Unto Death.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2030, 11 July 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Unto Death.

Look ! A guant, shambling wolf wlmih ha<3 b°en making rrratio oirclen on the prairies suddenly stops lifts his no?e high above the grasj, aod snuffs the air in eveiy direction. Hark ! A long drawn hnwl— a sound which rasps on your ncrveH and bangs a chill. The honest growl of tho ti;;er would be music in compaiison. It has no honest echo, but you hear the r-r-r r-r sneaking across the half-mile of prairie to lind evil company in tho thickets beyond. See! Tho ec^o ia hardly lost in the pines before it io caught up and sent back from a dozen throats, and a moment after a pick of wolves break cover and race across the grass to join the lone animal which sent forth the rallying call. Skulking— malignant— devilish ! There aro beasts which will look you square in tho face. The wolf never d-e 1 ?. Jtestlass eyes— uneasy bodies— lolling tongues— yellow fangs 1 There they go 1 The pack head across the prairie to the south, snifling at the summer breeze as they run, and ftt eaoh long leap their eyes grow

fiercer and clots of fofim fly from thpir red rnonUis to blotch the velvet gras*. It is a tr-u] ti-y fro folLwhg, ani tho scent is fr^sb. 0 uin t ! It ij i> ri. L rftU;TO sri.-ht whi^h nu-t* o1:?o 1 :? Ii it"-: f!> ik and &Uif on thf> pnum. fini.-ri 'lav in" the f>ra^ and a look i>f u^o'iy oa lii" f-i("j f.'ri *«ly turning puiple under tl d hit HMD, i, thi! bouy of a hur'tcr. D. j >id ? No n<-<-<1 t j a^k Hi >t when you h<i\o seen tba tctibla hole in the br<?aat, and the blood which has willed out and eouked the pra^s and changed the color of the flower?. His rifl3 li'-j afc hi«i aide— hia pack at his head. Not accident ? Perhaps yes— perhap3 no. There is one who could tell us if ho could but sneak. *" Hero, des!" L'.ing beside tho dead— rising quio'cly up a9 we approach — ia the huntsr'd friend and con)pm:on — a grand 01.l do;?. He looks ptranjht into our eyes. If wo have come to bury tl«o dead wUh kind handa, it 13 well. If va hava come to rob tho master — b3waie! There u Com age and FideLty an-1 D terminiition. Iluih ! The dug wheels about and f icgs tho north. A sonnJ has reached hia ears which seta hia eye3 aflame and raises ewry hair en hia bacV. YeJp 1 yelp ! yelp I It id th e wolves— the pack •which picked up tbo trail he had mada as he went to the north in search of water. Now watch I There Rie twenty to one, and the scont of tho dead adds to their fiercancs3 and daring, but t.B thay advance to within ten pr.cen of the dog, evtry -wvlf comes to a etop. Standing with hi^ fore piwa on the brciat of the corpse, the clog growls a warning fit each ard every one before him. He oould run away aud save Ll3 lift?, but tho bi.'-e idea never comes to Lira. Ho will fight the whole pack — he will die defending his dead 1 S-'e I Tno wolves huddle together for a moment a3 i£ in consultation, and then tLfy bre°.k up and form a circle about their victims Tho dog whedg slowly, growling his wrath and uttering hig difiance. Even now he could br^ak through and escape, but fce will not. 01 a sudden the leader of the pack dpshes at him, bui he returns to the circle — whipped — bleeding — vengeful. Hia plice is filled by three companions, and for a moment tho corpse ia hidden from view and the uproar id frightful. Grand old dog 1 They have tasted cf his bloo'l, bat be has sent them crawling back. Placing hi* paws again on the breast of the dead he growls defiance to the last. It u over ! At a signal the whole circle closes in, and tbo struggle is ended and the feasi begin?. There ia a tearing of flesh — a low piowl of satisfaction— and it is scarcely five minute3 before the last wolf has vanished from eight, 3ea\ing only the stains of blood on the grasa for the vultures to look down. — Detroit Free I'ress.