“‘We are also tired; we have come a long way; it is best that we all rest during this night,’ said the old wolf; and he led the way up to the top of a high ridge on the north side of the valley, where all lay down.
“‘But why rest out on top of this barren, windy place, instead of in the shelter of the timber?’ Old Man asked, his teeth beginning to chatter from the cold.
“‘We never rest in the timber,’ the old wolf replied. ‘There enemies would have a good chance to take us unawares. Here we can see afar everything that moves, and as one or another of us is always on watch, we can keep out of danger. Also, we can look down and see the different kinds of game, and make our plans to chase what we want, head it off, tire it out, and kill it. We always, summer and winter, do our resting and sleeping on high places.’
“Before the night was far gone, Old Man became so cold that he trembled all over, and, try as he would, he could not keep his jaws together.
“‘You annoy us with your tremblings, and your teeth chatterings; you keep us from sleeping,’ the old wolf complained.
“‘Well, I shall not annoy you long,’ Old Man answered, ‘because I shall soon freeze to death!’
“The old wolf aroused his wife and children: ‘This tender-bodied elder brother of ours is freezing. I suppose we have to protect him. Lie down in a circle around him and cover him with your tails,’ he told them.
“They did so, and he was soon overcome with heat: ‘Take your ill-smelling tails from my body; I am wet with perspiration!’ he gasped. They removed their tails and he soon began to shiver. ‘Put them back! I freeze!’ he cried; and they did as he commanded. During the night he had them cover him many times with their tails, and as many times remove them. He passed a miserable night, and so did the wolves, for he kept them from sleeping.
“At break of day all arose, and, looking down into the valley, saw a lone, buck mule deer feeding farther and farther away from the timber. They made a plan for capturing it. They all sneaked around into the timber, and then Long Body and Old Man crept down the valley until the buck saw them and ran, and then they chased it. Long Body soon pulled it down, and Old Man came up in time to seize and break its neck, and felt very proud of himself. The other wolves soon came to the kill, and all feasted. The carcass lasted them two days.
“Again and again they went to the top of the ridge to pass the night, and Old Man soon became so used to the cold that he did not need tail covering. When the deer was eaten, they killed another one, and then a buffalo bull, which lasted them some days. Then, after two failures in chasing antelope and some hungry days, Long Body killed a big bull elk, just outside the timber here. They were several days eating it, but at last all the meat and the soft bones were finished, and nothing but the backbone and the hard leg bones remained. Said the old wolf then: ‘We must be saving of what we have left, for it may be some time before we can make another killing. To-day we will take turns chewing the upper bone of a hind leg.’