The crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1877-1878, 1877-11-29
THE WOLF AND THE HOGS.
A Lively Time Around Stump In an
Ohio River Bottom.

VuIU hIttT bOttoihs
Nevada Territorial Enterprise
But what | was goin' to tell you about
was big piece of fun had one day when
| was out huntin' on the Whitewoman bot
toms.
AS was slippin' along I'd see some;
thin to shoot ali to onct heard away oil
through the woods, a awful roarin and
boob boohin'l" of. hogs ! didn't know
what in thunder was up with 'em, but |
determined to find out. II was wet driz-
ely kind of day, and | could git along over
the leaves and not make bit of noise, !
scooted along from tree to tree, and at
last | come to a place where thar was
about two acres of hogs.
Sich sight of hogs | never did see.
Thar they stood and sqirmed about kiverin'
all the ground. All had thar bristles up, an
all was "boOh, boohin'n' at fearful rate.
Thar was white hogs, black hogs, sandy
hogs, spotted hogs, and hogs of all sizes,
cOlors, and degrees of Cussedness.
Mad they was just bilin mad-lrothin'
at the mouth and chaplin their teeth fear
| full. A sort of steam rose up out'n the wet
hair of that mass ofragin' beasts, and filled
all the country round with an overpowcr.
in smell Of mad hog.
What was a causin' of all this commotion
| was not long in scein', Thar, in the
in the middle Of the great convention OF
hogs, stood a big oak stump about five
feet high, and in the center Of the stump
stood a big gray VOLTA gaunt, hungry
lOokin devil as ever | seed.
He was handsomely freed and wasn't in
any pleasant fix, ashc was beginnin to find
out. All about him was mass of uneasy
hair, devilsh eyes, irothin' mouth, and
gleamin teeth. Poor devil thar he stood
his tail tucked close between his legs and
his feet all gathered into the exact center
Of the stump-and Lord wasn't he a sick
looking wolf? He seemed to be thinkin'
that he had sold himself awful cheap.
Right close about the stumy, and rairin'
up against it, was a crowd of some of the
biggest and most onprincipled old sows
| ever sOt eyes onto. Eevcry half mint
one Of these big old she lellcrs would rair
up, get her fore feet on top of the stump
and make savage snap at one end or
'tOthcr Of the wolf, her jaws comm togeth-
er like flax brake
The wolf would whirl round to watch
that pcrticklcr sow, when one on 'tothcr side
of the stump would make Il plunge for his
tail, an so they kept the poor, cowardly,
cOrncred crilter whirlin' round and round,
humpin up his back, haulin' in his feet
and tail, and nevery possible way rcducin'
his general average.
Almost every instant there was Il charge
made on him from some quarter and some
times from three or four directions to onCt,
Lord wasn't it hurryin' times with him
then
When he had moment 10 rest an gaze
about all he saw was them two acres of
open mouths, restless brislcs and fiery
eyes. His long, red tongue hung out of
his open jaws, and as he moved his head
from side TO side he seemed to have about
the poorest conccit of his smartncss Of any
wolf | ever seed. He had got himself in
TO Il nice pickle by tryn' 10 steal a pig, and
he knowcd it just as well as if he'd been
human, and was ashamed of himself aC
cOrdin'. No quarter could he expect any
where in all that sea Of open, roarin'
mouths.
Such was the noise and chargin and
plungn', and surgin to and fro that hard,
ly felt safe behind my tree, 100 yards away.
| determined TO try an experiment on
that wolf. raised my gun and fired into
the air. Al the report the criltcr forgot
himself lie bounded from the stump pwith
the crack of the gun, but he never touched
the grouud. lalfa dozen open mouths
reached up for him, and in them he land
ed. There was just one sharp yclp, then
for a rod around was seen ilyin' strips of
wolf skin, legs, and hair-for half Il mint
was hccrd crunchin' of bones and then
them old sows were licliin their chops,