Baree, son of Kazan . ree nor Maheegun were inclined tomove for a while, and for an hour or two they laybasking in a cup of the slope, looking down withquesting and wide-awake eyes upon the wooded plainthat stretched away under them like a great sea. Maheegun, too, had sought the hunt-pack, andlike Baree had failed to catch it. They were tired,a little discouraged for the time, and hungry—butstill alive with the fine thrill of anticipation, andrestlessly sensitive to the new and mysterious con*sciousness of companionship. Half a dozen timesBaree got up and nosed about Maheegun as she layin the
Baree, son of Kazan . ree nor Maheegun were inclined tomove for a while, and for an hour or two they laybasking in a cup of the slope, looking down withquesting and wide-awake eyes upon the wooded plainthat stretched away under them like a great sea. Maheegun, too, had sought the hunt-pack, andlike Baree had failed to catch it. They were tired,a little discouraged for the time, and hungry—butstill alive with the fine thrill of anticipation, andrestlessly sensitive to the new and mysterious con*sciousness of companionship. Half a dozen timesBaree got up and nosed about Maheegun as she layin the sun, whining to her softly and touching hersoft coat with his muzzle, but for a long time shepaid little attention to him. At last she followedhim. All that day they wandered and rested to-gether. Once more the night came. It was without moon or stars. Gray masses ofclouds swept slowly down out of the north and east,and in the treetops there was scarcely a whisper ofwind as night gathered in. The snow began to fall. BAREE, SON OF KAZAN 175 at dusk, thickly, heavily, without a breath of was not cold, but it was still—so still that Bareeand Maheegun travelled only a few yards at a time,and then stopped to listen. In this way all thenight-prowlers of the forest were travelling, if theywere moving at all. It was the first of the Big Snow. vTo the flesh-eating wild things of the forests,clawed and winged, the Big Snow was the beginningof the winter carnival of slaughter and feasting, ofwild adventure in the long nights, of merciless war-fare on the frozen trails. The days of breeding, ofmotherhood—the peace of spring and summer—were over; out of the sky came the wakening of theNorthland, the call of all flesh-eating creatures to thelong hunt, and in the first thrill of it living thingswere moving but little this night, and that watch-fully and with suspicion. Youth made it all new toBaree and Maheegun; their blood ran swiftly; theirfeet fell softly; their ears were
Size: 1438px × 1738px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1917
