ng itself in total unconcern
of the two deadly foes advancing upon it from different points, and it
was not until Kiopo was close up to it that it realized its danger. In
an instant the white tail flashed in the sunlight as it turned to run.
It was an instant too late. In two tremendous bounds, the wolf was upon
it, and the great jaws snapped.

If Kiopo had started upon his meal at once, it is probable that his
enemy might have been able to stalk him to a closer point before he made
his rush; but in Kiopo's mind there was a clear idea that the kill must
be shared with Dusty Star. If the Little Brother disdained the raw meat,
it could not be helped. Kiopo would have behaved in the brotherly
manner, and he could not be expected to do any more. He turned therefore
with the rabbit in his mouth, to retrace his steps to the thicket. As he
did so, the bush to his left opened in its middle and seemed to
_explode_ upon him in a hairy mass, with a snarl that was like a roar.

It was not easy to stalk Kiopo, but Stickchi's tactics had been so
carefully performed that, for once, the wolf was taken off his guard.
Dusty Star, from his look-out, watched the husky leap clean on Kiopo's
back, and then saw both animals roll over together. There was a couple
of moments of furious struggle and then Kiopo tore himself free.

The sudden attack, the rolling over, the taste of the husky's teeth, had
done Kiopo good; it had aroused his fighting instincts to their utmost
pitch. Besides, he had been attacked while in possession of his
just-killed meat--an unpardonable offence in the law of the wilderness,
in which to kill is to possess, and to possess is to make your kill a
part of yourself by devouring it!

The instant he had wrenched himself free, he launched his counter
attack; that is, he launched the entire weight of his hundred and
forty-pound body through the air straight at the husky. Stickchi tried
to evade the onset, but he was not quite so nimble as the wolf. Kiopo's
charge struck him full on the shoulder, and carried him off his legs.
But a husky down is not by any means a husky beaten, and Stickchi showed
that, although a bully and sometimes a coward, he could, when necessary,
show a fighting spirit that was not easily cowed.

From the point at which Dusty Star stood it was not very easy to follow
each movement of the struggle, partly because of the distance, partly
owing to the fact that now and then the fighters were so mixed u