“‘’Lijah,’ my father said to me, ‘whenever you go to the store at the crossings be sure that you carry your gun.’
“Once a week I went to the store, which was two miles away, to get supplies and the mail. I wore a fur cap and mittens, and I did not mind the cold much. With my gun over my shoulder and my snowshoes on my feet I started out one day. I only passed one house on the way, and in it lived a wood-cutter and his wife and two children. As I was a-passin’ by, the woman called and asked me if I’d do an errand for her at the store. She said her man was up to the woods, but she was expectin’ him back about nightfall. I said I’d do her errand and glad to oblige, and then I went on my way.
“At the store there was some trappers just come in from the hills, and they said wolves was thick up that ways, and extra hungry on account of the deep snow. ‘Hello, sonny,’ one of them called after me, when, with my packages strapped to my back, I started to leave the store. ‘You ain’t goin’ home all alone, be you? Don’t see what yer pa’s thinkin’ of to let ye, with wolves around as thick as they be.’
“I told him I wasn’t a bit afeared, and I hurried out. The first half-mile I skated over the hard, crusted snow without a trip, but then a strap bust on one of my snowshoes and I had to stop quite a while to fix it before I could go on. When I got it mended it was growing dark, and I was almost afeared to go on, thinking of what the trapper had said, but I knew dad would be out huntin’ for me if I didn’t turn up, so I skated off at a stiff pace. I tried to whistle, to sort of cheer me up, but somehow I couldn’t, for fear that the wolves would hear.
“I was nearing the woods, when I suddenly saw something which made my blood run cold. There was wolf-tracks all around in the snow, and they was fresh. I stood still, not a-darin’ to go on. I knew I was near the woman’s house, but I couldn’t see it for the trees. Just as I was wonderin’ what to do, I heerd a frightened cry for help. It was that woman, I felt sure, and with all speed I rounded the edge of the wood. The cabin door stood open and I saw two wolves a-goin’ in. Without thinkin’ what I was to do, I darted to the door and fired. One wolf fell at my feet with an ugly snarl, but the other turned and leaped at me. I struck it with my gun, but I felt its sharp teeth cuttin’ into my arm. Just as I thought it was all over with me, a shot rang out from behind, and that wolf dropped dead, hit in the heart.
“It was the wood-cutter. He had been a-returnin’, but when he heard my gun he came on a run. Then, for the first time, I saw the woman and two small children crouched in a corner. The woman came forward, white from fright, and she took my hand as she said in a tremblin’ voice, ‘’Lijah Dally, if I live to be a thousand, I can’t do enough to thank you for savin’ my babies. The wolves was just about to leap on them when you came in and fired, and the critters turned on you instead. A minute more and nothin’ could ’a’ saved them.’
“‘You are a brave boy,’ the woodsman said, but I didn’t feel brave at all. I was shakin’ so I ’most couldn’t stand. Just then there came a rap on the door. It was my dad and one of the sheep-herders, out to look for me. Wasn’t I glad to see them, though! But I didn’t feel real safe till we three was in our log cabin, with the door bolted and barred.”
“Oh-h!” said Rosamond Wright with a shudder. “How glad I am there are no wolves around the log cabin now!”
While Grandpa Dally had been telling this story there had been a quiet bustling in the cottage kitchen, and suddenly the door opened and in came Kate and Mrs. Doring, bearing the good things to eat.
Granny Dorset’s chair was drawn up to the table and soon the merry feast began.