Page:They who walk in the wilds, (IA theywhowalkinwil00robe).pdf/24

 been kept waiting for his breakfast before. There was something very wrong with this new world into which he had been thrust. Lifting up his voice, he gave vent to a harsh and piercing scream, hoping that his master would hear and come to him.

At the sound, with a sudden bewildering whir-r-r of wings, a covey of partridges sprang into the air almost from under his nose, and went rocketing off through the trees. Mishi was so startled that he nearly turned a back somersault. Not lingering to investigate the alarming phenomenon, he went racing off in the opposite direction like a frightened house-cat, till his wind began to fail him. Then he huddled himself down behind a rock, craning his neck to peer around it nervously while he brooded over his wrongs.

These, however, were presently forgotten under the promptings of his appetite, and he set forth again on his hungry prowl. Either by chance, or moved by a deep homing instinct, he turned his steps westward. But suddenly from that direction came the long, strident whistle of a train, wailing strangely over the tree-tops. At the sound, to him so fearful and so hateful, Mishi wheeled in his tracks and made off with more haste than dignity in the opposite direction. That dismal note stood to him for the cause of all his misfortunes.