unconscious fatigue.

It was bright daylight when Bob regained his normal faculties. The
morning had considerably advanced while he had lain oblivious to the
passage of time.

The boy sat up. He was stiff and sore. But he was no puny schoolboy. He
had a sturdy frame that healthy athletics had trained to meet fatigue
without injury, and Nature's needed rest had rapidly restored normal
strength, though, as we said, his muscles were not free from certain
little aches to remind him of late events.

At first his thought was that the previous adventure had been nothing
more than a bad dream. But as his eyes scanned the surroundings, and he
saw no fewer than seven carcases of timber wolves lying unpleasantly
close to him, he was quickly convinced that there had been no ill vision
but terrible reality.

Next he called to mind the quest on which he had started from the camp.

That thought was sufficient to banish the last sensation of drowsiness,
and he immediately rose up and examined his rifle, to see if it had
suffered from the adventure. The weapon had stood the test well. Beyond
a few dents on the butt (which would be so many trophies of the combat)
it was otherwise uninjured. The scratches on his own flesh were not
serious, though they nipped a little at first movement. So, altogether,
Bob was satisfied that he had come through the ordeal in a manner that
demanded thankfulness to a protecting Providence.

The next move was towards the bush, where the Saskatoon berries were
hanging in inviting clusters like myriad bunches of purple grapes in
miniature. These, together with a draught from an adjacent spring, had
to suffice for breakfast. Then he turned once more to take up the tracks
that he had been forced to forego on the previous night.

It was not long before the boy rediscovered the trail, and with a
thousand misgivings for the unavoidable delay in going to his chum's
assistance he started on the track at a rapid pace.

It was a winding path that he followed; but in order to ride swiftly
Red Fox had been obliged to keep more or less to the open way through
the woods, relying upon speed more than strategy to outreach pursuit. He
had a plan in his mind that he meant to carry out when at a safe
distance. After that was accomplished, he did not care how soon the
searchers might reach the spot. He would be far away. And the boy--well,
they would be welcome to find him then.

Doggedly determined to find his chum at