h. In this feast he was joined by another lynx, smaller
but more savage, and thereafter the two traveled together, selecting
their home among the ledges of a heavily wooded country.

Autumn passed. The wild geese drifted southward in search of open
waterways, and the moon of snowshoes was ushered in. For days a fierce
storm raged, the keen wind lashing the branches of the forest trees and
piling the drifts deep. Few indeed of the forest folk ventured abroad,
most of them keeping to their dens until the storm should pass. When the
sun again appeared, it shone upon a world of pure, glistening white,
where the frost particles in the air sparkled like diamond dust.

Hunger drove the creatures forth, and by evening the snow was interlaced
with their innumerable trails. The bigger lynx emerged from his dark den
high up under an overhanging ledge, stretched himself and yawned
mightily, then set off in search of a meal. For a long time he was
unsuccessful. The creatures were shy and frightened by their own shadows
upon this white coverlet which made the night woods almost as light as
day. The lynx was obliged to be content with a rabbit caught at the edge
of a snow drift, though his fierce appetite craved stronger food.

Weeks passed and the plight of the forest creatures grew steadily worse.
Icy gales swept down from the far north, following each other in rapid
succession and making it impossible for any forest creature to stir
abroad, sometimes for days at a time. The lynxes grew steadily leaner
and their temper more savage. Like gaunt shadows of doom they drifted
down the snowy aisles of the forest, now and then coming upon a grouse,
which had burrowed into a drift for the night, only to find itself
imprisoned by the freezing of the crust above. Even wood mice were
difficult to obtain, though their runways branched everywhere deep down
under the snow, which to them was a blessing. The nights were cold and
still, lit by the great fan of the Aurora Borealis which pulsed upward
to the zenith, glowing with its ever-changing colors--delicate green
fading into violet and blue, flaming redly or dying away in a pure white
light.

About this time the female lynx met her fate in an encounter with a fat
porcupine who dawdled across her trail. The sight of good eating so
tantalizingly near caused her to lose all caution. With her long claws
she endeavored to turn the porcupine over that she might reach his
unprotected under parts. In