274 ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS 
the harvest moon, headed across the hundred-acre 
hole in the forest where the lumber had been cut 
and only a scattered tree left here and there as a 
seed bearer, when Wolf and his master, also out 
for an evening stroll up the lumber road (the man 
had no gun), cut across their trail.. Free of the 
children, the two ’coons were bound for the pond 
over in the swamp, to fish, but willing to pick up 
anything in the way of food, animal or vegetable, 
on the way across the farms. It was certainly 
hard to be interrupted violently by the panting 
of Wolf on their trail. They made for the near- 
est sizable tree as their only immediate salva- 
tion—a white oak, and went up it, till they were 
amid the spring of the branches, where they 
crouched down practically hidden from the view 
of any one below. Wolf completed his two 
circles of the tree, and then squatted beneath and 
bayed his decision that the ’coons were up there— 
the ’coons, he knew, though his master supposed 
there was only one. 
“Want me to go up and shake him down, 
Wolf?” his master asked. 
The dog barked still louder. 
