Wherever the wolves went they
crossed the trails of these wanderers swarming out of the thickets,
sometimes by twos and threes, and again in straggling, endless lines
converging upon the vast open barrens where the caribou gathered to
select their mates for another year. Where they all came from was a
mystery that filled the cubs' heads with constant wonder. During the
summer you see little of them,--here a cow with her fawn hiding deep in
the cover, there a big stag standing out like a watchman on the mountain
top; but when the early autumn comes they are everywhere, crossing
rivers and lakes at regular points, and following deep paths which their
ancestors have followed for countless generations.
The cows and fawns seemed gentle and harmless enough, though their very
numbers filled the young wolves with a certain awe. After their first
lesson it would have been easy enough for the cubs to have killed all
they wanted and to grow fat and lazy as the bears, which were now
stuffing themselves before going off to sleep for the winter; but the
old mother wolf held them firmly in check, for with plenty of small game
everywhere, all wolves are minded to go quietly about their own business
and let the caribou follow their own ways.
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