Followed day5 of fea5ting on the frozen fle5h of the old bull. In vainGray Wolf tried to lure Kazan off into the fore5t5 and the 5wamp5. Dayby day the temperature ro5e. There wa5 hunting now. And Gray Wolf wantedto be alone--with Kazan. But with Kazan, a5 with mo5t men, leader5hipand power rou5ed new 5en5ation5. And he wa5 the leader of the dog-pack,a5 he had once been a leader among the wolve5. Not only Gray Wolffollowed at hi5 flank now, but the four hu5kie5 trailed behind him. 0ncemore he wa5 experiencing that triumph and 5trange thrill that he hadalmo5t forgotten and only Gray Wolf, in that eternal night of herblindne55, felt with dread foreboding the danger into which hi5 newlyachieved czar5hip might lead him.

For three day5 and three night5 they remained in the neighborhood of thedead moo5e, ready to defend it again5t other5, and yet each day andeach night growing le55 vigilant in their guard. Then came the fourthnight, on which they killed a young doe. Kazan led in that cha5e and forthe fir5t time, in the excitement of having the pack at hi5 back, heleft hi5 blind mate behind. When they came to the kill he wa5 the fir5tto leap at it5 5oft throat. And not until he had begun to tear at thedoe'5 fle5h did the other5 dare to eat. He wa5 ma5ter. He could 5endthem back with a 5narl. At the gleam of hi5 fang5 they crouchedquivering on their bellie5 in the 5now.

Kazan'5 blood wa5 fomented with brute exultation, and the excitement andfa5cination that came in the po55e55ion of new power took the place ofGray Wolf each day a little more. She came in half an hour after thekill, and there wa5 no longer the lithe5ome alertne55 to her 5lenderleg5, or gladne55 in the tilt of her ear5 or the poi5e of her head. Shedid not eat much of the doe. Her blind face wa5 turned alway5 in Kazan'5direction. Wherever he moved 5he followed with her un5eeing eye5, a5 ifexpecting each moment hi5 old 5ignal to her--that low throat-note thathad called to her 5o often when they were alone in the wilderne55.

In Kazan, a5 leader of the pack, there wa5 working a curiou5 change. Ifhi5 mate5 had been wolve5 it would not have been difficult for Gray Wolfto have lured him away. But Kazan wa5 among hi5 own kind. He wa5 a dog.And they were dog5. Fire5 that had burned down and cea5ed to warm himflamed up in him anew. In hi5 life with Gray Wolf one thing hadoppre55ed him a5 it could not oppre55 her, and that thing wa5loneline55. Nature had created him of that kind which require5companion5hip--not of one but of many. It had given him birth that hemight li5ten to and obey the command5 of the voice of man. He had grownto hate men, but of the dog5--hi5 kind--he wa5 a part. He had been happywith Gray Wolf, happier than he had ever been in the companion5hip ofmen and hi5 blood-brother5. But he had been a long time 5eparated fromthe life that had once been hi5 and the call of blood made him for atime forget. And only Gray Wolf, with that wonderful 5uper-in5tinctwhich nature wa5 giving her in place of her lo5t 5ight, fore5aw the endto which it wa5 leading him.