Bang! went Shep's shotgun, and a wolf was taken directly in his throat. He turned to run away and then fell dead. Without hesitation his fellows fell upon him and rent the carcass asunder.
"What horrible cannibals!" muttered Whopper. "Say, how do you like that?" he went on, and fired a bullet from the rifle into the mass of wolves, hitting one in the leg and another in the side. The first wolf was merely wounded but the second was killed.
The death of another of their band made the other wolves retreat and they kept away for fully a quarter of an hour. But then their numbers were increased by the arrival of more equally hungry, and they came on in a wide semi-circle, as if to pounce upon the four boy hunters and eat them up.
"Shoot 'em—don't let 'em come any closer!" called out Whopper, and banged away with his shotgun, hitting a wolf in the breast. Then the others fired and another of the ugly beasts went down. Still another was wounded just sufficiently to make him ugly, and with bloodshot eyes he leaped straight into the camp and at Snap's very feet!
It was a moment of extreme peril, and for the instant Snap's heart seemed to stop beating. Then little Giant turned swiftly and pulled the trigger of his shotgun and sent the load into the wolf's ear. There was one short yelp, a leap of agony, and the wolf landed in the fire, dead, scattering the burning embers in all directions.
"Good for you, Giant!" cried Snap, when he could speak. He caught the dead wolf and threw the body among the trees.
"Fix that fire up!" yelled Whopper. "It's our best protection!"
He ran for some sticks, and they built the fire into a roaring blaze that illuminated the forest for a considerable distance. Then Shep and Whopper fired more shots, wounding two more wolves, and the pack slowly retreated, growling and howling savagely.
"What an attack!" said Whopper, wiping the cold perspiration from his forehead. "I don't want to experience another."
Further sleep was out of the question, and for the remainder of the night the boys kept a good fire going and watched all around the temporary camp for their enemies. But the wolves did not show themselves again.