198 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
strange iron thing, which was chained fast to a 
log drag and resisted ‘all her frantic tugs and 
lurches. Helpless and terrified, he and the chil- 
dren stayed by her, watching her agonized and 
pathetic efforts to free herself, till at length they 
heard a dog bay, and, as the dog drew near, the 
crack of undergrowth from a man’s steps. 
Brownie could have handled the dog, he knew, 
but a man was a different proposition. To save 
the children, he had to lead them rapidly down 
the trail to the brook. Behind him, far off, just 
as the three plunged to safety, he heard a faint 
ery from his mate—and then the yelp of a dog— 
and silence. 
It was very lonely under the ice that winter for 
Brownie, in spite of the two young ones. They 
were getting full grown now, every hour, and 
needed no care. Toward spring they began to 
wander off, as young folks will, and leave him 
quite alone. He, too, went off by himself, though 
never back over the long trail. That way he 
never wanted to take again. Finally, even the 
taste of salmon paled. He grew more lonely and 
more restless. Both children had disappeared. 
