The St. Johns herald., 1886-08-26
HARD FATE OF A spoILER, 2
The RetributiOn Wrought Upon a Would
 Be Thief by Flock Of Wild Pigs.

The Retribution Wrought Upon a Would
 Be Thief by Flock of Wild Pigs.
 Richard Roberts, 3Iarylander and one Of the first settlers or Knox County, Ohio, was wont 10 tell with great glee the story of an adventure he once had in tine Owl Creek bottoms among the wild hogs, His story was as follows:
 "I was out deer-hunting ono, day in the Owl Creek bottoms, when all at onct. l heard, far away in the woods, an aS- tonishing roaring and boOh! boohin 7 Of hogs.
 What in thunder was up with the critters 1 couldn't conjecture, but de lRrmined to find out,
 F"It was 8 wet drizzly day, and I could get along over the leaves without making the slightest noise. l seooted along from tree to tree, and at last came to place where there appeared to be about two acres of wild hogs.
 "Such a grand gathering of hogs I had never seen before, and have never seen since. All had their bristles up, and all were 'booh-boOh-boohing' their fiereest, There were white hogs, black hogs. sandy hogs, spotted hogs, and hogs of all sizes, colors, and degrees of cussedness.
 Mad? They were just raging-froth- ing at the mouth and champing their teeth at q fearful rate! 4 sort of steam or fog rose out of the wet hair of that mass of enFaged beasts that filled all the woods with an almost overpowering smell of mad hogs.
 What the cause of all this commo- tion was was not long in discovering. Out in the midst of the great convention of hogs stood big oak stump about five feet high, and in the center of the stump stood big gray wolf-as gaunt, hungry looking Q beast as ever saw!
 "He was handsomely treed by the hogs, and wasn't very pleasantly situ- .ated, as he was beginning to find out. All about him was sward of uneasy hair, and thousands of cruel eyes, froth- ing mouths, and glearning teeth.
 There he stood-his tail tucked close between his legs, and all his feet gath cred Into the exact centre of the stump and gosh, wasn't he a sick-looking wolf He seemed to be thinking that he had sold himself awful cheap.
 "Close about the stump and rairin' up against it was @ crowd of the biggest and most unprincipled old BOWS that l ever set eyes upon.
 l. rear up, get her fore feet on the top of the stump, and make savage snap at one end or the other of the wolf, her teeth clashing together like the jaws of IL steel trap.
 "The wolf would whirl round to watch that particular hog, when one on the other side of the stump would make @ plunge for his tail, and so they kept the poor, cowardiy, cornered critter whirl- ing round and round.
 He had all he wanted to do at haul ing ill his feet and tail, humping his back, and in every possible way reducing his average. I'll bet his entire inDards were drawn up into bunch not bigger than my fist.
 Almost every instant there was q charge made upon him from some quar- Ter, and sometimes from three or four directions at tho same moment. WasI' f it hurrying times with him then!
 When the poor wretch had moment in which to rest and gaze about him, all he saw was those two acres of restless bristles, open mouths, and fiery eyes, His long red tongue hung out of his open jaws. and as he uneasily moved his head from side to side he seemed to have about tho poorest opinion of his smart
 
 ness of any wolf I ever saw.
 "He had got himself into a pretty pickle by trying to steal Q pig, and ne knew 1t just as well as if he had been a human thief, and was ashamed of him. self accordingly, No quarter could he hope for anywhere among those open, upturned, roaring mouths.
 "Such was the noise, charging, and rushing to and fro. that I hardly felt safe behind my tree, one hundred yards away
 II determined to try an experiment on that wolf. raised my gun and fired 1t in the air,
 "At the report the critter forgot him. self. He bounded from the stump at the crack of nay rife, but he never touched ground. Half Q dozen big mouths reached up for him, and in them he launchel.
 There was just one sharp yelp, then for rod around were seen flying strips of wolf skin, innards, legs, and hair-for half minute was heard O crunching of bones, and then those old sows were licking their chops, raisin' up onto the stump and hunting about for more wolf.
 About that time I thought there might be some scouting out in my direc- ton, and I peeled it for the nearest clearing"