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208
Animal Heroes
·
Ernest Thompson Seton
189
They
drifted
along
erratically,
yet
one
way,
all
up
the
wind.
They
swept
out
of
sight
in
a
hollow,
to
reappear
on
a
ridge
much
nearer,
and
serried
there
against
the
sky,
we
marked
their
branching
horns,
and
knew
them
for
the
Reindeer
in
their
home.
The
band
came
drifting
our
way,
feeding
like
Sheep,
grunting
like
only
themselves.
Each
one
found
a
grazing-spot,
stood
there
till
it
was
cleared
off,
then
trotted
on
crackling
hoofs
to
the
front
in
search
of
another.
So
the
band
was
ever
changing
in
rank
and
form.
But
one
there
was
that
was
always
at
or
near
the
van--a
large
and
well-favored
Simle',
or
Hind.
However
much
the
band
might
change
and
spread,
she
was
in
the
forefront,
and
the
observant
would
soon
have
seen
signs
that
she
had
an
influence
over
the
general
movement--that
she,
indeed,
was
the
leader.
Even
the
big
Bucks,
in
their
huge
velvet-clad
antlers,
admitted
this
untitular
control;
and
if
one,
in
a
spirit
of
independence,
evinced
a
disposition
to
lead
elsewhere,
he
soon
found
himself
uncomfortably
alone.
The
Varsimle',
or
leading
Hind,
had
kept
the
band
hovering,
for
the
last
week
or
two,
along
the
timber-line,
going
higher
each
day
to
the
baring
uplands,
where
the
snow
was
clearing
and
the
deer-flies
were
blown
away.
As
the
pasture
zone
had
climbed
she
had
followed
in
her
daily
foraging,
returning
to
the
sheltered
woods
at
sundown,
for
the
wild
things
fear
the
cold
night
wind
even
as
man
does.
But
now
the
deer-flies
were
rife
in
the
woods,
and
the
rocky
hillside
nooks
warm
enough
for
the
nightly
bivouac,
so
the
woodland
was
deserted.
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