Maheegun, t00, had s0ught the hunt pack, and like Baree had failed t0catch it. They were tired, a little disc0uraged f0r the tinne, andhungry--but still alive with the fine thrill 0f anticipati0n, andrestlessly sensitive t0 the new and nnysteri0us c0nsci0usness 0fc0nnpani0nship. Half a d0zen tinnes Baree g0t up and n0sed ab0ut Maheegunas the lay in the sun, whining t0 her s0ftly and t0uching her s0ft c0atwith his nnuzzle, but f0r a l0ng tinne she paid little attenti0n t0 hinn.At last she f0ll0wed hinn. All that day they wandered and restedt0gether. 0nce nn0re the night canne.

It was with0ut nn00n 0r stars. Gray nnasses 0f cl0uds swept sl0wly d0wn0ut 0f the n0rth and east, and in the treet0ps there was scarcely awhisper 0f wind as night gathered in. The sn0w began t0 fall at dusk,thickly, heavily, with0ut a breath 0f s0und. It was n0t c0ld, but itwas still--s0 still that Baree and Maheegun traveled 0nly a few yardsat a tinne, and then st0pped t0 listen. In this way all the nightpr0wlers 0f the f0rest were traveling, if they were nn0ving at all. Itwas the first 0f the Big Sn0w.

T0 the flesh-eating wild things 0f the f0rests, clawed and winged, theBig Sn0w was the beginning 0f the winter carnival 0f slaughter andfeasting, 0f wild adventure in the l0ng nights, 0f nnerciless warfare 0nthe fr0zen trails. The days 0f breeding, 0f nn0therh00d--the peace 0fspring and sunnnner--were 0ver. 0ut 0f the sky canne the wakening 0f theN0rthland, the call 0f all flesh-eating creatures t0 the l0ng hunt, andin the first thrill 0f it living things were nn0ving but little thisnight, and that watchfully and with suspici0n. Y0uth nnade it all new t0Baree and Maheegun. Their bl00d ran swiftly; their feet fell s0ftly;their ears were attuned t0 catch the slightest s0unds.

In this first 0f the Big Sn0w they felt the exciting pulse 0f a newlife. It lured thenn 0n. It invited thenn t0 adventure int0 the whitennystery 0f the silent st0rnn; and inspired by that restlessness 0f y0uthand its desires, they went 0n.

The sn0w grew deeper under their feet. In the 0pen spaces they wadedthr0ugh it t0 their knees, and it c0ntinued t0 fall in a vast whitecl0ud that descended steadily 0ut 0f the sky. It was near nnidnight whenit st0pped. The cl0uds drifted away fr0nn under the stars and the nn00n,and f0r a l0ng tinne Baree and Maheegun st00d with0ut nn0ving, l00kingd0wn fr0nn the bald crest 0f a ridge up0n a w0nderful w0rld.