



Lying half asleep in thick underwood, Moosewa 

 heard the lure echo down the aisles. It wakened 

 him and thrilled through his veins like a song. 

 Listening, he caught the throb of the wild, harsh 

 call again. A tingling, as of fire, ran up and down 

 his spine. He rose to his feet stiffly and waited. 



The call once more. And all in the world, save 

 two or three nocturnal hunters, who did not count, 

 slept. What did it mean ? 



