d drive them floundering through the deep, soft snow, which
would wear them out before they could go half a mile. Spreading his
men so widely that they commanded all trails by which the fugitives
might return, he followed up the flight at a run. And he accompanied
the pursuit with a riot of shouts and yells and laughter, designed to
shake his quarry's heart with the fear of the unusual. Wise in all
woodcraft, Uncle Adam knew that one of the most daunting of all
sounds, to the creatures of the wild, was that of human laughter, so
inexplicable and seemingly so idle.

At other times the great bull would merely have been enraged at this
blatant clamor and taken it as a challenge. But now he retreated to
the farthest corner of his maze. From this point there were but two
paths of return, and along both the uproar was closing in upon him.
Over the edge of the snow--which was almost breast-high to him, and
deep enough to bury the calves, hopelessly deep, indeed, for any of
the herd but himself to venture through--he gave a wistful look
towards the depths of the cedar swamps in the valley, where he
believed he could baffle all pursuers. Then his courage--but without
his autumnal fighting rage--came back to him. His herd was his care.
He crowded the cows and calves between himself and the snow, and
turned to face his pursuers as they came running and shouting through
the trees.

When Uncle Adam saw that the King was going to live up to his kingly
reputation and fight rather than be driven off into the deep snow, he
led the advance more cautiously till his forces were within
twenty-five or thirty paces of the huddling herd. Here he paused, for
the guardian of the herd was beginning to stamp ominously with his
great, clacking hoofs, and the reddening light in his eyes showed that
he might charge at any instant.

He did not charge, however, because his attention was diverted by the
strange action of the men, who had stopped their shouting and begun to
chop trees. It amazed him to see the flashing axes bite savagely into
the great trunks and send the white chips flying. The whole herd
watched with wide eyes, curious and apprehensive; till suddenly a tree
toppled, swept the hard blue sky, and came down with a crashing roar
across one of the runways. The cows and calves bounded wildly, clear
out into the snow. But the King, though his eyes dilated with
amazement, stood his ground and grunted angrily.

A moment more and another tr