The Black Wolf Pack


The Black Wolf Pack, by Dan Beard

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Black Wolf Pack, by Dan Beard This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Black Wolf Pack
Author: Dan Beard
Release Date: July 19, 2007 [EBook #22109]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK WOLF PACK ***

Produced by Irma Spehar, Markus Brenner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

THE BLACK WOLF PACK
BY
DAN BEARD
NATIONAL SCOUT COMMISSIONER, B.S.A.
ILLUSTRATED
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK

[Illustration: It was a shadowy figure yet it moved]

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY BOYS' LIFE
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons

DEDICATED TO
BELMORE AND FRED (BELMORE BROWNE) (FREDERICK K. VREELAND)
NO BETTER WILDERNESS MEN EVER WORE MOCCASINS

PREFACE
After numerous visits to a number of remote and unfrequented places in the Rocky Mountains, from Wyoming to Alberta, the writer was deeply impressed with the awesome mystery of the wilderness and the weird legends he heard around the camp fires, while the bigness of the things he saw was photographed on his brain so distinctly and permanently as to act as a compelling force causing him, aye, almost forcing him to write about it.
When the spell came upon him, like the Ancient Mariner, he needs must tell the story, and thus the tale of the Black Wolf Pack was written with no thought, at the time, of publishing the narrative, but primarily for the real enjoyment the author derived from writing it, and also for the entertainment of the author's family and intimate friends.
The tale, however, pleased the members of the Editorial Board of the Boy Scouts of America, and Mr. Franklin K. Mathiews, Chief Scout Librarian, asked permission to have it edited for the Scout Magazine, which request was cheerfully granted.
The author hereby freely and cheerfully acknowledges the useful changes and practical suggestions injected into the story by his friend and associate, Mr. Irving Crump, Editor of Boys' Life, in which magazine the Black Wolf Pack, in somewhat abbreviated form, first appeared.
DAN BEARD.
Flushing, June 1st, 1922.

ILLUSTRATIONS
It was a shadowy figure yet it moved Frontispiece FACING PAGE The eagle screamed, descended like a thunderbolt ... and struck the bull 36
More than once while I clung to the chance projection ... I regretted making the fool-hardy attempt 92
"I think the name 'Pluto' fits his character to a nicety" 192

The Black Wolf Pack
CHAPTER I
It was a terrible shock to me (said the Scoutmaster as he fingered a beaded buckskin bag). Old Blink Broosmore was responsible. It was a malicious thing for him to do. He meant it to be mean, too,--wanted to hurt me,--to wound my feelings and make me ashamed. And all because he nursed a grudge against dad--I mean Mr. Crawford.
It started because of that defective spark-plug in the engine of the roadster. Strange what a tiny thing such as a crack in a porcelain jacket around an old spark-plug can do in the way of changing the course of a fellow's whole life.
My last period in the afternoon at high school was a study period and I cut it because I had several things to do down town. I hurried home and took the roadster, and on my way out mother--I mean Mrs. Crawford--gave me an armful of books to return to the library and a list of errands she wanted me to do. While motoring down town I noticed that one cylinder was missing occasionally and I told myself I would change that spark-plug as soon as I got home.
I made all the stops I had planned and even drove around to the church because I wanted to look in at the parish house where some of my scouts (I was the assistant scoutmaster of Troop 6, of Marlborough) were putting up decorations for the very first Fathers and Sons dinner ever given which we were to have on Washington's birthday. That was in 1911.
As I was leaving I looked at my new wrist watch and discovered that it was a quarter of five.
"Just in time to catch dad and drive him home from the office," I said to myself, for I knew that he left the office of his big paper-mill down at the docks at five o'clock.
I jumped into the car and bowled along down Spring Street and the Front Street hill and arrived at the mill office at exactly five. Dad wasn't in sight so I decided to turn around and