They wrinkle their pointed noses and lick 

 262 / l 



- . M their chops at the good smell in the air; 



//fui/a/t vm mm* \\izy open their jaws in a great hungry yawn, 



L UfllJI f/g " J*' showing their red gums and their sharp 



white teeth. They are not beggars, — oh, 

 no ! — these gaunt, light-footed bandits that 

 with the crows and moose-birds follow Pe- 

 quam, as a horde of hungry mouths always 

 follow a shark at sea. Sharers of the feast are 

 they, guests from the byways and hedges, to 

 whom every smell is an invitation. Never 

 a word is said; but one sits behind the mas- 

 ter of the feast and makes his jaws crack 

 suggestingly ; the others move around and 

 yawn prodigiously in his face, telling him 

 politely to hurry up and eat quickly, so that 

 the real feast may begin. 



The very sight of these hungry, yawning, 

 exasperating fellows rouses Pequam's temper 

 like poking a stick at him. He rushes at 

 the nearest fox to annihilate him ; but Elee- 

 mos turns and floats away lightly through 

 the woods, as if the breeze were blowing 

 him. Try as desperately as he will with his 

 short legs, Pequam can never get any nearer 



