Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-08-11

size. Him dressed up in my every.
day hat and clothes gave him a rife
and "a bountiful supply OF doughnuts.
and packed him off TO keep watch al
night at the foot of the rocks. 1t was
a wild kind OF an idea; but believed
that the wolverine could reason tc
some extent and that supposing the
watcher to be me- and the traps con.
sequently unguarded. he would come
down for his accustomed fun.
Then | went out and planted foi
trap right in the winds eye. not
more than ten feet from the open end
of the hollow log and in line with the
center OF its cavity. Having baited
the trap with some choice morsels oil
raw chicken sprinkled with oil Of
rhodium. ! went home to supper
When it became dark borrowed
my fathers heavy eight-gauSe duck
ing gun. loaded each of the barrels
with six drains Of powder and twelve
No | buckshot and went hopefully
away on my enterprise. Arrived at
the log showed myself feet forem ost
into the hollow. dragging a chunk OF
rotten wood and the gun. butt first
! after me.
! From the entrance up to where the
tree became solid its cavity was prob
ably thirty feet long and at the lower
end fully twenty inches in diameter
giving mo lots OF room for all need
full operations. Going in until |
| judged that my gun was two feet from
the outer edge of the hole | turned
over on my breaj 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 |, looking out through the tube
into the really dark though by con-
trast comparatively light night could
see the outlines of surrounding OBJ ,ects,
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
impossible for my expected prey to
scent me, but its moaning through
| the adiacent tree tops would effectual-
ly cover the noise Of any slight move
| ment | might be compelled to make.
Hour after hour | lay in my narrow
quarters, feeling bit lonesome but
comfortable, and heard nothing en-
cept the sOughing Of the gale and the
grooming response of the veXcd forest
giants Neither could | see any
thing unusual though | now became
so hasituatCd to gazing out of my
inky- black retreat that | could mark
the enact spot where my trap was set
The storm still ragged furiousiy. but
no rain fell; and | was dry snug and
warm as possible. while | said conf.
dentially, to myself: oh, if that
rascally beast would only GOMEZ" |
actually began to feel a little super
stitiOuS on the subject and remem-
boring how often the crafty brute had
fooled me- a suspicion arose within
me that he might even then be laugh
ing at my simple ruse.
1t must have been nearly midni ght
when, fatigued by staring so long in
one direction. | closed my Dyes for a
minute On opening them again /
saw that some change had occurred
in the contour of the ground surface
few yards beyond the trap. There
seemed TO be Il little mound or lumn
there which | had not noticed before
but as it RENAME meantime cutie
mOtionlcss | could not tell whether il
was II mass OF inert matter Or the
co led-up body O. All animal
Although there was not the slight.
est chance Of any noise | was likely
to make being carried outward in the
face of that tornado. / hardly VEN
tured to breathe as | looked steadily
ut the mysterious object in which,
for fully ten minutes, there was no APP
pearan OF life.
POOH" | muttered; its nothing
but lot OF leaves hcaped up by the
wind"
The whisper had barely crossed my
lips when the thing rose to a greater
height and came little nearer and I
saw that it was indeed wild beast
but of what kind | could not In that
uncertain light determine. After
noiselessly advancing foot or two, the
creature lay down again and so re
matned for some time. and then
caught the CLEAN of pair of green
eyes! Still | would not shoot for il
m ght be only lynx, marten or rae
coon. SO with my heart in my throat
| watched it curiOusIy as. little by lit
tie and with extreme caution, it stole
along until close to tho trap
Then it looked to me like bear
cub But lis next move dispelled
that illusion. Being apparent.
~ satisfied that the coast
was clear, it settled down by the side
OF the concealed trap and seemed to
be intentIy studying its exact posi-
tion. Then. deity as miner might
have done, it dug around and under
it, with vigo Gus toss jerked it into
the air (the sudden motion. OF course
springing it) and began calmly to eat
the bait.
This was the moment / had waited
for. The creatures peculiar tactics
had established its identity The
long looked Tor wolverine stood be.
fore me,
Trembling with excitement laid
my cheek against the guDstock
glanced roughly along the barrels.
and pulled both triggers. The smoke
driven back by the wind nearly
choked me but quickly got out into
the air; and there riddled by buck
shot very emphatically dead and with
wing OF chicken still between his
teeth. lay my archenemy outwitted at
last by green boy N. Y. Indepen-
dent
Important Business.
'Oh papa" she said with a blush.
young Mr.. Chestnut. who owns so
many coal mines in Pennsylvania. is
coming again this evening and he
says no wants to see you on some i'm.
pOrtant business"
All right my dear" responded
the old man. chucking her playfully
under the chin Il pueSs I know