White Wolves

Meadowlark #2

by B.M. Bower

Lawrie Brunelle, a tenderfoot artist on his way back to Meadowlark Ranch, had only a shadowy glimpse of the three cattle-thieves driving their plunder into the black, wooded canyon of the valley below the trail. Wolves—human wolves—were stealthily riding the Missouri range, coolly robbing from the outlying herds.

This was the underside of range life—the local color Lawrie had come West to paint. Back at the ranch, he made a symbolic picture of the vivid scene…white wolves, with men’s faces—modeled after those of the neighborhood cow hands—driving cattle away. He was wholly unprepared for the hot resentment of the Meadowlark riders who were convinced that this was the artist’s way of accusing those friends whose faces he had painted on his canvas of being rustlers.

Unaware that his painting actually held evidence that could be used against the guilty, Lawrie left Meadowlark for a small island in the river where he settled down to raise cattle and paint. Even here he could not escape the wolves for Lawrie would remain a menace to them so long as they were uncertain how much he had really seen.

When Kid Kern, an outlaw, chose Lawrie’s island as a hide-out from the sheriff, the wolves were drawn closer, endangering not only the young artist, but Penny, the girl he loved, as well.

There are many unforeseen hazards and surprising discoveries before Lawrie and Penny outwit the gang—wolves who by nature and training were more deadly because they were white.

Genres: Westerns

295 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Bertha Muzzy Sinclair or Sinclair-Cowan, née Muzzy, best known by her pseudonym B. M. Bower, was an American author who wrote novels, fictional short stories, and screenplays about the American Old West. Her works, featuring cowboys and cows of the Flying R Ranch in Montana, reflected "an interest in ranch life, the use of working cowboys as main characters (even in romantic plots), the occasional appearance of eastern types for the sake of contrast, a sense of western geography as simultaneously harsh and grand, and a good deal of factual attention to such matters as cattle branding and bronc busting.

Born Bertha Muzzy in Otter Tail County, MN and living her early years in Big Sandy, Montana, she was married three times: to Clayton Bower, in 1890; to Bertrand William Sinclair,(also a Western author) in 1912; and to Robert Elsworth Cowan, in 1921. Bower's 1912 novel Lonesome Land was praised in The Bookman magazine for its characterization. She wrote 57 Western novels, several of which were turned into films.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had quite a surprise during the holidays when a friend of mine in another state sent me a gift certificate for my favorite online used bookseller. What a treat! She had originally introduced me to the place about ten years ago so in a way my bookcases are overflowing already thanks to her, and now I can add a few more to the pile. This is, of course, a good thing!

I didn't have anything in mind the day I went to browse, but then I got the idea of looking to see if there were any B.M. Bower titles available. I spent a lot of enjoyable time reading my way through the 29 Bower titles at Gutenberg a couple of years ago, but I had never thought to look for any print editions of her work. So I took a chance and sure enough, there were pages and pages of Bower titles, but mostly all much more expensive than the usual price for the site. I kept looking and eventually I found four books that had not been at Project Gutenberg and that were each around four dollars. So I ordered, they arrived, and I started a Bower mini-marathon with this book, White Wolves.

This is a story about a young artist living out West. His sister wants to write stories, and he tries to paint pictures to inspire her. But one painting of his, inspired by a particular section of the country and something he heard there while riding home one evening, causes all sorts of trouble. The painting is of wolves chasing a small bunch of cattle, which seems innocent enough until you notice that the wolves closely resemble certain cowboys of the area. Now I could not quite figure this out. And I didn't want to think too much about it, to tell the truth. Wolves with human faces? Did he just give them human eyes or did he really paint human faces on his wolves? Still don't want to think too much about that.

Point is, the ranch hands recognize the 'wolves' and jump all over our artist for insinuating that their friends (who work at other ranches) would do such a thing as rustle cattle. So our young hero gets mad and storms away, and as his adventures unfold we learn just how much of his painting was true and how much was just an artist's Romantic Vision.

It was a fun read, maybe not as satisfying as other Bower titles, but still entertaining and exciting. The only thing I really had trouble with (besides those darned wolves and their faces) was the artist's name. His proper name was Lawrence Brunelle but he was always called either Lightfoot by the cowboys or Lawrie by his sister and Bower as narrator. So how the heck does one pronounce that? I thought the short version of Lawrence was Larry. Was Lawrie pronounced that way or was it pronounced more like Laurie? I could never decide and it irked me the whole way through.

Oh, there were little cameo appearances by Butch Cassidy, right up to the time of that last train robbery of his. But did Lawrie understand about the reality that was rustling all around him? Or did he just see things with his artist's eye? I think sometimes it was a little bit of both.

It was great to read Bower again, because not enough time has gone by for me to re-read the Gutenberg titles: I would remember too much of them too easily. The funny thing was to be reading a real life Bower book. It felt so strange to be turning pages instead of scrolling down a computer screen! But I have three to go in my mini-marathon so I bet I adjust pretty quickly.

[Trevor Darley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with pretty imagery