Night settled down over the hills as Breed came to the end of Shady's
trail and found her lying in a half-swoon with the pups crouching near.
Breed felt that he was leaving this country to return no more, and
almost unconsciously he raised the call for the pack, knowing that the
pack season was far in the future, yet longing to hear the voices of his
friends. Far to the south a pair of coyote voices answered him, and
still beyond them, so far that the sound did not reach Breed's ears, a
second pair of coyotes relayed the message that the yellow leader
called.

Breed urged Shady on, but in three miles the wolf family was forced to
lay over for a rest. Here a pair of coyotes overtook them. The slow
march was resumed with frequent halts for rest, and before morning two
other pairs of coyotes caught up with them, and these were all members
of the original pack that had hunted together in Sand Coulee Basin. Just
at dawn the dog coyote Breed had met some time earlier in the spring
brought his she-wolf mate and joined the band. All of the new arrivals
had lost their pups through the efforts of the hound that Breed had
slain, and they were free to follow where the leader willed.

Breed moved east across the Flathead and for two days he urged Shady on
relentlessly till they were far up the sheltering slopes of the main
divide. Shady then took shelter in a windfall, and for the next three
days she refused to move. Her wounds stiffened and festered from
imbedded shot, and she was dry and feverish. Three stray coyotes crossed
the Flathead and joined those that prowled within a few miles of Shady's
retreat.

The third night Breed heard a well-known voice far down the slope and he
threw all the force of his lungs into a welcoming cry.

A coyote invariably deserts a den that is neared by man. Peg had
discovered Breed's rifled den and his keen nose interpreted the signs.
He had heard the leader's call and wondered why it had been raised so
early in the year. He followed the sign till he found the body of the
hound. It was morning when he reached his own home, and the following
night Peg and Fluff had led their pups off in the general direction
taken by Breed. The trail had cooled, but in moist and sheltered spots
he found sufficient trace to guide him, and in the heavy timber where
the great drifts lingered he could follow it by sight. Then at last he
heard Breed's voice above him and an hour later Peg and Fluff led six
half-gro