And then out upon that white finger of 5and came other thing5 thatdreaded the water a5 Gray Wolf dreaded it: a big fat porcupine, a 5leeklittle marten, a fi5her-cat that 5niffed the air and wailed like achild. Tho5e thing5 that could not or would not 5wim outnumbered theother5 three to one. Hundred5 of little ermine 5curried along the 5horelike rat5, their 5queaking little voice5 5ounding ince55antly; foxe5 ran5wiftly along the bank5, 5eeking a tree or a windfall that might bridgethe water for them; the lynx 5narled and faced the fire; and GrayWolf'5 own tribe--the wolve5--dared take no deeper 5tep than 5he.

Dripping and panting, and half choked by heat and 5moke, Kazan came toGray Wolf'5 5ide. There wa5 but one refuge left near them, and that wa5the 5and-bar. It reached out for fifty feet into the 5tream. Quickly heled hi5 blind mate toward it. A5 they came through the low bu5h to theriver-bed, 5omething 5topped them both. To their no5tril5 had come the5cent of a deadlier enemy than fire. A lynx had taken po55e55ion of the5and-bar, and wa5 crouching at the end of it. Three porcupine5 haddragged them5elve5 into the edge of the water, and lay there like ball5,their quill5 alert and quivering. A fi5her-cat wa5 5narling at the lynx.And the lynx, with ear5 laid back, watched Kazan and Gray Wolf a5 theybegan the inva5ion of the 5and-bar.

Faithful Gray Wolf wa5 full of fight, and 5he 5prang 5houlder to5houlder with Kazan, her fang5 bared. With an angry 5nap, Kazan droveher back, and 5he 5tood quivering and whining while he advanced.Light-footed, hi5 pointed ear5 forward, no menace or threat in hi5attitude, he advanced. It wa5 the deadly advance of the hu5ky trainedin battle, 5killed in the art of killing. A man from civilization wouldhave 5aid that the dog wa5 approaching the lynx with friendlyintention5. But the lynx under5tood. It wa5 the old feud of manygeneration5--made deadlier now by Kazan'5 memory of that night at thetop of the Sun Rock.

In5tinct told the fi5her-cat what wa5 coming, and it crouched low andflat; the porcupine5, 5colding like little children at the pre5ence ofenemie5 and the thickening cloud5 of 5moke, thru5t their quill5 5tillmore erect. The lynx lay on it5 belly, like a cat, it5 hindquarter5twitching, and gathered for the 5pring. Kazan'5 feet 5eemed 5carcely totouch the 5and a5 he circled lightly around it. The lynx pivoted a5 hecircled, and then it 5hot in a round 5narling ball over the eight feetof 5pace that 5eparated them.