rs drew back beyond the range of the light into the
darkness of the forest. For a time all that was heard were the yelpings
and snarlings of the wounded and their assailants. These discordant
cries seemed to amuse Memotas very much.

"Ha, ha!" said he, "you came for beaver, did you?--with perhaps a man or
boy or two thrown in; and now you are content to eat your brother wolf's
flesh! You are easily contented, anyway."

"Wait, Memotas," said another Indian; "those wolves are not through with
us yet, and it is likely that we will have a bigger attack from them
than what we already have had."

Quietly calling one of the Indians, who was possessed of marvellous
powers of vision, up on the scaffolding where he was, Mr Ross called
his attention to the stealthy movements of the wolves. Keen as were the
powers of vision possessed by Mr Ross, those of this Indian were much
superior, and so he at once was able to detect the wolves skulking back
to a point far in the rear of the camp. Their object was to make an
attack from that direction. To meet this new movement, Mr Ross
withdrew most of the men from the front, and placed them where they
would be able to render most effective service. About a hundred feet or
more behind the camp stood a very tall, dead balsam tree. Seizing a
large axe, and calling another Indian to do likewise, Memotas rushed out
with his comrade and speedily cut down that tree, causing it to fall
directly from the camp. Then taking his queer-looking rolls of
gunpowder in his arms, and slipping his snowshoes on his feet, he
hurried back to the place where the top of the tree now lay upon the
ground. This was at the place along which the wolves would probably
come when they again made their attack. Here Memotas carefully arranged
his powder-loaded rolls of birch bark, and connected the fuses of each
with a heavy sprinkling of gunpowder, which reached to the trunk of the
tree. Then pulling the cork out of a horn full of powder, which had
been slung on his back, he laid a train on the trunk the whole length of
the tree. Coming into the camp, as he relit his pipe, he coolly said to
the boys, "I think I will give them some singed wolf meat as a change
after a while."

As was anticipated, at this point a number of wolves gathered to make
the attack. They cunningly kept themselves as much in the shadows of
the trees as possible, and so were the more difficult to hit. However,
they never got very nea