is
might, utterly regardless as to whether he might be bitten or not. Wild
with fury against the huskies, and his deadly fear lest Kiopo should be
killed, he hurled himself on the pack like a little demon.

Mercifully for Kiopo, the very number of his enemies saved him from
serious harm, for he was so completely covered by them that only a few
could reach him with their teeth, and many of the bites that should have
been for him fell to the share of a husky; so that, while half the pack
appeared to be worrying Kiopo, they were in reality falling foul of each
other to his decided advantage. Kiopo, on the other hand, never ceased
for an instant to use his powerful teeth. No need for _him_ to watch for
a chance to bite. He had simply to work his jaws like a piece of perfect
machinery. He fought with all the desperation of an animal caught in a
trap. What roused him to fury was not so much the combined attack, as
the being pinned down by numbers so that he was powerless to escape.
Every muscle in his strong young body was contracted to the utmost. Not
even a fully-grown wolf could have fought with more determination and
pluck.

At last the huskies, beaten and kicked on all sides lost heart and were
driven off. What was left on the ground was an extremely mauled and
tumbled specimen of what less than five minutes before had been a very
trim little wolf.

Instantly Dusty Star was on his knees beside his pet. Kiopo was bleeding
in various places, and panting hard. Dusty Star put his arms round him,
and besought him not to die. To die, however, was one of the last things
Kiopo intended to do. Exhausted he might be, and wanting to get his
breath, but his body was sound and his spirit unbroken. In the eyes that
looked up gratefully into those of his big brother, there shone a clear,
unconquerable light. Very soon he was able to get up and shake himself.
Then, keeping a wary eye on all sides, he walked forward with his party,
and so entered the camp.

Although his reappearance alive, when, according to all husky
calculations, he ought to have been dead, was the occasion for many
growls, and a threatening show of teeth, his enemies did not venture to
attack him again. Unwelcome though he was, it was plain that he had come
among them under the protection of powerful friends. An unprotected
stranger would have indeed led "a dog's life," and sooner or later, died
a dog's death, unpitied to the last. But into their hard husky
intel