HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS 87 



Before the wolves came to visit him Peder had had no peace 

 day or night for the foxes, which had been ever on the alert for a 

 chance to rifle the meat. As long as the foxes were about there 

 were always great numbers of hares up under a hilly ridge, a 

 little way from camp, but no sooner did the wolves appear on 

 the scene than the foxes and hares vanished like magic. Whether 

 they had gone away for good, or were only in hiding, Peder could 

 not say for certain. The wolf, as my readers are aware, is no 

 epicure, and will eat a fox as soon as a hare. 



Some of the puppies which had been born that summer were 

 shot on October 15, and their skins stretched to dry. Nodtvedt 

 was to prepare them later in the winter, after which they would 

 be converted into gloves, for we needed a good deal of skin for 

 this purpose. 



The following day Isachsen and Schei drove out of the fjord ; 

 they were provisioned for three weeks, but the dogs for only 

 one week. 



