entrusted the safety of one of the boys, as well as his own life, to
another, who, until then, had never been in a similar position. Why he
did so would be hard to explain, but he never admitted that his course
was a mistake. Sometimes, as is well known, a boy is taught to swim by
flinging him into deep water, where he must choose between keeping
afloat and drowning; and it may be the guide believed that, by tossing
his young friends into the midst of danger at the very beginning of
their experience as Western hunters, they would acquire the needed skill
the more quickly.

CHAPTER V.

"NOW FOR THE RANCH."

One of the singular features connected with the experience of our young
friends during the first night they spent in Wyoming was that all the
danger which threatened them came from one Indian and from one _lupus_.
After Jack Dudley had expelled the prowling buck, the intruder took good
care to remain away. Neither he nor any of his companions troubled the
campers further. The presumption, therefore, was that this solitary
specimen was a "dog Indian," or vagrant, wandering over the country on
his own account. Such fellows, as already explained, claim no kinship
with any tribe, but are, like the tramps of civilized society, agents
for themselves alone.

Had the season been winter, with the snow deep on the ground, the
trouble from the wolves would have been more serious. Those gaunt
creatures, when goaded by hunger, become exceedingly daring, and do not
hesitate to attack even armed bodies of men; but it was autumn time,
when the ravenous brutes, who seem always to be hungry, find the least
difficulty in procuring food, and they remained true to their cowardly
disposition and refrained from everything in the nature of true courage.

The curious fact, as we have remarked, was that, as in the case of the
Indian, only a single wolf intruded upon the little company. The animals
generally travel in droves, and when one is seen it is quite safe to
count upon a dozen, or a score, or even more. It is possible that the
victim of Fred Greenwood's Winchester was also a sort of tramp,
prospecting for his own benefit. It is more likely, however, that he was
what might be considered a scout or advance agent of others. His pack
was probably waiting among the foot-hills for him to return with his
report. If so, the report is now considerably overdue.

Fred was a model sentinel for the remaining hours that he continued on