p with
each other that it seemed hardly so much like a dog and a wolf fighting
with two separate bodies, and sets of legs, as of one wildly-whirling,
tumbling mass of bodies, legs, and tails. The excitement was too great
to be borne, so throwing all caution to the winds, he ran down into the
gully till he was within half-a-dozen yards of the fight.

By this time both animals were bleeding freely, but they fought on in
apparent unconsciousness of their wounds. At a glance it was easy to see
that their methods of fighting were plainly different; for while the
husky's main object seemed to be to close with the wolf and, if
possible, to hold him down by sheer force, Kiopo fought in true wolf
fashion, springing away after each lashing stroke of his deadly fangs,
and returning to the charge in a series of leaps that bewildered his foe
by their lightning rapidity.

The end of the fight came more quickly than might have been expected,
considering how powerful both animals were. In the most furious
whirlwind of struggle, Kiopo's mind had never lost sight of one
possibility. He knew, as all wolves know, that the hamstring, or tendon
at the back of the leg, is one of the most vital spots in the whole
fighting machine. If once that can be cut the result of the fight is
only a question of time. At last, the opportunity, so long looked-for,
came. There was a tremendous snap of Kiopo's terrible jaws, and Stickchi
was disabled. After that, the husky's powers of resistance were speedily
exhausted, and the bully Stickchi would bully no more.

After this second kill, Kiopo retired to the thicket to lick his wounds,
and Dusty Star went with him.

PART II

CHAPTER X

"BALTOOK" THE SILVER FOX

News upon the prairie travels fast and far. That of the disappearance of
Dusty Star and his wolf into the West, was no exception. After
travelling many leagues, it reached at last the people of the Yellow
Dogs, whose hunting-grounds extend from the Comanache Country to the
great lakes in the north.

It was the famous spy Double Runner who carried the news. Double Runner
was a true Yellow Dog; very fast and cunning. Also like all other true
Yellow Dogs he hated the Comanaches with a bitter hatred. The Comanaches
and the Yellow Dogs had been enemies so long that nobody knew what the
original quarrel had been about. However, that didn't matter in the
least so long as the hatred, which was older than history, wasn't
allowed to die