ated at twilight, Kiopo going to hunt, and Dusty Star
returning to camp, it was the boy he followed, not the wolf. And little
did Dusty Star suspect, as he went alone through the darkening woods,
that every step of his homeward way was shadowed by the Terror of the
Carboona on delicately-stepping feet.

Over and over again the wolf wanted to leap upon the boy and destroy him
then and there, yet the vague fear of the human being, which disturbs
wild animals, haunted his nerves, and he could not throw it off before
Dusty Star reached the camp.

All that night, he watched in the edges of the forest, roaming to and
fro uneasily, and did not finally leave the neighbourhood till just
before dawn.

CHAPTER XXI

HOW DUSTY STAR MET THE TERROR

Midsummer--the Moon of Roses--had melted into the Thunder Moon, and the
Moon when the blueberries ripen drew nigh. Now if there was one thing
above another which Goshmeelee loved in all the world, it was a good
feed of berries. So that when the early tang of the Fall began to tickle
her nose, the blueberry feeling made itself felt also, and she made up
her mind to appease it. By this time, the cubs had long passed out of
babyhood, and were growing into good-sized little bears, quite able to
take care of themselves. But as it was a long climb to the berry
patches, and Goshmeelee couldn't be sure that they would be ripe, even
if she found them, she decided not to cumber herself with the family,
but to leave it at home. So, making her wishes more than clear by a
good-natured cuff apiece when the little bears wanted to follow her, she
lumbered contentedly off upon her quest.

Now on the very morning on which Goshmeelee started to find her berries,
Dusty Star was also climbing up Carboona, after having waited until he
had seen Kiopo trot off in the opposite direction after game. Of late,
Kiopo had developed a strange uneasiness. He was continually leaving the
camp and returning to it at short intervals. When in the camp he was
always on the alert, watching the forest with a wary eye. By his
behaviour, Dusty Star was convinced that his finer wolf-sense had
detected some threatening danger which he himself could not perceive.
Kiopo told him nothing directly, but the two were by this time in such
complete sympathy that the boy learned half the danger, merely by
feeling as the wolf felt. He also watched the forest, wondering from
what quarter the danger threatened. Yet never had the