Peace-Renown was firmly insistent. It was the first time she had been on such an extensive hunting trip and so she was unwilling to give up her plans to accompany them on its most exciting expedition. None of Maxim’s arguments concerning the difficulties to be encountered on the way, the perils of the undertaking, the ferocity and cunning of animals maddened by shots that failed to hit their mark, availed to dissuade her. “All the better! All the better!” she had replied to everything, showing Maxim the intrepid ardor in her eyes, smiling up at him her sweet and utterly disarming smile so that Maxim, as if bewitched, ceased to press the matter further. Her father too, had at first opposed her wishes but in the end, as usual, gave in to her pleas.
Maxim was not a little amazed at her efficiency, rivaling that of the boyars, in surmounting the various obstacles which presented themselves in their path. He watched, astounded at how nimbly she leaped over fallen timber, her sure-footedness along ledges of steeply yawning gorges, how deftly she slid under tangled masses of forest litter and withal so unconsciously, naturally, that to Maxim it seemed as if she floated along propelled by magic, unseen wings. Observing her, he continued to marvel, “What a wonderful girl! What a wonderful girl! Why, I’ve never in my life seen anyone like her!”
At length they arrived at their destination. The breeding ground of the Bruins was a steep hill heavily timbered with giant beech and pine trees, strewn with huge boulders, logs and dried branches, accessible only from its southern side. It was closed off at its western, northern and eastern sides by sheer walls of rock which seemed as if they had been sliced off the giant Mt. Zelemenya and moved a few feet away from it. Beneath these walls of rock roared and foamed the icy waters of a narrow mountain stream.
These natural barriers on its three sides made the work of our huntsmen all the easier. All they needed to do was to
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