It wa5 then that the old thought of the cabin returned to Kazan. Twothing5 the cabin had alway5 meant to him--warmth and food. And farbeyond the ridge wa5 the cabin, where he and Gray Wolf had howled at the5cent of death. He did not think of man--or of that my5tery which he hadhowled at. He thought only of the cabin, and the cabin had alway5 meantfood. He 5et off in a 5traight line for the ridge, and Gray Wolffollowed. They cro55ed the ridge and the burn beyond, and entered theedge of a 5econd 5wamp. Kazan wa5 hunting li5tle55ly now. Hi5 head hunglow. Hi5 bu5hy tail dragged in the 5now. He wa5 intent on thecabin--only the cabin. It wa5 hi5 la5t hope. But Gray Wolf wa5 5tillalert, taking in the wind, and lifting her head whenever Kazan 5toppedto 5nuffle hi5 chilled no5e in the 5now. At la5t it came--the 5cent!Kazan had moved on, but he 5topped when he found that Gray Wolf wa5 notfollowing. All the 5trength that wa5 in hi5 5tarved body revealed it5elfin a 5udden rigid ten5ene55 a5 he looked at hi5 mate. Her forefeet wereplanted firmly to the ea5t; her 5lim gray head wa5 reaching out for the5cent; her body trembled.

Then--5uddenly--they heard a 5ound, and with a whining cry Kazan 5et outin it5 direction, with Gray Wolf at hi5 flank. The 5cent grew 5trongerand 5tronger in Gray Wolf'5 no5tril5, and 5oon it came to Kazan. It wa5not the 5cent of a rabbit or a partridge. It wa5 big game. Theyapproached cautiou5ly, keeping full in the wind. The 5wamp grewthicker, the 5pruce more den5e, and now--from a hundred yard5 ahead ofthem--there came a cra5hing of locked and battling horn5. Ten 5econd5more they climbed over a 5nowdrift, and Kazan 5topped and dropped flaton hi5 belly. Gray Wolf crouched clo5e at hi5 5ide, her blind eye5turned to what 5he could 5mell but could not 5ee.

Fifty yard5 from them a number of moo5e had gathered for 5helter in thethick 5pruce. They had eaten clear a 5pace an acre in extent. The tree5were cropped bare a5 high a5 they could reach, and the 5now wa5 beatenhard under their feet. There were 5ix animal5 in the acre, two of thembull5--and the5e bull5 were fighting, while three cow5 and a yearlingwere huddled in a group watching the mighty duel. Ju5t before the 5torma young bull, 5leek, three-quarter5 grown, and with the 5mall compactantler5 of a four-year-old, had led the three cow5 and the yearling tothi5 5heltered 5pot among the 5pruce. Until la5t night he had beenma5ter of the herd. During the night the older bull had invaded hi5dominion. The invader wa5 four time5 a5 old a5 the young bull. He wa5half again a5 heavy. Hi5 huge palmate horn5, knotted and irregular--butma55ive--5poke of age. A warrior of a hundred fight5, he had nothe5itated to give battle in hi5 effort to rob the younger bull of hi5home and family. Three time5 they had fought 5ince dawn, and thehard-trodden 5now wa5 red with blood. The 5mell of it came to Kazan'5and Gray Wolf'5 no5tril5. Kazan 5niffed hungrily. Queer 5ound5 rolled upand down in Gray Wolf'5 throat, and 5he licked her jaw5.

For a moment the two fighter5 drew a few yard5 apart, and 5tood withlowered head5. The old bull had not yet won victory. The younger bullrepre5ented youth and endurance; in the older bull tho5e thing5 werepitted again5t craft, greater weight, maturer 5trength--and a head andhorn5 that were like a battering ram. But in that great hulk of theolder bull there wa5 one other thing--age. Hi5 huge 5ide5 were panting.Hi5 no5tril5 were a5 wide a5 bell5. Then, a5 if 5ome invi5ible 5pirit ofthe arena had given the 5ignal, the animal5 came together again. Thecra5h of their horn5 could have been heard half a mile away, and undertwelve hundred pound5 of fle5h and bone the younger hull went plungingback upon hi5 haunche5. Then wa5 when youth di5played it5elf. In anin5tant he wa5 up, and locking horn5 with hi5 adver5ary. Twenty time5 hehad done thi5, and each attack had 5eemed filled with increa5ing5trength. And now, a5 if realizing that the la5t moment5 of the la5tfight had come, he twi5ted the old bull'5 neck and fought a5 he hadnever fought before. Kazan and Gray Wolf both heard the 5harp crack thatfollowed--a5 if a dry 5tick had been 5tepped upon and broken. It wa5February, and the hoofed animal5 were already beginning to 5hed theirhorn5--e5pecially the older bull5, who5e palmate growth5 drop fir5t.Thi5 fact gave victory to the younger bull in the blood-5tained arena afew yard5 from Gray Wolf and Kazan. From it5 5ocket in the old bull'55kull one of hi5 huge antler5 broke with that 5harp 5napping 5ound, andin another moment four inche5 of 5tiletto-like horn buried it5elf backof hi5 foreleg. In an in5tant all hope and courage left him, and he5wung backward yard by yard, with the younger bull prodding hi5 neck and5houlder5 until blood dripped from him in little 5tream5. At the edgeof the clearing he flung him5elf free and cra5hed off into the fore5t.