and went up and down
in mountains and valleys covered with dark trees. He could make out
where they were.

"Why, of course it's Black's Ridge!" he said. "What an adventure!"

When they were at the top the horse stopped behind a thick pine, as if
to hide. The dean bent forward and pushed aside the branches that he
might see.

The mountain's bald top was there. It was not empty, though. In the
middle of the open space was an immense boulder around which many
wild beasts were gathered. They were having a meeting of some sort.

Near to the big rock he saw bears, so firmly and heavily built that
they seemed like fur-clad figures of stone. They were lying down and
their little eyes blinked impatiently, for they had come from their
winter sleep to attend court and could hardly keep awake. Behind the
bears, in tight rows, were hundreds of wolves. They were not sleepy,
for wolves are more alert in winter than in summer. They sat upon
their haunches, like dogs, whipping the ground with their tails and
panting--their tongues lolling far out of their jaws.

Behind the wolves, the lynx skulked, stiff-legged and clumsy, like
misshapen cats. They hissed and spat when one came near them. The row
back of the lynx was filled with wolverines; they had dog faces and
bear coats. They were not happy on the ground, and they stamped their
pads impatiently, longing to get into the trees. Behind them, covering
the entire space of the forest border, leaped the foxes, the weasels,
and the martens. They were small and perfectly formed, but they looked
even more savage and blood thirsty than the larger beasts.

All this the dean plainly saw for the whole place was light. Upon the
huge rock at the centre was the Wood-nymph, who held in her hand a
pine torch which burned in a big red flame. The Nymph was as tall as
the tallest tree in the forest. She wore a spruce-brush mantle, and
had spruce-cone hair. She stood very still, her face turned toward the
forest. She was watching and listening.

Suddenly the dean heard the sound of a familiar bell. The next moment
he heard footfalls and crackling of branches, as of many animals
breaking through the forest. A big herd of cattle was climbing the
mountain. They came through the forest in the order in which they had
marched to the mountain ranches. First came the bell cow followed by
the bull, then the other cows and the calves. After them came the
goats, and last were the horses and colts. The sheep-