and spare them, especially in the moonlight. 

 So they lay there making plans and dreaming 



dreams, gentle or savage, for the little cubs MV&l&/*& 



i i B AtOOnfi 



that played with the feathers and grasshop- 

 pers and cloud shadows, all unconscious that J. 

 any eyes but their mother's saw or cared for 

 their wild, free playing. 



Something bothered the old she-wolf in 

 these days of watching. The den was still 

 secure, for no human foot had crossed the 

 deep ravine or ventured nearer than the 

 opposite hilltop. Her nose told her that 

 unmistakably ; but still she was uneasy, and 

 whenever the cubs were playing she felt, 

 without knowing why, that she was being 

 watched. When she trailed over all the 

 ridges in the twilight, seeking to know if 

 enemies had been near, she found always the 

 scent of two human beings on a flat rock 

 under the dwarf spruces; and there were 

 always the two trails coming up and going 

 down the brook. She followed once close 

 behind the two children, seeing them plainly 

 all the way, till they came in sight of the 

 little cabin under the cliff, and from the door 



