34 



~Woe/ 

 andMooka 



" Ooooo ! " from Mooka. 

 " Cubs ; keep still ! " from Noel. 

 And shrinking close to the rock under a 

 friendly dwarf spruce they lay still as two 

 rabbits, watching with round eyes, eager but 

 unafraid, the antics of three brown wolf cubs 

 that were chasing the flies and tumbling over 

 some invisible plaything before the door of 

 the den. 



Hardly had they made the discovery when 



the old wolf slipped down from the rock and 



stood for an instant over her little ones. Why 



the play should stop now, while the breeze 



was still their comrade and the sunshine was 



brighter than ever, or why they should steal 



away into the dark den more silently than 



they had come, none of the cubs could tell. 



Vv^ .'. ' -J They felt the order and they obeyed instantly 



■Ahi-i,' ■( — an d that is always the wonder of 



watching little wild things at play. 



ft . The old mother wolf vanished among 



S||jyK the rocks and appeared again higher 



%', on the ridge, turning her head uneasily 



j to try every breeze and rustle and 



moving shadow. Then she 





l+s~~~^ 



