THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 23 



crack, a yelp of pain, the wolf leapt skyward, then dropping disappeared 

 in the snow on the trail. 



"Dern yer, I've won!" chirped the hunter in glee, as he quickly 

 dropped his gun on the snow, then stooping down he unhooked the 

 chain from the dogs. "Now go! you pups, go!" he shouted as he stood 

 holding the chain in his hands watching the dogs file down the trail at 

 a rapid pace towards the shot wolf. The dogs had just got under way 

 when the wolf sprang to its feet, staggered for a moment, saw the 

 dogs approaching, then with a bound it started down the trail, emitting 

 with each leap a mournful howl of distress, with the hounds nearly 

 upon it. 



Instantly, from four quarters in the distance, came the sound of 

 the dismal answer to the mournful wail of the wounded wolf. The 

 hunter at this alarm threw the chain over and around his shoulder 

 with one hand, and with the other grasped his rifle from 1 the snow, 

 then with a bound started down the trail in pursuit of the retreating 

 animals. They soon disappeared from his sight at a point where the 

 trail entered into a dense thicket, and in a few moments the dogs' 

 baying sounded beyond. The hunter increased his pace and soon arrived 

 in a little glen beyond the thicket on the old trail. The twilight 

 gushed through the tops of the lofty firs into the little clearing and 

 cast its light upon the coming combat. 



The fearless dogs, with a galloping side step, were circling around 

 their victim. Every avenue of escape attempted by the wolf brought 

 it face to face with its powerful adversary, while others were snapping 

 at its rear. The approach of the hunter prompted the dogs to close 

 the circle and charge upon their foe, and with a joint move forward 

 they closed in upon the wolf, whirling with a yelp of defiance. The 

 next moment, with a wail of anguish, the bloodthirsty grip of the pow- 

 erful jaws of the fighters were fastened upon the vitals of their victim. 

 The work of death was done. 



The shadows of the evening were fast falling upon the scene in 

 the wooded glen on the old mountain trail. His thoughts absorbed in 

 the savage butchery of the dogs, the hunter was unmindful of the 

 lurking danger so near at hand. He was in the act of unwinding the 

 chain from around his body to make the dogs secure again, and to pro- 

 ce§d on the journey to the camp, when, (( Whoop! whoop!" the twilight 

 air was filled with the deafening roar, as the woods resounded with a 

 mighty din. Volley after volley of the dismal howl of the wolves 

 sounded in the trail above. The cool hunter moved a few paces up the 

 trail to a point which gave him a full view of the approach on the 

 shaded trail above. He raised hid gun ready to fire, well knowing 

 that an effective shot repeated several times would check the advent 

 of the angry wolves. 



At the first alarm of danger, the faithful dogs rallied to the de- 

 fense of their master, who had just gained his position on the trail, 

 when with a loud whirling whoop, the companions of the dead wolf 

 made their appearance on the trail, tracking the blood-stained track of 

 the wounded wolf — three in the lead — a vicious horde following a few 

 feet in the rear. With a sharp crack, sounded the report of the hunter's 

 gun — the leader dropped to the snow; again voiced the gun, — its victim 

 fell. The swarming wolves in the rear, with vengeance bent, bolted 

 over and past their fallen companions, and witn a chorus of spitty 

 snarls, they brustled the coarse and dirty hair along their spines and 

 halted, facing the brave hunter and his faithful companions *a few feet 

 away. The dogs, with old Bruce slightly in the lead, stood abreast in 

 front of the hunter, braced with bowed backs, showing their teeth with 



