Monteith Sterry shot forward on his right foot, his revolver, with its two precious charges, tightly gripped in his naked hand.

This was to be called into play only in the last extremity.  The killing of a couple of wolves from such a horde could produce no effect upon the rest, unless perhaps to furnish some of them a lunch, for one of the curious traits of the lupus species is that they are cannibals, so to speak.

His hope was that the flash and report of the weapon would frighten the animals into opening a path for a moment, through which the skaters could dart into the clear space below.

Having started, Monteith did not glance behind him.  Fred and his sister must look out for themselves.  He had his hands more than full.

With a swift, sweeping curve he shot toward the bank, the brutes immediately converging to head him off.  The slight, familiar scraping on the ice told him that Fred and Jennie were at his heels.  He kept on with slackening speed until close to the shore, and it would not do to go any further.  An overhanging limb brushed his face.

But his eye was on the wolves further out in the stream.  The place was one of the few ones where the course was such that no shadow was along either bank.  The moment most of the creatures were drawn well over toward the right shore, Sterry did as his friends did awhile before, skimming abruptly to the left and almost back over his own trail, and then darting around the pack.  The line was that of a semicircle, whose extreme rim on the left was several rods beyond the last of the wolves swarming to the right.

“Now!” called Sterry at the moment of turning with all the speed at his command.

Critical as was the moment, he flung one glance behind him.  Fred and Jennie were almost nigh enough to touch him with outstretched hand.  No need of shouting any commands to them, for they understood what he was doing, or rather trying to do.

Young Sterry, as I have said, had cleared the horde of wolves, making the turn so quickly that they slid a rod or more over the ice before able to check themselves and change their own course.

The stratagem seemed as successful as the other, but it was too soon to congratulate themselves.  At the moment when everything promised well, the most enormous wolf he had ever seen bounded from under the trees on the left bank and galloped directly for him.

He was so far in advance that the only way of dodging him was by another sharp turn in his course.  To do this, however, would bring him so near the other brutes that they were almost certain to leap upon every one of the party.

“Use your revolver!” called Fred from the rear.

Monteith had already decided that this was an exigency demanding one of the remaining charges, and he partly raised the weapon in front of him.

Meanwhile, the huge wolf had stopped on seeing that the procession was coming in a straight line for him.  The youth moderated his speed still more, that he might perfect his aim.