He was beginning to understand that life was now largely a matter of personal responsibility with him, and his ears had begun to attune themselves to sound.

Whenever Thor moved or heaved a deep sigh, Muskwa knew it.

After that day's Marathon with the grizzly he was filled with uneasiness--a fear that he might lose his big friend and food-killer, and he was determined that the parent he had adopted should have no opportunity of slipping away from him unheard and unseen.

But Thor had no intention of deserting his little comrade.

In fact, he was becoming quite fond of Muskwa.
It was not alone his hunger for fish or fear of his enemies that was bringing Thor into the lower country of the Babine waterways.