the pack, he felt a hot
breath on his neck, and bare fangs snapped savagely within an inch of
his throat. His assailant sprang back in time to escape the deadly
sweep of the axe, but at the same instant the other three were leaping
in. One of these caught a glancing blow, which drove him off,
snarling. But the other two were so close that there was no time for
Dave to recover. Instinctively he jabbed a short back-stroke with the
end of the axe-handle, and caught one of his assailants in the belly.
Sickened, and daunted by this unexpected form of reprisal, the brute
hunched itself with a startled yelp and ran off with its tail between
its legs. At the same moment, dropping the axe, Dave caught the other
wolf fairly by the throat. The gripping hand was a kind of weapon that
the beast had never learned to guard against, and it was taken at a
disadvantage. With a grunt of fury and of effort Dave closed his grip
inexorably, braced himself, and swung the heavy brute off its feet.
Whirling it clear around his head, he let go. The animal flew
sprawling and twisting through the air, and came down on its back ten
feet away. When it landed, there was no more fight left in it. Before
Dave could reach it with his axe it was up and away in a panic after
its two remaining fellows.

Breathing heavily from his effort and from the storm of emotion still
surging in his breast, Dave turned to the hut door and called--

"Lidey! Lidey! Are you there?"

"Popsie! Oh, popsie, _dear!_ I thought you weren't goin' to come!"
cried a quivering little voice. And the child crept out into the
moonlight.

"Oh, popsie!" she sobbed, hiding her eyes in his neck as he crushed
her to his heart, "they were goin' to eat me up, an' I thought you
wouldn't ever come!"

IV

With the bundle on his back and Lidey in his arms, Dave strode
homeward, his weariness forgotten. His first anxiety about his wife
was somewhat eased when he learned that Lidey had left her asleep; for
he remembered that a heavy sleep always marked the end of one of her
attacks. He only hoped that the sleep would hold her until they got
home, for his heart sank at the thought of her terror if she should
wake and find Lidey gone. As they came out on the edge of the
clearing, and saw that all was quiet in the cabin, Dave said--

"We won't tell mother nothin' about the wolves to-night, sweetie, eh?
It 'ld jest git her all worked up, an' she couldn't stand it when
she's sick. We won'