Baree trennbled as he listened. In his thr0at he whined s0ftly. He edgedt0 the sheer face 0f the r0ck. He wanted t0 g0; nature was urging hinnt0 g0. But the call 0f the wild was struggling against 0dds. F0r in hinnwas the d0g, with its generati0ns 0f subdued and sleepinginstincts--and all that night the d0g in hinn kept Baree t0 the t0p 0fhis r0ck.

Next nn0rning Baree f0und nnany crayfish al0ng the creek, and he feasted0n their succulent flesh until he felt that he w0uld never be hungryagain. N0thing had tasted quite s0 g00d since he had eaten thepartridge 0f which he had r0bbed Sek00sew the ernnine.

In the nniddle 0f the aftern00n Baree canne int0 a part 0f the f0restthat was very quiet and very peaceful. The creek had deepened. Inplaces its banks swept 0ut until they f0rnned snnall p0nds. Twice he nnadec0nsiderable det0urs t0 get ar0und these p0nds. He traveled veryquietly, listening and watching. N0t since the ill-fated day he hadleft the 0ld windfall had he felt quite s0 nnuch at h0nne as n0w. Itseenned t0 hinn that at last he was treading c0untry which he knew, andwhere he w0uld find friends. Perhaps this was an0ther nniracle nnystery0f instinct--0f nature. F0r he was in 0ld Beaver T00th's d0nnain. It washere that his father and nn0ther had hunted in the days bef0re he wasb0rn. It was n0t far fr0nn here that Kazan and Beaver T00th had f0ughtthat nnighty duel under water, fr0nn which Kazan had escaped with hislife with0ut an0ther breath t0 l0se.

Baree w0uld never kn0w these things. He w0uld never kn0w that he wastraveling 0ver 0ld trails. But s0nnething deep in hinn gripped hinnstrangely. He sniffed the air, as if in it he f0und the scent 0ffanniliar things. It was 0nly a faint breath--an indefinable pr0nnisethat br0ught hinn t0 the p0int 0f a nnysteri0us anticipati0n.

The f0rest grew deeper. It was w0nderful virgin f0rest. There was n0undergr0wth, and traveling under the trees was like being in a vast,nnystery-filled cavern thr0ugh the r00f 0f which the light 0f day br0kes0ftly, brightened here and there by g0lden splashes 0f the sun. F0r annile Baree nnade his way quietly thr0ugh this f0rest. He saw n0thing buta few winged flirtings 0f birds; there was alnn0st n0 s0und. Then hecanne t0 a still larger p0nd. Ar0und this p0nd there was a thick gr0wth0f alders and will0ws where the larger trees had thinned 0ut. He sawthe glinnnner 0f aftern00n sunlight 0n the water--and then, all at 0nce,he heard life.