25/30 He nosed about every windfall that he came to, and investigated the thickets. A thin shot-like snow had fallen, and in this--from the windfall to the burn--he found but a single trail, and that was the trail of an ermine. Under a windfall he caught the warm scent of a rabbit, but the rabbit was as safe from him there as were the partridges in the trees, and after an hour of futile digging and gnawing he gave up his effort to reach it. For three hours he had hunted when he returned to Gray Wolf. |