right and left in splendid savage ferocity. The horses snorted and
shrank from him, and several suffered from his ugly thrusts. An
occasional effective shot was placed, but every time he forced his way
through the cordon he was confronted by a second line. A successful
cast of a rope finally checked his course; and as the roper wheeled
his mount to drag him to death, he made his last final rush at the
horse, and, springing at the flank, fastened his fangs into a stirrup
fender, when a well-directed shot by the roper silenced him safely at
last.

During the excitement, there were enough cool heads to maintain the
line, so that none escaped. The supreme question now was to make the
kill with safety, and the line was ransacked for volunteers who could
shoot a rifle with some little accuracy. About a dozen were secured,
who again advanced on the extreme right flank to within a hundred and
fifty yards, and dismounting, flattened themselves out and opened on
the skurrying wolves. It was afterward attributed to the glaring of
the sun on the white sand, which made their marksmanship so shamefully
poor, but results were very unsatisfactory. They were recalled, and
it was decided to send in four shotguns and try the effect of buckshot
from horseback. This move was disastrous, though final.

They were ordinary double-barreled shotguns, and reloading was slow
in an emergency. Many of the wolves were wounded and had sought such
cover as the driftwood afforded. The experiment had barely begun, when
a wounded wolf sprang out from behind an old root, and fastened upon
the neck of one of the horses before the rider could defend himself,
and the next moment horse and rider were floundering on the ground. To
a man, the line broke to the rescue, while the horses of the two lady
spectators were carried into the mêlée in the excitement. The dogs of