had just caught through the ice for his own 



supper, vanished over the bank; and he could _ ~ . - 



/ i .1 .1 ,i NoeLand 



not say even now whether they meant him k ftfnsilfa 



harm or no. Again, as he talked and the grim 

 old face lighted up at the memory, they saw 

 him crouched with his sledge-dogs by a blaz- 

 ing fire all the long winter night, and around 

 him in the darkness blazing points of light, 

 the eyes of wolves flashing back the firelight, 

 and gaunt white forms flitting about like 

 shadows, drawing nearer and nearer with ever- 

 growing boldness till they seized his largest 

 dog — though the brute lay so near the fire 

 that his hair singed — and whisked it away 

 with an appalling outcry. And still again, 

 when Tomah was lost three days in the 

 interior, they saw him wandering with his 

 pack over endless barrens and through 

 gloomy spruce woods, and near him all the 

 time a young wolf that followed his steps 

 quietly, with half-friendly interest, and came 

 no nearer day or night. 



All these things and many more the chil- 

 dren heard from Old Tomah, and among all 

 his hunting experiences and the stories and 



