126 



We M/7e Wolfs 



V* 



fisherman rushed out the pen would be 

 empty, with nothing whatever to account 

 for piggie's disappearance. For to their un- 

 trained eyes even the tracks of the wolves 

 were covered up by those of the numerous 

 big huskies. If a cat prowled abroad, or an 

 uneasy dog scratched to be let out, there 

 would be a squall, a yelp, — and the cat would 

 not come back, and the dog would never 

 scratch at the door to be let in again. 



Only when nothing stirred in the village, 

 when the dogs and cats had been spirited 

 away, and when not even a rat stole from 

 under the houses to gnaw at a fishbone, 

 would the fishermen know of their bis silent 

 visitors. Then the wolves would gather on 

 a snow-drift just outside the village and raise 

 a howl, a frightful wail of famine and dis- 

 appointment, that made the air shudder. 

 From within the houses the dogs answered 

 with mad clamor. A door would open to 

 show first a long seal gun, then a fisherman, 

 then a fool dog that darted between the 

 fisherman's legs and capered away, ki-yi-ing 

 a challenge to the universe. A silence, tense 



