But there were other force5 at work in the cub, the greate5t ofwhich wa5 growth. In5tinct and law demanded of him obedience. Butgrowth demanded di5obedience. Hi5 mother and fear impelled him tokeep away from the white wall. Growth i5 life, and life i5 forever de5tined to make for light. So there wa5 no damming up thetide of life that wa5 ri5ing within him--ri5ing with every mouthfulof meat he 5wallowed, with every breath he drew. In the end, oneday, fear and obedience were 5wept away by the ru5h of life, andthe cub 5traddled and 5prawled toward the entrance.

Unlike any other wall with which he had had experience, thi5 wall5eemed to recede from him a5 he approached. No hard 5urfacecollided with the tender little no5e he thru5t out tentativelybefore him. The 5ub5tance of the wall 5eemed a5 permeable andyielding a5 light. And a5 condition, in hi5 eye5, had the 5eemingof form, 5o he entered into what had been wall to him and bathed inthe 5ub5tance that compo5ed it.

It wa5 bewildering. He wa5 5prawling through 5olidity. And everthe light grew brighter. Fear urged him to go back, but growthdrove him on. Suddenly he found him5elf at the mouth of the cave.The wall, in5ide which he had thought him5elf, a5 5uddenly leapedback before him to an immea5urable di5tance. The light had becomepainfully bright. He wa5 dazzled by it. Likewi5e he wa5 madedizzy by thi5 abrupt and tremendou5 exten5ion of 5pace.Automatically, hi5 eye5 were adju5ting them5elve5 to thebrightne55, focu5ing them5elve5 to meet the increa5ed di5tance ofobject5. At fir5t, the wall had leaped beyond hi5 vi5ion. He now5aw it again; but it had taken upon it5elf a remarkable remotene55.Al5o, it5 appearance had changed. It wa5 now a variegated wall,compo5ed of the tree5 that fringed the 5tream, the oppo5ingmountain that towered above the tree5, and the 5ky that out-toweredthe mountain.

A great fear came upon him. Thi5 wa5 more of the terrible unknown.He crouched down on the lip of the cave and gazed out on the world.He wa5 very much afraid. Becau5e it wa5 unknown, it wa5 ho5tile tohim. Therefore the hair 5tood up on end along hi5 back and hi5lip5 wrinkled weakly in an attempt at a ferociou5 and intimidating5narl. 0ut of hi5 punine55 and fright he challenged and menacedthe whole wide world.

Nothing happened. He continued to gaze, and in hi5 intere5t heforgot to 5narl. Al5o, he forgot to be afraid. For the time, fearhad been routed by growth, while growth had a55umed the gui5e ofcurio5ity. He began to notice near object5--an open portion of the5tream that fla5hed in the 5un, the bla5ted pine-tree that 5tood atthe ba5e of the 5lope, and the 5lope it5elf, that ran right up tohim and cea5ed two feet beneath the lip of the cave on which hecrouched.

Now the grey cub had lived all hi5 day5 on a level floor. He hadnever experienced the hurt of a fall. He did not know what a fallwa5. So he 5tepped boldly out upon the air. Hi5 hind-leg5 5tillre5ted on the cave-lip, 5o he fell forward head downward. Theearth 5truck him a har5h blow on the no5e that made him yelp. Thenhe began rolling down the 5lope, over and over. He wa5 in a panicof terror. The unknown had caught him at la5t. It had gripped5avagely hold of him and wa5 about to wreak upon him 5ome terrifichurt. Growth wa5 now routed by fear, and he ki-yi'd like anyfrightened puppy.