rifle frightened them off. They didn't know what it was, but they
were afraid it had something to do with wounds and death. Still, they're
running a little closer to us than they were. That's about all that's
come of your experiment, Sol."

"I ain't goin' to try it over ag'in, Henry, but it shorely begins to
look ez ef we'd hev to use the bullets on 'em. I don't think anythin'
else will stop 'em."

"A little while longer, Sol, and they may abandon the chase. We must
hold our fire just as long as possible. A shot may bring a cloud of the
red hornets about us."

The shiftless one was silent. He knew as well as Henry that a shot was
unwise. They were bearing back now toward the stone fortress and the
Indian camps, and the forests near might be full of warriors. Yet it was
a tremendous strain upon one's nerves to be followed in such a manner.
The wolves had come so close now that they could hear the light pad of
their feet. Once Shif'less Sol picked up a stone and hurled it at the
king wolf. The great shaggy beast leaped aside, but it struck a wolf
behind him, drawing an angry snarl, in which all the wolves joined.

Henry felt relief when they gave tongue, although the snarl was not
loud. Hitherto they had pursued in total silence, which he had deemed
unnatural and that angry yelp made them real wolves of the forest again.

"About how far would you say it is now to the cave?" he asked the
shiftless one.

"Three or four miles, but with our lope it won't take us long to cover
it. What hev you got in mind, Henry?"

"I think we've got to kill the king wolf. I didn't think so a little
while ago, but they follow us hoping that some accident, a fall perhaps,
will make us their prey."

"Do it then, Henry, an' take all the chances. I'm growin' mighty tired
o' bein' follered by wolves that are re'ly tigers. After you shoot,
we'll turn to the left an' run ez hard ez we kin."

Henry whirled suddenly about and raised his rifle. The king wolf, as if
divining his purpose, sheered to one side, but he was confronting the
deadliest marksman in the woods. The muzzle of Henry's rifle followed
him, and when he pulled the trigger the bullet crashed through the great
beast's skull.

When the king wolf fell dead the others stopped, stricken with terror,
but from a point to the east came the long thrilling note of the war
whoop. The warriors had heard the shot, and, knowing they would come
swiftly to its sound, Henry and the shiftless