“Kind friends, I think I will tell you of an experience Nannie and I had when we were on a ranch out in New Mexico and I was leader of a large flock of sheep. You know that most flocks of sheep have several big goats to help guard the sheep against the attack of wolves.
“We had been doing this for a long time and had grown weary of the dangerous, monotonous life. We decided to run away, cross the mountain and make our way East. This ranch was directly at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and as this was a good time of the year to travel, there being plenty of grass and water, and little snow on top of the mountains, we determined to start immediately. We only waited for the herders to drive the sheep into the corral for the night and then we started.
“We had been out about ten days climbing straight up and up, higher and higher, and the nights were getting colder and colder, and the food scarcer and scarcer. We determined we must make a rush trip the next day and get over the top of the mountain or we would be snowbound and starve to death. That night we went to bed very early so as to be up at sunrise. As luck would have it, we had found a small cave hid away up the side of the mountain among the rocks which would protect us against the high winds, and we were congratulating ourselves on finding it for now we could have a good sleep undisturbed by wind or rain.
“We must have been asleep for three or four hours when Nannie awakened me by huddling up close and whispering in my ear: ‘Oh, Billy, I am so afraid! I thought I heard wolves howling in the valley!’
“As she finished speaking I heard them myself and from the howls I judged there must be six or eight. But as you know the howl of one wolf sounds like two or three, so I could not be sure. Of one thing I was sure and that was that they were on our track and coming fast, and two goats against six or eight wolves hadn’t much show. The only advantage we had was that we were in a cave and so protected on three sides. If we could hold the entrance and keep them out, we might be able to pick them off one by one.
“I had some hope of saving our lives this way but should they decide to attack in a bunch we could not hope to fight them off. Nannie would be practically no help unless she got over her fright to some extent, for now she was panic-stricken and could not think. And one wants his brain in good working order when fighting wolves.
“On, on came the cruel beasts, nearer and nearer, and Nannie shook so by this time she could not even stand up. I knew this would never do so I said: ‘Nannie, my dear, unless you stand up and fight, and fight as you never did before, we will be torn to pieces in less than ten minutes, for the wolves are almost here. I can’t fight them off alone, but with your assistance we may be able to save our lives.’
“Just then a big black wolf with mouth open and red tongue hanging out between sharp white teeth, appeared at the entrance of the cave. As if gloating over us, he raised his head and gave the pack cry for the others to come on; that he had found their prey.
