Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-04-24

q long time upon the top or the DRIFT
out Of sight, but not fifty feet above
his head, bowling dismally. Others
prowled in the ravine, adding their
yelps to the doleful chorus. Sleep was
impossible. He crawled out of his blan-
kets and replenished the embers Of his
fire with fresh logs Then he fired sew
eral shots In the hope of frightening
the beasts away. The firing only quiet
ed them for the moment They return
ed, yapped and howled more shriIly
than before.
Silas began to feel somewhat alarm
ed as he realized that the wolves had
settled down to state of siege; that
their numbers, too, were steadily In
creasing. Even the dogs, which ordi-
narily slept stolidly after a hard days
work, reused themselves and huddled
about the fire, whining and barking I'M
easily Still Silas believed the wolves
would not attack him by daylight, so
he kept his fire burning brightly until
morning. After the usual breakfast of
pemmican, with a light ration to the
|
to the sledge. This was done by means
of a dogskin collar, and a breast-piece
with strips Of buckskin for traces.
In the meantime the wolves to the
number Of thirty or forty. were scat
tered about up the ravine and on top
of the ridge, sitting upon their haunch-
es or moving restlessly to and fro,
watching his operations with hungry
interest. He had fired shot, Gripping
one Just after daylight, and as the
pack had moved further away he be-
lieved himself safe from attack at
present. The big drift, which had
"combed" out from the top of the steep
bluff, extended along the slope for some
distance down the ravine. Along the
lower edge Of this snow-bank he start
ed his dogs down toward the creek val
ley. He was dressed in his bearskin
suit, which, indeed, he had not removed
| since starting; around his waist was
broad leather belt, to which was strap
ped his knife sheath, buttel-pouch,
powder-horn and stiff leather match
safe.
This morning he took the precaution
to keep his rifle IN hand, instead Of
trapping 1t upon the packs He had
not gone twenty rods when there was
a concerted movement on the part Of
! the grim watchers in his rear. They
came scurrying down the ravine upon
his tracks, with sharp, angry yelps,
which too plainly betrayed their savage
intent He looked back and saw the
gray pack plunglng toward him in
cloud of snow dust. Though taken by
surprise and frightened he had the
presence Of mind to run in ahead of
his team, hoping still to scare off the
brutes with shot, and If not, to at
tempt escape while the animals were
attacking the dogs and deyouring the
meat upon the sledge.
When the foremost wolveswere with
in a few yards Of The team he tried his
rifle upon them. The hammer fell
harmlessly snow had somehow sifted
into the pan and wet the powder. The
dogs were frantically trying to get
away, jerking at their traces In every
direction, and counteracting each other
in their efforts The wolves were upon
them almost instantly. Then followed
an indescribable melee. The big pack
swarmed over the dogs, the sledge and
each other, fighting and tearing at ev-
erything within reach. Then two
wolves, unable to fight their way into
the midst Of the tumbiing mass, caught
sight of Silas, and came bounding at
him.
To runwould have been useless. With
sudden grasp at the only hope Of es-
cape, the trader flung down his rifle,
| turned and plunged head foremost into
the steep side Of the new drift, paving
and digging for dear life as he scram.
bled into the soft snow. One of the
wolves attacked his legs He kicked
vigorously, shaking the animal off, rs
he wormed quickly forward into the
| depths Of the drift. The wolf followed
| him, getting kick after kick upon it's
| snout from his hard-soled moccasins.
| When he had gone in, or, rather, up
the slope twenty-five or thirty feet he
determined to punish the brute at his
heels, and which would undoubtedly
have bitten him severely but for his
effective kicking and paving, that kept
the space behind him filed with snow
and blinded the beast.
He now twisted himself, suddenly
about, drew his knife, and, feeling for
his scratching enemy. boldly caught
the beast by one foot and drew it for
ward, and, to use his own words, "thar
was dead wolf in that drif' in lessn
no time" Then he moled his way for
ward up the ravine, being careful to
keep along the sides of the slope so as
not to come out at the edge Of the drift.
He carefully filed the space behind
him, and dug ahead until all sounds Of
the fighting were lost to his hearing
Then safe, thanks to his energetic pres
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