e who was, or, at
any rate, might be, the hunted. And he had reasons--very sound and
private reasons--why he must not meet even one wolf of the pack in
combat. Wherefore he streaked, stretched flat, and doubled into a bow,
his shadow chasing him, and the she-wolf--afraid to be left
alone--chasing his shadow.

Very often before the white wolf had caused the pack to run into
dangerous and decimating trouble, but always with a feed at the end.
He had never before sold them a pup, as the saying is, like this one.
Moreover, he felt that his slaying of the horse secretly--and they were
bound to scent out and read that--would not improve matters. Wherefore
he guessed that, after years of restless rule, it was about time to
quit, and he quitted. But unfortunately there is only one thing harder
than becoming leader of a big wolf-pack, and that is, ceasing to be
leader and--live.

Five miles over the desolate waste of white--and what is five miles, or
ten, or fifteen, to a desperate wolf?--the two beasts ran into a
river--literally into a river. Ice stretched far out from the bank,
yet the river was so wide that they could scarce see the opposite bank.
They could see the grinding, growling ice-blocks floating all round
them which they plunged in, however, and they could feel the icy bite
of the water--water that would stop the action of a man's heart.

But the white wolf did not attempt to swim to the opposite bank, or
mean to. He made a detour, and landed upon the same side he had
started from. He did that three times, the she-wolf always following
faithfully, because she had now become too frightened to stay alone and
do anything else; and then he started upon another mad gallop of miles,
but this time along the bank of the great river.

Finally he stopped and stared out over the ice, the thick water, and
the gnashing pack-ice. Far away, it seemed, through the snow-haze, he
could see a wooded height, an immense island, round which the river
looped in two great arms.

He knew the spot--trust him.

No beast in its senses would try to swim the long distance across to
that island, but from time to time a hunted deer had made the attempt,
and a few of those that tried it had survived the ordeal and populated
the island. More than once, in heavy snow, the white wolf himself, at
the head of his pack, had hunted a deer down to that very spot, and had
watched its head fade across the water into the distance. Once he had