CHAPTER TWO

The She-Wolf

When morning came, the men ate their breakfast and prepared the sled. They heard the cries again. It was wolves. The sky became light at nine o'clock in the morning. They began their journey again. The men did not talk the entire day. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky became dark. (This is what winter in the Arctic is like.) They prepared their camp.

After dark, the men could hear the wolves' cries coming closer and closer. The sled dogs were very afraid.

"I wish that the wolves would find food somewhere else," said Bill.

"They make me afraid," said Henry.

The two men then did not speak again until they finished preparing their camp. Suddenly, Henry heard Bill screaming something, and heard a painful cry from one of the dogs. A dog ran away from the camp into the darkness. Bill was standing near the dogs holding a club.

"I hit the wolf. Did you hear it scream?" asked Bid.

"What did the wolf look like?" asked Henry.

"I could not see it clearly, but it looked like a dog," said Bill.

"It must be a wolf or dog that used to live with people," said Henry.

"I agree. It is very clever. It tried to get our fish," said Bill.

The men ate dinner and went to bed. In the morning, they discovered that another dog, named Frog, was gone. Frog was a clever and strong dog. In fact, Frog was the strongest sled-dog that the men had. The men were very sad. They quietly ate their breakfast and prepared the sled with the last four dogs. As the men traveled that day, they heard the wolf cries behind them. When they stopped for camp that afternoon, Bill put some rope on the dogs so that they would not run away.

As the men prepared to go to sleep, the sled dogs suddenly became very upset and made a lot of noise. One of the dogs, named One Ear, tried to break the rope. The men saw another dog standing near the fire. It was a wolf. It was looking at the sled-dogs. The dogs were anxious.

"It is a she-wolf. Now I know why Fatty and Frog left camp. She has been attracting the dogs and taking them to the other wolves. Then the other wolves eat them," said Henry.

"That is the same animal that I hit yesterday. She understands campfires. That is very strange," said Bill.

"It does know more about people than the other wolves. She probably used to be a person's dog, hut she ran away. Now, she lives with the wolves," said Henry.

"We can't lose any more dogs," said Bill.

The next morning, Henry awoke early and cooked breakfast. When Bill awoke, Henry said, "Another dog is gone."

"How did it happen? I tied them," said Bill.

"One of the other dogs chewed the rope and broke it," said Henry.

The men began their journey again. Later, when the men were resting, Bill took the gun and went for a walk. When he returned, he said, "The wolves are following us. They are very thin and look like they haven't eaten anything for many weeks. They really want food."

Then, Bill saw the she-wolf walking in the distance. It walked closer and closer to the men and the dogs. The men could see that the she-wolf was very large. Her fur was red. The other wolves had gray fur.

"It looks like a sled-dog," Bill said.

The animal was not afraid. She stood and watched the men.

That night, the men stopped their journey early. They only had three dogs left, and the dogs were tired from pulling the heavy sled. The men went to sleep very early. During the night, the wolves were very close to the camp. The dogs were very afraid.

Bill was also afraid. "The wolves are following us! They are going to kill us, Henry!" he cried.

"Don't say that!" shouted Henry. "If you say that, then maybe they will kill you! Be quiet and go to sleep."

(end of section)