a few minutes, however,
they set up that dismal howling by which they summon their mates and
enlarge their numbers; and Evan discovered by the sounds that they
were following him cautiously at no great distance.

Frequent responses were also heard from more distant points in the
woods and from across the river. By this time it was becoming quite
dark, the moonlight penetrating the forest only along the roadway
and in occasional patches among the trees on either side. The rushing
river was not far away, but above its roar arose every instant
the threatening howl of a wolf. Finally, just as he reached the
ice-bridge, the howling became still, a sign that their numbers
emboldened them to enter in earnest on the pursuit. The species
of wolf once so common in the central States, and making the early
farmers so much trouble, were peculiar in this respect; they were
great cowards singly, and would trail the heels of a traveler howling
for recruits, and not daring to begin the attack until they had
collected a force that insured success; then they became fierce and
bold, and more to be dreaded than any other animal of the wilderness.
And at this point, when they considered their numbers equal to the
occasion, the howling ceased.

Evan had been told of this, and when the silence began, he knew its
meaning, and his heart shuddered at the prospect. His only hope lay
in the possibility that they might not dare to follow him across the
ice-bridge. But this hope vanished as he approached the other shore,
and saw by the moonlight several of the gaunt creatures awaiting
him on that side. What should he do? No doubt they would soon muster
boldness to follow him upon the ice, and then his fate would be sealed
in a moment.

In the emergency he thought of the axes, and taking them from his
neck, cut the cord, and thrust his walking-stick into one as a helve,
resolved to defend himself to the last.

At this instant he espied among the thick, upheaved ice-cakes two
great fragments leaning against each other in such a way as to form a
roof with something like a small room underneath. Here he saw his only
chance. Springing within, he used the axe to chip off other fragments
with which to close up the entrance, and almost quicker than it can
be told, had thus constructed a sort of fort, which he believed would
withstand the attack of the wolves. At nightfall the weather had
become colder, and he knew that in a few minutes the damp pieces