THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 With his rifle ready Rob approached the fissure Page 219
 
 THE 
 WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD 
 
 McKINLAY, STONE & MACKENZIE 
 
 NEW YORK
 
 COPYRIGHT 1908 
 COSMOPOLITAN BOOK CORPORATION 
 
 Th* Wolf En- ten
 
 35*05 
 
 To my comrades of the great northern wilderness, 
 those faithful companions with whom I have shared 
 the joys and hardships of the "long silent trail," 
 and especially to Mukoki, my red guide and beloved 
 friend, does the writer gratefully dedicate this volume 
 
 657358
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 1 
 
 II How WABIGOON BECAME A WHITE MAN . . 21 
 
 III RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT . . . .35 
 
 IV RODERICK'S FIRST TASTE OF THE HUNTER'S LIFE 55 
 V SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 80 
 
 VI MUKOKI DISTURBS THE ANCIENT SKELETONS . 97 
 
 VII RODERICK DISCOVERS THE BUCKSKIN BAG . . 127 
 
 VIII How WOLF BECAME THE COMPANION OF MEN . 145 
 
 IX WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE UPON His PEOPLE . 168 
 
 X RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM .... 187 
 
 XI RODERICK'S DREAM 207 
 
 XII THE SECRET OF THE SKELETON'S HAND . . 221 
 
 XIII SNOWED IN 239 
 
 XIV THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON .... 264 
 XV RODERICK HOLDS THE WOONGAS AT BAY . . 284 
 
 XVI THE SURPRISE AT THE POST . . 301
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 COLD winter lay deep in the Canadian 
 wilderness. Over it the moon was ris- 
 ing, like a red pulsating ball, lighting 
 up the vast white silence of the night in a 
 shimmering glow. Not a sound broke the still- 
 ness of the desolation. It was too late for the 
 life of day, too early for the nocturnal roam- 
 ings and voices of the creatures of the night. 
 Like the basin of a great amphitheater the 
 frozen lake lay revealed in the light of the 
 moon and a billion stars. Beyond it rose the 
 spruce forest, black and forbidding. Along 
 its nearer edges stood hushed walls of tanr 
 arack, bowed in the smothering clutch of snow 
 and ice, shut in by impenetrable gloom. 
 
 A huge white owl flitted out of this rim of 
 blackness, then back again, and its first quaver-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 ng hoot came sofUy, as though the mystic hour 
 of silence had not yet passed for the night-folk. 
 The snow of the day had ceased, hardly a 
 breath of air stirred the ice-coated twigs of the 
 trees. Yet it was bitter cold so cold that a 
 man, remaining motionless, would have frozen 
 to death within an hour. 
 
 Suddenly there was a break in the silence, a 
 weird, thrilling sound, like a great sigh, but 
 not human a sound to make one's blood run 
 faster and fingers twitch on rifle-stock. It 
 came from the gloom of the tamaracks. After 
 it there fell a deeper silence than before, and 
 the owl, like a noiseless snowflake, drifted out 
 over the frozen lake. After a few moments it 
 came again, more faintly than before. One 
 versed in woodcraft would have slunk deeper 
 into the rim of blackness, and listened, and 
 wondered, and watched; for in the sound he 
 would have recognized the wild, half-con- 
 quered note of a wounded beast's suffering and 
 agony. 
 
 Slowly, with all the caution born of that
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 day's experience, a huge bull moose walked 
 out into the glow of the moon. His magnifi- 
 cent head, drooping under the weight of mas- 
 sive antlers, was turned inquisitively across the 
 lake to the north. His nostrils were distended, 
 [his eyes glaring, and he left behind a trail of 
 blood. Half a mile away he caught the edge 
 of the spruce forest. There something told 
 him he would find safety. A hunter would 
 have known that he was wounded unto death 
 as he dragged himself out into the foot-deep 
 snow of the lake. 
 
 A do jen rods out from the tamaracks he 
 stopped, head thrown high, long ears pitched 
 forward, and nostrils held half to the sky. It 
 is in this attitude that a moose listens when he 
 hears a trout splash three-quarters of a mile 
 away. Now there was only the vast, unending 
 silence, broken only by the mournful hoot of 
 the snow owl on the other side of the lake. 
 Still the great beast stood immovable, a little 
 pool of blood growing upon the snow under 
 his forward legs. What was the mystery that 
 3
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 lurked in the blackness of yonder forest? Was 
 it danger? The keenest of human hearing 
 would have detected nothing. Yet to those 
 long slender ears of the bull moose, slanting 
 beyond the heavy plates of his horns, there 
 came a sound. The animal lifted his head still 
 higher to the sky, sniffed to the east, to the 
 west, and back to the shadows of the tama- 
 racks. But it was the north that held him. 
 
 From beyond that barrier of spruce there 
 soon came a sound that man might have heard 
 neither the beginning nor the end of a wail, 
 but something like it. Minute by minute it 
 came more clearly, now growing in volume, 
 now almost dying away, but every instant ap- 
 proaching the distant hunting call of the 
 wolf-pack! What the hangman's noose is to 
 the murderer, what the leveled rifles are to the 
 condemned spy, that hunt-cry of the wolves is 
 to the wounded animal of the forests. 
 
 Instinct taught this to the old bull. His 
 head dropped, his huge antlers leveled them- 
 selves with his shoulders, and he set off at a 
 4
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 slow trot toward the east. He was taking 
 chances in thus crossing the open, but to him 
 the spruce forest was home, and there he 
 might find refuge. In his brute brain he rea* 
 soned that he could get there before the wolves 
 broke cover. And then 
 
 Again he stopped, so suddenly that his for- 
 ward legs doubled under him and he pitched 
 into the snow. This time, from the direction 
 of the wolf-pack, there came the ringing re- 
 port of a rifle! It might have been a mile or 
 two miles away, but distance did not lessen the 
 fear it brought to the dying king of the North. 
 That day he had heard the same sound, and it 
 had brought mysterious and weakening pain 
 in his vitals. With a supreme effort he 
 brought himself to his feet, once more sniffed 
 into the north, the east, and the west, then 
 ;urned and buried himself in the black and 
 Jrozen wilderness of tamarack. 
 
 Stillness fell again with the sound of the 
 rifle-shot. It might have lasted five minutes 
 or ten, when a long, solitary howl floated from 
 5
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 across the lake. It ended in the sharp, quick 
 yelp of a wolf on the trail, and an instant later 
 was taken up by others, until the pack was 
 once more in full cry. Almost simultaneously 
 a figure darted out upon the ice from the edge 
 of the forest. A dozen paces and it paused and 
 turned back toward the black wall of spruce. 
 
 "Are you coming, Wabi?" 
 
 A voice answered from the woods. "Yes. 
 Hurry up run 1" 
 
 Thus urged, the other turned his face once 
 ^ore across the lake. He was a youth of not 
 more than eighteen. In his right hand he car- 
 ried a club. His left arm, as if badly injured, 
 was done up in a sling improvised from a 
 lumberman's heavy scarf. His face was 
 scratched and bleeding, and his whole appear- 
 ance showed that he was nearing complete ex- 
 haustion. For a few moments he ran through 
 the snow, then halted to a staggering walk. 
 His breath came in painful gasps. The club 
 slipped from his nerveless fingers, and con- 
 scious of the deathly weakness that was over- 
 6
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FORES1 
 
 coming him he did not attempt to regain it 
 Foot by foot he struggled on, until suddenly 
 his knees gave way under him and he sank 
 down into the snow. 
 
 From the edge of the spruce forest a young 
 Indian now ran out upon the surface of the 
 lake. His breath was coming quickly, but 
 with excitement rather than fatigue. Behind 
 him, less than half a mile away, he could hear 
 the rapidly approaching cry of the hunt-pack, 
 and for an instant he bent his lithe form close 
 to the snow, measuring with the acuteness of 
 his race the distance of the pursuers. Then he 
 looked for his white companion, and failed to 
 see the motionless blot that marked where the 
 other had fallen. A look of alarm shot into 
 his eyes, and resting his rifle between his knees 
 he placed his hands, trumpet fashion, to his 
 mouth and gave a signal call which, on a still 
 night like this, carried for a mile. 
 "Wa-hoo-o-o-o-o-o ! Wa-hoo-o-o-o-o-o !" 
 At that cry the exhausted boy in the snow 
 staggered to his feet, and with an answering 
 7
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 shout which came but faintly to the ears of the 
 Indian, resumed his flight across the lake. 
 Two or three minutes later Wabi came up be- 
 side him. 
 
 "Can you make it, Rod?" he cried. 
 
 The other made an effort to answer, but his 
 reply was hardly more than a gasp. Before 
 Wabi could reach out to support him he had 
 lost his little remaining strength and fallen 
 for a second time into the snow. 
 
 "I'm afraid I can't do it Wabi," he 
 whispered. "I'm bushed " 
 
 The young Indian dropped his rifle and 
 knelt beside the wounded boy, supporting his 
 head against his own heaving shoulders. 
 
 "It's only a little farther, Rod," he urged. 
 "We can make it, and take to a tree. We ought 
 to have taken to a tree back there, but I didn't 
 know that you were so far gone ; and there was 
 a good chance to make camp, with three car- 
 tridges left for the open lake." 
 
 "Only three!" 
 
 "That's all, but I ought to make two of them 
 8
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 count in this light. Here, take hold of my 
 shoulders! Quick!" 
 
 He doubled himself like a jack-knife in 
 front of his half-prostrate companion. From 
 behind them there came a sudden chorus of 
 the wolves, louder and clearer than before. 
 
 "They've hit the open and we'll have them 
 on the lake inside of two minutes," he cried. 
 "Give me your arms, Rod! There! Can you 
 hold the gun?" 
 
 He straightened himself, staggering under 
 the other's weight, and set off on a half-trot 
 for the distant tamaracks. Every muscle in 
 his powerful young body was strained to its 
 utmost tension. Even more fully than his help- 
 less burden did he realize the peril at their 
 backs. 
 
 Three minutes, four minutes more, and 
 then 
 
 A terrible picture burned in Wabi's brain, 
 a picture he had carried from boyhood of an- 
 other child, torn and mangled before his very 
 eyes by these outlaws of the North, and he 
 9
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 shuddered. Unless he sped those three remain- 
 ing bullets true, unless that rim of tamaracks 
 was reached in time, he knew what their fate 
 would be. There flashed into his mind one 
 last resource. He might drop his wounded 
 companion and find safety for himself. But it 
 was a thought that made Wabi smile grimly. 
 This was not the first time that these two had 
 risked their lives together, and that very day 
 Roderick had fought valiantly for the other, 
 and had been the one to suffer. If they died, 
 it would be in company. Wabi made up his 
 mind to that and clutched the other's arms in 
 a firmer grip. He was pretty certain that death 
 faced them both. They might escape the 
 wolves, but the refuge of a tree, with the vo- 
 racious pack on guard below, meant only a 
 more painless end by cold. Still, while there 
 was life there was hope, and he hurried or* 
 through the snow, listening for the wolves be- 
 hind him and with each moment feeling more 
 keenly that his own powers of endurance were 
 rapidly reaching an end. 
 10
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 For some reason that Wabi could not ex- 
 plain the hunt-pack had ceased to give tongue. 
 Not only the allotted two minutes, but five of 
 them, passed without the appearance of the 
 animals on the lake. Was it possible that they 
 had lost the trail? Then it occurred to the In- 
 dian that perhaps he had wounded one of the 
 pursuers, and that the others, discovering his 
 injury, had set upon him and were now par- 
 ticipating in one of the cannibalistic feasts 
 that had saved them thus far. Hardly had he 
 thought of this possibility when he was thrilled 
 by a series of long howls, and looking back he 
 discerned a dozen or more dark objects mov- 
 ing swiftly over their trail. 
 
 Not an eighth of a mile ahead was the tam- 
 arack forest. Surely Rod could travel that 
 distance! 
 
 "Run for it, Rod!" he cried. "You're rested 
 now. I'll stay here and stop 'em!" 
 
 He loosened the other's arms, and as he did 
 so his rifle fell from the white boy's nerveless 
 grip and buried itself in the snow. As he re- 
 U
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 lieved himself of his burden he saw for the 
 first time the deathly pallor and partly closed 
 eyes of his companion. With a new terror fill- 
 ing his own faithful heart he knelt beside the 
 form which lay so limp and lifeless, his blaz- 
 ing eyes traveling from the ghastly face to the 
 oncoming wolves, his rifle ready in his hands. 
 He could now discern the wolves trailing out 
 from the spruce forest like ants. A dozen of 
 them were almost within rifle-shot. Wabi knew 
 that it was with this vanguard of the pack that 
 he must deal if he succeeded in stopping the 
 scores behind. Nearer and nearer he allowed 
 them to come, until the first were scarce two 
 hundred feet away. Then, with a sudden 
 shout, the Indian leaped to his feet and dashed 
 fearlessly toward them. This unexpected 
 move, as he had intended, stopped the fore- 
 most wolves in a huddled group for an instant, 
 and in this opportune moment Wabi leveled 
 his gun and fired. A long howl of pain testi- 
 fied to the effect of the shot. Hardly had it 
 begun when Wabi fired again, this time wid> 
 12
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 such deadly precision that one of the wolves, 
 springing high into the air, tumbled back life- 
 less among the pack without so much as mak- 
 ing a sound. 
 
 Running to the prostrate Roderick, Wabi 
 drew him quickly upon his back, clutched his 
 rifle in the grip of his arm, and started again 
 for the tamaracks. Only once did he look 
 back, and then he saw the wolves gathering in 
 a snarling, fighting crowd about their slaugh- 
 tered comrades. Not until he had reached the 
 shelter of the tamaracks did the Indian youth 
 lay down his burden, and then in his own ex- 
 haustion he fell prone upon the snow, his 
 black eyes fixed cautiously upon the feasting 
 pack. A few minutes later he discerned dark 
 spots appearing here and there upon the 
 whiteness of the snow, and at these signs of the 
 termination of the feast he climbed up into 
 the low branches of a spruce and drew Roder- 
 ick after him. Not until then did the wounded 
 boy show visible signs of life. Slowly he re- 
 covered from the faintness which had over- 
 13
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 powered him, and after a little, with some 
 assistance from Wabi, was able to place him- 
 self safely on a higher limb. 
 
 "That's the second time, Wabi," he said, 
 reaching a hand down affectionately to the 
 other's shoulder. "Once from drowning, once 
 from the wolves. I've got a lot to even up with 
 you!" 
 
 "Not after what happened to-day!" 
 The Indian's dusky face was raised until 
 the two were looking into each other's eyes, 
 with a gaze of love and trust. Only a moment 
 thus, and instinctively their glance turned to- 
 ward the lake. The wolf-pack was in plain 
 view. It was the biggest pack that Wabi, in 
 all his life in the wilderness, had ever seen, and 
 he mentally figured that there were at least 
 half a hundred animals in it. Like ravenous 
 dogs after having a few scraps of meat flung 
 among them, the wolves were running about, 
 nosing here and there, as if hoping to find a 
 morsel that might have escaped discovery. 
 Then one of them stopped on the trail and,
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 throwing himself half on his haunches, with 
 his head turned to the sky like a baying hound, 
 started the hunt-cry. 
 
 "There's two packs. I thought it was too 
 big for one," exclaimed the Indian. "See! 
 Part of them are taking up the trail and the 
 others are lagging behind gnawing the bones 
 of the dead wolf. Now if we only had our 
 ammunition and the other gun those murder- 
 ers got away from us, we'd make a fortune. 
 What" 
 
 Wabi stopped with a suddenness that spoke 
 volumes, and the supporting arm that he had 
 thrown around Rod's waist tightened until it 
 caused the wounded youth to flinch. Both boys 
 stared in rigid silence. The wolves were 
 crowding around a spot in the snow half-way 
 between the tamarack refuge and the scene of 
 the recent feast. The starved animals betrayed 
 unusual excitement. They had struck the pool 
 of blood and red trail made by the dying 
 moose! 
 
 "What is it, Wabi?" whispered Rod. 
 15
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 The Indian did not answer. His black eyes 
 gleamed with a new fire, his lips were parted 
 in anxious anticipation, and he seemed hardly 
 to breathe in his tense interest. The wounded 
 boy repeated his question, and as i* in reply 
 the pack swerved to the west and in a black, 
 silent mass swept in a direction that would 
 bring them into the tamaracks a hundred 
 yards from the young hunters. 
 
 "A new trail!" breathed Wabi. "A new 
 trail, and a hot one! Listen! They make no 
 sound. It is always that way when they are 
 dose to a kill!" 
 
 As they looked the last of the wolves disap- 
 peared in the forest. For a few moments there 
 was silence, then a chorus of howls came from 
 deep in the woods behind them. 
 
 "Now is our chance," cried the Indian. 
 "They've broken again, and their game " 
 
 He had partly slipped from his limb, with- 
 drawing his supporting arm from Rod's waist, 
 and was about to descend to the ground when 
 the pack again turned in their direction. A 
 16
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 heavy crashing in the underbrush not a dozen 
 rods away sent Wabi in a hurried scramble for 
 his perch. 
 
 "Quick higher up!" he warned excitedly. 
 "They're coming out here right under us! 
 If we can get up so that they can't see us, or 
 smell us " 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his mouth 
 when a huge shadowy bulk rushed past them 
 not more than fifty feet from the spruce in 
 which they had sought refuge. Both of the 
 boys recognized it as a bull moose, though it 
 did not occur to either of them that it was the 
 same animal at which Wabi had taken a long 
 shot that same day a couple of miles back. In 
 close pursuit came the ravenous pack. Their 
 heads hung close to the bloody trail, hungry, 
 snarling cries coming from between their gap- 
 ing jaws, they swept across the little opening 
 almost at the young hunters' feet. It was a 
 sight which Rod had never expected to see, 
 and one which held even the more experienced 
 Wabi fascinated. Not a sound fell from either 
 17
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 of the youths' lips as they stared down upon 
 the fierce, hungry outlaws of the wilderness. 
 To Wabi this near view of the pack told a 
 fateful story; to Rod it meant nothing more 
 than the tragedy about to be enacted before 
 his eyes. The Indian's keen vision saw in the 
 white moonlight long, thin bodies, starved al- 
 most to skin and bone; to his companion the 
 onrushing pack seemed filled only with agile, 
 powerful beasts, maddened to almost fiendish 
 exertions by the nearness of their prey. 
 
 In a flash they were gone, but in that mo- 
 ment of their passing there was painted a pic- 
 ture to endure a lifetime in the memory of 
 Roderick Drew. And it was to be followed 
 by one even more tragic, even more thrilling. 
 To the dazed, half-fainting young hunter it 
 seemed but another instant before the pack 
 overhauled the old bull. He saw the doomed 
 monster turn, in the stillness heard the snap- 
 ping of jaws, the snarling of hunger-crazed 
 animals, and a sound that might have been a 
 great, heaving moan or a dying bellow. In 
 18
 
 THE FIGHT IN THE FOREST 
 
 Wabi's veins the blood danced with the ex- 
 citement that stirred his forefathers to battle. 
 Not a line of the tragedy that was being en- 
 acted before his eyes escaped this native son 
 of the wilderness. It was a magnificent fight! 
 He knew that the old bull would die by inches 
 in the one-sided duel, and that when it was 
 over there would be more than one carcass 
 for the survivors to gorge themselves upon. 
 Quietly he reached up and touched his com- 
 panion. 
 
 "Now is our time," he said. "Come on 
 still and on this side of the tree!" 
 
 He slipped down, foot by foot, assisting 
 Rod as he did so, and when both had reached 
 the ground he bent over as before, that the 
 other might get upon his back. 
 
 "I can make it alone, Wabi," whispered the 
 wounded boy. "Give me a lift on the arm, 
 will you?" 
 
 With the Indian's arm about his waist, the 
 two set off into the tamaracks. Fifteen min- 
 utes later they came to the bank of a small 
 19
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 frozen river. On the opposite side of this, a 
 hundred yards down, was a sight which both, 
 as if by a common impulse, welcomed with a 
 glad cry. Close to the shore, sheltered by t 
 dense growth of spruce, was a bright camp- 
 fire. In response to Wabi's far-reaching 
 whoop a shadowy figure appeared in the glow 
 and returned the shout. 
 
 "Mukoki!" cried the Indian. 
 
 "Mukoki!" laughed Rod, happy that the 
 end was near. 
 
 Even as he spoke he swayed dizzily, and 
 Wabi dropped his gun that he might keep hif 
 nrnpanion from falling into the snow.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 How WABIGOON BECAME A WHITE MAN 
 
 HAD the young hunters the power of 
 looking into the future, their camp- 
 fire that night on the frozen Omba- 
 bika might have been one of their last, and a 
 few days later would have seen them back on 
 the edges of civilization. Possibly, could they 
 have foreseen the happy culmination of the 
 adventures that lay before them, they would 
 still have gone on, for the love of excitement 
 is strong in the heart of robust youth. But 
 this power of discernment was denied them, 
 and only in after years, with the loved ones of 
 their own firesides close about them, was the 
 whole picture revealed. And in those days, 
 when they would gather with their families 
 about the roaring logs of winter and live over 
 again their early youth, they knew that all the 
 
 21
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 gold in the world would not induce them to 
 part with their memories of the life that had 
 gone before. 
 
 A little less than thirty years previous to the 
 time of which we write, a young man named 
 John Newsome left the great city of London 
 for the New World. Fate had played a hard 
 game with young Newsome had first robbed 
 him of both parents, and then in a single fitful 
 turn of her wheel deprived him of what little 
 property he had inherited. A little later he 
 came to Montreal, and being a youth of good 
 education and considerable ambition, he easily 
 secured a position and worked himself into 
 the confidence of his employers, obtaining an 
 appointment as factor at Wabinosh House, a 
 Post deep in the wilderness of Lake Nipigon. 
 
 In the second year of his reign at Wabinosh 
 a factor is virtually king in his domain 
 there came to the Post an Indian chief named 
 Wabigoon, and with him his daughter, Min- 
 netaki, in honor of whose beauty and virtue a 
 town was named in after years. Minnetaki 
 
 22
 
 WABIGOOW 
 
 was just budding into the early womanhood ot 
 her race, and possessed a beauty seldom seen 
 among Indian maidens. If there is such a 
 thing as love at first sight, it sprang into ex- 
 istence the moment John Newsome's eyes tell 
 upon this lovely princess. Thereafter his 
 visits to Wabigoon's village, thirty miles 
 deeper in the wilderness, were of frequent oc- 
 currence. From the beginning Minnetaki re- 
 turned the young factor's affections, but 
 a most potent reason prevented their mar- 
 riage. For a long time Minnetaki had 
 been ardently wooed by a powerful young 
 chief named Woonga, whom she cordially de- 
 tested, but upon whose favor and friendship 
 depended the existence of her father's sway 
 over his hunting-grounds. 
 
 With the advent of the young factor the bit- 
 terest rivalry sprang up between the two suit- 
 ors, which resulted in two attempts upon New- 
 some's life, and an ultimatum sent by Woonga 
 to Minnetaki's father. Minnetaki herself re- 
 plied to this ultimatum. It was a reply that
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Stirred the fires of hatred and revenge to fevei 
 heat in Woonga's breast. One dark night, at 
 the head of a score of his tribe, he fell upon 
 Wabigoon's camp, his object being the abduc- 
 tion of the princess. While the attack was 
 successful in a way, its main purpose failed. 
 Wabigoon and ~ dozen of his tribesmen were 
 slain, but in the end Woonga was driven off. 
 
 A swift messenger brought news of the at- 
 tack and of the old chief's death to Wabinosh 
 House, and with a dozen men Newsome has- 
 tened to the assistance of his betrothed and her 
 people. A counter attack was made upon 
 Woonga and he was driven deep into the wil- 
 derness with great loss. Three days later Min- 
 netaki became Newsome's wife at the Hudson 
 Bay Post. 
 
 From that hour dated one of the most san- 
 guinary feuds in the history of the great trad* 
 ing company; a feud which, as we shall see, 
 was destined to live even unto the second gen- 
 eration. 
 
 Woonga and his tribe now became no bet- 
 24
 
 WABIGOON 
 
 ter than outlaws, and preyed so effectively 
 upon the remnants of the dead Wabigoon's 
 people that the latter were almost exterminat- 
 ed. Those who were left moved to the vicin- 
 ity of the Post. Hunters from Wabinosh 
 House were ambushed and slain. Indians 
 who came to the Post to trade were regarded 
 as enemies, and the passing of years seemed to 
 make but little difference. The feud still ex- 
 isted. The outlaws came to be spoken of as 
 "Woongas," and a Woonga was regarded as 
 a fair target for any man's rifle. 
 
 Meanwhile two children came to bless the 
 happy union of Newsome and his lovely In- 
 dian wife. One of these, the eldest, was a 
 boy, and in honor of the old chief he was 
 named Wabigoon, and called Wabi for short. 
 The other was a girl, three years younger, and 
 Newsome insisted that she be called Minne- 
 taki. Curiously enough, the blood of Wabi 
 ran almost pure to his Indian forefathers, 
 while Minnetaki, as she became older, devel- 
 oped less of the wild beauty of her mother 
 25
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 and more of the softer loveliness of the white 
 race, her wealth of soft, jet black hair and her 
 great dark eyes contrasting with the lighter 
 skin of her father's blood. Wabi, on the other 
 hand, was an Indian in appearance from his 
 moccasins to the crown of his head, swarthy, 
 sinewy, as agile as a lynx, and with every in- 
 stinct in him crying for the life of the wild. 
 Yet born in him was a Caucasian shrewdness 
 and intelligence that reached beyond the fac- 
 tor himself. 
 
 One of Newsome's chief pleasures in life 
 had been the educating of his woodland bride, 
 and it was the ambition of both that the little 
 Minnetaki and her brother be reared in the 
 ways of white children. Consequently both 
 mother and father began their education at 
 the Post; they were sent to the factor's school 
 and two winters were passed in Port Arthur 
 that they might have the advantage of thor- 
 oughly equipped schools. The children 
 proved themselves unusually bright pupils, 
 and by the time Wabi was sixteen and Minne- 
 26
 
 WABIGOON 
 
 taki twelve one would not have known from 
 their manner of speech that Indian blood ran 
 in their veins. Yet both, by the common de- 
 sire of their parents, were familiar with the 
 life of the Indian and could talk fluently the 
 tongue of their mother's people. 
 
 It was at about this time in their lives that 
 the Woongas became especially daring in 
 their depredations. These outlaws no longer 
 pretended to earn their livelihood by honest 
 means, but preyed upon trappers and other 
 Indians without discrimination, robbing and 
 killing whenever safe opportunities offered 
 themselves. The hatred for the people of Wa- 
 binosh House became hereditary, and the 
 Woonga children grew up with it in their 
 hearts. The real cause of the feud had been 
 forgotten by many, though not by Woonga 
 himself. At last so daring did he become that 
 the provincial government placed a price 
 upon his head and upon those of a number of 
 his most notorious followers. For a time the 
 outlaws were driven from the country, but 
 27
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the bloodthirsty chief himself could not be 
 captured. 
 
 When Wabi was seventeen years of age it 
 was decided that he should be sent to some big 
 school in the States for a year. Against this 
 plan the young Indian nearly all people re- 
 garded him as an Indian, and Wabi was proud 
 of the fact fought with all of the arguments 
 at his command. He loved the wilds with 
 the passion of his mother's race. His nature 
 revolted at the thoughts of a great city with its 
 crowded streets, its noise, and bustle, and dirt. 
 It was then that Minnetaki pleaded with him, 
 begged him to go for just one year, and to 
 come back and tell her of all he had seen and 
 teach her what he had learned. Wabi loved 
 his beautiful little sister beyond anything else 
 on earth, and it was she more than his parents 
 >vho finally induced him to go. 
 
 For three months Wabi devoted himself 
 
 faithfully to his studies in Detroit. But each 
 
 week added to his loneliness and his longings 
 
 for Minnetaki and his forests. The passing 
 
 28
 
 WABIGOON 
 
 of each day became a painful task to him. To 
 Minnetaki he wrote three times each week, 
 and three times each week the little maiden at 
 Wabinosh House wrote long, cheering letters, 
 to her brother though they came to Wabi 
 only about twice a month, because only so 
 often did the mail-carrier go out from the 
 Post. 
 
 It was at this time in his lonely school life 
 that Wabigoon became acquainted with Rod- 
 erick Drew. Roderick, even as Wabi fancied 
 himself to be just at this time, was a child of 
 misfortune. His father had died before he 
 could remember, and the property he had left 
 had dwindled slowly away during the passing 
 of years. Rod was spending his last week in 
 school when he met Wabigoon. Necessity had 
 become his grim master, and the following 
 week he was going to work. As the boy de- 
 scribed the situation to his Indian friend, his 
 mother "had fought to the last ditch to keep 
 him in school, but now his time was up." 
 Wabi seized upon the white youth as an oasis 
 29
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 in a vast desert. After a little the two became 
 almost inseparable, and their friendship 
 culminated in Wabi's going to live in the 
 Drew home. Mrs. Drew was a woman of 
 education and refinement, and her interest in 
 Wabigoon was almost that of a mother. In 
 this environment the ragged edges were 
 smoothed away from the Indian boy's deport- 
 ment, and his letters to Minnetaki were more 
 and more filled with enthusiastic descriptions 
 of his new friends. After a little Mrs. Drew 
 received a grateful letter of thanks from the 
 princess mother at Wabinosh House, and thus 
 a pleasant correspondence sprang up between 
 the two. 
 
 There were now few lonely hours for the two 
 boys. During the long winter evenings, when 
 Roderick was through with his day's work 
 and Wabi had completed his studies, they 
 would sit before the fire and the Indian youth 
 would describe the glorious life of the vast 
 northern wilderness; and day by day, and 
 week by week, there steadily developed within 
 30
 
 WABIGOON 
 
 Rod's breast a desire to see and live that life. 
 A thousand plans were made, a thousand ad- 
 ventures pictured, and the mother would smile 
 and laugh and plan with them. 
 
 But in time the end of it all came, and Wabi 
 went back to the princess mother, to Minne- 
 taki, and to his forests. There were tears in 
 the boys' eyes when they parted, and the 
 mother cried for the Indian boy who was re- 
 turning to his people. Many of the days that 
 followed were painful to Roderick Drew. 
 Eight months had bred a new nature in him, 
 and when Wabi left it was as if a part of his 
 own life had gone with him. Spring came 
 and passed, and then summer. Every mail 
 from Wabinosh House brought letters for the 
 Drews, and never did an Indian courier drop 
 a pack at the Post that did not carry a bundle 
 of letters for Wabigoon. 
 
 Then in the early autumn, when September 
 frosts were turning the leaves of the North to 
 red and gold, there came the long letter from 
 Wabi which brought joy, excitement and mi?-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 giving into the little home of the mother and 
 her son. It was accompanied by one from the 
 factor himself, another from the princess 
 mother, and by a tiny note from Minnetaki. 
 who pleaded with the others that Roderick 
 and Mrs. Drew might spend the winter with 
 them at Wabinosh House. 
 
 "You need not fear about losing your posi- 
 tion," wrote Wabigoon. "We shall make more 
 money up here this winter than you could earn 
 in Detroit in three years. We will hunt 
 wolves. The country is alive with them, and 
 the government gives a bounty of fifteen dol- 
 lars for every scalp taken. Two winters ago 
 I killed forty and I did not make a business 
 of it at that. I have a tame wolf which we 
 use as a decoy. Don't bother about a gun or 
 anything like that. We have everything here." 
 
 For several days Mrs. Drew and her son 
 deliberated upon the situation before a repl} 
 was sent to the Newsomes. Roderick pleaded, 
 pictured the glorious times they would have, 
 the health that it would give them, and mar* 
 32
 
 WABIGOON 
 
 shaled in a dozen different ways his argu- 
 ments in favor of accepting the invitation. On 
 the other hand, his mother was filled with 
 .doubt. Their finances were alarmingly low, 
 and Rod would be giving up a sure though 
 small income, which was now supporting them 
 comfortably. His future was bright, and that 
 winter would see him promoted to ten dollars 
 a week in the mercantile house where he was 
 employed. In the end they came to an under- 
 standing. Mrs. Drew would not go to Wa- 
 binosh House, but she would allow Roderick 
 to spend the winter there and word to this 
 effect was sent off into the wilderness. 
 
 Three weeks later came Wabigoon's reply. 
 On the tenth of October he would meet Rod at 
 Sprucewood, on the Black Sturgeon River. 
 Thence they would travel by canoe up the 
 Sturgeon River to Sturgeon Lake, take port- 
 age to Lake Nipigon, and arrive at Wabinosh 
 House before the ice of early winter shut them 
 in. There was little time to lose in making 
 preparations, and the fourth day following the 
 33
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 of Wabi's letter found Rod and his 
 nother waiting for the tiain which was to 
 ;vhirl the boy into his new life. Not until the 
 eleventh did he arrive at Sprucewood. Wabi 
 Tvas there to meet him, accompanied by an 
 tndian from the Post; and that same afternoon 
 the journey up Black Sturgeon River was be- 
 gun.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 K)D was now plunged for the first time 
 in his life into the heart of the wil- 
 derness. Seated in the bow of the 
 birch-bark canoe which was carrying them up 
 the Sturgeon, with Wabi close behind him, he 
 drank in the wild beauties of the forests and 
 swamps through which they slipped almost as 
 noiselessly as shadows, his heart thumping 
 in joyous excitement, his eyes constantly on 
 the alert for signs of the big game which Wabi 
 told him was on all sides of them. Across his 
 knees, ready for instant use, was Wabi's re- 
 peating rifle. The air was keen with the fresh- 
 ness left by night frosts. At times deep massed 
 of gold and crimson forests shut them in, at 
 others, black forests of spruce came down to 
 the river's edge ; again they would pass silently 
 tt
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 through great swamps of tamaracks. In this 
 vast desolation there was a mysterious quiet, 
 except for the occasional sounds of wild life. 
 Partridges drummed back in the woods, flocks 
 of ducks got up with a great rush of wings at 
 almost every turn, and once, late in the morn- 
 ing of the first day out, Rod was thrilled by 
 a crashing in the undergrowth scarcely a 
 stone's throw from the canoe. He could see 
 saplings twisting and bending, and heard 
 Wabi whisper behind him: 
 
 "A moose!" 
 
 They were words to set his hands trembling 
 and his whole body quivering with anticipa- 
 tion. There was in him now none of the old 
 hunter's coolness, none of the almost stoical 
 indifference with which the men of the big 
 North hear these sounds of the wild things 
 about them. Rod had yet to see his first big 
 game. 
 
 That moment came in the afternoon. The 
 canoe had skimmed lightly around a bend in 
 the river. Beyond this bend a mass of dead 
 36
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 driftwood had wedged against the shore, and 
 this driftwood, as the late sun sank behind the 
 forests, was bathed in a warm yellow glow. 
 And basking in this glow, as he loves to do 
 at the approach of winter nights, was an ani- 
 mal, the sight of which drew a sharp, excited 
 cry from between Rod's lips. In an instant he 
 had recognized it as a bear. The animal was 
 taken completely by surprise and was less than 
 half a dozen rods away. Quick as a flash, 
 and hardly realizing what he was doing, the 
 boy drew his rifle to his shoulder, took quick 
 aim and fired. The bear was already clamber- 
 ing up the driftwood, but stopped suddenly at 
 the report, slipped as if about to fall back 
 then continued his retreat. 
 
 "You hit 'im!" shouted Wabi. "Quick- 
 try J im again !" 
 
 Rod's second shot seemed to have no effect 
 In his excitement he jumped to his feet, for- 
 getting that he was in a frail canoe, and took 
 a last shot at the big black beast that was just 
 about to disappear over the edge of the drift- 
 37
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 wood. Both Wabi and his Indian companion 
 flung themselves on the shore side of their 
 birch and dug their paddles deep into the wa- 
 ter, but their efforts were unavailing to save 
 their reckless comrade. Unbalanced by the 
 concussion of his gun, Rod plunged backward 
 into the river, but before he had time to sink, 
 Wabi reached over and grabbed him by the 
 arm. 
 
 "Don't make a move and hang on to the 
 gun!" he warned. "If we try to get you in 
 here we'll all go over^" He made a sign to 
 the Indian, who swung the canoe slowly in- 
 shore. Then he grinned down into Rod's 
 dripping, unhappy face. 
 
 "By George, that last shot was a dandy for 
 a tenderfoot! You got your bear!" 
 
 Despite his uncomfortable position, Rod 
 gave a whoop of joy, and no sooner did his 
 feet touch solid bottom than he loosened him- 
 self from Wabi's grip and plunged toward 
 the driftwood. On its very top he found the 
 bear, as dead as a bullet through its side and 
 38
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 another through its head could make it. Stand- 
 ing there beside his first big game, dripping 
 and shivering, he looked down upon the two 
 who were pulling their canoe ashore and gave 
 a series of triumphant whoops that could have 
 been heard half a mile away. 
 
 "It's camp and a fire for you," laughed 
 Wabi, hurrying up to him. "This is better 
 luck than I thought you'd have, Rod. We'll 
 have a glorious feast to-night, and a fire of 
 this driftwood that will show you what makes 
 life worth the living up here in the North. 
 'Ho, Muky," he called to the old Indian, "cut 
 this fellow up, will you? I'll make camp." 
 
 "Can we keep the skin?" asked Rod. "It's 
 my first, you know, and " 
 
 "Of course we can. Give us a hand with the 
 fire, Rod; it will keep you from catching 
 cold." 
 
 In the excitement of making their first camp 
 
 kod almost forgot that he was soaked to the 
 
 skin, and that night was falling about them. 
 
 The first step was the building of a fire, and 
 
 39
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 soon a great, crackling, almost smokeless blaze 
 was throwing its light and heat for thirty feet 
 around. Wabi now brought blankets from the 
 canoe, stripped off a part of his own clothes 5 
 made Rod undress, and soon had that youth 
 swathed in dry togs, while his wet ones were 
 hung close up to the fire. For the first time 
 Rod saw the making of a wilderness shelter. 
 Whistling cheerily, Wabi got an ax from 
 the canoe, went into the edge of the cedars 
 and cut armful after armful of saplings and 
 boughs. Tying his blankets about himself, 
 Rod helped to carry these, a laughable and 
 grotesque figure as he stumbled about clumsily 
 in his efforts. Within half an hour the cedar 
 shelter was taking form. Two crotched sap- 
 lings were driven into the ground eight feet 
 apart, and from one to the other, resting in 
 the crotches, was placed another sapling, 
 which formed the ridge-pole; and from this 
 pole there ran slantwise to the earth half a 
 dozen others, making a framework upon 
 which the cedar boughs were piled. By *ji 
 40
 
 RODERICK SEES THE" FOOTPRINT 
 
 time the old Indian had finished his bear the 
 home was completed, and with its beds of 
 sweet-smelling boughs, the great camp-fire in 
 front and the dense wilderness about them 
 growing black with the approach of night, 
 Rod thought that nothing in picture-book or 
 story could quite equal the reality of that mo- 
 ment. And when, a few moments later, great 
 bear-steaks were broiling over a mass of coals, 
 and the odoi of coffee mingled with that of 
 meal-cakes sizzling on a heated stone, he knew 
 that his dearest dreams had come true. 
 
 That night in the glow of the camp-fire Rod 
 listened to the thrilling stories of Wabi and 
 the old Indian, and lay awake until nearly 
 dawn, listening to the occasional howl of a 
 wolf, mysterious splashings in the river and 
 the shrill notes of the night birds. There were 
 varied experiences in the following three days: 
 one frosty morning before the others were 
 awake he stole out from the camp with Wabi's 
 rifle and shot twice at a red deer which he 
 missed both times; there was an exciting but 
 41
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 fruitless race with a swimming caribou in 
 Sturgeon Lake, at which Wabi himself took 
 three long-range shots without effect. 
 
 It was on a glorious autumn afternoon that 
 Wabi's keen eyes first descried the log build- 
 ings of the Post snuggled in the edge of the 
 seemingly unending forest. As they ap- 
 proached he joyfully pointed out the different 
 buildings to Rod the Company store, the lit- 
 tle cluster of employees' homes and the fac- 
 tor's house, where Rod was to meet his wel- 
 come. At least Roderick himself had thought 
 it would be there. But as they came nearer a 
 single canoe shot out suddenly from the shore 
 and the young hunters could see a white hand- 
 kerchief waving them greeting. Wabi re- 
 plied with a whoop of pleasure and fired his 
 gun into the air. 
 
 "It's Minnetaki!" he cried. "She said she 
 would watch for us and come out to meet us !" 
 
 Minnetaki! A little nervous thrill shot 
 through Rod WabJ had described her to 
 him a thousand times in those winter evenings 
 42
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 at home; with a brother's love and pride he 
 had always brought her into their talks and 
 plans, and somehow, little by little, Rod had 
 grown to like her very much without ever 
 having seen her. 
 
 The two canoes swiftly approached each 
 other, and in a few minutes more were along- 
 side. With a glad laughing cry Minnetaki 
 leaned over and kissed her brother, while at 
 the same time her dark eyes shot a curious 
 glance at the youth of whom she had read and 
 heard so much. 
 
 At this time Minnetaki was fifteen. Like 
 her mother's race she was slender, of almost 
 woman's height, and unconsciously as graceful 
 as a fawn in her movements. A slightly wav- 
 ing wealth of raven hair framed what Rod 
 thought to be one of the prettiest faces he had 
 ever seen, and entwined in the heavy silken 
 braid that fell over her shoulder were a num- 
 ber of red autumn leaves. As she straightened 
 herself in her canoe she looked at Rod and 
 smiled, and he in making a polite effort to 
 43
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 lift his cap in civilized style, lost that article 
 of apparel in a sudden gust of wind. In an 
 instant there was a general laugh of merri- 
 ment in which even the old Indian joined. 
 The little incident did more toward making 
 comradeship than anything else that might 
 have happened, and laughing again into Rod's 
 face Minnetaki urged her canoe toward the 
 floating cap. 
 
 "You shouldn't wear such things until it 
 gets cold," she said, after retrieving the cap 
 and handing it to him. "Wabi does but I 
 don't!" 
 
 "Then I won't," replied Rod gallantly, and 
 at Wabi's burst of laughter both blushed. 
 
 That first night at the Post Rod found that 
 Wabi had already made all plans for the win- 
 ter's hunting, and the white youth's complete 
 equipment was awaiting him in the room as- 
 signed to him in the factor's house a deadly 
 looking five-shot Remington, similar to 
 IWabi's, a long-barreled, heavy-caliber revol- 
 44
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 ver, snow-shoes, and a dozen other articles 
 necessary to one about to set out upon a long 
 expedition in the wilderness. Wabi had also 
 mapped out their hunting-grounds. Wolves 
 in the immediate neighborhood of the Post, 
 where they were being constantly sought by 
 the Indians and the factor's men, had become 
 exceedingly cautious and were not numerous, 
 but in the almost untraveled wilderness a hun- 
 dred miles to the north and east they were lit- 
 erally overrunning the country, killing moose, 
 caribou and deer in great numbers. 
 
 In this region Wabi planned to make their 
 winter quarters. And no time was to be lost 
 in taking up the trail, for the log house in 
 which they would pass the bitterly cold 
 months should be built before the heavy snows 
 set in. It was therefore decided that the young 
 hunters should start within a week, accom- 
 panied by Mukoki, the old Indian, a cousin 
 of the slain Wabigoon, whom Wabi had given 
 the nickname of Muky and who had been a 
 45
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 faithful comrade to him from his earliest 
 childhood. 
 
 Rod made the most of the six days which 
 were allotted to him at the Post, and while 
 Wabi helped to handle the affairs of the Com- 
 pany's store during a short absence of his 
 father at Port Arthur, the lovely little Minne- 
 taki gave our hero his first lessons in wood- 
 craft. In canoe, with the rifle, and in reading 
 the signs of forest life Wabi's sister awakened 
 constantly increasing admiration in Rod. To 
 see her bending over some freshly made trail, 
 her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling with ex- 
 citement, her rich hair filled with the warmth 
 of the sun, was a picture to arouse enthusiasm 
 even in the heart of a youngster of eighteen, 
 and a hundred times the boy mentally vowed 
 that "she was a brick" from the tips of her 
 pretty moccasined feet to the top of her pret- 
 tier head. Half a dozen times at least he 
 voiced this sentiment to Wabi, and Wabi 
 agreed with great enthusiasm. In fact, by the 
 time the week was almost gone Minnetaki and 
 
 46
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 Rod had become great chums, and it was not 
 without some feeling of regret that the young 
 wolf hunter greeted the dawn of the day that 
 was to see them begin their journey deeper 
 into the wilds. 
 
 Minnetaki was one of the earliest risers at 
 the Post. Rod was seldom behind her. But 
 on this particular morning he was late and 
 heard the girl whistling outside half an hour 
 before he was dressed for Minnetaki could 
 whistle in a manner that often filled him with 
 envy. By the time he came down she had dis->. 
 appeared in the edge of the forest, and Wabi, 
 who was also ahead of him, was busy with 
 Mukoki tying up their equipment in packs. It 
 was a glorious morning, clear and frosty, and 
 Rod noticed that a thin shell of ice had formed 
 on the lake during the night. Once or twice 
 Wabi turned toward the forest and gave his 
 signal whoop, but received no reply. 
 
 "I don't see why Minnetaki doesn't come 
 back," he remarked carelessly, as he fastened 
 a shoulder-strap about a bundle. "Breakfast 
 47
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 will be ready in a jiffy. Hunt her up, will you, 
 Rod?" 
 
 Nothing loath, Rod started out on a brisk 
 run along the path which he knew to be a 
 favorite with Minnetaki and shortly it brought 
 him down to a pebbly stretch of the beach 
 where she frequently left her canoe. That she 
 had been here a few minutes before he could 
 tell by the fact that the ice about the birch- 
 bark was broken, as though the girl had tested 
 its thickness by shoving the light craft out into 
 it for a few feet. Her footsteps led plainly 
 up the shelving shore and into the forest. 
 
 "O Minnetaki Minnetaki!" 
 
 Rod called loudly and listened. There was 
 no response. As if impelled by some presenti- 
 ment which he himself could not explain, the 
 boy hurried deeper into the forest along the 
 narrow path which Minnetaki must have 
 taken. Five minutes ten minutes and 
 he called again. Still there was no an- 
 swer. Possibly the girl had not gone so far, 
 or she might have left the path for the thick 
 48
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 woods. A little farther on there was a soft 
 spot in the path where a great tree-trunk had 
 rotted half a century before, leaving a rich 
 black soil. Clearly traced in this were the im- 
 prints of Minnetaki's moccasins. For a full 
 minute Rod stopped and listened, making not 
 a sound. Why he maintained silence he could 
 not have explained. But he knew that he was 
 half a mile from the Post, and that Wabi's 
 sister should not be here at breakfast time. In 
 this minute's quiet he unconsciously studied 
 the tracks in the ground. How small the pretty 
 Indian maiden's feet were ! And he noticed, 
 too, that her moccasins, unlike most moccasins, 
 had a slight heel. 
 
 But in a moment more his inspection was 
 cut short. Was that a cry he heard far ahead? 
 His heart seemed to stop beating, his blood 
 thrilled and in another instant he was run- 
 ning down the path like a deer. Twenty rods 
 beyond this point the path entered an opening 
 in the forest made by a great fire, and half- 
 way across this opening the youth saw a sight 
 49
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 which chilled him to the marrow. There was 
 Minnetaki, her long hair tumbling loosely 
 down her back, a cloth tied around her head 
 and on either side an Indian dragging he* 
 swiftly toward the opposite forest! 
 
 For as long as he might have drawn three 
 breaths Rod stood transfixed with horror. 
 Then his senses returned to him, and every 
 muscle in his body seemed to bound with ac- 
 tion. For days he had been practising with 
 his revolver and it was now in the holster at 
 his side. Should he use it? Or might he hit 
 Minnetaki? At his feet he saw a club and 
 snatching this up he sped across the opening, 
 the soft earth holding the sound of his steps. 
 When he was a dozen feet behind the Indians 
 Minnetaki stumbled in a sudden effort to free 
 herself, and as one of her captors half turned 
 to drag her to her feet he saw the enraged 
 youth, club uplifted, bearing down upon them 
 like a demon. A terrific yell from Rod, a 
 warning cry from the Indian, and the fra^ 
 began. With crushing force the boy's club 
 .So
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 fell upon the shoulder of the second Indian, 
 and before he could recover from the delivery 
 of this blow the youth was caught in a choking, 
 deadly grip by the other from behind. 
 
 Freed by the sudden attack, Minnetaki tore 
 .away the cloth that bound her eyes and mouth. 
 As quick as a flash she took in the situation. 
 At her feet the wounded Indian was half ris- 
 ing, and upon the ground near him, struggling 
 in close embrace, were Rod and the other. She 
 saw the Indian's fatal grip upon her preserv- 
 er's throat, the whitening face and wide-open 
 eyes, and with a great, sobbing cry she caught 
 up the fallen club and brought it down with 
 all her strength upon the redskin's head. 
 Twice, three times the club rose and fell, and 
 the grip on Rod's throat relaxed. A fourth 
 time it rose, but this time was caught from be- 
 hind, and a huge hand clutched the brave 
 girl's throat so that the cry on her lips died in 
 a gasp. But the relief gave Rod his oppor- 
 tunity. With a tremendous effort he reached 
 his pistol holster, drew out the gun, and 
 SI
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 pressed it close up against his assailant's body. 
 There was a muffled report and with a shriek 
 of agony the Indian pitched backward. Hear- 
 ing the shot and seeing the effect upon his com- 
 rade, the second Indian released his hold on 
 Minnetaki and ran for the forest. Rod, seeing 
 Minnetaki fall in a sobbing, frightened heap, 
 forgot all else but to run to her, smooth back 
 her hair and comfort her with all of the as- 
 surances at his boyish command. 
 
 It was here that Wabi and the old Indian 
 guide found them five minutes later. Hearing 
 Rod's first piercing yell of attack, they had 
 raced into the forest, afterward guided by the 
 two or three shrill screams which Minnetaki 
 had unconsciously emitted during the strug- 
 gle. Close behind them, smelling trouble, fol- 
 lowed two of the Post employees. 
 
 The attempted abduction of Wabi's sister, 
 Rod's heroic rescue and the death of one of 
 the captors, who was recognized as one of 
 Woonga's men, caused a seven-day sensation at 
 the Post. 
 
 52
 
 RODERICK SEES THE FOOTPRINT 
 
 There was now no thought of leaving on 
 the part of the young wolf hunters. It was 
 evident that Woonga was again in the neigh- 
 borhood, and Wabi and Rod, together with a 
 score of Indians and hunters, spent days in 
 scouring the forests and swamps. But the 
 Woongas disappeared as suddenly as they 
 came. Not until Wabi had secured a promise 
 from Minnetaki that she would no longer go 
 into the forests unaccompanied did the Indian 
 youth again allow himself to take up their in- 
 terrupted plans. 
 
 Minnetaki had been within easy calling dis- 
 tance of help when the Woongas, without 
 warning, sprang upon her, smothered her at- 
 tempted cries and dragged her away, com- 
 pelling her to walk alone over the soft earth 
 where Rod had seen her footsteps, so that any 
 person who followed might suppose she was 
 alone and safe. This fact stirred the dozen 
 white families at the Post into aggressive ac- 
 tion, and four of the most skilful Indian track- 
 hunters in the service were detailed to devote 
 53
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 themselves exclusively to hunting down the 
 outlaws, their operations not to include a ter- 
 ritory extending more than twenty miles from 
 Wabinosh House in any direction. With 
 these precautions it was believed that no harm 
 could come to Minnetaki or other young girls 
 of the Post. 
 
 It was, therefore, on a Monday, the fourth 
 day of November, that Rod, Wabi and Mu- 
 koki turned their faces at last to the adven- 
 tures that awaited them in the great North. 
 
 54
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 RODERICK'S FIRST TASTE OF THE HUNTER'S 
 
 LIFE 
 
 BY this time it was bitter cold. The lakes 
 and rivers were frozen deep and a 
 light snow covered the ground. Al- 
 ready two weeks behind their plans, the young 
 wolf hunters and the old Indian made forced 
 marches around the northern extremity of 
 Lake Nipigon and on the sixth day found 
 themselves on the Ombabika River, where 
 they were compelled to stop on account of a 
 dense snow-storm. A temporary camp was 
 made, and it was while constructing this camp 
 that Mukoki discovered signs of wolves. It 
 was therefore decided to remain for a day or 
 two and investigate the hunting-grounds. On 
 the morning of the second day Wabi shot at 
 and wounded the old bull moose which met 
 55
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 such a tragic end a few hours later, and that 
 same morning the two boys made a long tour 
 to the north in the hope of finding that they 
 were in a good game country, which would 
 mean also that there were plenty of wolves. 
 
 This left Mukoki alone in camp. Thus far, 
 in their desire to cover as much ground as pos- 
 sible before the heavy snows came, Wabi and 
 his companions had not stopped to hunt for 
 game and for six days their only meat had 
 been bacon and jerked venison. Mukoki, 
 whose prodigious appetite was second only to 
 the shrewdness with which he stalked game to 
 satisfy it, determined to add to their larder if 
 possible during the others' absence, and with 
 this object in view he left camp late in the aft- 
 ernoon to be gone, as he anticipated, not longef 
 than an nour or so. 
 
 With him he carried two powerful wolf- 
 traps slung over his shoulders. Stealing cau- 
 tiously along the edge of the river, his eyes 
 and ears alert for game, Mukoki suddenly 
 came upon the frozen and half-eaten carcass 
 56
 
 THE HUNTER'S LI-FE 
 
 of a red deer. It was evident that the animal 
 had been killed by wolves either the day or 
 night before, and from the tracks in the snow 
 the Indian concluded that not more than four 
 wolves had participated in the slaughter and 
 feast. That these wolves would return to con- 
 tinue their banquet, probably that night, Mu- 
 koki's many experiences as a wolf hunter as- 
 sured him ; and he paused long enough to set 
 his traps, afterward covering them over with 
 three or four inches of snow. 
 
 Continuing his hunt, the old Indian soon 
 struck the fresh spoor of a deer. Believing 
 that the animal would not travel for any great 
 distance in the deep snow, he swiftly took up 
 the trail. Half a mile farther on he stopped 
 abruptly with a grunt of unbounded surprise. 
 Another hunter had taken up the trail I 
 
 With increased caution Mukoki now aid-' 
 vanced. Two hundred feet more and a second 
 pair of moccasined feet joined in the pursuit, 
 and a little later still a third! 
 
 Led on by curiosity more than by the hope 
 57
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 of securing a partnership share in the quarry, 
 the Indian slipped silently and swiftly through 
 the forest. As he emerged from a dense growth 
 of spruce through which the tracks led him 
 Mukoki was treated to another surprise by al- 
 most stumbling over the carcass of the deer 
 he had been following. A brief examination 
 satisfied him that the doe had been shot at 
 least two hours before. The three hunters 
 had cut out her heart, liver and tongue and 
 had also taken the hind quarters, leaving the 
 remainder of the carcass and the skin! Why 
 had they neglected this most valuable part of 
 their spoils? With a new gleam of interest in 
 his eyes Mukoki carefully scrutinized the 
 moccasin trails. He soon discovered that the 
 Indians ahead of him were in great haste, and 
 that after cutting the choicest meat from the 
 doe they had started off to make up for lost 
 time by running! 
 
 With another grunt of astonishment the old 
 Indian returned to the carcass, quickly 
 stripped off the skin, wrapped in it the fore 
 58
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 quarters and ribs of the doe, and thus loaded, 
 took up the home trail. It was dark when he 
 reached camp. Wabi and Rod had not yet 
 returned. Building a huge fire and hanging 
 the ribs of the doe on a spit before it, he anx- 
 iously awaited their appearance. 
 
 Half an hour later he heard the shout which 
 brought him quickly to where Wabi was hold- 
 ing the partly unconscious form of Rod in his 
 arms. 
 
 It took but a few moments to carry the in- 
 jured youth to camp, and not until Rod was 
 resting upon a pile of blankets in their shack, 
 with the warmth of the fire reviving him, did 
 Wabi vouchsafe an explanation to the old In- 
 dian. 
 
 "I guess he's got a broken arm, Muky," he 
 said. "Have you any hot water?" 
 
 "Shot?" asked the old hunter, paying no at- 
 tention to the question. He dropped upon his 
 knees beside Rod, his long brown fingers 
 reaching out anxiously. "Shot?" 
 
 "No hit with a club. We met three In- 
 59
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 3ian hunters who were in camp and who in- 
 vited us to eat with them. While we were 
 eating they jumped upon our backs. Rod got 
 that and lost his rifle !" 
 
 Mukoki quickly stripped the wounded boy 
 of his garments, baring his left arm and side. 
 The arm was swollen and almost black and 
 there was a great bruise on Rod's body a little 
 above the waist. Mukoki was a surgeon by 
 necessity, a physician such as one finds only 
 in the vast unblazed wildernesses, where Na- 
 ture is the teacher. Crudely he made his ex- 
 amination, pinching and twisting the flesh and 
 bones until Rod cried out in pain, but in the 
 end there was a glad triumph in his voice as 
 he said : 
 
 "No bone broke hurt most here!" and he 
 touched the bruise. "Near broke rib not 
 quite. Took wind out and made great deal 
 sick. Want good supper, hot coffee rub in 
 bear's grease, then be better!" 
 
 Rod, who had opened his eyes, smiled 
 ij and Wabi gave a half-shout of delight. 
 60
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 "Not so bad as we thought, eh, Rod?" he 
 cried. "You can't fool Muky! If he says 
 your arm isn't broken why, it isn't, and that's 
 all there is to it. Let me bolster you up in 
 these blankets and we'll soon have a supper' 
 that will sizzle the aches out of you. I smell 
 meat fresh meat!" 
 
 With a chuckle of pleasure Mukoki jumped 
 to his feet and ran out to where the ribs of the 
 doe were slowly broiling over the fire. They 
 were already done to a rich brown and their 
 dripping juice filled the nostrils with an ap- 
 petizing odor. By the time Wabi had applied 
 Mukoki's prescription to his comrade's 
 wounds, and had done them up in bandages, 
 the tempting feast was spread before them. 
 
 As a liberal section of the ribs was placed 
 before him, together with corn-meal cakes 
 and a cup of steaming coffee, Rod could not 
 suppress a happy though somewhat embar- 
 rassed laugh. 
 
 "I'm ashamed of myself, Wabi," he said. 
 "Here I've been causing so much bother, like 
 61
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 some helpless kid; and now I find I haven't 
 even the excuse of a broken arm, and that I'm 
 as hungry as a bear! Looks pretty yellow, 
 jdoesn't it? Just as though I was scared to 
 death! So help me, I almost wish my arm 
 was broken !" 
 
 Mukoki had buried his teeth in a huge 
 chunk of fat rib, but he lowered it with a 
 great chuckling grunt, half of his face 
 smeared with the first results of his feast. 
 
 "Whole lot sick," he explained. "Be sick 
 some more mighty sick! Maybe vomit lots!" 
 
 "Waugh!" shrieked Wabi. "How is that 
 for cheerful news, Rod?" His merriment 
 echoed far out into the night. Suddenly he 
 caught himself and peered suspiciously into 
 the gloom beyond the circle of firelight. 
 
 "Do you suppose they would follow?" he 
 asked. " 
 
 r A more cautious silence followed, and the 
 
 Indian youth quickly related the adventures 
 
 of the day to Mukoki how, in the heart of 
 
 the forest several miles beyond the lake, they 
 
 62
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 had come upon the Indian hunters, had ac- 
 cepted of their seemingly honest hospitality, 
 and in the midst of their meal had suffered an 
 attack from them. So sudden and unexpected 
 had been the assault that one of the Indians 
 got away with Rod's rifle, ammunition belt 
 and revolver before any effort could be made 
 to stop him. Wabi was under the other two 
 Indians when Rod came to his assistance, with 
 the result that the latter was struck two heavy 
 blows, either with a club or a gun-stock. So 
 tenaciously had the Indian boy clung to his 
 own weapon that his assailants, after a brief 
 struggle, darted into the dense underbrush, 
 evidently satisfied with the white boy's equip- 
 ment. 
 
 "They were of Woonga's people, without a 
 r doubt," finished Wabi. "It puzzles me why 
 they didn't kill us. They had half a dozen 
 chances to shoot us, but didn't seem to want to 
 do us any great injury. Either the measures 
 taken at the Post are making them reform, 
 or"
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 He paused, a troubled look in his eyes. Im- 
 mediately Mukoki told of his own experience 
 and of the mysterious haste of the three In- 
 dians who had slain the doe. 
 
 "It is certainly curious," rejoined the young 
 Indian. "They couldn't have been the ones we 
 met, but I'll wager they belong to the same 
 gang. I wouldn't be surprised if we had 
 hit upon one of Woonga's retreats. We've al- 
 ways thought he was in the Thunder Bay re- 
 gions to the west, and that is where father is 
 watching for him now. We've hit the hor- 
 nets' nest, Muky, and the only thing for us 
 to do is to get out of this country as fast as 
 we can 1" 
 
 "We'd make a nice pot-shot just at this mo- 
 ment," volunteered Rod, looking across to the 
 dense blackness on the opposite side of the 
 river, where the moonlight seemed to make 
 even more impenetrable the wall of gloom. 
 
 As he spoke there came a slight sound from 
 behind him, the commotion of a body moving 
 softly beyond the wall of spruce boughs, then 
 64
 
 THE HUNTER S LIFE 
 
 a curious, suspicious sniffing, and after that a 
 low whine. 
 
 "Listen!" 
 
 Wabi's command came in a tense whisper. 
 He leaned close against the boughs, stealthily 
 parted them, and slowly thrust his head 
 through the aperture. 
 
 "Hello, Wolf!" he whispered. "What's 
 up?" 
 
 An arm's length away, tied before a smaller 
 shelter of spruce, a gaunt, dog-like animal 
 stood in a rigid listening attitude. An instant's 
 glance, however, would have assured one that 
 it was not a dog, but a full-grown wolf. From 
 the days of its puppyhood Wabi had taught it 
 in the ways of dogdom, yet had the animal 
 perversely clung to its wild instincts. A weak- 
 ness in that thong, a slip of the collar, and 
 Wolf would have bounded joyously into the 
 forests to seek for ever the packs of his fathers. 
 Now the babeesh rope was taut, Wolf's muzzle 
 was turned half to the sky, his ears were alert, 
 half-sounding notes rattled in his throat. 
 65
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 "There is something near our camp!" an- 
 nounced the Indian boy, drawing himself back 
 quickly. "Muky " 
 
 He was interrupted by a long mournful 
 howl from the captive wolf. 
 
 Mukoki had jumped to his feet with the 
 alertness of a cat, and now with his gun in his 
 hand slunk around the edge of the shelter and 
 buried himself in the gloom. Roderick lay 
 quiet while Wabi, seizing the remaining rifle, 
 followed him. 
 
 "Lie over there in the dark, Rod, where the 
 firelight doesn't show you up," he cautioned 
 in a low voice. "Probably it is only some ani- 
 mal that has stumbled on to our camp, but we 
 want to make sure." 
 
 Ten minutes later the young hunter returned 
 alone. 
 
 "False alarm!" he laughed cheerfully. 
 "There's a part of a carcass of a red deer up 
 the creek a bit. It has been killed by wolves, 
 and Wolf smells some of his own blood com- 
 ing in to the feast. Muky has set traps there 
 66
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 and we may have our first scalp in the morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "Where is Mukoki?" 
 
 "On watch. He is going to keep guard un- 
 til a little after midnight, and then I'll turn 
 out. We can't be too careful, with the Woon- 
 gas in the neighborhood." 
 
 Rod shifted himself uneasily. 
 
 "What shall we do to-morrow?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "Get out!" replied Wabi with emphasis. 
 "That is, if you are able to travel. From 
 what Mukoki tells me, and from what you and 
 I already know, Woonga's people must be in 
 the forests beyond the lake. We'll cut a trail 
 up the Ombabika for two or three days before 
 we strike camp. You and Muky can start out 
 as soon as it is light enough." 
 
 "And you " began Rod. 
 
 "Oh, I'm going to take a run back over our 
 
 old wolf-trail and collect the scalps we shot 
 
 to-day. There's a month's salary back there 
 
 for you, Rod ! Now, let's turn in. Good night 
 
 67
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 sleep tight and be sure to wake up early 
 in the morning." 
 
 The boys, exhausted by the adventures of 
 the day, were soon in profound slumber. And 
 though midnight came, and hour after hour 
 passed between then and dawn, the faithful 
 Mukoki did not awaken them. Never for a 
 moment neglecting his caution the old Indian 
 watched tirelessly over the camp. With the 
 first appearance of day he urged the fire into 
 a roaring blaze, raked out a great mass of 
 glowing coals, and proceeded to get break- 
 fast. Wabi discovered him at this task when 
 he awoke from his slumber. 
 
 "I didn't think you would play this trick on 
 me, Muky," he said, a flush of embarrassment 
 gathering in his brown face. "It's awfully 
 good of you, and all that, but I wish you 
 wouldn't treat me as if I were a child anj 
 longer, old friend!" 
 
 He placed his hand affectionately upon the 
 kneeling Mukoki's shoulder, and the old hunt- 
 er looked up at him with a happy, satisfied 
 68
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 grin on his weather-beaten visage, wrinkled 
 and of the texture of leather by nearly fifty 
 years of life in the wilderness. It was Mu- 
 koki who had first carried the baby Wabi 
 about the woods upon his shoulders ; it was he 
 who had played with him, cared for him, and 
 taught him in the ways of the wild in early 
 childhood, and it was he who had missed him 
 most, with little Minnetaki, when he went 
 away to school. All the love in the grim old 
 redskin's heart was for the Indian youth and 
 his sister, and to them Mukoki was a second 
 father, a silent, watchful guardian and com- 
 rade. This one loving touch of Wabi's hand 
 was ample reward for the long night's duty, 
 and his pleasure expressed itself in two or 
 three low chuckling grunts. 
 
 "Had heap bad day," he replied. "Very 
 much tired. Me feel good better than 
 sleep 1" He rose to his feet and handed Wabi 
 the long fork with which he manipulated the 
 meat on the spits. "You can tend to that," he 
 added. "I go see traps." 
 69
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Rod, who had awakened and overheard 
 these last remarks, called out from the shack: 
 
 "Wait a minute, Mukoki. I'm going with 
 you. If you've got a wolf, I want to see him.' 5 
 
 "Got one sure J nuff," grinned the old In- 
 dian. 
 
 In a few minutes Rod came out, full} 
 dressed and with a much healthier color in his 
 face than when he went to bed the preceding 
 night. He stood before the fire, stretched one 
 arm then the other, gave a slight grimace of 
 pain, and informed his anxious comrades that 
 he seemed to be as well as ever, except that hio 
 arm and side were very sore. 
 
 Walking slowly, that Rod might "find him- 
 self," as Wabi expressed it, the two went up 
 the river. It was a dull gray morning and 
 occasionally large flakes of snow fell, giving 
 evidence that before the day was far advanced 
 another storm would set in. Mukoki's traps 
 were not more than an eighth of a mile from 
 camp, and as the two rounded a certain bend 
 in the river the old hunter suddenly stopped 
 70
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 with a huge grunt of satisfaction. Following 
 the direction in which he pointed Rod saw a 
 dark object lying in the snow a short distance 
 away. 
 
 "That's heem!" exclaimed the Indian. 
 
 As they approached, the object became ani- 
 mate, pulling and tearing in the snow as 
 though in the agonies of death. A few mo- 
 ments more and they were close up to the cap- 
 tive. 
 
 ''She wolf!" explained Mukoki. 
 
 He gripped the ax he had brought with him 
 and approached within a few feet of the 
 crouching animal. Rod could see that one of 
 the big steel traps had caught the wolf on the 
 forward leg and that the other had buried its 
 teeth in one of the hind legs. Thus held the 
 doomed animal could make little effort to pro- 
 tect itself and crouched in sullen quiet, its 
 white fangs gleaming in a noiseless, defiant 
 snarl, its eyes shining with pain and anger, 
 and with only its thin starved body, which 
 jerked and trembled as the Indian came
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 nearer, betraying signs of fear. To Rod it 
 might have been a pitiful sight had not there 
 come to him a thought of the preceding night 
 and of his own and Wabi's narrow escape from 
 the pack. 
 
 Two or three quick blows of the ax and the 
 wolf was dead. With a skill which can only 
 be found among those of his own race, Mukoki 
 drew his knife, cut deftly around the wolf's 
 head just below the ears, and with one down- 
 ward, one upward, and two sidewise jerks tore 
 off the scalp. 
 
 Suddenly, without giving a thought to his 
 speech, there shot from Rod, 
 
 "Is that the way you scalp people?" 
 
 Mukoki looked up, his jaw fell and then 
 he gave the nearest thing to a real laugh that 
 Rod ever heard come from between his lips. 
 When Mukoki laughed it was usually in a 
 half-chuckle, a half-gurgle something that 
 neither Rod nor Wabi could have imitated if 
 they had tried steadily for a month. 
 
 "Never scalped white people," the old In- 
 72
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 dian shot back. "Father did when young 
 man. Did great scalp business!" 
 
 Mukoki had not done chuckling to himself 
 even when they reached camp. 
 
 Scarcely ten minutes were taken in eating 
 breakfast. Snow was already beginning to fall, 
 and if the hunters took up their trail at once 
 their tracks would undoubtedly be entirely ob- 
 literated by midday, which was the best pos- 
 sible thing that could happen for them in the 
 Woonga country. On the other hand, Wabi 
 was anxious to follow back over the wolf-trail 
 before the snow shut it in. There was no dan- 
 ger of their becoming separated and lost, for 
 it was agreed that Rod and Mukoki should 
 travel straight up the frozen river. Wabi 
 would overtake them before nightfall. 
 
 Arming himself with his rifle, revolver, 
 knife, and a keen-edged belt-ax, the Indian 
 boy lost no time in leaving camp. A quarter 
 of an hour later Wabi came out cautiously on 
 the end of the lake where had occurred the un- 
 equal duel between the old bull moose and the 
 73
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 wolves. A single glance told him what the out- 
 come of that duel had been. Twenty rods out 
 upon the snow he saw parts of a great skeleton, 
 and a huge pair of antlers. 
 
 As he stood on the arena of the mighty 
 battle, Wabi would have given a great deal if 
 Rod could have been with him. There lay the 
 heroic old moose, now nothing more than a 
 skeleton. But the magnificent head and horns 
 still remained the largest head that the In- 
 dian youth, in all his wilderness life, had ever 
 seen and it occurred to him that if this head 
 could be preserved and taken back to civiliza- 
 tion it would be worth a hundred dollars or 
 more. That the old bull had put up a magnifi- 
 cent fight was easily discernible. Fifty feet 
 away were the bones of a wolf, and almost un- 
 der the skeleton of the moose were those of 
 another. The heads of both still remained, 
 and Wabi, after taking their scalps, hurried 
 on over the trail. 
 
 Half-way across the lake, where he had 
 taken his last two shots, were the skeletons of 
 74
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 two more wolves, and in the edge of the spruce 
 forest he found another. This animal had evi- 
 dently been wounded farther back and had 
 later been set upon by some of the pack and) 
 killed. Half a mile deeper in the forest he' 
 came upon a spot where he had emptied five 
 shells into the pack and here he found the 
 bones of two more wolves. He had seven 
 scalps in his possession when he turned back 
 over the home trail. 
 
 Beside the remains of the old bull Wabi 
 paused again. He knew that the Indians fre- 
 quently preserved moose and caribou heads 
 through the winter by keeping them frozen, 
 and the head at his feet was a prize worth 
 some thought. But how could he keep it pre- 
 served until their return, months later? He 
 could not suspend it from the limb of a tree, 
 as was the custom when in camp, for it would 
 either be stolen by some passing hunter or 
 spoiled by the first warm days of spring. Sud- 
 denly an idea came to him. Why could it not 
 be preserved in what white hunters called an 
 75
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 "Indian ice-box"? In an instant he was acting 
 upon this inspiration. It was not a small task 
 to drag the huge head to the shelter of the 
 tamaracks, where, safely hidden from view, he 
 made a closer examination. The head was 
 gnawed considerably by the wolves, but Wabi 
 had seen worse ones skilfully repaired by the 
 Indians at the Post. 
 
 Under a dense growth of spruce, where the 
 rays of the sun seldom penetrated, the Indian 
 boy set to work with his belt-ax. For an hour 
 and a half he worked steadily, and at the end 
 of that time had dug a hole in the frozen earth 
 three feet deep and four feet square. This hole 
 he now lined with about two inches of snow, 
 packed as tight as he could jam it with the butt 
 of his gun. Then placing in the head he 
 packed snow closely about it and afterward 
 filled in the earth, stamping upon the hard 
 chunks with his feet. When all was done he 
 concealed the signs of his work under a cover- 
 ing of snow, blazed two trees with his ax, and 
 resumed his journey. 
 
 76
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 "There is thirty dollars for each of us if 
 there's a cent," he mused softly, as he hurried 
 toward the Ombabika. "That ground won't 
 thaw out until June. A moose-head and eight 
 scalps at fifteen dollars each isn't bad for one 
 day's work, Rod, old boy!" 
 
 He had been absent for three hours. It had 
 been snowing steadily and by the time he 
 reached their old camp the trail left by Rod 
 and Mukoki was already partly obliterated, 
 showing that they had secured an early start up 
 the river. 
 
 Bowing his head in the white clouds falling 
 silently about him, Wabi started in swift pur- 
 suit. He could not see ten rods ahead of him, 
 so dense was the storm, and at times one side 
 or the other of the river was lost to view. Con- 
 ditions could not have been better for their 
 flight out of the Woonga country, thought the 
 young hunter. By nightfall they would be 
 many miles up the river, and no sign would be 
 left behind to reveal their former presence or 
 to show in which direction they had gone. For 
 77
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 two hours he followed tirelessly over the trail, 
 which became more and more distinct as he 
 proceeded, showing that he was rapidly gain- 
 ing on his comrades. But even now, though 
 the trail was fresher and deeper, so disguised 
 had it become by falling snow that a passing 
 hunter might have thought a moose or caribou 
 had passed that way. 
 
 At the end of the third hour, by which time 
 he figured that he had made at least ten miles, 
 Wabi sat down to rest, and to refresh himself 
 with the lunch which he had taken from the 
 camp that morning. He was surprised at 
 Rod's endurance. That Mukoki and the white 
 boy were still three or four miles ahead of him 
 he did not doubt, unless they, too, had stopped 
 for dinner. This, on further thought, he be- 
 lieved was highly probable. 
 
 The wilderness about him was intensely 
 still. Not even the twitter of a snow-bird 
 marred its silence. For a long time Wabi sat 
 as immovable as the log upon which he had 
 seated himself, resting and listening. Such a 
 78
 
 THE HUNTER'S LIFE 
 
 day as this held a peculiar and unusual f asd 
 nation for him. It was as if the whole world 
 was shut out, and that even the wild things of 
 the forest dared not go abroad in this supreme 
 moment of Nature's handiwork, when with 
 lavish hand she spread the white mantle that 
 was to stretch from the border to Hudson Bay. 
 
 As he listened there came to him suddenly a 
 sound that forced from between his lips a half- 
 articulate cry. It was the clear, ringing report 
 of a rifle! And following it there came an- 
 other, and another, until in quick succession 
 he had counted five! 
 
 What did it mean? He sprang to his feet, 
 his heart thumping, every nerve in him pre- 
 pared for action. He would have sworn it was 
 Mukoki's rifle yet Mukoki would not have 
 fired at game! They had agreed upon that. 
 
 Had Rod and the old Indian been attacked? 
 In another instant Wabi was bounding over 
 the trail with the speed of a deer. 
 
 79
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MYSTERIOUS SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 AS the Indian youth sped over the trail 
 in the direction of the rifle-shots he 
 flung his usual caution to the winds. 
 His blood thrilled with the knowledge that 
 there was not a moment to lose that even 
 now, in all probability, he would be too late to 
 assist his friends. This fear was emphasized 
 by the absolute silence which followed the five 
 shots. Eagerly, almost prayerfully, he listened 
 as he ran for other sounds of battle for the 
 report of Mukoki's revolver, or the whoops of 
 the victors. If there had been an ambush it 
 was all over now. Each moment added to his 
 conviction, and as he thrust the muzzle of his 
 gun ahead of him, his finger hovering near the 
 trigger and his snow-blinded eyes staring 
 80
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 ahead into the storm, something like a sob es- 
 caped his lips. 
 
 Ahead of him the stream narrowed until it 
 almost buried itself under a mass of towering 
 cedars. The closeness of the forest walls now 
 added to the general gloom, intensified by the 
 first gray pallor of the Northern dusk, which 
 begins to fall in these regions early in the after- 
 noon of November days. For a moment, just 
 before plunging into the gloomy trail between 
 the cedars, Wabi stopped and listened. 'He 
 heard nothing but the beating of his own heart, 
 which worked like a trip-hammer within his 
 breast. The stillness was oppressive. And the 
 longer he listened the more some invisible 
 power seemed to hold him back. It was not 
 fear, it was not lack of courage, but 
 
 What was there just beyond those cedars, 
 lurking cautiously in the snow gloom? 
 
 With instinct that was almost animal in its 
 
 unreasonableness Wabi sank upon his knees. 
 
 He had seen nothing, he had heard nothing; 
 
 but he crouched close, until he was no larger 
 
 81
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 than a waiting wolf, and there was a deadly 
 earnestness in the manner in which he turned 
 his rifle into the deeper gloom of those close- 
 knit walls of forest. Something was approach- 
 ing, cautiously, stealthily, and with extreme 
 slowness. The Indian boy felt that this was so, 
 and yet if his life had depended upon it he 
 could not have told why. He huddled himself 
 lower in the snow. His eyes gleamed with ex- 
 citement. Minute after minute passed, and 
 still there came no sound. Then, from far up 
 that dusky avenue of cedars, there came the 
 sudden startled chatter of a moose-bird. It 
 was a warning which years of experience had 
 taught Wabi always to respect. Perhaps a rov- 
 ing fox had frightened it, perhaps the bird had 
 taken to noisy flight at the near tread of a 
 moose, a caribou, or a deer. But 
 
 To Wabi the soft, quick notes of the moose- 
 bird spelled man! In an instant he was upon 
 his feet, darting quickly into the sheltering 
 cedars of the shore. Through these he now 
 made his way with extreme caution, keeping 
 82
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS ' 
 
 close to the bank of the frozen stream. After 
 a little he paused again and concealed himself 
 behind the end of a fallen log. Ahead of him 
 he could look into the snow gloom between the 
 cedars, and whatever was coming through that 
 gloom would have to pass within a dozen 
 yards of him. Each moment added to his ex- 
 citement. He heard the chatter of a red squir- 
 rel, much nearer than the moose-bird. Once 
 he fancied that he heard the striking of two 
 objects, as though a rifle barrel had acci- 
 dentally come into contact with the dead limb 
 of a tree. 
 
 Suddenly the Indian youth imagined that he 
 saw something an indistinct shadow that 
 came in the snow gloom, then disappeared, 
 ind came again. He brushed the water and 
 inow from his eyes with one of his mittened 
 hands and stared hard and steadily. Once 
 more the shadow disappeared, then came 
 again, larger and more distinct than before. 
 There was no doubt now. Whatever had star- 
 tled the moose-bird was coming slowly, noise- 
 83
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 lessly. Wabi brought his rifle to his shoulder. 
 Life and death hovered with his anxious, 
 naked finger over the gun trigger. But he was 
 too well trained in the ways of the wilderness 
 to fire just yet. Yard by yard the shadow ap- 
 proached, and divided itself into two shadows. 
 Wabi could now see that they were men. They 
 were advancing in a cautious, crouching atti- 
 tude, as though they expected to meet enemies 
 somewhere ahead of them. Wabi's heart 
 thumped with joy. There could be no surer 
 sign that Mukoki and Rod were still among 
 the living, for why should the Woongas em- 
 ploy this caution if they had already success- 
 fully ambushed the hunters? With the chill 
 of a cold hand at his throat the answer flashed 
 into Wabigoon's brain. His friends had been 
 ambushed, and these two Woongas were steal- 
 ing back over the trail to slay him! 
 
 Very slowly, very gently, the young Indian's 
 finger pressed against the trigger of his rifle. 
 A dozen feet more, and then 
 
 The shadows had stopped, and now drew to 
 84
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 gether as if in consultation. They were not 
 more than twenty yards away, and for a mo- 
 ment Wabi lowered his rifle and listened hard. 
 He could hear the low unintelligible mutter- 
 ings of their conversation. Then there came to 
 him a single incautious reply from one of the 
 shadows. 
 
 "All right!" 
 
 Surely that was not the English of a 
 Woonga! It sounded like 
 
 In a flash Wabi had called softly. 
 
 "Ho, Muky Muky Rod!" 
 
 In another moment the three wolf hunters 
 were together, silently wringing one another's 
 hands, the death-like pallor of Rod's face and 
 the tense lines in the bronzed countenances of 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon plainly showing the 
 tremendous strain they had been under. 
 
 "You shoot?" whispered Mukoki. 
 
 "No!" replied Wabi, his eyes widening in 
 surprise. "Didn't you shoot?" 
 
 "No!" 
 
 Only the one word fell from the old Indian, 
 85
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 but it was filled with a new warning. Whe 
 had fired the five shots? The hunters gazed 
 blankly at one another, mute questioning in 
 their eyes. Without speaking, Mukoki pointed 
 suggestively to the clearer channel of the river 
 beyond the cedars. Evidently he thought the 
 shots had come from there. Wabi shook his 
 head. 
 
 "There was no trail," he whispered. "No- 
 body has crossed the river." 
 
 "I thought they were there!" breathed Rod. 
 He pointed into the forest. "But Mukoki said 
 no." 
 
 For a long time the three stood and listened. 
 Half a mile back in the forest they heard the 
 howl of a single wolf, and Wabi flashed a curi- 
 ous glance into the eyes of the old Indian. 
 
 "That's a man's cry," he whispered. "The 
 wolf has struck a human trail. It isn't mine!" 
 
 "Nor ours," replied Rod. 
 
 This one long howl of the wolf was the only 
 sound that broke the stillness of approaching 
 night. Mukoki turned, and the others fol*
 
 aiHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 lowed in his trail. A quarter of a mile farther 
 on the stream became still narrower and 
 plunged between great masses of rock which 
 rose into wild and precipitous hills that were 
 almost mountains a little way back. No longer | 
 could the hunters now follow the channel of 
 the rushing torrent. Through a break in a 
 gigantic wall of rock and huge boulders led 
 the trail of Rod and Mukoki. Ten minutes 
 more and the three had clambered to the top 
 of the ridge where, in the lee of a great rock, 
 the remains of a fire were still burning. Here 
 the old Indian and his companion had struck 
 camp and were waiting for Wabigoon when 
 they heard the shots which they, too, believed 
 were those of an ambush. 
 
 A comfortable shelter of balsam had al- 
 ready been erected against the rock, and close 
 beside the fire, where Mukoki had dropped it 
 at the sound of the shots, was a large piece of 
 spitted venison. The situation was ideal for a 
 camp and after the hard day's tramp through 
 the snow the young wolf hunters regarded it
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 with expressions of pleasure, in spite of the 
 enemies whom they knew might be lurking 
 near them. Both Wabi and Rod had accepted 
 the place as their night's home, and were stir- 
 ring up the fire, when their attention was 
 drawn to the singular attitude of Mukoki. 
 The old warrior stood leaning on his rifle, 
 speechless and motionless, his eyes regarding 
 the process of rekindling the fire with mute 
 disapprobation. Wabi, poised on one knee, 
 looked at him questioningly. 
 
 "No make more fire," said the old Indian, 
 shaking his head. "No dare stay here. Go on 
 beyond mountain I" 
 
 Mukoki straightened himself and stretched 
 a long arm toward the north. 
 
 "River go like much devil 'long edge of 
 mountain," he continued. "Make heap noise 
 through rock, then make swamp thick for cow 
 moose then run through mountain and make 
 wide, smooth river once more. We go over 
 mountain. Snow all night. Morning come 
 no trail for Woonga. We stay here make big 
 88
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 trail in morning. Woonga follow like devil, 
 ver' plain to see!" 
 
 Wabi rose to his feet, his face showing the 
 keenness of his disappointment. Since early 
 morning he had been traveling, even running 
 at times, and he was tired enough to risk will- 
 ingly a few dangers for the sake of sleep and 
 supper. Rod was in even worse condition, 
 though his trail had been much shorter. For 
 a few moments the two boys looked at each 
 other in silence, neither attempting to conceal 
 the lack of favor with which Mukoki's sug- 
 gestion was received. But Wabi was too wise 
 openly to oppose the old pathfinder. If Mu- 
 koki said that it was dangerous for them to re- 
 main where they were during the night well, 
 it was dangerous, and it would be foolish of 
 him to dispute it. He knew Mukoki to be the 
 greatest hunter of his tribe, a human blood- 
 hound on the trail, and what he said was law. 
 So with a cheerful grin at Rod, who needed 
 all the encouragement that could be given to 
 him, Wabi began the readjustment of the pack 
 80
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 which he had flung from his shoulders a few 
 minutes before. 
 
 "Mountain not ver' far. Two free mile, 
 then camp," encouraged Mukoki. "Walk 
 slow have big supper." 
 
 Only a few articles had been taken from the 
 toboggan-sled on which the hunters were drag- 
 ging the greater part of their equipment into 
 the wilderness, and Mukoki soon had these 
 packed again. The three adventurers now took 
 up the new trail along the top of one of those 
 wild and picturesque ridges which both the In- 
 dians and white hunters of this great North- 
 land call mountains. Wabigoon led, weighted 
 under his pack, selecting the clearest road for 
 the toboggan and clipping down obstructing 
 saplings with his keen-edged belt-ax. A dozen 
 feet behind him followed Mukoki, dragging 
 the sled; and behind the sled, securely tied 
 with a thong of babeesh, or moose-skin rope ; 
 slunk the wolf. Rod, less experienced in mak- 
 ing a trail and burdened with a lighter pack, 
 formed the rear of the little cavalcade. 
 90
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 Darkness was now falling rapidly. Though 
 Wabigoon was not more than a dozen yards 
 ahead, Rod could only now and then catch a 
 fleeting vision of him through the gloom. Mu- 
 koki, doubled over in his harness, was hardly, 
 more than a blotch in the early night. Only' 
 the wolf was near enough to offer companion- 
 ship to the tired and down-spirited youth. 
 Rod's enthusiasm was not easily cooled, but 
 just now he mentally wished that, for this one 
 night at least, he was back at the Post, with the 
 lovely little Minnetaki relating to him some 
 legend of bird or beast they had encountered 
 that day. How much pleasanter that would 
 be! The vision of the bewitching little maiden 
 was suddenly knocked out of his head in a 
 most unexpected and startling way. Mukoki 
 had paused for a moment and Rod, uncon- 
 scious of the fact, continued on his journey un- 
 til he tumbled in a sprawling heap over the 
 sled, knocking Mukoki's legs completely from 
 under him in his fall. When Wabi ran back 
 he fov-oid Rod flattened out, face downward,
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 and Mukoki entangled in his sled harness on 
 top of him. 
 
 In a way this accident was fortunate. Wabi, 
 who possessed a Caucasian sense of humor, 
 shook with merriment as he gave his assistance, 
 and Rod, after he had dug the snow from his 
 eyes and ears and had emptied a handful of it 
 from his neck, joined with him. 
 
 The ridge now became narrower as the trio 
 advanced. On one side, far down, could be 
 heard the thunderous rush of the river, and 
 from the direction of the sound Rod knew they 
 were near a precipice. Great beds of boulders 
 and broken rock, thrown there by some tu- 
 multuous upheaval of past ages, now impeded 
 their progress, and every step was taken with 
 extreme caution. The noise of the torrent be- 
 came louder and louder as they advanced and 
 on one side of him Rod now thought that he 
 could distinguish a dim massive shadow tow- 
 ering above them, like the precipitous side of a 
 mountain. A few steps farther and Mukoki 
 exchanged places with Wabigoon. 
 92
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 "Muky has been here before," cried Wabi 
 close up to Rod's ear. His voice was almost 
 drowned by the tumult below. "That's where 
 the river rushes through the mountain !" 
 
 Rod forgot his fatigue in the new excite- 
 ment. Never in his wildest dreams of adven- 
 ture had he foreseen an hour like this. Each 
 step seemed to bring them nearer the edge of 
 the vast chasm through which the river 
 plunged, and yet not a sign of it could he see. 
 He strained his eyes and ears, each moment 
 expecting to hear the warning voice of the old 
 warrior. With a suddenness that chilled him 
 he saw the great shadow close in upon them 
 from the opposite side, and for the first time 
 he realized their position. On their left was 
 the precipice on their right the sheer wall of 
 the mountain ! How wide was the ledge along 
 which they were traveling? His foot struck a 
 stick under the snow. Catching it up he flung 
 it out into space. For a single instant he 
 paused to listen, but there came no sound of the 
 falling object. The precipice was very near 
 93
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 a little chill ran up his spine. It was a sensa- 
 tion he had never experienced in walking the 
 streets of a city! 
 
 Though he could not see, he knew that the 
 ledge was now leading them up. He could 
 hear Wabigoon straining ahead of the tobog- 
 gan and he began to assist by pushing on the 
 rear of the loaded sled. For half an hour this 
 upward climb continued, until the sound of 
 the river had entirely died away. No longer 
 was the mountain on the right. Five minutes 
 later Mukoki called a halt. 
 
 "On top mountain," he said briefly. "Camp 
 here!" 
 
 Rod could not repress an exclamation of joy, 
 and Wabigoon, as he threw off his harness, 
 gave a suppressed whoop. Mukoki, who 
 seemed tireless, began an immediate search for 
 a site for their camp and after a short breath- 
 ing-spell Rod and Wabi joined him. The spot 
 chosen was in the shelter of a huge rock, and 
 while Mukoki cleaned away the snow the 
 young hunters set to work with their axes in a 
 94
 
 SHOTS IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 near growth of balsam, cutting armful after 
 armful of the soft odorous boughs. Inside of 
 an hour a comfortable camp was completed, 
 with an exhilarating fire throwing its crack- 
 ling names high up into the night before it. 
 
 For the first time since leaving the aban- 
 doned camp at the other end of the ridge the 
 hunters fully realized how famished they 
 were, and Mukoki was at once delegated to 
 prepare supper while Wabi and Rod searched 
 in the darkness for their night's supply of 
 wood. Fortunately quite near at hand they 
 discovered several dead poplars, the best fuel 
 in the world for a camp-fire, and by the time 
 the venison and coffee were ready they had 
 collected a huge pile of this, together with 
 several good-sized backlogs. 
 
 Mukoki had spread the feast in the opening 
 of the shelter where the heat of the fire, re- 
 flected from the face of the rock, fell upon 
 them in genial warmth, suffusing their faces 
 with a most comfortable glow. The heat, to- 
 gether with the feast, were almost overpower- 
 95
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 ing in their effects, and hardly was his supper 
 completed when Rod felt creeping over him a 
 drowsiness which he attempted in vain to fight 
 off a little longer. Dragging himself back in 
 the shelter he wrapped himself in his blanket, 
 burrowed into the mass of balsam boughs, and 
 passed quickly into oblivion. His last intelli- 
 gible vision was Mukoki piling logs upon the 
 fire, while the flames shot up a dozen feet into 
 the air, illumining to his drowsy eyes for an in- 
 stant a wild chaos of rock, beyond which lay 
 the mysterious and impenetrable blackness of 
 the wilderness.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MUKOKI DISTURBS THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 COMPLETELY exhausted, every mus- 
 cle in his aching body still seeming to 
 strain with exertion, the night was one 
 of restless and uncomfortable dreams for 
 Roderick Drew. While Wabi and the old In- 
 dian, veterans in wilderness hardship, slept in 
 peace and tranquillity, the city boy found 
 himself in the most unusual and thrilling situa- 
 tions from which he would extricate himself 
 with a grunt or sharp cry, several times sitting 
 bolt upright in his bed of balsam until he 
 realized where he was, and that his adventures 
 were only those of dreamland. 
 
 From one of these dreams Rod had aroused 
 himself into drowsy wakefulness. He fancied 
 that he had heard steps. For the tenth time he 
 97
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 raised himself upon an elbow, stretched, 
 rubbed his eyes, glanced at the dark, inanimate 
 forms of his sleeping companions, and snug- 
 gled down into his balsam boughs again. A 
 few moments later he sat bolt upright. He 
 could have sworn that he heard real steps this 
 time a soft cautious crunching in the snow 
 very near his head. Breathlessly he listened, 
 Not a sound broke the silence except the snap- 
 ping of a dying ember in the fire. Another 
 dream! Once more he settled back, drawing 
 his blanket closely about him. Then, for a full 
 breath, the very beating of his heart seemed to 
 cease. 
 
 What was that! 
 
 He was awake now, wide awake, with every 
 faculty in him striving to arrange itself. He 
 had heard a step! Slowly, very cautiously 
 this time, he raised himself. There came dis- 
 tinctly to his ears a light crunching in the 
 snow. It seemed back of the shelter then was 
 moving away, then stopped. The flickering 
 light of the dying fire still played on the face 
 98
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 of the great rock. Suddenly, at the very end 
 of that rock, something moved. 
 
 Some object was creeping cautiously upon 
 the sleeping camp ! 
 
 For a moment his thrilling discovery froze 
 the young hunter into inaction. But in a mo- 
 ment the whole situation flashed upon him. 
 The Woongas had followed them ! They were 
 about to fall upon the helpless camp ! Unex- 
 pectedly one of his hands came in contact with 
 the barrel of Wabi's rifle. The touch of the 
 cold steel aroused him. There was no time to 
 awaken his companions. Even as he drew the 
 gun to him he saw the object grow larger and 
 larger at the end of the rock, until it stood 
 crouching, as if about to spring. 
 
 One bated breath a thunderous report a 
 snarling scream of pain, and the camp was 
 awake ! 
 
 "We're attacked!" cried Rod. "Quick 
 Wabi Mukoki!" 
 
 The white boy was on his knees now, the 
 smoking rifle still leveled toward the rocks. 
 99
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Out there, in the thick shadows beyond the fire, 
 a body was groveling and kicking in death 
 agonies. In another instant the gaunt form of 
 the old warrior was beside Rod, his rifle at his 
 shoulder, and over their heads reached Wabi- 
 goon's arm, the barrel of his heavy revolver 
 glinting in the firelight. 
 
 For a full minute they crouched there, 
 breathless, waiting. 
 
 "They've gone!" broke Wabi in a tense 
 whisper. 
 
 "I got one of them !" replied Rod, his voice 
 trembling with excitement. 
 
 Mukoki slipped back and burrowed a hole 
 through the side of the shelter. He could see 
 nothing. Slowly he slipped out, his rifle ready. 
 The others could hear him as he went. Foot 
 by foot the old warrior slunk along in the deep 
 gloom toward the end of the rock. Now he. 
 was almost there, now 
 
 The young hunters saw him suddenly 
 straighten. There came to them a low chuck- 
 100
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 ling grunt. He bent over, seized an object, and 
 flung it in the light of the fire. 
 
 "Heap big Woonga! Kill nice fat lynx!" 
 
 With a wail, half feigned, half real, Rod 
 flung himself back upon the balsam while 
 Wabi set up a roar that made the night echo. 
 Mukoki's face was creased in a broad grin. 
 
 "Heap big Woonga heem!" he repeated, 
 chuckling. "Nice fat lynx shot well in face. 
 No look like bad man Woonga to Mukoki !" 
 
 When Rod finally emerged from his den to 
 join the others his face was flushed and wore 
 what Wabi described as a "sheepish grin." 
 
 "It's all right for you fellows to make fun 
 of me," he declared. "But what if they had 
 been Woongas? By George, if we're ever at- 
 tacked again I won't do a thing. I'll let you 
 fellows fight 'em off!" 
 
 In spite of the general merriment at his ex- 
 
 i'pense, Rod was immensely proud of his first 
 
 lynx. It was an enormous creature of its kind, 
 
 drawn by hunger to the scraps of the camp-fire 
 
 101
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 feast; and it was this animal, as it cautiously 
 inspected the camp, that the young hunter had 
 heard crunching in the snow. Wolf, whose in- 
 stinct had told him what a mix-up would 
 mean, had slunk into his shelter without be- 
 traying his whereabouts to this arch-enemy of 
 his tribe. 
 
 With the craft of his race, Mukoki was skin- 
 ning the animal while it was still warm. 
 
 "You go back bed," he said to his com- 
 panions. "I build big fire again then sleep.'* 
 
 The excitement of his adventure at least 
 freed Rod from the unpleasantness of further 
 dreams, and it was late the following morning 
 before he awoke again. He was astonished to 
 find that a beautiful sun was shining. Wabi 
 and the old Indian were already outside pre- 
 paring breakfast, and the cheerful whistling 
 of the former assured Rod that there was now 
 little to be feared from the Woongas. With- 
 out lingering to take a beauty nap he joined 
 them. 
 
 102
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 Everywhere about them lay white winter. 
 The rocks, the trees, and the mountain behind 
 them were covered with two feet of snow and 
 upon It the sun shone with dazzling brilliancy. 
 But it was not until Rod looked into the north 
 that he saw the wilderness in all of its gran- 
 deur. The camp had been made at the extreme 
 point of the ridge, and stretching away under 
 his eyes, mile after mile, was the vast white 
 desolation that reached to Hudson Bay. In 
 speechless wonder he gazed down upon the 
 unblazed forests, saw plains and hills unfold 
 themselves as his vision gained distance, fol- 
 lowed a river until it was lost in the bewilder- 
 ing picture, and let his eyes rest here and there 
 upon the glistening, snow-smothered bosoms 
 of lakes, rimmed in by walls of black forest. 
 This was not the wilderness as he had expected 
 it to be, nor as he had often read of it in books. 
 It was beautiful! It was magnificent! Hir 
 heart throbbed with pleasure as he gazed 
 down on it, the blood rose to his face in an 
 103
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 excited flush, and he seemed hardly to breathe 
 in his tense interest. 
 
 Mukoki had come up beside him softly, and 
 spoke in his low guttural voice. 
 
 "Twent' t'ousand moose down there twent' 
 thousand caribou-oo! No man no house 
 more twent' t'ousand miles !" 
 
 Roderick, even trembling in his new emo- 
 tion, looked into the old warrior's face. In 
 Mukoki's eyes there was a curious, thrilling 
 gleam. He stared straight out into the unend- 
 ing distance as though his keen vision would 
 penetrate far beyond the last of that visible 
 desolation on and on, even to the grim and 
 uttermost fastnesses of Hudson Bay. Wabi 
 came up and placed his hand on Rod's shoul- 
 der. 
 
 "Muky was born of! there," he said. "Away 
 beyond where we can see. Those were his 
 'hunting-grounds when a boy. See that moun- 
 tain yonder? You might take it for a cloud. 
 It's thirty miles from here! And that lake 
 down there you might think a rifle-shot 
 104
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 would reach it is five miles away! If a moose 
 or a caribou or a wolf should cross it now you 
 could see him." 
 
 For a few moments longer the three stood 
 silent, then Wabi and the old Indian returned 
 to the fire to finish the preparation of break- 
 fast, leaving Rod alone in his enchantment. 
 What unsolved mysteries, what unwritten 
 tragedies, what romance, what treasure of gold 
 that vast North must holdl For a thousand, 
 perhaps a million centuries, it had lain thus 
 undisturbed in the embrace of nature; few 
 white men had broken its solitudes, and the 
 wild things still lived there as they had lived 
 in the winters of ages and ages ago. 
 
 The call to breakfast came almost as an un- 
 pleasant interruption to Rod. But it did not 
 shock his appetite as it had his romantic fan- 
 cies, and he performed his part at the morning 
 meal with considerable credit. Wabi and Mu- 
 koki had already decided that they would not 
 take up the trail again that day but would re- 
 main in their present camp until the following 
 105
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 morning. There were several reasons for this 
 delay. 
 
 "We can't travel without snow-shoes now," 
 explained Wabi to Rod, "and we've got to take 
 a day off to teach you how to use them. Then, 
 all the wild things are lying low. Moose, deer, 
 caribou, and especially wolves and fur ani- 
 mals, won't begin traveling much until this 
 afternoon and to-night, and if we took up the 
 trail now we would have no way of telling 
 what kind of a game country we were in. And 
 that is the important thing just now. If we 
 strike a first-rate game country during the next 
 couple days we'll stop and build our winter 
 camp." 
 
 "Then you believe we are far enough away 
 from the Woongas?" asked Rod. 
 
 Mukoki grunted. 
 
 "No believe Woongas come over mountain. 
 Heap good game country back there. They 
 stay." 
 
 During the meal the white boy asked a hun- 
 dred questions about the vast wilderness which 
 106
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 lay stretched out before them in a great pano- 
 rama, and in which they were soon to bury 
 themselves, and every answer added to his en- 
 thusiasm. Immediately after they had finished, 
 eating Rod expressed a desire to begin his 
 study in snow-shoeing, and for an hour after 
 that Wabi and Mukoki piloted him back and 
 forth along the ridge, instructing him in this 
 and in that, applauding when he made an es- 
 pecially good dash and enjoying themselves 
 immensely when he took one of his frequent 
 tumbles into the snow. By noon Rod secretly 
 believed that he was becoming quite an adept. 
 
 Although the day in camp was an exceed- 
 ingly pleasant one for Rod, he could riot but 
 observe that at times something seemed to be 
 troubling Wabi. Twice he discovered the In- 
 dian youth alone within the shelter sitting in 
 silent and morose dejection, and finally he in- 
 jisted upon an explanation. 
 
 "I want you to tell me what the trouble is, 
 Wabi," he demanded. "What has gone 
 wrong?" 
 
 107
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi jumped to his feet with a little laugh. 
 
 "Did you ever have a dream that bothered 
 you, Rod?" he asked. "Well, I had one last 
 night, and since then somehow I can't keep 
 from worrying about the people back at the 
 Post, and especially about Minnetaki. It's all 
 what do you call it bosh? Listen! Wasn't 
 that Mukoki's whistle?" 
 
 As he paused Mukoki came running around 
 the end of the rock. 
 
 "See fun!" he cried softly. "Quick see 
 heem quick!" 
 
 He turned and darted toward the precipi- 
 tous edge of the ridge, closely followed by the 
 two boys. 
 
 "Cari-boo-oo!" he whispered excitedly as 
 they came up beside him. "Cari-boo-oo 
 making big play!" 
 
 I He pointed down into the snowy wilderness. 
 'Three-quarters of a mile away, though to Rod 
 apparently not more than a third of that dis- 
 tance from where they stood, half a dozen ani- 
 mals were disporting themselves in a singular 
 108
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 fashion in a meadow-like opening between the 
 mountain and a range of forest. It was Rod's 
 first real glimpse of that wonderful animal of 
 the North of which he had read so much, the 
 caribou commonly known beyond the Sixti- 
 eth Degree as the reindeer; and at this mo- 
 ment those below him were indulging in the 
 queer play known in the Hudson Bay regions 
 as the "caribou dance." 
 
 "What's the matter with them?" he asked, 
 his voice quivering with excitement. 
 "What" 
 
 "Making big fun!" chuckled Mukoki, 
 drawing the boy closer to the rock that con- 
 cealed them. 
 
 Wabi had thrust a finger in his mouth and 
 now held it above his head, the Indian's truest 
 guide for discovering the direction of the 
 wind. The lee side of his finger remained cold 
 and damp, while that side upon which the 
 breeze fell was quickly dried. 
 
 "The wind is toward us, Muky," he an- 
 nounced. "There's a fine chance for a shot 
 109
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 You go! Rod and I will stay here and watch 
 you." 
 
 Roderick heard knew that Mukoki was 
 creeping back to the camp for his rifle, but not 
 for an instant did his spellbound eyes leave the 
 spectacle below him. Two other animals had 
 joined those in the open. He could see the sun 
 glistening on their long antlers as they tossed 
 their heads in their amazing antics. Now 
 three or four of them would dash away with 
 the speed of the wind, as though the deadliest 
 of enemies were close behind them. Two or 
 three hundred yards away they would stop 
 with equal suddenness, whirl about in a circle, 
 as though flight were interrupted on all sides 
 of them, then tear back with lightning speed 
 to rejoin the herd. In twos and threes and 
 fours they performed these evolutions again 
 and again. But there was another antic that 
 held Rod's eyes, and if it had not been so new 
 and wonderful to him he would have laughed, 
 as Wabi was doing silently behind him. 
 From out of the herd would suddenly dash 
 no
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 one of the agile creatures, whirl about, jump 
 and kick, and finally bounce up and down on 
 all four feet, as though performing a comedy 
 sketch in pantomime for the amusement of its 
 companions ; and when this was done it would 
 start out in another mad flight, with others of 
 the herd at its heels. 
 
 "They are the funniest, swiftest, and shrewd- 
 est animals in the North," said Wabi. "They 
 can smell you over a mountain if the wind is 
 right, and hear you for half a mile. Look!" 
 
 He pointed downward over Rod's shoulder. 
 Mukoki had already reached the base of the 
 ridge and was stealing straight out in the di- 
 rection of the caribou. Rod gave a surprised 
 gasp. 
 
 "Great Scott! They'll see him, won't they?" 
 he cried. 
 
 "Not if Mukoki knows himself," smiled the 
 Indian youth. "Remember that we are look- 
 ing down on things. Everything seems clear 
 Ind open to us, while in reality it's quite thick 
 .down there. I'll bet Muky can't see one hun- 
 iii
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 dred yards ahead of him. He has got his bear- 
 ings and will go as straight as though he was 
 on a blazed trail ; but he won't see the caribou 
 until he comes to the edge of the open." 
 
 Each minute now added to Rod's excite- 
 ment. Each of those minutes brought the old 
 warrior nearer his game. Seldom, thought 
 Rod, had such a scene been unfolded to the 
 eyes of a white boy. The complete picture 
 the playful rompings of the dumb children of 
 the wilderness; the stealthy approach of the 
 old Indian ; every rock, every tree that was to 
 play its part all were revealed to their eyes. 
 Not a phase in this drama in wild life escaped 
 them. Five minutes, ten, fifteen passed. They 
 could see Mukoki as he stopped and lifted a 
 hand to test the wind. Then he crouched, ad- 
 vancing foot by foot, yard by yard, so slowly 
 that he seemed to be on his hands and knees. 
 
 "He can hear them, but he can't see them!" 
 breathed Wabigoon. "See! He places his ear 
 to the ground! Now he has got his bearings 
 again as straight as a die! Good old Muky!" 
 
 112
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 The old Indian crept on. In his excitement 
 Rod clenched his hands and he seemed to live 
 without breathing. Would Mukoki never 
 shoot? Would he never shoot? He seemed 
 now to be within a stone's throw of the herd. 
 
 "How far, Wabi?" 
 
 "Four hundred yards, perhaps five," replied 
 the Indian. "It's a long shot! He can't see 
 them yet." 
 
 Rod gripped his companion's arm. 
 
 Mukoki had stopped. Down and down he 
 slunk, until he became only a blot in the snow. 
 
 "Now!" 
 
 There came a moment of startled silence. In 
 the midst of their play the animals in the open 
 stood for a single instant paralyzed by a 
 knowledge of impending danger, and in that 
 instant there came to the young hunters the re- 
 port of Mukoki's rifle. 
 
 "No good!" cried Wabi. 
 
 In his excitement he leaped to his feet. The 
 caribou had turned and the whole eight of 
 them were racing across the open. Another 
 113
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 shot, and another three in quick succession, 
 and one of the fleeing animals fell, scrambled 
 to its knees and plunged on again! A fifth 
 shot the last in Mukoki's rifle! Again the 
 wounded animal fell, struggled to its knees 
 to its forefeet and fell again. 
 
 "Good work! Five hundred yards if it was 
 a foot!" exclaimed Wabigoon with a relieved 
 laugh. "Fresh steak for supper, Rod!" 
 
 Mukoki came out into the open, reloading 
 his rifle. Quickly he moved across the wilder- 
 ness playground, now crimson with blood, un- 
 sheathed his knife, and dropped upon his 
 knees close to the throat of the slain animal. 
 
 "I'll go down and give him a little help, 
 Rod," said Wabi. "Your legs are pretty sore, 
 and it's a hard climb down there ; so if you will 
 keep up the fire, Mukoki and I will bring 
 back the meat." 
 
 During the next hour Rod busied himself 
 with collecting firewood for the night and in 
 practising with his snow-shoes. He was aston- 
 ished to find how swiftly and easily he could 
 114
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 travel in them, and was satisfied that he could 
 make twenty miles a day even as a tenderfoot. 
 
 Left to his own thoughts he found his mind 
 recurring once more to the Woongas and 
 Minnetaki. Why was Wabi worried? In- 
 wardly he did not believe that it was a dream 
 alone that was troubling him. There was still 
 some cause for fear. Of that he was certain. 
 And why would not the Woongas penetrate 
 beyond this mountain? He had asked himself 
 this question a score of times during the last 
 twenty-four hours, in spite of the fact that 
 both Mukoki and Wabigoon were quite satis- 
 fied that they were well out of the Woonga 
 territory. 
 
 It was growing dusk when Wabi and the old 
 Indian returned with the meat of the caribou. 
 No time was lost in preparing supper, for the 
 hunters had decided that the next day's trail 
 would begin with dawn and probably end with 
 darkness, which meant that they would require 
 all the rest they could get before then. They 
 were all eager to begin the winter's hunt. That
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 day Mukoki's eyes had glistened at each fresh 
 track he encountered. Wabi and Rod were 
 filled with enthusiasm. Even Wolf, now and 
 then stretching his gaunt self, would nose the 
 air with eager suspicion, as if longing for the 
 excitement of the tragedies in which he was to 
 play such an important part. 
 
 "If you can stand it," said Wabi, nodding 
 at Rod over his caribou steak, "we won't lose 
 a minute from now on. Over that country we 
 ought to make twenty-five or thirty miles to- 
 morrow. We may strike our hunting-ground 
 by noon, or it may take us two or three days ; 
 but in either event we haven't any time to 
 waste. Hurrah for the big camp, I say and 
 our fun begins!" 
 
 It seemed to Rod as though he had hardly 
 fallen asleep that night when somebody began 
 tumbling him about in his bed of balsam. 
 Opening his eyes he beheld Wabi's laughing 
 face, illuminated in the glow of a roaring fire. 
 
 "Time's up!" he called cheerily. "Hustle 
 out, Rod. Breakfast is sizzling hot, everything 
 116
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 is packed, and here you are still dreaming of 
 what?" 
 
 "Minnetaki!" shot back Rod with unblush- 
 ing honesty. 
 
 In another minute he was outside, straight- 
 ening his disheveled garments and smoothing 
 his tousled hair. It was still very dark, but 
 Rod assured himself by his watch that it was 
 nearly four o'clock. Mukoki had already 
 placed their breakfast on a flat rock beside the 
 fire and, according to Wabigoon's previous 
 scheme, no time was lost in disposing of it. 
 
 Dawn was just breaking when the little cav- 
 alcade of adventurers set out from the camp. 
 More keenly than ever Rod now felt the loss 
 of his rifle. They were about to enter upon a 
 hunter's paradise and he had no gun! His 
 disappointment was acute and he could not 
 repress a confession of his feelings to Wabi. 
 The Indian youth at once suggested a happy 
 remedy. They would take turns in using his 
 gun, Rod to have it one day and he the next; 
 and Wabi's heavy revolver would also change 
 117
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 hands, so that the one who did not possess the 
 rifle would be armed with the smaller weapon. 
 This solution of the difficulty lifted a dampen- 
 ing burden from Rod's heart, and when the lit- 
 tle party began its descent into the wilderness 
 regions under the mountain the city lad car- 
 ried the rifle, for Wabi insisted that he have 
 the first "turn." 
 
 Once free of the rock-strewn ridge the two 
 boys joined forces in pulling the toboggan 
 while Mukoki struck out a trail ahead of 
 them. As it became lighter Rod found his eyes 
 glued with keen interest to Mukoki's snow- 
 shoes, and for the first time in his life he real- 
 ized what it really meant to "make a trail." 
 The old Indian was the most famous trail- 
 maker as well as the keenest trailer of his 
 tribe, and in the comparatively open bottoms 
 through which they were now traveling he was 
 in his element. His strides were enormous, and 
 with each stride he threw up showers of snow, 
 leaving a broad level path behind him in 
 which the snow was packed by his own weight, 
 118
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 so that when Wabi and Rod came to follow 
 him they were not impeded by sinking into a 
 soft surface. 
 
 Half a mile from the mountain Mukoki 
 stopped and waited for the others to come up 
 to him. 
 
 "Moose!" he called, pointing at a curious 
 track in the snow. 
 
 Rod leaned eagerly over the track. 
 
 "The snow is still crumbling and falling 
 where he stepped," said Wabi. "Watch that 
 little chunk, Rod. See it's slipping down 
 down there ! It was an old bull a big fel- 
 low and he passed here less than an hour 
 ago." 
 
 Signs of the night carnival of the wild 
 things now became more and more frequent as 
 the hunters advanced. They crossed and re- 
 crossed the trail of a fox; and farther on they 
 discovered where this little pirate of dark- 
 ness had slaughtered a big white rabbit. The 
 snow was covered with blood and hair and 
 part of the carcass remained uneaten. Again 
 119
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi forgot his determination to waste no 
 time and paused to investigate. 
 
 "Now, if we only knew what kind of a fox 
 he was!" he exclaimed to Rod. "But we don't. 
 All we know is that he's a fox. And all fox 
 tracks are alike, no matter what kind of a fox 
 makes them. If there was only some differ- 
 ence our fortunes would be made!" 
 
 "How?" asked Rod. 
 
 Mukoki chuckled as if the mere thought of 
 such a possibility filled him with glee. 
 
 "Well, that fellow may be an ordinary red 
 fox," explained the Indian youth. "If so, he 
 is only worth from ten to twenty dollars ; or 
 he may be a black fox, worth fifty or sixty; or 
 what we call a 'cross* a mixture of silver and 
 black worth from seventy-five to a hundred. 
 Or" 
 
 "Heap big silver!" interrupted Mukoki 
 with another chuckle. 
 
 "Yes, or a silver," finished Wabi. "A poor 
 silver is worth two hundred dollars, and a 
 good one from five hundred to a thousand! 
 120
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 Now do you see why we would like to have a 
 difference in the tracks? If that was a silver, 
 a black or a 'cross,' we'd follow him; but in 
 all probability he is red." 
 
 Every hour added to Rod's knowledge of 
 the wilderness and its people. For the first 
 time in his life he saw the big dog-like tracks 
 made by wolves, the dainty hoof-prints of the 
 red deer and the spreading imprints of a trav- 
 eling lynx; he pictured the hugeness of the 
 moose that made a track as big as his head, 
 discovered how to tell the difference between 
 the hoof-print of a small moose and a big 
 caribou, and in almost every mile learned 
 something new. 
 
 'Half a dozen times during the morning the 
 hunters stopped to rest. By noon Wabi fig- 
 ured that they had traveled twenty miles, and, 
 although very tired, Rod declared that he was 
 still "game for another ten." After dinner the 
 aspect of the country changed. The river 
 which they had been following became nar- 
 rower and was so swift in places that it rushed 
 122
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 tumultuously between its frozen edges. For- 
 est-clad hills, huge boulders and masses of 
 rock now began to mingle again with the bot- 
 toms, which in this country are known as 
 plains. Every mile added to the roughness 
 and picturesque grandeur of the country. A 
 few miles to the east rose another range of 
 wild and rugged hills; small lakes became 
 more and more numerous, and everywhere the 
 hunters crossed and recrossed frozen creeks. 
 
 And each step they took now added to the 
 enthusiasm of Wabi and his companions. Evi- 
 dences of game and fur animals were plenty. 
 A thousand ideal locations for a winter camp 
 were about them, and their progress became 
 slow and studied. 
 
 A gently sloping hill of considerable height 
 now lay in their path and Mukoki led the as- 
 ( cent. At the top the three paused in joyful 
 astonishment. At their feet lay a "dip," or 
 hollow, a dozen acres in extent, and in the 
 center of this dip was a tiny lake partly sur- 
 rounded by a mixed forest of cedar, balsam 
 122
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 and birch that swept back over the hill, and 
 partly inclosed by a meadow-like opening. 
 One might have traveled through the country 
 a thousand times without discovering this bit 
 of wilderness paradise hidden in a hilltop. 
 Without speaking Mukoki threw off his heavy 
 pack. Wabi unbuckled his harness and re- 
 lieved his shoulders of their burden. Rod, fol- 
 lowing their example, dropped his small pack 
 beside that of the old Indian, and Wolf, 
 straining at his babeesh thong, gazed with 
 eager eyes into the hollow as though he, too, 
 knew that it was to be their winter home. 
 
 Wabi broke the silence. 
 
 "How is that, Muky?" he asked. 
 
 Mukoki chuckled with unbounded satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 "Ver' fine. No get bad wind never see 
 smoke plenty wood plenty water." 
 
 Relieved of their burdens, and leaving Wolf 
 
 tied to the toboggan, the hunters made their 
 
 way down to the lake. Hardly had they 
 
 reached its edge when Wabi halted with a 
 
 123
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 startled exclamation and pointed into the for- 
 est on the opposite side. 
 
 "Look at that!" 
 
 A hundred yards away, almost concealed 
 among the trees, was a cabin. Even from 
 where they stood they could see that it was 
 deserted. Snow was drifted high about it. No 
 chimney surmounted its roof. Nowhere was 
 there a sign of life. 
 
 Slowly the hunters approached. It was evi- 
 dent that the cabin was very old. The logs of 
 which it was built were beginning to decay. 
 A mass of saplings had taken root upon its 
 roof, and everything about it gave evidence 
 that it had been erected many years before. 
 The door, made of split timber and opening 
 toward the lake, was closed; the one window, 
 also opening upon the lake, was tightly barred 
 With lengths of sapling. 
 
 Mukoki tried the door, but it resisted his 
 efforts. Evidently it was strongly barred 
 from within. 
 
 Curiosity now gave place to astonishment. 
 124
 
 THE ANCIENT SKELETONS 
 
 How could the door be locked within, and 
 the window barred from within, without there 
 being somebody inside? 
 
 For a few moments the three stood speech- 
 less, listening. 
 
 "Looks queer, doesn't it?" spoke Wabi 
 softly. 
 
 Mukoki had dropped on his knees beside 
 the door. He could hear no sound. Then he 
 kicked off his snow-shoes, gripped his belt-ax 
 and stepped to the window. 
 
 A dozen blows and one of the bars fell. The 
 old Indian sniffed suspiciously, his ear close 
 to the opening. Damp, stifling air greeted his 
 nostrils, but still there was no sound. One after 
 another he knocked off the remaining bars 
 and thrust his head and shoulders inside. 
 Gradually his eyes became accustomed to the 
 darkness and he pulled himself in. 
 
 Half-way and he stopped. 
 
 "Go on, Muky," urged Wabi, who was 
 pressing close behind. 
 
 There came no answer from the old Indian. 
 125
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 For a full minute he remained poised there, 
 as motionless as a stone, as silent as death. 
 
 Then, very slowly inch by inch, as though 
 afraid of awakening a sleeping person, he low- 
 ered himself to the ground. When he turned 
 toward the young hunters it was with an ex- 
 pression that Rod had never seen upon Mu- 
 koki's face before. 
 
 "What is it, Mukoki?" 
 
 The old Indian gasped, as if for fresh air. 
 
 "Cabin she filled with twent' t'ousand 
 dead men !" he replied. 
 
 126
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 RODERICK DISCOVERS THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 FOR one long breath Rod and Wabi 
 stared at their companion, only half 
 believing, yet startled by the strange 
 look in the old warrior's face. 
 
 "Twent' t'ousand dead men!" he repeated. 
 As he raised his hand, partly to give emphasis 
 and partly to brush the cobwebs from his face, 
 the boys saw it trembling in a way that even 
 Wabi had never witnessed before. 
 "Ugh!" 
 
 In another instant Wabi was at the window, 
 head and shoulders in, as Mukoki had been 
 before him. After a little he pulled himself 
 back and as he glanced at Rod he laughed in 
 an odd thrilling way, as though he had been 
 startled, but not so much so as Mukoki, who 
 had prepared him for the sight which had 
 127
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Struck his own vision with the unexpectedness 
 of a shot in the back. 
 
 u Takealook, Rod! n 
 
 With his breath coming in little uneasy 
 jerks Rod approached the black aperture. A 
 queer sensation seized upon him a palpita- 
 tion, not of fear, but of something; a very un- 
 pleasant feeling that seemed to choke his 
 breath, and made him wish that he had not 
 been asked to peer into that mysterious dark- 
 ness. Slowly he thrust his head through the 
 hole. It was as black as night inside. But 
 gradually the darkness seemed to be dispelled. 
 He saw, in a little while, the opposite wall of 
 the cabin. A table outlined itself in deep 
 shadows, and near the table there was a pile 
 of something that he could not name; and 
 tumbled over that was a chair, with an object 
 that might have been an old rag half cover- 
 ing it. 
 
 His eyes traveled nearer. Outside Wabi 
 and Mukoki heard a startled, partly sup- 
 pressed cry. The boy's hands gripped the 
 128
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 sides of the window. Fascinated, he stared 
 down upon an object almost within arm's 
 reach of him. 
 
 There, leaning against the cabin wall, was 
 what half a century or more ago had been a 
 living man! Now it was a mere skeleton, a 
 grotesque, terrible-looking object, its empty 
 eye-sockets gleaming dully with the light from 
 the window, its grinning mouth, distorted into 
 ghostly life by the pallid mixture of light and 
 gloom, turned full up at him! 
 
 Rod fell back, trembling and white. 
 
 "I only saw one," he gasped, remembering 
 Mukoki's excited estimate. 
 
 Wabi, who had regained his composure, 
 laughed as he struck him two or three playful 
 blows on the back. Mukoki only grunted. 
 
 "You didn't look long enough, Rod!" he 
 cried banteringly. "He got on your nerves 
 too quick. I don't blame you, though. By 
 George, I'll bet the shivers went up Muky's 
 back when he first saw 'em! I'm going in to 
 open the door." 
 
 129
 
 rHE WOLF H WINTERS 
 
 Without trepidation the young Indian 
 crawled through the window. Rod, whose 
 nervousness was quickly dispelled, made haste 
 to follow him, while Mukoki again threw his 
 weight against the door. A few blows of 
 Wabi's belt-ax and the door shot inward so 
 suddenly that the old Indian went sprawling 
 after it upon all fours. 
 
 A flood of light filled the interior of the 
 cabin. Instinctively Rod's eyes sought the 
 skeleton against the wall. It was leaning as 
 if, many years before, a man had died there in 
 a posture of sleep. Quite near this ghastly 
 tenant of the cabin, stretched at full length 
 upon the log floor, was a second skeleton, and 
 near the overturned chair was a small clut- 
 tered heap of bones which were evidently 
 those of some animal. Rod and Wabi drew 
 nearer the skeleton against the wall and were 
 bent upon making a closer examination when 
 an exclamation from Mukoki attracted their 
 attention to the old pathfinder. He was upon 
 his knees beside the second skeleton, and as 
 130
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 the boys approached he lifted eyes to them 
 that were filled with unbounded amazement, 
 at the same time pointing a long forefinger to 
 ome object among the bones. 
 
 "Knife fight heem killed!" 
 
 Plunged to the hilt in what had once been 
 the breast of a living being, the boys saw a 
 long, heavy-bladed knife, its handle rotting 
 with age, its edges eaten by rust but still 
 erect, held there by the murderous road its 
 owner had cleft for it through the flesh and 
 bone of his victim. 
 
 Rod, who had fallen upon hi* knees, gazed 
 up blankly; his jaw dropped, and he asked 
 the first question that popped into his head. 
 
 "Who did it?" 
 
 Mukoki chuckled, almost gleefully, and 
 nodded toward the gruesome thing reclining 
 igainst the wall. 
 
 : <Heem!" 
 
 Moved by a common instinct the three drew 
 near the other skeleton. One of its long arms 
 was resting across what had once been a pail-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 but which, long since, had sunk into total 
 collapse between its hoops. The finger-bones 
 of this arm were still tightly shut, clutching 
 between them a roll of something that looked 
 like birch-bark. The remaining arm had fal- 
 len close to the skeleton's side, and it was on 
 this side that Mukoki's critical eyes searched 
 most carefully, his curiosity being almost im 
 mediately satisfied by the discovery of a short, 
 slant-wise cut in one of the ribs. 
 
 "This un die here !" he explained. "Git urn 
 stuck knife in ribs. Bad way die! Much 
 hurt no die quick, sometime. Ver' bad way 
 git stuck!" 
 
 "Ugh!" shuddered Rod. "This cabin 
 hasn't had any fresh air in it for a century, 
 I'll bet. Let's get out!" 
 
 Mukoki, in passing, picked up a skull from 
 the heap of bones near the chair. 
 
 "Dog!" he grunted. "Door lock' window 
 shut men fight both kill. Dog starve!" 
 
 [As the three retraced their steps to the spot 
 where Wolf was guarding the toboggan, Rod's 
 132
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 imaginative mind quickly painted a picture 
 of the terrible tragedy that had occurred long 
 ago in the old cabin. To Mukoki and Wabi- 
 goon the discovery of the skeletons was sim- 
 ply an incident in a long life of wilderness 
 adventure something of passing interest, but 
 of small importance. To Rod it was the most 
 tragic event that had ever come into his city- 
 bound existence, with the exception of the 
 thrilling conflict at Wabinosh House. He re- 
 constructed that deadly hour in the cabin; 
 saw the men in fierce altercation, saw them 
 struggling, and almost heard the fatal blows 
 as they were struck the blows that slew one 
 with the suddenness of a lightning bolt and 
 sent the other, triumphant but dying, to 
 breathe his last moments with his back 
 propped against the wall. And the dog! 
 What part had he taken? And after that- 
 long days of maddening loneliness, days of 
 starvation and of thirst, until he, too, doubled 
 himself up on the floor and died. It was a 
 terrible, a thrilling picture that burned in 
 133
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Roderick's brain. But why had they quar- 
 reled? What cause had there been for that 
 sanguinary night duel? Instinctively Rod ac- 
 cepted it as having occurred at night, for the 
 door had been locked, the window barred. 
 Just then he would have given a good deal to 
 have had the mystery solved. 
 
 At the top of the hill Rod awoke to present 
 realities. Wabi, who had harnessed himself 
 to the toboggan, was in high spirits. 
 
 "That cabin is a dandy!" he exclaimed as 
 Rod joined him. "It would have taken us at 
 least two weeks to build as good a one. Isn't 
 it luck?" 
 
 "We're going to live in it?" inquired his 
 companion. 
 
 "Live in it! I should say we were. It is 
 three times as big as the shack we had planned 
 to build. I can't understand why two men 
 like those fellows should have put up such a 
 large cabin. What do you think, Mukoki?" 
 
 Mukoki shook his head. Evidently the mys- 
 tery of the whole thing, beyond the fact that
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 the tenants of the cabin had killed themselves 
 in battle, was beyond his comprehension. 
 
 The winter outfit was soon in a heap be- 
 side the cabin door. 
 
 "Now for cleaning up," announced Wabi 
 cheerfully. "Muky, you lend me a hand with 
 the bones, will you? Rod can nose around 
 and fetch out anything he likes." 
 
 This assignment just suited Rod's curiosity. 
 He was now worked up to a feverish pitch of 
 expectancy. Might he not discover some clue 
 that would lead to a solution of the mystery? 
 
 One question alone seemed to ring inces- 
 santly in his head. Why had they fought? 
 Why had they fought? 
 
 He even found himself repeating this un- 
 der his breath as he began rummaging about. 
 He kicked over the old chair, which was made 
 of saplings nailed together, scrutinized a heap 
 of rubbish that crumbled to dust under his 
 touch, and gave a little cry of exultation when 
 he found two guns leaning in a corner of the 
 cabin. Their stocks were decaying; their 
 135
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 locks were encased with rust, their barrels, 
 too, were thick with the accumulated rust of 
 years. Carefully, almost tenderly, he took one 
 of these relics of a past age in his hands. It 
 was of ancient pattern, almost as long as he 
 was tall. 
 
 "Hudson Bay gun the kind they had be- 
 fore my father was born!" said Wabi. 
 
 With bated breath and eagerly beating 
 heart Rod pursued his search. On one of the 
 walls he found the remains of what had once 
 been garments part of a hat, that fell in a 
 thousand pieces when he touched it; the dust- 
 rags of a coat and other things that he could 
 not name. On the table there were rusty pans, 
 a tin pail, an iron kettle, and the remains of 
 old knives, forks and spoons. On one end of 
 this table there was an unusual-looking object, 
 and he touched it. Unlike the other rags it 
 did not crumble, and when he lifted it he 
 found that it was a small bag, made of buck- 
 skin, tied at the end and heavy! With trem- 
 bling fingers he tore away the rotted string and 
 136
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 out upon the table there rattled a handful of 
 greenish-black, pebbly looking objects. 
 
 Rod gave a sharp quick cry for the others. 
 
 Wabi and Mukoki had just come through 
 the door after bearing out one of their grue- 
 some loads, and the young Indian hurried to 
 his side. He weighed one of the pieces in the 
 palm of his hand. 
 
 "It's lead, or" 
 
 "Gold!" breathed Rod. 
 
 He could hear his own heart thumping as 
 Wabi jumped back to the light of the door, 
 his sheath-knife in his hand. For an instant the 
 keen blade sank into the age-discolored ob- 
 ject, and before Rod could see into the crease 
 that it made Wabi's voice rose in an excited 
 cry. 
 
 "It's a gold nugget!" 
 
 "And that's why they fought!" exclaimed 
 Rod exultantly. 
 
 He had hoped and he had discovered the 
 reason. For a few moments this was of more 
 importance to him than the fact that he had 
 137
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 found gold. Wabi and Mukoki were now in 
 a panic of excitement. The buckskin bag was 
 turned inside out; the table was cleared of 
 every other object; every nook and cranny 
 was searched with new enthusiasm. The 
 searchers hardly spoke. Each was intent upon 
 finding finding finding. Thus does gold 
 virgin gold stir up the sparks of that 
 latent, feverish fire which is in every map's 
 .our. Again Rod joined in the search. Every 
 rag, every pile of dust, every bit of unrecog- 
 nizable debris was torn, sifted and scattered. 
 At the end of an hour the three paused, hope- 
 lessly baffled, even keenly disappointed for the 
 time. 
 
 "I guess that's all there is," said Wabi. 
 
 It was the longest sentence that he hao! 
 spoken for half an hour. 
 
 "There is only one thing to do, boys. We'll 
 clean out everything there is in the cabin, and 
 to-morrow we'll tear up the floor. You can't 
 tell what there might be under it, and we've 
 got to have a new floor anyway. It is getting 
 138
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 dusk, and if we have this place fit to sleep in 
 to-night we have got to hustle." 
 
 No time was lost in getting the debris of the 
 cabin outside, and by the time darkness had, 
 fallen a mass of balsam boughs had been 
 spread upon the log floor just inside the door> 
 blankets were out, packs and supplies stowed 
 away in one corner, and everything "comfort- 
 able and shipshape," as Rod expressed it. A 
 huge fire was built a few feet away from the 
 open door and the light and heat from this 
 made the interior of the cabin quite light and 
 warm, and, with the assistance of a couple of 
 candles, more home-like than any camp they 
 had slept in thus far. Mukoki's supper was a 
 veritable feast broiled caribou, cold beans 
 that the old Indian had cooked at their last 
 camp, meal cakes and hot coffee. The three 
 happy hunters ate of it as though they had 
 not tasted food for a week. 
 
 The day, though a hard one, had been 
 fraught with too much excitement for them 
 to retire to their blankets immediately after 
 139
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 this meal, as they had usually done in other 
 camps. They realized, too, that they had 
 reached the end of their journey and that their 
 hardest work was over. There was no long 
 jaunt ahead of them to-morrow. Their new 
 life the happiest life in the world to them 
 had already begun. Their camp was estab- 
 lished, they were ready for their winter's 
 sport, and from this moment on they felt that 
 their evenings were their own to do with as 
 they pleased. 
 
 So for many hours that night Rod, Mukoki 
 and Wabigoon sat up and talked and kept the 
 fire roaring before the door. Twenty times 
 they went over the tragedy of the old cabin ; 
 twenty times they weighed the half-pound of 
 precious little lumps in the palms of their 
 hands, and bit by bit they built up that life 
 'romance of the days of long ago, when all this 
 wilderness was still an unopened book to the 
 white man. And that story seemed very clear 
 to them now. These men had been prospect- 
 ors. They had discovered gold. Afterward 
 140
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 they had quarreled, probably over some di- 
 vision of it perhaps over the ownership of 
 the very nuggets they had found ; and then, in 
 the heat of their anger, had followed the knife 
 battle. 
 
 But where had they discovered the gold? 
 That was the question of supreme interest to 
 the hunters, and they debated it until mid- 
 night. There were no mining tools in the 
 camp; no pick, shovel or pan. Then it oc- 
 curred to them that the builders of the cabin 
 had been hunters, had discovered gold by ac- 
 cident and had collected that in the buckskin 
 bag without the use of a pan. 
 
 There was little sleep in the camp that night, 
 and with the first light of day the three were 
 at work again. Immediately after breakfast 
 the task of tearing up the old and decayed floor 
 began. One by one the split saplings were 
 pried up and carried out for firewood, until 
 the earth floor lay bare. Every foot of it was 
 now eagerly turned over with a shovel which 
 had been brought in the equipment; the base- 
 141
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 logs were undermined, and filled in again; 
 the moss that had been packed in the chinks 
 between the cabin timbers was dug out, and by 
 noon there was not a square inch of the in- 
 terior of the camp that had not been searched. 
 
 There was no more gold. 
 
 In a way this fact brought relief with it. 
 Both Wabi and Rod gradually recovered from 
 their nervous excitement. The thought of gold 
 gradually faded from their minds; the joy 
 and exhilaration of the "hunt life" filled them 
 more and more. Mukoki set to work cutting 
 fresh cedars for the floor; the two boys 
 scoured every log with water from the lake 
 and afterward gathered several bushels of 
 moss for refilling the chinks. That evening 
 supper was cooked on the sheet-iron "section 
 stove" which they had brought on the tobog- 
 gan, and which was set up where the ancient 
 stove of flat stones had tumbled into ruin. By 
 candle-light the work of "rechinking" with 
 moss progressed rapidly. Wabi was constant- 
 ly bursting into snatches of wild Indian song, 
 142
 
 THE BUCKSKIN BAG 
 
 Rod whistled until his throat was sore and 
 Mukoki chuckled and grunted and talked with 
 constantly increasing volubility. A score of 
 times they congratulated one another upon 
 their good luck. Eight wolf-scalps, a fine 
 lynx and nearly two hundred dollars in gold 
 all within their first week! It was enough 
 to fill them with enthusiasm and they made 
 little effort to repress their joy. 
 
 During this evening Mukoki boiled up a 
 large pot of caribou fat and bones, and when 
 Rod asked what kind of soup he was making 
 he responded by picking up a handful of steel 
 traps and dropping them into the mixture. 
 
 "Make traps smell good for fox wolf 
 fisher, an' marten, too; heem come all come 
 like smell," he explained. 
 
 "If you don't dip the traps," added Wabi, 
 "nine fur animals out of ten, and wolves most 
 of all, will fight shy of the bait. They can 
 smell the human odor you leave on the steel 
 when you handle it. But the grease 'draws 7 
 them." 
 
 143
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 When the hunters wrapped themselves in 
 their blankets that night their wilderness home 
 was complete. All that remained to be done 
 was the building of three bunks against the 
 ends of the cabin, and this work it was agreed 
 could be accomplished at odd hours by any 
 one who happened to be in camp. In the 
 morning, laden with traps, they would strike 
 out their first hunting-trails, keeping their 
 eyes especially open for signs of wolves; for 
 Mukoki was the greatest wolf hunter in all 
 the Hudson Bay region. 
 
 144
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 How WOLF BECAME THE COMPANION OF 
 
 MEN 
 
 TWICE that night Rod was awakened 
 by Mukoki opening the cabin door. 
 The second time he raised himself 
 upon his elbows and quietly watched the old 
 warrior. It was a brilliantly clear night and 
 a flood of moonlight was pouring into the 
 camp. He could hear Mukoki chuckling and 
 grunting, as though communicating with him- 
 self, and at last, his curiosity getting the better 
 of him, he wrapped his blanket about him and 
 joined the Indian at the door. 
 
 Mukoki was peering up into space. Rod 
 followed his gaze. The moon was directly 
 above the cabin. The sky was clear of clouds 
 and so bright was the light that objects on the 
 farther side of the lake were plainly visible. 
 145
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Besides, it was bitter cold so cold that his 
 face began to tingle as he stood there. These 
 things he noticed, but he could see nothing tc 
 hold Mukoki's vision in the sky above unless 
 it was the glorious beauty of the night. 
 
 "What is it, Mukoki?" he asked. 
 
 The old Indian looked silently at him for a 
 moment, some mysterious, all-absorbing joy 
 revealed in every lineament of his face. 
 
 "Wolf night!" he whispered. 
 
 He looked back to where Wabi was sleep- 
 ing. 
 
 "Wolf night!" he repeated, and slipped like 
 a shadow to the side of the unconscious young 
 hunter. Rod regarded his actions with grow- 
 ing wonder. He saw him bend over Wabi, 
 shake him by the shoulders, and heard him 
 repeat again, "Wolf night! Wolf night!" 
 
 Wabi awoke and sat up in his blankets, and 
 Mukoki came back to the door. He had 
 dressed himself before this, and now, with his 
 rifle, slipped out into the night. The young 
 Indian had joined Rod at the open door and 
 146
 
 WOLF 
 
 together they watched Mukoki's gaunt figure 
 as it sped swiftly across the lake, up the hill 
 and over mto the wilderness desolation be- 
 yond. 
 
 When Rod looked at Wabi he saw that the 
 Indian boy's eyes were wide and staring, with 
 an expression in them that was something be- 
 tween fright and horror. Without speaking 
 he went to the table and lighted the candles 
 and then dressed. When he was done his face 
 still bore traces of suppressed excitement. 
 
 He ran back to the door and whistled loud- 
 ly. From his shelter beside the cabin the cap- 
 tive wolf responded with a snarling whine. 
 Again he whistled, a dozen times, twenty, but 
 there came no reply. More swiftly than Mu- 
 koki the Indian youth sped across the lake and 
 to the summit of the hill. Mukoki had com- 
 pletely disappeared in the white, brilliant 
 vastness of the wilderness that stretched away 
 at his feet. 
 
 When Wabi returned to the cabin Rod had 
 a fire roaring in the stove. He seated himself
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 beside it, holding out a pair of hands blue with 
 cold. 
 
 "Ugh! It's an awful night!" he shivered. 
 
 He laughed across at Rod, a little uneasily, 
 but with the old light back in his eyes. Sud- 
 denly he asked: 
 
 "Did Minnetaki ever tell you anything 
 queer about Mukoki, Rod?" 
 
 "Nothing more than you have told me your* 
 self." 
 
 "Well, once in a great while Mukoki has 
 ^-not exactly a fit, but a little mad spell! I 
 have never determined to my own satisfaction 
 whether he is really out of his head or not. 
 Sometimes I think he is and sometimes I think 
 he is not. But the Indians at the Post believe 
 that at certain times he goes crazy over 
 wolves." 
 
 "Wolves!" exclaimed Rod. 
 
 "Yes, wolves. And he has good reason. A 
 
 good many years ago, just about when you and 
 
 I were born, Mukoki had a wife and child. 
 
 My mother and others at the Post say that he 
 
 148
 
 WOLF 
 
 was especially gone over the kid. He wouldn't 
 hunt like other Indians, but would spend 
 whole days at his shack playing with it and 
 teaching it to do things ; and when he did go 
 hunting he would often tote it on his back, 
 even when it wasn't much more than a squal- 
 ling papoose. He was the happiest Indian at 
 the Post, and one of the poorest. One day Mu- 
 koki came to the Post with a little bundle of 
 fur, and most of the things he got in exchange 
 for it, mother says, were for the kid. He 
 reached the store at night and expected to 
 leave for home the next noon, which would 
 bring him to his camp before dark. But some- 
 thing delayed him and he didn't get started 
 until the morning after. Meanwhile, late in 
 the afternoon of the day when he was to have 
 been home, his wife bundled up the kid and 
 they set out to meet him. Well " 
 
 A weird howl from the captive wolf in- 
 terrupted Wabi for a moment. 
 
 "Well, they went on and on, and of course 
 'did not meet him. And then, the people at 
 145
 
 iHE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the Post say, the mother must have slipped 
 and hurt herself. Anyway, when Mukoki 
 came over the trail the next day he found them 
 half eaten by wolves. From that day on Mu- 
 koki was a different Indian. He became the 
 greatest wolf hunter in all these regions. Soon 
 after the tragedy he came to the Post to live 
 and since then he has not left Minnetaki and 
 me. Once in a great while when the night is 
 just right, when the moon is shining and it is 
 bitter cold, Mukoki seems to go a little mad. 
 He calls this a Svolf night.' No one can stop 
 him from going out; no one can get him to 
 talk; he will allow no one to accompany him 
 when in such a mood. He will walk miles and 
 miles to-night. But he will come back. And 
 when he returns he will be as sane as you and 
 I, and if you ask him where he has been he 
 will say that he went out to see if he could get 
 a shot at something." 
 
 Rod had listened in rapt attention. To him, 
 as Wabi proceeded with his story of the trag- 
 edy in Mukoki's life, the old Indian was trans- 
 150
 
 WOLF 
 
 formed into another being. No longer was 
 he a mere savage reclaimed a little from the 
 wilderness. There had sprung up in Rod's 
 breast a great, human, throbbing sympathy 
 for him, and in the dim candle-glow his eyes 
 glistened with a dampness which he made no 
 attempt to conceal. 
 
 "What does Mukoki mean by 'wolf night'?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "Muky is a wizard when it comes to hunt- 
 ing wolves," Wabi went on. "He has studied 
 them and thought of them every day of his 
 life for nearly twenty years. He knows more 
 about wolves than all the rest of the hunters 
 in this country together. He can catch them 
 in every trap he sets, which no other trapper 
 in the world can do ; he can tell you a hundred 
 different things about a certain wolf simply 
 by its track, and because of his wonderful 
 knowledge he can tell, by some instinct that 
 is almost supernatural, when a Svolf night 7 
 comes. Something in the air to-night, some- 
 thing in the sky in the moon in the very
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 way the wilderness looks, tells him that stray 
 wolves in the plains and hills are 'packing' or 
 banding together to-night, and that in the 
 morning the sun will be shining, and they will 
 be on the sunny sides of the mountains. See if 
 I am not right To-morrow night, if Mukoki 
 comes back by then, we shall have some ex- 
 citing sport with the wolves, and then you will 
 see how Wolf out there does his work!" 
 
 There followed several minutes of silence. 
 The fire roared up the chimney, the stove 
 glowed red hot and the boys sat and looked 
 and listened. Rod took out his watch. It 
 lacked only ten minutes of midnight. Yet 
 neither seemed possessed with a desire to re- 
 turn to their interrupted sleep. 
 
 "Wolf is a curious beast," mused Wabi soft- 
 ly. "You might think he was a sneaking, 
 traitorous cur of a wolf to turn against his 
 own breed and lure them to death. But he 
 isn't Wolf, as well as Mukoki, has good 
 cause for what he does. You might call it 
 animal vengeance. Did you ever notice that
 
 WOLF 
 
 a half of one of his ears is gone? And if you 
 thrust back his head you will find a terrible 
 scar in his throat, and from his left side just 
 back of the fore leg a chunk of flesh half a 
 big as my hand has been torn away. We caught 
 Wolf in a lynx trap, Mukoki and I. He wasn't 
 much more than a whelp then about six 
 months old. Mukoki said. And while he was 
 in the trap, helpless and unable to defend him- 
 self, three or four of his lovely tribe jumped 
 upon him and tried to kill him for breakfast. 
 We hove in sight just in time to drive the can- 
 nibals off. We kept Wolf, sewed up his side 
 and throat, tamed him and to-morrow night 
 you will see how Mukoki has taught him to 
 get even with his people." 
 
 It was two hours later when Rod and Wa- 
 bigoon extinguished the candles and returned 
 to their blankets. And for another hour after 
 that the former found it impossible to sleep 
 He wondered where Mukoki was wondered 
 what he was doing, and how in his strange 
 madness he found his way in the trackless wil-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 derness. When he finally fell asleep it was 
 to dream of the Indian mother and her child; 
 only after a little there was no child, and the 
 woman changed into Minnetaki, and the rav- 
 enous wolves into men. From this unpleasant 
 picture he was aroused by a series of prods 
 in his side, and opening his eyes he beheld 
 Wabi in his blankets a yard away, pointing 
 over and beyond him and nodding his head. 
 Rod looked, and caught his breath. 
 
 There was Mukoki peeling potatoes! 
 
 "Hello, Muky!" he shouted. 
 
 The old Indian looked up with a grin. His 
 face bore no signs of his mad night on the 
 trail. He nodded cheerfully and proceeded 
 with the preparation of breakfast as though 
 he had just risen from his blankets after a 
 long night's rest. 
 
 "Better get up," he advised. "Big day's 
 hunt. Much fine sunshine to-day. Find 
 wolves on mountain plenty wolves !" 
 
 The boys tumbled from their blankets and 
 began dressing. 
 
 154
 
 WOLF 
 
 "What time did you get in?" asked Wabi. 
 
 "Now," replied Mukoki, pointing to the 
 hot stove and the peeled potatoes. "Just make 
 fire good." 
 
 Wabi gave Rod a suggestive look as the old 
 Indian bent over the stove. 
 
 "What were you doing last night?" he ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 "Big moon might get shot," grunted Mu- 
 koki. "See lynx on hill. See wolf-tracks on 
 red deer trail. No shot." 
 
 This was as much of the history of Mukoki's 
 night on the trail as the boys could secure, but 
 during their breakfast Wabi shot another 
 glance at Rod, and as Mukoki left the table 
 for a moment to close the damper in the stove 
 he found an opportunity to whisper: 
 
 "See if I'm not right. He will choose the 
 mountain trail." When their companion re- 
 turned, he said: "We had better split up this 
 morning, hadn't we, Muky? It looks to me; 
 as though there are two mighty good lines for 
 traps one over the hill, where that creek 
 i55
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 leads off through the range of ridges to the 
 east, and the other along the creek which runs 
 through the hilly plains to the north. What 
 do you think of it?" 
 
 "Good!" agreed the old hunter. "You two 
 go north I take ridges." 
 
 "No, you and I will take the ridges and 
 Wabi will go north alone," amended Rod 
 quickly. "I'm going with you, Mukoki!" 
 
 Mukoki, who was somewhat flattered by 
 this preference of the white youth, grinned 
 and chuckled and began to talk more volubly 
 about the plans which were in his head. It 
 was agreed that they all would return to the 
 cabin at an early hour in the afternoon, for the 
 old Indian seemed positive that they would 
 have their first wolf hunt that night. 
 
 Rod noticed that the captive wolf received 
 no breakfast that morning, and he easily 
 guessed the reason. 
 
 The traps were now divided. Three differ- 
 ent sizes had been brought from the Post 
 fifty small ones for mink, marten and other 
 156
 
 WOLF 
 
 small fur animals; fifteen fox traps, and as 
 many larger ones for lynx and wolves. Wabi 
 equipped himself with twenty of the small 
 traps and four each of fox and lynx traps, 
 while Rod and Mukoki took about forty in' 
 all. The remainder of the caribou meat was 
 then cut into chunks and divided equally 
 among them for bait. 
 
 The sun was just beginning to show itself 
 above the wilderness when the hunters left 
 camp. As Mukoki had predicted, it was a 
 glorious day, one of those bitterly cold, cloud- 
 less days when, as the Indians believe, the 
 great Creator robs the rest of the world of the 
 sun that it may shine in all its glory upon their 
 own savage land. From the top of the hill 
 that sheltered their home Rod looked out 
 over the glistening forests and lakes in rapt 
 and speechless admiration ; but only for a few 
 moments did the three pause, then took up 
 their different trails. 
 
 At the foot of this hill Mukoki and his com- 
 panion struck the creek. They had not pro-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 gressed more than fifty rods when the old In- 
 dian stopped and pointed at a fallen log which 
 spanned the stream. The snow on this log 
 was beaten by tiny footprints. Mukoki gazed 
 a moment, cast an observant eye along the trail, 
 and at once threw off his pack. 
 
 "Mink!" he explained. He crossed the 
 frozen creek, taking care not to touch the log. 
 On the opposite side the tracks spread out over 
 a windfall of trees. "Whole family mink 
 live here," continued Mukoki. "T'ree 
 mebby four mebby five. Build trap-house 
 right here !" 
 
 Never before had Rod seen a trap set as the 
 old Indian now set his. Very near the end of 
 the log over which the mink made their trail 
 he quickly built a shelter of sticks which when 
 completed was in the form of a tiny wigwam. 
 At the back of this was placed a chunk of the 
 caribou meat, and in front of this bait, so that 
 an animal would have to spring it in passing, 
 was set a trap, carefully covered with snow 
 and a few leaves. Within twenty minutes Mu- 
 158
 
 WOLF 
 
 koki had built two of these shelters and had 
 set two traps. 
 
 "Why do you build those little houses?" 
 asked Rod, as they again took up their trail. 
 
 "Much snow come in winter," elucidated 
 the Indian. "Build house to keep snow off 
 traps. No do that, be digging out traps all 
 winter. When mink heem smell meat go 
 in house he got to go over trap. Make house 
 for all small animal like heem. No good for 
 lynx. He see house walk roun' V roun' 'n' 
 roun' and then go 'way. Smart fellow 
 lynx. Wolf and fox, too." 
 
 "Is a mink worth much?" 
 
 "Fi' dollar no less that. Seven eight dol- 
 lar for good one." 
 
 During the next mile six other mink traps 
 were set. The creek now ran along the edge 
 of a high rocky ridge and Mukoki's eyes be- 
 gan to shine with a new interest. No longer 
 did he seem entirely absorbed in the discovery 
 of signs of fur animals. His eyes were con- 
 stantly scanning the sun-bathed side of the
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 ridge ahead and his progress was slow and 
 cautious. He spoke in whispers, and Rod fol- 
 lowed his example. Frequently the two would 
 stop and scan the openings for signs of life. 
 Twice they set fox traps where there were evi- 
 dent signs of runways; in a wild ravine, 
 strewn with tumbled trees and masses of rock, 
 they struck a lynx track and set a trap for him 
 at each end of the ravine; but even during 
 these operations Mukoki's interest was di- 
 vided. The hunters now walked abreast, about 
 fifty yards apart, Rod never forging a foot 
 ahead of the cautious Mukoki. Suddenly the 
 youth heard a low call and he saw his com- 
 panion beckoning to him with frantic enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 "Wolf!" whispered Mukoki as Rod joined 
 him. 
 
 In the snow were a number of tracks that 
 reminded Rod of those made by a dog. 
 
 "T'ree wolf!" continued the Indian jubi- 
 lantly. "Travel early this morning. Some- 
 where in warm sun on mountain 1" 
 160
 
 WOLF 
 
 They followed now in the wolf trail. A 
 little way on Rod found part of the carcass 
 of a rabbit with fox tracks about it. Here Mu- 
 ikoki set another trap. A little farther still 
 they came across a fisher trail and another 
 trap was laid. Caribou and deer tracks 
 crossed and recrossed the creek, but the In- 
 dian paid little attention to them. A fourth 
 wolf joined the pack, and a fifth, and half an 
 hour later the trail of three other wolves cut 
 at right angles across the one they were fol- 
 lowing and disappeared in the direction of the 
 thickly timbered plains. Mukoki's face was 
 crinkled with joy. 
 
 "Many wolf near," he exclaimed. "Many 
 wolf off there 'n' off there 'n' off there. Good 
 place for night hunt." 
 
 Soon the creek swung out from the ridge 
 and cut a circuitous channel through a small 
 swamp. Here there were signs of wild life 
 which set Rod's heart thumping and his blood 
 tingling with excitement. In places the snow 
 was literally packed with deer tracks. Trails 
 161
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 ran in every direction, the bark had been 
 rubbed from scores of saplings, and every step 
 gave fresh evidence of the near presence of 
 game. The stealth with which Mukoki now 
 advanced was almost painful. Every twig 
 was pressed behind him noiselessly, and once 
 when Rod struck his snow-shoe against the 
 butt of a small tree the old Indian held up his 
 hands in mock horror. Ten minutes, fifteen 
 twenty of them passed in this cautious, breath 
 less trailing of the swamp. 
 
 Suddenly Mukoki stopped, and a hand was 
 held out behind him warningly. He turned 
 his face back, and Rod knew that he saw 
 game. Inch by inch he crouched upon his 
 snow-shoes, and beckoned for Rod to ap- 
 proach, slowly, quietly. When the boy had 
 come near enough he passed back his rifle, and 
 his lips formed the almost noiseless word, 
 "Shoot!" 
 
 Tremblingly Rod seized the gun and looked 
 into the swamp ahead, Mukoki doubling down 
 in front of him. What he saw sent him for a 
 162
 
 WOLF 
 
 moment into the first nervous tremor of buck 
 fever. Not more than a hundred yards away 
 stood a magnificent buck browsing the tips of 
 a clump of hazel, and just beyond him were 
 *:wo does. With a powerful effort Rod steadied 
 himself. The buck was standing broadside, 
 his head and neck stretched up, offering a 
 beautiful shot at the vital spot behind his fore 
 leg. At this the young hunter aimed and fired. 
 With one spasmodic bound the animal drop- 
 ped dead. 
 
 Hardly had Rod seen the effect of his shot 
 before Mukoki was traveling swiftly toward 
 the fallen game, unstrapping his pack as he 
 ran. By the time the youth reached his quar- 
 ry the old Indian had produced a large whisky 
 flask holding about a quart. Without explana- 
 tion he now proceeded to thrust his knife into 
 the quivering animal's throat and fill this flask 
 with blood. When he had finished his task he 
 neld it up with an air of unbounded satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 "Blood for wolf. Heem like blood. Smell 
 163
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 um come make big shoot to-night. No blood, 
 no bait no wolf shoot I" 
 
 Mukoki no longer maintained his usual 
 quiet, and it was evident to Rod that the In- 
 dian considered his mission for that day prac- 
 tically accomplished. After taking the heart, 
 liver and one of the hind quarters of the buck 
 Mukoki drew a long rope of babeesh from his 
 pack, tied one end of it around the animal's 
 neck, flung the other end over a near limb, 
 and with his companion's assistance hoisted 
 ^the carcass until it was clear of the ground. 
 
 "If somethin' happen we no come back to- 
 night heem safe from wolf," he explained. 
 
 The two now continued through the swamp. 
 At its farther edge the ground rose gently from 
 the creek toward the hills, and this sloping 
 plain was covered with huge boulders and a 
 thin growth of large spruce and birch. Just 
 beyond the creek was a gigantic rock which 
 immediately caught Mukoki's attention. All 
 sides except one were too precipitous for as- 
 cent, and even this one could not be climbed 
 164
 
 WOLF 
 
 without the assistance of a sapling or two. 
 They could see, however, that the top of the 
 rock was flat, and Mukoki called attention to 
 this fact with an exultant chuckle. 
 
 "Fine place for wolf hunt!" he exclaimed. 
 "Many wolf off there in swamp an' in hill. 
 We call heem here. Shoot from there!" He 
 pointed to a clump of spruce a dozen rods 
 away. 
 
 By Rod's watch it was now nearly noon and 
 the two sat down to eat the sandwiches they 
 had brought with them. Only a few minutes 
 were lost in taking up the home trail. Be- 
 yond the swamp Mukoki cut at right angles 
 to their trap-line until he had ascended to the 
 top of the ridge that had been on their right 
 and which would take them very near their 
 camp. From this ridge Rod could look about 
 him upon a wild and rugged scene. On one 
 side it sloped down to the plains, but on the 
 other it fell in almost sheer walls, forming at 
 its base five hundred feet below a narrow and 
 gloomy chasm, through which a small stream 
 165
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 found its way. Several times Mukoki stopped 
 and leaned perilously close to the dizzy edge 
 of the mountain, peering down with critical 
 eyes, and once when he pulled himself back 
 cautiously by means of a small sapling he ex- 
 plained his interest by saying: 
 
 "Plenty bear there in spring!" 
 
 But Rod was not thinking of bears. Once 
 more his head was filled with the thought of 
 gold. Perhaps that very chasm held the price- 
 less secret that had died with its owners half 
 a century ago. The dark and gloomy silence 
 that hung between those two walls of rock, 
 the death-like desolation, the stealthy wind- 
 ings of the creek everything in that dim and 
 mysterious world between the two mountains, 
 unshattered by sound and impenetrable to the 
 winter sun, seemed in his mind to link itself 
 with the tragedy of long ago. 
 
 Did that chasm hold the secret of the dead 
 men? 
 
 Again and again Rod found himself asking 
 this question as he followed Mukoki^ and the 
 1 66
 
 WOLF 
 
 oftener he asked it the nearer he seemed to an 
 answer, until at last, with a curious, thrilling 
 certainty that set his blood tingling he caught 
 Mukoki by the arm and pointing back, said: 
 "Mukoki the gold was found between 
 those mountains!"
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE UPON His PEOPLE 
 
 FROM that hour was born in Roderick 
 Drew's breast a strange, imperishable 
 desire. Willingly at this moment 
 would he have given up the winter trapping to 
 have pursued that golden ignis fatuus of all 
 ages the lure of gold. To him the story of the 
 old cabin, the skeletons and the treasure of the 
 buckskin bag was complete. Those skeletons 
 had once been men. They had found a mine 
 a place where they had picked up nuggets 
 with their fingers. And that treasure ground 
 was somewhere near. No longer was he puz- 
 zled by the fact that they had discovered no 
 more gold in the old log cabin. In a flash he 
 had solved that mystery. The men had just 
 begun to gather their treasure when they had 
 fought. What was more logical than that? 
 1 68
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 One day, two, three and they had quarreled 
 over division, over rights. That was the time 
 when they were most likely to quarrel. Per- 
 haps one had discovered the gold and had- 
 therefore claimed a larger share. Anyway, the' 
 contents of the buckskin bag represented but 
 a few days' labor. Rod was sure of that. 
 
 Mukoki had grinned and shrugged his 
 shoulders with an air of stupendous doubt 
 when Rod had told him that the gold lay be- 
 tween the mountains, so now the youth kept 
 his thoughts to himself. It was a silent trail 
 home. Rod's mind was too active in its new 
 channel, and he was too deeply absorbed in 
 impressing upon his memory certain land- 
 marks which they passed to ask questions ; and 
 Mukoki, with the natural taciturnity of his 
 race, seldom found occasion to break into con- 
 versation unless spoken to first. Although his 
 eyes were constantly on the alert, Rod could 
 see no way in which a descent could be made 
 into the chasm from the ridge they were on. 
 This was a little disappointing, for he had 
 169
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 made up his mind to explore the gloomy, sun- 
 less gulch at his first opportunity. He had no 
 doubt that Wabi would join in the adventure. 
 Or he might take his own time, and explore it 
 alone. He was reasonably sure that from some- 
 where on the opposite ridge a descent could be 
 made into it. 
 
 Wabi was in camp when they arrived. He 
 had set eighteen traps and had shot two spruce 
 partridges. The birds were already cleaned 
 for their early supper, and a thick slice of 
 venison steak was added to the menu. During 
 the preparation of the meal Rod described 
 their discovery of the chasm and revealed some 
 of his thoughts concerning it, but Wabi be- 
 trayed only passing flashes of interest. At 
 times he seemed strangely preoccupied and 
 would stand in an idle, contemplative mood, 
 his hands buried deep in his pockets, while 
 Rod or Mukoki proceeded with the little du- 
 ties about the table or the stove. Finally, 
 after arousing himself from one of these mo- 
 170
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 mentary spells, he pulled a brass shell from his 
 pocket and held it out to the old Indian. 
 
 "See here," he said. "I don't want to stir up 
 any false fears, or anything of that sort but I 
 found that on the trail to-day!" 
 
 Mukoki clutched at the shell as though it 
 had been another newly found nugget of gold. 
 The shell was empty. The lettering on the 
 rim was still very distinct. He read ".35 
 Rem." 
 
 "Why, that's" 
 
 "A shell from Rod's gun!" 
 
 For a few moments Rod and Mukoki stared 
 at the young Indian in blank amazement. 
 
 "It's a .35 caliber Remington," continued 
 Wabi, "and it's an auto-loading shell. There 
 are only three guns like that in this country. 
 I've got one, Mukoki has another and you 
 lost the third in your fight with the Woongas I" 
 
 The venison had begun to burn, and Mu- 
 koki quickly transferred it to the table. With- 
 out a word the three sat down to their meal. 
 171
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 "That means the Woongas are on our trail," 
 declared Rod presently. 
 
 "That is what I have been trying to reason 
 out all the afternoon," replied Wabi. "It cer- 
 tainly is proof that they are, or have been 
 quite recently, on this side of the mountain. 
 But I don't believe they know we are here. 
 The trail I struck was about five miles from 
 camp. It was at least two days old. Three 
 Indians on snow-shoes were traveling north. 
 I followed back on their trail and found after 
 a time that the Indians had come from the 
 north, which leads me to believe that they 
 were simply on a hunting expedition, cut a 
 circle southward, and then returned to their 
 camp. I don't believe they will come farther 
 south. But we must keep our eyes open." 
 
 Wabi's description of the manner in which 
 the strange trail turned gave great satisfaction 
 to Mukoki, who nodded affirmatively when 
 the young hunter expressed it as his belief 
 that the Woongas would not come so far as 
 their camp. But the discovery of their pres- 
 172
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 ence chilled the buoyant spirits of the hunters. 
 There was, however, a new spice of adventure 
 lurking in this possible peril that was not alto- 
 gether displeasing, and by the time the meal 
 was at an end something like a plan of cam- 
 paign had been formed. The hunters would 
 not wait to be attacked and then act in self-de- 
 fense, possibly at a disadvantage. They would 
 be constantly on the lookout for the Woongas, 
 and if a fresh trail or a camp was found they 
 would begin the man-hunt themselves. 
 
 The sun was just beginning to sink behind 
 the distant hills in the southwest when the 
 hunters again left camp. Wolf had received 
 nothing to eat since the previous night, and 
 with increasing hunger the fiery impatience 
 lurking in his eyes and the restlessness of his 
 movements became more noticeable. Mukoki 
 called attention to these symptoms with a 
 gloating satisfaction. . 
 
 The gloom of early evening was enveloping 
 the wilderness by the time the three wolf 
 hunters reached the swamp in which Rod had
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 slain the buck. While he carried the guns and 
 packs, Mukoki and Wabigoon dragged the 
 buck between them to the huge flat-top rock. 
 Now for the first time the city youth began tc 
 understand the old pathfinder's scheme. Sev- 
 eral saplings were cut, and by means of a long 
 rope of babeesh the deer was dragged up the 
 side of the rock until it rested securely upon 
 the flat space. From the dead buck's neck the 
 babeesh rope was now stretched across the in- 
 tervening space between the rock and the 
 clump of cedars in which the hunters were to 
 conceal themselves. In two of these cedars, at 
 a distance of a dozen feet from the ground, 
 were quickly made three platforms of sap- 
 lings, upon which the ambushed watchers 
 could comfortably seat themselves. By the 
 time complete darkness had fallen the "trap" 
 was finished, with the exception of a detail 
 which Rod followed with great interest. 
 
 From inside his clothes, where it had been 
 kept warm by his body, Mukoki produced the 
 flask of blood. A third of this blood he scat-
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 tered upon the face of the rock and upon tb/ 
 snow at its base. The remainder he distrib- 
 uted, drop by drop, in trails running toward 
 the swamp and plains. 
 
 There still remained three hours before the 
 moon would be up, and the hunters now joined 
 Wolf, who had been fastened half-way up the 
 ridge. In the shelter of a big rock a small fire 
 was built, and during their long wait the hunt- 
 ers passed the time away by broiling and eat- 
 ing chunks of venison and in going over again 
 the events of the day. 
 
 It was nine o'clock before the moon rose 
 above the edge of the wilderness. This great 
 orb of the Northern night seemed to hold a 
 never-ending fascination for Rod. It crept 
 above the forests, a glowing, throbbing ball of 
 red, quivering and palpitating in an effulgence 
 that neither cloud nor mist dimmed in this 
 desolation beyond the sphere of man ; and as it 
 rose, almost with visible movement to the eyes, 
 the blood in it faded, until at last it seemed a 
 great blaze of soft light between silver and
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 gold. It was then that the whole world was 
 lighted up under it. It was then that Mukoki, 
 speaking softly, beckoned the others to foHow 
 him, and with Wolf at his side went down the 
 ridge. 
 
 Making a circuit around the back of the 
 rock, Mukoki paused near a small sapling 
 twenty yards from the dead buck and secured 
 Wolf by his babeesh thong. Hardly had he 
 done so when the animal began to exhibit signs 
 of excitement. He trotted about nervously, 
 sniffing the air, gathering the wind from every 
 direction, and his jaws dropped with a snarl- 
 ing whine. Then he struck one of the clots of 
 blood in the snow. 
 
 "Come," whispered Wabi, pulling at Rod's 
 sleeve, "come quietly." 
 
 They slipped back among the shadows of 
 the spruce and watched Wolf in unbroken si- 
 lence. The animal now stood rigidly over the 
 blood clot. His head was level with his quiv- 
 ering back, his ears half aslant, his nostrils 
 pointing to a strange thrilling scent that came 
 176
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 to him from somewhere out there in the moon- 
 light. Once more the instinct of his breed was 
 flooding the soul of the captive wolf. There 
 was the odor of blood in his widening nostrils. 
 It was not the blood of the camp, of the 
 slaughtered game dragged in by human hands 
 before his eyes. It was the blood of the chase! 
 
 A flashing memory of his captors turned the 
 animal's head for an instant in backward in- 
 spection. They were gone. He could neither 
 hear nor see them. He sniffed the sign of hu- 
 man presence, but that sign was always with 
 him, and was not disturbing. The blood held 
 him and the strange scent, the game scent 
 that was coming to him more clearly every in- 
 stant. 
 
 He crunched about cautiously in the snow, 
 He found other spots of blood, and to the 
 watchers there came a low long whine that 
 seemed about to end in the wolf song. The 
 blood trails were leading him away toward 
 the game scent, and he tugged viciously at the 
 babeesh that held him captive, gnawing at it 
 177
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 vainly, like an angry dog, forgetting what ex- 
 perience had taught him many times before. 
 Each moment added to his excitement. He ran 
 about the sapling, gulped mouthfuls of the 
 bloody snow, and each time he paused for a 
 moment with his open dripping jaws held to- 
 ward the dead buck on the rock. The game 
 was very near. Brute sense told him that. Oh> 
 the longing that was in him, the twitching, 
 quivering longing to kill kill kill ! 
 
 He made another effort, tore up the snow in 
 his frantic endeavors to free himself, to break 
 loose, to follow in the wild glad cry of freed 
 savagery in the calling of his people. He 
 failed again, panting, whining in piteous help- 
 lessness. 
 
 Then he settled upon his haunches at the end 
 of his babeesh thong. 
 
 For a moment his head turned to the moon- 
 lit sky, his long nose poised at right angles to 
 the bristling hollows between his shoulders. 
 
 There came then a low, whining wail, like 
 the beginning of the "death-song" of a husky 
 178
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 dog a wail that grew in length and in 
 strength and in volume until it rose weirdly 
 among the mountains and swept far out over 
 the plains the hunt call of the wolf on the 
 trail, which calls to him the famished, gray- 
 gaunt outlaws of the wilderness, as the bugler's 
 notes call his fellows on the field of battle. 
 
 Three times that blood-thrilling cry went up 
 from the captive wolf's throat, and before 
 those cries had died away the three hunters 
 were perched upon their platforms among the 
 spruce. 
 
 There followed now the ominous, waiting 
 silence of an awakened wilderness. Rod could 
 hear his heart throbbing within him. He for- 
 got the intense cold. His nerves tingled. He 
 looked out over the endless plains, white and 
 mysteriously beautiful as they lay bathed in 
 the glow of the moon. And Wabi knew more 
 than he what was happening. All over that 
 wild desolation the call of the wolf had car- 
 ried its meaning. Down there, where a lake 
 lay silent in its winter sleep, a doe started in 
 179
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 trembling and fear; beyond the mountain a 
 huge bull moose lifted his antlered head with 
 battle-glaring eyes; half a mile away a fox 
 paused for an instant in its sleuth-like stalking 
 of a rabbit; and here and there in that world 
 of wild things the gaunt hungry people of 
 Wolf's blood stopped in their trails and turned 
 their heads toward the signal that was coming 
 in wailing echoes to their ears. 
 
 And then the silence was broken. From 
 afar it might have been a mile away there 
 came an answering cry; and at that cry the 
 wolf at the end of his babeesh thong settled 
 upon his haunches again and sent back the call 
 that comes only when there is blood upon the 
 trail or when near the killing time. 
 
 There was not the rustle of a bough, not a 
 word spoken, by the silent watchers in the 
 spruce. Mukoki had slipped back and half 
 lay across his support in shooting attitude. 
 Wabi had braced a foot, and his rifle was half 
 to his shoulder, leveled over a knee. It was 
 Rod's turn with the big revolver, and he had 
 1 80
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 practised aiming through a crotch that gave 
 a rest to his arm. 
 
 In a few moments there came again the 
 howl of the distant wolf on the plains, and this 
 time it was joined by another away to the west- 
 ward. And after that there came two from the 
 plains instead of one, and then a far cry to the 
 north and east. For the first time Rod and 
 Wabi heard the gloating chuckle of Mukoki 
 in his spruce a dozen feet away. 
 
 At the increasing responses of his brethren 
 Wolf became more frantic in his efforts. The 
 scent of fresh blood and of wounded game was 
 becoming maddening to the captive. But his 
 frenzy no longer betrayed itself in futile ef- 
 forts to escape from the babeesh thong. Wolf 
 knew that his cries were assembling the hunt- 
 pack. Nearer and nearer came the responses 
 of the leaders, and there were now only mo- 
 mentary rests between the deep-throated ex- 
 hortations which he sent in all directions into 
 the night. 
 
 Suddenly, almost from the swamp itself, 
 181
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 there came a quick, excited, yelping reply, and 
 Wabi gripped Rod by the arm. 
 
 "He has struck the place where you killed 
 the buck," he whispered. "There'll be quick 
 work now I" 
 
 Hardly had he spoken when a series of ex- 
 cited howls broke forth from the swamp, com- 
 ing nearer and nearer as the hunger-crazed 
 outlaw of the plains followed over the rich- 
 scented trail made by the two Indians as they 
 carried the slaughtered deer. Soon he nosed 
 one of the trails of blood, and a moment later 
 the watchers saw a gaunt shadow form run- 
 ning swiftly over the snow toward Wolf. 
 
 For an instant, as the two beasts of prey met, 
 there fell a silence; then both animais joined 
 in the wailing hunt-pack cry, and the wolf 
 that was free came to the edge of the great 
 rock and stood with his fore feet on its side, 
 and his cry changed from that of the chase to 
 the still more thrilling signal that told the 
 gathering pack of game at bay. 
 
 Swiftly the wolves closed in. From over the 
 182
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 edge of the mountain one came and joined the 
 wolf at the rock without the hunters seeing his 
 approach. From out of the swamp there came 
 a pack of three, and now about the rock there 
 grew a maddened, yelping horde, clambering 
 and scrambling and righting in their efforts to 
 climb up to the game that was so near and yet 
 beyond their reach. And sixty feet away Wolf 
 crouched, watching the gathering of his clan, 
 helpless, panting from his choking efforts to 
 free himself, and quieting, gradually quieting, 
 until in sullen silence he looked upon the 
 scene, as though he knew the moment was very 
 near when that thrilling spectacle would be 
 changed into a scene of direst tragedy. 
 
 And it was Mukoki who had first said that 
 this was the vengeance of Wolf upon his 
 people. 
 
 From Mukoki there now came a faint hiss- 
 ing warning, and Wabi threw his rifle to his 
 shoulder. There were at least a score of 
 wolves at the base of the rock. Gradually the 
 old Indian pulled upon the babeesh rope that
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 led to the dead buck pulled until he was put- 
 ting a half of his strength into the effort, and 
 could feel the animal slowly slipping from the 
 flat ledge. A moment more and the buck tum- 
 bled down in the midst of the waiting pack. 
 
 As flies gather upon a lump of sugar the 
 famished animals now crowded and crushed 
 and fought over the deer's body, and as they 
 came thus together there sounded the quick 
 sharp signal to fire from Mukoki. 
 
 For five seconds the edge of the spruce was 
 a blaze of death-dealing flashes, and the deaf- 
 ening reports of the two rifles and the big Colt 
 drowned the cries and struggles of the ani- 
 mals. When those five seconds were over fif- 
 teen shots had been fired, and five seconds 
 later the vast, beautiful silence of the wilder- 
 ness night had fallen again. About the rock 
 was the silence of death, broken only faintly 
 by the last gasping throes of the animals that 
 lay dying in the snow. 
 
 In the trees there sounded the metallic clink 
 of loading shells. 
 
 184
 
 WOLF TAKES VENGEANCE 
 
 Wabi spoke first. 
 
 "I believe we did a good job, Mukoki!" 
 
 Mukoki's reply was to slip down his tree. 
 The others followed, and hastened across to 
 the rock. Five bodies lay motionless in the 
 snow. A sixth was dragging himself around 
 the side of the rock, and Mukoki attacked it 
 with his belt-ax. Still a seventh had run for a 
 dozen rods, leaving a crimson trail behind, 
 and when Wabi and Rod came up to it the 
 animal was convulsed in its last dying strug- 
 gles. 
 
 "Seven!" exclaimed the Indian youth. 
 "That is one of the best shoots we ever had. A 
 hundred and five dollars in a night isn't bad, 
 is it?" 
 
 The two came back to the rock, dragging 
 the wolf with them. Mukoki was standing as 
 rigid as a statue in the moonlight, his face 
 turned into the north. He pointed one arm far 
 out over the plains, and said, without turning 
 his head, 
 
 "See!"
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Far out in that silent desolation the hunters 
 saw a lurid flash of flame. It climbed up and 
 up, until it filled the night above it with a dull 
 glow a single unbroken stream of fire that 
 rose far above the swamps and forests of the 
 plains. 
 
 "That's a burning jackpine!" said Wabi- 
 goon. 
 
 "Burning jackpine!" agreed the old war- 
 rior. Then he added, "Woonga signal fire!" 
 
 1 86
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 TO Rod the blazing pine seemed to be 
 but a short distance away a mile, 
 perhaps a little more. In the silence 
 of the two Indians as they contemplated the 
 strange fire he read an ominous meaning. In 
 Mukoki's eyes was a dull sullen glare, not un- 
 like that which fills the orbs of a wild beast in 
 a moment of deadly anger. Wabi's face was 
 filled with an eager flush, and three times, Rod 
 observed, he turned eyes strangely burning 
 with some unnatural passion upon Mukoki. 
 
 Slowly, even as the instincts of his race had 
 aroused the latent, brutish love of slaughter 
 and the chase in the tamed wolf, the long 
 smothered instincts of these human children of 
 the forest began to betray themselves in their 
 bronzed countenances. Rod watched, and he 
 187
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 was thrilled to the soul. Back at the old cabin 
 they had declared war upon the Woongas. 
 Both Mukoki and Wabigoon had slipped the 
 leashes that had long restrained them from 
 meting first vengeance upon their enemies. 
 Now the opportunity had come. For five min- 
 utes the great pine blazed, and then died away 
 until it was only a smoldering tower of light. 
 Still Mukoki gazed, speechless and grim, out 
 into the distance of the night At last Wabi 
 broke the silence. 
 
 "How far away is it, Muky?" 
 
 "Tree mile," answered the old warrior 
 without hesitation. 
 
 "We could make it in forty minutes." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Wabi turned to Rod. 
 
 "You can find your way back to camp alone, 
 can't you?" he asked. 
 
 "Not if you're going over there!" declared 
 the white boy. "I'm going with you." 
 
 Mukoki broke in upon them with a harsh 
 disappointed laugh. 
 
 188
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 "No go. No go over there." He spoke with 
 emphasis, and shook his head. "We lose pine 
 in five minutes. No find Woonga camp 
 make big trail for Woongas to see in morning. 
 Better wait. Follow um trail in day, then 
 shoot 1" 
 
 Rod found immense relief in the old In- 
 dian's decision. He did not fear a fight; in 
 fact, he was a little too anxious to meet the out- 
 laws who had stolen his gun, now that they had 
 determined upon opening fire on sight. But 
 in this instance he was possessed of the cooler 
 judgment of his race. He believed that as yet 
 the Woongas were not aware of their presence 
 in this region, and that there was still a large 
 possibility of the renegades traveling north- 
 ward beyond their trapping sphere. He hoped 
 that this would be the case, in spite of his de- 
 sire to recapture his gun. A scrimmage with 
 the Woongas just now would spoil the plans 
 he had made for discovering gold. 
 
 The "Skeleton Mine," as he had come to 
 call it, now absorbed his thoughts beyond 
 189
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 everything else. He felt confident that he 
 would discover the lost treasure ground if 
 given time, and he was just as confident that if 
 war was once begun between themselves and 
 the Woongas it would mean disaster or quick 
 flight from the country. Even Wabi, worked 
 up more in battle enthusiasm than by gold 
 fever, conceded that if half of the Woongas 
 were in this country they were much too 
 powerful for them to cope with successfully, 
 especially as one of them was without a rifle. 
 
 It was therefore with inward exultation that 
 Rod saw the project of attack dropped and 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon proceed with their 
 short task of scalping the seven wolves. Dur- 
 ing this operation Wolf was allowed to feast 
 upon the carcass of the buck. 
 
 That night there was but little sleep in the 
 old cabin. It was two o'clock when the hunt- 
 ers arrived in camp and from that hour until 
 nearly four they sat about the hot stove mak- 
 ing plans for the day that was nearly at hand. 
 Rod could but contrast the excitement that had 
 190
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 now taken possession of them with the tranquil 
 joy with which they had first taken up their 
 abode in this dip in the hilltop. And how dif- 
 ferent were their plans from those of two or 
 three days ago! Not one of them now but 
 realized their peril. They were in an ideal 
 hunting range, but it was evidently very near, 
 if not actually in, the Woonga country. At any 
 moment they might be forced to fight for their 
 lives or abandon their camp, and perhaps they 
 would be compelled to do both. 
 
 So the gathering about the stove was in real- 
 ity a small council of war. It was decided that 
 the old cabin should immediately be put into 
 a condition of defense, with a loophole on each 
 side, strong new bars at the door, and with a 
 thick barricade near at hand that could be 
 quickly fitted against the window in case of 
 attack. Until the war-clouds cleared away, if 
 they cleared at all, the camp would be continu- 
 ally guarded by one of the hunters, and with 
 this garrison would be left both of the heavy 
 revolvers. At dawn or a little later Mukoki 
 191
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 would set out upon Wabi's trap-line, both to 
 become acquainted with it and to extend the 
 line of traps, while later in the day the Indian 
 youth would follow Mukoki's line, visiting 
 the houses already built and setting other traps. 
 This scheme left to Rod the first day's watch 
 in camp. 
 
 Mukoki aroused himself from his short 
 sleep with the first approach of dawn but did 
 not awaken his tired companions until break- 
 fast was ready. When the meal was finished 
 he seized his gun and signified his intention of 
 visiting the mink traps just beyond the hill be- 
 fore leaving on his long day's trail. Rod at 
 once joined him, leaving Wabi to wash the 
 dishes. 
 
 They were shortly within view of the trap- 
 houses near the creek. Instinctively the eyes 
 of both rested upon these houses and neither 
 gave very close attention to the country ahead 
 or about them. As a result both were exceed- 
 ingly startled when they heard a huge snort 
 and a great crunching in the deep snow close 
 192
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 beside them. From out of a small growth of 
 alders had dashed a big bull moose, who was 
 now tearing with the speed of a horse up the 
 hillside toward the hidden camp, evidently 
 seeking the quick shelter of the dip. 
 
 "Wait heem git top of hill!" shouted Mu- 
 koki, swinging his rifle to his shoulder. 
 "Wait!" 
 
 It was a beautiful shot and Rod was tempted 
 to ignore the old Indian's advice. But he knew 
 that there was some good reason for it, so he 
 held his trembling finger. Hardly had the ani- 
 mal's huge antlered head risen to the sky-line 
 when Mukoki shouted again, and the young 
 hunter pressed the trigger of his automatic gun 
 three times in rapid succession. It was a short 
 shot, not more than two hundred yards, and 
 Mukoki fired but once just as the bull mounted 
 the hilltop. 
 
 The next instant the moose was gone and 
 Rod was just about to dash in pursuit when 
 his companion caught him by the arm. 
 
 "We got urn!" he grinned. "He run down-
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 hill, then fall ver' close to camp. Ver' good 
 scheme wait heem git on top hill. No have 
 to carry meat far!" 
 
 As coolly as though nothing had occurred 
 the Indian turned again in the direction of the 
 traps. Rod stood as though he had been nailed 
 to the spot, his mouth half open in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "We go see traps," urged Mukoki. "Find 
 moose dead when we go back." 
 
 But Roderick Drew, who had hunted noth- 
 ing larger than house rats in his own city, was 
 not the young man to see the logic of this rea- 
 soning, and before Mukoki could open his 
 mouth again he was hurrying up the hill. On 
 its summit he saw a huge torn-up blotch in the 
 snow, spattered with blood, where the moose 
 had fallen first after the shots ; and at the foot 
 of the hill, as the Indian had predicted, the 
 great animal lay dead. 
 
 Wabi was hastening across the lake, at- 
 tracted by the shots, and both reached the slain 
 bull at about the same time. Rod quickly per- 
 194
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 ceived that three shots had taken effect; one, 
 which was undoubtedly Mukoki's carefully 
 directed ball, in a vital spot behind the fore 
 leg, and two through the body. The fact that 
 two of his own shots had taken good effect 
 filled the white youth with enthusiasm, and he 
 was still gesticulating excitedly in describing 
 the bull's flight to Wabi when the old Indian 
 came over the hill, grinning broadly, and 
 holding up for their inspection a magnificent 
 mink. 
 
 The day could not have begun more auspi- 
 ciously for the hunters, and by the time Mu- 
 koki was ready to leave upon his long trail the 
 adventurers were in buoyant spirits, the dis- 
 tressing fears of the preceding night being 
 somewhat dispelled by their present good for- 
 tune and the glorious day which now broke in 
 full splendor upon the wilderness. 
 
 Until their early dinner Wabi remained in 
 camp, securing certain parts of the moose and 
 assisting Rod in putting the cabin into a state 
 of defense according to their previous plans.
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 ft was not yet noon when he started over Mu- 
 koki's trap-line. 
 
 Left to his own uninterrupted thoughts. 
 Rod's mind was once more absorbed in his 
 scheme of exploring the mysterious chasm. He 
 had noticed during his inspection from the top 
 of the ridge that the winter snows had as yet 
 fallen but little in the gloomy gulch between 
 the mountains, and he was eager to attempt his 
 adventure before other snows came or the 
 fierce blizzards of December filled the chasm 
 with drifts. Later in the afternoon he brought 
 forth the buckskin bag from a niche in the log 
 wall where it had been concealed, and one 
 after another carefully examined the golden 
 nuggets. He found, as he had expected, that 
 they were worn to exceeding smoothness, and 
 that every edge had been dulled and rounded. 
 Rod's favorite study in school had been a 
 minor branch of geology and mineralogy, and 
 he knew that only running water could work 
 this smoothness. He was therefore confident 
 that the nuggets had been discovered in or on 
 196
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 the edge of a running stream. And that 
 stream, he was sure, was the one in the chasm. 
 
 But Rod's plans for an early investigation 
 were doomed to disappointment. Late that 
 day both Mukoki and Wabi returned, the lat- 
 ter with a red fox and another mink, the for- 
 mer with a fisher, which reminded Rod of a 
 dog just growing out of puppyhood, and an- 
 other story of strange trails that renewed their 
 former apprehensions. The old Indian had dis- 
 covered the remnants of the burned jackpine, 
 and about it were the snow-shoe tracks of three 
 Indians. One of these trails came from the 
 north and two from the west, which led him 
 to believe that the pine had been fired as a 
 signal to call the two. At the very end of their 
 trap-line, which extended about four miles 
 from camp, a single snow-shoe trail had cut 
 across at right angles, also swinging into the 
 north. 
 
 These discoveries necessitated a new ar- 
 rangement of the plans that had been made the 
 preceding night. Hereafter, it was agreed, 
 197
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 only one trap-line would be visited each day, 
 and by two of the hunters in company, both 
 armed with rifles. Rod saw that this meant the 
 abandonment of his scheme for exploring the 
 chasm, at least for the present. 
 
 Day after day now passed without evidences 
 of new trails, and each day added to the hopes 
 of the adventurers that they were at last to be 
 left alone in the country. Never had Mukoki 
 or Wabigoon been in a better trapping ground, 
 and every visit to their lines added to their 
 hoard of furs. If left unmolested it was 
 plainly evident that they would take a small 
 fortune back to Wabinosh House with them 
 early in the spring. Besides many mink, sev- 
 eral fisher, two red foxes and a lynx, they 
 added two fine "cross" foxes and three wolf 
 scalps to their treasure during the next three 
 weeks. Rod began to think occasionally of the 
 joy their success would bring to the little home 
 hundreds of miles away, where he knew that 
 the mother was waiting and praying for him 
 every day of her life; and there were times, 
 198
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 too, when he found himself counting the days 
 that must still elapse before he returned to 
 Minnetaki and the Post. 
 
 But at no time did he give up his determina- 
 tion to explore the chasm. From the first Mu- 
 koki and Wabigoon had regarded this project 
 with little favor, declaring the impossibility 
 of discovering gold under snow, even though 
 gold was there; so Rod waited and watched 
 for an opportunity to make the search alone, 
 saying nothing about his plans. 
 
 On a beautiful day late in December, when 
 the sun rose with dazzling brightness, his op- 
 portunity came. Wabi was to remain in camp, 
 and Mukoki, who was again of the belief that 
 they were safe from the Woongas, was to fol- 
 low one of the trap-lines alone. Supplying 
 himself well with food, taking Wabi's rifle, a 
 double allowance of cartridges, a knife, belt- 
 ax, and a heavy blanket in his pack, Rod set 
 out for the chasm. Wabi laughed as he stood 
 in the doorway to see him off. 
 
 "Good luck to you, Rod; hope you find 
 199
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 gold," he cried gaily, waving a final good-by 
 with his hand. 
 
 "If I don't return to-night don't you fellows 
 worry about me," called back the youth. "If 
 things look promising I may camp in the 
 chasm and take up the hunt again in the morn- 
 ing. " 
 
 He now passed quickly to the second ridge, 
 knowing from previous experience that it 
 would be impossible to make a descent into the 
 gulch from the first mountain. This range, a 
 mile south of the camp, had not been explored 
 by the hunters, but Rod was sure that there 
 was no danger of losing himself as long as he 
 followed along the edge of the chasm which 
 was in itself a constant and infallible guide. 
 Much to his disappointment he found that the 
 southern walls of this mysterious break be- 
 tween the mountains were as precipitous as 
 those on the opposite side, and for two hours 
 he looked in vain for a place where he might 
 climb down. The country was now becoming 
 densely wooded and he was constantly encoun- 
 200
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 tering signs of big game. But he paid little at- 
 tention to these. Finally he came to a point 
 where the forest swept over and down the steep 
 side of the mountain, and to his great joy he 
 saw that by strapping his snow-shoes to his back 
 and making good use of his hands it was pos- 
 sible for him to make a descent. 
 
 Fifteen minutes later, breathless but tri- 
 umphant, he stood at the bottom of the chasm. 
 On his right rose the strip of cedar forest; on 
 his left he was shut in by towering walls of 
 black and shattered rock. At his feet was the 
 little stream which had played such an import- 
 ant part in his golden dreams, frozen in places, 
 and in others kept clear of ice by the swiftness 
 of its current. A little ahead of him was that 
 gloomy, sunless part of the chasm into which 
 he had peered so often from the top of the 
 ridge on the north. As he advanced step by 
 step into its mysterious silence, his eyes alert, 
 his nerves stretched to a tension of the keenest 
 expectancy, there crept over him a feeling that 
 he was invading that enchanted territory 
 201
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 which, even at this moment, might be guarded 
 by the spirits of the two mortals who had died 
 because of the treasure it held. 
 
 Narrower and narrower became the walls 
 high over his head. Not a ray of sunlight 
 penetrated into the soundless gloom. Not a 
 leaf shivered in the still air. The creek gur- 
 gled and spattered among its rocks, without 
 the note of a bird or the chirp of a squirrel to 
 interrupt its monotony. Everything was dead. 
 Now and then Rod could hear the wind whis- 
 pering over the top of the chasm. But not a 
 breath of it came down to him. Under his feet 
 was only sufficient snow to deaden his own 
 footsteps, and he still carried his snow-shoes 
 upon his back. 
 
 Suddenly, from the thick gloom that hung 
 under one of the cragged walls, there came a 
 thundering, unearthly sound that made him 
 stop, his rifle swung half to shoulder. He saw 
 that he had disturbed a great owl, and passed 
 on. Now and then he paused beside the creek 
 and took up handful after handful of its peb- 
 202
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 bles, his heart beating high with hope at every 
 new gleam he caught among them, and never 
 sinking to disappointment though he found no 
 gold. The gold was here somewhere. He 
 was as certain of that as he was of the fact that 
 he was living, and searching for it. Every- 
 thing assured him of that; the towering masses 
 of cleft rock, whole walls seeming about to 
 crumble into ruin, the broad margins of peb- 
 bles along the creek everything, to the very 
 stillness and mystery in the air, spoke this as 
 the abode of the skeletons' secret. 
 
 It was this inexplicable something this un- 
 seen, mysterious element hovering in the air 
 that caused the white youth to advance step by 
 step, silently, cautiously, as though the slight- 
 est sound under his feet might awaken the 
 deadliest of enemies. And it was because of 
 this stealth in his progress that he came very 
 close upon something that was living, and 
 without startling it. Less than fifty yards 
 ahead of him he saw an object moving slowly 
 among the rocks. It was a fox. Even before 
 203
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the animal had detected his presence he had 
 aimed and fired. 
 
 Thunderous echoes rose up about him. 
 They rolled down the chasm, volume upon 
 volume, until in the ghostly gloom between the 
 mountain walls he stood and listened, a nerv- 
 ous shiver catching him once or twice. Not 
 until the last echo had died away did he ap- 
 proach where the fox lay upon the snow. It 
 was not red. It was not black. It was not 
 
 His heart gave a big excited thump. The 
 bleeding creature at his feet was the most beau- 
 tiful animal he had ever seen and the tip of 
 its thick black fur was silver gray. 
 
 Then, in that lonely chasm, there went up a 
 great human whoop of joy. 
 
 "A silver fox!" 
 
 Rod spoke the words aloud. For five min- 
 utes he stood and looked upon his prize. He 
 held it up and stroked it, and from what Wabi 
 and Mukoki had told him he knew that the 
 silken pelt of this creature was worth more to 
 them than all the furs at the camp together. 
 204
 
 RODERICK EXPLORES THE CHASM 
 
 He made no effort to skin it, but put the 
 animal in his pack and resumed his slow, 
 noiseless exploration of the gulch. 
 
 He had now passed beyond those points in 
 the range from which he had looked down into 
 this narrow, shut-in world. Ever more wild 
 and gloomy became the chasm. At times the 
 two walls of rock seemed almost to meet far 
 above his head; under gigantic, overhanging 
 crags there lurked the shadows of night. Fas- 
 cinated by the grandeur and loneliness of the 
 scenes through which he was passing Rod 
 forgot the travel of time. Mile after mile he 
 continued his tireless trail. He had no inclina- 
 tion to eat. He stopped only once at the creek 
 to drink. And when he looked at his watch he 
 was astonished to find that it was three o'clock 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 It was now too late to think of returning to 
 camp. Within an hour the day gloom of the 
 chasm would be thickening into that of night. 
 So Rod stopped at the first good camp site, 
 threw off his pack, and proceeded with the 
 20$
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 building of a cedar shelter. Not until this was 
 completed and a sufficient supply of wood for 
 the night's fire was at hand did he begin get- 
 ting supper. He had brought a pail with him 
 and soon the appetizing odors of boiling coffee 
 and broiling moose sirloin filled the air. 
 
 Night had fallen between the mountain 
 walls by the time Rod sat down to his meal. 
 
 206
 
 CHAPTER XT 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 A CHILLING loneliness now crept 
 over the young adventurer. Even as 
 he ate he tried to peer out into the 
 mysterious darkness. A sound from up the 
 chasm, made by some wild prowler of the 
 night, sent a nervous tremor through him. He 
 was not afraid ; he would not have confessed to 
 that. But still, the absolute, almost gruesome 
 silence between the two mountains, the mere 
 knowledge that he was alone in a place where 
 the foot of man had not trod for more than 
 half a century, was not altogether quieting to 
 his nerves. What mysteries might not these 
 grim walls hold? What might not happen 
 here, where everything was so strange, so 
 weird, and so different from the wilderness 
 world just over the range? 
 207
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Rod tried to laugh away his nervousness, but 
 the very sound of his own voice was distress- 
 ing. It rose in unnatural shivering echoes a 
 low, hollow mockery of a laugh beating itself 
 against the walls; a ghost of a laugh, Rod 
 thought, and that very thought made him 
 hunch closer to the fire. The young hunter 
 was not superstitious, or at least he was not un- 
 naturally so; but what man or boy is there in 
 this whole wide world of ours who does not, 
 at some time, inwardly cringe from something 
 in the air something that does not exist and 
 never did exist, but which holds a peculiar and 
 nameless fear for the soul of a human being? 
 
 And Rod, as he piled his fire high with 
 wood and shrank in the warmth of his cedar 
 shelter, felt that nameless dread; and there 
 came to him no thought of sleep, no feeling of 
 fatigue, but only that he was alone, absolutely 
 alone, in the mystery and almost unending si- 
 lence of the chasm. Try as he would he could 
 not keep from his mind the vision of the skele- 
 tons as he had first seen them in the old cabin. 
 208
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 Many, many years ago, even before his own 
 mother was born, those skeletons had trod this 
 very chasm. They had drunk from the same 
 creek as he, they had clambered over the same 
 rocks, they had camped perhaps where he was 
 camping now! They, too, in flesh and life, had 
 strained their ears in the grim silence, they had 
 watched the flickering light of their camp-fire 
 on the walls of rock and they had found 
 gold! 
 
 Just now, if Rod could have moved himself 
 by magic, he would have been safely back in 
 camp. He listened. From far back over the 
 trail he had followed there came a lonely, 
 plaintive, almost pleading cry. 
 
 "'Ello 'ello 'ello!" 
 
 It sounded like a distant human greeting, 
 but Rod knew that it was the awakening night 
 cry of what Wabi called the "man owl." It 
 was weirdly human-like; and the echoes came 
 softly, and more softly, until ghostly voices 
 seemed to be whispering in the blackness about 
 him. 
 
 209
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 "'Ello 'ello 'ello!" 
 
 The boy shivered and laid his rifle across 
 his knees. There was tremendous comfort in 
 the rifle. Rod fondled it with his fingers, and 
 two or three times he felt as though he would 
 almost like to talk to it. Only those who have 
 gone far into the silence and desolation of the 
 unblazed wilderness know just how human a 
 good rifle becomes to its owner. It is a friend 
 every hour of the night and day, faithful to its 
 master's desires, keeping starvation at bay and 
 holding death for his enemies; a guaranty of 
 safety at his bedside by night, a sharp-fanged 
 watch-dog by day, never treacherous and never 
 found wanting by the one who bestows upon 
 it the care of a comrade and friend. Thus had 
 Rod come to look upon his rifle. He rubbed 
 the barrel now with his mittens; he polished 
 the stock as he sat in his loneliness, and long 
 afterward, though he had determined to re- 
 main awake during the night, he fell asleep 
 with it clasped tightly in his hands. 
 
 It was an uneasy, troubled slumber in which 
 210
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 the young adventurer's visions and fears took 
 a more realistic form. He half sat, half lay, 
 upon his cedar boughs ; his head fell forward 
 upon his breast, his feet were stretched out to 
 the fire. Now and then unintelligible sounds 
 fell from his lips, and he would start suddenly 
 as if about to awaken, but each time would sink 
 back into his restless sleep, still clutching the 
 gun. 
 
 The visions in his head began to take a more 
 definite form. Once more he was on the trail, 
 and had come to the old cabin. But this time 
 he was alone. The window of the cabin was 
 wide open, but the door was tightly closed, 
 just as the hunters had found it when they 
 first came down into the dip. He approached 
 cautiously. When very near the window he 
 heard sounds strange sounds like the click- 
 ing of bones! 
 
 Step by step in his dream he approached the 
 
 window and looked in. And there he beheld a 
 
 sight that froze him to the marrow. Two 
 
 huge skeletons were struggling in deadly em 
 
 211
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 brace. He could hear no sound but the click- 
 click-click of their bones. He saw the gleam 
 of knives held between fleshless fingers, and he 
 saw now that both were struggling for the pos- 
 session of something that was upon the table. 
 Now one almost reached it, now the other, but 
 neither gained possession. 
 
 The clicking of the bones became louder, 
 the struggle fiercer, the knives of the skeleton 
 combatants rose and fell. Then one staggered 
 back and sank in a heap on the floor. 
 
 For a moment the victor swayed, tottered to 
 the table, and gripped the mysterious object 
 in its bony fingers. 
 
 As it stumbled weakly against the cabin 
 wall the gruesome creature held the object up, 
 and Rod saw that it was a roll of birch-bark! 
 
 An ember in the dying fire snapped with a 
 sound like the report of a small pistol and Rod 
 sat bolt upright, awake, staring, trembling. 
 What a horrible dream! He drew in his 
 cramped legs and approached the fire on his 
 
 212
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 knees, holding his rifle in one hand while he 
 piled on wood with the other. 
 
 What a horrible dream! 
 
 He shuddered and ran his eyes around the 
 impenetrable wall of blackness that shut him 
 in, the thought constantly flashing through his 
 mind, what a horrible dream what a horrible 
 dream! 
 
 He sat down again and watched the flames 
 of his fire as they climbed higher and higher. 
 The light and the heat cheered him, and after 
 a little he allowed his mind to dwell upon the 
 adventure of his slumber. It had made him 
 sweat. He took off his cap and found that 
 the hair about his forehead was damp. 
 
 All the different phases of a dream return 
 to one singly when awake, and it was with the 
 suddenness of a shot that there came to Rod a 
 remembrance of the skeleton hand held aloft, 
 clutching between its gleaming fleshless fin- 
 gers the roll of birch-bark. And with that 
 memory of his dream there came another 
 213
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the skeleton in the cabin was clutching a piece 
 of birch-bark when they had buried it! 
 
 Could that crumpled bit of bark hold the 
 secret of the lost mine? 
 
 Was it for the possession of that bark in 
 stead of the buckskin bag that the men had 
 fought and died? 
 
 As the minutes passed Rod forgot his lone- 
 liness, forgot his nervousness and only thought 
 of the possibilities of the new clue that had 
 come to him in a dream. Wabi and Mukoki 
 had seen the bark clutched in the skeleton 
 fingers, but they as well as he had given it no 
 special significance, believing that it had been 
 caught up in some terrible part of the struggle 
 when both combatants were upon the floor, or 
 perhaps in the dying agonies of the wounded 
 man against the wall. Rod remembered now 
 that they had found no more birch-bark upon 
 the floor, which they would have done if a 
 supply had been kept there for kindling fires. 
 Step by step he went over the search they had 
 made in the old cabin, and more and more sat< 
 
 214.
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 i*fied did he become that the skeleton hand 
 held something of importance for them. 
 
 He replenished his fire and waited impa- 
 tiently for dawn. At four o'clock, before day 
 had begun to dispel the gloom of night, he 
 cooked his breakfast and prepared his pack for 
 the homeward journey. Soon afterward a nar- 
 row rim of light broke through the rift in the 
 chasm. Slowly it crept downward, until the 
 young hunter could make out objects near him 
 and the walls of the mountains. 
 
 Thick shadows still defied his vision when 
 he began retracing his steps over the trail he 
 had made the day before. He returned with 
 the same caution that he had used in his ad- 
 vance. Even more carefully, if possible, did 
 he scrutinize the rocks and the creek ahead. 
 He had already found life in the chasm, and 
 he might find more. 
 
 The full light of day came quickly now, 
 and with it the youth's progress became more 
 rapid. He figured that if he lost no time in 
 further investigation of the creek he would
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 arrive at camp by noon, and they would dig 
 up the skeleton without delay. There was 
 little snow in the chasm, in spite of the late- 
 ness of the season, and if the roll of bark held 
 the secret of the lost gold it would be possible 
 for them to locate the treasure before other 
 snows came to baffle them. 
 
 At the spot where he had killed the silver 
 fox Rod paused for a moment. He wondered 
 if foxes ever traveled in pairs, and regretted 
 that he had not asked Wabi or Mukoki that 
 question. He could see where the fox had 
 come straight from the black wall of the 
 mountain. Curiosity led him over the trail. 
 He had not followed it more than two hun- 
 dred yards when he stopped in sudden as- 
 tonishment. Plainly marked in the snow be- 
 fore him was the trail of a pair of snow-shoes! 
 Whoever had been there had passed since he 
 shot the fox, for the imprints of the animal's, 
 feet were buried under those of the snow- 
 shoes. 
 
 Who was the other person in the chasm?
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 Was it Wabi? 
 
 Had Mukoki or he come to join him? Or- 
 He looked again at the snow-shoe trail. It 
 was a peculiar trail, unlike the one made by 
 his own shoes. The imprints were a foot longer 
 than his own, and narrower. Neither Wabi 
 nor Mukoki wore shoes that would make that 
 trail! 
 
 At this point the strange trail had turned 
 and disappeared among the rocks along the 
 wall of the mountain, and it occurred to Rod 
 that perhaps the stranger had not discovered 
 his presence in the chasm. There was some 
 consolation in this thought, but it was doomed 
 to quick disappointment. Very cautiously the 
 youth advanced, his rifle held in readiness and 
 his eyes searching every place of concealment 
 ahead of him. A hundred yards farther on 
 the stranger had stopped, and from the way 
 in which the snow was packed Rod knew that 
 he had stood in a listening and watchful atti- 
 tude for some time. From this point the trail 
 took another turn and came down until, from 
 217
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 behind a huge rock, the stranger had cautious- 
 ly peered out upon the path made by the white 
 youth. 
 
 It was evident that he was extremely anxious 
 to prevent the discovery of his own trail, for 
 now the mysterious spy threaded his way be- 
 hind rocks until he had again come to the 
 shelter of the mountain wall. 
 
 Rod was perplexed. He realized the peril 
 of his dilemma, and yet he knew not what 
 course to take to evade it. He had little doubt 
 that the trail was made by one of the treach- 
 erous Woongas, and that the Indian not only 
 knew of his presence, but was somewhere in 
 the rocks ahead of him, perhaps even now 
 waiting behind some ambuscade to shoot him. 
 Should he follow the trail, or would it be 
 safer to steal along among the rocks of the op- 
 posite wall of the chasm? 
 
 He had decided upon the latter course when 
 his eyes caught a narrow horizontal slit cleav- 
 ing the face of the mountain on his left, to- 
 ward which the snow-shoe tracks seemed to 
 218
 
 RODERICK'S DREAM 
 
 lead. With his rifle ready for instant use the 
 youth slowly approached the fissure, and was 
 surprised to find that it was a complete break 
 in the wall of rock, not more than four feet 
 wide, and continuing on a steady incline to 
 the summit of the ridge. At the mouth of this 
 fissure his mysterious watcher had taken off 
 his snow-shoes and Rod could see where he 
 had climbed up the narrow exit from the 
 chasm. 
 
 With a profound sense of relief the young 
 hunter hurried along the base of the mountain, 
 keeping well within its shelter so that eyes 
 that might be spying from above could not see 
 his movements. He now felt no fear of dan- 
 ger. The stranger's flight up the cleft in the 
 chasm wall and his careful attempts to conceal 
 his trail among the rocks assured Rod that he 
 had no designs upon his life. His chief pur- 
 pose had seemed to be to keep secret his own 
 presence in the gorge, and this fact in itself 
 added to the mystification of the white youth. 
 For a long time he had been secretly puzzled, 
 219
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 and had evolved certain ideas of his own 
 because of the movements of the Woongas. 
 Contrary to the opinions of Mukoki andWabi- 
 goon, he believed that the red outlaws were 
 perfectly conscious of their presence in the 
 dip. From the first their actions had been un- 
 accountable, but not once had one of their 
 snow-shoe trails crossed their trap-lines. 
 
 Was this fact in itself not significant? Rod 
 was of a contemplative theoretical turn of 
 mind, one of those wide-awake, interesting 
 young fellows who find food for conjecture 
 in almost every incident that occurs, and his 
 suspicions were now aroused to an unusual 
 pitch. A chief fault, however, was that he 
 kept most of his suspicions to himself, for he 
 believed that Mukoki and Wabigoon, born 
 and taught in the life of the wilderness, were 
 infallible in their knowledge of the ways and 
 the laws and the perils of the world they 
 were in. 
 
 220
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE SECRET OF THE SKELETON'S HAND 
 
 AITTLE before noon Rod arrived at 
 the top of the hill from which he 
 could look down on their camp. He 
 was filled with pleasurable anticipation, and 
 with an unbounded swelling satisfaction that 
 caused him to smile as he proceeded into 
 the dip. He had found a fortune in the mys- 
 terious chasm. The burden of the silver fox 
 upon his shoulders was a most pleasing re- 
 minder of that, and he pictured the moment 
 when the good-natured raillery of Mukoki 
 and Wabigoon would be suddenly turned into 
 astonishment and joy. 
 
 As he approached the cabin the young 
 hunter tried to appear disgusted and half sick, 
 and his effort was not bad in spite of his de- 
 cided inclination to laugh. Wabi met him in 
 221
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the doorway, grinning broadly, and Mukoki 
 greeted him with a throatful of his inimitable 
 chuckles. 
 
 "Aha, here's Rod with a packful of gold!" 
 cried the young Indian, striking an expectant 
 attitude. "Will you let us see the treasure?" 
 In spite of his banter there was gladness in his 
 face at Rod's arrival. 
 
 The youth threw off his pack with a spirit- 
 less effort and flopped into a chair as though 
 in the last stage of exhaustion. 
 
 "You'll have to undo the pack," he replied. 
 "I'm too tired and hungry." 
 
 Wabi's manner changed at once to one of 
 real sympathy. 
 
 "I'll bet you're tired, Rod, and half starved 
 We'll have dinner in a hurry. Ho, Muky, put 
 on the steak, will you?" 
 
 There followed a rattle of kettles and tin 
 pans and the Indian youth gave Rod a glad 
 slap on the back as he hurried to the table. 
 He was evidently in high spirits, and burs* 
 
 222
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 into a snatch of song as he cut up a loaf of 
 bread. 
 
 "I'm tickled to see you back," he admitted, 
 "for I was getting a little bit nervous. We 
 had splendid luck on our lines yesterday. 
 Brought in another 'cross 7 and three mink. 
 Did you see anything?" 
 
 "Aren't you going to look in the pack?" 
 
 Wabi turned and gazed at his companion 
 with a half-curious hesitating smile. 
 
 "Anything in it?" he asked suspiciously. 
 
 "See here, boys," cried Rod, forgetting him- 
 self in his suppressed enthusiasm. "I said there 
 was a treasure in that chasm, and there was. I 
 found it. You are welcome to look into that 
 pack if you wish!" 
 
 Wabi dropped the knife with which he was 
 cutting the bread and went to the pack. He 
 touched it with the toe of his boot, lifted it in 
 his hands, and glanced at Rod again. 
 
 "It isn't a joke?" he asked. 
 
 "No." 
 
 223
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Rod turned his back upon the scene and be- 
 gan to take off his coat as coolly as though it 
 were the commonest thing in the world for 
 him to bring silver foxes into camp. Only 
 when Wabi gave a suppressed yell did he turn 
 about, and then he found the Indian standing 
 erect and holding out the silver to the aston- 
 ished gaze of Mukoki. 
 
 "Is it a good one?" he asked. 
 
 "A beauty!" gasped Wabi. 
 
 Mukoki had taken the animal and was ex. 
 amining it with the critical eyes of a con- 
 noisseur. 
 
 "Ver' fine!" he said. "At Post heem worth 
 fi' hundred dollars at Montreal t'ree hun- 
 dred more!" 
 
 Wabi strode across the cabin and thrust out 
 his hand. 
 
 "Shake, Rod!" 
 
 As the two gripped hands he turned to Mu- 
 koki. 
 
 "Bear witness, Mukoki, that this young gen- 
 tleman is no longer a tenderfoot. He has shot 
 224
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 a silver fox. He has done a whole winter's 
 work in one day. I take off my hat to you, Mr. 
 Drew!" 
 
 Roderick's face reddened with a flush of 
 pleasure. 
 
 "And that isn't all, Wabi," he said. His eyes 
 were filled with a sudden intense earnestness, 
 and in the strangeness of the change Wabi for- 
 got to loosen the grip of his ringers about his 
 companion's hand. 
 
 "You don't mean that you found " 
 
 "No, I didn't find gold," anticipated Rod. 
 "But the gold is there! I know it. And I 
 think I have found a clue. You remember 
 that when you and I examined the skeleton 
 against the wall we saw that it clutched some- 
 thing that looked like birch-bark in its hand? 
 Well, I believe that birch-bark holds the key 
 to the lost mine !" 
 
 Mukoki had come beside them and stood 
 listening to Rod, his face alive with keen in- 
 terest. In Wabi's eyes there was a look half of 
 
 doubt, half of belief. 
 
 225
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 v lt might," he said slowly. "It wouldn't 
 do any harm to see." 
 
 J-3e stepped to the stove and took off the 
 partly cooked steak. Rod slipped on his coat 
 and hjt and Mukoki seized his belt-ax and 
 the shovd. No words were spoken, but there 
 was a rr^tttual understanding that the investi- 
 gation w*6 to precede dinner. Wabi was si- 
 lent and tivm^htful and Rod could see that 
 his suggesticn had at least made a deep im- 
 pression upon Mm. Mukoki's eyes began to 
 gleam again w-ivh the old fire with which he 
 had searched the cabin for gold. 
 
 The skeletons were buried only a few inches 
 deep in the frozen earth in the edge of the 
 cedar forest, and Mukoki soon exposed them 
 to view. Almost the first object that met their 
 eyes was the skeleton hand clutching its roll 
 of birch-bark. It was Rod who dropped upon 
 his knees to the gruesome task. 
 
 With a shudder at the touch of the cold 
 bones he broke the fingers back. One of them 
 snapped with a sharp sound, and as he rose 
 226
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 with the bark in his hand his face was blood- 
 lessly white. The bones were covered again 
 and the three returned to the cabin. 
 
 Still silent, they gathered about the table. 
 With age the bark of the birch hardens and 
 rolls itself tightly, and the piece Rod held was 
 almost like thin steel. Inch by inch it was 
 spread out, cracking and snapping in brittle 
 protest. The hunters could see that the bark 
 was in a single unbroken strip about ten inches 
 long by six in width. Two inches, three, four 
 were unrolled and still the smooth surface 
 was blank. Another half-inch, and the bark 
 refused to unroll farther. 
 
 "Careful!" whispered Wabi. 
 
 With the point of his knife he loosened the 
 cohesion. 
 
 "I guess there's nothing " began Rod. 
 
 Even as he spoke he caught his breath. A 
 mark had appeared on the bark, a black, mean- 
 ingless mark with a line running down from 
 it into the scroll. 
 
 Another fraction of an inch and the line 
 227
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 was joined by a second, and then with an un- 
 expectedness that was startling the remainder 
 of the roll released itself like a spring and 
 to the eyes of the three wolf hunters was re- 
 vealed the secret of the skeleton hand. 
 
 Spread out before them was a map, or at 
 least what they at once accepted as a map, 
 though in reality it was more of a crude dia- 
 gram of straight and crooked lines, with here 
 and there a partly obliterated word to give it 
 meaning. In several places there were mere 
 evidences of words, now entirely illegible. 
 But what first held the attention of Rod and 
 his companions were several lines in writing 
 under the rough sketch on the bark, still quite 
 plain, which formed the names of three men. 
 Roderick read them aloud. 
 "John Ball, Henri Langlois, Peter Plante." 
 Through the name of John Ball had been 
 drawn a broad black line which had almost 
 destroyed the letters, and at the end of this 
 line, in brackets, was printed a word in French 
 which Wabi quickly translated. 
 228
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 "Dead!" he breathed. "The Frenchmen 
 killed him!" 
 
 The words shot from him in hot excite- 
 ment. 
 
 Rod did not reply. Slowly he drew a trem- 
 bling finger over the map. The first word he 
 encountered was unintelligible. Of the next he 
 could only make out one letter, which gave 
 him no clue. Evidently the map had been 
 made with a different and less durable sub- 
 stance than that with which the names had 
 been written. He followed down the first 
 straight black line, and where this formed a 
 junction with a wider crooked line were two 
 words quite distinct: 
 
 "Second waterfall." 
 
 Half an inch below this Rod could make 
 out the letters T, D and L, widely scattered. 
 
 "That's the third waterfall," he exclaimed 
 eagerly. 
 
 At this point the crude lines of the diagram 
 stopped, and immediately below, between the 
 map and the three names, it was evident that 
 229
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 there had been considerable writing. But not 
 a word of it could the young hunters make out. 
 That writing, without doubt, had given the 
 key to the lost gold. Rod looked up, his face 
 betraying the keenness of his disappointment 
 He knew that under his hand he held all that 
 was left of the secret of a great treasure. But 
 he was more baffled than ever. Somewhere 
 in this vast desolation there were three water- 
 falls, and somewhere near the third waterfall 
 the Englishman and the two Frenchmen had 
 found their gold. That was all he knew. He 
 had not found a waterfall in the chasm ; they 
 had not discovered one in all their trapping 
 and hunting excursions. 
 
 Wabi was looking down into his face in si- 
 lent thought. Suddenly he reached out and 
 seized the sheet of bark and examined it close- 
 ly. As he looked there came a deeper flush 
 in his face, his eyes brightened and he gave 
 a cry of excitement. 
 
 "By George, I believe we can peel this!" 
 he cried. "See here, Muky!" He thrust the 
 230
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 tirch under the old Indian's eyes. Even Mu- 
 koki's hands were trembling. 
 
 "Birch-bark is made up of a good many 
 layers, each as thin as the thinnest paper," he 
 explained to Rod as Mukoki continued his; 
 examination. "If we can peel off that first 
 layer, and then hold it up to the light, we shall 
 be able to see the impression of every word 
 that was ever made on it even though they 
 were written a hundred years ago 1" 
 
 Mukoki had gone to the door, and now he 
 turned, grinning exultantly. 
 
 "She peel!" 
 
 He showed them where he had stripped 
 back a corner of the film-like layer. Then he 
 sat down in the light, his head bent over, and 
 for many minutes he worked at his tedious 
 task while Wabi and Rod hung back in sound- 
 less suspense. Half an hour later Mukoki, 
 straightened himself, rose to his feet and held 1 
 out the precious film to Rod. 
 
 As tenderly as though his own life depended 
 upon its care, Rod held the piece of birch, 
 231
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 now a silken, almost transparent sheet, be- 
 tween himself and the light. A cry welled up 
 into his throat. It was repeated by Wabi. 
 And then there was silence a silence broken 
 only by their bated breaths and the excited 
 thumpings of their hearts. 
 
 As though they had been written but yester- 
 day, the mysterious words on the map were 
 disclosed to their eyes. Where Rod had made 
 out only three letters there were now plainly 
 discernible the two words "third waterfall," 
 and very near to these was the word "cabin." 
 Below them were several lines, clearly im- 
 pressed in the birch film. Slowly, his voice 
 trembling, Rod read them to his companions. 
 
 "We, John Ball, Henri Langlois, and Peter 
 Plante, having discovered gold at this fall, do 
 hereby agree to joint partnership in the same, 
 and do pledge ourselves to forget our past dif- 
 ferences and work in mutual good will and 
 honesty, so help us God. Signed, 
 
 "JOHN BALL, HENRI LANGLOIS, 
 PETER PLANTE." 
 232
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 At the very top of the map the impression of 
 several other words caught Rod's eyes. They 
 were more indistinct than any of the others, 
 but one by one he made them out. A hot blur- 
 ring film seemed to fall over his eyes and he 
 felt as though his heart had suddenly come up 
 into his throat. Wabi's breath was burning 
 against his cheek, and it was Wabi who spoke 
 the words aloud. 
 
 "Cabin and head of chasm." 
 
 Rod went back to the table and sat down, 
 the precious bit of birch-bark under his hand. 
 Mukoki, standing mute, had listened and 
 heard, and was as if stunned by their discov- 
 ery. But now his mind returned to the moose 
 steak, and he placed it on the stove. Wabi 
 stood with his hands in his pockets, and after 
 a little he laughed a trembling, happy laugh. 
 
 "Well, Rod, you've found your mine. You 
 are as good as rich!" 
 
 ""You mean that we have found our mine," 
 corrected the white youth. "We are three, and 
 we just naturally fill the places of John Ball, 
 233
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Henri Langlois and Peter Plante. They are 
 all dead. The gold is ours!" 
 
 Wabi had taken up the map. 
 
 "I can't see the slightest possibility of our 
 not finding it," he said. "The directions are 
 as plain as day. We follow the chasm, and 
 somewhere in that chasm we come to a water- 
 fall. A little beyond this the creek that runs 
 through the gorge empties into a larger stream, 
 and we follow this second creek or river until 
 we come to the third fall. The cabin is there, 
 and the gold can not be far away." 
 
 He had carried the map to the door again, 
 and Rod joined him. 
 
 "There is nothing that gives us an idea of 
 distance on the map," he continued. "How far 
 did you travel down the chasm?" 
 
 "Ten miles, at least," replied Rod. 
 
 "And you discovered no fall?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 With a splinter picked up from the floor 
 Wabi measured the distances between the dif- 
 ferent points on the diagram. 
 234
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 "There is no doubt but what this map was 
 drawn by John Ball," he said after a few mo- 
 ments of silent contemplation. "Everything 
 points to that fact. Notice that all of the writ- 
 ing is in one hand, except the signatures of 
 Langlois and Plante, and you could hardly 
 decipher the letters in those signatures if you 
 did not already know their names from this 
 writing below. Ball wrote a good hand, and 
 from the construction of the agreement over 
 the signatures he was a man of pretty fair ed- 
 ucation. Don't you think so? Well, he must 
 have drawn this map with some idea of dis- 
 tance in his mind. Th? second fall is only half 
 as far from the first fall as the third fall is 
 from the second, which seems to me conclusive 
 evidence of this. If he had not had distance 
 in mind he would not have separated the falls 
 in this way on the map." 
 
 "Then if we can find the first fall we can 
 figure pretty nearly how far the last fall is 
 from the head of the chasm," said Rod. 
 
 "Yes. I believe the distance from here to 
 235
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the first fall will give us a key to the whole 
 thing." 
 
 Rod had produced a pencil from one of his 
 pockets and was figuring on the smooth side 
 of a chip. 
 
 "The gold is a long way from here at the 
 best, Wabi. I explored the chasm for ten 
 miles. Say that we find the first fall within 
 fifteen miles. Then, according to the map, the 
 second fall would be about twenty miles from 
 the first, and the third forty miles from the sec- 
 ond. If the first fall is within fifteen miles of 
 this cabin the third fall is at least seventy-five 
 miles away." 
 
 Wabi nodded. 
 
 "But we may not find the first fall within 
 that distance," he said. "By George " He 
 stopped and looked at Rod with an odd look 
 of doubt in his face. "If the gold is seventy- 
 five or a hundred miles away, why were those 
 men here, and with only a handful of nuggets 
 in their possession? Is it possible that the 
 236
 
 THE SECRET 
 
 gold played out that they found only what 
 was in the buckskin bag?" 
 
 "If that were so, why should they have 
 fought to the death for the possession of the 
 map?" argued Rod. 
 
 Mukoki was turning the steak. He had not 
 spoken, but now he said : 
 
 "Mebby going to Post for supplies." 
 
 "That's exactly what they were doing!" 
 shouted the Indian youth. "Muky, you have 
 solved the whole problem. They were going 
 for supplies. And they didn't fight for the 
 map not for the map alone!" 
 
 His face flushed with new excitement. 
 
 "Perhaps I am wrong, but it all seems clear 
 to me now," he continued. "Ball and the two 
 Frenchmen worked their find until they ran 
 out of supplies. Wabinosh House is over a 
 hundred years old, and fifty years ago that 
 was the nearest point where they could get 
 more. In some way it fell to the Frenchmen 
 to go. They had probably accumulated a 
 237
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 hoard of gold, and before they left they mur- 
 dered Ball. They brought with them only 
 enough gold to pay for their supplies, for it 
 was their purpose not to arouse the suspicion 
 of any adventurers who happened to be at the 
 Post. They could easily have explained their 
 possession of those few nuggets. In this cabin 
 either Langlois or Plante tried to kill his com- 
 panion, and thus become the sole possessor of 
 the treasure, and the fight, fatal to both, en- 
 sued. I may be wrong, but by George, I be- 
 lieve that is what happened!" 
 
 "And that they buried the bulk of their 
 gold somewhere back near the third fall?" 
 
 "Yes ; or else they brought the gold here and 
 buried it somewhere near this very cabin!" 
 
 They were interrupted by Mukoki. 
 
 "Dinner ready!" he called. 
 
 238
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 UNTIL the present moment Rod had 
 forgotten to speak of the mysterious 
 man-trail he had encountered in the 
 chasm. The excitement of the past hour had 
 made him oblivious to all other things, but 
 now as they ate their dinner he described the 
 strange manceuvers of the spying Woonga. He 
 did not, however, voice those fears which had 
 come to him in the gorge, preferring to allow 
 Mukoki and Wabigoon to draw their own con- 
 clusions. By this time the two Indians were 
 satisfied that the Woongas were not contem- 
 plating attack, but that for some unaccount- 
 able reason they were as anxious to evade the 
 hunters as the hunters were to evade them. 
 Everything that had passed seemed to give evi- 
 dence of this. The outlaw in the chasm, for 
 239
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 instance, could easily have waylaid Rod; a 
 dozen times the almost defenseless camp could 
 have been attacked, and there were innumer- 
 able places where ambushes might have been 
 laid for them along the trap-lines. 
 
 So Rod's experience with the Woonga trail 
 between the mountains occasioned little un- 
 easiness, and instead of forming a scheme for 
 the further investigation of this trail on the 
 south, plans were made for locating the first 
 fall. Mukoki was the swiftest and most tire- 
 less traveler on snow-shoes, and it was he who 
 volunteered to make the first search. He would 
 leave the following morning, taking with him 
 a supply of food, and during his absence Rod 
 and Wabigoon would attend to the traps. 
 
 "We must have the location of the first fall 
 before we return to the Post," declared Wabi. 
 "If from that we find that the third fall is not 
 within a hundred miles of our present camp 
 it will be impossible for us to go in search of 
 our gold during this trip. In that event we 
 240
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 shall have to go back to Wabinosh House and 
 form a new expedition, with fresh supplies 
 and the proper kind of tools. We can not do 
 anything until the spring freshets are over, 
 anyway." 
 
 "I have been thinking of that," replied Rod, 
 his eyes softening. "You know mother is 
 alone, and her " 
 
 "I understand," interrupted the Indian boy, 
 laying a hand fondly across his companion's 
 arm. 
 
 " her funds are small, you know," Rod fin- 
 ished. "If she has been sick or anything 
 like that" 
 
 "Yes, we've got to get back with our furs," 
 helped Wabi, a tremor of tenderness in his 
 own voice. "And if you don't mind, Rod, I 
 might take a little run down to Detroit with 
 you. Do you suppose she would care?" 
 
 "Care!" shouted Rod, bringing his free 
 hand down upon Wabi's arm with a force that 
 hurt. "Care! Why, she thinks as much of 
 241
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 you as she doe* of me, Wabi ! She'd be tickled 
 to death! Do you mean it?" 
 
 Wabi's bronzed face flushed a deeper red at 
 his friend's enthusiasm. 
 
 "I won't promise for sure," he said. "But 
 I'd like to see her almost as much as you, I 
 guess. If I can, I'll go." 
 
 Rod's face was suffused with a joyful glow. 
 
 "And I'll come back with you early in the 
 summer and we'll start out for the gold," he 
 cried. He jumped to his feet and slapped 
 Mukoki on the back in the happy turn his 
 mind had taken. "Will you come, too, Mu- 
 koki? I'll give you the biggest 'city time' you 
 ever had in your life!" 
 
 The old Indian grinned and chuckled and 
 grunted, but did not reply in words. Wabi 
 laughed, and answered for him. 
 
 "He is too anxious to become Minnetaki's 
 slave again, Rod. No, Muky won't go, I'll 
 wager that. He will stay at the Post to see 
 that she doesn't get lost, or hurt, or stolen by 
 theWoongas. Eh, Mukoki?" 
 242
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 Mukoki nodded, grinning good-humoredly. 
 He went to the door, opened it and looked 
 out. 
 
 "Devil she snow!" he cried. "She snow 
 like twent' t'ousand like devil !" 
 
 This was the strongest English in the old 
 warrior's vocabulary, and it meant something 
 more than usual. Wabi and Rod quickly 
 joined him. Never in his life had the city 
 youth seen a snow-storm like that which he 
 now gazed out into. The great north storm 
 had arrived a storm which comes just once 
 each year in the endless Arctic desolation. For 
 days and weeks the Indians had expected it 
 and wondered at its lateness. It fell softly, 
 silently, without a breath of air to stir it; a 
 smothering, voiceless sea of white, impene- 
 trable to human vision, so thick that it seemed 
 as though it might stifle one's breath. Rod 
 held out the palm of his hand and in an in- 
 stant it was covered with a film of white. He 
 walked out into it, and a dozen yards away 
 he became a ghostly, almost invisible shadow. 
 243
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 When he came back a minute later he brought 
 a load of snow into the cabin with him. 
 
 All that afternoon the snow fell like this, 
 and all that night the storm continued. When 
 he awoke in the morning Rod heard the wind 
 whistling and howling through the trees and 
 around the ends of the cabin. He rose and 
 built the fire while the others were still sleep- 
 ing. He attempted to open the door, but it 
 was blocked. He lowered the barricade at the 
 window, and a barrel of snow tumbled in about 
 his feet. He could see no sign of day, and 
 when he turned he saw Wabi sitting up in his 
 blankets, laughing silently at his wonder and 
 consternation. 
 
 "What in the world " he gasped. 
 
 "We're snowed in," grinned Wabi. "Does 
 the stove smoke?" 
 
 "No," replied Rod, throwing a bewildered 
 glance at the roaring fire. "You don't mean 
 to say " 
 
 "Then we are not completely buried," in- 
 244
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 terrupted the other. "At least the top of the 
 chimney is sticking out!" 
 
 Mukoki sat up and stretched himself. 
 
 "She blow," he said, as a tremendous howl 
 of wind swept over the cabin. "Bime-by she 
 blow some more!" 
 
 Rod shoveled the snow into a corner and re- 
 placed the barricade while his companions 
 dressed. 
 
 "This means a week's work digging ou* 
 traps," declared Wabi. "And only Mukoki's 
 Great Spirit, who sends all blessings to this 
 country, knows when the blizzard is going to 
 stop. It may last a week. There is no chance 
 of finding our waterfall in this." 
 
 "We can play dominoes," suggested Rod 
 cheerfully. "You remember we haven't fin- 
 ished that series we began at the Post. But 
 you don't expect me to believe that it snowed 
 enough yesterday afternoon and last night tc 
 cover this cabin, do you?" 
 
 "It didn't exactly snow enough to cover it," 
 245
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 explained his comrade. "But we're covered 
 for all of that. The cabin is on the edge of 
 an open, and of course the snow just naturally 
 drifts around us, blown there by the wind. If 
 this blizzard keeps up we shall be under a 
 small mountain by night." 
 
 ''Won't it smother us?" faltered Rod. 
 
 Wabi gave a joyous whoop of merriment at 
 the city-bred youth's half-expressed fear and 
 a volley of Mukoki's chuckles came from 
 where he was slicing moose-steak on the table. 
 
 "Snow mighty nice thing live under," he 
 asserted with emphasis. 
 
 "If you were under a mountain of snow you 
 could live, if you weren't crushed to death," 
 said Wabi. "Snow is filled with air. Mukoki 
 was caught under a snow-slide once and was 
 buried under thirty feet for ten hours. He had 
 made a nest about as big as a barrel and was 
 nice and comfortable when we dug him out. 
 We won't have to burn much wood tc keep 
 warm now." 
 
 After breakfast the boys again lowered the 
 246
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 barricade at the window and Wabi began to 
 bring small avalanches of snow down into the 
 cabin with his shovel. At the third or fourth 
 upward thrust a huge mass plunged through 
 the window, burying them to the waist, and 
 when they looked out they could see the light 
 of day and the whirling blizzard above their 
 heads. 
 
 "it's up to the roof," gasped Rod. "Great 
 Scott, what a snow-storm 1" 
 
 "Now for some fun!" cried the Indian 
 youth. "Come on, Rod, if you want to be in 
 it." 
 
 He crawled through the window into the 
 cavity he had made in the drift, and Rod fol- 
 lowed. Wabi waited, a mischievous smile on 
 his face, and no sooner had his companion 
 joined him than he plunged his shovel deep 
 into the base of the drift. Half a dozen quick 
 thrusts and there tumbled down upon their 
 heads a mass of light snow that for a few mo- 
 ments completely buried them. The sudden- 
 ness of it knocked Rod to his knees, where he 
 247
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 floundered, gasped and made a vain effort to 
 yell. Struggling like a fish he first kicked his 
 feet free, and Wabi, who had thrust out his 
 head and shoulders, shrieked with laughter as 
 he saw only Rod's boots sticking out of the 
 snow. 
 
 "You're going the wrong way, Rod!" he 
 shouted. "Wow wow!" 
 
 He seized his companion's legs and helped 
 to drag him out, and then stood shaking, the 
 tears streaming down his face, and continued 
 to laugh until he leaned back in the drift, half 
 exhausted. Rod was a curious and ludicrous- 
 looking object. His eyes were wide and blink- 
 ing; the snow was in his ears, his mouth, and 
 in his floundering he had packed his coat col- 
 lar full of it. Slowly he recovered from his 
 astonishment, saw Wabi and Mukoki quiver- 
 ing with laughter, grinned and then joined 
 them in their merriment. 
 
 It was not difficult now for the boys to force 
 their way dirough the drift and they were soo^
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 standing waist-deep in the snow twenty yards 
 from the cabin. 
 
 "The snow is only about four feet deep in. 
 the open," said Wabi. "But look at that!" 
 
 He turned and gazed at the cabin, or rather 
 at the small part of it which still rose trium- 
 phant above the huge drift which had almost 
 completely buried it. Only a little of the 
 roof, with the smoking chimney rising out of 
 it, was to be seen. Rod now turned in all di- 
 rections to survey the wild scene about him. 
 There haa come a brief lull in the blizzard, 
 and his vision extended beyond the lake and 
 to the hilltop. There was not a spot of black 
 to meet his eyes; every rock was hidden; the 
 trees hung silent and lifeless under their heavy 
 mantles and even their trunks were beaten 
 white with the clinging volleys of the storm. 
 There came to him then a thought of the wild 
 things in this seemingly uninhabitable desola- 
 tion. How could they live in this endless des- 
 ert of snow? What could they find to eat? 
 249
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Where could they find water to drink? He 
 asked Wabi these questions after they had re- 
 turned to the cabin. 
 
 "Just now, if you traveled from here to the 
 end of this storm zone you wouldn't find a liv- 
 ing four-legged creature," said Wabigoon. 
 "Every moose in this country, every deer and 
 caribou, every fox and wolf, is buried in the 
 snow. And as the snow falls deeper about 
 them the warmer and more comfortable do 
 they become, so that even as the blizzard in- 
 creases in fury the kind Creator makes it 
 easier for them to bear. When the storm 
 ceases the wilderness will awaken into life 
 again. The moose and deer and caribou will 
 rise from their snow-beds and begin to eat the 
 boughs of trees and saplings ; a crust will have 
 formed on the snow, and all the smaller ani- 
 mals, like foxes, lynx and wolves, will begin to 
 travel again, and to prey upon others for food. 
 Until they find running water again snow and 
 ice take the place of liquid drink; warm cav- 
 erns dug in the snow give refuge in place of 
 250
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 thick swamp moss and brush and leaves. All 
 the big animals, like moose, deer and caribou, 
 will soon make 'yards' for themselves by 
 trampling down large areas of snow, and in 
 these yards they will gather in big herds, eat- 
 ing their way through the forests, fighting the 
 wolves and waiting for spring. Oh, life isn't 
 altogether bad for the animals in a deep winter 
 like this!" 
 
 Until noon the hunters were busy cleaning 
 away the snow from the cabin door. As the 
 day advanced the blizzard increased in its 
 fury, until, with the approach of night, it be- 
 came impossible for the hunters to expose 
 themselves to it. For three days the storm 
 continued with only intermittent lulls, but 
 with the dawn of the fourth day the sky was 
 again cloudless, and the sun rose with a blind- 
 ing effulgence. Rod now found himself suf- 
 fering from that sure affliction of every tender- 
 foot in the far North snow-blindness. For 
 only a few minutes at a time could he stand 
 the dazzling reflections of the snow-waste 
 251
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 where nothing but white, flashing, scintillating 
 white, seemingly a vast sea of burning electric 
 points in the sunlight, met his aching eyes. On 
 the second day after the storm, while Wabi 
 was still inuring Rod to the changed world 
 and teaching him how to accustom his eyes to 
 it gradually, Mukoki left the cabin to follow 
 the chasm in his search for the first waterfall. 
 That same day Wabi began his work of dig- 
 ging out and resetting the traps, but it was 
 not until the day following that Rod's eyes 
 would allow him to assist. The task was a 
 most difficult one; rocks and other landmarks 
 were completely hidden, and the lost traps av- 
 eraged one out of four. It was not until the 
 end of the second day after Mukoki's depar- 
 ture that the young hunters finished the moun- 
 tain trap-line, and when they turned their 
 faces toward camp just at the beginning of 
 dusk it was with the expectant hope that they 
 would find the old Indian awaiting them. But 
 Mukoki had not returned. The next day came 
 and passed, and a fourth dawned without his 
 252
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 ars-ival. Hope now gave way to fear. In 
 thiee days Mukoki could travel nearly a hun- 
 dred miles. Was it possible that something 
 had happened to him? Many times there re- 
 curred to Rod a thought of the Woonga in the 
 chasm. Had the mysterious spy, or some of 
 his people, waylaid and killed him? 
 
 Neither of the hunters had a desire to leave 
 camp during the fourth day. Trapping was 
 exceptionally good now on account of the 
 scarcity of animal food and since the big storm 
 they had captured a wolf, two lynx, a red fox 
 and eight mink. But as Mukoki's absence 
 lengthened their enthusiasm grew less. 
 
 In the afternoon, as they were watching, 
 they saw a figure climb wearily to the summit 
 of the hill. 
 
 It was Mukoki. 
 
 With shouts of greeting both youths hur- 
 ried through the snow toward him, not taking 
 time to strap on their snow-shoes. The old In- 
 dian was at their side a couple of minutes lat- 
 er. He smiled in a tired good-natured way, 
 253
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 and answered the eagerness in their eyes with 
 a nod of his head. 
 
 "Found fall. Fift' mile down mountain." 
 
 Once in the cabin he dropped into a chair, 
 exhausted, and both Rod and Wabigoon joined 
 in relieving him of his boots and outer gar- 
 ments. It was evident that Mukoki had been 
 traveling hard, for only once or twice before 
 in his life had Wabi seen him so completely 
 fatigued. Quickly the young Indian had a 
 huge steak broiling over the fire, and Rod put 
 an extra handful of coffee in the pot. 
 
 "Fifty miles!" ejaculated Wabi for the twen- 
 tieth time. "It was an awful jaunt, wasn't it, 
 Muky?" 
 
 "Rough rough like devil through moun- 
 tains," replied Mukoki. "Not like that!" He 
 swung an arm in the direction of the chasm. 
 
 Rod stood silent, open-eyed with wonder. 
 Was it possible that the old warrior had dis- 
 covered a wilder country than that through 
 which he had passed in the chasm? 
 
 "She little fall," went on Mukoki, brighten- 
 254
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 ing as the odor of coffee and meat filled his 
 nostrils. "No bigger than that!" He point- 
 ed to the roof of the cabin. 
 
 Rod was figuring on the table. Soon he 
 looked up. 
 
 "According to Mukoki and the map we are 
 at least two hundred and fifty miles from the 
 third fall," he said. 
 
 Mukoki shrugged his shoulders and his face 
 was crinkled in a suggestive grimace. 
 
 "Hudson Bay," he grunted. 
 
 Wabi turned from his steak in sudden as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 "Doesn't the chasm continue east?" he al- 
 most shouted. 
 
 "No. She turn straight north." 
 
 Rod could not understand the change that 
 came over Wabi's face. 
 
 "Boys," he said finally, "if that is the case 
 I can tell you where the gold is. If the stream 
 in the chasm turns northward it is bound for 
 just one place the Albany River, and the Al- 
 bany River empties into James Bay! The 
 255
 
 THE WOLF HUNTLRS 
 
 third waterfall, where our treasure in gold is 
 waiting for us, is in the very heart of the wild- 
 est and most savage wilderness in North Amer- 
 ica. It is safe. No other man has ever found 
 it. But to get it means one of the longest and 
 most adventurous expeditions we ever planned 
 in all our lives !" 
 
 "Hurrah!" shouted Rod. "Hurrah" 
 
 He had leaped to his feet, forgetful of ev- 
 erything but that their gold was safe, and that 
 their search for it would lead them even to 
 the last fastnesses of the snow-bound and ro- 
 mantic North. 
 
 "Next spring, Wabi !" He held out his hand 
 and the two boys joined their pledge in a 
 hearty grip. 
 
 "Next spring!" reiterated Wabi. 
 
 "And we go in canoe," joined Mukoki. 
 "Creek grow bigger. We make birch-bark 
 canoe at first fall." 
 
 "That is better still," added Wabi. "It will 
 be a glorious trip I We'll take a little vacation 
 at the third fall and run up to James Bay." 
 256
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 "James Bay is practically the same as Hud- 
 son Bay, isn't it?" asked Rod. 
 
 "Yes. I could never see a good reason for 
 falling it James Bay. It is in reality the lowgr 
 end, or tail, of Hudson Bay." 
 
 There was no thought of visiting any of the 
 traps that day, and the next morning Mukoki 
 insisted upon going with Rod, in spite of his 
 four days of hard travel. If he remained in 
 camp his joints would get stiff, he said, and 
 Wabigoon thought he was right. This left 
 the young Indian to care for the trap-line lead- 
 ing into the north. 
 
 Two weeks of ideal trapping weather now 
 followed. It had been more than two months 
 since the hunters had left Wabinosh House, 
 and Rod now began to count the days before 
 they would turn back over the homeward trail. 
 Wabi had estimated that they had sixteen hun- 
 dred dollars' worth of furs and scalps and two 
 hundred dollars in gold, and the white youth 
 was satisfied to return to his mother with his 
 share of six hundred dollars, which was as 
 257
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 much as he would have earned in a year at his 
 old position in the city. Neither did he at- 
 tempt to conceal from Wabi his desire to see 
 Minnetaki ; and his Indian friend, thoroughly 
 pleased at Rod's liking for his sister, took 
 much pleasure in frequent good-natured ban- 
 ter on the subject. In fact, Rod possessed a 
 secret hope that he might induce the princess 
 mother to allow her daughter to accompany 
 himself and Wabi to Detroit, where he knew 
 that his own mother would immediately fall 
 in love with the beautiful little maiden from 
 the North. 
 
 In the third week after the great storm Rod 
 and Mukoki had gone over the mountain trap- 
 line, leaving Wabi in camp. They had de- 
 cided that the following week would see them 
 headed for Wabinosh House, where they 
 would arrive about the first of February, and 
 Roderick was in high spirits. 
 
 On this day they had started toward camp 
 early in the afternoon, and soon after they had 
 passed through the swamp Rod expressed his 
 258
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 intention of ascending the ridge, hoping to 
 get a shot at game somewhere along the moun- 
 tain trail home. Mukoki, however, decided 
 not to accompany him, but to take the nearer 
 and easier route. 
 
 On the top of the mountain Rod paused to 
 take a survey of the country about him. He 
 could see Mukoki, now hardly more than a 
 moving speck on the edge of the plain; north- 
 ward the same fascinating, never-ending wil- 
 derness rolled away under his eyes ; eastward, 
 two miles away, he saw a moving object which 
 he knew was a moose or a caribou ; and west- 
 ward 
 
 Instinctively his eyes sought the location of 
 their camp. Instantly the expectant light 
 went out of his face. He gave an involuntary 
 cry of horror, and there followed it a single, 
 unheard shriek for Mukoki. 
 
 Over the spot where he knew their camp to 
 be now rose a huge volume of smoke. The 
 sky was black with it, and in the terrible mo- 
 ment that followed his piercing cry for Mu- 
 259
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 koki he fancied that he heard the sound of 
 rifle-shots. 
 
 "Mukoki! Mukoki!" he shouted. 
 
 The old Indian was beyond hearing. Quick- 
 ly it occurred to Rod that early in their trip 
 they had arranged rifle signals for calling help 
 two quick shots, and then, after a moment's 
 interval, three others in rapid succession. 
 
 He threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired 
 into the air ; once, twice and then three times 
 as fast as he could press the trigger. 
 
 As he watched Mukoki he reloaded. He 
 saw the Indian pause, turn about and look 
 back toward the mountain. 
 
 Again the thrilling signals for help went 
 echoing over the plains. In a few seconds the 
 sounds had reached Mukoki's ears and the old 
 warrior came swinging back at running speed. 
 
 Rod darted along the ridge to meet him, fir- 
 ing a single shot now and then to let him know 
 where he was, and in fifteen minutes Mukoki 
 came panting up the mountain. 
 
 "The Woongas!" shouted Rod. "They've 
 260
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 attacked the camp! See!" He pointed to the 
 cloud of smoke. "I heard shots I heard 
 shots" 
 
 For an instant the grim pathfinder gazed 
 in the direction of the burning camp, and then 
 without a word he started at terrific speed 
 down the mountain. 
 
 The half-hour race that followed was one 
 of the most exciting experiences of Rod's life. 
 How he kept up with Mukoki was more than 
 he ever could explain afterward. But from 
 the time they struck the old trail he was close 
 at the Indian's heels. When they reached the 
 hill that sheltered the dip his face was 
 scratched and bleeding from contact with 
 swinging bushes; his heart seemed ready to 
 burst from its tremendous exertion ; his breath 
 came in an audible hissing, rattling sound, and 
 he could not speak. But up the hill he plunged 
 behind Mukoki. his rifle cocked and rea-dy. 
 At the top they paused. 
 
 The camp was a smoldering mass of ruins. 
 Not a sign of life was about it.
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 But 
 
 With a gasping, wordless cry Rod caught 
 Mukoki's arm and pointed to an object lying 
 in the snow a dozen yards from where the 
 cabin had been. The warrior had seen it. He 
 turned one look upon the white youth, and it 
 was a look that Rod had never thought could 
 come into the face of a human being. If that 
 was Wabi down there if Wabi had been 
 killed what would Mukoki's vengeance be! 
 His companion was no longer Mukoki as he 
 had known him; he was the savage. There 
 was no mercy, no human instinct, no sugges- 
 tion of the human soul in that one terrible 
 look. If it was Wabi 
 
 They plunged down the hill, into the dip, 
 across the lake, and Mukoki was on his knees 
 beside the figure in the snow. He turned it 
 over and rose without a sound, his battle- 
 glaring eyes peering into the smoking ruins. 
 
 Rod looked, and shuddered. 
 
 The figure in the snow was not Wabi. 
 
 It was a strange, terrible-looking object a 
 262
 
 SNOWED IN 
 
 giant Indian, distorted in death and a half of 
 his head was shot away! 
 
 When he again looked at Mukoki the old 
 Indian was in the midst of the hot ruins, kick- 
 ing about with his booted feet and poking with 
 the butt of his rifle.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 ROD had sunk into the snow close to tl 
 dead man. His endurance was gore 
 and he was as weak as a child. He 
 watched every movement Mukoki made ; saw 
 every start, every glance, and became almost 
 sick with fear whenever the warrior bent down 
 to examine some object. 
 
 Was Wabi dead and burned in those 
 ruins? 
 
 Foot by foot Mukoki searched. His feet 
 became hot; the smell of burning leather filled 
 his nostrils; glowing coals burned through to 
 his feet. But the old Indian was beyond pain. 
 Only two things rilled his soul. One of these 
 was love for Minnetaki ; the other was love for 
 Wabigoon. And there was only one other 
 thing that could take the place of these, and 
 264
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 that was merciless, undying, savage passion 
 passion at any wrong or injury that might be 
 done to them. The Woongas had sneaked 
 upon Wabi. He knew that. They had caught 
 him unaware, like cowards; and perhaps he 
 was dead and in those ruins ! 
 
 He searched until his feet were scorched 
 and burned in a score of places, and then he 
 came out, smoke-blackened, but with some of 
 the terrible look gone out of his face. 
 
 "He no there!" he said, speaking for the first 
 time. 
 
 Again he crouched beside the dead man, and 
 grimaced at Rod with a triumphant, gloating 
 chuckle. 
 
 "Much dead!" he grinned. 
 
 In a moment the grimace had gone from his 
 face, and while Rod still rested he continued 
 his examination of the camp. Close around it 
 the snow was beaten down with human tracks. 
 Mukoki saw where the outlaws had stolen up 
 behind the cabin from the forest and he saw 
 where they had gone away after the attack. 
 265
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Five had come down from the cedars, only 
 four had gone away! 
 
 Where was Wabi? 
 
 If he had been captured, and taken with the 
 Indians, there would have been five trails. 
 Rod understood this as well as Mukoki, and 
 he also understood why his companion went 
 back to make another investigation of the 
 smoldering ruins. This second search, how- 
 ever, convinced the Indian that Wabi's body 
 had not been thrown into the fire. There was 
 only one conclusion to draw. The youth had 
 made a desperate fight, had killed one of the 
 outlaws, and after being wounded in the con- 
 flict had been carried off bodily. Wabi and his 
 captors could not be more than two or three 
 miles away. A quick pursuit would probably 
 overtake them within an hour. 
 
 Mukoki came to Rod's side. 
 
 "Me follow kill!" he said. "Me kill so 
 many quick!" He pointed toward the four 
 trails. "You stay " 
 
 Rod clambered to his feet. 
 266
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 "You mean we'll kill 'em, Muky," he broke 
 in. "I can follow you again. Set the pace!" 
 
 There came the click of the safety on Mu- 
 koki's rifle, and Rod, following suit, cocked 
 his own. 
 
 "Much quiet," whispered the Indian when 
 they had come to the farther side of the dip. 
 "No noise come up still shoot!" 
 
 The snow-shoe trail of the outlaws turned 
 from the dip into the timbered bottoms to the 
 north, and Mukoki, partly crouched, his rifle 
 always to the front, followed swiftly. They 
 ,iad not progressed a hundred yards into the 
 plain when the old hunter stopped, a puzzled 
 look in his face. He pointed to one of the 
 snow-shoe trails which was much deeper than 
 the others. 
 
 "Heem carry Wabi," he spoke softly. 
 "But " His eyes gleamed in sudden excite- 
 ment. "They go slow! They no hurry! Walk 
 very slow! Take much time!" 
 
 Rod now observed for the first time that the 
 individual tracks made by the outlaws were 
 267
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 much shorter than their own, showing that in- 
 stead of being in haste they were traveling 
 quite slowly. This was a mystery which was 
 not easy to explain. Did the Woongas not fear 
 pursuit? Was it possible that they believed the 
 hunters would not hasten to give them battle? 
 Or were they relying upon the strength of 
 their numbers, or, perhaps, planning some 
 kind of ambush? 
 
 Mukoki's advance now became slower and 
 more cautious. His keen eyes took in every 
 tree and clump of bushes ahead. Only when 
 he could see the trail leading straight away for 
 a considerable distance did he hasten the pur- 
 suit. Never for an instant did he turn his head 
 to Rod. But suddenly he caught sight of some- 
 thing that brought from him a guttural sound 
 of astonishment. A fifth track had joined the 
 trail ! Without questioning Rod knew what it 
 meant. Wabi had been lowered from the back 
 of his captor and was now walking. He was 
 on snow-shoes and his strides were quite even 
 268
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 and of equal length with the others. Evidently 
 he was not badly wounded. 
 
 Half a mile ahead of them was a high hill 
 and between them and this hill was a dense 
 growth of cedar, filled with tangled windfalls. 
 It was an ideal place for an ambush, but the 
 old warrior did not hesitate. The Woongas 
 had followed a moose trail, with which they 
 were apparently well acquainted, and in this 
 traveling was easy. But Rod gave an involun- 
 tary shudder as he gazed ahead into the 
 chaotic tangle through which it led. At any 
 moment he expected to hear the sharp crack of 
 a rifle and to see Mukoki tumble forward upon 
 his face. Or there might be a fusillade of shots 
 and he himself might feel the burning sting 
 that comes with rifle death. At the distance 
 from which they would shoot the outlaws 
 could not miss. Did not Mukoki realize this? 
 Maddened by the thought that his beloved 
 Wabi was in the hands of merciless enemies, 
 was the old pathfinder becoming reckless? 
 269
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 But when he looked into his companion's 
 face and saw the cool deadly resolution glitter- 
 ing in his eyes, the youth's confidence was re- 
 stored. For some reason Mukoki knew that 
 there would not be an ambush. 
 
 Over the moose-run the two traveled more 
 swiftly and soon they came to the foot of the 
 high hill. Up this the Woongas had gone, 
 their trail clearly defined and unswerving in 
 its direction. Mukoki now paused with a 
 warning gesture to Rod, and pointed down at 
 one of the snow-shoe tracks. The snow was 
 still crumbling and falling about the edges of 
 this imprint. 
 
 "Ver' close!" whispered the Indian. 
 
 It was not the light of the game hunt in Mu- 
 koki's eyes now; there was a trembling, ter- 
 rible tenseness in his whispered words. He 
 crept up the hill with Rod so near that he 
 could have touched him. At the summit of 
 that hill he dragged himself up like an ani- 
 mal, and then, crouching, ran swiftly to the 
 opposite side, his rifle within six inches of his 
 270
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 shoulder. In the plain below them was un- 
 folded to their eyes a scene which, despite his 
 companion's warning, wrung an exclamation 
 of dismay from Roderick's lips. 
 
 Plainly visible to them in the edge of the 
 plain were the outlaw Woongas and their cap- 
 tive. They were in single file, with Wabi fol- 
 lowing the leader, and the hunters perceived 
 that their comrade's arms were tied behind 
 him. 
 
 But it was another sight that caused Rod's 
 dismay. 
 
 From an opening beside a small lake half a 
 mile beyond the Indians below there rose the 
 smoke of two camp-fires, and Mukoki and he 
 could make out at least a score of figures about 
 these fires. 
 
 Within rifle-shot of them, almost within 
 shouting distance, there was not only the small 
 war party that had attacked the camp, but a 
 third of the fighting men of the Woonga tribe! 
 Rod understood their terrible predicament. 
 To attack the outlaws in an effort to rescue 
 
 271
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi meant that an overwhelming force 
 would be upon them within a few minutes ; to 
 allow Wabi to remain a captive meant he 
 shuddered at the thought of what it might 
 mean, for he knew of the merciless vengeance 
 of the Woongas upon the House of Wabinosh. 
 
 And while he was thinking of these things 
 the faithful old warrior beside him had al- 
 ready formed his plan of attack. He would die 
 with Wabi, gladly a fighting, terrible slave 
 to devotion to the last; but he would not see 
 Wabi die alone. A whispered word, a last 
 look at his rifle, and Mukoki hurried down 
 into the plains. 
 
 At the foot of the hill he abandoned the out- 
 law trail and Rod realized that his plan was 
 to sweep swiftly in a semicircle, surprising the 
 Woongas from the front or side instead of ap- 
 proaching from the rear. Again he was taxed 
 to his utmost to keep pace with the avenging 
 Mukoki. Less than ten minutes later the In- 
 dian peered cautiously from behind a clump 
 272
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 of hazel, and then looked back at Rod, a smile 
 of satisfaction on his face. 
 
 "They come," he breathed, just loud enough 
 to hear. "They come!" 
 
 Rod peered over his shoulder, and his heart 
 smote mightily within him. Unconscious of 
 their peril the Woongas were approaching 
 two hundred yards away. Mukoki gazed into 
 his companion's face and his eyes were almost 
 pleading as he laid a bronzed crinkled hand 
 upon the white boy's arm. 
 
 "You take front man ahead of Wabi," he 
 whispered. "I take other t'ree. See that tree 
 heem birch, with bark off? Shoot heem there. 
 You no tremble? You no miss?" 
 
 "No," replied Rod. He gripped the red 
 hand in his own. "I'll kill, Mukoki. I'll kill 
 him dead in one shot I" 
 
 They could hear the voices of the outlaws 
 now, and soon they saw that Wabi's face was 
 disfigured with blood. 
 
 Step by step, slowly and carelessly, the 
 273
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Woongas approached. They were fifty yards 
 from the marked birch now forty thirty 
 now only ten. Roderick's rifle was at his 
 shoulder. Already it held a deadly bead en 
 the breast of the leader. 
 
 Five yards more 
 
 The outlaw passed behind the tree ; he came 
 out, and the young hunter pressed the trigger. 
 The leader stopped in his snow-shoes. Even 
 before he had crumpled down into a lifeless 
 heap in the snow a furious volley of shots spat 
 forth from Mukoki's gun, and when Rod 
 swung his own rifle to join again in the fray 
 he found that only one of the four was stand- 
 ing, and he with his hands to his breast as he 
 tottered about to fall. But from some one of 
 those who had fallen there had gone out a 
 wild, terrible cry, and even as Rod and Mu- 
 koki rushed out to free Wabigoon there came 
 an answering yell from the direction of the 
 Woonga camp. 
 
 Mukoki's knife was in his hand by the time 
 274
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 he reached Wabi, and with one or two slashes 
 he had released his hands. 
 
 "You hurt bad?" he asked. 
 
 "No no!" replied Wabi. "I knew you'd 
 come, boys dear old friends!" 
 
 As he spoke he turned to the fallen leader 
 and Rod saw him take possession of the rifle 
 and revolver which he had lost in their fight 
 with the Woongas weeks before. Mukoki had 
 already spied their precious pack of furs on 
 one of the outlaw's backs, and he flung it over 
 his own. 
 
 "You saw the camp?" queried Wabi ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "They will be upon us in a minute! Which 
 way, Mukoki?" 
 
 "The chasm!" half shouted Rod. "The 
 chasm! If we can reach the chasm " 
 
 "The chasm!" reiterated Wabigoon. 
 
 Mukoki had fallen behind and motioned for 
 Wabi and Rod to take the lead. Even now he 
 275
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 was determined to take the brunt of danger by 
 bringing up the rear. 
 
 There was no time for argument and Wabi- 
 goon set off at a rapid pace. From behind 
 there came the click of shells as the Indian 
 loaded his rifle on the run. While the other 
 two had been busy at the scene of the ambush 
 Rod had replaced his empty shell, and now, 
 as he led, Wabi examined the armament that 
 had been stolen from them by the outlaws. 
 
 "How many shells have you got, Rod?" he 
 asked over his shoulder. 
 
 "Forty-nine." 
 
 "There's only four left in this belt besides 
 five in the gun," called back the Indian youth. 
 "Give me some." 
 
 Without halting Rod plucked a dozen car- 
 tridges from his belt and passed them on. 
 
 Now they had reached the hill. At its sum- 
 mit they paused to recover their breath and 
 take a look at the camp. 
 
 The fires were deserted. A quarter of a mile 
 out on the plain they saw half a dozen of their 
 276
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 pursuers speeding toward the hill. The rest 
 were already concealed in the nearer thickets 
 of the bottom. 
 
 "We must beat them to the chasm 1" said the 
 young Indian. 
 
 As he spoke Wabi turned and led the wa^ 
 again. 
 
 Rod's heart fell like a lump within him. We 
 must beat them to the chasm 1 Those words of 
 Wabi's brought him to the terrible realization 
 that his own powers of endurance were rapidly 
 ebbing. His race behind Mukoki to the burn- 
 ing cabin had seemed to rob the life from the 
 muscles of his limbs, and each step now added 
 to his weakness. And the chasm was a mile be- 
 yond the dip, and the entrance into that chasm 
 still two miles farther. Three miles! Could 
 he hold out? 
 
 He heard Mukoki thumping along behind 
 him; ahead of him Wabi was unconsciously 
 widening the distance between them. He 
 made a powerful effort to close the breach, but 
 it was futile. Then from close in his rear there 
 277
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 came a warning halloo from the old Indian, 
 and Wabi turned. 
 
 "He run t'ree mile to burning cabin," said 
 Mukoki. "He no make chasm!" 
 
 Rod was deathly white and breathing so 
 hard that he could not speak. The quick- 
 witted Wabi at once realized their situation. 
 
 "There is just one thing for us to do, Muky. 
 We must stop the Woongas at the dip. We'll 
 fire down upon them from the top of the hill 
 beyond the lake. We can drop three or four 
 of them and they won't dare to come straight 
 after us then. They will think we are going to 
 fight them from there and will take time to 
 sneak around us. Meanwhile we'll get a good 
 lead in the direction of the chasm." 
 
 He led off again, this time a little slower. 
 Three minutes later they entered into the dip, 
 crossed it safely, and were already at the foot 
 of the hill, when from the opposite side of the 
 hollow there came a triumphant blood-cur- 
 dling yell. 
 
 "Hurry!" shouted Wabi. "They see us!" 
 278
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 Even as he spoke there came the crack of a 
 rifle. 
 
 Bzzzzzzz-inggggg ! 
 
 For the first time in his life Rod heard that 
 terrible death-song of a bullet close to his head 
 and saw the snow fly up a dozen feet beyond 
 the young Indian. 
 
 For an interval of twenty seconds there was 
 silence; then there came another shot, and 
 after that three others in quick succession. 
 Wabi stumbled. 
 
 "Not hit!" he called, scrambling to his feet. 
 "Confound that rock!" 
 
 He rose to the hilltop with Rod close be- 
 hind him, and from the opposite side of the 
 lake there came a fusillade of half a dozen 
 shots. Instinctively Rod dropped upon his 
 face. And in that instant, as he lay in the snow, 
 he heard the sickening thud of a bullet and a 
 sharp sudden cry of pain from Mukoki. But 
 the old warrior came up beside him and they 
 passed into the shelter of the hilltop together. 
 
 "I& it bad? Is it bad, Mukoki? Is it bad" 
 279
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi was almost sobbing as he turned and 
 threw an arm around the old Indian. "Are 
 you hit bad?" 
 
 Mukoki staggered, but caught himself. 
 
 "In here," he said, putting a hand to his left 
 shoulder. "She no bad." He smiled, cour- 
 age gleaming with pain in his eyes, and swung 
 off the light pack of furs. "We give 'em 
 devil here!" 
 
 Crouching, they peered over the edge of the 
 hill. Half a dozen Woongas had already left 
 the cedars and were following swiftly across 
 the open. Others broke from the cover, and 
 Wabi saw that a number of them were without 
 snow-shoes. He exultantly drew Mukoki's at- 
 tention to this fact, but the latter did not lift 
 his eyes. In a few moments he spoke. 
 
 "Now we give 'em devil !" 
 
 Eight pursuers on snow-shoes were in the 
 open of the dip. Six of them had reached the 
 lake. Rod held his fire. He knew that it was 
 now more important for him to recover his 
 wind than to fight, and he drew great drafts 
 280
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 of air into his lungs while his two comrades 
 leveled their rifles. He could fire after they 
 were done if it was necessary. 
 
 There was slow deadly deliberation in the 
 way Mukoki and Wabigoon sighted along 
 their rifle-barrels. Mukoki fired first; one 
 shot, two with a second's interval between 
 and an outlaw half-way across the lake pitched 
 forward into the snow. As he fell, Wabi fired 
 once, and there came to their ears shriek after 
 shriek of agony as a second pursuer fell with 
 a shattered leg. At the cries and shots of battle 
 the hot blood rushed through Rod's veins, and 
 with an excited shout of defiance he brought 
 his rifle to his shoulder and in unison the three 
 guns sent fire and death into the dip below. 
 
 Only three of the eight Woongas remained 
 and they had turned and were running toward 
 the shelter of the cedars. 
 
 "Hurrah 1" shouted Rod. 
 
 In his excitement he got upon his feet and 
 sent his fifth and last shot after the fleeing out- 
 laws. 
 
 281
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 "Hurrah! Wow! Let's go after 'em!" 
 
 "Get down!" commanded Wabi. "Load in 
 a hurry!" 
 
 Clink clink clink sounded the new shells 
 as Mukoki and Wabigoon thrust them into 
 their magazines. Five seconds more and they 
 were sending a terrific fusillade of shots into 
 the edge of the cedars ten in all and by the 
 time he had reloaded his own gun Rod could 
 see nothing to shoot at. 
 
 "That will hold them for a while," spoke 
 Wabi. "Most of them came in too big a hurry, 
 and without their snow-shoes, Muky. We'll 
 beat them to the chasm easy!" He put an 
 arm around the shoulders of the old Indian, 
 who was still lying upon his face in the snow. 
 "Let me see, Muky let me see " 
 
 "Chasm first," replied Mukoki. "She no 
 bad. No hit bone. No bleed much." 
 
 From behind Rod could see that Mukoki's 
 coat was showing a growing blotch of red. 
 
 "Are you sure you can reach the chasm?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 282
 
 THE RESCUE OF WABIGOON 
 
 In proof of his assertion the wounded In- 
 dian rose to his feet and approached the pack 
 of furs. Wabi was ahead of him, and placed it 
 upon his own shoulders. 
 
 "You and Rod lead the way," he said. "You 
 two know where to find the opening into the 
 chasm. I've never been there." 
 
 Mukoki started down the hill, and Rod, 
 close behind, could hear him breathing heav- 
 ily; there was no longer fear for himself in his 
 soul, but for that grim faithful warrior ahead, 
 who would die in his tracks without a murmur 
 and with a smile of triumph and fearlessness 
 on his lips. 
 
 283
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 RODERICK HOLDS THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 THEY traveled more slowly now and 
 Rod found his strength returning. 
 When they reached the second ridge 
 he took Mukoki by the arm and assisted him 
 up,, and the old Indian made no demur. This 
 spoke more strongly of his hurt than words. 
 There was still no sign of their enemies be- 
 hind. From the top of the second ridge they 
 could look back upon a quarter of a mile of 
 the valley below, and it was here that Rod sug- 
 gested that he remain on watch for a few min- 
 utes while Wabigoon went on with Mukoki. 
 The young hunters could see that the Indian 
 was becoming weaker at every step, and Mu- 
 koki could no longer conceal this weakness in 
 spite of the tremendous efforts he made to ap- 
 pear natural. 
 
 284
 
 THE WOONGAS Al BAY 
 
 "I believe it is bad," whispered Wabi to 
 Rod, his face strangely white. "I believe it is 
 worse than we think. He is bleeding hard. 
 Your idea is a good one. Watch here, and if 
 the Woongas show up in the valley open fire 
 on them. I'll leave you my gun, too, so they'll 
 think we are going to give them another fight. 
 That will keep them back for a time. I'm go- 
 ing to stop Muky up here a little way and dress 
 his wound. He will bleed to death if I don't." 
 
 "And then go on," added Rod. "Don't stop 
 if you hear me fire, but hurry on to the chasm. 
 I know the way and will join you. I'm as 
 strong as I ever was now, and can catch up 
 with you easily with Mukoki traveling as 
 slowly as he does." 
 
 During this brief conversation Mukoki had 
 continued his way along the ridge and Wabi 
 hurried to overtake him. Meanwhile Rod 
 concealed himself behind a rock, from which 
 vantage-point he could see the whole of that 
 part of the valley across which they had come. 
 
 He looked at his watch and in tense anxiety 
 285
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 counted every minute after that. He allowed 
 ten minutes for the dressing of Mukoki's 
 wound. Every second gained from then on 
 would be priceless. For a quarter of an hour 
 he kept his eyes with ceaseless vigilance upon 
 their back trail. Surely the Woongas had se- 
 cured their snow-shoes by this time! Was it 
 possible that they had given up the pursuit 
 that their terrible experience in the dip had 
 made them afraid of further battle? Rod an- 
 swered this question in the negative. He was 
 sure that the Woongas knew that Wabi was 
 the son of the factor of Wabinosh House. 
 Therefore they would make every effort to 
 recapture him, even though they had to follow 
 far and a dozen lives were lost before that feat 
 was accomplished. 
 
 A movement in the snow across the valley 
 caught Rod's eyes. He straightened himself, 
 and his breath came quickly. Two figures had 
 appeared in the open. Another followed close 
 behind, and after that there came others, until 
 the waiting youth had counted sixteen. They 
 286
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 were all on snow-shoes, following swiftly ove* 
 the trail of the fugitives. 
 
 The young hunter looked at his watch again. 
 Twenty-five minutes had passed. Mukoki and 
 Wabigoon had secured a good start. If he 
 could only hold the outlaws in the valley for a 
 quarter of an hour more just fifteen short 
 minutes they would almost have reached the 
 entrance into the chasm. 
 
 Alone, with his own life and those of his 
 comrades depending upon him, the boy was 
 cool. There was no tremble in his hands to de- 
 stroy the accuracy of his rifle-fire, no blurring 
 excitement or fear in his brain to trouble his 
 judgment of distance and range. He made up 
 his mind that he would not fire until they had 
 come within four hundred yards. Between 
 that distance and three hundred he was sure 
 |he could drop at least one or two of them. 
 
 He measured his range by a jackpine stub, 
 
 and when two of the Woongas had reached 
 
 and passed that stub he fired. He saw the snow 
 
 thrown up six feet in front of the leader. He 
 
 287
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 fired again, and again, and one of the two 
 shots, a little high, struck the second outlaw. 
 The leader had darted back to the shelter of 
 the stub and Rod sent another bullet whizzing 
 past his ears. His fifth he turned into the main 
 body of the pursuers, and then, catching up 
 Wabi's rifle, he poured a hail of five bullets 
 among them in as many seconds. 
 
 The effect was instantaneous. The outlaws 
 scattered in retreat and Rod saw that a second 
 figure was lying motionless in the snow. He 
 began to reload his rifles and by the time he 
 had finished the Woongas had separated and 
 were running to the right and the left of him. 
 For the last time he looked at his watch. Wabi 
 and Mukoki had been gone thirty-five min- 
 utes. 
 
 The boy crept back from his rock, straight- 
 ened himself, and followed in their trail. He 
 mentally calculated that it would be ten min- 
 utes before the Woongas, coming up from thd 
 sides and rear, would discover his flight, and 
 by that time he would have nearly a mile the 
 288
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 start of them. He saw, without stopping, 
 where Wabi had dressed Mukoki's wound. 
 There were spots of blood and a red rag upon 
 the snow. Half a mile farther on the two had 
 paused again, and this time he knew that M u- 
 koki had stopped to rest. From now on they 
 had rested every quarter of a mile or so, and 
 soon Roderick saw them toiling slowly 
 through the snow ahead of him. 
 
 He ran up, panting, anxious. 
 
 "How "he began. 
 
 Wabi looked at him grimly. 
 
 "How much farther, Rod?" he asked. 
 
 "Not more than half a mile." 
 
 Wabi motioned for him to take Mukoki's 
 other arm. 
 
 "He has bled a good deal," he said. There 
 was a hardness in his voice that made Rod 
 shudder, and he caught his breath as Wabi 
 shot him a meaning glance behind the old war- 
 rior's doubled shoulders. 
 
 They went faster now, almost carrying their 
 wounded comrade between them. Suddenly 
 289
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi paused, threw his rifle to his shoulder, 
 and fired. A few yards ahead a huge white 
 rabbit kicked in his death struggles in the 
 snow. 
 
 "If we do reach the chasm Mukoki must 
 have something to eat," he said. 
 
 "We'll reach it!" gasped Rod. "We'll reach 
 it! There's the woods. We go down there!" 
 
 They almost ran, with Mukoki's snow-shod 
 feet dragging between them, and five minutes 
 later they were carrying the half-unconscious 
 Indian down the steep side of the mountain. 
 At its foot Wabi turned, and his eyes flashed 
 with vengeful hatred. 
 
 "Now, you devils !" he shouted up defiantly. 
 "Now!" 
 
 Mukoki aroused himself for a few moments 
 and Rod helped him back to the shelter of the 
 chasm wall. He found a nook between great 
 masses of rock, almost clear of snow, and left 
 him there while he hurried back to Wabigoon. 
 
 "You stand on guard here, Rod," said the 
 latter. "We must cook that rabbit and get 
 290
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 some life back into Mukoki. I think he has 
 stopped bleeding, but I am going to look 
 again. The wound isn't fatal, but it has weak- 
 ened him. If we can get something hot into 
 him I believe he will be able to walk again. 
 Did you have anything left over from your 
 dinner on the trail to-day?" 
 
 Rod unstrapped the small pack in which the 
 hunters carried their food while on the trail, 
 and which had been upon his shoulders since 
 noon. 
 
 "There is a double handful of coffee, a cup- 
 ful of tea, plenty of salt and a little bread," he 
 said. 
 
 "Good! Few enough supplies for three peo- 
 ple in this kind of a wilderness but they'll 
 save Mukoki!" 
 
 Wabi went back, while Rod, sheltered be- 
 hind a rock, watched the narrow incline into 
 the chasm. He almost hoped the Woongas 
 would dare to attempt a descent, for he was 
 sure that he and Wabi would have them at a 
 terrible disadvantage and with their revolvers 
 
 2QI
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 three rifles could inflict a decisive blow 
 upon them before they reached the bottom. 
 But he saw no sign of their enemies. He heard 
 no sound from above. Yet he knew that the 
 outlaws were very near only waiting for the 
 protecting darkness of night. 
 
 He heard the crackling of Wabi's fire and 
 the odor of coffee came to him; and Wabi, as* 
 sured that their presence was known to the 
 Woongas, began whistling cheerily. In a few 
 minutes he rejoined Rod behind the rock. 
 
 "They will attack us as soon as it gets good 
 and dark," he said coolly. "That is, if they can 
 find us. As soon as they are no longer able to 
 see down into the chasm we will find some 
 kind of a hiding-place. Mukoki will be able 
 to travel then." 
 
 A memory of the cleft in the chasm wall 
 came to Rod and he quickly described it to his 
 companion. It was an ideal hiding-place at 
 night, and if Mukoki was strong enough they 
 could steal up out of the chasm and secure a 
 long start into the south before the Woongas 
 292
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 discovered their flight in the morning. There 
 was just one chance of failure. If the spy 
 whose trail had revealed the break in the 
 mountain to Rod was not among the outlaws 7 
 wounded or dead the cleft might be guarded, 
 or the Woongas themselves might employ it in 
 making a descent upon them. 
 
 "It's worth the risk anyway," said Wabi. 
 "The chances are even that your outlaw ran 
 across the fissure by accident and that his com- 
 panions are not aware of its existence. And 
 they'll not follow our trail down the chasm 
 to-night, I'll wager. In the cover of darkness 
 they will steal down among the rocks and then 
 wait for daylight. Meanwhile we can be trav- 
 eling southward and when they catch up with 
 us we will give them another fight if they want 
 it" 
 
 "We can start pretty soon?" 
 
 "Within an hour." 
 
 For some time the two stood in silent watch- 
 fulness. Suddenly Rod asked: 
 
 "Where is Wolf?" 
 
 293
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Wabi laughed, softly, exultantly. 
 
 "Gone back to his people, Rod. He will be 
 crying in the wild hunt-pack to-night. Good 
 old Wolf!" The laugh left his lips and there 
 was a tremble of regret in his voice. "The 
 Woongas came from the back of the cabin 
 took me by surprise and we had it hot and 
 heavy for a few minutes. We fell back where 
 Wolf was tied and just as I knew they'd got 
 me sure I cut his babeesh with the knife I had 
 in my hand." 
 
 "Didr/'t he show tight?" 
 
 "For a minute. Then one of the Indians shot 
 at him and he hiked off into the woods." 
 
 "Queer they didn't wait for Mukoki and 
 me," mused Rod. "Why didn't they ambush 
 us?" 
 
 "Because they didn't want you, and they 
 were sure they'd reach their camp before you 
 took up the trail. I was their prize. With me 
 in their power they figured on communicating 
 with you and Mukoki and sending you back 
 to the Post with their terms. They would have 
 294
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 bled father to his last cent and then killed 
 me. Oh, they talked pretty plainly to me when 
 they thought they had me !" 
 
 There came a noise from above them and 
 the young hunters held their rifles in readiness. 1 
 Nearer and nearer came the crashing sound, 
 until a small boulder shot past them into the 
 chasm. 
 
 "They're up there," grinned Wabi, lowering 
 his gun. "That was an accident, but you'd bet- 
 ter keep your eyes open. I'll bet the whole 
 tribe feel like murdering the fellow who 
 rolled over that stone !" 
 
 He crept cautiously back to Mukoki, and 
 Rod crouched with his face to the narrow trail 
 leading down from the top of the mountain. 
 Deep shadows were beginning to lurk among 
 the trees and he was determined that any 
 movement there would draw his fire. Fifteen 
 minutes later Wabi returned, eating raven- 
 ously at a big hind quarter of broiled rabbit. 
 
 "I've had my coffee," he greeted. "Go back 
 and eat and drink, and build the fire up high, 
 295
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 Don't mind me when I shoot. I am going to 
 fire just to let the Woongas know we are on 
 guard, and after that we'll hustle for that 
 break in the mountain." 
 
 Rod found Mukoki with a chunk of rabbit 
 in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. 
 The wounded Indian smiled with something 
 like the old light in his eyes and a mighty load 
 was lifted from Rod's heart. 
 
 "You're better?" he asked. 
 
 "Fine!" replied Mukoki. "No much hurt. 
 Good fight some more. Wabi say, 'No, you 
 stay.' " His face became a map of grimaces to 
 show his disapproval of Wabi's command. 
 
 Rod helped himself to the meat and coffee. 
 He was hungry, but after he was done there re- 
 mained some of the rabbit and a biscuit and 
 these he placed in his pack for further use. 
 Soon after this there came two shots from the 
 i rock and before the echoes had died away 
 down the chasm Wabi approached through 
 the gathering gloom. 
 
 It was easy for the hunters to steal along the 
 296
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 concealment of the mountain wall, and even if 
 there had been prying eyes on the opposite 
 ridge they could not have penetrated the thick- 
 ening darkness in the bottom of the gulch. For 
 some time the flight was continued with ex- 
 treme caution, no sound being made to arouse 
 the suspicion of any outlaw who might be 
 patrolling the edge of the precipice. At the 
 end of half an hour Mukoki, who was in the 
 lead that he might set a pace according to his 
 strength, quickened his steps. Rod was close 
 beside him now, his eyes ceaselessly searching 
 the chasm wall for signs that would tell him 
 when they were nearing the rift. Suddenly 
 Wabi halted in his tracks and gave a low hiss 
 that stopped them. 
 
 "It's snowing!" he whispered. 
 
 Mukoki lifted his face. Great solitary flakes 
 of snow fell upon it. 
 
 "She snow hard soon. Mebby cover snow- 
 shoe trails!" 
 
 "And if it does we're safe!" There was a 
 vibrant joy in Wabi's voice. 
 297
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 For a full minute Mukoki held his face to 
 the sky. 
 
 "Hear small wind over chasm," he said. 
 "She come from south. She snow hard now 
 up there !" 
 
 They went on, stirred by new hope. Rod 
 could feel that the flakes were coming thicker. 
 The three now kept close to the chasm wall in 
 their search for the rift. How changed all 
 things were at night! Rod's heart throbbed 
 now with hope, now with doubt, now with ac- 
 tual fear. Was it possible that he could not 
 find it? Had they passed it among some of 
 the black shadows behind? He saw no rock 
 that he recognized, no overhanging crag, no 
 sign to guide him. He stopped, and his voice 
 betrayed his uneasiness as he asked: 
 
 "How far do you think we have come?" 
 
 Mukoki had gone a few steps ahead, and be- 
 fore Wabi answered he called softly to them 
 from close up against the chasm wall. They 
 hurried to him and found him standing beside 
 the rift. 
 
 298
 
 THE WOONGAS AT BAY 
 
 "Here!" 
 
 Wabi handed his rifle to Rod. 
 
 "I'm going up first," he announced. "If 
 the coast is clear I'll whistle down." 
 
 For a few moments Mukoki and Rod could 
 hear him as he crawled up the fissure. Then 
 all was silent. A quarter of an hour passed, 
 and a low whistle came to their ears. Another 
 ten minutes and the three stood together at the 
 top of the mountain, Rod and the wounded 
 Mukoki breathing hard from their exertions. 
 
 For a time the three sat down in the snow 
 and waited, watched, listened ; and from Rod's 
 heart there went up something that was al- 
 most a prayer, for it was snowing snowing 
 hard, and it seemed to him that the storm was 
 something which God had specially directed 
 should fall in their path that it might shield 
 them and bring them safely home. 
 
 And when he rose to his feet Wabi was still 
 silent, and the three gripped hands in mute 
 thankfulness at their deliverance. 
 
 Still speechless, they turned instinctively 
 299
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 for a moment back to the dark desolation be- 
 yond the chasm the great, white wilderness 
 in which they had passed so many adventurous 
 yet happy weeks ; and as they gazed into the 
 chaos beyond the second mountain there came 
 to them the lonely, wailing howl of a wolf. 
 
 "I wonder," said Wabi softly. "I wonder- 
 if that is Wolf ?" 
 
 And then, Indian file, they trailed into the 
 south.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 FROM the moment that the adventurers 
 turned their backs upon the Woonga 
 country Mukoki was in command. 
 With the storm in their favor everything else 
 now depended upon the craft of the old path- 
 finder. There was neither moon nor wind to 
 guide them, and even Wabi felt that he was 
 not competent to strike a straight trail in a 
 strange country and a night storm. But Mu- 
 koki, still a savage in the ways of the wilder- 
 ness, seemed possessed of that mysterious sixth 
 sense which is known as the sense of orienta- 
 tion that almost supernatural instinct which 
 guides the carrier pigeon as straight as a die 
 to its home-cote hundreds of miles- away. 
 Again and again during that thrilling night's 
 flight Wabi or Rod would ask the Indian 
 301
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 where Wabinosh House lay, and he would 
 point out its direction to them without hesita- 
 tion. And each time it seemed to the city 
 youth that he pointed a different way, and it 
 proved to him how easy it was to become hope- 
 lessly lost in the wilderness. 
 
 Not until midnight did they pause to rest. 
 They had traveled slowly but steadily and 
 Wabi figured that they had covered fifteen 
 miles. Five miles behind them their trail was 
 completely obliterated by the falling snow. 
 Morning would betray to the Woongas no sign 
 of the direction taken by the fugitives. 
 
 "They will believe that we have struck di- 
 rectly westward for the Post," said Wabi. 
 "To-morrow night we'll be fifty miles apart." 
 
 During this stop a small fire was built be- 
 hind a fallen log and the hunters refreshed 
 themselves with a pot of strong coffee and what 
 little remained of the rabbit and biscuits. The 
 march was then resumed. 
 
 It seemed to Rod that they had climbed an 
 interminable number of ridges and had picked 
 302
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 their way through an interminable number 01 
 swampy bottoms between them, and he, even 
 more than Mukoki, was relieved when they 
 struck the easier traveling of open plains. In 
 fact, Mukoki seemed scarcely to give a thought 
 to his wound and Roderick was almost ready 
 to drop in his tracks by the time a halt was 
 called an hour before dawn. The old warrior 
 was confident that they were now well out of 
 danger and a rousing camp-fire was built in 
 the shelter of a thick growth of spruce. 
 
 "Spruce partridge in mornin'," affirmed 
 Mukoki. "Plenty here for breakfast." 
 
 "How do you know?" asked Rod, whcse 
 hunger was ravenous. 
 
 "Fine thick spruce, all in shelter of dip," 
 explained the Indian. "Birds winter here." 
 
 Wabi had unpacked the furs, and the larger 
 of these, including six lynx and three espe- 
 cially fine wolf skins, he divided into three 
 piles. 
 
 "They'll make mighty comfortable beds if 
 you keep close enough to the fire," he ex- 
 303
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 plained. "Get a few spruce boughs, Rod, and 
 cover them over with one of the wolf skins. 
 The two lynx pelts will make the warmest 
 blankets you ever had." 
 
 Rod quickly availed himself of this idea, 
 and within half an hour he was sleeping 
 soundly. Mukoki and Wabigoon, more inured 
 to the hardships of the wilderness, took only 
 brief snatches of slumber, one or both awaken- 
 ing now and then to replenish the fire. As soon 
 as it was light enough the two Indians went 
 quietly out into the spruce with their guns, and 
 their shotf* a little later awakened Rod. When 
 they returned they brought three partridges 
 with them. 
 
 "There are dozens of them among the 
 spruce," said Wabi, "but just now we do not 
 want to shoot any oftener than is absolutely 
 necessary. Have you noticed our last night's 
 trail?" 
 
 Rod rubbed his eyes, thus confessing that as 
 yet he had not been out from between his furs. 
 
 "Well, if you go out there in the open for a 
 304
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 hundred yards you won't find it," finished his 
 comrade. "The snow has covered it com- 
 pletely." 
 
 Although they lacked everything but meat, 
 this breakfast in the spruce thicket was one of 
 the happiest of the entire trip, and when the 
 three hunters were done each had eaten of his 
 partridge until only the bones were left. 
 There was now little cause for fear, for it was 
 still snowing and their enemies were twenty- 
 five miles to the north of them. This fact did 
 not deter the adventurers from securing an 
 early start, however, and they traveled south- 
 ward through the storm until noon, when they 
 built a camp of spruce and made preparations 
 to rest until the following day. 
 
 "We must be somewhere near the Kenogami 
 trail," Wabi remarked to Mukoki. "We may 
 have passed it." 
 
 "No pass it," replied Mukoki. "She off 
 there." He pointed to the south. 
 
 "You see the Kenogami trail is a sled trail 
 leading from the little town of Nipigon, on 
 305
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 the railroad, to Kenogami House, which is a 
 Hudson Bay Post at the upper end of Long 
 Lake," explained Wabi to his white com- 
 panion. "The factor of Kenogami is a great 
 friend of ours and we have visited back and 
 forth often, but I've been over the Kenogami 
 trail only once. Mukoki has traveled it many 
 times." 
 
 Several rabbits were killed before dinner. 
 No other hunting was done during the after- 
 noon, most of which was passed in sleep by the 
 exhausted adventurers. When Rod awoke he 
 found that it had stopped snowing and was 
 nearly dark. 
 
 Mukoki's wound was beginning to trouble 
 him again, and it was decided that at least a 
 part of the next day should be passed in camp, 
 and that both Rod and Wabigoon should make 
 an effort to kill some animal that would fur- 
 nish them with the proper kind of oil to dress 
 it with, the fat of almost any species of animal 
 except mink or rabbit being valuable for this 
 purpose. With dawn the two started out, while 
 306
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 Mukoki, much against his will, was induced to 
 remain in camp. A short distance away the 
 hunters separated, Rod striking to the east- 
 ward and Wabi into the south. 
 
 For an hour Roderick continued without 
 seeing game, though there were plenty of 
 signs of deer and caribou about him. At last 
 he determined to strike for a ridge a mile to 
 the south, from the top of which he was more 
 likely to get a shot than in the thick growth 
 of the plains. He had not traversed more than 
 a half of the distance when much to his sur- 
 prise he came upon a well-beaten trail run- 
 ning slightly diagonally with his own, al- 
 most due north. Two dog-teams had passed 
 since yesterday's storm, and on either side of 
 the sleds were the snow-shoe trails of men 
 Rod saw that there were three of these, and 
 at least a dozen dogs in the two teams. It 
 at once occurred to him that this was the 
 Kenogami trail, and impelled by nothing more 
 than curiosity he began to follow it. 
 
 Half a mile farther on he found where the 
 307
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 party had stopped to cook a meal. The re- 
 mains of their camp-fire lay beside a huge 
 log, which was partly burned away, and about 
 it were scattered bones and bits of bread. But 
 what most attracted Rod's attention were other 
 tracks which joined those of the three people 
 on snow-shoes. He was sure that these tracks 
 had been made by women, for the footprints 
 made by one of them were unusually small. 
 Close to the log he found a single impression 
 in the snow that caused his heart to give a 
 sudden unexpected thump within him. In this 
 spot the snow had been packed by one of the 
 snow-shoes, and in this comparatively hard 
 surface the footprint was clearly defined. It 
 had been made by a moccasin. Rod knew that. 
 And the moccasin wore a slight heel ! He re- 
 membered, now, that thrilling day in the for- 
 est near Wabinosh House when he had 
 stopped to look at Minnetaki's footprints in 
 the soft earth through which she had been 
 driven by her Woonga abductors, and he re- 
 membered, too, that she was the only person 
 308
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 at the Post who wore heels on her moccasins. 
 It was a queer coincidence! Could Minne- 
 taki have been here? Had she made that foot- 
 print in the snow? Impossible, declared the 
 young hunter's better sense. And yet his blood 
 ran a little faster as he touched the delicate 
 impression with his bare fingers. It reminded 
 him of Minnetaki, anyway; her foot would 
 have made just such a trail, and he wondered 
 if the girl who had stepped there was as 
 pretty as she. 
 
 He followed now a little faster than before, 
 and ten minutes later he came to where a 
 dozen snow-shoe trails had come in from the 
 north and had joined the three. After meet- 
 ing, the two parties had evidently joined 
 forces and had departed over the trail made 
 by those who had appeared from the direction 
 of the Post. 
 
 "Friends from Kenogami House came down 
 
 to meet them," mused Rod, and as he turned 
 
 back in the direction of the camp he formed a 
 
 picture of that meeting in the heart of the wil* 
 
 309
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 derness, of the glad embraces of husband and 
 wife, and the joy of the pretty girl with the 
 tiny feet as she kissed her father, and perhaps 
 her big brother; for no girl could possess feet 
 just like Minnetaki's and not be pretty! 
 
 He found that Wabi had preceded him 
 when he returned. The young Indian had 
 shot a small doe, and that noon witnessed a 
 feast in camp. For his lack of luck Rod had 
 his story to tell of the people on the trail. The 
 passing of this party formed the chief topic 
 of conversation during the rest of the day, for 
 after weeks of isolation in the wilderness even 
 this momentary nearness of living civilized 
 men and women was a great event to them. 
 But there was one fact which Rod dwelt but 
 slightly upon. He did not emphasize the sim- 
 ilarity of the pretty footprint and that made 
 by Minnetaki's moccasin, for he knew that a 
 betrayal of his knowledge and admiration of 
 the Indian maiden's feet would furnish Wabi 
 with fun-making ammunition for a week. He 
 did say, however, that the footprint in the 
 310
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 snow struck him as being just about the size 
 that Minnetaki would make. 
 
 All that day and night the hunters remained 
 in camp, sleeping, eating and taking care ot 
 Mukoki's wound, but the next morning saw 
 them ready for their homeward journey with 
 the coming of dawn. They struck due westward 
 ttow, satisfied that they were well beyond the 
 range of the outlaw Woongas. 
 
 As the boys talked over their adventure on 
 the long journey back toward the Post, Wabi 
 thought with regret of the moose head which 
 he had left buried in the "Indian ice-box," and 
 even wished, for a moment, to go home by the 
 northern trail, despite the danger from the 
 hostile Woongas, in order to recover the valu- 
 able antlers. But Mukoki shook his head. 
 
 "Woonga make good fight. What for go 
 again into wolf trap?" 
 
 And so they reluctantly gave up the notion 
 of carrying the big head of the bull moose back 
 to the Post. 
 
 A little before noon of the second day they 
 311
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 saw Lake Nipigon from the top of a hill. Co- 
 lumbus when he first stepped upon the shore 
 of his newly discovered land was not a whit 
 happier than Roderick Drew when that joyous 
 youth, running out upon the snow-covered ice, 
 attempted to turn a somersault with his snow- 
 shoes on I 
 
 Just over there, thought Rod just over 
 there a hundred miles or so, is Minnetaki 
 and the Post! Happy visions filled his mind 
 all that afternoon as they traveled across the 
 foot of the lake. Three weeks more and he 
 would see his mother and home. And Wabi 
 was going with him! He seemed tireless; his 
 spirits were never exhausted; he laughed, 
 whistled, even attempted to sing. He won- 
 r dered if Minnetaki would be very glad to see 
 him. He knew that she would be glad but 
 how glad? 
 
 Two days more were spent in circling the 
 
 lower end of the lake. Then their trail turned 
 
 northward, and on the second evening after 
 
 this, as the cold red sun was sinking in all 
 
 312
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 that heatless glory of the great North's day- 
 end, they came out upon a forest-clad ridge 
 and looked down upon the House of Wabi- 
 nosh. 
 
 And as they looked and as the burning 
 disk of the sun, falling down and down behind 
 forest, mountain and plain, bade its last adieu 
 to the land of the wild, there came to them, 
 strangely clear and beautiful, the notes of a 
 bugle. 
 
 And Wabi, listening, grew rigid with won- 
 der. As the last notes died away the cheers 
 that had been close to his lips gave way to the 
 question, "What does that mean?" 
 
 "A bugle!" said Rod. 
 
 As he spoke there came to their ears the 
 heavy, reverberating boom of a big gun. 
 
 "If I'm not mistaken," he added, "that is a 
 sunset salute. I didn't know you had sol- 
 diers at the Post!" 
 
 "We haven't," replied the Indian youth. 
 "By George, what do you suppose it means?" 
 
 He hurried down the ridge, the others close
 
 THE WOLF 
 
 behind him. Fifteen minutes later they trailed 
 out into the open near the Post. A strange 
 change had occurred since Rod and his com- 
 panions had last seen Wabinosh House. In 
 the open half a dozen rude log shelters had 
 been erected, and about these were scores of 
 soldiers in the uniform of his Majesty, the 
 King of England. Shouts of greeting died on 
 the hunters' lips. They hastened to the dwell- 
 ing of the factor, and while Wabi rushed in to 
 meet his mother and father Rod cut across to 
 the Company's store. He had often found 
 Minnetaki there. But his present hope was 
 shattered, and after looking in he turned back 
 to the house. By the time he had reached the 
 steps a second time the princess mother, with 
 Wabi close behind her, came out to welcome 
 him. 
 
 Wabi's face was flushed with excitement 
 His eyes sparkled. 
 
 "Rod, what do you think!" he exclaimed, 
 after his mother had gone back to see to the 
 preparation of their supper. "The govera-
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 men? has declared war on the Woongas and 
 has serft up a company of regulars to wipe 'em 
 out! Ihey have been murdering and robbing 
 as neve* before during the last two months. 
 The regulars start after them to-morrow!" 
 
 He was breathing hard and excitedly. 
 
 "Can't you stay and join in the cam- 
 paign?" he pleaded. 
 
 "I can't," replied Rod. "I can't, Wabi; 
 I've got to go home. You know that. And 
 you're going with me. The regulars can get 
 along without you Go back to Detroit with 
 me and get your /r ( other to let Minnetaki go 
 with us." 
 
 "Not now, Rod," *aid the Indian youth, tak- 
 ing his friend's hand. "I won't be able to 
 go now. Nor Min/jetaki either. They have 
 been having such desperate times here that 
 father has sent her aw Ay. He wanted mother 
 to go, but she wouldn't." 
 
 "Sent Minnetaki away?" gasped Rod. 
 
 "Yes. She started for Kenogami House four 
 Hays ago in company with an Indian woman
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 and three guides. That was undoubtedly their 
 trail you found." 
 
 "And the footprint " 
 
 "Was hers," laughed Wabi, putting an arm 
 affectionately around his chum's shoulders. 
 "Won't you stay, Rod?" 
 
 "It is impossible." 
 
 He went to his old room, and until supper- 
 time sat alone in silent dejection. Two great 
 disappointments had fallen upon him. Wabi 
 could not go home with him and he had 
 missed Minnetaki. The young girl had left a 
 note in her mother's care for him, and he read 
 it again and again. She had written it be- 
 lieving that she would return to Wabinosh 
 House before the hunters, but at the end she 
 had added a paragraph in which she said that 
 if she did not do this Rod must make the Post 
 a second visit very soon, and bring his mother 
 with him. 
 
 At supper the princess mother several times 
 pressed Minnetaki's invitation upon the young
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 hunter. She read to him parts of certain 
 letters which she had received from Mrs. 
 Drew during the winter, and Rod was over- 
 joyed to find that his mother was not only in, 
 good health, but that she had given her prom- 
 ise to visit Wabinosh House the following 
 summer. Wabi broke all table etiquette by 
 giving vent to a warlike whoop of joy at this 
 announcement, and once more Rod's spirits 
 rose high above his temporary disappoint- 
 ments. 
 
 That night the furs were appraised and pur- 
 chased by the factor for his Company, and 
 Rod's share, including his third of the gold, 
 was nearly seven hundred dollars. The next 
 morning the bi-monthly sled party was leav- 
 ing for civilization, and he prepared to go 
 with it, after writing a long letter to Minne- 
 taki, which was to be carried to her by the 
 faithful Mukoki. Most of that night Wabi 
 and his friend sat up and talked, and made 
 plans. It was believed that the campaign
 
 THE WOLF HUNTERS 
 
 against the Woongas would be a short and de- 
 cisive one. By spring all trouble would be 
 over. 
 
 "And you'll come back as soon as you can?" 
 pleaded Wabi for the hundredth time. "You'll 
 come back by the time the ice breaks up?" 
 
 "If I am alive !" pledged the city youth. 
 
 "And you'll bring your mother?" 
 
 "She has promised." 
 
 "And then for the gold!" 
 
 "For the gold!" 
 
 Wabi held out his hand and the two gripped 
 heartily. 
 
 "And Minnetaki will be here then I swear 
 it!" said the Indian youth, laughing. 
 
 Rod blushed. 
 
 And that night alone he slipped quietly out 
 into the still, white night; and he looked, long- 
 ingly, far into the southeast where he had 
 found the footprint in the snow; and he turned 
 to the north, and the east, and the west, an/J 
 lastly to the south, and his eyes seemed to* 
 travel through the distance of a thousand miles 
 318
 
 THE SURPRISE AT THE POST 
 
 to where a home and a mother lay sleeping 
 in a great city. And as he turned back to the 
 House of Wabinosh, where all the lights were 
 out, he spoke softly to himself: 
 
 "It's home to-morrow!" 
 
 And then he added: 
 
 "But you bet I'll be back by the time the ice 
 breaks up!" 
 
 THE END
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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 ^958 
 
 1957 
 
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