snow, and a full seven
feet he stretched from the tip of his nose to the root of his
stumpy tail. No such wolf as he had ever been put inside a cage,
and it was rare, indeed, to find one so large, even in the
mountains south of the very Far North.

"That's a skin that will be worth something," said Dick, "and
here are more, but before we begin the work of taking them off,
you'll have to be braced up, Al. You need a stimulant."

He hurried back to Castle Howard and brought one of the bottles
of whisky, a little store that they had never touched except in
the compounding of the barkstone for the capture of beaver. He
gave Albert a good stiff drink of it, after which the boy felt
better, well enough, in fact, to help Dick skin the monster wolf.

"It gives me pleasure to do this," said Albert, as he wielded the
knife. "You thought, Mr. Wolf, that I was going to adorn your
inside; instead, your outside will be used as an adornment
trodden on by the foot of my kind."

They secured four other fine and unimpaired skins among the
slain, and after dressing and curing, they were sent to join the
stores in the Annex.

Chapter X
Dick Goes Scouting

Dick did not believe that the timber wolves, after suffering so
much in the pursuit of Albert, would venture again to attack
either his brother or himself. He knew that the wolf was one of
the shrewdest of all animals, and that, unless the circumstances
were very unusual indeed, the sight of a gun would be sufficient
to warn them off. Nevertheless, he decided to begin a campaign
against them, though he had to wait a day or two until Albert's
shaken nerves were restored.

They wished to save their ammunition as much as possible, and
they built three large dead falls, in which they caught six or
seven great wolves, despite their cunning. In addition they
hunted them with rifles with great patience and care, never
risking a shot until they felt quite sure that it would find a
vital spot. In this manner they slew about fifteen more, and by
that time the wolves were thoroughly terrified. The scent of the
beings carrying sticks which poured forth death and destruction
at almost any distance, was sufficient to send the boldest band
of timber wolves scurrying into the shadows of the deepest forest
in search of hiding and safety.

The snow melted and poured in a thousand streams from the
mountains. The river and all the creeks and brooks roared in
torrents, the earth