, 1879-07-03

,1blll,,l, over !lt'NNN, rtll 80 ! '''''N>' Nv
;l.u'l,, lei H., til, --,lG
i,.or-o VAS ahead, aui weak followed
~, ip,, "a, We nu'jl ran, The hoIlo"
grow narrower. with strrprr sides; and
ii!tr rod, farther up We cam" To Nhat
looked to b" n nu-r JAIN OF old ,tnmpS,
logs AMI brt,n, that iiil"d the whole -ul.
" TO the hci ,ht oi fifteen or twenty feet.
some heavy ,r"Shey bad lodged it there.
The brook gourlm, .ur-ird hcneath it.
TIL" AouuJS stood at 'h, foot of this
iam of stump, m.l old -3ru,h, near II
hole between two mossv logs. They
whiNci when We came up, and Old jim
gave another ion. howl. We looked
about the place There were many
bones, old ones and fresh ones, with bits
of far and wool scattered around.
Heres her den..' exclaimed Ned
1t was IL dark, vicious-lookins hole
under the old logs. AL and George
climbed over to the other side, to see
if there We're more holes leading under
or out
Sand and earth had been washed i'll
from above. This lower hole was the
old wolf S only "door,' 50 far as we
could see. ....
The dogs would 60 into it Il few feet,
anu bark, but they did not seem over.
anxious to come to close quarters with
its occupant. Old Beave charged in
once, and was greeted with savage
Snarl, For II moment we thought there
would be II fight. But the dog backed
out, and we didn't blame him.
We had little doubt but what the old
wolf had whelps in there George said
that we had better get axes, and by cut
ting and dragging away the old stuff,
work into the den.
"But Wits said "No boys; I be-
lieve the jam will burn if once we can
fire into it and well going, and we can
roast the old thief out"
AL then got some chips and splints,
which he tucked into the further end Of
the jam, where it was the dryest, and
set them on fire with matches that he
had brought along. The fire was some
time in starting, but after a while the
old stuff got well warmed up, and then
it began to take flame and roar
"Capital. Well soon have our game,
and roasted too" shouted Willis
And it seemed-as the flames roared
and began to wrap the whole great pile
Of drift-that we had got the old "tor.
ment" into limbo at last, and stood
chance Of not only burning her "house"
over her head, but Of burning her up
with it.
We could hear her growing ut the
fire, but she was tough and willy, andnot
disposed to glve in without savage
fight for life.
Just as the fire seemed to enwrap the
whole jam, the wolf made swift bolt
out through the blaze, and all singed and
sparkling with fire, flew at Old Jim like
a mad hyena
Although we were on the lookout, we
were not quite prepared for so sudden
a spring us the one the old beast beast
had made.
'Look QUIT" shrieked AL. "Shoot,
shoot"
George tired-Wits fired--Al slung
the axe and Ned and l were both cock.
ing our guns, trying to get aim.
But the savage brute flew from Jim
across the brook towards AL. He ran
up the side Of the gully, shouting,
"Shoot! Shoot her"
No wonder he ran, for she was the
ugliest-looking thing l ever sow.
She got past lis all, and secured away
down the hollow. Tie dogs started after
her, at full cry, down the gully, off
through the woods to the northeast.
We rallied, too, loaded up again, and
followed for mile or more. Then we
lost them from hearing altogether, and
being now pretty tired and hungry, we
went home.
But just as George and AL, and I,
were finishing most hearty meal, Ned
came running to the house to say that
the hounds had come round from the
northwest within hearing again. We
went into the yard They seemed not
more than two miles off, going in full
cry toward the "pond woods"
'Come on |" shouted George.
Guns were brought out in hot haste,
and away we went. But after running
mile or two we lost sound Of the dogs:
and it was not till near o'clock that
they came round from the south end of