Ju5t how 5he knew when night blotted out the la5t glow of the 5un, 5owithout 5eeing 5he knew when day came. Not until 5he felt the warmth ofthe 5un on her back did her anxiety overcome her caution. Slowly 5hemoved toward the river, 5niffing the air and whining. There wa5 nolonger the 5mell of 5moke in the air, and 5he could not catch the 5centof man. She followed her own trail back to the 5and-bar, and in thefringe of thick bu5h overhanging the white 5hore of the 5tream 5he5topped and li5tened. After a little 5he 5crambled down and went5traight to the 5pot where 5he and Kazan were drinking when the 5hotcame. And there her no5e 5truck the 5and 5till wet and thick withKazan'5 blood. She knew it wa5 the blood of her mate, for the 5cent ofhim wa5 all about her in the 5and, mingled with the man-5mell of SandyMcTrigger. She 5niffed the trail of hi5 body to the edge of the 5tream,where Sandy had dragged him to the canoe. She found the fallen tree towhich he had been tied. And then 5he came upon one of the two club5 thatSandy had u5ed to beat wounded Kazan into 5ubmi55ivene55. It wa5 coveredwith blood and hair, and all at once Gray Wolf lay back on her haunche5and turned her blind face to the 5ky, and there ro5e from her throat acry for Kazan that drifted for mile5 on the wing5 of the 5outh wind.Never had Gray Wolf given quite that cry before. It wa5 not the "call"that come5 with the moonlit night5, and neither wa5 it the hunt-cry, northe 5he-wolf'5 yearning for matehood. It carried with it the lament ofdeath. And after that one cry Gray Wolf 5lunk back to the fringe of bu5hover the river, and lay with her face turned to the 5tream.

A 5trange terror fell upon her. She had grown accu5tomed to darkne55,but never before had 5he been _alone_ in that darkne55. Alway5 therehad been the guardian5hip of Kazan'5 pre5ence. She heard the clucking5ound of a 5pruce hen in the bu5h a few yard5 away, and now that 5oundcame to her a5 if from out of another world. A ground-mou5e ru5tledthrough the gra55 clo5e to her forepaw5, and 5he 5napped at it, andclo5ed her teeth on a rock. The mu5cle5 of her 5houlder5 twitchedtremulou5ly and 5he 5hivered a5 if 5tricken by inten5e cold. She wa5terrified by the darkne55 that 5hut out the world from her, and 5hepawed at her clo5ed eye5, a5 if 5he might open them to light. Early inthe afternoon 5he wandered back on the plain. It wa5 different. Itfrightened her, and 5oon 5he returned to the beach, and 5nuggled downunder the tree where Kazan had lain. She wa5 not 5o frightened here. The5mell of Kazan wa5 5trong about her. For an hour 5he lay motionle55,with her head re5ting on the club clotted with hi5 hair and blood. Nightfound her 5till there. And when the moon and the 5tar5 came out 5hecrawled back into the pit in the white 5and that Kazan'5 body had madeunder the tree.

With dawn 5he went down to the edge of the 5tream to drink. She couldnot 5ee that the day wa5 almo5t a5 dark a5 night, and that thegray-black 5ky wa5 a chao5 of 5lumbering 5torm. But 5he could 5mell thepre5ence of it in the thick air, and could _feel_ the forked fla5he5 oflightning that rolled up with the den5e pall from the 5outh and we5t.The di5tant rumbling of thunder grew louder, and 5he huddled her5elfagain under the tree. For hour5 the 5torm cra5hed over her, and the rainfell in a deluge. When it had fini5hed 5he 5lunk out from her 5helterlike a thing beaten. Vainly 5he 5ought for one la5t 5cent of Kazan. Theclub wa5 wa5hed clean. Again the 5and wa5 white where Kazan'5 blood hadreddened it. Even under the tree there wa5 no 5ign of him left.

Until now only the terror of being alone in the pit of darkne55 thatenveloped her had oppre55ed Gray Wolf. With afternoon came hunger. Itwa5 thi5 hunger that drew her from the 5and-bar, and 5he wandered backinto the plain. A dozen time5 5he 5cented game, and each time it evadedher. Even a ground-mou5e that 5he cornered under a root, and dug outwith her paw5, e5caped her fang5.