7 he cows and fawns seemed gentle and 

 harmless enough, though their very numbers 

 filled the young wolves with a certain awe. 

 After their first lesson it would have been 

 easy enough for the cubs to have killed all 

 they wanted and to grow fat and lazy as the 

 bears, which were now stuffing themselves 

 before going off to sleep for the winter ; but 

 the old mother wolf held them firmly in 

 check, for with plenty of small game every- 

 where, all wolves are minded to go quietly 

 about their own business and let the caribou 

 follow their own ways. When October came 

 it brought the big stags into the open, — 

 splendid, imposing beasts, with swollen necks 

 and fierce red eyes and long white manes 

 tossing in the wind. Then the wolves had 

 to stand aside ; for the stags roamed over 

 all the land, pawing the moss in fury, bellow- 

 ing their hoarse challenge, and charging like 

 a whirlwind upon every living thing that 

 crossed their paths. 



When the mother wolf, with her cubs at 

 heel, saw one of these big furies at a distance 

 she would circle prudently to avoid him. 



9; 



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