RECREA TION. 



J 93 



THE MADDENED BEAST LEAPED AT THE MAN S THROAT. 



teeth, that cut through cloth and boot 

 top and drew a stream of blood from 

 the man's leg. Instantly the persistent 

 and bloodthirsty marauder snatched up 

 the child and leaped, dragging the bur- 

 den, to the thicket, where the bushes 

 checked him, so that Rob gave him an- 

 other tremendous kick, receiving another 

 gash. Now the maddene'd beast leaped 

 at the man's throat, but he quickly 

 caught the wolf's neck with his hands, 

 though he could not prevent those 

 powerful jaws from swinging from side 

 to side, lacerating his arms and shoulders. 

 Seeing the child lie motionless, in a 

 heap upon the snow (the boy being 

 momentarily breathless from the chok- 

 ing of the tippet and from striking a 

 thick sapling with the pit of his stomach), 

 he thought the little one killed, and be- 

 came as mad with murderous frenzy as 

 the wild beast with which he fought. 

 An instant the combatants stood, braced 

 against each other, the wolf rearing 

 nearly to the height of the man's head. 

 Then, with a powerful push and a quick 

 trip, the man prevailed and down they 

 went. -Luckily the wolf fell in a little 



hollow that helped to prevent his writh- 

 ing away. The man fell on the beast 

 with his whole weight, burying him in 

 the snow and lying full length along the 

 animal so as to avoid his flying paws. 

 Vain, now, were the quick and powerful 

 writhings of the muscled body ; vain 

 the mighty efforts to gather and roll 

 the stretched length ; vain the turning 

 from side to side of the armed jaws ; 

 vain the struggles to wrench his neck 

 from that deadly grip, for Rob buried 

 his horny fingers with terrible force in 

 the creature's sinewy throat. 



Five minutes of this deadly strangling 

 weakened the beast. The boy revived 

 and sat up, screaming. The desperate 

 combatants paid him no heed. Not 

 until the wolf lay still did the enraged 

 father rise to his knees. He knotted 

 his handkerchief about the neck of his 

 conquered foe and twisted it deadly 

 tight with a stout stick. Then, with 

 torn clothing, bloody, exhausted and 

 limping he took up the unhurt child 

 and staggered home, leaving the boy at 

 his mother's door on the way. 



The man's wounds were not serious. 



