LITTLE WHITE FOX AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS

[Illustration: "Such ugly, bent noses I never saw before in all my life, either. " FRONTISPIECE. _See Page 21_]

 LITTLE WHITE FOX AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS

 BY

 ROY J. SNELL

 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE F. KERR

 [Device]

 BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1916

 _Copyright, 1916_, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved_

 Published, September, 1916

CONTENTS

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. LITTLE WHITE FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY 1

 II. LITTLE MISS PTARMIGAN FOOLS HIM 9

 III. HE GETS HIS HEAD THUMPED 19

 IV. WHEN LITTLE FOXES QUARREL 27

 V. LITTLE WHITE FOX MEETS BARRED SEAL 34

 VI. LITTLE WHITE FOX HELPS HIMSELF 41

 VII. LITTLE WHITE BEAR AND LITTLE BLACK BEAR 48

 VIII. TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR 54

 IX. LITTLE BLACK BEAR'S DISCOVERY 61

 X. FUN FOR TWO LITTLE BEARS 67

 XI. BIG WHITE BEAR MEETS HUSKIE 74

 XII. LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES HUNTING 83

 XIII. BIG WHITE BEAR'S KITCHEN 89

 XIV. BIG WHITE BEAR FINDS LITTLE WHITE FOX 95

 XV. LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES FISHING 101

 XVI. LITTLE BROWN SEAL'S NARROW ESCAPE 108

 XVII. A STRANGE JOURNEY 115

 XVIII. LITTLE WHITE FOX COMES HOME 122

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 "Such ugly, bent noses I never saw before in all my life, either. " _Frontispiece_

 "Now, " he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will have dinner. " PAGE 38

 Little White Bear knew right away what he had done. " 52

 "I am going to make your teeth chatter so you can't call your master. " " 81

 Big White Bear popped right up out of the ocean! " 119

 She was going back to his own dear beach. " 128

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Six of the Little White Fox Stories appeared serially in the_Continent_, to whose publishers my thanks are due for permission topublish them in book form. 

LITTLE WHITE FOX AND HIS ARCTIC FRIENDS

CHAPTER I

LITTLE WHITE FOX MAKES A DISCOVERY

Little White Fox was very, very much worried, for something dreadful hadhappened, something he couldn't account for at all: Tdariuk, thereindeer, was dead!

Tdariuk was not related to Little White Fox. And he wasn't a bit in theworld like him. He was many times bigger than Little White Fox wouldever be, and he was quite different from him in every way. But all thesame, Little White Fox loved him. If you had asked him why he loved thebig reindeer, he would probably have told you that, for one thing, Tdariuk, in spite of his huge body, was very gentle and kind. None ofthe little animals of the tundra was afraid of him. Little Mrs. Ptarmigan calmly hunted for dry blueberries and weed seed right besidehim while he cropped his moss. And when he drew close to the shore bythe sea, Little Brown Seal never thought of such a thing as slipping offhis rock and hiding in the water. Even if there were no other reason, wouldn't Tdariuk's gentleness alone make Little White Fox love him?

Now when Little White Fox discovered that his big, kind friend was dead, he ran home as fast as his legs could carry him to tell his mother thesad news. 

"Mother! Mother!" he called tumbling into his home under the great rock, "Tdariuk is dead!"

"Tdariuk dead!" cried Madam White Fox. "Who could have been mean enoughto kill him?"

"I don't know who killed him, but he's dead, I know that, " said LittleWhite Fox, the tears running down his cheeks. 

"It must have been Old Man Gray Wolf, or Omnok, the hunter, " said MadamWhite Fox, wiping her eyes with her paw. "For my part, I could easilywish them both dead themselves. None of us is safe as long as they areabout. But who told you Tdariuk was dead?"

"No one told me. I found it out for myself, " boasted Little White Foxproudly, quite forgetting his sorrow in thinking what a wise young chaphe was. 

"_You_ found it out!" exclaimed his mother. "Pray, tell me how?"

"Why, you see, " explained Little White Fox, with an air of deep mystery, "I was down on the tundra, at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain, lookingall around to see what I could see. And all of a sudden I came right onone of Tdariuk's great, fine antlers lying there in the snow. Now, whatdo you think of that? And when I went on a little farther, there was theother one! And then I knew, of course, that Tdariuk was dead. "

When Madam White Fox heard that, she smiled a little and stopped wipingher eyes. But all she said was: "Keep your eyes wide open, my son, andone of these days you will see something very strange. "

Little White Fox thought that a queer way to answer him. Why, she hadn'teven told him he was smart to discover about Tdariuk. 

"What do you mean, mother? What will I see? Tell me what I will see!_Please_ tell me what I will see!" teased Little White Fox. 

But not another word would Madam Fox tell him. Little White Foxwondered why she dried her tears for Tdariuk so quickly, but hecouldn't find that out, either. 

And so every day and all day, Little White Fox went peering curiouslyabout everywhere, just as his mother had told him to do, trying to findthe something that was "very strange. " He looked all around among thesand dunes by the ocean, but there was nothing strange there. He went inand out among the big rocks at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain and camenear falling into one of Omnok's cruel traps, but there was nothingstrange there. He went here and there, and back and forth, all over thetundra, but there was nothing strange there. 

Hunt as he would, Little White Fox could find nothing strange anywhere. He had grown quite discouraged, when one day, when he was searchingdown among the scrub willows by the river, his ear caught a familiarsound, "Ark! Ark! Ark!"

Little White Fox couldn't believe his ears. 

"Why, that's queer!" he exclaimed. "It sounds just like Tdariuk, thereindeer. But it can't be Tdariuk. How could it be Tdariuk, whenTdariuk's dead?"

Then he heard it again, much louder this time and quite close: "Ark!Ark! Ark!"

Little White Fox, for once in his life, was too astonished to say aword. He just held his breath and waited. And in just another moment outwalked Tdariuk, as big and gentle as ever, and very much alive indeed. And--on his head he wore a brand new pair of antlers, bigger than theothers and all covered with velvet! My! how handsome those antlerswere!

Little White Fox didn't stop to ask a single question. He just gaveTdariuk one long look and then whirled around and ran home as fast as hecould travel. 

He burst breathlessly into the cave and started to tell his mother thatTdariuk wasn't dead. But it wasn't news to her; she had known it all thetime. Little White Fox, however, had found out the something verystrange that she had hoped he would find, and had done it all byhimself. Therefore Madam Fox was very happy as she curled down on thefloor for her afternoon nap. 

CHAPTER II

LITTLE MISS PTARMIGAN FOOLS HIM

When Little White Fox saw that he had really found out about Tdariuk, the reindeer, all by himself, he became very wise. The next time one ofhis friends disappeared from the tundra, he didn't say a word about itto his mother, but went searching, searching, everywhere, every day. 

This time it was Little Miss Ptarmigan who had disappeared. Probably youdon't know Miss Ptarmigan, for she lives only in cold lands where thereis plenty of snow. But she is a very interesting young person. She is abit larger than Madam Partridge and not quite so large as Madam PrairieHen. And a very dainty little lady she is, too, for all winter--andthat's just the time Little White Fox had known her--she had worn aperfectly white gown, quite as white as the coat he wore himself. And ifshe hadn't worn pink shoes and stockings, he probably would never havebeen able to find her in the snow at all. 

Now, if Little White Fox had been as old as his mother, he would havebeen trying all the time to catch Little Miss Ptarmigan and carry heroff to his home for mincemeat. That is what grown-up foxes do to thePtarmigan folks when they get a chance. But Little White Fox was a verysmall chap, and didn't give much thought to mincemeat. All he thoughtabout was having a good time, so almost every day he hunted up MissPtarmigan, and they had a grand game of hide and seek. It was always anexciting game, too, on account of Miss Ptarmigan's white dress, and theonly way Little White Fox could find her was by watching for her pinkshoes and stockings as she hid away in a snow bank. And when she sat onher feet, he could almost never find her at all. 

"You just wait, Miss, " cried Little White Fox one day. "When summercomes, I'll get you!"

"You will, will you!" replied Miss Ptarmigan. "How will you do it?"

"Why, in the summer the snow will be gone, and the ground will be allbrown. Then I will be able to find you anywhere!" Little White Fox gavea hop, skip and jump that ended in a somersault, so tickled was he withhis own smartness. 

"Oh, indeed!" said Miss Ptarmigan, looking very wise and mysterious. 

That was all she said, but Little White Fox wasn't fussed. He hadn'tlain curled up on the grass mat in his home thinking about it nightafter night for nothing. 

One day when the snow was nearly all gone, Little Miss Ptarmigansuddenly disappeared. Little White Fox didn't believe she was dead. Heremembered how he had been fooled by Tdariuk, and he remembered, too, how she had looked when he talked about catching her. Also, heremembered how he had found out the truth about Tdariuk. Therefore, being a wise youngster, as I have said, he didn't say a word about itto his mother. He just went quietly about, looking, looking everywherefor Miss Ptarmigan. 

In the meantime, Miss Ptarmigan had been making trouble for herself. Silly old Mrs. White Owl had been telling her all winter how very wellwhite suited her complexion. And now summer had come, and MotherPtarmigan had forbidden her to go outdoors at all till her new brownsummer suit was finished. Miss Ptarmigan hated indoors, and she couldn'tunderstand what difference her dress made, anyway. But she never thoughtof disobeying till one fine, warm day when her mother was away fromhome, Little Miss Ptarmigan grew very lonesome. 

"I want to go out in the sunshine, " she kept saying to herself. "Therecan't be a bit of harm in it. I am sure I would see Old Mrs. White Owl, and she would say something nice about my white dress. "

Down at the foot of the mountain was some one else, a some one whodidn't think much about the sunshine and the flowers. It was MasterBlack Fox. He was thinking of his sausage grinder. It hadn't been usedmuch of late, and he was afraid it might get lazy. "A plump chub of aPtarmigan would grind nicely, " he said to himself, smacking his lips, "but they all wear brown dresses these days, and one cannot tell themfrom the weeds and grass. "

Just then his eyes opened wide. "Can I believe it?" he whispered. "Isthat one of them going down the mountain this minute--and with a whitedress on? Yes, sir, it is!"

Then Mr. Fox looked all about him very sharply, this way and that, forhis own coat was black as coal, and could be seen quite well against thebrown grass when he moved. But when he lay quite still, you couldn'ttell him from a stone. He was not afraid that Little Miss Ptarmiganwould see him. He knew where she was, and could hide behind rocks untilhe came close to her. 

After Mr. Fox had looked all about him very sharply, this way and that, he began to creep around this rock and that one, all the time drawingcloser to innocent, foolish Little Miss Ptarmigan, whose white dressshowed plain as day against the brown earth. And presently he was rightbehind a big rock she must pass in just another minute. And then he wasso close that it seemed almost as if she could hear him breathe. 

But she didn't. She just walked along, thinking about the fine thingsMadam White Owl had said to her, till zing! something sprang at her. Shegave a frightened scream and flew to one side, but she was too late. Something sharp and cruel closed down on the toe of her pink shoes. Itwas the teeth of Mr. Black Fox's sausage grinder. But he closed themdown a little too hard, for it cut the toe right off the pink shoe, andthe tips of Little Miss Ptarmigan's pink toes besides, and away sheflew, screaming with pain, toward a white snow bank in the valley. There each little hurt toe left a red spot on the white snow, and my, how they did ache!

One day quite a while later, when Little White Fox was over among thebrown rocks at the foot of Saw Tooth Mountain, he heard a scratch, scratch! among the dry grasses behind him. He turned around, and therestood a little stranger dressed all in brown. She looked wonderfullylike Miss Ptarmigan. She was just about the same size, and her shoes andstockings were just the same shade of pink. 

"Hello, Little White Fox!" she cried. "I thought you said you could findme when summer came and the ground was all brown. You have been lookingfor me a whole week, and I have been out here all the time. You saw meyesterday, but you didn't know me, because I had put on my summerclothes. Oh, Little White Fox, you are a very wise fellow! A very wisefellow, indeed!"

It was Miss Ptarmigan. She had changed her white gown for a brown one!

CHAPTER III

HE GETS HIS HEAD THUMPED

"Who put all those rocks there, I wonder?" mused Little White Fox, scratching his head and looking puzzled. "They are white and all thesame size. How queer!"

Little White Fox had climbed almost to the top of Cape Prince of WalesMountain. He had crept around among the rocks until he was way out on aledge looking out over the great blue sea. And here he had found thesestrange rocks, all gathered in one little pile by themselves. As helooked around, he presently saw more piles here and there, and all justthe same size. "Now, what do you think of that!" he said to himself, scratching his head again, and more puzzled than ever. 

He was still rubbing his head thoughtfully, when a sound behind him madehim look around, and his bright eyes fell on a group of the strangestlittle people any small fox ever came across. There were seven of them. They all stood in a row, and each was as straight up and down as the bigwhalebone over the grave Omnok, the hunter, had made for his father. Little White Fox had seen some of these strange folks when he was withhis mother a few days before. She had told him that they belonged to theSea Parrot family. "There is a very large family of them, " she had said. "They live almost anywhere on the ocean most of the year, but they makeAlaska their summer home. "

These seven little black sea parrots all stood up stiffly in a row, andnot one word did they say, either to Little White Fox or to one another. But Little White Fox felt that they were looking at him, and he didn'tlike it a bit. "What business is it of theirs if I walk around here andsee what I can see?" he thought to himself. "They are very ugly littlepeople, anyway. Look at their faces! They are nearly all nose! And suchugly, bent noses I never saw before in all my life, either!"

Just then a strange, pleasing smell came to Little White Fox's quiveringnostrils. Could it come from those strange, round rocks? He would see. He walked up to one of the piles, and, putting his nose down close, gavea big, long sniff. Yes, sir, that's just where it did come from! "Howqueer!" thought he. "I never saw such rocks before. Guess I'll push oneof them around and see what will happen. " At that, he stretched out oneof his front paws, and began to roll one of the rocks about. Bing!something struck him an awful blow right on the top of his head. 

"Ouch! What was that!" cried Little White Fox, peering about and rubbinghis head. 

The seven strangers were standing still stiff in a straight row. Not aword did they say, but they had moved quite a bit closer to Little WhiteFox. 

"I wonder, " said Little White Fox. Then he began to roll the rock again. Bing! something struck his head, harder than before. Little White Foxwhirled about quickly this time. One of the strangers was straighteningup. 

"What has she been doing?" he said to himself. "I shouldn't wonder ifshe had been hitting me with her ugly face. I have a great mind to biteher! What business is it of hers if I come up here and roll these littlestones around? Don't all the stones in the world belong to anybody whowants them?"

He gave the rock a vigorous push this time. It rolled over a smallledge, gave a little squash! and broke in two in the middle. LittleWhite Fox could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the inside of thestone spread out on the ground, all yellow and white! And _Ah-ne-ca!_how strong it smelled! But the smell was the most delicious that LittleWhite Fox had ever sniffed. 

"I'll just taste some of that good smelling stuff, " said Little WhiteFox happily, and was about to poke his small nose right into it, whenouch! something hit him a terrible whack right on the top of his head. My, how it hurt! It made his head ache so he could hardly thinkstraight. And this time he knew who had done it. It was one of thoseugly Parrot people. 

"Now, I _will_ bite her!" cried Little White Fox, and straight at thatstiff row he dashed. And then at last the strangers found theirtongues. Such a screaming and chattering Little White Fox had neverheard before. But he found he couldn't bite them, after all, for everytime he jumped at one of them, she leaped right over his head and hithim with her ugly face. So by and by Little White Fox was glad to runaway home and leave the strange rocks to the ugly little people who wereso savage and so bold. 

Mother White Fox laughed and laughed when she heard of her son's strangeadventure. 

"But, mother, " said Little White Fox, looking very much puzzled, "Whatdid they care about those old rocks?"

"Care, child!" cried his mother, holding her sides, "those things werenot rocks; they were their eggs. And the ledge you were on was theirhome. By and by those eggs will turn into little Sea Parrots, and whentheir wings and feet are strong, the babies will go swimming and flyingout over the shining sea. "

Little White Fox was far too young to understand all this, but he couldunderstand how his head had been thumped. So you may be sure it was along, long time before he went back to that cliff. When he did so, theSea Parrots were all gone, and so were the strange things he had thoughtwere rocks. 

CHAPTER IV

WHEN LITTLE FOXES QUARREL

There apparently were more little Foxes together on the tundra thatafternoon than there ever had been before. Little White Fox had justcome around a bunch of muckluck grass and spied them, all very muchinterested in something they had found. 

"Ha! Ha!" chuckled Little White Fox to himself. "They'll get their headspecked good and hard pretty soon!" For those little Foxes there on thetundra had found some of those same round objects that Little White Foxhad thought were stones and later learned were eggs. The onlydifference was that these were much larger and were out on the tundranear one of the salt ponds. 

The young Foxes had been playing happily together when they found theeggs. There were the Silver Fox twins, the Black Fox triplets, ReynardRed Fox, Violet Blue Fox, and Baby Cross Fox. Rather a large gatheringof Foxes, I admit, but there are more of the Fox family in Alaska thanin any other part of the world. 

Little White Fox slipped behind the muckluck grass and listened. Hisrelatives were quarrelling over who should have the extra egg. You seehere were eight little Foxes and nine eggs, so the question was whoshould take the extra egg?

"We should have the egg, " said the Silver Fox twins boastfully, "becausewe belong to the most aristocratic branch of the family. Our mother'scoat alone is worth three hundred dollars. "

"You have no more right to hold up your heads than we have, " one of theBlack Fox triplets answered him. "Our mother's coat is worth quite asmuch as any Silver Fox's that ever lived. "

"Fie! Fie! you are both wrong, " reproved Reynard Red Fox. "The bestknown should always be considered first. Now my father is known all overthe world. Whole books have been written about our family. "

"I should have it, because I am a baby, " wailed Baby Cross Fox. 

"I'd like to see any of you get it, " cried Violet Blue Fox, seizing theegg and attempting to carry it away. But the greedy miss, while tryingto carry it, let go of the one she already had, so she was not a whitahead. 

The fact of the matter was that one of those eggs was all any little Foxcould carry, and it certainly was all he could possibly eat. But ofcourse not one of them had thought about that. 

Now Little White Fox had lain hid behind the muckluck grass nearlysplitting himself with laughter at the thought of the whacking theirheads were going to get after awhile. But when he had waited a long timeand no one had come to molest his cousins, he began to want one of thoseeggs for himself. It happened that this was the nest of Old Mrs. LongNeck, the widgeon duck. And Omnok, the hunter, had captured her two daysbefore, so she would never come back to protect her eggs. 

Little White Fox stood it as long as he could, and then he came marchingboldly out from his hiding place. 

"If you don't mind, " he said very importantly, "I'll take the extra egg, and that will settle the difficulty. "

But that only started the discussion going faster than ever. "Youdidn't!" "I did!" "You can't!" "I can!" "I will!" "You won't!" and so onand so on they went. Probably they would be quarrelling yet, if LittleWhite Fox had not caught sight of a very tall person coming through themuckluck grass. It was the dreadful Omnok, the hunter!

"Look out!" he cried. 

But he was too late. Bang! went the hunter's terrible gun, and a hotbullet whizzed by his ear. The Foxes scattered in every direction, Little White Fox making for his home as fast as his legs would carryhim. And his heart beat so fast that even when he had been for half anhour safe under the big flat rock, his breath still came pantingly. 

"_Ah-ne-ca!_" cried Omnok, out on the tundra. "What did I shoot at themfor? Their coats are not worth a penny till old winter gets at them andmakes them thick and strong. My, but they were a fine bunch! If I cancatch half of them next winter, I can buy a whole herd of reindeer andbecome a reindeer man. But what have we here? Ho-ho! So this is whatthey were making such a fuss about! Old Long Neck's nest! Well, I guessnine good eggs will be fine eating for my wife and the children. "

With that Omnok put the eggs in his hunting sack and went stalkingaway. 

CHAPTER V

LITTLE WHITE FOX MEETS BARRED SEAL

Little White Fox was running all over the ice that covered the ocean. Itwas spring, and the sun was shining its best all the time, but there wasplenty of ice left. When there is two miles of ice out on the sand bar, and it is all six feet thick, you may easily guess it takes the sun along time to loosen it up. 

Well, Little White Fox was skipping about here and there to see what hecould see, and was not paying much attention where he was going when, _Ah-ne-ca!_ down he went! Down! Down! and splash! right into the icywater! My! he was frightened! How was he ever to get out of that place?Six feet of ice wall, straight as the sides of a house, was all abouthim. But what was this he saw on one side. It seemed to be a sort oflittle shelf. And, yes sir! as Little White Fox swam over to that sideand began to climb up, his feet caught on a ledge, and before he knew ithe was sitting in as neat a little room as you ever saw, and all madeout of ice! walls, floor, and ceiling!

"Now I wonder who lives here, " said Little White Fox to himself. "Whoever it is, I suppose I shall have a great quarrel with him when hecomes home. "

But no one came, and very soon his coat was quite dry and he foundhimself very comfortable in this strange little ice palace. But how washe ever to get out and go back to his mother and friends?

Just when he was thinking about that, he saw the water get black all atonce, and in another moment he was looking right into the face of astranger who had popped up out of the water, as if by magic. 

"Who are you?" asked Little White Fox, shaking all over with fright. 

"I have many names. " The stranger grinned so broadly Little White Foxquite lost his fear at once. "Some call me Barred Seal, " the strangercontinued, "and some call me Ring Seal. Others call me Rainbow Seal, andstill others call me Northern Lights. You may call me what you like. But say, there's room for us both up there, isn't there? I am tired!"

"But, " said Little White Fox, when they were both comfortably seated, "you look very much like Little Brown Seal. "

"Yes, " said the other, "he is my cousin, so is Spotted Seal and Oogrook, the big seal, and Little Light Brown Seal, and goodness knows how manymore! We are a large family. I am told that we have cousins living downin the Aleutian Islands who are very aristocratic indeed. They go by thename of Hair Seal. Why, their coats, I am told, are so valuable thatOmnok, the hunter, would risk his life to get one of them! For my part, I prefer this simple coat which no man would steal, unless he needed itto make a pair of boots. But you must be hungry, and so am I. Just waita minute. "

Master Barred Seal disappeared in the water, reappearing from time totime with a fish in his mouth. 

"Now, " he said, when he had finished fishing, "we will have dinner. "Before Little White Fox was spread the most tempting array of fish hehad ever seen. 

"This is the finest home in the world, " said Barred Seal proudly. "Yourdinner comes right to your front door. Look!"

Little White Fox looked, and sure enough, there in the water were plentymore fish swimming round and round. 

"But what if Omnok, the hunter, should find us here?" Little White Foxshivered suddenly. 

[Illustration: "Now, " he said, when he had finished fishing, "we willhave dinner. " _Page 38_]

"What if he should?" repeated the other. "There are four feet of solidice between us and the top. He will not come down in the water to getus, so what could he do?"

"But very soon, Mother tells me, " said Little White Fox, "the ice willall melt, or the wind will blow it out to sea. "

"Oh, well, in that case, " replied Barred Seal, smiling, "there is stillthe wild, free ocean to live in as always. "

"Not for me!" said Little White Fox, turning white in the face andlosing his appetite all at once. "How can I get out of here?"

"You don't want to go so soon, " answered Barred Seal. "Stay with meawhile. I rather like you. And, as you see, we have plenty of good fishto eat. "

"I thank you, " said Little White Fox very politely, "but I'd very muchrather go back home. " And at that moment he had a frightful vision ofall that ice going out, out to sea. 

"Very well, " said Barred Seal, "I'll go in the water and stand on mytail; then you can climb out on my back. Only don't dig in your toenails. "

In another moment Little White Fox was out in the bright sunshine, andyou may be very sure he was glad to be there. "I guess the world wasmade about right, " he said to himself. "And I am glad the hills, thetundra, and my own little home are just as they are, and I am glad I amLittle White Fox. "

CHAPTER VI

LITTLE WHITE FOX HELPS HIMSELF

Little White Fox was hungry again, and it was the hard, cold, wintertime, when all of the little folks of the tundra have to hunt far andwide for food. He had asked Tdariuk, the reindeer, to invite him out todinner. Tdariuk was very nice about it, but said he had only somelichens, which men call reindeer moss, to eat. When Little White Foxtasted them, he said they were not one bit good. The truth is they arevery bitter, and taste good only to Reindeer and Caribou folks. 

So Little White Fox went scratching away over the tundra and hillsidesto see what he could find. He was half way up the side of Cape Prince ofWales Mountain when he came on the tracks of a stranger. "He must havecome down from the higher mountains, " said Little White Fox to himself. "I wonder who he is. I don't believe he is any bigger than I am, for histracks are very close together. "

He followed the tracks, very curious to know who this newcomer might be. Pretty soon he came to a tunnel right into the snow. There were severaltracks in and out of this, so he could not tell whether the strangerwere at home or not. Little White Fox knew now that the other fellow wasnot so large as he, for the tunnel was almost too small for him toenter. But he gathered his coat close around him and crowded in. Herather hoped that he would not find the stranger at home, but that thetable would be set for dinner. 

And that was just the way it was! Little White Fox knocked at the door, and when no one answered, he walked right in. No, --the table wasn't set, but in the storeroom there was plenty of food. Little White Fox did notmake the least fuss but set the table himself. 

Now you might think that Little White Fox would eat only fresh eggs andfish, but if you think so you are mistaken. He likes berries and roots, and that is just what he had to eat that day, --blueberries from thehillsides and nice juicy roots and bulbs from the tundra! My, theytasted good!

He had just finished eating when something disturbed him. He had beenlistening to the noise the wind made blowing across the entrance to thetunnel. Now the wind didn't make any more noise, --not so he could hearit, anyway. That meant that some one had entered the tunnel. 

Now Little White Fox was not wishing to see any one just then. "GuessI'd better find the other door to this house and go home, " he said tohimself. But there wasn't any other door. Little White Fox wasn'tafraid, but then, --he just humped himself all up in a corner and wishedhe didn't have to meet the stranger, that was all. 

Well, sir! he had to laugh when he saw the stranger come in at thedoor. He was the oddest little fellow you ever saw! He looked just likeThunder, the big white rabbit, only his ears were short, his coat wasyellow, and he was ever so much smaller. Little White Fox knew who hewas right away, for he had heard his mother speak of the Lemming family. And this was one of the Lemmings! There could be no doubt of it. And theLemmings are great fighters, if they happen to be in the mood for it. Why, they have been known to jump right into the ocean and try to swimacross it. 

"Now I wonder what I'd better do, " thought Little White Fox to himself. But just because he couldn't think of anything at all to do, he didnothing. And that was the very wisest way to behave just then. Allbunched up the way he was, he looked very large and strong. The longerMr. Lemming looked at him, the more sure he became that Little White Foxwas some relation of his. And we must be very kind to all our relatives, especially when they are bigger than we are!

Mr. Lemming moved over to one side of the room as if to say, "You may goout if you like. "

Little White Fox moved half way to the door and then stopped, whichmeant, "I'd like you to move a little farther away. "

Mr. Lemming went back to the other side. 

Little White Fox went to the door, but even then he did not go out, notright away, he didn't. He turned and looked at Mr. Lemming, which meant, "You won't bite my heels, will you?"

Mr. Lemming didn't make a move. 

Little White Fox put his head out of the door. Then you should have seenhim get out of that tunnel! I don't believe Little White Fox ever wentfaster in the world. When he was out on the snow, he looked around andfelt foolish, for Mr. Lemming was not coming after him at all. 

That night Mr. Lemming closed up the tunnel to his house and made a newone under a rock, where he thought Little White Fox would not be able tofind it. 

Of course Little White Fox should have waited until Mr. Lemming camehome, and then asked him for something to eat. But, you know, he wasvery hungry, and besides he was only a little white fox, after all. 

CHAPTER VII

LITTLE WHITE BEAR AND LITTLE BLACK BEAR

Little White Bear stepped out from behind a great boulder that was blackas black could be against the whitest of all white worlds. And my! Itwas a lonesome world! His mother had left him alone, years and yearsago, it seemed to him, to find something to eat. At last he was solonesome he just had to get out into the sunshine and see if there wasany one in all the wide, white world who would play with a little whitebear. 

"I wonder! I do wonder if there is any one!" he said to himself. 

"Chee! Chee!" said a very small voice right close to him. He looked andlooked, and at last he spied Little Snow Bunting balancing herself on asalmon-berry bush. 

"What does she mean by that?" thought Little White Bear. "Does she wantto play with me?" But when he came closer to her, she said "Chee! Chee!"so loudly and saucily he felt almost sure she didn't, and when shespread her snowy wings and flew far, far away, he was quite sure shedidn't. 

"My! What a world!" said Little White Bear. "I wonder--" But just thenhe heard a strange sound, --crack--crack--crackety, crackety, crack! Whatcould it be? In just a moment Tdariuk, the reindeer, came trottingaround the point, and Little White Bear knew it was Tdariuk's heels hehad heard cracking. But Tdariuk didn't give him time to say a word. Hejust caught one whiff of bear smell, and away he went faster thanever, --crack--crack--crackety, crackety, crackety! Crack! Crack!

Down by the ocean things were no better. When Little Brown Seal saw himcoming, he tumbled right into the ocean without so much as saying "Howdo you do. "

Little White Bear looked this way and that, and suddenly he spied somelittle black things going up and down, up and down, over a little snowhill. Sometimes there were four, sometimes three, sometimes two, andsometimes none at all. "Must be Jim Raven and his crowd, " said LittleWhite Bear. "Well, _they_ won't get away from me! I'll just slip up tothat little hill and then jump right over it so quick they won't havetime to fly away!" He slipped up very quietly, Oh! just as quietly asany little bear could. He crept round this little hill and that littlesalmon-berry bush until he was right under the snow hill. "Now, " he saidto himself, "Now's the time!" He couldn't see the black things going upand down, but he knew they were there, so he gave one big, big springand then, "Oh! Oh! Ow! Wow! E-e-e! Let me go!" he cried, and boundedaway as fast as he could. What could have scratched him so? Where hadJim Raven and his crowd gone? Pretty soon he looked around, and rightthere in the snow where he had jumped was a little bear just about hisown size and a great deal like him, but black as black could be!

"What'd you jump on my stomach for?" said the stranger. Then LittleWhite Bear knew right away what he had done. The black things he thoughtwere Jim Raven and his crowd were not those people at all, but they wereLittle Black Bear's feet sticking up over the hill, as he rolled aroundon the snow, having a frolic all by himself. 

"Well, " said Little White Bear, "where did you come from?"

"Oh! My home is just a little way up in the hills, " said Little BlackBear politely. "We have a great many cousins in this cold country; thereis Little Brown Bear and Big Barren Ground Grizzly Bear, and I don'tknow how many more, but we seldom get to see any of our white cousins. How are you? I am glad to see you. "

[Illustration: Little White Bear knew right away what he had done. _Page 52_]

"I think I shall be very fine when I get over my scratches, " smiledLittle White Bear. "You must have very sharp claws. "

"They are quite sharp, " said Little Black Bear slowly. "I am sorry Iscratched you. Let's find something to play, and you will forget allabout it. "

"All right!" said Little White Bear gleefully, and away they went, looking for some adventure in the great, white world. 

CHAPTER VIII

TROUBLE FOR LITTLE WHITE BEAR

"Come on, " cried Little White Bear, almost standing on his head in hiseagerness to be at play with this new friend. 

"Let's go exploring, " said Little Black Bear. "That's the most fun ofall!"

"All right, " shouted Little White Bear, turning a handspring. And awaythey went, --two little bears out to see what they could find in thegreat, white world. 

They went down by the lakes and saw where Widgeon had made her nests inthe warm summer time; they wandered over the hills and said "WoofWoof!" in the doorway to Little Mrs. White Fox's home; they went hereand there, but at last they came upon something really very strange. 

"What can it be?" said Little White Bear, standing on one foot andlooking very wise. 

"What _can_ it be!" said Little Black Bear, scratching his head. Andwhat indeed could it be? It was right down at the foot of the mountain. There was a big, black, square thing right in the snow, and in themiddle of that there was another little square that was brown. Did anyone in the wide world ever hear of finding such a strange thing in agreat white wilderness? There wasn't a square thing anywhere else on thewhole tundra. Things were round and crooked and made of little angles, but who ever saw a square thing in real tundra land?

The two little Bears walked round and round it and tried to think whatit could be. At last Little Black Bear put one foot on it very timidly. "There!" he said bravely, "I stepped on it! Do you dare?"

"Of course I do!" said Little White Bear, walking right out on the bigsquare. "See me!" he shouted and went racing right across the thing. That is, he started across, but just when he was on the little brownsquare, he felt his feet begin to sink. There was a rip--ripping ofsomething, and down he went, till he struck kerwhack! on something farbelow. He jumped to his feet very quickly. Where was he? There werebrown walls all about him, like the walls of the cave where his homewas. And look as he might, Little White Bear could see no way to get outexcept to climb back up through the hole he had made when he fell in. And that was far, far above his head. He could never get out that way. And what was worst of all, as he began to look around, he was more andmore sure of one dreadful thing. And that was that he was in the houseof Omnok the hunter. My! That was a terrible thought. But it was true!They had been playing on Omnok's roof, and Little White Bear had fallenright through the window in the roof. Omnok had made a curtain out ofthe coats of many eider ducks, and this was the brown square that LittleWhite Bear had started to run across. 

Well, there wasn't a thing he could do. He just wandered round andround, but he couldn't find the least little place where he could getout. "What a strange place to live!" he thought to himself. "How does heever get into it himself?"

But Little White Bear wasn't the least bit doubtful that Omnok would beable to get into his house when he came home. And you may be very surehe wasn't a bit happy. He just went way over in the corner under Omnok'sbed and sucked his thumb while he wished he was at home in his own dearcave. All of a sudden he heard a noise. Omnok was coming! Little WhiteBear heard his voice, very big and very angry, outside! "Who has stolenmy 'pooksack'?" Omnok growled. "Who has broken my window?"

How poor Little White Bear trembled. He crouched down under the bed justas far as he could. Now he could hear Omnok come closer to his house. And then he saw Omnok's face at the side of the wall. Ah! Yes! There wasa little curtain there! Why had he not seen it! But suddenly a happythought came to Little White Bear. Just when Omnok was standing up, withhis terrible gun in his hand, Little White Bear rushed right at him andtumbled against his feet so hard that Omnok went sprawling to the floor, and his terrible gun went clattering after. 

Little White Bear bounded out of the little door. But there was just alittle alley and then another room with a window high up in the wall. Helooked quickly, and saw a little shelf, like Omnok's bed, only higherup, right under the window! Little White Bear jumped up but tumbledback. He tried it again and fell back. But the third time he foundhimself on the shelf, and in another minute he was out in the fine oldworld, running as fast as ever he could for home. And you may be verysure he was glad to be with his mother safe in their cave that night. 

CHAPTER IX

LITTLE BLACK BEAR'S DISCOVERY

What was Little Black Bear doing all the time Little White Bear was downin Omnok's house, and what about Omnok's "pooksack"? Well, Little BlackBear looked down into Omnok's house and wished his little playmate wouldhurry out, so they could discover some more things. But when he hadwaited what seemed a long, long time, he went on a little exploring tripall by himself. And he discovered something right away. It had four legslike Tdariuk, the reindeer. But it was ever so much larger thanTdariuk, and its legs were straighter. Little Black Bear wasn't long infinding out that this was not really any one at all, but just a rackOmnok had made on which to keep his meat. And there was meat up there!Oh! strips and strips of it! But it was all high out of reach. LittleBlack Bear sniffed and sniffed, and My! It did smell good! But even whenhe stood on his tiptoes he couldn't reach the least little mouthful. There _was_ one thing closer to the ground. And such a strange thing asit was! It looked like a coat that had belonged to one of Little BrownSeal's cousins, but he couldn't be in the coat right then, for thecollar was tied up tight as could be, and so were the sleeves. 

"If there was any one in that coat, he would smother right away, " saidLittle Black Bear, scratching his head. "But there is something in it!See how its sides bulge out! I'll just give it a good poke and see whathappens. "

Now that strange thing was just hung up by one string, and it swungabout very easily. When Little Black Bear gave it a great poke, it wentup in the air quickly! It came down quickly too, and it hit Little BlackBear square on his nose. He spun about and tumbled down in the snow, andat first he had a notion to be angry. 

When the thing had stopped swinging, he stood on his tiptoes and smelledof it. "E-ee-ee! How good it smells, " he cried. "I just believe that isOmnok's 'pooksack' of seal oil which mother has been talking about!"Little Black Bear's mouth began to water and water, for his mother hadtold him there was nothing half so good in the world as fine, rich sealoil. 

Now how was Little Black Bear going to get that oil out of that"pooksack"? He thought and thought and thought. At last he rememberedthe sleeves which were tied up. They were tied way down at the ends, andthere must be seal oil right down to the very tips. His mouth was toosmall to bite the "pooksack", but one of these sleeves, --that was thevery thing! He would bite one of those, hard! with his sharp teeth, andthe oil would come right out into his mouth!

He had to stand on his tiptoes to reach, but at last he set his teethhard and _Ah-ne-ca!_ How good that seal oil did taste! It went gurgle, gurgle, right down his throat so fast he could hardly get time toswallow. 

But very soon he began to feel as if he had had quite enough. How was hegoing to stop the seal oil from coming out? Well, he couldn't do that. He would just have to open his mouth and dodge right out of the wayquick. "That will be easy, " he thought to himself. Anyway, he took twoor three more swallows, then he opened his mouth wide, and _Ah-ne-ca!_before he could move one bit, that seal oil shot him right in the eyesand ears and began to run down his back so fast he couldn't even giveone grunt. You should have seen that little bear! He was oil from headto foot! And as for his fine, silky, glossy, black coat, he was justsure it was ruined! He didn't stop a minute to see if Little White Bearwas out of Omnok's house, but ran home as fast as ever he could. 

"Why! Why!" cried his mother, as he came into the house. "Where have youbeen?"

Little Black Bear couldn't say a word. He just crawled over in onecorner and looked down at his toes. 

And was his coat really ruined? Ask puss if her coat is ruined some daywhen she comes in out of the rain, and see what she will say. MotherBlack Bear cleaned that coat up that very night so it looked better thennew, but how she did it I wouldn't pretend to say. 

CHAPTER X

FUN FOR TWO LITTLE BEARS

Little White Bear and Little Black Bear met at the snow hill next day, but Little White Bear didn't jump into Little Black Bear's sharp claws, and you may be very, very sure they didn't go exploring around Omnok'shouse! They did go way, way out on the white roof of the ocean. Therewere splendid hills of ice to hide behind, and everywhere were great iceboulders over which they could play leap-frog. 

Little White Bear had just started to leap over one fine, large boulder, and Little Black Bear was coming right after him, when all of a suddenLittle White Bear turned a backward somersault and tumbled right intoLittle Black Bear. 

"Wow!" howled Little Black Bear. "What's the matter?"

"Shish!" whispered Little White Bear. "I saw something!"

"On the ice?" asked Little Black Bear, beginning to be frightened. 

"Right out there a little bit farther, " whispered Little White Bear. "And it was the biggest thing! Oh! My! I can't tell how big it was!"Then Little Black Bear was frightened! What could it be, way out here onthe ice, miles and miles from shore? Little White Bear hadn't seen itmove, but how could it get way out here if it weren't alive? Trees andthings like that couldn't grow on the roof of the ocean. 

They lay crouched down behind that big ice boulder until Little WhiteBear's foot had gone to sleep, and Little Black Bear was catching coldfrom sitting on the ice. 

"I am going to peek round and see if it has moved, " said Little WhiteBear bravely. He looked, and it hadn't moved one little bit, so itseemed as if it couldn't really be alive! Perhaps it was something thatOmnok had left there. They crept up toward it, little by little, untilthey were right up to it, and what do you think? It was nothing butOmnok's big whaling boat he had left on the ice. 

They looked all around to see if Omnok were about, then they tumbledright into that boat for a frolic. There were a great many things in theboat, but the most interesting of all was a great, long "pooksack. " Itwasn't full of seal oil. If it had been, I am quite sure Little BlackBear would have had nothing to do with it. It was just full of air. Omnok had used it for a sled when he drew his boat over the roof of theocean. And what a splendid football it did make, and how they did knockit about! First Little White Bear would give it a boost with his big, clumsy paws, then Little Black Bear would boost it right over LittleWhite Bear's head! Then there would be a scramble to see who would getto it first. But one time Little Black Bear kicked it right over LittleWhite Bear's head so high that it tumbled off the roof of the ocean anddown into the great dark sea. And Little White Bear tumbled right intothe ocean after it! Yes, sir! Right into the water, and you never sawwater so cold in all your life! Little White Bear didn't scramble out asfast as ever he could! He just climbed up on that "pooksack", happy as aclam, and wanted Little Black Bear to come in too! Little Black Bear, however, had a notion that the water was cold, so he touched it with histoe and "Um-m-m! Um-m-m!" he didn't want any swim that day. But LittleWhite Bear wouldn't come out of the water and play, so all Little BlackBear could do was to skip along home and tell his mother that he wasquite sure that Little White Bear would freeze to death that very night. 

"Oh, no!" said Madam Black Bear, looking very wise. "Little White Bearwon't freeze to death. "

"Why, " said Little Black Bear, opening his eyes wide, "I'm sure I'dfreeze right away. "

"So you would, " said his mother. "You were a wise young fellow to trythe water before you ventured in. But Little White Bear is quitedifferent. He has a very warm coat and is very fat. He is used to thecold water and will live in it all winter. But just you wait, " sheadded, with a sly wink. "You will have a surprise for him some day! Whenhe comes to look for you some cold, cold time, won't he be surprised tofind you snugly tucked away in bed and sleeping all day and all night?Won't he, though?"

Madam Black Bear laughed a big bear laugh, and Little Black Bear laugheda little bear laugh, so together they were after all two of the happiestbears in all the world. 

When Omnok went out on the roof of the sea to get his big boat, he sawwhat Little White Bear and Little Black Bear had done. He was very angrywhen he saw that his "pooksack" was gone. He thought Big White Bear hadbeen there. 

"I'll go hunting for him to-morrow morning, " he said to himself. "AndI'll take Huskie, my Malemute dog, along!"

CHAPTER XI

BIG WHITE BEAR MEETS HUSKIE

"Now, I'll tell you, " Omnok said to Huskie, "Big White Bear is a greatbig bully. He likes to fight all the little folks of the tundra and seabecause he is so big. It would be a good thing if we could show him thathe isn't so awfully big, after all. Wouldn't it?"

"Ki, yi, yiyi, " said Huskie, which meant he thought it would. 

"Well, then, this is what you must do. Go running about on the ocean iceeverywhere and hunt for him. I will be hunting too. If you find himfirst, run away, then call me. I will shoot him. Do you see?"

"Ki, yiyi, " answered Huskie again, meaning this time, "I do. "

Huskie ran up and down, in and out among the ice piles, until his feetwere sore. He was very anxious to find Big White Bear. Whenever a littlefellow has a chance to harm a big fellow he thinks is a bully, he alwayswants to do it. Did you ever notice that?

So Huskie ran on and on, even if his feet were sore. 

"Hello!" He had just gone around something he thought was an ice pilewhen he heard a voice. 

Looking up, he saw the face of Big White Bear. What he was going aroundwasn't ice at all. It was Big White Bear. And, my! What a monster hewas! Huskie had to look away off at Cape Prince of Wales Mountain andlook again at Big White Bear before he could tell which was the larger, bear or mountain. 

He wanted to run away. But Big White Bear was so very near he didn'tdare to, so he just said "Hello!" But to himself he said, "Big WhiteBear is a big, big bully, just as Omnok said. I am glad he is going toget killed. "

"Who are you?" asked Big White Bear. 

"I'm Huskie, the Malemute dog. Who are you?"

"I am a Polar Bear. Where did you come from?"

"My home's over there on the shore, " said Huskie, pointing his nosetoward shore. "Where'd you come from?"

"I came from far, far North. I've never been here before. Didn't mean tocome this time. Last night I went to sleep on a corner of Old Ocean'sblanket. Old Ocean put up his knee in his sleep, and my corner of theblanket slid right down here. What do you think about that?"

"Very strange. "

Now Huskie is a great fighter himself, for a little fellow. And greatfighters like fight stories. He was just itching to know all about BigWhite Bear's big fights. 

"Who'd you kill last?" he asked. 

"Who did I kill?" said Big White Bear, opening his eyes very wide. 

"Yes, was it a very bad fight?"

"A bad fight?"

"Yes, you don't seem much scratched up for a great fighter. Look at me;one leg bent, nose split, and scarred up all over, " said Huskie proudly. 

"Do you think I'm a great fighter?"

"Of course you are. Omnok says--" Huskie caught himself just in time. IfBig White Bear knew all about Omnok, he'd run away. 

"Why, I never fight anybody, " said Big White Bear gravely. 

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Huskie. "That's a good story. You never fight anyone. What a fib!"

"It's the truth. "

"The truth? Ha! Ha! Of course that's not true. You're a bear. All bearsare fighters, and great big bullies, besides! Why! I bet you've gotclaws three inches long. "

"You think so?" Big White Bear put out his front paw which was as big asthe trunk of a small tree. Huskie dodged. 

"Look, " said Big White Bear. 

Huskie looked at Big White Bear's claws. They were not as long as hisown. They were broad and blunt, just sharp enough for climbing over theice. 

"I don't know why they name me Bear, " said Big White Bear; "Old BusterGrizzly, Buster Brown, and Buster Black, now, are very distant relativesof mine. Indeed, they have long claws and are great fighters. But mynearest relative, Tusks, the Walrus, is no fighter at all, and believeme, neither am I. "

But Huskie was a very quarrelsome and suspicious fellow. 

"That will do to tell, " said he; "but I know it is not true. As forthose claws of yours, I can guess how that is. They look very harmlessnow. But when you want to fight, you run them out like a cat's. "

"It's no such thing, " said Big White Bear. 

"Oh, yes, it is. Omnok says it is. I am going to tell him now, and he'llfix you!" Vain boast! Huskie had forgotten himself. 

In another instant, before he could dodge, Big White Bear had grabbedhim and hugged him tight. Huskie could not call out at all. His voicebecame the tiniest little squeak. 

"Let me go! Let me go!" he squeaked. "I won't tell! I won't tell! Oh!Oh! Please, Mr. Bear, let me go!"

[Illustration: "I am going to make your teeth chatter so you can't callyour master. " _Page 81_]

But Big White Bear only grinned, and said "Huh?"

"Oh, I'll not kill you, " said Big White Bear finally. "It's just as Ihave told you. I am no fighter. I never hurt anybody, unless I am drivento do so. I'll not kill you, but I am going to make your teeth chatterso you can't call your master. "

At that, Big White Bear dropped right down into the cold, cold waterwith Huskie in his arms. 

Now Big White Bear lives half the time in water, and he does not mind ita bit. But poor Huskie! When Big White Bear put him back on the ice, hecouldn't have said a word to save his life. 

"Now, go and tell your master that you have seen Big White Bear, " saidBig White Bear, grinning. "But you don't know where he is just now. "

Then he dropped into the water and disappeared. 

Huskie did not wait to hunt up his master. He ran home as fast as hecould go. Try as he might, Omnok has never been able to get him to gohunting for Big White Bear again. 

CHAPTER XII

LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES HUNTING

Little White Fox went hunting for Big White Bear! And he didn't have agun or a spear or a bow and arrow! Now what do you think of that! Yousee, it was this way. It was winter time, and food was becoming veryscarce on the hills and the tundra. All the delicious roots were frozenhard in the earth, and the berries were all gone. Little White Fox wasvery hungry, and he told Little Mrs. White Fox about it. 

"Well, " said his mother, "I guess we will have to go and find a BigWhite Bear. "

"Find a Big White Bear!" cried Little White Fox. "Why, he'd eat us!"

"But you mustn't let him do that, " said Mrs. White Fox. 

"But what do we want to find him for?" said Little White Fox, scratchinghis head. 

"Listen, " said Mrs. White Fox very mysteriously. "Big White Bear is avery wasteful fellow. He has a big, big kitchen, and he has the greatestamount of food stored there. Oh! piles and piles of it! He doesn't liketo eat his food in his kitchen. He brings some out every day and alwaysleaves plenty. Now, if we can find him, we will just follow him aboutuntil his dinner hour. When he is gone, we will have plenty to eat. See?"

Little White Fox did see and, though he was half afraid of Big WhiteBear, he was also very hungry, and so he was anxious to go on the huntright away. 

"You go one way, and I'll go the other, " said Madam White Fox. "When youfind Big White Bear, you come right back to this rock. I will come backtoo, and we will follow him about for weeks and weeks and have plenty toeat. "

Away went Little White Fox, looking, looking everywhere for Big WhiteBear! He looked behind the cliff on the mountain. But Big White Bearwasn't there. He looked on the sand bars, but he wasn't there. He wentpeering all around the little lakes, but he wasn't there. 

And where do you think Big White Bear was? He wasn't in very goodbusiness, I assure you. He was over on the other side of the mountain. Tusks the Walrus had just climbed out of the water and had gone to sleepon the beach close to the mountain. Tusks was a great, good naturedfellow, with a monstrous, heavy body and a pair of terrible lookingtusks, which were not really terrible at all, for Tusks never used themexcept for digging clams. Big White Bear was up on the rocks, way, wayabove Tusks, and he had a great rock in his powerful paws, as big a rockas he could lift! He was going to throw it right down on Tusks and killhim. He had plenty to eat at home, but he thought this would be a finechance to get some fresh meat. 

Just when he was getting ready to throw it, something happened. LittleWhite Fox came round the corner of the hill, looking here, there, andeverywhere for Big White Bear. He came on round and round till he wasjust above Big White Bear, and then all at once he saw him! He was soglad he had found Big White Bear, that he stood right up on his two feetand gave one big, big laugh, "Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Yak! Yak! Yak!" just likethat. 

There was never a worse scared bear than Big White Bear in all theworld! He had a guilty conscience, for he knew it was not right to throwa rock on poor, tired Tusks, and when he heard Little White Fox laugh, he didn't know who it was. It might be some one very big and dangerous. It might be Omnok, the hunter, with his terrible gun! Big White Bearjust trembled and trembled, and the rock fell from his powerful paws andwent splashing into the water without hurting Tusks at all. But when helooked around to see who had laughed at him, he couldn't see any one atall. Little White Fox knew a whole lot better than to let Big White Bearsee him just then! But just after that Little White Fox did a verythoughtless thing. He was so hungry and wanted so much to see where BigWhite Bear had his kitchen, that he forgot all about his mother tellinghim to come back to the big rock, and away he went, after Big White Bearall by himself. 

CHAPTER XIII

BIG WHITE BEAR'S KITCHEN

"I mustn't lose Big White Bear, " thought Little White Fox, "and Imustn't let him see me. Oh! My! No! I mustn't do that, for he is a big, big fellow and who knows what he might do to me?" So he slipped alongbehind very slyly, hiding behind this rock and that one, behind thissnow pile and that one, very carefully indeed. 

But Big White Bear was nearly as badly frightened as Little White Fox. "What was that great big laugh?" he kept thinking to himself. And everytime he thought of it, he looked behind him, and I am sure he reallyexpected to see Omnok, the hunter, step right out with his terrible gun. But by and by, when he had gone down the mountain and across the tundraand over the little lakes, he was not so much afraid, and he began togrow hungry. Now that was just what Little White Fox hoped would happen, for he was very hungry himself and very curious besides to see where BigWhite Bear kept his pantry. Where would it be? Would it be in the tallmountains, or on the tundra, or out on the roof of the sea? Howinteresting it would be to know!

Pretty soon Big White Bear began to go straight ahead, without turningto one side or the other. Then Little White Fox was sure he had startedfor his kitchen, and he was glad as could be! Big White Bear went rightout on the roof to the ocean and on and on and on, till Little White Foxwas good and tired. When he came to the dark, dark waters of the ocean, Big White Bear didn't stop one moment. He just tumbled right into thewater and disappeared all at once!

"My!" said Little White Fox, opening his eyes very wide. "He will surelybe drowned. " And then all at once he thought of the fine dinner he hadbeen expecting to get and how far it was back to the great rock wherehis mother was to wait for him. And then, of course, he remembered whathis mother had said about coming back to call her. How sorry he was nowthat he had forgotten all about that. Oh! if they could only find BigWhite Bear's kitchen! Just then Little White Fox heard a scratching onthe ice and bounded behind an ice boulder before he was seen. Big WhiteBear had come right up out of the ocean with the biggest dinner you haveever seen. His kitchen was right down in the water under the roof of theocean, and he had brought his dinner out on the ice to eat it in thesunshine. 

Little White Fox thought Big White Bear would never, never get througheating, but he finally did. And there was quite a big dinner left forLittle White Fox. When Big White Bear was fast asleep on the ice, takinghis after-dinner nap, Little White Fox crept up and began to eat hisdinner too. "He didn't ask me, " said Little White Fox, "but then Ididn't give him a chance, I am sure he would if I had. " It was a verygood dinner and how Little White Fox's sides did stick out when he hadfinished! But he didn't stay to say thank you, so I guess he wasn't verysure that Big White Bear would have invited him. He just hid behind anice boulder and waited for Big White Bear to wake up. He mustn't loseBig White Bear. He began to think about that fine dinner he had justeaten and about how he had found Big White Bear all by himself and howhe had frightened him. It made him feel so good he just wanted to laugh. The more he thought, the more he wanted to laugh, and the first thing, before he knew it, he was laughing right out loud, "Ha! Ha! Yak! Yak!Yak! Yak!"

Just that minute Big White Bear woke up, and he didn't stop to see whowas laughing! He tumbled right into the ocean and went paddling away asfast as ever he could. He didn't stop till he was almost out of sight, then he looked back once for just a moment and went paddling on and on, till he was way out of sight. Little White Fox had lost Big White Bear. All the fine dinners he was to have in the future were lost, justbecause he had laughed at the wrong time. 

I don't know what Little Mrs. White Fox had to say to him when he camehome, for I wasn't there, but there are some very fine switches made outof reindeer moss lying all over the tundra. However, Little White Foxwas a very young fellow and had a great many things to learn, so perhapshis mother did not punish him very hard. 

CHAPTER XIV

BIG WHITE BEAR FINDS LITTLE WHITE FOX

When Omnok returned from hunting Big White Bear he sat down and began tothink. "White bears about, " he thought to himself. "There must be whitefoxes about too, for they always stay close to white bears. I must goout and set some traps. " And that is just what he did the very nextevening. He threw the cruel looking traps, with their ugly steel jaws, over his shoulder and went out to look for a good place to set them. Atlast he came to a place where there were many white bear tracks. "Iguess this will do, " he said to himself. He took out his great knifeand cut out a cake of snow that was nearly as hard as ice. He cut thisup into four little snow boards, very square and very smooth. Then hemade a little hole in the snow and put a trap there. Next he made a thinshingle of snow, --so thin that the least touch would break it right intwo. He put this over the trap and smoothed it over so carefully that noone in all the world could tell there was a trap hidden there. Then hemade a little house over it with the four boards, --a very fine lookinghouse with a roof and three sides, and with one side left open for thedoor. He put some nice pieces of meat inside of the house, so when anylittle fox came to live there he wouldn't have to go away hungry. Finally he spilled a few drops of delicious smelling seal oil around thehouse and went away. 

Now who should happen by that way, almost right away, but our own LittleWhite Fox, looking, looking everywhere for Big White Bear. Right awaythe west wind blew a little whiff of the rich seal oil in front of hisnose, and almost before he knew it, Little White Fox was standing infront of the little house that Omnok built, wondering how it came thereand how there happened to be such delicious looking meat inside of it. He wasn't quite sure it was safe to go inside, so he just licked up allthe drops of seal oil around the outside. It was very good, but it wasonly a taste, and it made him hungrier than ever. 

"I just believe I am going to have that meat!" he said to himself. Hewas about to put his paw on the little snow shingle that was so thin andwould break so easily, when he heard a great, gruff voice right behindhim. 

"Here! What you doing there?" Little White Fox just tumbled a backsomersault away from the little house and ran as fast as ever he could, for there, right behind him, was Big White Bear! It's one thing to belooking for some one very much larger than yourself, but quite anotherthing for that big person to be looking at you. Little White Fox didn'ttake any chances. But when he was a long distance away, and Big WhiteBear wasn't following him, he turned around to see what would happen tothe little house. He wished Big White Bear would go away, so he couldget all that delicious meat. 

But Big White Bear did not go away. He bent his long neck and put hisgreat nose right up to the little house and gave a great "Woof!" Thelittle house was far too small for Big White Bear to enter, so he putout one of his ponderous, powerful paws and sent the little house flyingevery way. But his ponderous, powerful paw went too deep. It touched thethin shingle, and Snap! the trap came down on Big White Bear's paw. Camedown hard too! Ow-e-e-e! How it did hurt! How Big White Bear roared! Onemight have thought he was being killed! He ran limping to the ocean, dragging the little fox trap after him. When he got there, he stuck hispaw up in the air, and moved it round and round, round and round, tillthe chain on the trap went Ziz! Ziz! Ziz! just like that. All of asudden the trap came loose and tumbled into the sea, and I thinkSteadfast Starfish's children are playing with it still. 

Little White Fox ran straight home to tell his mother how he had foundBig White Bear and all the things that had happened. 

"Well, " said his mother, "I think Big White Bear has found you, and I amsure it is a good thing he did!" Then she sat down and told Little WhiteFox all about the dangers of nice smelling meat and the little housesthat Omnok builds. 

CHAPTER XV

LITTLE WHITE FOX GOES FISHING

Little White Fox was hungry again. It would seem that a little white foxis hungry most of the time. He went wandering all over the tundra, looking for something to eat. At last he came to the bank of the river. He was sniffing about there when he spied a door right in the groundnear the ice roof of the river. "Hello!" said he, stopping short, "Iwonder who made that door in there. " He looked into the door but couldsee no one. It was too dark. He shouted into the door, but no oneanswered. He crept part way down the stairway. Then he stopped andlistened. He heard nothing, so he ventured on, and almost before he knewit, he found himself in one of the biggest caves he had ever seen. Itwas as wide as half the river and as long as he could see in eachdirection. It had an ice roof and a good solid floor. Only the floorstopped pretty soon, and then there was water. 

"I don't believe anybody in the world could build a house like this!"said Little White Fox. "I guess it just happened to be here, and someone has discovered it. I wonder who it could be?"

He walked down close to where the water was, and there he found tracks. Oh! hundreds and hundreds of them! But he could not tell whose tracksthey were. He had never seen such tracks before. 

"Anyway, I believe there is something good to eat in that water, " hesaid to himself. "If there wasn't, that fellow wouldn't come down hereand stand around so much. It is nice and warm down here out of the wind, and I guess I'll stand around a little myself and see what will happen. "

Meanwhile, down below in the river, two of the little river people werehaving a talk all by themselves. They were Unfortunate Flounder and Mr. Salmon Trout. Salmon Trout is a very graceful fellow who always holdshimself erect in the water. When he swims, he goes so swiftly that youcan hardly see him. But Unfortunate Flounder goes floating around on oneside all the time, and looks more like a dead leaf than any member ofthe fish family. 

"Why do you not stand straight up in the water as I do?" said SalmonTrout. 

"Well, " said Unfortunate Flounder, "it's only a little my fault. Can'tyou see that my eyes are on one of my flat sides and my stomach on theother? It wouldn't be very pleasant to go about looking one way andgoing another, would it? When I was going south, I'd be looking west;don't you see?"

"How does it happen that you are that way?"

"I was born that way. All my children are the same, and so were myparents before me. You see, it's really a matter of ancestry. Way backsomewhere, one of my great grandparents found out it was easier to loparound sidewise in the water than to stand straight up as you do, so helopped around all his life long. His son followed his example and loppedaround a little worse. So it went on, until to-day we could notstraighten up if we were to try. At least, it would take wholegenerations before we could balance ourselves as well as you do. As forme, I don't see as it matters much, for, after all, I quite agree withmy great grandfather that it is best to be comfortable, even if it doesmake you ugly, ungraceful, and slow. "

But just then Unfortunate Flounder learned what an unhappy thing it wasto be slow. Little White Fox from his station on the bank had beenwatching, watching very sharply two dark spots that had appeared in thewater. He had watched them come closer and closer. At last he thought hecould reach out and grab one of them without getting in the water. 

"Look out!" cried Salmon Trout, as he glided swiftly away. But poorUnfortunate Flounder was too slow, and he felt Little White Fox's sharpteeth close down on him. 

Just then something happened. "Here! what are you doing in my fishinghouse?" demanded an angry voice. It frightened Little White Fox so badlythat he dropped Unfortunate Flounder back into the river and lookedaround. 

It was Mr. Golden Marten, and this was his fishing house. At least, hecalled it his, for he had made the stairway down to it. It took LittleWhite Fox only a moment to discover that while Golden Marten was notquite as large as he was, his teeth were very sharp. The door to thestairway was quite close to him, and before Golden Marten could stop himLittle White Fox was out of the door and racing for home as fast as hislittle legs could carry him. 

"All the same, " he said to his mother that night, after he had told herof the cave, "when I am as old as you are, I am going to have a fishhouse all my own!"

CHAPTER XVI

LITTLE BROWN SEAL'S NARROW ESCAPE

One day Little White Fox was out in front of his house sunning himself. He and his mother were living off the bounty of Big White Bear thesedays, so there was nothing to worry about. He just stretched himself outthere on the white snow and looked away at the wide, white world, ascontented as could be. But all at once he saw a strange, strange thing. Out on the roof of the silent sea, Little Brown Seal was sunning himselftoo, right close to the door of his home. He was taking little "cat"naps. You see, Little Brown Seal could not sleep down in his house inthe ocean. It was far too damp down there. So he was lying there by hisdoor, sleeping just two or three minutes at a time, then looking up tosee if there was any danger near. 

Now that wasn't such a strange thing. Little White Fox had seen LittleBrown Seal do that nearly every day, but the strange thing was thatthere was some one else out on the ice who seemed to be doing the verysame thing that Little Brown Seal was doing, --taking "cat" naps. Andstranger still, he did not seem to be one of Little Brown Seal'srelatives! He was too long, and he didn't wiggle his body right!

Little White Fox could see all that, but Little Brown Seal was so lowdown on the ice that all he could see was the stranger's head. He mighthave known even then that it was not one of his cousins, if he had hadas sharp eyes as Little White Fox. But he didn't, for his eyes were verypoor. So Little Brown Seal thought it was one of his own cousins takinga nap now and then, just as he was. Once it looked to Little White Foxas if he were beginning to understand that the stranger was not one ofhis cousins, for he stayed awake a long, long time and looked and lookedand looked. The stranger seemed to be sleeping a long time, and thatmade Little Brown Seal suspicious. But just then the stranger bobbed hishead and looked all around this way and that way, just as any real, wise seal would do, and Little Brown Seal decided it was all right, thatthis stranger was one of his really truly cousins. 

And who do you think the stranger, who acted so very much like a seal, was? It was Omnok, the hunter, with his terrible gun sliding right alongbeside him! He had learned how Little Brown Seal took his "cat" naps, and he was going to slip right up to him and kill him. He kept creepingup closer, closer, closer. But Little Brown Seal had made up his mindthat it was one of his cousins, and so he didn't ask himself any morequestions about it. He just kept on taking his little "cat" naps andwaking up to look all around, this way and that way, but never payingany attention to this stranger who was coming nearer all the time. 

"My, " Little White Fox thought to himself, "he will surely be killed. Yes, sir! I am very, very sure Little Brown Seal is going to be killed!"

But just when Omnok was getting very close, and just before he was goingto raise his terrible gun and kill Little Brown Seal, a strange thinghappened. I don't know how it happened. Perhaps Little White Fox wassorry the sun was going down so soon that day, or perhaps he waslonesome for his mother. Perhaps he was sorry for Little Brown Seal, because he was going to get killed in just another minute; but whateverit was, Little White Fox began to feel bad all at once. He wanted tocry, and he _did_ cry! He lifted his pink little nose into the air andcried, "Ah! Ah! Ah! Yak! Yak! Yak!"

Now Little Brown Seal may not have very good eyes, but he has very goodears, and he had just wakened from a "cat" nap when he heard thatlonesome wail from Little White Fox. And he didn't wait one minute, norone second! He tumbled down into his house in the ocean as quick as awink, just as Omnok the hunter was getting ready to shoot him!

Perhaps you think Omnok wasn't angry! But he had heard Little White Foxcry. He would get Little White Fox's coat. Then he would be even. ButLittle White Fox was nowhere about when Omnok climbed the hill. No, youmay be sure he wasn't! He was way under the great rock in his ownlittle home, where Omnok couldn't get near him. So all Omnok could dowas to put his terrible gun over his shoulder and go back home. 

CHAPTER XVII

A STRANGE JOURNEY

Little White Fox went on a strange journey one day, and when he arrivedat its end, he didn't know where he was! You see, he had been living fora long time with his mother off the bounty of Big White Bear. Now thesnow had almost all gone from the mountains and the tundra. Little Mrs. White Fox had gone over to the land and told Little White Fox to watchsharp and see if Big White Bear came up out of his kitchen and leftanything for them to eat. She was going over to see if she could findany perfectly good blueberries which had been hidden all winter underthe snow. 

Little White Fox loitered about on the roof to the ocean and dreamed, aslittle folks will in the springtime. The weather was fine, and the sunwas shining now, all day and all night. A great deal of the roof to theocean had floated mysteriously away, one night, but there was a greatdeal of it left, and Little White Fox felt very safe. But all of asudden, Scratch! Scratch! he heard Big White Bear come up out of hiskitchen. Then he knew that there was going to be a feast, just as therehad been so many times before. He waited and waited until Swish, Swishhe heard Big White Bear tumble back into the water and swim away. Thensuch a feast as he did have! Well, Little White Fox ate so much and thesun shone so brightly, that he began to feel very, very sleepy, andalmost before he knew anything about it, he was curled up on the roof tothe ocean fast asleep, dreaming as hard as ever a white fox dreamed. 

I don't know how long Little White Fox slept; hours and hours I imagine. But when he awoke and looked about him, all he could see was the dark, deep ocean everywhere. He jumped to his feet and peered this side of himand that side, but it was all the same dark, deep water. There wasnothing but ocean everywhere. The big waves had come along and carriedoff the part of the roof to the ocean that Little White Fox was sleepingon!

What was Little White Fox to do? He could not swim very far, and it wasa long way to land; in fact, he could not see any land at all. Besides, the water was very, very cold. He couldn't think of a thing to do. Hejust curled up in a heap and shivered and shivered and shivered, he wasso lonesome and frightened. 

"Hello!" shouted Tusks the Walrus, sticking his head out of the water. He looked and looked. "That's strange, " he said to himself. "I thought Isaw Little White Fox over here on a piece of the ocean's roof. Guessnot, though. I don't see him now. " And away he swam for a frolic withone of his cousins. 

"Hello!" cried Little Brown Seal, turning a somersault in the water. When he turned the somersault, he looked at the piece of the ocean'sroof. "My! My!" he sighed. "These eyes of mine must be getting very badindeed! I thought I saw Little White Fox on that piece of roof. " And hetoo went paddling away to play. 

[Illustration: Big White Bear popped right up out of the ocean!_Page 119_]

And all the time Little White Fox was hiding his nose in a little snowbank, and closing his pink eyes because he was so very much afraid ofevery one, even his best friends, out here on the silent, lonesome sea. Very soon he was nearly frightened to death. Big White Bear popped rightup out of the ocean! He climbed up on one end of the piece of roof andtipped it up so Little White Fox thought he would surely be tipped intothe sea. But he dug in his toes and hid his nose, and closed his eyesvery tight. Pretty soon Big White Bear thought of something he wantedto do and tumbled back into the sea. 

Little White Fox floated on and on, for hours and hours and hours, overthe silent sea. But by and by when he was very, very hungry and verysure that he would never see his dear home and his dear mother again, there came a dreadful storm. Little White Fox had to dig his toe nailsin tight, again, and once the piece of the roof broke right in two andnearly threw him into the sea! But finally he felt a bump. His piece ofroof had struck something hard. Bump! Bump! He nearly stood on his head, and in a minute the piece of roof was perfectly still. Little White Foxlooked up, and right by the piece of roof was the finest sandy beachyou ever saw. He gave one big run and jumped on the beach, and scamperedaway, as fast as ever he could, just before a big wave came and carriedthe piece of roof back to sea. 

It wasn't any time at all until he was up on the edge of the finesthill, eating the richest, juiciest blueberries that had ever been keptunder a snow bank all the long winter through. And pretty soon he wasall dry, and feeling fine and not hungry at all. 

"But where in the world am I?" thought Little White Fox, scratching hishead. "I'll have to see if I can find some of my friends who can tell mehow to go home. It must be a long, long way. "

CHAPTER XVIII

LITTLE WHITE FOX COMES HOME

When Little White Fox looked all around him very carefully, this way andthat, and didn't see a thing he had ever seen before and not a personwho knew him in all this new tundra and all these new hills, he feltvery blue, you may be sure. But he didn't cry about it. He was too happyat being off that bit of roof to the great ocean for that. So he lookedas far as he could see in every direction, and at last he spied somelittle lakes way down on the tundra. "I'll just go over there and see ifthere is any one I know, " he said to himself, and went trotting away asfast as ever he could. He came right down by the lakes and at last hesaw some one he had met in his own home land. It was Mr. Widgeon Junior, a son of Old Mrs. Widgeon Duck, who was killed by Omnok the hunter. 

"Hello, " said Little White Fox. 

Widgeon Junior looked up quick, in a frightened sort of way, but henever said a word. He just stretched out his long neck and flapped hisstrong wings and began to fly. And all the time he pointed with his billstraight ahead and with his feet straight behind, as if to say, "Followme; this is the way home. "

"I just believe that _is_ the way home!" said Little White Fox. "Hismother had her nest right down on our tundra last summer, and I believehe is going there right now!" So he picked up his feet lively and ranalong behind Widgeon Junior but he couldn't near keep up! It wasn't anytime at all before he was so far behind that he couldn't see WidgeonJunior at all! And before long he was just as badly lost as before. Buthe trotted on cheerfully, "For, " he said to himself, "I'll see some oneelse I know very soon. "

And sure enough, all of a sudden there was a clap, clap of wings, andsome one that looked just like Who-Who, the big white owl, went soaringover his head. But when Little White Fox shouted "Hello" in his verybest voice, the great white owl never answered a word, but went flappingon till he lit on the top of a whalebone which one of Omnok's relativeshad put up to mark a grave. 

"Well, " said Little White Fox to himself, "I guess that isn't Who-Who, but anyway, it is one of his cousins, and he is very wise. All the Owlfolks are. He will tell me the way home. "

So he hurried over to the foot of the whalebone and said, "Please, Mr. White Owl, won't you tell me the way home?"

The big white owl never answered a word, but he winked his eye verycunningly, as much as to say, "Look, I'll show you. " Then he flapped hisgreat, white wings, and away he flew, and away after him, as fast asever he could trot, came Little White Fox, never once looking this wayor that to see where he was going, so proud was he to be able almost tokeep up with this new friend. He ran and ran and ran until he was out ofbreath, when he saw the big, white owl spread his wings out straight andlight on a whalebone sticking right out of the ground and looking forall the world like the one he had flown away from just a little whilebefore. Little White Fox ran up to the whalebone and looked up at thebig white owl. 

The big white owl closed one eye and winked very knowingly as if to say, "Am I not a very wise old owl?"

Little White Fox looked all around at the tundra and the hills, and sureenough, that was the very same whalebone, sticking up out of the ground!The big white owl had led him a long way, all around in a circle! Youmay be sure Little White Fox was disgusted. He would never ask anotherthing of a big white owl again, if he lived a thousand years! But awayhe trotted toward some other little ponds he had seen some time before. 

He was slipping along as quietly as he could in the grass when he hearda splash, splash in the water, and there was Mrs. Swan. Of all thepeople in all the world, besides his own dear mother, Little White Foxliked Mrs. Swan best! Her white gown was always so smooth and tidy, herneck so graceful, and she seemed so kind, that Little White Fox thoughtshe was just the most perfect lady that ever was! To be sure he had beentempted once to steal one of the big eggs out of her great nest, on thebeach the summer before, but he hadn't done it, and now, you may be verysure, he was glad he hadn't, for perhaps she would tell him the wayhome. 

"Please, Mrs. Swan, " he said, making a very graceful bow, "will you tellme the way home?" Mrs. Swan looked at him very kindly but never said aword. Very soon she flapped her great, white wings, and putting her billright out before her and her feet straight behind, out she went flappingaway to the northward. Then Little White Fox knew that was the way home, for she was going back to his own dear beach to make a new nest and tohatch out some more little Swanfolks. 

[Illustration: She was going back to his own dear beach. _Page 128_]

I wish I had time to tell you of all the adventures that befell LittleWhite Fox on his way home, but I haven't. Perhaps some other time wewill hear all about that. But one day, when the sun was shining brightlyand the flowers were beginning to bloom, who should little Mrs. WhiteFox see come trotting up the path by the big rock but her own long-lostson, Little White Fox. And you may well believe that she was glad to seehim! She had thought she would never see him again. And the things hehad to tell her! How she did listen, and how the other little Foxes, Violet Blue Fox and Little Cross Fox and the Silver Fox twins and allthe rest, how they listened! Oh, Little White Fox was quite a person inhis family that evening! But when he had been given a good dinner with apiece of blueberry pie such as only Little Mrs. White Fox can make, andhad curled himself up on the moss cot by the side of the great rock, hewent to sleep thinking that after all there was no place in all theworld like his own home under the big rock, and no one in all the worldquite so good as his own mother; and he felt very, very sure that hewould be careful in the future and not let anything carry him away fromher.