I A Gossip on a Sutherland Hill-side 231 



kept her back. This was succeeded by a desperate 

 struggle to retreat backwards, but the hole in which 

 her head and the fore part of her body were 

 ensconced was too narrow to admit her to turn round 

 in it, and when Poison found her pressing backwards 

 he squeezed her forwards, and thus kept her station- 

 ary in the narrow mouth of the cavern, while he 

 continued to plunge his dirk, as rapidly as the 

 struggle would permit of, into the wolfs side. All this 

 occurred in total silence, the wolf being mute notwith- 

 standing the wounds she received, and Poison being 

 also silent, in consequence either of the engrossing 

 nature of his exertions, or of being unwilling to 

 alarm the young persons in the cavern. They, 

 however, although not aware of what was passing at 

 the entrance of the den, w^ere surprised to find it 

 again shut up, and the light excluded from them. 

 This obstruction having continued sufficiently long 

 to annoy the boys. Poison's son complained in a loud 

 voice of the continued darkness ; and while the 

 father happened to be pulling the wolf backwards 

 with all his strength, his son asked in an abrupt tone, 

 " What is keeping the light from us ? " and was 

 directly answered by the father, " If the root of the 

 tail breaks you will soon know that." Poison having 

 succeeded in mortally wounding his ferocious prisoner, 

 dragged her out of the hole in which he so fortu- 

 nately got her secured, and then easily killed her; and 

 she and her dead whelps were brought home by him 

 as trophies of his singular rencounter and victory. 



