In all probability, therefore, the two wolves, had the one that lay in ambush missed his spring, would have fought too, and this makes me the more inclined to believe a story which was told me—not, however, by an eye-witness—of wolves in America: from which it would appear that when the stratagem is carried out by more than a pair of associates, the duty of seizing the prey, if it devolves upon a single member of the band, may be a very dangerous one indeed. In the case alluded to, the wolf that had to do this lay down by a small stream, at a place where it was fordable, and a wapiti was driven down upon it, through woods that fringed the bank, by the rest of the pack, amounting to a dozen or more. Knowing the ford, the wapiti made straight for it, and the wolf, springing up at the critical moment, either missed his mark or was shaken off by the powerful quarry. He was foiled, at any rate, and the wapiti, dashing into the water, gained the opposite bank and got clean away. Hardly had he disappeared when the pack, headed by a wolf of great size and strength—evidently the leader—came up, and now a most remarkable and, withal, tragic scene was enacted. The wolf that had failed flung itself on its back, and whining in the most pitiful way, appeared to bespeak the mercy of its incensed fellows, and especially of the grim-looking leader, whose action in the matter all seemed to await expectantly. For a moment or two—during which the whines and cries of the wretched criminal rose to an agony—the latter seemed to waver, but ferocity, or long-established custom, carried the day. He sprang forward to execute justice, and his example being instantly followed by the rest of the pack, the poor penitent was quickly torn to pieces and devoured on the spot. I cannot, as I say, vouch for this story, as I have not read or heard the original account of the person who is supposed to have witnessed the incident, but it tallies very curiously with the other two, both of which are authentic. [Illustration: AWAITING JUDGMENT. The great leader of the wolf pack stood over the wretched delinquent, hesitating whether to be merciful or to give the signal for him to be torn in pieces.]