75 
The Way of the Wolf 
Soon the big snowflakes were whirling in the air, 
busily weaving a soft white winding-sheet for the 
autumn which was passing away. And truly it had 
been a good time for the wolf cubs, as for most wild 
animals; and they had grown large and strong with 
their fat feeding, and wise with their many experiences. 
The ducks and geese vanished, driving southward ahead 
of the fierce autumn gales, and only the late broods of 
hardy eiders were left for a little season. Herring and 
caplin had long since drifted away into unknown 
depths, where the tides flowed endlessly over them and 
brought never a one ashore. Hares and ptarmigans 
turned white to hide on the snow, so that wolf and fox 
would pass close by without seeing them. Wood-mice 
pushed their winding tunnels and made their vaulted 
play rooms deep under the drifts, where none might 
molest nor make them afraid; and all game grew wary 
and wild, learning from experience, as it always does, 
that only the keen can survive the fall hunting. So the 
long winter, with its snow and ice and its bitter cold 
and its grim threat of famine, settled heavily over 
Harbor Weal and the Long Range where Wayeeses 
must find his living. 
