Then a great
snake seemed to be wriggling through the bushes, making no sound,
but showing a wavy line of quivering tops as he went.
Down the shore a little way was a higher point, with a fallen
tree that commanded a view of half the lake. I had stood there a
few days before, while watching to determine the air paths and
lines of flight that sheldrakes use in passing up and down the
lake,--for birds have runways, or rather flyways, just as foxes
do. Mooween evidently knew the spot; the alders showed that he
was heading straight for it, to look out on the lake and see what
the alarm was about. As yet he had no idea what peril had
threatened him; though, like all wild creatures, he had obeyed
the first clang of a danger note on the instant. Not a creature
in the woods, from Mooween down to Tookhees the wood mouse, but
has learned from experience that, in matters of this kind, it is
well to jump to cover first and investigate afterwards.
I paddled swiftly to the point, landed and crept to a rock from
which I could just see the fallen tree. Mooween was coming. "My
bear this time," I thought, as a twig snapped faintly. Then
Koskomenos swept into the woods, hovering over the brush near the
butt of the old tree, looking down and rattling--klrrrik, clear
out! klrrr-ik, clear out! There was a heavy rush, such as a bear
always makes when alarmed; Koskomenos swept back to his perch;
and I sought the shore, half inclined to make my next hunting
more even-chanced by disposing of one meddlesome factor.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84