“Do you see the great beast now, Tayoga?” he whispered.

“No, he is behind a rock, but there is another slinking forward, drawing himself without noise over the ground.  He must have been in life a savage from the far region, west of the Great Lakes, perhaps an eater of his own kind, as the wolf eats his.”

“I see him, Tayoga, just there on the right where the darkness lies like a shroud.  I see his jaws slavering too.  He comes forward as a stalker, and I’ve no doubt the soul of a most utter savage is hidden in his body.  He shall meet my arrow.”

“Wait a little, Dagaeoga, until you can be sure of your shot.  There is another creeping forward on the left in the same manner, and you’ll want to send a second arrow quickly at him.”

“I never saw a wolf-pack attack in this way before.  They come like a band of warriors with scouts and skirmishers, and I can see that they have a force massed in the center for the main rush.”

“In a few more seconds you can take the wolf on the right.  Bury your arrow in his throat.  It is as I said, Dagaeoga.  Now that the moment has come your hand is steady, your nerves are firm, and even in the dusk I can see that your eyes are bright.”

It was true.  Robert’s imagination had painted the danger in the most vivid colors, but now, that it was here, the beat of his pulse was as regular as the ticking of a clock.  Yet the unreal and sinister atmosphere that clothed him about was not dispelled in the least, and he could not rid himself of the feeling that in fighting them he was fighting dead and gone warriors.

Nearer and nearer came the great wolf on his right, dragging his body over the ground for all the world like a creeping Indian.  Robert’s eyes, become uncommonly keen in the dusk, saw the long fangs, the slavering jaws and the red eyes, and he also saw the spot in the pulsing throat where he intended that the sharp point of his arrow should strike.

“Now!” whispered Tayoga.

Robert fitted the shaft to the string, and deftly throwing his weight into it bent the great bow.  Then he loosed the arrow, and, singing through the air, it buried itself almost to the feather in the big beast’s throat, just at the spot that he had chosen.  The strangled howl of despair and death that followed was almost like that of a human being, but Robert did not stop to listen, as with all speed he fitted another arrow to the string and fired at the beast on the left, with equal success, piercing him in the heart.

“Well done, Dagaeoga,” whispered Tayoga.  “Two shots and two wolves slain.  The skirmisher on the right and the skirmisher on the left both are gone.  There will be a wait now while the living devour their dead comrades.  Listen, you can hear them dragging the bodies into the bushes.”

“After they have finished their cannibalism perhaps they will go away.”