South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys

by Ethel C. Brill

  XX A NIGHT ATTACK

  It must have been instinct that roused Louis and set him to shavingkindlings from the last stick of wood, for there was no change in thedarkness of the hole to indicate that morning had come. The smoke nolonger found a way out through the hide cover. Though the wood was dryand the blaze small, Walter was half choked and his eyes were smarting bythe time the tea and pemmican were ready.

  "We are covered with snow," said Louis as, in changing his position, hestruck his head against the sagging roof. "But I think the storm isover."

  He was right. When the three crawled out from under the hide and burrowedtheir way through the drift that covered all but the wind-swept peak oftheir shelter, they found that the flakes had ceased to fall. The windstill blew, though not so hard, and swept the dry, fallen snow up thewave-like drifts, but the sky was clear and flushed with the red ofsunrise. It was a world of sky and snow, for the swirling clouds of fine,icy particles blotted out the distance.

  The boys did not stand gazing about them for long. The morning was toobitterly cold for inaction, and they wanted to be on their way.Floundering through the drifts, they found the dogs buried in the snow,and pulled them, whining piteously, out of their warm nests. Each animalbolted his frozen fish, then burrowed for another nap.

  Dismantling the almost buried shelter, digging out the toboggan andloading it took some time. To fasten the cover over the load, Neil had totake off his fur mittens to handle the stiffened lacings, and frostedfour fingers. He was, as he said, "ready to howl" with the pain when theblood began to circulate in them. In the meantime Louis and Walter haddug out the whining dogs. Once in the harness, they ceased theirprotests. At the crack of the whip and their master's shout of "_Marche,marche_," they were off willingly enough.

  "I hope you know where we are and where we're going, Louis," said Neil ashe fell into line. "I don't."

  "I think that must be the river over there where those trees are," Louisreplied. "We cross it and go on to the west and cross it again. It makesa great bend to the north."

  The dogs were headed for the line of woods, dimly visible through theblowing snow. The trees proved to be on the bank of the Pembina, whichwas crossed without difficulty. The ice was thick and solid beneath itssnow blanket. Beyond the river was open prairie again, a succession ofsnow waves, up and down, across and through which, boys and dogs madetheir way westward. Both Louis and Neil went ahead to break the track.Askime, the intelligent leader of the team, seemed to sense hisresponsibility and kept close behind the snowshoes.

  Walter brought up the rear. His ankles were lame, the muscles of hiscalves strained and sore from the snowshoeing of yesterday. He found thegoing quite hard enough, even in the trail made by two pairs of rackets,three dogs, and a loaded sled. The sky was clear blue overhead, theblowing snow particles glittered in the sunlight, but the sun seemed togive out no warmth. The north wind was piercingly cold. The strenuousexercise kept body and limbs warm, but in spite of his capote hood Walterhad to rub and slap his face frequently. His hands grew numb in his furmittens.

  Only one stop was made, about mid afternoon, when they reached an _iledes bois_, or wood island. The thick clump of leafless small trees andbushes, though broken and trampled by buffalo, furnished plenty of fueland some protection from the wind. The boys kindled a fire, not a tinyflame but a big blaze that threw out real heat. Close around it theycrouched to drink hot tea and eat a little pemmican.

  Heartened by food and drink, they smothered their fire with snow thatthere might be no danger of its destroying the little grove, and resumedtheir march. Higher land came into view through the blowing drift, andLouis scanned it eagerly. He admitted that he did not know just where hewas.

  "We should have crossed the river again before this," he said. "Withoutknowing it we have edged away from the cold wind and gone too far south.I fear we cannot find the old cabin to-night."

  "We must find fuel and shelter," was Neil's emphatic reply.

  It was after sunset when the cold and tired travelers reached an abruptrise of wooded ground. Skirting the base of this tree-clad cliff, theycame to a steep-sided gully, where a small stream, now frozen over andsnow covered, broke through. The narrow cut was lined with boulders, buttrees and bushes bordered the stream and grew wherever they could findfoothold on the abrupt sides among the stones. The gully was drifted withsnow, but it would provide protection from the bitter wind.

  Leaving his comrades with the sled, Louis explored until he found asuitable spot, where the almost perpendicular north slope cut off thewind. A huge boulder, partly embedded in the bank, would serve as theeast wall of the shelter. He shouted to his companions, who joined himwith sled and dogs.

  "We will dig out the snow behind this big stone," he explained, "and pileit up to make a wall on the other two sides. When we have put thetoboggan and the hide cover over the top, we shall have a good warmlodge."

  The three set to work at once, Walter almost forgetting his lameness andweariness in his eagerness to complete the queer hut. When it was alldone but the roof, Neil left the others to unload the sled, while he tookthe ax and climbed the bank to cut firewood.

  Before the shelter was finished, darkness had come, and the howling ofwolves echoed from the hills above. On the narrow strip of frozen, sandyground that had been uncovered, a robe was spread. The fire was kindledagainst the big boulder, which reflected the heat. To the cold and tiredboys, the hut seemed very snug. Wrapped in blankets, they huddled beforethe blaze, warm and comfortable, even though the heat did not carry farenough to make much impression on the two snow walls.

  By the time Walter had eaten his portion of melted pemmican and drunk twocups of hot tea, he was so sleepy he could not keep his eyes open. Neiltoo was nodding, and Louis was not much wider awake. They replenished thefire, and stretched out side by side, feet to the blaze, and headswrapped in their capote hoods.

  An excited barking and howling waked Walter suddenly. How could threedogs make such an unearthly racket? With a sharp exclamation, Louis freedhimself from his blanket. In a flash Walter realized that the dogs werenot guilty of all that noise.

  Louis was gone, Neil was following. Walter sprang up, felt for his gun,and could not find it. The fire was still smouldering. Remembering thatwild animals were supposed to be afraid of fire, he seized a stick thatwas alight at one end. As he crawled from the shelter, he knew from thesounds that the wolves were attacking the dogs.

  The loud report of a gun drowned out for an instant the snarls andgrowls. The dark forms of the beasts could be seen against the whitesnow, but the light was too dim down in the gully to show friends fromfoes. Louis had fired into the air.

  Before the echoes of the shot had died away, Walter flung his blazingfirebrand, with sure aim. It landed among the dark shapes. There was asharp snarl, a quick backward leap of a long, thin body. Neil risked ashot. The snarling creature made a convulsive plunge forward, and fell ina heap. Black figures, three or four of them, were moving swiftly up thegully.

  Louis fired again, then called commandingly, "Askime, back!"

  The brave husky had started in pursuit of the wolves. At his master'scommand, he paused, hesitated, turned. Louis ran forward to seize thedog.

  Askime had been hurt, but not seriously. One of the wolves had got him bythe throat, but the Eskimo's heavy hair had protected him and the skinwas only slightly torn. The other dogs were uninjured. The actual attackhad but just begun, when Walter flung his firebrand. The blazing stickhad struck Askime's attacker on the head, and had made him loose hishold. It had frightened the rest of the beasts. Then Neil's quick andlucky shot had killed the one wolf almost instantly. The dead animalproved,--as the voices of the pack had already betrayed,--that theattackers were not the small, cowardly prairie beasts, but big, graytimber wolves.

  "It was you, Walter, who saved Askime's life," Louis exclaimedgratefully. "I didn't dare take aim. I couldn't tell which was wolf andwhich d
og. I fired over their heads, hoping to frighten the wickedbrutes. But you saved Askime. Come, brave fellow," he said to the dog."You shall sleep in the lodge with me the rest of the night."

  "Will the wolves come back, do you think?" asked Walter.

  "If they do, the dogs will warn us. But I think they will not trouble usagain. They have lost their leader, and they are well frightened."

  The boys were so thoroughly aroused that it was some time before theycould go to sleep again. But they heard no more of the wolves, andfinally dropped off, first Neil, then Louis, and finally Walter. Betweenhis two companions, Walter slept more warmly than on the night before,though he woke several times when the fire had to be replenished.