almost under his nose, and he chased that
until in a dozen long leaps Wapoos disappeared in a thicket. Neewa
wrinkled up his nose and emitted a squeaky snarl. Never had
Soominitik's blood run so riotously within him. He wanted to get hold
of something. For the first time in his life he was yearning for a
scrap. He was like a small boy who the day after Christmas has a pair
of boxing gloves and no opponent. He sat down and looked about him
querulously, still wrinkling his nose and snarling defiantly. He had
the whole world beaten. He knew that. Everything was afraid of his
mother. Everything was afraid of HIM. It was disgusting--this lack of
something alive for an ambitious young fellow to fight. After all, the
world was rather tame.

He set off at a new angle, came around the edge of a huge rock, and
suddenly stopped.

From behind the other end of the rock protruded a huge hind paw. For a
few moments Neewa sat still, eyeing it with a growing anticipation.
This time he would give his mother a nip that would waken her for good!
He would rouse her to the beauty and the opportunities of this day if
there was any rouse in him! So he advanced slowly and cautiously,
picked out a nice bare spot on the paw, and sank his little teeth in it
to the gums.

There followed a roar that shook the earth. Now it happened that the
paw did not belong to Noozak, but was the personal property of Makoos,
an old he-bear of unlovely disposition and malevolent temper. But in
him age had produced a grouchiness that was not at all like the
grandmotherly peculiarities of old Noozak. Makoos was on his feet
fairly before Neewa realized that he had made a mistake. He was not
only an old bear and a grouchy bear, but he was also a hater of cubs.
More than once in his day he had committed the crime of cannibalism. He
was what the Indian hunter calls uchan--a bad bear, an eater of his own
kind, and the instant his enraged eyes caught sight of Neewa he let out
another roar.

At that Neewa gathered his fat little legs under his belly and was off
like a shot. Never before in his life had he run as he ran now.
Instinct told him that at last he had met something which was not
afraid of him, and that he was in deadly peril. He made no choice of
direction, for now that he had made this mistake he had no idea where
he would find his mother. He could hear Makoos coming after him, and as
he ran he set up a bawling that was filled with a wild and agonizing
pray