The next day I found the wolf well on the road toward recovery and sitting on his haunches, awaiting me. He greeted me with thumping tail and short yelps of pleasure, fawned upon me as I fed him, and, much to my satisfaction, limped along behind me when I started toward my hut. Knowing how lame and weak he was, I walked very slowly, stopped often to let him rest, and when at last we reached the clearing he seemed little the worse for the trip. At sight of the cabin the wolf drew back, as if suspecting danger or treachery, but when I entered the hut and returned with a junk of venison, which I held toward him, his hunger overcame all scruples and he trotted to the door. For some time he sniffed about suspiciously, with tail drooping and the hair on his neck bristling, and then, apparently convinced that he had nothing to fear, he entered the cabin and threw himself down near the fire.

I was genuinely surprised at this behavior, and in fact had marveled at his tameness and dog-like manner from the first, for it was quite at variance with all stories I had ever heard of wolves. Long afterward I learned that a pet wolf-cub had been kept by one of the inhabitants of the plague-stricken village I had found, and I was then convinced that Lobo, as I called my wolf, was this same semi-domesticated cub who had been left to fare for himself when his master died of smallpox.

One who has never lived alone in the heart of a wilderness for many weary months cannot appreciate the comfort which Lobo was to me. Day and night he was my constant companion and I talked to him as to a fellow-man, telling him my plans, asking his opinions on every question or problem that arose, and consulting him on all matters, to all of which he replied by wags of his tail, low growls, sharp yelps, or by licking my hands or face as if he actually understood all that was said to him.

He soon recovered completely from his injuries, grew sleek and fat and, if the truth must be confessed, rather lazy, for he had plenty to eat without the trouble of hunting, and he much preferred the easy existence he led to the wild life to which he had been accustomed.

With Lobo for a comrade the time passed rapidly, and, the snow having all disappeared and the “pussies” commencing to swell upon the willows by the lake, I began making plans for leaving the forest and setting out on my tramp to the settlements.

CHAPTER XV
THE END OF THE TRAIL

I had thought the matter out many times already and had decided to set forth well provided with food, with all my weapons, my necessary utensils, and a supply of tanned skin, for I had no idea of how far I might have to tramp or how long I might be on the journey.

Few as were my possessions, yet I found that to carry them all would be impossible and that many things which would be of great help to me would have to be left behind. Among these were the pot and the grindstone and the bear-skin robe, and as I thought with regret of abandoning these a scheme came to me of utilizing Lobo as a pack-horse. But tame and good-natured as he was, the wolf would have none of this, and snarled, snapped, and bristled threateningly when I started to strap a load upon his back by way of experiment.

After all, the objects I must leave were not essential, and without them I would be far better off and more comfortable than during the early part of my wilderness life. The bear-skin, to be sure, would be a great comfort during the chilly spring nights, but I was well clad and a hare-skin undercoat would keep me warm enough, while I could broil my food, or even boil it in birch-bark dishes as well as I could cook it in the pot. The grindstone would be utterly useless, I knew, but I had grown to depend upon it so much and by its aid had been able to solve so many problems that I dreaded to think of being without it. However, it was useless to fret over the matter; the less I carried the sooner I would be out of the woods, and I had now become so self-reliant and so accustomed to overcoming difficulties that I had little fear of suffering on the way.

When at last I was sure the weather had settled and when the soggy, water-soaked ground had dried sufficiently to make walking possible, I gathered up my weapons, shouldered my packs, closed the door of the cabin which had sheltered me so long, and, with Lobo trotting beside me, bade good-by to my wilderness home.