they do not often attack people. I have heard
of hunters going out and never coming back again. Then people say wolves
eat them, but not often so. May be killed by elk, or hurt by a falling
tree, or climb hills and fall down. I do not think it is often the
wolves. Wolves great cowards."

"I am glad to hear it, Luka: I have heard them howl sometimes at night
and wondered whether they would come this way."

"Not come here," Luka said decidedly, "we keep plenty of big fire. All
beasts afraid of fire. Then we have got dogs and guns. Much easier for
wolves to attack elk; but even that they seldom do unless it is wounded
or has injured itself."

"Well, I think I will go off to sleep; my pipe is out and the hot tea
has made me sleepy."

After sleeping for some hours, Godfrey awoke with a strange feeling of
oppression. Outside he could hear the dogs whimpering.

"Wake up, Luka," he said, "it is very close in here. I fancy the snow
must have drifted very deep and covered us up completely. Let us get up
and see about it."

It was quite dark outside, except that the embers of the fire threw a
dull red light on the snow. The shelter seemed but half its former
dimensions. The snow had drifted in at its entrance and lay in a bank
piled up to the roof.

"Bring your spear, Luka, and mine, and shove them up between these
poles. We must make a few holes up through the snow if we can to let a
little air in."

The spears were pushed up and then worked a little to and fro to try to
enlarge the hole. They were eight feet long, but Godfrey did not feel at
all sure that they penetrated through the cover of snow. However, when
they had made a dozen of these holes there was a distinct change in the
air.

"They have gone nearly through, if not quite, and anyhow they are near
enough to the surface for the air to find its way out. Now we had better
set to work at once to dig a passage out. That is one advantage of this
shelter, there is a place to throw the snow back into."

Going down on their hands and knees they soon scraped the snow away
until they reached the entrance to the shelter. Here the snow weighted
by the pressure above was much denser and harder, and they could cut out
blocks with their hatchets.

"Now," Godfrey said, "we must make a tunnel sloping upwards. It must be
as steep as it can so that we are able to climb up, making steps to give
us foothold. I will begin, for we only just want it wide enough for one.
I will