The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1888-10-11
A RACE FOR LIFE.
thrilling Adventure With Raven
GUS Wolves in Norway.
"A Foud Caused by q Love Affair Settled
Amid the Howling of Wild Beasts
Rescued at tho Eleventh
Hour 4

"nere the mr. trees began to grow less
closely; where, between their tall trunks
and in their black foliage, cleaned few
crimson splashes Of fire as the sun sank be-
low the horizon; where the snow lay deep
and unspotted, save by the multitudinous
prints OF their own restless feet-there. on
the outskirts OF tho forest, at the wane of
day, the wolves wero gathering themselves
together Hungry they were, and eager for
work to begin. There was no play among
them, no leaplng over one another's backs.
or wrestling or growing pretenses at fight
ang. They were on business-the first bust
ness OF life; to keep life; and to keep life, if
YOU happen to be wolf, means hard work
and plenty of it, with but little time to spare
on the amenities of existence
And now their old gray leaders-warriors
who have survived many scene of death
and disaster to man and wolf-leap out to-
gether from the woods upon the darkenine
plain. They raise their noses, sniff the wind
and shake themselves. One yawns and
stretches his paws, while puff Of hot
breath rises from his tongue, and, az he
shuts his narrow jaws with a snap, sharp
canine teeth, white as the snow itself. elis-
ten in the dusk.
Then begins that long, slouching, tireless
trot, that Internal gallop which beats horse
and man and all things living for combined
speed and endurance. The pack covers
nearly five and twenty square yards of
snow and settles into its stride, each beast
moving and turning in unison with the rest.
as flight of birds mysteriously wheels in
air. They are Norway wolves these, and
experience has long since taught them what
work will be necessary before supper and
return to their forest Businesses.
Note what happens almost at the start.
One 1.-the brute suddenly slips and strains
his leg. Fearfully he glances at his COM
panions on the right aud left, but as yet
they know not of the accident. All too
soon, however, the pace tells upon the in
jured animal. Nature asserts herself in the
great gray wolf, his eyes glow like red-hot
embers, his sinewy leg gives under him, he
howls his farewell to dear life, and his
place in the ranks know him no more But
the MANNED creatures sufFerings are over
almost instantly, for the fttest alone sur
vive in pack Of wolves. A ravenous fight
Ing mass of fur and legs and teeth closes in
upon him, and he is gone, leaving no monu-
ment more enduring than drops of his own
hot blood, which have fallen and melted for
themselves deep holes in the trampled snow.
Then forward they sweep, the cannibals,
on the best possible terms with one another.
and feeling as you would feel after anchovy,
or an olive, or some such preliminary to
some important gastronomic efforts.
But now, ahead, there stands solitary
tree, naked save where, on its topmost
branches, the dark ine-needles mingle in
one shapeless clump, or where, lower down,
dead cones still cling to the parent bough.
In the rough bark at its foot are flecks of
wool; but the sheep which rub themselves
there in the summer are for away now.
Something of greater interest meets the
wolves here. Along the snow at the base
OF tho tree and running at right angles to
the course they have till now been taking
extend two parallel lines, cut by the irons
Of sledge. One vehicle alone has passed
since the snow last fell, but it appears to
have gone by quite recently, for the scent
is strong and the pack take it up without a
moments halt. Now supper becomes a
probability, for where there Is asledge there
Is horse, perhaps two; where there is p
sledge there is also man, possibly more
than one.
Have you ever heard the bowling of
wolvess
have, seated in q comfortable place of
entertainment, with my mind at ease and
certain knowledge that many iron bars sep
erated me from the invisible howlers. Even
under these circumstances the sound was
one that made me turn cold and wonder how
nature had produced anything 50 hideous
1t is like nothing but itself; you can not
compare or contrast it with any other cry
OF living things; a gale Of wind in the rig
ging of a big ship at sea is the nearest ap-
proach to it know. Thin, hollow walls Of
sound grow and swell and burst into one
demoniac howl that embodies in its volume
every conceivable note of despair and eter-
nal torture. Then the crescendo dies
sometimes as though suddenly stranglod,
more often in long drawn shrieks that fade
upon the ear. There is music in their ca
dences at times; those that I heard were
fairly in tune-but such q tune, such q
dronlng, fendish whirling blast of melody
it was. II the neither world has its own
music, that music should be the howl Of
hungry wolves-the frantic chorus whose
elimination is death to flying singers, or
fleeing audience, or both.
So much for the wolves know; so much
for wolves whose hearts are broken and
whose sides have ached often enough under
the heavy whip of their master. So much
Tor the tame wolves. who do clumsy tricks
and have learned the beauty of obedience,
forgetting, at the same time, the watch
word Of all wolves, that union is strength.
Return we to my pack, which il moving
Ike ono big machine, and the component
parts Of which are together giving tongue.
The snow, for them, IL in perfect order;
but somebody ahead may perchance find
his horses crushing through the thin frozen
snon~ g. 80 -