nder the other's weight, and set
off on a half-trot for the distant tamaracks. Every muscle in his
powerful young body was strained to its utmost tension. Even more fully
than his helpless burden did he realize the peril at their backs.

Three minutes, four minutes more, and then--

A terrible picture burned in Wabi's brain, a picture he had carried from
boyhood of another child, torn and mangled before his very eyes by these
outlaws of the North, and he shuddered. Unless he sped those three
remaining bullets true, unless that rim of tamaracks was reached in
time, he knew what their fate would be. There flashed into his mind one
last resource. He might drop his wounded companion and find safety for
himself. But it was a thought that made Wabi smile grimly. This was not
the first time that these two had risked their lives together, and that
very day Roderick had fought valiantly for the other, and had been the
one to suffer. If they died, it would be in company. Wabi made up his
mind to that and clutched the other's arms in a firmer grip. He was
pretty certain that death faced them both. They might escape the wolves,
but the refuge of a tree, with the voracious pack on guard below, meant
only a more painless end by cold. Still, while there was life there was
hope, and he hurried on through the snow, listening for the wolves
behind him and with each moment feeling more keenly that his own powers
of endurance were rapidly reaching an end.

For some reason that Wabi could not explain the hunt-pack had ceased to
give tongue. Not only the allotted two minutes, but five of them, passed
without the appearance of the animals on the lake. Was it possible that
they! had lost the trail? Then it occurred to the Indian that perhaps he
had wounded one of the pursuers, and that the others, discovering his
injury, had set upon him and were now participating in one of the
cannibalistic feasts that had saved them thus far. Hardly had he thought
of this possibility when he was thrilled by a series of long howls, and
looking back he discerned a dozen or more dark objects moving swiftly
over their trail.

Not an eighth of a mile ahead was the tamarack forest. Surely Rod could
travel that distance!

"Run for it, Rod!" he cried. "You're rested now. I'll stay here and
stop 'em!"

He loosened the other's arms, and as he did so his rifle fell from the
white boy's nerveless grip and buried itself in the snow. As he relieved
himself of his b