THE PACK CLOSES IN
The isolated howls of the distant wolves soon swelled into a chorus.
The beasts were assembling for the kill.
The noise came nearer, growing more vibrant and eager as it
approached the men the wolves had marked for their prey.
But the anticipated victims had other ideas. During the time of
waiting they had carefully examined their weapons and made sure that
they had an abundant supply of cartridges on hand.
They sat there, intent and determined, fully aware of the danger that
was coming on apace and yet with their hearts aflame with high
courage.
They had no definite plan of campaign. They could not have. They
would have to meet every emergency as it arose.
Then the howls ceased abruptly. In their stead could be heard the
rustling made by bodies thrusting themselves through the brushwood,
the scufflings of padded feet in the snow. The enemy was massing for
the attack.
A long-drawn savage howl just beneath the boarded-up window brought
those within the cabin to their feet. At the same moment a heavy
body flung itself at the cabin door.
The boards of the door bent inward under the shock, but the heavy
table shoved against it prevented them from breaking.
"That was the first gun on their side," remarked Slim Tyler. "Well,
here's the first gun on ours."
He fired through the door at a height of about a foot above the floor.
But the yelp that would have told that the brute was struck did not
come. The shot had not found a target. Nor had it seemed to
intimidate the aviators' assailants, for a moment later not one, but
three of the beasts, as though by a preconcerted signal, hurled
themselves against the door with a force that made the cabin tremble.
This time one of the planks was splintered, and a wolf thrust his
nose in the gap tearing with his claws to enlarge the opening.
Jerry's gun and Dick's spoke at the same instant, and this time a
howl of pain told that one or both of the shots had struck. The wolf
fell back and a hideous hubbub ensued.
"My wolf," cried Dick, with a grin. "I saw him first."
"You may claim him," replied Jerry. "The main thing is that he's put
out of commission."
"He may be only wounded," surmised Slim.
"Then he's as good as dead," declared Dick. "Wolves don't take their
crippled companions to a hospital. Listen!"
There was a frightful snarling as the wolves tore their unfortunate
companion to pieces.
"That gives us at least a breathing spell," murmured Jerry.
"Not for long," warned Slim. "There'll be nothing of that wolf left
in ten minutes but the bones, and the taste of blood will make the
pack ravenous for more."
Slim Tyler's prediction proved correct, for the onslaught was soon
renewed. This time the boarded window was the target for attack.
Time after time the brutes dashed their heavy bodies against it, and
as often as they did so the besieged fired their rifles. But they
had to do this by guesswork, and several rounds were fired without
any evidence of damage.
"We're wasting ammunition going it blind this way," cried Slim in
disgust. "We've got to do now what we ought to have done before and
cut loopholes in the sides of the walls. Then we'll have a fair
target when we shoot. I'll stand guard while you fellows--Ah, you
will, will you?"
The exclamation was caused by the sight of a wolf which threw itself
with such force against the hole in the door where his companion had
met its fate that not only his head, but his shoulders and front paws
protruded into the room.
Almost as he spoke Slim Tyler fired, and the bullet penetrated the
animal's brain.
A howl came from the slavering jaws and the head slumped forward.
"That makes two less to worry about!" exclaimed Slim.
"Good work!" commended Jerry. "Don't do that, Dick," he cried, as
Mylert made a motion to kick the dead body through the opening. "Let
it stay there to plug up the hole. It'll be all the harder for the
next one to force its way in."
"The fellows outside will drag the body out, anyway," replied Dick.
"Perhaps they won't know he's dead," conjectured Jerry.
"Trust them," said Dick. "They know a death howl when they hear it.
Look, they're at it now!"
There was a fierce tugging at the animal's body, and in a trice it
was drawn from the opening and the cannibal feast was renewed.
The pulling and tearing had still more enlarged the opening, and the
young aviators viewed it with dismay.
"That last one got halfway through," observed Slim. "The next one
may make the whole distance. If he does, he'll be followed by
others. A few of them rampaging around inside would give us a tough
job."
"And we haven't a thing to bar the hole with!" exclaimed Jerry, as
his eyes ranged swiftly around the room.
"I have it!" cried Slim, as he rushed to the fireplace and pulled out
a blazing brand. "They're as afraid as death of fire. Let's see how
this works."
He hurled the burning torch through the opening.
There was a chorus of frightened snarls as the beasts scurried from
the vicinity of the door, abandoning their bloody feast with
reluctance, but abandoning it nevertheless.
"Got 'em all right," chuckled Slim. "They don't like it for a cent.
We'll give them some more of the same kind. We'll keep the home
fires burning, and not one of them will cross the blaze to get at the
hole."
They hurriedly threw out some more of the burning logs until there
was quite a bonfire in front of the door.
"Lucky we have plenty of wood in the lean-to," exulted Dick, as he
hurried to get a fresh supply with which to replenish the fire. "We
can keep this up all night, if we have to."
"It will serve a double purpose," put in Jerry. "It will light up
the place outside so that we can see what we're aiming at."
"Yes, if they'll only stay in front," replied Dick dubiously. "But
they'll soon sense that there's nothing doing in that quarter, and
they'll try us on the other three sides."
"All the more reason why we should hurry up with those loopholes,"
suggested Slim. "Let's hustle now, fellows, so that we can see
what's doing on every side of the cabin."
They laid aside their guns for the moment and dug away with their
knives with feverish energy until they had made apertures large
enough to thrust rifle barrels through and turn them in any desired
direction.
During all the time they were working, there had come no sound from
without. The lonely forest seemed wholly untenanted.
"Think they've had enough of our game and drawn off?" asked Jerry,
the wish father to the hope.
"Not by a jugful!" affirmed Dick. "A couple of dead ones make no
difference to them. Judging from the snarling, there must have been
twenty at the least. They won't give up as easily as that. Just now
they're planning what to do next."
If this were so, there must have been a confusion of counsels, for
the silence continued for a long time.
The besieged scanned the space without from every side, but no
slinking figures stood out against the background of the snow, no
green eyes gleamed from the shadows of the forest.
The tense waiting wore on the besieged ones' nerves.
"Hanged if I don't believe that Jerry was right after all!" conceded
Dick Mylert, wiping his brow with his handkerchief, for the fierce
fire they were obliged to keep up made the cabin abominably warm.
"Looks as if the brutes--Look out, fellows! Look out!" he shouted,
as he leaped for his gun.
He aimed it at an open place in the roof and fired.
In Mylert's excitement the shot went wild, and the next instant a
great gray body came hurtling through the air and struck the floor
with a thud.
Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury had grabbed their guns at their
companion's shout but had had no time to aim.
Like lightning, the wolf sprang at Jerry's throat!