“Very true,” said Mother Reindeer. She liked to have White Sox find out things for himself. “The spotted and white ones are found only in the herds that live with man and serve him. Come, we will go to our wild cousins now. They are frightened. Walk very slowly, and pay attention to what I tell you.”
“The caribou stood at attention as White Sox and his mother came up to them.”
II
A Taste of Wild Life
The caribou stood at attention as White Sox and his mother came up to them. To White Sox they seemed very shy and nervous, but he supposed that was because they had not been expecting company.
“Mother,” he whispered, “why do they all stare at me so?”
“You are the first white-legged and white-nosed fawn they have ever seen,” she told him. Then she introduced him to them all.
White Sox held his head as high as theirs, but he behaved very nicely while they admired his beautiful markings. While his mother was greeting the older cousins, the younger ones gathered about him and invited him to join in their play. But White Sox was not in a playful mood. He was curious to learn more about these strange cousins; so he went back to his mother.
“Have you been here before, mother?” he asked. “Our wild cousins seem to know you quite well.”
“Yes, my son. I have often made visits to the caribou at this time of the year,” Mother Reindeer said. “But run away and eat your supper with the fawns. Keep your eyes and ears open, and learn all you can of their life and habits.”