on them.

One day late in summer he sighted a stranger on his land, a glossy
Blackbear, and he felt furious against the interloper. As the Blackbear
came nearer Wahb noticed the tan-red face, the white spot on his breast,
and then the bit out of his ear, and last of all the wind brought a
whiff. There could be no further doubt; it was the very smell: this was
the black coward that had chased him down the Piney long ago. But how he
had shrunken! Before, he had looked like a giant; now Wahb felt he could
crush him with one paw. Revenge is sweet, Wahb felt, though he did not
exactly say it, and he went for that red-nosed Bear. But the Black one
went up a small tree like a Squirrel. Wahb tried to follow as the other
once followed him, but somehow he could not. He did not seem to know
how to take hold now, and after a while he gave it up and went away,
although the Blackbear brought him back more than once by coughing
in derision. Later on that day, when the Grizzly passed again, the
red-nosed one had gone.

[Illustration]

As the summer waned, the upper forage-grounds began to give out, and
Wahb ventured down to the Lower Meteetsee one night to explore. There
was a pleasant odor on the breeze, and following it up, Wahb came to the
carcass of a Steer. A good distance away from it were some tiny Coyotes,
mere dwarfs compared with those he remembered. Right by the carcass was
another that jumped about in the moonlight in a foolish way. For some
strange reason it seemed unable to get away. Wahb's old hatred broke
out. He rushed up. In a flash the Coyote bit him several times before,
with one blow of that great paw, Wahb smashed him into a limp, furry
rag; then broke in all his ribs with a crunch or two of his jaws. Oh,