Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 160: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

142 few of the white men of the North have anything but contempt for them. It is seldom indeed that a man is in any real danger from wolves unless he happens to fall sick or be injured on the trail. But even Shorty at last began to feel uneasy. A big pack was undoubtedly fol- lowing him, and his dogs, all but King, were growing restless and frightened. ‘They drew close to the fire at night and seemed subdued. They stopped wrangling among themselves, and were perpetually rising to stare into the darkness. _ When the fire burnt low Shorty would be roused by a series of whines and snarls which would not subside until he rose and threw fresh fuel on the blaze. Then he would see paired greenish hghts moving eerily on the edge of the darkness, and some- thing like a shudder would go through him in spite of all his sturdy courage and scepticism. But King, curled in a tight ball even in the snow, yards farther from the fire than any. of the rest, never even deigned to lift his scornful head. Looking at him, Shorty would feel comforted, and return to his blankets. If King was not {frightened why should he be? _ The wolves were often to be seen even in the daytime, in twos and threes, generally ata considerable distance, but often on both sides of the trail as well as before and be- hind. It was not easy to estimate the size of the pack, but there was no doubt that he moved in the midst of a little army of gaunt and starving brutes who were only awaiting a favorable opportunity or until their hun- ger overcame their fears to attack. But he held stubbornly on his way, de- termined not to anticipate trouble until the time came to meet it. He was strongly tempted to take a shot at a wolf now and then, but ammunition is precious stuff in the North, and the brutes were wary, only to be momentarily glimpsed close at hand, and never in the open except at long ranges. He reached the post in safety and dropped his load, and with nothing but his own gear and food for the dogs, headed south- eastward over an unbroken trail to where a load was awaiting him at another post. His way led him through a different and ‘more dangerous country, for whereas the up trail ran mainly across open lakes where the wolves would hesitate to attack him, Adventure his new route took him across some rocky uplands, sparsely forested with stunted spruce which provided good cover for his enemies. All went well for two days, for though he had abundant evidence that the wolves were still close at hand, they made no hostile demonstration. It wasa dreary land that he entered upon on the third day, high- lying and bleak. Jagged masses of granite thrust up through the snow, their tops swept bare by the wind. The thin soil afforded only a precarious foothold for an _ occasional dwarfed and twisted spruce, but in the hol- lows grew thick clumps of willow, blood red against the snow. The terrain was much broken by abrupt hills and gullies and the visibility was consequently bad. It was never possible to see more than a couple of hundred yards in any direction, and the willow scrub made ideal cover for his lurking foes. Shorty noticed that his dogs were even more restless and uneasy than usual, and even King began to show signs of disquie- tude. The heavy fell on his shoulders bristled and his great fangs were bared at short intervals as he lifted his head and caught the wolf taint on the air. It was a dull cloudy day with an occa- sional snowflake drifting down the raw east wind, the temperature about zero. At noon Shorty decided to camp. It had been been hard going all morning even with the half empty carriole, over the unbroken trail with its knife-edged drifts and across patches of bare windswept rock, and the dogs were beginning to show signs of sore feet. He halted in the lee of a little clump of spruce. Almost at once he became aware that he was surrounded by wolves. The willows around him were alive with move- ments, and gaunt, fierce heads were lifted from behind every granite outcrop. He had a sudden feeling that the long-threat- ened attack was about to take place. “Well, it,’ he muttered with an angry grin, “if they are goin’ to start some- thing maybe I’d best let ’em an’ get it over with. But somebody ’s goin’ to catch if they do.” He slipped the harness swiftly off the dogs and they promptly crowded round him, every back bristling and every fang bared. Shorty caught up his rifle, thought better of COMIGDIOOKSEEO