ly in preparation for attack. Then, in a
flash, he recognised his new acquaintance, the Silver Fox.

At once he grabbed Kiopo by the thick mane on his neck, and gave him
clearly to understand that this was a friend whom he must not attack.
Kiopo stopped growling, and stood still, while Dusty Star stepped
quietly forward towards the fox.

Whatever it was that had startled Baltook, it was quite plain that he
was in flight, and that the danger behind alarmed him more than that in
front. He allowed Dusty Star to approach to within a few feet, though
his wary gaze was fixed upon the wolf, who now came up slowly to Dusty
Star's side.

Baltook, watching warily, never winked an eyelid; but his unwinking eyes
spoke. "Danger!" they said, as clearly as if he had put the warning into
words.

"There is danger coming behind me--coming quickly. There are strangers
in the forest. The trees hide them. But they are coming quickly along
the trail."

And then, as noiselessly as he had come, Baltook leaped lightly into the
underwood, and disappeared.

In spite of the warning the silver fox had given, Dusty Star was at a
loss as to what was best to be done. Both the danger, and its direction,
were equally vague. In what part of the forest Baltook had met it, he
had not said. Dusty Star's senses were keen, but he knew that Kiopo's
were keener. It was for Kiopo to decide. So he contented himself by
watching the wolf to see what he would do.

At first Kiopo did nothing, except to throw his nose into the wind;
After waiting a little, Dusty Star moved forward. A low growl from Kiopo
checked him. He turned in the opposite direction. Kiopo growled again.

By this time, the sympathy between them was so close that the slightest
hint was enough to say what they wanted. So that whenever Kiopo went so
far as to growl, Dusty Star always knew that something was seriously
amiss and never failed to take the warning.

And now, Kiopo began to move in the same direction as that which the fox
had taken. Moreover he went quickly, as if there was no time to lose.
Dusty Star realized that they were travelling rapidly westward, but not
towards the camp.

The forest was intensely still. There was no sound save that of their
own going, as they brushed against the undergrowth where it was too
thick to avoid. Yet the further they went, Dusty Star was aware of an
increasing sense of fear. Kiopo, too, was plainly growing more and more
uneasy. In spite of his