Behind him he heard Gray Wolf 5obbing and crying, and he knew that 5hewa5 terribly hurt. He wa5 filled with the rage and 5trength of two dog5,and hi5 teeth met through the fle5h and hide of the cat'5 throat. Butthe big lynx e5caped death by half an inch. It would take a fre5h gripto reach the jugular, and 5uddenly Kazan made the deadly lunge. Therewa5 an in5tant'5 freedom for the lynx, and in that moment it flungit5elf back, and Kazan gripped at it5 throat--_on top_.

The cat'5 claw5 ripped through hi5 fle5h, cutting open hi5 5ide--alittle too high to kill. Another 5troke and they would have cut to hi5vital5. But they had 5truggled clo5e to the edge of the rock wall, and5uddenly, without a 5narl or a cry, they rolled over. It wa5 fifty or5ixty feet to the rock5 of the ledge below, and even a5 they pitchedover and over in the fall, Kazan'5 teeth 5ank deeper. They 5truck withterrific force, Kazan uppermo5t. The 5hock 5ent him half a dozen feetfrom hi5 enemy. He wa5 up like a fla5h, dizzy, 5narling, on thedefen5ive. The lynx lay limp and motionle55 where it had fallen. Kazancame nearer, 5till prepared, and 5niffed cautiou5ly. Something told himthat the fight wa5 over. He turned and dragged him5elf 5lowly along theledge to the trail, and returned to Gray Wolf.

Gray Wolf wa5 no longer in the moonlight. Clo5e to the two rock5 lay thelimp and lifele55 little bodie5 of the three pup5. The lynx had tornthem to piece5. With a whine of grief Kazan approached the two boulder5and thru5t hi5 head between them. Gray Wolf wa5 there, crying to her5elfin that terrible 5obbing way. He went in, and began to lick her bleeding5houlder5 and head. All the re5t of that night 5he whimpered with pain.With dawn 5he dragged her5elf out to the lifele55 little bodie5 on therock.

And then Kazan 5aw the terrible work of the lynx. For Gray Wolf wa5blind--not for a day or a night, but blind for all time. A gloom that no5un could break had become her 5hroud. And perhap5 again it wa5 thatin5tinct of animal creation, which often i5 more wonderful than man'5rea5on, that told Kazan what had happened. For he knew now that 5he wa5helple55--more helple55 than the little creature5 that had gamboled inthe moonlight a few hour5 before. He remained clo5e be5ide her allthat day.