Part 6 (1/2)

A quarter of a mile away Miki had heard the clamour of the crows But he was in no huuessed that Neeas in need of his help He was hungry fro and, for the present, his disposition had taken a decided turn He was in a , but he was a good e before he found even a crawfish

He crunched this down, shell and all It helped to take the bad taste out of his mouth

The day was destined to hold for hiettable event in his life Now that he was alone the ue as it had been yesterday, and the days before Brain-pictures cathened into afternoon, bridging slowly but surely the gulf that Neewa's co thrill of his adventure was gone Half a dozen ti back to Neewa It was hunger that always drove him on a little farther He found two more crawfish Then the creek deepened and its water ran slowly, and was darker Twice he chased old rabbits, that got away fro a young one Frequently a partridge rose with a thunder of wings He saw moose-birds, and jays, and many squirrels All about him was meat which it was impossible for hi his head into the end of a hollow log he cornered a rabbit so co the next few ed in the first square meal he had eaten for three days

So absorbed was he in his feast that he was unconscious of a new arrival on the scene He did not hear the co of Oochak, the fisher-cat; nor, for a few moments, did he smell him It was not in Oochak's nature to make a disturbance He was by birth and instinct a valiant hunter and a gentle wolf) feeding on a fresh kill, he made no move to demand a share for himself Nor did he run away He would undoubtedly have continued on his way very soon if Miki had not finally sensed his presence, and faced hi, and stood not more than six feet distant To one who knew as little of his history as Miki there was nothing at all ferocious about him He was shaped like his cousins, the weazel, the h as Miki, and fully as long, so that his two pairs of short legs seehed between eight and ten pounds, had a bullet head, almost no ears, and atrocious whiskers Also he had a bushy tail and snapping little eyes that seeh whatever he looked at To Miki his accidental presence was a threat and a challenge Besides, Oochak looked like an easy victiht So he pulled back his lips and snarled

Oochak accepted this as an invitation for hientleies by beginning a velvet-footed exit This was too much for Miki, who had yet to learn the etiquette of the forest trails Oochak was afraid of hi away! With a triumphant yelp Miki took after hier brains than Miki's hadalways to his own business, was, for his size and weight, the greatest little fighter in North America

Just what happened in the one minute that followed his assault Miki would never be able quite to understand It was not in reality a fight; it was a one-sided immolation, a massacre His first impression was that he had tackled a dozen Oochaks instead of one Beyond that first impression his mind did not work, nor did his eyes visualize He hipped as he would never be whipped again in his life He was cut and bruised and bitten; he was strangled and stabbed; he was so utterly one he continued to rake the air with his paws, unconscious of the fact that the affair was over

When he opened his eyes, and found hi where he had cornered the rabbit

In there he lay a good half hour, trying hard to co when he dragged hih There were bare spots on his hide where Oochak had scraped the hair off His bones ached, his throat was sore, and there was a luly back over the ”ho shadows of the day's end a great loneliness crept upon hione that way--and he did not want to ain

He wandered a little farther south and east, perhaps a quarter of a looe between the Beaver and the Loon

It was not a trail Only at rare intervals did wandering voyageurs coe from one ay to the other Three or four tiht the scent of ht, so fresh that Miki stopped when he came to it as if another Oochak had risen before hiidity of rock by a single overwhelotten in the fact that he had struck the trail of a man--AND, THEREFORE, THE TRAIL OF CHALLONER, HIS MASTER He began to follow it--slowly at first, as if fearing that it et away fro it In the light of the stars he persisted, all else crowded fro and the desire for a master

At last he came almost to the shore of the Loon, and there he saw the campfire of Makoki and the white man

He did not rush in He did not bark or yelp; the hard schooling of the wilderness had already set its mark upon him He slunk in cautiously--then stopped, flat on his belly, just outside the riht Then he saw that neither of the , as Challoner had smoked He could hear their voices, and they were like Challoner's voice And the ca over it, a tent, and in the air the odours of recently cooked things

Another ht But the white man rose to his feet, stretched himself as he had often seen Challoner stretch, and picked up a stick of wood as big as his arm He came within ten feet of Miki, and Miki wormed himself just a little toward hiht

His eyes were agloith the reflection of the fire And the man saw him

In a flash the club he held was over his head; it swung through the air with the power of a giant arht at Miki Had it struck squarely it would have killed hiainst his neck and shoulder, driving hilooht he had done for hi wolf or a fox, and dashed out into the darkness

The club had knocked Miki fairly into the heart of a thick ground spruce There he lay,no sound, with a terrible pain in his shoulder Between himself and the fire he saw thetoward him with ANOTHER club, and under his shelter he reat dread, for now he understood the truth THESEfor him--with clubs in their hands He knehat the clubs meant His shoulder was almost broken

He lay very still while the men searched about hiround spruce The whitethat he was sure he had made a hit, and once he stood so near that Miki's nose almost touched his boot He went back and added fresh birch to the fire, so that the light of it illureater space about them Miki's heart stood still But the men searched farther on, and at last went back to the fire

For an hour Miki did not move The fire burned itself low The old Cree wrapped himself in a blanket, and the white man went into his tent Not until then did Miki dare to crawl out fro him limp at every step he hurried back over the trail which he had followed so hopefully a little while before The er made his heart beat swiftly with joy It was a et away He would sooner have faced Oochak again, or the owls, than the white ht, but in the club he sensed an overwheled hi in which he had killed the rabbit He crawled into it, and nursed his wounds through all the rest of the hours of darkness In the earlyhe came out and ate the rest of the rabbit

After that he faced the north and west--where Neeas There was no hesitation now He wanted Neewa again He wanted to h he did srunt and squeal in his funny, coain, and play with him, and lie down beside him in a sunny spot and sleep Neewa, at last, was a necessary part of his world

He set out

And Neewa, far up the creek, still followed hopefully and yearningly over the trail of Miki

Half way to the dip, in a slory of sun, they reat demonstration They stopped and looked at each other for a runted Miki wagged his tail They smelled noses Neewa responded with a little squeal, and Miki whined It was as if they had said,