The pup’s face was as round as a moon, and his head was puffed up until Neewa might reasonably have had a suspicion that it was on the point of exploding.  But Miki’s eyes—­as much as could be seen of them—­were as bright as ever, and his one good ear and his one half ear stood up hopefully as he waited for the cub to give some sign of what they were going to do.  The poison in his system no longer gave him discomfort.  He felt several sizes too large—­but, otherwise, quite well.

Neewa, because of his fat, exhibited fewer effects of his battle with the wasps.  His one outstanding defect was an entirely closed eye.  With the other, wide open and alert, he looked about him.  In spite of his one bad eye and his stiff legs he was inspired with the optimism of one who at last sees fortune turning his way.  He was rid of the man-beast, who had killed his mother; the forests were before him again, open and inviting, and the rope with which Challoner had tied him and Miki together he had successfully gnawed in two during the night.  Having dispossessed himself of at least two evils it would not have surprised him much if he had seen Noozak, his mother, coming up from out of the shadows of the trees.  Thought of her made him whine.  And Miki, facing the vast loneliness of his new world, and thinking of his master, whined in reply.

Both were hungry.  The amazing swiftness with which their misfortunes had descended upon them had given them no time in which to eat.  To Miki the change was more than astonishing; it was overwhelming, and he held his breath in anticipation of some new evil while Neewa scanned the forest about them.

As if assured by this survey that everything was right, Neewa turned his back to the sun, which had been his mother’s custom, and set out.

Miki followed.  Not until then did he discover that every joint in his body had apparently disappeared.  His neck was stiff, his legs were like stilts, and five times in as many minutes he stubbed his clumsy toes and fell down in his efforts to keep up with the cub.  On top of this his eyes were so nearly closed that his vision was bad, and the fifth time he stumbled he lost sight of Neewa entirely, and sent out a protesting wail.  Neewa stopped and began prodding with his nose under a rotten log.  When Miki came up Neewa was flat on his belly, licking up a colony of big red vinegar ants as fast as he could catch them.  Miki studied the proceeding for some moments.  It soon dawned upon him that Neewa was eating something, but for the life of him he couldn’t make out what it was.  Hungrily he nosed close to Neewa’s foraging snout.  He licked with his tongue where Neewa licked, and he got only dirt.  And all the time Neewa was giving his jolly little grunts of satisfaction.  It was ten minutes before he hunted out the last ant and went on.