Then the leader, the largest and most
terrible of the pack would stretch himself upon the tree trunk, and claw
at the scorched bark, but the food he craved was still out of reach.

They noticed that the strange creatures in the tree began to move
oftener, and to draw their limbs up as if they were growing stiff, and
then their long-drawn howl grew longer and more ferocious than ever; the
game, tired out, would soon drop into their mouths. But it did not, the
two creatures made sounds as if they were again encouraging each other,
and the hearts of the wolves filled with rage and impatience that they
should be cheated so long.

The night advanced; the moonlight faded again and the dark hours that
come before the dawn were at hand. The forest became black and misty
like a haunted wood, and the dim forms of the wolves were the ghosts
that lived in it. But to their sharp red eyes the dark was nothing; they
saw the two beings in the tree do a very queer thing; they tore strips
from themselves, so it seemed to the wolves, from their clothing in
fact, and wound it about their bodies and a bough of the tree against
which they rested. But the wolves did not understand, only they knew
that the creatures did not stir again or make any kind of noise for a
long time.

When the darkness was thickest the wolves grew hot with impatience.
Already they smelled the dawn and in the light their courage would ooze.
Could it be that the food they coveted would not fall into their mouths?
The dread suspicion filled every vein of the old leader with wrath, and
he uttered a long terrible howl of doubt and anger; the pack took up the
note and the lonely forest became alive with its echoes. But the
creatures in the tree stirred only a little, and made very few sounds.
They seemed to be safe and content, and the wolves raged back and forth,
leaping and howling.

The old leader felt the dark thin and lighten, and the scent of the
coming dawn became more oppressive to him. A little needle of fear shot
into his heart, and his muscles began to grow weak. He saw afar in the
east the first pale tinge, faint and gray, of the dreadful light that he
feared and hated. His howl now was one of mingled anger and
disappointment, and the pack imitated the note of the king.

The black veil over the forest gave way to one of gray. The dreadful bar
of light in the east broadened and deepened, and became beaming, intense
and brilliant. The needle of terror at the