y, his bleak
outlook on life undiluted by a single ray of that humor which is so
evident in every act of the dog and the prairie wolf; and this
difference of temperament was reflected in his voice, apparent to the
ears of the animal world, apparent to Collins only in the different way
in which his subconscious mind reacted to his howl. Collins, having once
defined Breed's note, its sound so identical with that of the wolf howl
yet so dissimilar in the elusive feeling which accompanied it, had no
further doubt that he could thereafter identify Breed by his howl.

"You, Breed! I've got your number now," he said. "I could pick you out
from amongst a hundred wolves." This was merely a casual assertion, a
self-congratulation over having solved the puzzle, and the Coyote
Prophet made it without a thought that the day would ever come when he
might have opportunity to file it among prophecies fulfilled.

The wolf howl affected Shady in a similar way, its stark savagery
clashing discordantly with the dog strain in her. She felt the grating
along her spine, and the hair rose with it. There was an air of
expectancy among the coyotes. Heads were raised between mouthfuls and
all eyes were repeatedly turned toward the hills. It was the first time
that Shady had heard the cry of one of the big gray hunters. She noted
the tension among her new friends without reading its portent. Of them
all, Breed seemed the only one unaffected. One by one the coyotes left
the feast, then the remaining few sidled hurriedly away as a huge dog
wolf moved swiftly across the flat. His pace slowed as he neared the
kill and he halted ten feet away, his quivering nose taking stock of the
two who fed there.

Shady's long run through the sage had whipped her soft fur full of sage
dust, its sharp scent nearly obliterating the conglomerate smell of the
cabin which usually clung to her. The reek of coyote scent and fresh
blood that permeated the spot still further concealed it, and though the
wolf caught the peculiar odor he could not trace its source to her
without closer inspection. He was hungry and advanced to the meat,
tearing off huge bites and gulping them down till the wire edge of his
hunger was appeased, then sidled cautiously round the steer to nose the
mating she-wolf. As he neared her his eyes peered over her at Breed.
That foreign odor which he had noted he now traced to Shady, but having
once accepted her it did not trouble him. Shady flinched aw