Upweekis the Shadow. 121 



spring all together. He broke away from that, but the 

 three-legged gallop speedily exhausted him. Only 

 when he trots is a caribou tireless. The lynxes fol- 

 lowed; the deadly cat-play began again. First one, 

 then another leaped, only to be shaken off ; then two, 

 then all five were upon the poor brute, which still 

 struggled forward. The record was written red all 



OO 



over the snow. 



As I followed it cautiously, a snarl sounded just 

 ahead. I kicked off my snowshoes and circled noise- 

 lessly to the left, so as to look out over a little opening. 

 There lay the stripped carcass of the caribou with two 

 lynxes still upon it, growling fearfully at each other as 

 they pulled at the bones. Another lynx crouched in 

 the snow, under a bush, watching the scene. Two 

 others circled about each other snarling, looking for 

 an opening, but too well fed to care for a fight just 

 then. Two or three foxes, a pine marten, and a fisher 

 moved ceaselessly in and out, sniffing hungrily, and 

 waiting for a chance to seize every scrap of bone or 

 skin that was left unguarded for an instant. Above 

 them a dozen moose birds kept the same watch 

 vigilantly. As I stole nearer, hoping to get behind an 

 old log where I could lie and watch the spectacle, 

 some creature scurried out of the underbrush at one 

 side. I was watching the movement, when a loud 



