220 NEW LAND. 



clumsier, and could not take such good care of himself as the 

 others. From the beginning I had never liked him; he was a 

 street dog in many ways, and was often savage, but he could look 

 so inestimably mischievous ! Wits he had too he stopped gnaw- 

 ing his trace, and so got off wearing his muzzle for the rest of the 

 journey. He knew the sense of that. 



Schei skinned one of the fallen the one he had shot and cut 

 some bits of skin off the other. We had so far to drive that we 

 did not want to encumber ourselves too much. I set to work to 

 make coffee, for we thought we must have something after all this 

 commotion. Meanwhile the survivors of the pack sat up on land, 

 just the other side of the crack, and gave us a Doomsday concert 

 for having deprived them of a midnight meal. 



As we were sitting comfortably over our coffee inside the tent, 

 we heard the dogs singing out, for the third time ! I went out 

 to see what was the matter, and discovered a couple of wolves a 

 good way off in the south, stealing up towards the camp. They 

 were not very near each other, and, as well as they could, kept 

 under cover of the drifts and hummocks. While I was waiting for 

 them to come within gunshot, I lay down behind a sack of dog- 

 food, just outside the tent- door. But they took their time, the 

 beggars, and sneaked slowly along ; for long whiles together 

 sitting down on their haunches, and staring at us. 



Well, I did not care to wait longer, I thought, and must chance 

 it, although the range was not far off three hundred and fifty yards. 

 I sighted for the nearer of the two wolves. Almost at the same 

 moment that I fired it bounded into the air, and began to whirl 

 round and round, until at last it fell. It had got enough ; and the 

 game up there was rid of another beast of prey. 



I thought it would be quite interesting to see if I could finish 

 my coffee in peace. I did it this time, and had a smoke after- 

 wards, and a long one too. Then out we went again. I had 

 still a wolf to settle, and Schei, having once tasted blood, wanted 

 more. The wolves were still sitting among the rocks, and on the 

 ice-foot, howling inordinately. Schei could not withstand them, 

 he had to take pity on and go to them ; they were probably howling 

 for him. 



