8 The Big Bison

The temptation to stay a while beside the new lake was so strong that Roka yielded to it. He reflected that, after all, there was no real reason why they should hurry, and, if his young warriors had plenty of food and rest, they would have more strength and endurance for the great hardships and dangers which were surely before them. The fish in the lake, of fine quality, were caught easily, and as they had foreseen, the wild ducks and wild geese fairly swam into their snares. Deer were to be shot when they came down to drink, but the young men kept out of the forest, of which they had seen enough for a while.

Roka and Pehansan put their heads together, and decided to employ the time in the further training of their young warriors, especially with the tomahawk and the bow. They were very fortunate in their tomahawks, which were of the finest steel, and they practiced for hours at a time in throwing them at trees, gradually increasing the distance. They acquired such skill that at ten paces or so they could plant ten tomahawks side by side deep in the trunk. But Pehansan could throw the tomahawk with deadly certainty at the greatest range. It was a sight to see him hurl his weapon and clip off a small bough, as cleanly as if it had been done by a saw.

So, first place with the tomahawk was willingly yielded to the Crane, who had the longest arm, which perhaps gave him superior skill, but leadership with the bow and arrow long remained in doubt. There was a certain artifice in bending the bow with the most power at a given moment, and all the Sioux had practiced it from earliest childhood. Hence Will in the beginning had been last in archery, despite the fact that he possessed the finest bow, but during the testing period he improved rapidly.

The Sioux, like other Indians of the plains, discharged their arrows with great accuracy and power, but at short distances. Their range did not approach that habitual to the English long bowmen of the Middle Ages, but in their stay by the lake they sought to acquire distance, chiefly due to the suggestion of Will, who had read about the great archery of white men before gunpowder came into use. Both Roka and Pehansan thought the idea good and gradually they lengthened the range.

As they had planted their tomahawks side by side in the trunk of a tree, so they now sank their arrows in a cluster in the same tree at a distance eight or ten times as great. They also shot at the stems of small bushes and once Inmu achieved a marvelous feat. Standing upon the shore of the lake with his arrow on the string and his finger on the arrow he watched until a fish sprang above the water snapping at a fly or a gnat, and so sure was his eye and so quick his aim that he transfixed the fish before it fell back into the water.

Nobody else was able to equal the Lynx’s exploit, although most of them tried it many times. Hoton came very near it once, and was quite sure that his arrow had grazed the fish.

“If I could only find a slow fish like the one Inmu shot,” he said philosophically, “I could send my arrow through him without any trouble. But all the fish that leap for me come up with great speed and go down with speed even greater. So it shows as great skill on my part to graze one as it did on Inmu’s part to send an arrow through the body of his.”

“Why, O Crow?” asked the pious Tarinca, “are your fish so much swifter in the leap than that of Inmu?”

“The reason is very simple, Tarinca, so simple that I am surprised you should ask it. They know that I, Hoton, the ready, Hoton, the great archer, am watching for them. An old, wise fish, that does not come up at all, says to the others, the young and the daring that are quick to take risks: ‘If you leap into the outer air go and return with the speed of lightning, because Hoton is watching for you. I see him on the bank with his bow and arrow ready, and the danger is very great. He is the finest archer in the world. You need not pay much attention to the others, but watch him always. When the arm of Hoton draws back the bow dart down for your lives, my children, because only in that way can you save yourselves from him.’ So, my comrades, the wise old chief of the fish talks, and you do not have his skill and cunning against you as I have them against me.”

Nevertheless the prize was awarded by a hair’s breadth to Inmu. All the others shot so close behind him that it was impossible to distinguish between them. Hoton, with generous warmth, congratulated Inmu on his official victory. As for himself, he said, he was cumbered with laurels and one more could not mean much to him, while it meant a very great deal to Inmu. He had been kept out of first place through the conspiracy of the fish, but conscious of surpassing merit and of his own approval he was content.

Roka also ordered a third exercise, in which, however, he and Pehansan did not share, acting instead as directors and judges. They had the eight younger warriors, starting from Roka and Pehansan, who sat on a little knoll, to race all the way around the lake, a full mile, broken, too, by rough ground and occasional bushes. It was a test of both wind and limb, and it aroused the greatest emulation. The first race was won by the pious Tarinca, and the second by Capa, Hoton finishing second on each occasion. But Will, proving that white blood with similar training was equal to any, won the third, and gradually established a superiority which he kept, receiving the prize, which consisted of words of approval from Roka and Pehansan. Hoton again offered congratulations.

“I could have won had I wished,” he said in his best grand manner to Will, “but as I saw that you had a chance I wished that you instead should take the prize. As you had the misfortune to be born white instead of red I thought it but fair to help you in this way.”

“Thanks for the encouragement, Hoton,” laughed Will. “It was kind of you and I sha’n’t forget it.”

They saw nothing of the wild animals until the fifth night by the lake when they hung the body of a deer that they had killed and dressed to the bough of a tree near the camp. The next morning it was gone and they found the tracks of a wolf under the bough. As the deer had been hung high to keep it out of reach of marauders they were quite certain that only the monstrous king wolf could have pulled it down, thus giving a new proof that he had no intention of abandoning their trail. They followed his traces some distance into the forest, a very clear path, as he had dragged the body of the deer with him, but the jungle becoming extremely dense they deemed it best to turn back, lest they walk into some kind of ambush.

Refreshed and feeling themselves stronger than ever, they pushed on anew toward the high mountains which were yet so distant that they seemed scarcely to have come any nearer in the last four or five days. Will knew, therefore, that the elevation of the ranges must be very great, and he looked for a hazardous passage across them, knowing that however pleasant it might be in the lowlands where they now were they would have to encounter once more vast fields of snow and ice. But for the present their way was easy, leading through a parklike forest, a great relief after their days in the thick northern jungle.

The next night they built their fire under a vaulted dome of young leaves that swept far over their heads, and, at twilight, they heard the fierce howling of wolves not far away. Roka listened attentively and then said:

“It is a chase, but they are not on our trail. It is a pack in full cry after game, a deer most likely. Such wolves as we find up here could pull down the great moose himself.”

Will’s blood quivered a little as he listened to the ferocious hunting cry. The old, primeval world came back once more. They had entered open forest again, but it was filled, nevertheless, with great, devouring beasts, and he was devoutly glad that he had such valiant comrades around him, and a big fire before him.

Roka divided the night into two watches, Will with the young warrior, Tatokadan, keeping the second, beginning it shortly after midnight. The fire no longer blazed up, but there was a great mass of glowing coals, which they had no intention of letting die out, as fire was now their great protection in the night against prowling beasts.

The wind sang softly overhead in the leafy vault, but Will and Tatokadan were watchful. They were not to be lulled by soothing sounds into any neglect of duty, and when they had been on post about an hour they heard voices above them which they were sure were not caused by the moving of air among the leaves.

“What do you think it is, Tatokadan?” asked Will, trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes.

The young Dakota, relying more upon ear than eye, waited awhile before replying.

“I think it is great birds,” he said, at last, “flying above us, angry at our presence here, and trying to tell just what we are. Listen with all your might, Waditaka, and see if you do not hear the movement of wings.”

“I think I do, Tatokadan. We were attacked by fierce birds once before, as you remember, and they may be planning for a second rush upon us.”

“Perhaps. Not used to men they do not know we are creatures that have arrows and that arrows are sharp.”

“It’s a pity it’s so dark against that roof of leaves. If it wasn’t we might make ’em out.”

“Look a little to the right, Waditaka, and you will behold an open place where the leaves of two trees fail to meet. The sky beyond it is bright blue, and, if anything flies there, we shall be sure to see it.”

“And it’s your idea to shoot whatever appears in that patch of open?”

“If we are quick enough we might send up an arrow or two.”

“I think it’s a good plan. We’ll do it.”

Each held his bow ready, the arrow on the string and attentively watched the blue expanse showing between the trees, although they heard the constant whirring of heavy wings in the thick gloom over their heads. It was a difficult task to wait. For all they knew, beaks and talons of steel might be dashed into their faces any moment, but, with the patience of the wild, they held to their task. A full quarter of an hour, and a dark figure appeared against the shield of blue, the outline of a hideous, misshapen bird. Quick as lightning the two shot, and they shot so close together that their arrows flew upward side by side. They heard a harsh scream, the sound of rushing wings and then a thud.

All the warriors were awake and up in an instant, but Tatokadan, snatching a torch from the fire, ran to the place where the body had fallen and disclosed a huge owl, vast beyond any they had ever seen before, still fluttering, but pierced by two arrows. It gazed at them a moment or two with fading eyes full of hate, and then died. Tatokadan pulled out the two arrows.

“It was good shooting,” said Roka, approvingly. “Our practice has made us almost perfect.”

“Do you think it would have attacked us?” asked Will.

“I know not, Waditaka,” replied the leader, “but in this far northern region everything is so fierce and large that we cannot trust in the peacefulness of either bird or beast.”

They left the body where it had fallen, and returned to the fire, Will and Tatokadan resuming the watch, and the others quickly going back to sleep. The two sentinels soon heard a scamper of feet, coming and then going.

“The body of the owl has been taken away,” said Tatokadan. “Wolves or foxes, I know not which, have done it.”

They found the next morning that he was right and the trail leading from the spot where the owl had fallen was that of wolves.

“They may have been watching just beyond the rim of the dark while we were looking at the owl,” said Pehansan. “They are ready alike to eat what we kill or to eat us, whenever they get a chance.”

Yet they had several days of peace, advancing through the open wilderness while the great mountains now came visibly nearer. The ranges were clothed heavily with forest up to the snow line, and the keen eyes of the Dakota detected narrow white ribbons which they were sure were made by rushing streams. All of them were now eager to reach the first slopes and conquer the formidable obstacle lying before them, feeling, too, that when they had scaled those heights they would leave behind them the fierce carnivora that had been such a source of danger.

“When we are on the other side we will hunt the buffalo,” said Hoton, grandly. “I think we shall find the greatest buffalo plains in the world, and, as everything seems to grow larger here, the buffalo will be bigger, too. But I, Hoton, the mighty hunter, will know how to slay them. Do you know, Waditaka, that in the fiercest winter, when no other warrior, no matter how old and experienced, could find the buffalo, I, Hoton, could find them? Perhaps it will be that way with us. When all the rest of the band fail I shall save you from starvation or some other extreme danger.”

“Be sure, Hoton,” said Will, “that while you are hunting the buffalo the buffalo doesn’t hunt you. That fate has happened to the greatest hunters.”

“It is so much the better, Waditaka. Let the biggest of all buffalo bulls come! I welcome him.”

The ground now began to ascend and became very rough, interspersed with knolls and carved by deep ravines. Tracks were abundant, but they saw little game. It seemed to melt away before them, and their supplies of food became scarce Roka finally decided that it was necessary to go in search of it, and he sent out two parties of three each, Will, Inmu and Hoton being in one party.

Will and his comrades went toward the north, soon disappearing in the forest from the view of the others. The wilderness was now less open than it had been for the preceding few days, clumps of bushes appearing here and there, but they were not numerous enough to interfere with their progress. The leafage had increased to a great extent, forming such a roof over their heads that it was quite warm beneath it, and soon the three stopped on a knoll for rest and coolness. They had from that point a splendid view of the mountains which sloped gradually up from where they stood, the sun throwing back gleams from one lofty and glittering sheet of ice which Will was sure was a glacier. They also discovered when they looked back over the way they had come that they had already ascended a considerable slope. They were no longer in the valley proper, but they stood on the foothills leading to the lofty ranges.

The three felt the thrill of great explorers, of the intrepid Spaniards when they looked upon the mighty peaks of Mexico and Peru, and they were eager to scale the heights before them, but they soon brought their minds back to the prosaic task of finding food.

“If there is game here I shall soon discover its trace,” said Hoton.

“Then Waditaka and I will take our ease,” said Inmu. “Call us when you see the sign.”

“Not so, Inmu. I wish you and Waditaka to go on with me, because when I kill the game I will need your help to bring it back. Since I have walked so far I do not intend to kill anything little.”

“Bear in mind what I said about the hunter becoming the hunted,” said Will. “It seems to me in such a country as this we’re more likely to find big game than small. Maybe we’ll meet the wolves or stir up one of the big bears.”

Inmu was gazing intently at a bush on the edge of the knoll.

“What are you looking at so hard, Inmu?” asked Will.

“See the bunch of coarse hair, caught on the bush!”

“I see it now. From what was it taken, a bear or a moose?”

“Neither, Waditaka. That is the hair of the woods or mountain buffalo.”

“Oh, a brother, perhaps, of the big fellow who gave us so much trouble near the village last winter. If he’s around here anywhere I think we’d better let him have the right of way, and hunt something smaller.”

“You show wisdom, Waditaka. We will leave the mountain buffalo alone.”

They noticed the great prints of the animal’s hoofs in the turf, and, following them for a hundred yards, saw that they led up the slope, and then they left them, content, as they had said, for the buffalo to go his own way while they went theirs. They preferred finding young bear to anything else. They had eaten deer so much that they were tired of it, and young bear, cooked in the skillful manner of the Indians, was always succulent.

“I think,” said Hoton, “that the good spirits of the air will guide us to a young bear. We ought to find game sooner than the three who have gone toward the south.”

“Why?” asked Will.

“Because I am one of the three who hunt here. I am a favorite of the good spirits. That is why I am such a fine hunter, and they will give to me the triumph.”

But they did not yet find the trail of bear, nor even of the deer for which they did not care, and as they carried on the search they gradually ascended the slopes leading up toward the high mountains, finding as they proceeded that the clumps of bushes were growing more numerous, and that the ground was seamed and pitted more deeply by ravines and dips.

“A fine place for bear,” said Hoton. “Dens are plentiful in rough, rocky ground like this, and they should be somewhere near it, looking for roots and berries.”

A thicket, larger and denser than usual, lay on their right, and, as they approached it, Will caught a glimpse of something brown, followed by a gleam of sunlight on a polished horn. He was about to call the attention of his comrades to what he had seen, but he did not have time. The wind was blowing directly from the three toward the huge bull buffalo that lay in the thicket nursing his wrath against everything. He was made more angry than ever by the approach of these strange creatures who lay just beyond him in the woods.

The bull, a monster of the mountain or woods species, sprang to his feet, and with a puffing roar, charged. He had been so well concealed in the bushes that he was scarcely twenty feet away when Will caught that glimpse of his hairy coat. Filled with wrath, much larger and far fiercer than his cousin of the plains, he charged head down at the three impertinent intruders upon his rest.

They leaped aside, but he whirled with uncommon agility for so huge a brute, and rushed at them again, puffing forth his wrath and wish for vengeance. The herd, drawn by their leader, came also, trampling down the bushes and rushing forward, a formidable battalion. A kind of madness because the three figures had evaded him, for the moment, seized upon the great bull and his herd shared his wrath. And his anger was excited to a yet greater pitch when he was struck by fiery, shooting pains. Stung into the uttermost fury, he ran after the three figures. One stumbled and fell in front of him, not having time to rise before he was upon it. But the bull, with the instinct of many animals not to trample upon anything strange and unknown, overran the prostrate figure without touching it. When it whirled back, the figure was no longer there. It had leaped up lightly and darted to one side. Two other figures, like the one that had fallen, were uttering menacing shouts in the ears of the bull, and were stinging him with little barbed shafts. His herd was puffing heavily and charging here and there but giving him little real help, until a young bull almost trapped one of the figures in a thicket, and might have trampled it to death, but was turned aside in the very moment of triumph by a shout from another figure. Foolish brute! It did not possess the power of continuity and was diverted from coming triumph by mere sound.

But the herd instinctively began to gather into some kind of order and charged in a semi-circle upon the three figures that were leaping and dancing before it. The big bull was now sure of triumph, but the human creatures began to shout to one another, and suddenly they disappeared from the sight of the bleeding and annoyed leader. He stood for a few moments puffing and panting, and the herd, ranged behind him, puffed and panted also. He was a fierce and terrible sight. A dozen arrows stood out in his body, and, though the wounds were not mortal the pain was frightful. Great red bands of blood appeared on his hairy robe, and he puffed his anger to the whole world.

The rage of the bull was increased by his amazement. The three creatures that had taunted him and stung him with the barbs had vanished suddenly in a manner that was truly mystifying, in a manner that deprived him of all chance for revenge. A shout from above and he saw that the figures were now in trees. Other shouts came quickly and they were taunts. The bull felt them to be so, and he charged madly at the nearest tree, but he only hurt himself and another fiery barb, shooting down, was plunged deep into his shoulder. He drew off and the band drew off with him, the painful darts following them until they were out of range.

But the bull and his herd did not go away. Whenever one of the strange creatures that they now understood to be formidable, began to descend the tree they drew in again, making the full threat of a charge, and then the figure would go back up the tree. It happened over and over again. The rage of the bull was shared in no less measure by all the herd. They stamped and puffed and snorted, but they kept beyond range of the arrows, unless one of the human beings showed signs of coming to the ground. Then they advanced, with the usual result.

Much time passed, leaving the situation unchanged and then the fatal weakness of the wild animal developed. Instinct it possessed to a high degree, but forethought and continuity of action were lacking. The big bull was a monarch of his tribe. He feared nothing. The great moose of the north, even in one of his periodical spells of madness, had no terrors for him, the mighty bear did not care to dispute the way with him, and not until he was so old and decayed that he could no longer walk would the great wolves molest him. But the fierce little barbs in his body stung him. The blood dripped and the flesh around the wounds inflamed. He began to think of a good place he knew where he could wallow in the soft soil and cure his hurts. He had a vivid recollection of that sandy hollow, and the picture of it assumed deeper and more intense colors. The creatures in the trees that he had difficulty in seeing, because he did not look up so high, began to fade from his mind.

Now the break in his continuity of effort occurred. The attraction of the sandy hollow and its pleasures proved overwhelming. The human figures disappeared absolutely, and, uttering a puffing roar, he turned and ran away through the forest. The whole herd, puffing in like fashion, followed the leader, while Will, Inmu and Hoton, feeling immense relief, came down to the ground.

“I frightened them away at last,” said Hoton, in a tone of intense satisfaction. “The great bull lifted his head, stared into my eyes and I stared back so hard that he lowered his tail and took to flight.”

“If that’s so, Hoton,” said Will, “I’m sorry you didn’t stare him down sooner. It’s tiresome work sitting up in a tree. I thought once my end had come when I fell and the great bull rushed upon me. But he went over me without treading upon me, for which I thank the good spirits.”

“I think that the attack of all the great wild animals upon us is about to be renewed,” said Inmu. “The buffalos charged us almost as if they had a plan, and we were not attacking them. Do you think, Hoton, that the king wolf could have been telling them what to do?”

“It is likely,” replied the Crow, looking around with an air of apprehension. “I do not know, Inmu, that a wolf can talk with a buffalo, as I have never seen them do it, but I can well believe it. But if the king wolf and his pack had held us in the trees we know that he would not have gone away. He alone of the great beasts thinks and remembers like a man.”

“And among the rocks and snows of the high ranges that we must cross he’ll have a better chance for ambush,” said Will. “You recall what happened the last time we crossed the mountains. The time has returned when we must be on guard every second of our lives.”

“Truly spoken,” said Hoton, “but it will not keep us from getting our young bear. Look, I have found his trail! Here go bear tracks down the hill, and they are fresh. He must have passed just before the buffaloes attacked us. I knew that I, Hoton, would be the first to find the bear.”

“But you did not find the big bull buffalo that came so near to destroying us,” said Will.

“No, Waditaka, I did not find Pteha (Buffalo) because I was not looking for him. When I look for Pteha I find Pteha and when I look for Warankxi (Bear) I find Warankxi. I tell you also that the young bear we are following is uncommonly fat and tender, fatter and tenderer than any other we have shot on this great journey of ours. How do I know? O, Waditaka, do not ask me foolish questions. Maybe a good spirit in the air has put the thought in my head and the thought is knowledge. Maybe Zica (squirrel), chattering in the tree, has told me in his language, which I am permitted to understand. Perhaps Maxtinca (Hare) whimpering in his nest under the bushes told me, or it is even possible that Wamduxka (Snake), gliding in the grass, has hissed it to me. But it matters not how the news has come to my ear, Waditaka. I know it, and that is enough.”

“Be it so, Hoton,” laughed Will. “We shall see.”

But all of the Crow’s predictions came true. They followed a trail about a half mile and then dispatched a young bear in a clump of bushes with a single arrow. He had fed so much on early berries and roots that he was exceedingly tender, and they carried him back in triumph to the camp, giving to Hoton all credit as a prophet and as one to whom birds and animals gave good advice when he was hunting other kinds of birds and animals. The party from the south brought in several large hares, and the ten had an abundant and succulent feast.

Roka and Pehansan listened with great gravity to the story of the encounter with the mountain buffaloes.

“You had a fortunate escape,” said the wise leader, “and you, in particular, Waditaka, when you fell under the feet of the bull. The good spirits were watching over you, but the good spirits will not watch over us unless we also watch over ourselves. They are kind to those who have many sharp arrows which they know how to shoot straight. Our path will now lead upward, and tomorrow we will jerk some of the flesh of the bear, because we may not be able to find game in the high mountains among the snows.”

When they resumed the journey they were well provided with supplies, and they also had warm clothing and furs for the icy pass. But, greater than food and raiment, they had high souls. There was not one among them who did not crave the adventure, whose spirit did not defy every hardship and danger, who was not filled with the most eager curiosity concerning the great lands into which they were penetrating. Tall, lean, strong, patient and enduring, they were the highest types of primeval man.

They advanced for a day through country broken and very rough. Although the general result was an ascent they had to cross now and then deep valleys or ravines, and it became evident that the passage would be one of great difficulty. But their ardor increased as the obstacles grew, and when they camped that night they built a fire of uncommon size, rejoicing in the leaping flames and great beds of coals. The sky was so clear that it was almost as bright as day. The stars in myriads and of uncommon size hung low in that northern latitude and filled the whole sphere with shining light.

They saw the great valley that they were leaving rolling beneath them like a green sea, but before them towered the mountains, white, glistening and cold. They were already at an elevation where chill winds blew, and the character of the vegetation was changing into smaller and hardier evergreens that hang on the slopes of high ranges, before the snow line is reached.

They came the next day to a great chasm that seemed impassable, but, following along its edge, they found that it extended only about two miles to the south, and, passing around it they continued upward, choosing for their advance a point between two high white peaks. It was only a guess, but as the eye had a vast range in the thin, high air it seemed to be the most feasible place. The whole gigantic panorama before them though was soon shut out by a white veil.

“It is snowing on the slopes,” said Roka. “We left one winter behind us to find another here.”

The snow ceased in an hour or two, the entire white veil being cast aside suddenly, and once more the peaks and ranges came out sharp and clear in every detail against the blue sky. Living figures stood upon dizzy ledges, looking curiously at them.

“Waxicantatokadan (Mountain Goat) and Tanicaxda (Mountain Sheep)” said Roka. “They are far away, but we can see so well in this air that they appear to be near.”

“I not only see them,” said Hoton, “but I know what the great goat on our right is thinking and saying to himself about us. The breeze that blows down from the mountains brings me his words and I understand them. He says: ‘They are Dakota warriors, of whom the most valiant and skillful is Hoton, save perhaps the wise Roka, their leader. Great is the fame of Hoton in the Dakota country, and great it will be here when he has done the mighty deeds that he has come to do. The ten Dakota will be in many dangers while they are crossing the mountains, but the courage and wisdom of Roka and Hoton will always save them.’”

“Is Waxicantatokadan saying anything about me, Hoton?” asked Wanmdi.

Hoton leaned his ear toward the big goat and listened intently for a full minute. Then he replied:

“Now he is talking of you, Wanmdi. His words are blown straight from his mouth into my ear. He says: ‘The young warrior fifth in the line is Wanmdi (Eagle), named after the great bird that flies over the mountains. He is young and foolish, but time will cure his youth, and the company of Hoton, if continued long, will temper his foolishness. If he will only listen to the words of wisdom as they drop from the lips of Hoton he will become in time a warrior of some knowledge. The young warrior before Wanmdi is the merry Capa. He is obedient and worships Manitou and the good spirits, but he is not intelligent. It is one of the greatest tasks of Hoton, who is always kind, to teach him what to do in the forest and on the mountains, but Hoton will never give up the work, because he loves to overcome mighty difficulties. And the warrior who walks just before the pious Capa is the crafty Waditaka, upon whom Manitou put a terrible misfortune at birth. He was born ska (white), and though his skin is still ska he is striving with all his might to become a Dakota and his soul is turning stanwe (red). And it must be said for him that while the rest of us are born Dakota and could not keep from being Dakota, if we would, he is Dakota from choice. So the other warriors look kindly upon the crafty Waditaka, and when they have nothing else to do they teach him the things he should know, and, being crafty, he learns well.’”

The young warriors laughed. The invincible spirits of Hoton, the valiant boaster, were always a great tonic to them.

“Look!” said Will. “The great sheep on the other side of the chasm has gone.”

“And there he is now on another ledge, two hundred feet below,” said Inmu.

“I have heard,” said Will, “that they plunge down lofty cliffs head foremost, and alight unharmed upon their horns, but I can scarcely believe it’s so.”

“No,” said the wise Roka, “it is not. No animal could do such a thing. His horns would be smashed. But they do scramble down peaks that seem impossible. You see them walking like flies on the face of the mountains, and that is why the story of their dropping down on their horns started.”

They said but little during the next hour, needing all their breath for the ascent, which now became very steep. But they were in no danger of falls, as they were not beyond the tree line, and there was plenty of dwarfed forest. Roka stopped some time before sunset, and they made a camp in a sheltered ravine in short but thick timber, where they had an easy night, although Hoton talked much in the evening about the great bears.

“We have known from what we have seen that they love best such slopes as these,” he said. “The king wolf, who alone of all the animals thinks far, far ahead, has brought to them word that we are coming and they will lay an ambush for us. They know also which of this band is most to be dreaded and so I must be more careful than I ever was before in my life.”

“We must all be more careful than we were ever before in our lives, careful as we have been in the past,” said Roka, thoughtfully.

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