The Red Cloud chief., 1881-06-02

their faces How Ii whizZed n howied
in the tree-tops! Hark! What was
that? Toilet instinctivcly pressed his
boy more closely 10 him. Hush! his
heart stood still, while that of the boy,
who merely felt the reflex shock of his
fathers agitation, hammered away the
more rapidly. A terrible, long drawn
howl. as from q chorus of wild, PARKWAY
voices, came floating away over the
crowns of the pine-trees.
What was that, father?" asked Thor,
a little TREMENDOUSLY.
1T wa wolves, my child" said Toll
Of, calmly.
"Are you afraid, father?' asked the
boy again.
mo, child, / am not afraid of one
wolf, nor Of ten wolves; but IL they are
in a flock of twenty or thirty. they are
dangerous. And if they scent o%urtrack,
as probably they will, they will be on
us IN five minutes"
"How will they scent our track, faith
er?n
They smell us in the wind; and the
wind is from us and to them, and then
they howl to notify their comrades. SO
that they may attack US in sufficient
force"
WHY don't We return home. then?'
inquired the boy, still with a tolcrably
steady voice. but with sinking courage.
They are behind Us. Our only
chance is d reach the shore before they
overtake u.s."
The horse, shifting the presence of
wild beasts. snortcd wildly as it ran,
but, electrified, as it were, with the
sense of danger, strained every nerve
in its Efforts To reach the farther shore.
The howls NV came earer aud near
er, and they rose with n frigftfui dis
tinctncsS in the clear, wintry air, and
resounded again from the border Of the
forest.
"Why don't you throw away the bar
rel, fathcr:?' said Thor. who, for his
fathers sake, strove hard TO keep brave.
Then the sleigh will u SO much the
faster"
"If we are overtaken, our safety is
in the barrel. Fortunately, il is large
enough for two, and it has no ears and
will 1T close to the ice"
Toilet was still calm; but, with his
one disengaged arm, Rugged his little
son convulsiyely.
Now, keep brave, my boy" he
whispered in his ear. "Ihey will soon
be upon Us. Give me your whip"
1t Just occurred TO Toilet that he had
heard that wolves were very suspicious,
and that men had often escaped them
by dragging some small object on the
ground behind them. He, therefore.
broke a chip from one of the hoops Of
the barrel, and tied it to the lash of the
| whip; Just then he heard a short, hun
CRY bark behind him, and, turning mis-
head, saw 4 pack of wolves, numbering
more than a dozen, the foremost of
which was within a few yards Of the
sleigh. He saw the red, frothy tongue
| hanging out of its month, and he smelt
| that penetrating, wild smell with which
| every one is familiar who has met n wild
beast in its native haunts. While
encouraging the reeking, foam
flecked horse, Toilet, who had only
half faith. in the experiment
with the whip, watched anxiously
the leader of the wolves, and observed
to his establishment that il seemed TO be
getting no nearer One moment il
seemed to be gaining upon them, but
invariably, as soo as it reached the
little chip which was dragging along
the ice, this suddenly arrested its attcn-
ton and Immediately its speed slacHen-
ed. The coOpers hope began to revive,
and he thought that perhaps there was
yet a possibility that they might see the
morrow sun. But his courage again
began 10 ebb when he discovered in the
distance a second pack of wolves, larger
than the first, and which, with terrific
speed, came running, lcaping and
whirling toward them from another di-
rection. And while this terrible dis
covery was breaking through his a'most
callouS sense, he forgot. for an instant,
the whip, the lash of which swung
under the runners of the sleigh and
snapped. The horse, too, was showing
signs of exhaustion, and Toilet, seeing
that only one chance was left. rose up
with his boy in his arms, and upsetting
the barrel on a great ledge of ice, con-
| cealed himself and the child under it.
Hardly had he had time TO brace him.
self against its sides, pressing his feet
| against one side and his back against
the other, when he heard the horse
giving a wild scream. while the short,
whining bark of the wolves told him
that the roor beast was selling its life
dearly. Then there was a desperate
scratching and scraping of hOrseshoes,
and all of a sudden the sound of gallop-
ing hoof-beats on the ice, growing
fainter and fainter. The horse had
evidently succeeded i'm breaking away
from the sleigh, and was testing his
speed in a race for life. Some of the
wolves were apparently pursuing him,
while the greater number remained to
investigate the contents of the barrel.
The bowling and barking of these
furious creatures without was now in
cessant. Within the barrel was pitch
darkness.
Now, keep steadyr' said Toilet.
feeling q sudden shock, as if wolf had
leaped against their improyised house
with a view to upsetting it. He felt
himself and the boy gliding a foot OF
two over the smooth ice. but there was
no further result from the attack. A
minute passed; again there came a
shock, and a stronger one than the
first. A long, terrible howl followed
this second failure. The little boy.
clutching his small cooper's Ratchet in
one hand, sat pale but determined in
the dark. while with the other he chung
to his fathers arm.
"Oh. fatherr" he cried, in terror,
81 feel something on my back"
The father quickly struck a light, for
he fortunately had a supply of matches
in his pocket, and saw a VOLTS paw
wedged in between the ice and the rim
Of the barrel; and in the same instant
he tore the hatchet from his sons hand
and buried its edge in theic Then he
handed the amputated paw to Thor,
and said:
Put that into your wallet. and the
Sheriff will pay youa reward for ii. For
a wolf without paws couldn't do much
harm.n
While he was yet speaking. a third
assault upon the barrel lifted n side
of it from the ice, and almost upset it.
Instead of pushing against the part
nearest the ice, a wolf more cunning
than the rest had leaped against the
upturned bottom.