"There must be some more down where we shot them at first," said he, as he drew off his adikey, "and some of those that got away were wounded, no doubt. At any rate we've cut the pack down so far in numbers that it won't be a menace any longer."
"What'll they do now?" asked Bobby, as the three settled into their easy chairs to wait for the kettle to boil.
"Go and look for caribou, and attend to their business, I suppose, and leave us quiet, peaceable folk alone," he laughed, adding: "I never saw such a pack before, though I've heard some of the old Eskimos say that years ago it used to happen now and again that packs like this appeared. Wolves are cowardly beasts, but numbers give them courage. When six or eight get together, you have to look out for them, and when the pack grows to a dozen they'll attack openly, and aren't afraid of anything—not even man."
"Well, anyway we had the adventure we started out to get," laughed Bobby, "and a little more of it than we expected."
"Yes, and a nice haul of wolf pelts to boot," added Skipper Ed.
"We were lucky they didn't get us," said Jimmy.
"Yes," agreed Skipper Ed, "lucky—the kind of luck we were talking about tonight. That is, the luck of the Almighty's bounty and protection. We did the best we could, according to our lights, to protect and help ourselves, and so He helped, and brought us safely back, none the worse, and perhaps a little the stronger and better and richer in experience than we were an hour ago."
"It was a corking good adventure, anyhow!" broke in Bobby. "That sort of thing just makes me tingle all over! Somehow when I get out of a mess like that I feel a lot bigger and stronger and more grown up. It was great fun—now that it's over."
"You're a natural-born adventurer," laughed Skipper Ed. "You should have lived in the old days, when men had to fight for their life, or went out to find and conquer new lands."
"Well, I'm glad it's over," Jimmy shuddered—"the run from the wolves—and that they've gone. I didn't have time to feel much scared out there, but I'm scared now of what might have happened. I don't like to get into such fixes."