. When a gun is fired upon the prairies they may be seen
starting up on all sides, and running for the spot in hopes of coming in
for a share of the game. Should an animal--deer, antelope, or
buffalo--be wounded, and escape the hunter, it is not likely to escape
them also. They will set after it, and run it down if _the wound has
been a mortal one_.

On the other hand, if the wound has been only slight, and is not likely
in the end to cripple the animal, the wolves will not stir from--the
spot. This extraordinary sagacity often tells the hunter whether it is
worth his while to follow the game he has shot at; but in any case he is
likely to arrive late, if the wolves set out before him, as a dozen of
them will devour the largest deer in a few minutes' time. The prairie
wolves as well as the others follow the herds of buffaloes, and attack
the gravid cows and calves when separated from the rest. Frequently they
sustain a contest with the bulls, when the latter are old or wounded,
but on such occasions many of them get killed before the old bull
becomes their prey.

They resemble the common grey wolf in colour, but there are varieties in
this respect, though not so great as among the larger species. Their
voice is entirely different, and consists of three distinct barks,
ending in a prolonged howl. Hence the specific and usual name "barking
wolf." They are found only in the Western or prairie half of the
continent, and thence west to the Pacific. Their Northern range is
limited to the fifty-fifth parallel of latitude--but they are met with
southward throughout Mexico, where they are common enough, and known by
the name of "coyote."

Their skins are an article of trade with the Hudson's Bay Company. The
fur is of about the same quality with that of other wolves, and consists
of long hairs, with a thick wool at the base. In commerce they are
termed "cased wolves," because their skins, on being removed, are not
split open as with the large wolf-skins, but are stript off after the
manner of rabbits, and then turned inside out, or "cased," as it is
termed.

"Prairie wolves!" said Basil, in answer to the question put by his
cousin.

"There must be something the matter with one of the bucks, then,"
remarked Norman, "or else there's a good big pack of the wolves, and
they expect to tire one down. I believe they sometimes do try it that
way."

"There appears to be a large pack," answered Basil, still looking
through the gl