ess eyes gleamed with the ferocity
of famine. Neither his strength nor his speed, which had so
often stood him in good stead, would avail him this time; nothing
but his half-breed duplicity--Wolf cunning and Dog wisdom.

"But I _am_ a Wolf," he reiterated; "else why should I seek your
company at my Kill?"

"We were easily found," sneered the Wolf; "we did not take much
calling, did we? Knowing your desire for our fellowship, we kept
you not waiting--E-a-ah, Lone Dog? But where hunts the Pack that
carry their tails curled over their backs like Train Dogs?"

"It's because of my nervousness--you startled me," pleaded A'tim;
"also my seat is narrow."

"And the big, round feet, Lone Dog? They leave not a Wolf track.
And you're broad in the loin, and heavy in the jowl, and short
in the leg--a Dog, a Hermit Dog, by the knowledge that has come
to me of age."

"I'm a Wolf from the Southland," maintained A'tim. "We shape
different there. Our meat is the flesh of Buffalo, and our Kill
is because of strength, and not speed--therefore we are of a
strong build. You are of the Northland; swift as the wind, and
long running, Great Wolf--you and your beautiful Sons--yet was I
eager for your company at this Kill, which has taken me days to
arrange."

"Buh-h, buh-ha! his great Kill! and here is the killer slaying
fierce, white Wood Grubs--but never mind; what of the Kill, Lone
Dog?"

"What say you to a Buffalo--a fat, young Bull?" asked A'tim,
heaving a sigh of relief; "would not that be a dinner fit for a
great Pack Leader, like yourself?"

"A Buffalo?" queried the Wolf incredulously. "I have heard of
such in these forests, but I come from the North, and have never
seen them--have we, Sons?"

"Never," they answered, closing in on A'tim.

"Even to-day I trailed one, and was on my way to ask you to the
Kill, as is the way of the Wolf kind. I am no Dog, to kill and
eat in secret."

"It's truly noble to feed your friends," declared the Wolf. He
snapped viciously at A'tim's throat with fang-lined jaws. The
Dog-Wolf jumped back nervously.

"Wait, Brothers," he pleaded; "you do not believe me, I see--let
us go together, and if I do not show you this Buffalo, waiting
for the Kill, then--"

"Yes, then--" sneered the Wolf; "if you fail to show us this
Buffalo, then--" He grinned diabolically in A'tim's face.

"E-e-u-h, I know," exclaimed the Dog-Wolf, stepping down gingerly
from the log. "You may keep close; I will show you t