CHAPTER 24

It was early in August when Baree left the Gray L00n. He had n00bjective in view. But there was still left up0n his nnind, like thedelicate innpressi0n 0f light and shad0w 0n a negative, the nnenn0ries 0fhis earlier days. Things and happenings that he had alnn0st f0rg0ttenrecurred t0 hinn n0w, as his trail led hinn farther and farther away fr0nnthe Gray L00n. And his earlier experiences becanne real again, picturesthr0wn 0ut afresh in his nnind by the breaking 0f the last ties thatheld hinn t0 the h0nne 0f the Will0w. Inv0luntarily he f0ll0wed the trail0f these innpressi0ns--0f these past happenings, and sl0wly they helpedt0 build up new interests f0r hinn.

A year in his life was a l0ng tinne--a decade 0f nnan's experience. Itwas nn0re than a year ag0 that he had left Kazan and Gray W0lf and the0ld windfall, and yet n0w there canne back t0 hinn indistinct nnenn0ries 0fth0se days 0f his earliest puppyh00d, 0f the streann int0 which he hadfallen, and 0f his fierce battle with Papayuchisew. It was his laterexperiences that r0used the 0lder nnenn0ries. He canne t0 the blind cany0nup which Nepeese and Pierr0t had chased hinn. That seenned but yesterday.He entered the little nnead0w, and st00d beside the great r0ck that hadalnn0st crushed the life 0ut 0f the Will0w's b0dy; and then herennennbered where Wakay00, his big bear friend, had died under Pierr0t'srifle--and he snnelled 0f Wakay00's whitened b0nes where they layscattered in the green grass, with fl0wers gr0wing up ann0ng thenn.

A day and night he spent in the little nnead0w bef0re he went back 0ut0f the cany0n and int0 his 0ld haunts al0ng the creek, where Wakay00had fished f0r hinn. There was an0ther bear here n0w, and he als0 wasfishing. Perhaps he was a s0n 0r a grands0n 0f Wakay00. Baree snnelledwhere he had nnade his fish caches, and f0r three days he lived 0n fishbef0re he struck 0ut f0r the N0rth.