The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-03-21


could have Rugged the ugly vehicle in
transport OF rapture.
Turning the sled on its side and |
propping it up with the seat, Idrew my |
arctic sleeping bag from the box, and
spread it out ON the lee side of the sled,
placed my Winchester and cartridge
belt inside and crawled In. My sleep
ing bag cons listed of bags within
bags" the inner one of goat skin, and
the hairy side turned in; the second of
imitation seal, and the third or outer
one of heavy tent ducking, absolutely
waterproof, and provided with hood
that could be pulled down, closing the
mouth of the bag, when the occupant |
had made himself snug for the night.
l pulled down the hood and resigned |
myself to the stu alton. ! shivered
little at first, but soon be came as snug !
and warm as kitten on a hearth rug |
and actually dropped off to sleep. ] |
was awakened in a little while, how
ever, by the sled blowing over and
pinning me to the ground. After |
good deal of squirming around, man
aged to crawl out and lift the sled off. |
the bag. The wind was bowling like !
a thousand demons and the air was SO !
full of fine snow that ] could not dis |
tinguish objects at greater distance
than fifteen feet--not very far, but far
enough to reveal to me the gaunt shiv-
ering frames of about a dozen large |
prairie wolves squatting in a circle
around me waiting patiently for nature
to take It's course.
l was cold no longer, excepting, per-
haps, a narrow streak that extended
the full length Of my spinal col
umn. Drawing the Winchester from
the bag, / turned loose on the largest
of the starving brutes and succeeded
in soothing effectually the pangs of his !
hunger laid out three more of them.
and winged still another before they
seemed to realize that / meant just
what said. was fast getting warmed
up to the work in hand, when the un-
canny beasts skunk sullenly off into the
stormy darkness. Then reloaded the
magazine of the rifle. lifted the bag
into the sled and crawled into it. / was
Just on the point of doing off again,
when the howl of wolf came down
on the wind, followed in the next
breath by a score of answering bowls,
coming from all points. Raising the
hood of the sleeping bag with the muz-
zle of the rife lay and awaited de-
velopm ents First came a chorus of
snarls and yelps, apparently from I'M
der the sled, followed by genuine
pandemonium. Fully fifty of the fam
ished brutes were fighting over the
bony carcasses Of those that had fallen
to my rifle. While the storm had not
abated in the least the full moon had
found clear place in the heavens and
the brightness of MONDAY was all
around me.
/ raised myself slightly, cooked the
rifle and, glancing over the top of the
sled box, had selected skinny old bag
of she wolf with which to furnish
continuance of the riotous feast, when,
happening to glance toward the rear
of the sled, encountered the gaze of
pair of wicked eyes, set deep in the
head of a wolf of gigantic size. The
brute had thrust his head over the tail
board, and craning his scrdggy neck as
far out as was possible, he barred his
tusk-like fangs until could have
counted every one of them, had l so
minded The starving creature never
fiinched when ! thrust the muzzle OF
the rifle within twelve inches of its
snout. The pungent odor of singed
hair followed the crack of the rifle
| The blood had scarcely begun to flow
from the empty eye socket when the
harsh swapping of sharp teeth told me
| that my services as q purveyor Of fresh
meat were being thoroughly appreci-
ated. l knew that ] could not very
| we'll shoot amiss, so / opened fire
through the tail board with telling eff
feet, as the ''yips" and bowls that fol-
| lowed each shot attested. At last the
sound of intercine strife began to grow
/; faint, and ! knew that the survivors
of the feast and the fray were
either getting filed up or had Ct
| last taken my oft-repeated hint that
| they were not wanted. Come what
might resolved to assume the often
sive, so. having recharged the maya
/ zine, ! peered cautiously over the top
| of the box. There was not live wolf
\ in sight but there were several deae
| ones in the rear of the sled. To these
the driving snow was fast giving sep
ulture. Confronted by the assurance
| bnat, III case any VI tuC VI ApSo SASeA~
! return, they would find cold lunch
to hand, pulled down the hood and
! lay with chattering teeth, listening to
the wind which from time to time bore
the distant howl of wolf family 70
my ears AS grew warm ] also grew
drowsy, and finally dropped into.
sound slumber. How long / slept
could not even hazard guess, but
was awakened by the jolting OF the
sled. Scrambling hastily out OF the
bag, I found to my intense surprise
that the sled was running down an in
cline with the speed of the wind. An
inky cloud lay across the face OF the
moon and darkness was over all the
snowy waste, while the blizzard ragged
more furiously than ever. looked
ahead into the darkness for horses and
driver but found neither. Holding my
breath and the top of the tailboard,
awaited the end. ] had not long to
watt. With sudden burst OF speed,
the sled dipped down sharp incline,
the runners seemed to leave the ground
for an instant, and then came crash
and phenomenal display Of stellar
groups as / shot forward and banged
my head against the dash board
'sWell where In thunder did you
come from2 we're the words that