Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-06-09

From the entrance mp to where the
tree became solid its cavity was proba-
bly, thirty feet long, and. at the lower
end, fully twenty inches In diameter
giving me lots of room for all needfu1
operations. Going in until / judged
that the muzzle Of my gun was two feet
from the outer edge of the hole turned
over on my breast, rested the barrel on
the soft chunk of wood and waited
events.
Within my hiding place all was black
as pitch. Not even the eye of a lynx
could have penetrated the gloom one
inch beyond the opening, but I, looking
out through the tube into the really
dark, though by contrast comparatively
light, night, could see the outlines OF
surrounding objects, or rather objects
In front Of me.
All my hopes Of success lay in the
wind, which was now blowing almost
hurricane, directly from the trap to
me. This would not only render it i'm
possible for my expected prey to scent
me, but its moaning through the ada
cent treetops would efectualiy cover
the noise of any slight movement I
might be compelled to make.
Hour after hour lay in my narrow
quarters, feeling bit lonesome, but
comfortable, and heard nothing except
the soughing of the gale and the groan-
ing response of the vexed forest giants.
Neither could see anything unusual,
though now became SO habituated to
gazing out Of my inky-black retreat
that could mark the exact spot where
my trap was set
The storm still ragged furiously, but
no rain fell; and I was dry, snug and
warm as possible, while I said, conf
dentially, to myself: ''Oh, if that ras-
cally beast would only come!" / actual
~ began to feel a little superstitious on
the subject, and remembering how
often the crafty brute had fooled me, a
suspicion arose within me that he
might even then be laughing at my SIM
pie ruse.
It must have been nearly midnight,
when, fatigued by staring SO long in
one direction, 1 closed my eyes for a
minute. On opening them again l saw
that some change had occurred in the
contour of the grounds surface few
yards beyond the trap. There seemed
to be a little mound or lump there
which I had not noticed before, but as
| 1t remained meantime quite motionless
! / could not tell whether it was mass
| of inert matter or the coiled-up body of
an animal.
Although there was not the slightest
chance Of any noise I was likely to
make being carried outward in the face
of that tornado, hardly ventured to
| breathe as I looked steadily at the mys-
| terious object, in which, for fully ten
minutes, there was no appearance Of
| life.
! "PoohI' I muttered; ''it's nothing
but lot of leaves heaped up by the
| wind
The whisper had barely crossed my
lips when the thing rose to a greater
height and came little nearer, and
| saw that it was indeed a wild beast,
but of what kind I could not, in that
uncertain light, determine. After
noiselessly advancing a foot or two, the
| creature lay down again and so re-
manned for some time, and then
caught the CLEAN of a pair of green
eyes! Still I would not shoot; for it
might be only lynx, marten or rae
coon. So, with my heart in my throat,
1 watched it. curiously, as, little by lit
tie and with extreme caution, it stole
| along until close to the trap.
| Then it looked to me like bear cub
But its next move dispelled that illu
sion. Being apparently satisfied thai
the coast was clear, it settled down by
the side of the concealed trap ant
seemed to be intently studying its exac'
position. Then, deity as q miner
might have done, it dug around and un
der it, with q vigorous toss jerked it in
to the air (the sudden motion, O
course, springing it) and began calmly
| to eat the bait.
This was the moment I had waited
for. The creatures peculiar tactic:
had established it's identity. The Ions
looked for wolverine stood before mel
Trembling with excitement, 1 laic
my cheek against the gunstock, glanced
roughly along the barrels and pulled
both triggers together. The smoke
driven back by the wind, nearly
choked me, but 1 quickly got out int
the air; and there, riddled by buckshot
very emphatically dead and with
wing of chicken still between his teeth
lay my -outwitted at las
by green boy!
This was the first wolverine / hat
ever seen; but readily recognized hin
from pictured representations. Som,
years after that, while in the Uppe
|, Ottawa country, came to know thi
strange animal pretty well, but sucl
further acquaintance did not modif,
my opinions as to his villainous charac
w in "