by a low rebellious growl, a scratching of feet on the puncheons, and a
heavy thud of someone falling told me that the final struggle for the
leadership of the black wolf pack had begun.

Then burst upon the stillness of the night such an uproar that for a
moment I thought the whole pack was mixed in the fight, but at length I
heard Pluto's snarling, rumbling growl, answered by the distant howl of
the wolf pack, followed immediately by a close-by yell that chilled my
blood; after this came Big Pete's war cry, then the crash of falling
objects, shrieks and growls and savage yells.

I had flung myself forward, and there in the pitch darkness of the
doorway of the hall I felt and heard rather than saw the lean twisting
bodies of the Wild Hunter and Pluto clasped in a life and death struggle
on the floor. I feared to use my revolver, as it would have been
impossible to tell whether I was shooting the hunter or the wolf.

Suddenly a light burst upon the scene. Big Pete's absence was
explained; he had secured a lantern and holding it aloft with his left
hand, with a six-shooter in his right, he paused a moment over the
struggling figures. By the light of the lantern one could see that the
Wild Hunter was on his back struggling with the giant beast which he was
trying to choke with his two hands, while the wolf's teeth were seeking
the throat of the man. It was a terrible scene but it was no time to
waste in horror. The efforts of the hunter to free himself from his
terrible assailant would have been of little avail but for the
assistance of Big Pete, for the wolf was shaking the wild man from side
to side with terrific force, very much the same as a bull-terrier might
shake a cat.

Pete wasted no time but placing the muzzle of his gun against the wolf's
head he fired, then shouted to me, "Look behind you."

As I wheeled about I found that I was facing the rest of the pack. Pluto
reared upon his hind legs, clawed the air frantically in his death
struggle, and fell with a thud across his master's body, but Pete and I
were now concentrating our fire on the snarling, leaping bodies of the
wolf pack. Fortunately the death of Pluto and the silence of the Wild
Hunter seemed to discourage the pack, they evidently missed their
leaders and this gave us the advantage, for if they had rushed us we
undoubtedly would have fallen victims to their savage teeth.

In the melee the lantern was upset and the struggle ended in darkness as