Later, in hunting, I crossed their tracks several times, and once I
saw them across a barren; but I left them undisturbed, to follow other
trails. We had eaten together; they had fed from my hand; and there
is no older truce on earth than that, not even in the unchanging East,
where it originated.

Megaleep in a storm is a most curious creature, the nearest thing to a
ghost to be found in the woods. More than other animals he feels the
falling barometer. His movements at such times drive you to
desperation, if you are following him; for he wanders unceasingly.
When the storm breaks he has a way of appearing suddenly, as if he
were seeking you, when by his trail you thought him miles ahead. And
the way he disappears--just melts into the thick driving flakes and
the shrouded trees--is most uncanny. Six or seven caribou once played
hide-and-seek with me that way, giving me vague glimpses here and
there, drawing near to get my scent, yet keeping me looking up wind
into the driving snow where I could see nothing distinctly. And all
the while they drifted about like so many huge flakes of the storm,
watching my every movement, seeing me perfectly.

At such times they fear little, and even lay aside their usual
caution. I remember trailing a large herd one day from early morning,
keeping near them all the time, and jumping them half a dozen times,
yet never getting a glimpse because of their extreme watchfulness. For
some reason they were unwilling to leave a small chain of barrens.
Perhaps they knew the storm was coming, when they would be safe; and
so, instead of swinging off into a ten-mile straightaway trot at the
first alarm, they kept dodging back and forth within a two-mile
circle. At last, late in the afternoon, I followed the trail to the
edge of dense evergreen thickets. Caribou generally rest in open woods