36 SEEKING THE SANDHILL CRANE 



moving porcupine, feeding among the branches 

 of a poplar tree, and a brooding spruce grouse 

 which we flushed from beneath an alder tree, 

 where six eggs reposed on a shallow gathering 

 of dead brown leaves. 



Over the evening camp fire we were forced to 

 wonder if, after all, we had made a mistake, and 

 were to suffer the disappointment of an error of 

 judgment. Joe, no longer actively young, was 

 feeling tired and stiff after the long day on the 

 trail, and was plainly sceptical and inclined to 

 be disheartened and give up. I, on my part, was 

 prepared to doubt my judgment of the day before 

 — the bird, after all, might have been a solitary 

 one without mate or settled haunt, an outlaw 

 male roving broadcast where it willed, free and 

 restless as the four winds of the wilderness. 



In the early morning, while the dew yet lay 

 white on the undergrowth, and mists lay cloud- 

 like over the muskegs in the hollows, we were 

 out of our blankets and preparing to strike 

 camp. 



We had decided to give up : to go back to the 

 canoe, and continue on the long north trail. 



We were eating our hasty breakfast — tea, 

 bannock, and a slice or two of fried salt pork — 

 when suddenly we both started to our feet, each, 

 in excitement, exclaiming quite needlessly " Lord ! 

 what was that ? " as clearly and closely the call of 

 the lost crane vibrated through the morning 

 stillness. The sound came from the north-east, 

 no distance ahead. Astonishment and delight 

 lit up our faces ; though the incident decisively 

 showed us how near we had been to utter fools, in 



