Sharp County record., 1888-06-07

the wolf had been started and dome
ike. but not steen mound or hlllocE
She dashed straight for The hillOck
and so swift was her gait that she had
disappeared around it before the dogs
broke from the brush TO take mp the
trail. They followed it in full cry
and we spurred our horses 70 the
hiIlock. and ND its sides to the sum-
NIT to discover the direction the wolf
had taken. The killing pace she had
cut ont was more than her pups could
maintain. rs we discovered on reach
ing the ton Of the mound. as .he old
wolf had slackened her speed to suit
. that OF her Young two of which had
fallen behind and were making their
wav with difficulty
The dogs dashed around the hit.ocE
and were quickly clearing the space
between them and the Young wolves
[ hat had dropped so far in the rear
. that it was ouiv-a question OF few
seconds when the Jaws OF the leading
hounds of the pack would close upon
them. and their future rs proving
pests would be destroyed Although
/ .he mother wolf governed her pace TO
/ suit that of those Of the litter that kept
by her it was plain that it was only
/ bv great effort that they were able TO
move even at that speed. The old
wolf could easily have escaped by
abandoning her interesting family
but wolf Us she WIS, she was p true
and brave mother She evidently
recognized the fact that the situation
was critical. and she changed her .ac-
ties i'm p surprising manner She sud-
denly turned i'm her tracks and charged
back unon the hound that led the pack
by several PAGES and was almost upon
the wolf cub that was furthest in The
rear The wiuded litter Kept ON ut
the best speed they could make The
sudden charge of the old wolf took the
hound so by surprise that before he
could make any show against her 7t
all she had MIN by the throat ana
with one terrible snap OF her strong
laws severed windDipe and 1ugu.ar
vein. and threw the dog from her rs
dead MS stone. The two young ones .
kept on i'm t0ttering way for p .
few PAGES and fell exhausted TO The f.
ground. The old wolf seeing that it F.
was impossible to revive them. dashed /
on again and placed herself in the I
midst Of the family that was left to .
her and by various devices tried 10 I.
urge them ON and encourage them.
But it was useless. They fell behind
singlv and in pairs until only one, with
more vigor than the rest was left
struggling along with the mother
"OIIv one result could be seen from /
the situation. but the old wolf resolved I.
TO make one more attempt to save her
Young ones The dogs were almost
upon her. and suddenly she struck oa
ut right angles from the direction her
weary cubs were taking and sped /
away over the praIl5i like q race
horse. passing the ogar-ralmost under
their noses. She could have but one
design in thus apparently abandoning /
her cubs and that was % heroic
measure. She hoped to divert the
logs from them by leading them in
chase after herself and she succeeded.
The pack followed her. and now that
he chase was in we dashed after the
hounds. But it was p short one, rs /
he wolf wavered in her course, ap- /
larentlv drawn by her maternal in .
tinct back 10 her abandoned young, /
md she gradually turned and bore ;
]acz toward the snot where she had /
eft them. The dogs headed her off F.
md before we reached the scene
# the ensuing conflict the wolf
lad been torn to pieces, but not
,efore she had ripped another
# the pack to death. leaving us but
our with which TO seek sport the rest
# the dav But the four did excellent
work. for before we sought a wooded,
,rassv spot by one Of the most mar
-elous springs I ever saw TO cat a
luncheon and whiff Il pipe the four
iogs brought us in at the death Of no
ess than five immense gray wolves.
It was while we we're lounging about
he spring that an incident occurred
which terminated in the most exciting
event of our extraordinary dav s hunt
we had with MS our camp tactOtom.
a veteran trapper named Latrv who
saw no sport in a wolf chase or any
chase. thev having no interest in his
ewes. beyond the pelts they yielded.
Wolf skins were worth two d ollars or
three dollars apiece in those days. and
Latrv made business Of gatheringas rs
MANY as he couid. De had stripped
the hides from the i've gray wolves
the skin Of the she one having been
spoiled bv the dogs. much to his dis
gust-and had spread thems on the
grass near where we Imched. As we
Law there smoking / saw one Of the
skins slowly moving away, and rising