CHAPTER XIII
THE WOLF PACK
Meantime throughout the Grants the line between the Whigs and Tories hadbecome more distinct. Although it had been forbidden for any person tohold office or issue writs under advice from New York, in certainsections where the Tory sentiment was strong, New York justicescontinued to write papers of ejectment against the Hampshire settlers,and other Yorkers were found to serve the documents and on occasion todrive helpless farmers and their families from their homes. Theseaffairs went on openly in the town of Durham, which was a Torystronghold.
Justice Benjamin Spencer was the principal official who dealt out theNew York brand of justice in this town, and he resided in the village ofClarendon. Early in the fall Ethan Allen and a force of Green MountainBoys, appeared at Clarendon and read to the people the resolutionspassed by the Bennington Council to the effect that no person should doany official act under New York authority, and that all lands should beheld under title from New Hampshire. The Durhamites were threatenedthat, if they refused to comply with these orders within a reasonabletime, they would be made to suffer for their temerity. At this visitJudge Spencer absconded, remaining away from home until he was sure "theawful Green Mountain outlaws" had decamped.
Enoch and Lot planned their start into the woods in November, and theywere nearly ready when the second raid on Durham was proposed. The boysknew that the matter had been discussed by Colonel Allen and the otherleaders for some time, for Justice Spencer still continued to disobeythe orders of the Council of Safety, and the matter could not beignored. It was past the middle of November when the commander of theGreen Mountain Boys and some of his followers set out in the directionof Durham, and Lot and Enoch hurried their own going, determined to hidetheir canoe when once they reached the Otter and join in the descentupon Clarendon village.
It was eleven o'clock at night, November 20th, that Colonel Allen,Captain Baker, and more than a score of their friends, entered thesettlement with all the care and circumlocution of Indians. Nuck and LotBreckenridge had joined the party at supper time in a certain rendezvousof Allen's in the woods, having hidden their canoe and traps on the bankof the Otter several miles away. The attacking force of Green MountainBoys was heavily armed and might have been bound upon an expeditionagainst Fort Ticonderoga itself, one might imagine. But a show of forcewas thought to be necessary to overawe the Yorkers who made up more thanhalf the population of the village.
The Green Mountain Boys awakened nobody in their approach to the houseof Justice Spencer, until the leader himself thundered at the door anddemanded that the New York official come down. After some parley, andseeing that there was no help for his case, Spencer descended and, asthe next day was Sunday and nothing could be done then, the prisoner washidden in the house of Mr. Green, some mile and a half from thesettlement, until Monday morning. Early on that day, a still largerforce of Grants men having gathered, as well as settlers whose titleshad been derived from New York, Justice Spencer was taken to the door ofhis own house and tried.
The inquest, with Allen, Warner, Baker, and Cochran, sitting injudgment, was carried forward with all due formality, although thejudges were the principal accusers of the prisoners, and the sentencewas finally pronounced that the prisoner's house be burned and hehimself give his bond to not again act as a New York justice. At thisthe doughty justice broke down, for he plainly saw that his captors werequite able, and in the mind, to carry out the sentence. He told thecourt that if his house were burned his store of dry goods and all hisproperty would be destroyed and his wife and children made destitute.
"And have you and your like not made many of our friends destitute?"cried some of the crowd. But more showed some heart for the justice,notably Captain Warner. Warner finally suggested that as the dry goodsstore was a public benefit and was one of the few stores in thetownship, it should be saved if possible; and it would be too hard atthat time of year to turn the man and his family out of their home. Hedeclared for taking off the roof of the prisoner's house and thenputting it on again, providing that Spencer acknowledged that it was puton under a New Hampshire title, and that he would purchase the same atonce. Spencer, who might have felt some gratitude by this time, promisedcompliance in every particular, and with great shouting and good-nature,the roof of the house was lifted off and then put on again. And thelesson to the Durhamites was a salutary one.
Enoch Harding and his chum left immediately after the settlement of thecase and returned to their canoe. They feared the approach of a stormwhich threatened, and were desirous of building their winter camp andgetting their traps set before the forest would be full of snow and thestreams completely frozen. Both boys were very good woodsmen by thistime, for Bolderwood had been Enoch's mentor and Lot's uncle was an oldranger who knew every trick of the forest and trail. They selected aheavily wooded gulley not far from the Otter and built there a loglean-to against the rocky side-hill, sheltered from the north and opento such sunshine as might penetrate the forest. The traps were set alongthe bank of the stream, some of them in the water itself, where theboys' sharp eyes told them that the fur-bearing game of which they werein search, were wont to pass.
A fortnight after the Durham riot, as the Yorkers were pleased to callthe visit of the Green Mountain Boys, the two friends were very cozilyfixed in the gully. One heavy snow had fallen, and their traps had begunto repay their attention most generously. Then the Otter froze oversolidly and they had to keep the ice open about their traps with theaxe. They were in a lonely piece of wood and day after day saw nor heardnobody but themselves. The bears had taken to their long winter sleep;but the fierce catamount was still abroad, and at night the howling ofthe wolf-pack as it followed some hard-pressed doe or decrepit buck,reached the boys' ears. And at that day the timber-wolf of the GreenMountains--a long, lean, gray creature as big as a mastiff--was much tobe feared.
The traps stretched so far along the creek that if one went out alone toexamine and bait them, almost the entire day was consumed. The boys didnot possess ice-runners, or skates, with which they might have skimmedover the frozen creek and visited the traps in a couple of hours. Eachhad brought a pair of snow-shoes, but these were of no use on the creek.So baiting the traps was no easy task. Usually they divided the workbetween them and thus got it over and had time to stretch and scrapetheir pelts in the afternoon. One day, however, Lot remained at camp tomake some repairs on his clothing, and Enoch set out early to go therounds by himself.
It had been a very cold night and the ice was frozen solidly about thetraps. The catch had been good, too, and both of these facts delayed theyoung trapper more than common. There were fish lines to examine, also,for some of the traps were baited with fish which was consideredparticularly tempting food for certain of the beasts they wished tocatch. It was long past noon when Enoch got back to the camp for dinner,and then he had gone over but half the line of traps. When he started inthe other direction after hastily eating the meal, he knew he should beout until past moonrise, and told Lot so.
"I'll come and meet you," said his campmate.
"No need. Reckon I can find my way back alone," said Enoch. "The moon'llbe up by seven and it's nigh full."
It was so, yet Enoch had no thought when he left the camp that he wouldbe as long delayed as he was. It was full moonrise, before the boy hadexamined the last trap. He had a goodly load on turning his facecampward and was glad of the company of his rifle as he heard the wolvesclamoring in the forest. The bitter cold would make them ravenous bynow, for many of the more easily caught animals had retired for thewinter, while the strong crust on the snow enabled the deer tooutdistance their shaggy enemies. While still three miles or more fromcamp he heard the beasts howling so savagely that he really becamealarmed and would have thrown down his pack and run had he not shrunkfrom so betraying his fear to Lot.
He knew, too, by the nature of the wolves' cries that they were close onthe track of some quarry, and that it could not be his trail they werefollowing, for they wer
e approaching the creek through the timber on thewestern side of the stream. But the sound of the chase drew rapidlynearer, and desperately as Enoch hurried he could not distance the pack.The western bank was high and sloping just here and with anxious eyesthe boy looked up the white incline, where the trees stood rather farapart, to catch the first glimpse possible of the wolves and their prey.Suddenly there came into view several dark objects moving swiftly overthe snow. One was ahead, flitting from tree to tree, its identity almostindistinguishable at first. Then, with almost a shriek of horror, Enochrecognized the wolves' quarry as a human being!
The pursued was on snow-shoes and coming to a steeper part of the creekbank, at once slid down to the ice. After him, their red tongues hangingto their breasts, and baying at every leap, came a round dozen of theravenous creatures. Enoch saw that the unfortunate man was armed with agun, but that evidently the weapon had been injured in some way, for hedid not make use of it to beat off the wolves. He limped as he ran, too,and the young trapper saw plainly that the pack would overtake and pullhim down in a very few moments.
Once upon the ice the beasts spread out and almost surrounded him. Whilehe limped on most awkwardly, the strong, sharp claws of the wolveshelped them over the surface and soon the leader--a gaunt, gray monsterwith cropped ears and scarred back--leaped to seize the prey. Enoch,without a thought of his own danger, had hurried on, re-priming hisrifle as he ran; but he was scarcely within fair gun-shot when the wolfleaped. The beast caught the fugitive by the shoulder, and its weightdragged the man down. He tripped upon his snow-shoes and in an instantwas falling face-downward on the ice with the pack of hungry beastsfighting above him!
Enoch fired his rifle into the midst of the pack as he ran, but althoughone of the wolves rolled over, kicking convulsively upon the ice, theothers scarcely noticed the attack. So eager were they to get at thequarry which they had followed far, that the shot did not frighten them.But the boy was among them in a moment, his gun clubbed, and a fiercedesire in his heart to slay the horrid beasts.
He really thought the fallen man was killed, and his attack was inspiredwholly by a desire for revenge. He laid about him with the gun-stock ina most furious fashion, and the wolves were soon cleared from abovetheir prostrate victim. His attack quelled the courage of the pack for alittle, and even the leader shrank away, howling dolefully. But therespite was not sufficient to allow Enoch to reload his gun.
When the brutes fell back, the man upon the ice showed that he was by nomeans dead, though his exhaustion was plain. He struggled to his knees,and reaching up seized the hunting-knife from Enoch's belt, and thesmall axe with which the latter had cut the ice away from his traps.With one of these weapons in each hand he crouched in readiness todefend himself when the wolves should renew their attack.
And he had not long to wait, for both hunger and natural ferocity urgedthem on. Suddenly the leader, with a savage snarl which fairly turnedthe blood cold in Enoch's veins, cast itself full at him!
Raised upon his hind legs the old timber-wolf, the hero of a thousandfights with other pack-leaders, or with the young upstarts of his owntribe, was fully as tall as his antagonist. The sight of its wide redjaws, from which the froth flew as it does from the lips of a mad dog,the gleaming yellow teeth, the capacious throat which seemed fairly tosteam with the fetid breath expelled from the beast's lungs, almostovercame young Harding. For the moment he was enthralled by theterrifying appearance of the wolf, and his arms lacked the strengthnecessary to swing his gun.
THE WOLF SPRANG AT HIS THROAT]
The charge would surely have overborne him had Enoch not slipped uponthe ice as he shrank back, and providentially he fell upon one knee. Thewolf had sprung at his throat and the pioneer lad's sinking to the icecaused the beast to leap clear over both the human actors in the drama.But as its lean gray body flashed past, the stranger reached up and withEnoch's keen hunting-knife slit a great wound in the exposed body. Awild yell rose above the clamor of the pack and the old wolf rolled overand over on the ice in the agonies of death, the blood spurting from thewound at every pump of its heart.
Instantly half the pack sprang upon the dying leader, every maledesiring to be master, and all doubtless bearing upon their own bodiesmarks of the wounded beast's displeasure. This change of front enabledEnoch to recover both his equilibrium and his presence of mind; and whenthe other beasts gathered courage to attack him in turn, he was ready tobeat them off with his gun and to ably assist his companion incontinuing the slaughter. The wolf he had first shot was attacked by itscomrades, too, for at the smell and taste of blood the creatures showedall the characteristics of cannibals.
Nevertheless, Enoch and the man crouching at his feet, had all theycould do to defend themselves from the charges of the remaining wolves.If the beasts sprang high the boy met them with long-arm swings of hisrifle; if they fell short the axe or the knife flashed and the wolveslimped away with savage howls, their blood dyeing the frozen surface ofthe creek. For yards about the besieged the ice soon had the appearanceof a mighty strife and although he had only received a scratch or twohimself, Enoch was well spattered with blood.
Hunger and the issue from their own veins drowned the natural cowardiceof the canines. They charged blindly, and as fast as one went downbeneath the blows of Enoch's gun, or was seriously wounded by hiscompanion, another wolf sprang to the attack. Three already lay dead onthe ice, torn limb from limb by their comrades, and three others limpedupon the outer edge of the circle, seriously wounded; but still thefierce brutes sprang at their prey, and sprang again!
Involuntarily Enoch shouted aloud at every blow he struck, but hiscompanion maintained a desperate silence. The boy did not cry outbecause he expected any aid; yet assistance was within call. A figurecame running over the ice from up stream and the sharp crack of a rifleannounced the approach of Lot Breckenridge, who had come out to meet hisfriend. Another wolf rolled over in the throes of death, to be seized byits companions and torn to pieces with horrid cries. Lot came on withshouts of encouragement and together with Enoch laid about him withclubbed rifle until the remaining wolves, their cries now turned toyelps of fear, stampeded from the scene of the battle and sought safetyin the forest, from the edge of which they howled their disappointmentat their antagonists.
It was Lot who first regained his breath and spoke. "Zuckers! but thatwas a great fight," he cried, hugging Enoch in his joy at finding himpractically unhurt. "But you look as though you had been killin' beeves,Nuck. And who's this with you?" The individual in question rose stifflyto his feet with a significant "Umph!" "Why!" exclaimed Lot, "it's anInjin--it's Crow Wing! Where'd you pick him up, Nuck?"
Enoch was vastly astonished to see whom he had befriended. "I had noidea who it was," he said. "How came you in this country, Crow Wing?"
The Indian, now grown to be a tall and magnificent looking warrior, wasbreathing heavily and had some difficulty in answering for a moment. Hestood, too, on one foot, holding up his left one like a lamed stork."Umph!" he grunted at last, "White boys in good time. Save Injin sure!"He gravely offered his hand first to Enoch and then to Lot. "Crow Winglame. Hurt foot--break gun--wolves come howl, howl, howl! No can scare'em; no can make fire; no can run good. Umph!"
"You'll have to go to our camp," said Enoch. "You can't travel on thatfoot. You've sprained or broken it."
Crow Wing nodded. He made no sign that the foot hurt him, excepting byholding it off the ice. "Some wolf pelts good," he remarked,sententiously.
Lot had already turned away to examine the dead beasts. Only two skinswere fit to be stripped from the carcasses and added to the pelts Enochhad brought from the traps. The two white boys quickly obtained theseand then, with the Indian hobbling between them, and leaning on theirshoulders, the trio made their way to camp through the moonlight, whilethe remaining wolves slunk back to the scene of the battle and devouredtheir dead comrades.