furious sport. The dread of losing his torch alone prevented the lad from
throwing it down and clapping his hands to his ears, to shut out the
horrid din. Some of the distant echoes, coming in after the others were
exhausted, gave an odd, dropping character to the volleys of sound.

Had the expected reply of Mickey been the same as the call to him, the lad
would have been deceived thereby, for the echoes, as will be understood,
were precisely the same as answering whistles, uttered in the same manner.
But Fred understood that, if the Irishman heard him, he would reply with a
series of short signals, such as are heard on some railroads when danger
is detected. But none such came, and he knew, therefore, that the ears
which he intended to reach were not reached at all.

"I don't understand that," he mused, perplexedly, "unless he's asleep yet.
When I left him, it didn't seem as though he'd wake up in a week. Perhaps
he can hear me better if I shout."

A similar racket was produced when the boy strained his lungs, but his
straining ear could detect no other result. It never once occurred to Fred
that he and his friend were separated by such a distance that they could
not communicate by sound or signal. And yet such was the case, he having
traveled much further than he suspected.

Having been forced to the disheartening conclusion that it was impossible
to find the outlet by which the wolf had escaped, Fred had but one course
left. That was, to find his way back to the camp-fire in the shortest time
and by the best means at his command. If the mountain would not go to
Mohammed, then Mohammed would have to go to the mountain.

The lad began to feel that a great deal of responsibility was on his