The wolf disappeared behind some brush, but did not go far.  Sitting down, it let out the most dismal howls imaginable, which soon brought a dozen or more other wolves to the scene.  Then all of the pack came into view, much to Jasper Grinder’s horror.

“They want to eat me up!” he groaned, and ran for the nearest tree, which was close to the shelter.  “Oh, I must get away, somehow!”

He clutched at the tree and began to climb with all possible-speed.  His gun lay close at hand, but in his haste he forgot to pick it up.  Once in the tree he sat down on a limb, a perfect picture of misery.

Seeing the man retreat the wolves at once became bolder, and keeping a safe distance from the fire, they drew up in a circle around the tree upon which Jasper Grinder rested, and from which hung the bear meal.  At one point under the tree there was a spot covered with bear’s blood, and this blood several of the wolves licked up in a manner to make the former teacher’s own blood run cold.

“If they get at me they’ll chew me up, I know they will,” he moaned.  “Oh, why did I ever come out in this savage waste!”

Sitting in a circle, the wolves lifted their heads and howled dismally.  Two came to the tree and scratched the bark, as if to attempt climbing.

“Go away!  Go away!” shrieked Jasper Grinder.  “Scat!  Go away!”

The wolves left the tree-trunk, but did not go away.  Instead one after another began to leap up, trying to reach the meat which hung so temptingly above them.  One or two prowled among the stores, tearing this and that, and picking up the scraps of the morning meal.

In this fashion half an hour went by, and it is safe to state that this was the longest and most trying half hour that Jasper Grinder experienced in his whole life.  He shouted at the wolves and threw bits of sticks at them, but to this they paid no attention.  Then he cried for help, but the Rovers and John Barrow were too far off to hear him.

“If I only had the gun, I could fire it as a signal,” he said to himself.  “Why did I not bring it up with me?”

He wondered if he could pull the gun up by means of a string he found in his pocket, and resolved to try.  Making a loop in one end of the string he lowered it with care, until it rested close to the gun, and then he did his best to slide the string along under the barrel.  This was comparatively easy, for the barrel was tilted up against a rock.

The wolves watched the maneuvering with interest, and no sooner did the gun begin to shift than three leaped forward, snarling angrily.  One snapped at the barrel of the piece, one at the butt, and a third at the trigger.  An instant later came the report heard by the Rovers and John Barrow.

The shot was almost a deadly one, not alone for two of the wolves, but also for Jasper Grinder, who was not expecting the gun to go off.  The piece was loaded with buckshot, which tore through the sides of two of the beasts, and then passed upward into the tree-branches, taking the former school-teacher in the left shoulder.