Lesson 11 School’s Out

Farley Mowat

Below me in the valley rolled a slow stream of caribou, the large deer of the Canadian North. Herd after herd was grazing[1] toward the south. I found a place at the top of a high cliff overlooking the valley and trained my binoculars[2] on the living stream below.

Shortly before noon two wolves came into sight on the top of a transverse ridge[3]some distance to the north. A few moments later two more adults and four pups appeared. There was much nose smelling and tail wagging, and the wolves lay down and took their ease.

I easily recognized Angeline and George, the two wolves I had been watching earlier. I guessed that the wolves had already fed, and that this was the usual afterdinner nap. I was wrong, for George had something on his mind. He went over to Angeline, who was now stretched out on her side. She climbed to her feet, shook herself, and bounced amiably after him as he went to sniff at the sleeping forms of the others. They too got the message and rose to their feet. The pups ran quickly over to join their elders. Standing in a rough circle, the whole group of wolves now raised their muzzles[4] and began to howl.

Hardly a deer within hearing even bothered to lift its head.

Angeline and the two other wolves started off, leaving the pups sitting unhappily in a row on the crest, with George standing just ahead of them. When one of the youngsters made an attempt to follow the three adults, George turned on him, and the pup hurriedly rejoined his brothers and sisters.

What little wind there was blew from the south, and the three wolves moved off upwind in a tight little group. As they reached the level treeless plain they broke into a trot[5], following one another in line, not hurrying, but trotting easily through the groups of caribou. The deer were not alarmed.

The three wolves paid no attention to the caribou either, although they passed many small herds containing numbers of fawns[6]. When they stood where I was sitting,Angeline stopped and sat down while the other two joined her; then she got up and turned toward the ridge where George and the pups still sat.

There were at least two hundred deer between the two groups of wolves, and more were coming constantly into view round the eastern shoulder of the ridge. Angeline’s glance seemed to take them all in before she and her companions began to move off.Spreading out to form a line, with intervals[7] of a couple of hundred yards between them so that they spanned almost the whole width of the valley, they now began to run north.

They were not running hard, but there was a new purposefulness to their movements that the deer seemed to recognize. Herd after herd began to turn about and move north, until most of the caribou in the valley were being driven back the way they had come. By the time the three wolves were nearing the ridge, they were herding at least a hundred deer ahead of them.

Now for the first time the deer showed real signs of nervousness. The solid mass of a hundred or more animals broke up into its small bands again, and each went galloping off on its own course. Group after group began to swerve aside, the wolves making no attempt to prevent them.

The wolves were now concentrating their efforts on one band of a dozen does and seven fawns. Every attempt that this little herd made to turn either left or right was promptly prevented. The deer gave up after a while and settled down to outrun their pursuers in the straightaway.

They would have done it, too, but as they swept past the clump of willows at the end of the ridge a perfect flood of wolves seemed to take them in the flank[8]. I saw George racing toward a doe accompanied by two fawns. Then, just as he reached them,I saw him swerve away. He was passed by two pups going like gray bullets. These two went for the nearest of the two fawns, which promptly began dodging. One of the pups,attempting too sharp a turn, missed his footing and tumbled head over heels, but he was up on the instant and away again.

The other pups seemed to have become intermingled with the rest of the deer, but as the herd drew away at full gallop the pups appeared in the rear, running hard but losing ground.

A single fawn now began outdistancing its pursuers too. All four pups were still running flat out, although they no longer had a chance of overtaking any of the deer.

Meanwhile, what of the adult wolves? I found George standing exactly where I had seen him last, his tail waving slowly as he watched the progress of the chase. The other three wolves had by now returned to the top of the ridge. Angeline was standing up and watching the rapidly retreating caribou.

It was half an hour before the pups came back. They were so weary they could hardly climb the ridge to join their elders, all of whom were now lying down relaxing.

The pups joined the group and flopped, panting heavily; but none of the adults paid them any heed.

School was over for the day.

(932 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [See the purpose] The writer found a place because he wanted to___________ .

A. sleep B. hide C. watch the animals

2. [Give the purpose] After reading the story, we know that George’s purpose was to___________ .

A. give the pups a lesson

B. teach his mate a lesson

C. kill a caribou

3. [Draw a conclusion] In paragraph 6, the wolf pup___________ .

A. wanted to go away from the grown wolves

B. knew he must obey George

C. asked the grown wolves for help

4. [Understand the purpose] The wolves’ plan was to___________ .

A. drive the caribou south

B. single out a small band of does and fawns

C. hide in the midst of the herd

5. [Consider the fact] George’s part in the plan was to___________ .

A. lead the pups into the chase

B. give help to anyone who needed it

C. round up strays

6. [Follow the action] When the pups began chasing the deer, the adult wolves___________ .

A. joined in the chase

B. left them on their own

C. hid behind the ridge

7. [Understand the idea] The title___________ .

A. means that the wolves were outdoors

B. shows that the writer studied wolves

C. refers to the very end of the story

Ⅱ. Read for words:Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

1. I was wrong, for George had something on his mind. (Para. 3)

A. bad; unjust B. mistaken C. unsuitable

2. He went to sniff at the sleeping forms of the others. (Para. 3)

A. shapes of bodies B. kinds; sorts; varieties C. official documents

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