close at his heels, Skipper Ed turned and ran down the gulch toward the
cabin, which was not above a mile distant. The gulch ended in an open
space, which was a marsh in summer but was now a white expanse of
hard-beaten snow. Between this open space and the bay shore a hedge of
thick brush grew. On its northern and southern sides the open was
flanked by the forest, extending from the gulch mouth to the shore of
the bay, and on the northern side it continued to Skipper Ed's cabin and
beyond.

Skipper Ed led the way into the forest to the southward of the open,
that they might keep well to leeward of the pack, and thus avoid so far
as possible danger of the wolves getting their scent. He hoped that this
maneuver might permit them to circuit back to the cabin under the
protecting cover of the brush fringe along the shore and the forest to
the northward. To have crossed the open would have been to invite
discovery, for it was evident the wolves would follow the bed of the
stream through the gulch and into the open.

Whether they would answer the call of the dogs and turn northward, or
whether they would range southward in quest of prey, was uncertain. If
to the southward they would be very sure to catch the wind of Skipper Ed
and the boys almost immediately, and be upon them before they could
reach safety. If they answered the dogs, there would still be danger,
but the three in that case would be enabled to keep on the lee side of
the pack with the probability of detection considerably lessened.
Therefore Skipper Ed hoped and trusted that the wolves would answer the
challenge of the dogs.

Even then there was still the danger that the trail made by them on
their way up the gulch would be discovered, and unless the dogs proved a