221 



Small doubt now that I had seen my 

 assailant of the night before ; for an owl 

 has regular hunting grounds, and uses the 7(qoAooskoos 

 same watchtowers night after night. He had 

 seen my head in the thicket, and struck at 

 the first movement. Perceiving his mistake, 

 he kept straight on over my head ; so of 

 course there was nothing in sight when I 

 turned. As an owl's flight is perfectly noise- 

 less, I had heard nothing, though he passed 

 close enough to strike, and I was listening 

 intently. And so another mystery of the 

 woods was made plain by a little watching. 



Years afterwards, the knowledge gained 

 stood me in good stead in clearing up 

 another mystery. It was in a lumber camp 

 — always a superstitious place — in the heart 

 of a Canada forest. I had followed a wan- 

 dering herd of caribou too far, one day, and 

 late in the afternoon found myself alone at a 

 river, some twenty miles from camp. Some- 

 where above me I knew that a crew of lum- 

 bermen were at work ; so I headed up river 

 to find their camp, if possible, and avoid 

 sleeping out in the snow and bitter cold. It 



