20 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
mountain ledges, and went on again at night with 
renewed energy. Swiftfoot’s tail had quite 
healed by now, his coat was thick and soft, his 
wind was good, he had attained his full size, meas- 
uring four feet, nine inches from nose to tail, and 
the prospect of deer meat spurred him on, some- 
times ahead of his little pack. He was even 
thinking of disputing the leadership with Fang. 
The hunting was so good, in fact, that they didn’t 
get much farther south that season. There came 
a day when the deep snow on the mountains be- 
gan to get very wet and heavy, and like rock salt. 
The brooks roared down over the rocks. In the 
valleys below they could see great stretches of 
bare earth, and men moving about. The sun was 
hotter day by day, and one’s fur got damp and 
sticky from the sloshy snow. 
Then Swiftfoot grew unaccountably restless, 
and so did his two companions. It wasn’t that he 
wanted to hunt. He didn’t quite know what he 
wanted, but it angered him to see Fang and Soft- 
fur together, and once he even sprang at Fang. 
But Fang knew his rights, and fought for them, 
and Swiftfoot withdrew, nursing a torn throat 
