rouser leg around so that it kept out the cold pretty well. This
excitement kept him up for some time, but about twelve o'clock Joe felt
that the cold was sure to get the better of him if he did not do
something. He thereupon undid the leather strap that he used ordinarily
to carry his gun over his back when not in use. This strap, together
with his belt, made a strap sufficiently long so that he was able to
bind himself to the tree. He then felt easier, for he knew that at
least, even though he went to sleep, that he would run no risk of
falling down as prey for the murderous pack below. He wondered if he
would be able to stand the cold night or whether when Pierre came in the
morning he might not find him stark and rigid, tied to the branch of the
tree.

"He shuddered as he remembered the gruesome sight he had once noted far
to the north one day. Then, on one of his fishing expeditions, he had
come upon the body of a man hanging in a tree, evidently treed by wolves
and then frozen. He wondered if some chance passer-by in after years
would find his skeleton in a similar way and would pass on with only a
'Dieu benisse' (May God bless) as he had done, and not even give him
decent burial. He commenced to think that his present position was
directly due to his haste on this former occasion. He begged God to
forgive him and promised to burn a hundred candles for the soul of the
unknown if he ever got back to Escoumains.

"At last human strength could hold out no longer and Joe fell asleep,
asleep with the cold, that forerunner of death. Joe knew nothing until
he awoke in the cabin with Pierre busy about him. It seems that when he
did not return Pierre had gotten uneasy. He and his mate had started
out. With pine torches they followed his trail, and when they saw the
numerous wolf tracks they feared for the worst. They followed across the
ice and were themselves attacked by the pack. Their guns soon put them
to flight and a few minutes later they found Joe insensible up in the
tree. They hurried him back to the hut and in a few days Joe was none
the worse for his experience except for the painful wound on his leg
made by the champion high jumper of the pack."

"Are there any wolves up here now?" asked Pud, as he looked out into the
forest with its dark avenues of trees.

"Not so many," replied Mr. Anderson, "but Sandy, down at Escoumains,
told me the other day that they were getting numerous again, and that a
bounty had