Again the old she-wolf approached cau- 

 tiously, and again the caribou plunged at her 

 and followed her lame retreat with headlong 

 fury. An electric shock seemed suddenly 

 to touch the huge he-wolf. Like a flash he 

 leaped in on the fawns. One quick snap of 

 the long jaws with the terrible fangs ; then, 

 as if the whole thing were a bit of play, he 

 loped away easily with the cubs, circling to 

 join the mother wolf, which strangely enough 

 did not return to the attack as the caribou 

 charged back, driving the cubs and the old 

 he-wolf away like a flock of sheep. The 

 coast was now clear, not an enemy in the 

 way; and the mother caribou, with a trium- 

 phant bleat to her fawns to follow, plunged 

 back into the woods whence she had come. 



One fawn only followed her. The other 

 took a step or two, sank to his knees, and 

 rolled over on his side. When the wolves 

 drew near quietly, without a trace of the 

 ferocity or the howling clamor with which 

 such scenes are usually pictured, the game 

 was quite dead, one quick snap of the old 

 wolf's teeth just behind the fore legs having 



35 



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