Noel, he remembered with regret that he was 



. 43 



too small at the time to use the long bow _ „ , _ 



u- ui -i i • uvf / NoeLand 



which he now carried on his rabbit and goose k MhsiJka 



hunts ; and as he took it from the wall, thrum- 

 ming its chord of caribou sinew and fingering 

 the sharp edge of a long arrow, he was hoping 

 for just such another winter, longing to try 

 his skill and strength on some of these mid- 

 night prowlers — a lynx, perhaps, not to begin 

 too largely on a polar bear. So there was no 

 fear at all, but only an eager wonder, when 

 they followed up the brook next day to watch 

 at the wolf's den. And even when Noel found 

 a track, a light oval track, larger but more 

 slender than a dog's, in some moist sand close 

 beside their own footprints and evidently fol- 

 lowing them, they remembered only the young 

 wolf that had followed Tomah and pressed on 

 the more eagerly. 



Day after day they returned to their watch- 

 tower on the fiat rock, under the dwarf 

 spruce at the head of the brook, and lying 

 there side by side they watched the play of 

 the young wolf cubs. Every day they grew 

 more interested as the spirit of play entered 



