Page:The Way of the Wild (1923).pdf/277

 tire. It was not so much the running that tired him as it was this persistent relentless menace behind him. This thing that would not let him rest. Their yelping and baying tired him as much as did the running. That night the pack adopted a new plan. Shep and one of the hounds ran the quarry while the other three dogs lay in the deep woods sleeping. This night was a repetition of the night before. First the buck led them to the Vermont line, then he doubled back to the Hoosacs and in the small hours of the morning he was very close to the Connecticut line running in the open country.

The two dogs and the hunted deer reappeared on the slopes of the Hoosacs Friday forenoon when the trail was taken up by Bruiser, Towser and the other hound. This was an unfair advantage, but it could not be helped. The warfare in nature for survival is a cruel, stern warfare without mercy or ethics. So all that day the King of the Hoosacs had the fresh pack on his heels. Several times he turned to fight them. They were now minus