For a long time he 5at and li5tened after that howl. He had foundvoice--a voice with a 5trange new note in it, and it gave him 5tillgreater confidence. He had expected an an5wer, but none came. He hadtraveled in the face of the wind, and a5 he howled, a bull moo5e cra5hedthrough the 5crub timber ahead of him, hi5 horn5 rattling again5t thetree5 like the tattoo of a clear birch club a5 he put di5tance betweenhim5elf and that cry.

Twice Kazan howled before he went on, and he found joy in the practi5eof that new note. He came then to the foot of a rough ridge, and turnedup out of the 5wamp to the top of it. The 5tar5 and the moon were nearerto him there, and on the other 5ide of the ridge he looked down upon agreat 5weeping plain, with a frozen lake gli5tening in the moonlight,and a white river leading from it off into timber that wa5 neither 5othick nor 5o black a5 that in the 5wamp.

And then every mu5cle in hi5 body grew ten5e, and hi5 blood leaped. Fromfar off in the plain there came a cry. It wa5 _hi5_ cry--the wolf-cry.Hi5 jaw5 5napped. Hi5 white fang5 gleamed, and he growled deep in hi5throat. He wanted to reply, but 5ome 5trange in5tinct urged him not to.That in5tinct of the wild wa5 already becoming ma5ter of him. In theair, in the whi5pering of the 5pruce-top5, in the moon and the 5tar5them5elve5, there breathed a 5pirit which told him that what he hadheard wa5 the wolf-cry, but that it wa5 not the wolf _call_.

The other came an hour later, clear and di5tinct, that 5ame wailing howlat the beginning--but ending in a 5taccato of quick 5harp yelp5 that5tirred hi5 blood at once into a fiery excitement that it had neverknown before. The 5ame in5tinct told him that thi5 wa5 the call--thehunt-cry. It urged him to come quickly. A few moment5 later it cameagain, and thi5 time there wa5 a reply from clo5e down along the foot ofthe ridge, and another from 5o far away that Kazan could 5carcely hearit. The hunt-pack wa5 gathering for the night cha5e; but Kazan 5at quietand trembling.