ile of this fighting and running I
overtook them, and the dog, seeing that he now had good backing, closed
in for the finish.

After a few seconds the whirl of struggling animals resolved itself into
a wolf, on his back, with a bleeding collie gripping his throat, and
it was now easy for me to step up and end the fight by putting a ball
through the wolf's head.

Then, when this dog of marvellous wind saw that his foe was dead, he
gave him no second glance, but set out at a lope for a farm four miles
across the snow where he had left his master when first the wolf
was started. He was a wonderful dog, and even if I had not come he
undoubtedly would have killed the wolf alone, as I learned he had
already done with others of the kind, in spite of the fact that the
wolf, though of the smaller or prairie race, was much large than
himself. I was filled with admiration for the dog's prowess and at once
sought to buy him at any price. The scornful reply of his owner was,
"Why don't you try to buy one of the children?"

Since Frank was not in the market I was obliged to content myself with
the next best thing, one of his alleged progeny. That is, a son of his
wife. This probable offspring of an illustrious sire was a roly-poly
ball of black fur that looked more like a long-tailed bearcub than a
puppy. But he had some tan markings like those on Frank's coat,
that were, I hoped, guarantees of future greatness, and also a very
characteristic ring of white that he always wore on his muzzle.

Having got possession of his person, the next thing was to find him
a name. Surely this puzzle was already solved. The rhyme of the
'Franckelyn's dogge' was in-built with the foundation of our
acquaintance, so with adequate pomp we yclept him little Bingo.'

II

The rest of that winter Bingo spent in our shanty, living the life of a
blubbery, fat, well-meaning, ill-doing puppy; gorging himself with food
and growing bigger and clumsier each day. Even sad experience failed
to teach him that he must keep his nose out of the rat trap. His most
friendly overtures to the cat were wholly misunderstood and resulted
only in an armed neutrality that varied by occasional reigns of terror,
continued to the end; which came when Bingo, who early showed a mind of
his own, got a notion for sleeping at the barn and avoiding the shanty
altogether.

When the spring came I set about his serious education. After much pains
on my behalf and many pains on his,