Page:They who walk in the wilds, (IA theywhowalkinwil00robe).pdf/30

 crossed several rippling amber streams overhung with golden birches and the waxy vermilion clusters of rowan berries. Not till just before sunset did he think about hunting again, and settle down to a stealthy prowl; and in the meantime sharp eyes, wary and hostile or shy and horrified, all unknown to him had marked his progress. Fox and weasel, mink and woodchuck and tuft-eared lynx, all had seen him, and recognized a new and terrible master in the wilderness; and even the indifferent porcupine, secure in his armor of deadly quills, had paused in his gnawing at the hemlock bark and quivered with apprehension as the tawny shape went by. Some ancient instinct warned him that there was a foe who might be clever enough to undo him.

Suddenly Mishi's attention was caught by a noise which curiously excited him, though he knew not why. It was a confused sound of tramplings and stampings and snortings, with now and then a flat clatter as of sticks beaten against each other. With a strange thrill in his nerves he crept forwards, and presently found himself staring out, through fringing bushes, upon a duel between two red bucks in the centre of a little forest glade.

For perhaps a minute Mishi watched the fight with a wondering interest. Then his hunger overcame all other emotions. With a mighty leap he