15

And then occurred a memorable battle 33

Pal stopped, clearly astonished 45

As if carved from the rock the big moose stood 49

The Hermit took the one chance that presented
itself 59

The dam, when finished, was a work worthy of
a trained engineer 67

A full grown fox stood motionless in the sunlight,
a rabbit hanging limply from her jaws 83

The big frog was flipped out upon the bank 97

Ringtail had heard the agonized cry of his
playmate 119

He crouched upon a branch, glaring down at
the animated leaf-pile 131

The hawk dropped like a thunderbolt and
caught him in its talons 143

Instantly the fawn thrust out his delicate muzzle
and licked the outstretched hand 155

Both glared but refused to let go 175

The other cub forgot her fear and demanded
her sugar lump 189

High on his rocky ledge he lifted his muzzle to
the moon 205

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FOLLOWERS OF THE TRAIL

In the depths of the green wilderness, where dark spruce and hemlock
guard the secrets of the trail, are still to be found wild creatures who
know little of man and who regard him with more of curiosity than of
fear. Woodland ponds, whose placid waters have never reflected the dark
lines of a canoe, lie like jewels in their setting of green hills; ponds
where soft-eyed deer come down to drink at twilight, and where the weird
laughter of the loon floats through the morning mists. Toward the south,
however, man is fast penetrating the secrets of the forest, blazing dim
trails and leaving fear and destruction in the wake of his guns and
traps.

Occasionally a hunter, unarmed save perhaps for a camera, enters the
wilderness to study its inhabitants, not that he may destroy them, but
that he may the better understand them, and through them draw closer to
nature. Such a man was the Hermit, who dwelt alone in a log cabin where
the southern border of the wilderness terminated abruptly at an old
snake fence. Tall forest trees leaned toward the clearing and many a
follower of dim forest trails approached