Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1886-08-09
card FATE OF A sP0ILER,
The Rstribution Wrought Upon q woul
Be Thief by Flock of Wild Pigs.

Ihe Rstrlbution Wrought Upon q Would
BE Thief by Flock of Wild Pigs.
Richard Roberts, Marylander, nnt
one OF the first settlers of Knox County
Ohio, was wont to tell with great glot
the story OF an adventure he once hat
In the Owl Creek bottoms among the
wild hogs. His story was as follows:
~ was out deer-hunting one day II
the Owl Creek bottoms, when all at once
| heard. far away in the woods, an as
tonishing roaring and 'booh boohin |!
of hogs.
"What In thunder was up with the
critters l couldn't conjecture, but I de.
tcrmined TO find out.
1t was o wet, drizzly day, and /
could get along over the leaves without
making the slightest noise. scooted
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
lad never seen before, and have never
seen since. All had their bristles up.
and all were Notwithstanding their
fiercest 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 chanrpinp their
teeth ut fearful rate sort Of steam
or fog rose out of the wet hair of that
nass or enraged beasts that filled all
tho woods with an almost overpowerlng
5innll Of mad hogs.
What the cause of all this commo-
ton was was not long in discovering
Ont III The midst of the great convention
OF hogs stood big oak stump about five
feet high, and In the center of the stump
stood a
looking beast as ever saw!
He was handsomely freed by the
hogs, and wasn't very pleasantly stu
ated, rs he was beginning to find out
All about him wa" a sward of uneasy
hair, and thousands of cruel eyes, froth-
ing mouths, and cleaning teeth.
There he stood-his tall tucked close
between his legs, and all his feet gath
cred into the exact centre Of the stump
md gosh, wasn't he a sick looking
wolf! He seemed to be thinking that
ho had sold himself awful cheap.
Close about the stump and rairin' up
against it was q crowd of the biggest
and most unprincipled old sows that |
ever set eyes upon. =
Every half minute one Of these would
rear up, get her fore feet on the top of
the stump, and make a 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 O.
plunge for his tail, and so they kept the
poor, cowardly, cornered crltter whirl-
ing round and round
- He had all he wanted to do at haul
ing in his feet and TAIL humping his
In al in l.
his average. I'll bet his entire innards
were drawn up into bunch not bigger
than my fist
Almost every instant there was
charge made upon him from some quar-
ter, and sometimes from three or four
directions at the same moment. Wasn't
it hurrying times with him then
"When the poor wretch had n moment
in which to rest and gaze about him, all
&c saw was those two acres of restless
hrlstlos, open mouths, and fiery eyes.
lis long red tongue hung out Of his
1pon jaws, and as he uneasily novel his
head from side to side he seemed to have
ABOUT the poorest opinion of his smart
ness of any wolf l ever saw.
He had got himself into a pretty
tickle by trying to steal pig, and he
knew it just as well as if he had been u
human thief, and was ashamed Of him
self cordingly, No quarter could he
hope for anywhere among those open.
upiurned, roaring mouths.
"Such was the noise, charging, and
rushing 10 and fro, that l hardly felt
slfe behind my tree one hundred yards
away.
- determined to try an experiment
on that wolf. raised my gun and fired
it in the air.
AT the report the critter forgot him
SELF He bounded from the stump at tho
crack of my rifle, but he never touched
ground. Half dozen big mouths
reached up for him, and in them he
launched
There was just one sharp yelp, then
fer rod around were seen flying strips
of wolf skin, innards, legs, and hair--for
half a minute was heard a 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 l thought there
might be some scouting out in my direc-
ton and l peeled it for the nearest
clearing"