65 
The Way of the Wolf 
amazement at the strange thing, which they had never 
seen before. Shy and wild as he naturally is, a duck, like 
a caribou or a turkey, must take a peek 'at every new 
thing. Now silent, now gabbling all together, the flock 
would veer and scatter and draw together again, and 
finally swing in toward the shore, every neck drawn 
straight as a string the better to see what was going 
on. Nearer and nearer they would come, till a swift 
rush out of the grass sent them off headlong, splash¬ 
ing and quacking with crazy clamor. But one or two 
always stayed behind with the wolves to pay the price 
of curiosity. 
Then there were the young geese, which gathered 
in immense flocks in the shallow bays, preparing and 
drilling for the autumn flight. Late in the afternoon 
the old mother wolf with her cubs would steal down 
through the woods, hiding and watching the flocks, 
and following them stealthily as they moved along the 
shore. At night the great flock would approach a sand¬ 
bar, well out of the way of rocks and brush and every¬ 
thing that might hide an enemy, and go to sleep in 
close little family groups on the open shore. As the 
night darkened four shadows would lengthen out from 
the nearest bank of shadows, creeping onward to the 
sand-bar with the slow patience of the hours. A rush, a 
startled honk! a terrific clamor of wings and throats 
and smitten water. Then the four shadows would rise 
