Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-22
ADVENTURE WITH WOLVES.
Publisher and Proprietor

From the Youths Companion.l
When a broken-down invalid, started
for the West. My medical friends said
Go away from the Mississippi to the
frontier; take a gun on your shoulder;
shoot and eat the wild game tg@E
Now, life is so sacred and mysterious
so completely Gods gift, that / never
could wantonly take it from the meanest
creature. But l had in this advice a
sufficient reason, and many stirring ad-
ventures befell me on my hunting expe-
ditions.
Two miles and half from the snug
cabin that for time sheltered me was a
wide belt of timber, First came strip
of poplars, and then, as you descended
the sides of a steep valley, the monarchs
of the forest reared their rugged forms.
My host, an Eastern man, had staked
out claim among these trees, and
depended on them for fencing and build
ing material.
Under the influence of the climate and
outdoor life, soon became so vigorous
as to use the AK with as much ease as a
backwoodsman Winter set in early and
stern, but on sunshiny days, fastening
my overcoat over my shoulders, for !
had become too stout for the sleeves, /
would visit the woods to chop and hunt.
There was already snow upon the
ground, which had hardened to a crust
on its surface; but on the night preceding
my adventure there had been a Mime
sofa snow storm, the feathery flakes fall
ing unswayed by breath of wind, leav-
ing the sky next morning brilliantly
clear, and the air dry, keen and exhila-
rating. Fancy me, then, reader, on such
a forenoon, with shouldered AK and rifle,
my city-cut overcoat Tapping behind,
feet well covered by heavy, raw-hide
boots, coarse blouse enveloping chest
and waist, on my way to the woods.
The intervening prairie was covered
with an even coating of white, undis-
turbed by the tread Of living creature.
No, am mistaken. As went on | saw
that myriads of feet had pattered over
the solitudes. Do you remember Peter $
vision of AL manner of four-footed
beasts and creeping things2" One would
think that sheet had been emptied
here for the whole extent was crossed
and recrossed with the tracks Of birds
and animals.
And yet the profoundest silence
reigned. Nothing stirred on all the vast
plain. Watch and listen as vigilantly,
walk as atealthily as you could, not one
of the many forms that just now capered,
coquetted, quarreled aud searched for
food in the snow can yon now see or hear.
But from afar their quicker eyes and ears
had seen and heard me- Had they van
ished, leetfooted, to their coverts?
Gaining the poplars, | took a lunch
from my bag, for the prairie appetite
was upon me, and then how the sharp
steel sunk into the wood What enjoy
ment in the fall and the crash of the
treesl What muscular happiness in the
healthful toll
The hours fed without incident, save
that several times my attention had been
attracted by the cracking of the bushes,
as if some animal were prowling near
Late in the afternoon a splash as of
heavy body plunging into the water led
me to 90 with my rifle in the direction Of
the sound Descending gulch, | found
hidden in a cozy nook small springfield
lake. Two-thirds across this lake was a
huge muskrat swimming shoreward.
NV hosts son would so rejoice in the
possession of the fur that, waiting until
the creature had mounted the bank, ]
fred. expecting 10 see him tumble over
dead. Instead of which, he dived into
the lake, swan out little way, returned
to the shore, ascended a tree trunk ex-
tending into the pond, ran along it until
he reached the end nearest me, and sat
down and looked me in the face while |
reloaded
He was mammoth rat-perhaps king
Of his race, and perhaps installing my
shot for a military salute, sat there coolly
awaiting another, which, however, rolled
his serene highness lifeless from the log.
Loading once more, and securing the
game, ! started homeward. !
] had gone a mile or so when a short,
quick bark caused me to turn round.
The rat / carried had bled profusely
all the way, while the snow, where had
occasionally laid him down to relieve
my aching arm, was Of course, reddened
with blood; and this, thought /, may
have been scented by a wolf; but, seeing
none, 1 resumed my course.
Soon, however, the bark was repeated,
not full and clear, but warily modulated,
IS If the author Of il would call his com
rades TO the chase, yet not alarm me.
We speak Of the cunning Of the fox,
but Of all sneaking, adroit, treacherous
beasts, not one equals the great gray
wolf.
The fox never hunts for human prey;
but the keen instincts Of the wolf, sharp
pned by hunger and intensified by feroc-
iiy, make him q pitiless and persistent
often outwearying and out |
even the vigiiant and sa-
racious Indian.
The conviction that was pursued by /
his formidable brute was startling. Look |
ing carefully back. at length saw an
Dhiect in the distance. a few rods TO the /
light Of my path. Il was motionless,
and, had / been born in New England,
should have pronounced il a stump or
rock; but there were no stumps or rocks
On the prairies. ]