NIGHT WITH THE WOLVES
“We might spend a good while out in a camp like this, provided we
weren’t caught in too heavy a snowstorm,” remarked Harry, while he and
Joe were disposing of the meal they had cooked for themselves.
“Right you are, Harry. I believe we could scare up lots of game, big
and little.”
“How far do you imagine we are from home?”
“Not less than five miles. We did pretty well on the snowshoes, all
things considered.”
“Not counting the tumbles, you mean,” answered Harry with a laugh.
The meal finished, they put away what was left of the steaks for the
morrow. They resolved to keep a camp-fire burning all night, and for
that purpose chopped quite a pile of wood.
The shelter they had built was not over eight feet in diameter, and on
one side of this they placed the carcasses of the deer, being afraid
to leave them outside, for fear that some wild animal might come up
and rob them of the prizes. They lay down on the other side of the
shelter, close to the tiny doorway they had left. Just outside of this
doorway was the fire, which they heaped up with chunks of wood piled as
high as the limbs overhead permitted.
“We must be careful of the flames,” cautioned Joe. “We don’t want to
set the forest on fire.”
Utterly worn out from the tramp on snowshoes, they were both willing to
retire early, and an hour after sunset found them both at rest, almost
in each other’s arms. They had but scant covering from the cold, but
with the shelter and the fire this was hardly necessary.
Harry was the first to fall asleep, and a little later Joe, with a last
glance at the fire, followed suit.
An hour went by, followed by another. Outside, scarcely a sound broke
the stillness of the night. The fire blazed away merrily as stick after
stick was consumed, and then gradually sank lower and lower until only
a flicker illuminated the surroundings.
Then, from a distance, a lone wolf appeared, on the trail of the deer
that had been shot. The wolf sniffed the air, and uttered a lonely howl
that was taken up by other wolves still further away. In a very few
minutes ten or a dozen of the animals were gathered on the trail, and
the pack moved slowly and cautiously toward where the deer had been
taken.
When the wolves came in sight of the fire they paused again, and more
lonely howls rent the night air. But the scent of the deer was now
strong, and the wolves were desperately hungry, and gradually they grew
bolder and formed a circle around the shelter.
Not far from the fire lay some of the bones of the deer, and a bit of
the meat that Harry had burned in cooking the steaks. One wolf sneaked
in and gobbled up this, and on the instant a wild howl of jealousy
arose from the rest of the pack, as they sprang in to get their share.
It was this howl which awoke Joe and Harry with a start. Both sat up
and rubbed their eyes, for some of the smoke of the fire had drifted
into the shelter, and they could see but little in the semi-darkness.
“Wolves!” The exclamation came from Joe, and scarcely had he spoken
when another howl went up.
“There must be a whole pack of them,” cried Harry. “And if that is so
we are bound to have a lively time of it.”
Each young pioneer had placed his gun where he could put his hands upon
it, and each caught up his weapon.
The wolves now came closer, and, in their fight among themselves, three
of the pack tumbled up against the shelter and broke through the snow
piled there.
“Hi! here they come!” ejaculated Joe, and, taking aim at the nearest
wolf, he let drive with his rifle.
His aim was true, and the wolf fell back dead.
The report of the rifle caused the wolves to howl louder than ever,
and some of them retreated to a position beyond the flicker of the
camp-fire. But they now had the scent of blood in their nostrils, and
the boys saw that another attack was coming.
“Get a brand from the fire!” shouted Harry, and shot at the nearest of
the beasts, sending a second wolf to the ground.
The wolves were now snapping and snarling on all sides, and before Joe
could turn to the fire one leaped for him, and fastened his teeth in
the heavy coat the youth wore.
Seeing this attack Harry leaped in to the rescue. He had his gun by the
barrel, and around came the stock with a sweeping blow that crushed in
the beast’s skull.
Joe was near to the fire now, and caught up a blazing brand and waved
it in the air. Then he kicked the other brands together, and threw on
some dry brushwood which was handy.
“They are going to carry off the deer!” shouted Harry, and he was
right. Two wolves that had not taken part in the attack on the lads
were trying their best to haul away one of the carcasses.
Catching up another firebrand, Joe hurled it at the wolves, and it
landed between them, directly on the deer meat. At once the wolves
dropped their hold, and slunk back into the circling pack.
The young pioneers were now both at the fire, and did what they could
to make it blaze up. As the light grew brighter the wolves slunk still
further back, and the fighting, for the time being, came to an end.
“That was a struggle, wasn’t it?” panted Harry, piling more wood on the
flames. “At the start I thought we’d be eaten up alive. Did he bite you
much?”
“No; his teeth only got into my coat,” answered Joe.
“Do you think they’ll come back?”
“They will if we give them the chance.”
“Let us throw out the dead wolves. That will give them something to
feed on.”
The carcasses of the wolves were dragged from the shelter, and while
Joe carried two bright torches Harry dragged the dead wolves toward a
nearby hollow.
Hardly had the first carcass gone down than the live wolves were on it,
rending and tearing it apart in a mad fury to get the meat.
“I’m glad it’s that meat instead of ourselves,” was Harry’s comment,
and he gave a shudder.
The dead wolves disposed of, they returned to the camp-fire, and while
Joe piled on what was left of the wood Harry cut more, so that the
blaze might not die down even for a moment.
“Wild beasts hate fire worse than anything else,” said Joe. “A good
blaze will prove our greatest protection.”
For over an hour they saw nothing more of the wolves, for each of the
pack had gotten his portion of the dead ones, and was disposing of it
greedily.
But now came a howl from a distance, and this drew closer slowly. The
scent of blood was in the air, and another pack had found it and was
tracing it to its source.
“More wolves are coming!” ejaculated Joe, and now his face turned pale.
“Oh, Harry, do you think there will be too many for us?”
“Let us make a half-circle of the fire and get in it,” was the reply.
“I think we can keep them off if we try.”
A little later came a fierce howling from the hollow. The second pack
had come up and was fighting for what was left of the wolves’ meat.
“It’s too bad there isn’t enough of that wolves’ meat to go around,”
said Joe.
“Let us sneak up and knock over a couple more of the beasts,” answered
his chum.
This was agreed to, and, leaving the fire blazing brightly, they
sneaked through the snow to a spot where they could catch sight of the
howling and struggling beasts.
Two clever shots caused two more of the wolves to go down. They were
the largest and heaviest of the packs, and in a twinkling their fellows
leaped upon them, rending them limb from limb.
“What horrible creatures!” said Harry. “They haven’t the slightest
feeling for one another!”
“They have been half starved by the heavy fall of snow, Harry. They
wouldn’t be that way if they could get anything else.”
Returning to the fire, they reloaded and chopped more wood. In the
hollow the wolves continued to snarl and yelp, each trying to get the
best of the meat. Occasionally there would be a fierce fight between
two wolves lasting for several minutes.
The fire had now dried out the branches hanging over the shelter, and
the boys had their hands full keeping the blaze from mounting among
the trees. Twice it did catch, but they put out the flames before they
gained much headway.
It was not until early morning that the sounds in the hollow ceased.
Both of the boys could scarcely keep their eyes open, yet each had
refused to go to sleep again.
“I’m going to take another look at those wolves,” said Joe, and walked
forward, gun in one hand and firebrand in the other. He moved with
caution, but this was unnecessary. Every wolf had vanished.
“They are gone!” he cried joyfully.
“Gone?” queried Harry. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Harry, they are gone, and have left nothing but the bones and
bits of hide behind them.”
Both young pioneers inspected the hollow with interest. The snow was
churned up in all directions, and hither and thither lay the bones,
skulls, and bits of hide and hair. By the tracks they could see that
what remained of the packs had gone off to the southward.
“That was a night I don’t wish to duplicate,” said Joe. “It’s enough to
make one’s hair stand on end to think about.”
“Perhaps they’ll come back again to-night.”
“That is true. We must be prepared for them.”
Having had such an experience, the two young hunters resolved to go no
further from home, but remain in that vicinity for the rest of their
hunting tour. This being so, they spent several hours in strengthening
the shelter, so that it might resist another attack should it come.
Breakfast disposed of, they brought out a couple of ropes they had
carried along, and hoisted the deer up into the branches of one of the
trees, so that the wolves would not be able to get at them. Then they
left a low, smudge fire burning, and set off once more in quest of
game.