monteith sterry began drawing the mitten from his right hand with the intention of using his revolver on the bear, when he checked himself with the thought:
"better to wait until i need it; the most of this excursion is still before us."
the lumbering brute came to a stop, with his huge head turned, and surveyed the approaching skaters. had they attempted to flee, or had they come to a halt, probably he would have started after them. as it was he swung half-way round, so that his side was exposed. he offered a fine target for sterry's weapon, but the young man still refrained from using it.
"it isn't well to go too near him," remarked fred whitney, seizing the arm of his sister and drawing her toward the shore on the left.
"i don't mean to," replied the bright-witted girl, "but if we turn away from him too soon he will be able to head us off; he mustn't suspect what we intend to do."
"there's sense in that," remarked sterry, "but don't wait too long."
the three were skating close together, with their eyes on the big creature, who was watching them sharply.
"now!" called fred, in a low, quick voice.
he had not loosened his grip of his sister's arm, so that when he made the turn she was forced to follow him. the moment was well chosen, and the three swung to one side as if all were controlled by the single impulse.
bruin must have been astonished; for, while waiting for his supper to drop into his arms, he saw it leaving him. with an angry growl he began moving toward the laughing party.
the tinge of anxiety which fred whitney felt lasted but a moment. he saw that they could skate faster than the bear could travel; and, had it been otherwise, no cause for fear would have existed, for, with the power to turn like a flash, it would have been the easiest thing in the world to elude the efforts of the animal to seize them.
they expected pursuit, and it looked for a minute as if they were not to be disappointed. the animal headed in their direction with no inconsiderable speed, but, with more intelligence than his kind generally display, he abruptly stopped, turned aside, and disappeared in the wood before it could be said the race had really begun.
jennie was the most disappointed of the three, for she had counted upon an adventure worth the telling, and here it was nipped in the bud. she expressed her regret.
"there's no helping it," said monteith, "for i can think of no inducement that will bring him back; but we have a good many miles before us, and it isn't likely that he's the only bear in this part of maine."
"there's some consolation in that," she replied, leading the way back toward the middle of the course; "if we see another, don't be so abrupt with him."
the stream now broadened to nearly three times its ordinary extent, so that it looked as if they were gliding over the bosom of some lake lagoon instead of a small river. at the widest portion, and from the furthest point on the right, twinkled a second light, so far back among the trees that the structure from whence it came was out of sight. they gave it little attention and kept on.
sterry took out his watch. the moonlight was so strong that he saw the figures plainly. it lacked a few minutes of nine.
"and yonder is the mouth of wild man's creek," said fred; "we have made pretty good speed."
"nothing to boast of," replied jennie; "if it were not for fear of distressing mother, i would insist that we go ten or fifteen miles further before turning back."
since plenty of time was at command, they continued their easy pace, passing over several long and comparatively straight stretches of frozen water, around sharp bends, beyond another expansion of the stream, in front of a couple of natural openings, and finally, while it lacked considerable of ten o'clock, they rounded to in front of a mass of gray towering rocks on the right bank of the stream, and, skating close into shore, sat down on a bowlder which obtruded several feet above the ice.
they were at the extremity of their excursion. these collective rocks bore the name of wolf glen, the legend being that at some time in the past a horde of wolves made their headquarters there, and, when the winters were unusually severe, held the surrounding country in what might be called a reign of terror. they had not yet wholly disappeared, but little fear of them was felt.
the friends could not be called tired, though, after skating fifteen miles, the rest on the stone was grateful.
they sat for half an hour chatting, laughing, and as merry as when they started from home. the sky was still unclouded, but the moon had passed beyond the zenith. a wall of shadow was thrown out from one of the banks, except for occasional short distances, where the course of the stream was directly toward or from the orb.
when sterry again glanced at his watch it was a few minutes past ten. they had rested longer than any one suspected.
"mother won't look for us before midnight," remarked fred, "and we can easily make it in that time."
"she was so anxious," said the sister, who, despite her light-heartedness, was more thoughtful than her brother, "that i would like to please her by getting back sooner than she expects."
"we have only to keep up this pace to do it," said monteith, "for we have been resting fully a half hour—"
he paused abruptly. from some point in the wintry wilderness came a dismal, resounding wail, apparently a mile distant.
"what is that?" asked monteith, less accustomed to the maine woods than his companions.
"it is the cry of a wolf," replied fred; "i have heard it many times when hunting alone or with father."
"it isn't the most cheerful voice of the night," commented the young bostonian, who, as yet never dreamed of connecting it with any peril to themselves. and then he sang:
yes, the war whoop of the indian may produce a pleasant thrill
when mellowed by the distance that one feels increasing still;
and the shrilling of the whistle from the engine's brazen snout
may have minor tones of music, though i never found it out.
the verse was hardly finished when the howl was repeated.
"it is hard to tell from what point it comes," observed fred, "but i think it is on the right shore as we go back."
"do you imagine it is far from the river?" inquired monteith.
"i think not, but i may be mistaken."
"i am quite sure fred is right," said his sister; "and, more than that, that particular wolf isn't a great way off. i wonder whether he has scented our trail?"
before any comment could be made upon this remark, a second, third, fourth, and fully a half-dozen additional howls rang through the forest arches. they came from the left shore, and apparently were about as far off as the cry first heard.
"they are answers," said fred, in a low voice, in which his companions detected a slight tremor.
it was at this moment that the first fear thrilled all three. the cries might mean nothing, but more likely they meant a good deal. the wolf is one of the fiercest of american wild animals when suffering from hunger, though a coward at other times, and a horde of them are capable of attacking the most formidable denizens of the woods.
the fact that they were between the skaters and home, and at no great distance from the course they must follow to reach there, was cause for fear. it was almost certain that in some way the keen-scented creatures had learned there was game afoot that night for them, and they were signalling to each other to gather for the feast.
fred and monteith were not specially frightened on their own account, for, if the worst should come, they could take to the trees and wait for help. they might make a sturdy fight, and perhaps, with anything like a show, could get away from them without taking to such a refuge.
but it was the presence of jennie that caused the most misgiving. true, she was as swift and skilful a skater as either, but that of itself was not likely to save her.
but she was the coolest of all, now that the danger assumed a reality.
the lightness and gayety that had marked the three from the moment of leaving home had gone. they were thoughtful, the very opposite in their mood to that of a few minutes before.
"i wish i had brought my pistol," said fred.
"i have mine," observed monteith; "a good smith & wesson, and each of the five chambers is loaded."
"thank fortune for that; have you any extra cartridges?"
"not one."
"your pistol may be the means of saving us."
"why do you speak that way?" asked jennie; "i never knew you were scared so easily."
"i am sorry you are with us, sister; my alarm is on your account."
"i do not see why i am not as safe as either of you; neither can skate faster than i."
"if we are to escape by that means, your chances are as good as ours; but those creatures have a fearful advantage over us, because we must run the gauntlet."
"we are not so certain of that; if we hasten, we may pass the danger-point before they discover us."
for the first time since leaving home the three did their best. separated from each other by just enough space to give play to the limbs, they sped down the icy river with the fleetness of the hurricane, their movements almost the perfect counterpart of each other.
first on the right foot, they shot well toward the shore on that side, then bending gracefully to the left, the weight was thrown on that limb, the impetus being imparted to the body without any apparent effort, after the manner of a master of the skater's art. these, sweeping forward, were many rods in length, the polished steel frequently giving out a metallic ring as it struck the flinty ice. now and then, too, a resounding creak sped past, and might have alarmed them had they not understood its nature. it indicated no weakness of the frozen surface, but was caused by the settling of the crystal floor as the water flowed beneath.
for a few minutes these were the only noises that broke the impressive stillness. the three had begun to hope that the ominous sounds would be heard no more, and that the wolves were too far from the river to discover them until beyond reach.
if they could once place themselves below the animals they need not fear, for they could readily distance them. should the speed of the pursuers become dangerous, a sharp turn or change in the course would throw them off and give the fugitives an advantage that would last for a long time. but they dreaded the appearance of a whole pack of the brutes in front, thus shutting off their line of flight homeward. true, in that case they could turn about and flee up stream, but the risk of encountering others attracted by the cries would be great, and perhaps leave their only recourse to a flight into the woods.
the thoughts of each turned to the nearest hunter's cabin, although it was several miles distant, and probably beyond reach.
it was strange that, having emitted so many signals, the wolves should become suddenly quiescent.
no one spoke, but as they glided swiftly forward they peered along the gleaming surface in search of that which they dreaded to see.
they approached one of those long, sweeping bends to which allusion has been made. jennie had already proven that neither of her companions could outspeed her. they were doing their utmost, but she easily held her own with less effort than they showed.
in truth, she was slightly in advance as they began following the curve of the river, her head, like each of the others, bent forward, to see whither they were going.
"they are there!"
it was she who uttered the exclamation which sent a thrill through both. they asked for no explanation, for none was needed, and an instant later they were at her side, she slightly slackening her pace.
the sight, while alarming, was not all that fred and monteith anticipated.
three or four gaunt animals were trotting along the ice near the left shore, but no others were visible.
"keep in the middle while i take a turn that way," said monteith, sheering in the direction named.
brother and sister did not read the meaning of this course, nor could they detect its wisdom. but they obeyed without question.
young sterry hoped by making what might look like an attack upon the famishing beasts to scare them off for a few minutes, during which the three, and especially jennie, could reach a point below them. with the brutes thus thrown in the rear, it might be said the danger would be over.
now, as every one knows, the wolf is a sneak, and generally will run from a child if it presents a bold front; but the animal becomes very dangerous when pressed by hunger.
monteith sterry's reception was altogether different from what he anticipated. when the half-dozen wolves saw him speeding toward them they stopped their trotting, and, like the bear, looked around, as not understanding what it meant.
"confound them! why don't they take to the woods?" he muttered. he had removed the mitten from his right hand, which grasped his revolver. "this isn't according to hoyle."
he shied a little to the right, with a view of preventing a collision with the creatures, and the moment he was close enough, let fly with one chamber at the nearest.
accidentally he nipped the wolf, which emitted a yelping bark, leaped several feet in the air, then limped into the woods, as he had learned enough of the interesting stranger.
that was just what the youth had hoped to do, and the success of his scheme would have been perfect had the others imitated their wounded companion, but they did not.
without paying any attention to sterry they broke into a gallop toward the middle of the river, their course such as to place them either in advance of fred and jennie whitney or to bring all together.
greatly alarmed for his friends, monteith did an unnecessary thing by shouting (for the couple could not fail to see their danger), and fired two more barrels of his pistol. neither shot took effect, nor did the wolves give them any heed, but they and the skaters converged with perilous swiftness.
forgetful of his own danger, monteith shouted again:
"look out! why don't you change your course?"
neither replied, but it was absurd for the panic-stricken youth to suppose they did not understand the situation and were shaping their movements accordingly.
having observed the wolves as soon as sterry, they never lost sight of them for a second. every action was watched, and the curious proceeding noted the instant made.
fred and jennie continued gliding straight forward, as if they saw them not, and a collision appeared inevitable. at the moment when monteith's heart stood still, the couple turned almost at right angles to the left—that is, in exactly the opposite direction from the course of the wolves—and in a second they were fifty feet nearer that shore than the brutes. then followed another quick turn, and they were gliding with arrowy speed straight down stream. they had simply passed around the animals, who, detecting the trick, made their limbs rigid and slid over the ice, with their claws scratching it, until able to check their speed to allow them to turn and resume the pursuit.
sterry was on the point of uttering a shout of exultation and admiration at the clever manoeuvre, when jennie cried out; and well might she do so, for fifty yards beyond, and directly in their path, the ice seemed suddenly to have become alive with the frightful creatures, who streamed from the woods on both sides, ravenous, fierce and unrestrainable in their eagerness to share in the expected feast.
