Kagax the Bloodthirsty. 45 



But Kagax never heeded. His whole being seemed 

 to be concentrated in the point of his nose. He 

 followed like a bloodhound to the top of the second 

 spruce, sniffed here and there till he caught the scent 

 of Meeko's passage through the air, ran to the end 

 of a branch in the same direction and leaped to the 

 ground, landing not ten feet from the spot where 

 the squirrel had struck a moment before. There he 

 picked up the trail, followed over logs and rocks to 

 the maple, up to the third branch, and across fifty 

 yards of intervening branches to the giant spruce 

 where his victim sat half paralyzed, watching from 

 his crevice. 



Here Kagax was more deliberate. Left and right, 

 up and down he went with deadly patience, from the 

 lowest branch to the top, a hundred feet above, follow- 

 ing every cross and winding of the trail. A dozen 

 times he stopped, went back, picked up the fresher 

 trail, and went on again. A dozen times he passed 

 within a few feet of his victim, smelling him strongly, 

 but scorning to use his eyes till his nose had done its 

 perfect work. So he came to the last turn, followed 

 the last branch, his nose to the bark, straight to 

 the crevice under the broken branch, where Meeko 

 crouched shivering, knowing it was all over. 



There was a cry, that no one heeded in the woods ; 



