by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VII
THE WOLF PACK
In seasons when caribou were plentiful along the coast, wolves were alsoplentiful, for it is the habit of wolves in this land to follow thetrail of the caribou herds and prey upon the stragglers. And so it wasthat sometimes of a winter's night the silence of the hills was startledby the distant howl of wolves. And always Skipper Ed's dogs and Abel'sdogs would answer the wild, weird cries of their untamed kin of thehills with equally weird cries, their muzzles in the air and thelong-drawn notes rising and falling in woful and dismal cadence.
Perhaps the dogs were possessed of an uninterpreted longing to jointheir brothers of the wilderness in their care-free wanderings, and beforever free themselves from the yoke of sledge and whip and the toiland drudgery of the trail. But so like men were the beasts that theynever had the courage to cast themselves free from the shackles of theirman-master, though it required but a resolution and a plunge into thehills.
"So it is with many a man," said Skipper Ed one evening when Bobby wasstopping for the night with him and Jimmy, and a wolf howl was followedby the answering howl of dogs. "Many and many a man that has the powerand strength within him, and the brains too, if he but knew it, to goout into the broad world of endeavor and do great things, simmers hislife away in the little narrow world into which he has grown, expendinghis energies as a servant when he might be a master. He keeps his eyesto the ground and never looks out or up, and so he never knows how bigthe world is or how much it holds for him.
"It takes courage sometimes to break loose from old things. But it's theman that dares to break loose, and hit a new trail, and try his hand atnew things, that wins. The man that never takes a chance, never getsanywhere, and then he says that luck has been against him. I speak ofluck sometimes, but I don't mean it in that way. There is no such thingas luck. What we call luck is the Almighty's reward when we've done thebest we can."
"Did you ever try new things?" asked Bobby.
"Yes, yes, lad! Long ago," and a shadow fell upon Skipper Ed's face, topass in a moment, however, as he added, "I think I did what the LordAlmighty intended me to do."
"What was it?" asked Bobby, ever curious.
"To come here, and be Jimmy's partner, and to be a friend to both of youyoung scalawags, I think," and Skipper Ed smiled.
"Didn't you ever ask the Lord to let you do some big, _big_ things?"insisted Bobby.
"Partner does big things all the time," protested Jimmy. "He's a fineshot, and there isn't a better hunter on The Labrador."
"Yes," said Skipper Ed, "I've asked the Lord, and I think the big thingHe's given me to do is to teach you chaps the best I can, and maybe myteaching will help one of you to do the big, _big_ thing."
And then a wolf howled again, not far away this time, and out in frontof the cabin Skipper Ed's dogs howled an answer, and down from Abel'scabin came the long, weird cry of woe from Abel's dogs; and the threesat silent for a little, and listened.
"The wolves are growing bold," remarked Skipper Ed presently. "That lastfellow that howled was just above here in the gulch."
"I'd like to see one running loose," said Bobby, "but they don't like toshow themselves to me, and I never saw but one in my life."
Skipper Ed arose, and donning his _adikey_ went out of doors, soon toreturn followed by a breath of the keen, frosty air of the winter night.
"It's bright moonlight," said he, rubbing his hands briskly to warmthem, for he had worn no mittens. "The wind is nor' nor'west, and if youchaps feel like an adventure we'll take a walk around and up thes'uth'ard side of the gulch, where he won't get a smell of us, and maybewe'll have a look at that old rounder that's howling, and who knows butwe might get a shot at him and his mates. What do you say?"
"Fine!" agreed the boys in unison, springing eagerly up from theirchairs.
"Well, hustle into your _adikeys_, then, and we'll try to get to leewardof the old fellow," directed Skipper Ed.
"I hope there'll be a chance for a shot!" Bobby exclaimed excitedly, asthey shouldered their rifles and slung cartridge pouches over theirshoulders.
"So do I!" agreed Jimmy.
"Just a bare chance," said Skipper Ed, as they passed out into the porchshed and took their snowshoes from the pegs. "It depends upon which waythey're traveling."
"Do you think there's more than one?" asked Bobby in an excitedundertone, as they swung away on snowshoes.
"Yes, but we'd better not talk now. They're keen, and shy old devils,and they might hear us," warned Skipper Ed.
Cautiously but swiftly they stole out and into the moonlit forest and upinto the gulch and along the southern banks of a frozen brook. Now andagain Skipper Ed halted, stooping to peer about and along the open spacethat marked the bed of the stream. Presently he held up his hand as asign of caution, and crouched behind a clump of brush, motioning theboys to follow his example.
"They're just above us," he whispered. "I saw them moving among thetrees, above the bend. They're coming down this way, and they'll comeout in that open just ahead of us. Don't shoot till I tell you, but beready for them, lads."
"How many are there?" Bobby whispered excitedly.
"I can't tell yet. But I saw them move, and there's more than one,"answered Skipper Ed.
A moment later the blood-curdling howl of a wolf broke the foreststillness. It was answered by the distant howl of the dogs, and thennear at hand the night was startled by the defiant howl of many wolves,long, loud and terrible in unexpected suddenness, and so close that theboys involuntarily rose from their crouch.
"A pack!" whispered Skipper Ed, "and a big pack! See them coming there!Too many for us to tackle, lads! Keep quiet, now, lads, and don't loseyour heads and don't shoot! We must keep to leeward of them so theywon't get our scent, and we must get back to the cabin. They're too manyfor us to tackle."
As he spoke the leaders of the pack--great, fearsome creatures loomingbig on the glistening white of the moonlit snow--straggled leisurelyaround the bend of the frozen stream--one--two--three--Skipper Edcounted until more than twenty had appeared, and still others werecoming. It was a pack large enough to be fearless of any enemy and toattack boldly any prey that crossed its path.
Leading the way, and keeping under cover of trees, with Bobby and Jimmyclose at his heels, Skipper Ed turned and ran down the gulch toward thecabin, which was not above a mile distant. The gulch ended in an openspace, which was a marsh in summer but was now a white expanse ofhard-beaten snow. Between this open space and the bay shore a hedge ofthick brush grew. On its northern and southern sides the open wasflanked by the forest, extending from the gulch mouth to the shore ofthe bay, and on the northern side it continued to Skipper Ed's cabin andbeyond.
Skipper Ed led the way into the forest to the southward of the open,that they might keep well to leeward of the pack, and thus avoid so faras possible danger of the wolves getting their scent. He hoped that thismaneuver might permit them to circuit back to the cabin under theprotecting cover of the brush fringe along the shore and the forest tothe northward. To have crossed the open would have been to invitediscovery, for it was evident the wolves would follow the bed of thestream through the gulch and into the open.
Whether they would answer the call of the dogs and turn northward, orwhether they would range southward in quest of prey, was uncertain. Ifto the southward they would be very sure to catch the wind of Skipper Edand the boys almost immediately, and be upon them before they couldreach safety. If they answered the dogs, there would still be danger,but the three in that case would be enabled to keep on the lee side ofthe pack with the probability of detection considerably lessened.Therefore Skipper Ed hoped and trusted that the wolves would answer thechallenge of the dogs.
Even then there was still the danger that the trail made by them ontheir way up the gulch would be discovered, and unless the dogs proved agreater attraction Skipper Ed knew that the moment the wolves came uponthe trail they would take up the fresh scent, and might overtake thembefore they cou
ld gain the shelter of the cabin.
As it came about, they were behind the brush hedge, running up theshore, when the wolves wound out of the gulch and into the open. Througha break in the brush Skipper Ed saw them dimly, in the distance. Theleaders stopped and sniffed. Suddenly came the howl of pursuit--theawful, terrifying cry of the wolf pack fresh upon the heels of quarry.The wolves had turned on the trail and were off up the gulch.
"Run!" commanded Skipper Ed, half under his breath, but still in a toneso loud and tense that the boys heard. "Run! We must run now for ourlives!"
And they did run, but had scarcely gained the cover of the woods on thenorthern side of the open when wolf cries left no doubt that the animalshad discovered the return trail and were hot upon it. It seemed now thatnothing but an intercession of Providence could save them. The wolf packwould surely overtake them before they could attain the protection ofthe cabin.