Kagax the Bloodthirsty. 51 



most vicious thing in the woods. He stole forward 

 at last and put his nose to the foot of the leaning tree. 

 Two fresh trails went out ; none came back. Kagax 

 followed them far enough to be sure that both martens 

 were away hunting ; then he turned and ran like a 

 flash up the incline and into the den. 



In a moment he came out, licking his chops greedily. 

 Inside, the young martens lay just as they had been 

 left by the mother; only they began to grow very 

 cold. Kagax ran to the great spruce, along a branch 

 into another tree ; then to the ground by a dizzy jump. 

 There he ran swiftly for a good half hour in a long 

 diagonal down towards the lake, crisscrossing his trail 

 here and there as he ran. 



Once more his night's hunting began, with greater 

 zeal than before. He was hungry now; his nose 

 grew keen as a brier for every trail. A faint smell 

 stopped^ him, so faint that the keenest-nosed dog or 

 fox would have passed without turning, the smell of 

 a brooding partridge on her eggs. There she was, 

 among the roots of a pine, sitting close and blend- 

 ing perfectly with the roots and the brown needles. 

 Kagax moved like a shadow ; his nose found the bird ; 

 before she could spring he was on her back, and his 

 teeth had done their evil work. Once more he tasted 

 the fresh brains with keen relish. He broke all the 



