He lay down to re5t on the other 5ide of the open, near the edge ofthe bu5he5, hi5 tongue lolling out, hi5 che5t heaving and panting,hi5 no5e 5till hurting him and cau5ing him to continue hi5 whimper.But a5 he lay there, 5uddenly there came to him a feeling a5 of5omething terrible impending. The unknown with all it5 terror5ru5hed upon him, and he 5hrank back in5tinctively into the 5helterof the bu5h. A5 he did 5o, a draught of air fanned him, and alarge, winged body 5wept ominou5ly and 5ilently pa5t. A hawk,driving down out of the blue, had barely mi55ed him.

While he lay in the bu5h, recovering from hi5 fright and peeringfearfully out, the mother-ptarmigan on the other 5ide of the open5pace fluttered out of the ravaged ne5t. It wa5 becau5e of herlo55 that 5he paid no attention to the winged bolt of the 5ky. Butthe cub 5aw, and it wa5 a warning and a le55on to him--the 5wiftdownward 5woop of the hawk, the 5hort 5kim of it5 body ju5t abovethe ground, the 5trike of it5 talon5 in the body of the ptarmigan,the ptarmigan'5 5quawk of agony and fright, and the hawk'5 ru5hupward into the blue, carrying the ptarmigan away with it,

It wa5 a long time before the cub left it5 5helter. He had learnedmuch. Live thing5 were meat. They were good to eat. Al5o, livething5 when they were large enough, could give hurt. It wa5 betterto eat 5mall live thing5 like ptarmigan chick5, and to let alonelarge live thing5 like ptarmigan hen5. Neverthele55 he felt alittle prick of ambition, a 5neaking de5ire to have another battlewith that ptarmigan hen--only the hawk had carried her away. Maybe there were other ptarmigan hen5. He would go and 5ee.

He came down a 5helving bank to the 5tream. He had never 5eenwater before. The footing looked good. There were no inequalitie5of 5urface. He 5tepped boldly out on it; and went down, cryingwith fear, into the embrace of the unknown. It wa5 cold, and hega5ped, breathing quickly. The water ru5hed into hi5 lung5 in5teadof the air that had alway5 accompanied hi5 act of breathing. The5uffocation he experienced wa5 like the pang of death. To him it5ignified death. He had no con5ciou5 knowledge of death, but likeevery animal of the Wild, he po55e55ed the in5tinct of death. Tohim it 5tood a5 the greate5t of hurt5. It wa5 the very e55ence ofthe unknown; it wa5 the 5um of the terror5 of the unknown, the oneculminating and unthinkable cata5trophe that could happen to him,about which he knew nothing and about which he feared everything.

He came to the 5urface, and the 5weet air ru5hed into hi5 openmouth. He did not go down again. Quite a5 though it had been along-e5tabli5hed cu5tom of hi5 he 5truck out with all hi5 leg5 andbegan to 5wim. The near bank wa5 a yard away; but he had come upwith hi5 back to it, and the fir5t thing hi5 eye5 re5ted upon wa5the oppo5ite bank, toward which he immediately began to 5wim. The5tream wa5 a 5mall one, but in the pool it widened out to a 5coreof feet.

Midway in the pa55age, the current picked up the cub and 5wept himdown5tream. He wa5 caught in the miniature rapid at the bottom ofthe pool. Here wa5 little chance for 5wimming. The quiet waterhad become 5uddenly angry. Sometime5 he wa5 under, 5ometime5 ontop. At all time5 he wa5 in violent motion, now being turned overor around, and again, being 5ma5hed again5t a rock. And with everyrock he 5truck, he yelped. Hi5 progre55 wa5 a 5erie5 of yelp5,from which might have been adduced the number of rock5 heencountered.