rd, but I was too sleepy to pay any attention to it.

How long I had been in a state of unconsciousness I could not tell, when
I was aroused by a chorus of howls and yelps, and, starting up, I saw a
number of animals with glaring eyes almost in our very midst.

"Wolves, wolves!" I cried, calling to my companions at the top of my
voice.

Before I could draw my rifle out of the hut, where I had placed it by my
side, one of the brutes had seized on a large piece of venison,
suspended at the end of a stick to keep it off the ground, and had
darted off with it, while the depredators were searching round for other
articles into which they could fix their fangs.

Our appearance greatly disconcerted them, as we shouted in chorus, and
turning tail they began to decamp as fast as their legs would carry
them.

"Bring down that fellow with the venison," I cried out.

Charley, who had been most on the alert, had his rifle ready, and,
firing, brought down the thief. Another of the pack instantly seized
the meat and made off with it in spite of the shouts we sent after him.
The wolves lost three of their number, but the rest got off with the
venison in triumph. It was a lesson to us to keep a watch at night, and
more carefully to secure our venison. We had, however, a portion
remaining to serve us for breakfast next morning.

We took good care not to let the wolves get into our camp again, but we
heard the brutes howling around and quarrelling over the carcase of one
of their companions, who had been shot but had not immediately dropped.
Having driven off our unwelcome visitors, Charley and I went in search
of our horses, as we were afraid they might have been attacked. They
were, however, well able to take care of themselves and had made their
way to the border of the stream, where we found them safe.

In the meantime Buntin and Story dragged the carcases of the wolves we
had killed to a distance from the camp, as their skins were not worth
preserving. We all then met round the camp fire, but we soon found that
to sleep was impossible, for the wolves, having despatched their wounded
companions, came back to feast on the others we had shot. We might have
killed numbers while so employed, but that would have only detained them
longer in our neighbourhood, and we hoped when they had picked the bones
of their friends that they would go away and leave us in peace.

We all wished to be off as soon as possible, so while it w