The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-08-13
JONES AND THE WOLVES.

JONES AND THE WOLVES.
Snarches of Stories Whicn Are, of Course,
Founded ON STERLING Truth.
Rsrpers Weekly.
speaking said Jackson Peters. "of the
ingenuity of mani just spoke of IL ms.
SELF" he explained hastily as he eyed
Jones. Speaking Of"
Pardon me. Jackson. one moment. please,
before we listen to your fascinating nara
tive" broke la Jones. with great suayity.
lit occurs TO me that you may be a descend
ant of that historic man who had but one
story, u lOng-guD story. You remember he
used TO bring his fist down on the table
after dinner with q terrific bang. and then
remark: i declare. sounds like q gum,
doesn't itf On, by the way, speaking of
guns ana then he would reel off his gun
story for the next thirty minutes. Fathers
OF mothers side, Jacksonhp
You are in ~unoommonly big spirits,
Jones'" replied Jackson Peters. Perhaps
we are to be favored tonight with the ex-
act facts in regard TO your encounter with
the blue racer. having taken q mouth since
you promised nc to construct them. My
reference Co the ingenuity of man was
legitimate. and was prompted by the
subtlety OF the waiter IN whisklDg away
an imaginary fly with his napkin ia the
hope of augmenting his tip. From that L
was about TO tell of a Texas horse thief
had just read of, who. ten years ago. had
the operation of trscheotomy performed on
himself and o silver tube inserted through
which he could breathe. He has been
lynched twenty three times since that. but
ss the rope always comes above the
tube"
The young man was interrupted by q
CHEEKY laugh from Jones. Really" broke
in this individual. that was an ingenious
idea. DO You know. Jackson, i believe you
come of a clever family"
Thank you, Jones'"
Extraordinarily clever family. / knew
as soon as | gathered that the fellow was
another uncle of yours that he'd do some
thing bright, but L was hardly prepared for
this. Friends have in the past been 30 kind
as to say that | Am myself ingenius in get
ting out OF difficulty. but L never rose to
anything like that l remember o little
brush | had with wolves In northern Wis
consin before the war. The wolves there
were of the large timber variety. and it
being a hard winter. they were constantly
hungry"
but, Jones.n interposed Robinson.
somebody mentioned the blue racer story"
Not tonight. RobInson; not tonight. /
have got TO look mp certain facts and fig
ures which ] noted In my diary at the time
before / can trust myself with that. L
would not deceive you about that blue
racer for anything In the world There are
always temptations In q blue-rRcer story
which l must guard against. Those wolves,
1 repeat, seemed always 60 nave q gnawing
sensation In the stomach They were fierce
and dangerous. and would readily attack q
man even when there Is ere no more than
tive or three of them together. One day In
January | was going from Ojibway City to
Pomme de Terre river on foot. accompanied
only by my dog. which was named Bones.
from his fondness for this article OF diet.
He was q good dog. but he had read some
where that discretion is tho. better part
of valOr. Bones was not o dog that would
ever 60 about the country asking folks in
his poor, dumb way where be could
probably find a large pack of wolves. Ii q
wolf ever succeeded In meeting Bones he
kaA % hRtrn DnnA Intenra ~ fntrnd m arfnn
from mutual frienda When about fifteen
miles from Pomme de Terre i noticed that
Bones was becoming uneasy. Five minutes
later l observed that he was wear
oonr. 1 suspected wolves. and I
was right They soon came M. NOS
fifty years behind. There were at leass
one hundred Of them-lsrGe. gaunt. hungry,
berated through the startled forest like
the diabohcsl shrieks Of frenzied demons
in tormens. j saw that q hand to hand con-
test with them was out OF the question.
By the nape Of the neck i tucked him unaer
my arm and started. For forty minutes,
gentlemen, 1 ran like q cat In q dog show.
I~suppose 1 covered ten miles. notwithstand-
and In others the undeTbrush inrerfered.
The wolves kept close behind. When
/ turned my head / could feel theft
hot. venomons breath on my eheek,
n, unss Tail l 81 poor Bones BOP WI: Which n Wss ~.v,n az
and tossing behind on ths. terrific wind
which my fight engendcred. like the phone
of q knight Of old going into battle. Their
wall of ten thousand lost souls. shook the
pine needles from the trees and tore tho
nerves of the unfortunate Bones in o way
which was painful to see. At the end OF
ssss . .sS.a ! IN e'n Iy b e tire .od 4 1 l. of,ns sSao !:
Perching myself on . lower limb. some fifty
feet from the ground. and tying Bones
In place on another with o Dis OF
string, 1 looked down on the sng.y
safe, and lit my pipe. and gave my
dog . ham bono which / had In my
pocket. Bot soon, 70 my surprise. the
wolves began most extraordinary tactics.
| down the tree. One hundred sets OF raven
Gus fsngs tore and bic 90 che trunk. saw
that the tree coald not stand half an hopr.
/ knocked the ashss out OF my pipe and be-
gan TO look &C tho situation seriously. 1
| noticed on the branches about me chunks
of raw spruce gum about the size of my
fist. Taking ms. pocket knife pried one
snapped bis jaws upon 10 with fsmished
greed. He never opened them again. the
resinous mass holding them firm as q wise.
At the end OF twenty minutes 4 bad the
i s.sss, of p.: every 81, S sops OF %sld sSen,h sS-
then descended with Bones. who
now parked savsgely and attacked the
wolves with great spirit. With his assist
ance / drove the baffied. helpless creatures
TO Pomme de Terre like a flock of sheep
| There was at that time ten dollars bounty
on wolves. We rounded them M in the
| courthouse yard and / drew one thousand
dollars from the county treasurer. after
which I repaired TO the lie Grand Monarque
Hotel and ordered supper. not forgetting 20
bespeak the largest soup bone In town for
nv trusty dog. returned TO Ojibwsy City
the next day. but saw nc wolves. That 10
( all. gentlemen. Pardon the tameness OF
nv narrative. doubt not our time might
have been better employed"
Jones'" said jackson Peters. you re-
fused To tell Us the blue racer story because
you had not yet looked up the exact factA
did you notf"
"Yes. Jackson. What of itf"
sN.ths..u