118 NEW LAND 



not the best of friends, apparently ; at any rate, they snarled at 

 each other, which is not usually a sign of friendship. 



On Monday they were turned into the cage, which was placed 

 in a sheltered part of the deck. One of them had spots of blood 

 on the back, and appeared to have a wound in the fore part of one 

 of the shoulders. How it had come by it we could not quite make 

 out, but possibly it was a wound from a grazing shot, or from the 

 horn of an ox. The wound did not seem to trouble it much, for 

 it was the more lively of the two. 



An endless string of guesses arose with regard to their sex ; if 

 I am not mistaken it was even made the object- of wagers. But 

 months, and even a year, went by before we felt any certainty in 

 the matter, though most of us were of opinion that they were a 

 pair, and this proved to be the right one in the end. 



Herewith the wolf-period was concluded. 



