270 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



went abroad without my gun, I nearly always had cause 

 to regret it. 



But bears are not the only animals that I have 

 surprised, and that have shown an overwhelmed astonish- 

 ment at my sudden appearance. My habit of moving 

 cautiously about, and lying concealed in the woods that 

 I might watch the habits of the birds, has brought me 

 into some strange adventures and revealed some curious 

 sights, for animals, like men, behave very differently 

 when watched from what they do when they think no 

 eye is upon them. And if it is objected that animals 

 indulge in ways and habits in the presence of man that 

 show a carelessness of his opinion, or a lack of bashful- 

 ness before him, I have simply to say that I have seen 

 savage men, and some who do not consider themselves 

 savages, behave with quite as little sense of decency as 

 any brute. But to get back to the surprise of animals 

 at suddenly encountering man. 



While we were staying in these woods I one day 

 came right on a wolf. I had moved so softly that it 

 is evident that the animal did not wake from its sleep 

 until I almost trode upon it. It sprang up with a savage 

 growl, but then stood quite still, gazing on me with a 

 dazed look. While I remained motionless the wolf did 

 the same, and thus we stood for fully a minute, staring 

 at each other. The instant, however, that I attempted 

 to bring my gun to the shoulder it dashed off, uttering 

 a snappy cry. Not quickly enough, however. I shot it 

 before it had gone twenty paces. It was a very old and 

 lanky animal, quite grey about the muzzle, and was 

 probably a sort of outcast from its horde. I have found 

 other old wolves, living solitarily, and I feel sure that 

 they are individuals which have been expelled from the 

 common herd. It seems to be a habit of all gregarious 

 mammals to expel certain members from their society, 

 sometimes on account of age, but more frequently it 

 would seem because they are " rogues " or " black sheep." 



