Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-07-25
it and we'll going, and we can roast the
old thief ont ~

VI WV Je1'
set them on fire with matches that he
had brought along. The fire was
some time in starting, but after awhile
the old stuff got we'll warmed up, and
then it began to take flame and roar.
"Capital! Well soon have our game
and roasted, to - shouted Willis.
And it seems--as the flames roared
and began to wrap the whole great pile
of drift-that we had got old "tor
ment" into limbo at last, and stood 6
chance of not only burning her house
over her head, but of burning her VI
with it. We could hear her growlire
at the fire. But she was tough and
willy, and not disposed to give in with
out a savage fight for life.
Just as the fire seemed to enwraI
the whole jam, the wolf made a swift
bolt out through the blaze, and, al
signed and sparkling with fire, flew at
Old Jim like a mad hyena.
Although we were on the lookout
we were not quite prepared for so sud
den a spring as the old beast had made
"Look out!'' shrieked AL. "shoot
shoot !"
George fred-Wilts ired-Al sfune
the axe, and Ned and we're both
cooking our guns-trying to get aim.
But the savage brute few from jim
across the brook towards AL. He rar
up the side of the gully, shouting
"Shoot her shoot her !"
No wonder he ran, for she was the
ugliest looking thing I ever saw.
She got past us all, and secured
away down the hollow. The dogs
started after her, at full cry, down the
gully, off throught the woods to the
northeast.
We rallied, too, loaded up again
and followed for a mile or more
Then we lost them from hearing alto
gether; and now, being pretty tired
and hungry, we went home.
But just as George and AL and
we're finishing most hearty meal
Ned came running to the house to say
that the hounds had come around from
the northwest, within hearing again
We went into the yard. They seemed
not more than two miles off, going in
full cry toward the "pond woods"
"Come on ~ shouted George.
Guns were brought out in hot haste
and away we went. But after running
a mile or two we lost sound of the
dogs: and it was not till near 4 O'Clock
that they came around from the south
end of the pound. Not many minutes
after that we heard the long howl Of
Old Jim. 1t was down by the east
shore of the pond, where crag, call
ed the "overset," fronted on the water
Willis and George had already start
ed to 90 down there. The rest of us
followed them round the head OF the
pond and down through the woods to
the "overset." George and Willis were
at some distance ahead.
The dogs were whining about the
rock. There was great crevice, two
or three feet wide, between two huge
rocks which lay at the foot OF the
cliffs. Upon these, other great bouid-
ers had fallen down. The creVice
looked like the mouth of den.
"The old brute is in there sure
enough % Willis said. Chow 1 wish l
had bucket of nitro-glycerine to tuck
in after her ~
Finally, we concluded to set our
guns-the whole of them-spring-gun
fashion, pointing into the crevice. :.
Ned went up to house about halt
a mile off and got some hemp twine.
While he was gone the rest of US cut
crotched stakes to rest the guns in, and
set them in the ground around the
hole. Five guns were set pointing
into the den.
When Ned came back with the
twine, a perfect network of lines was
laid across the mouth of the den and
each of these crosslines ran round a
stake to the triggers of all the guns.
1t was nice job to fix them, and a
rather critical one when it came to
putting the lines on the triggers. The
gun were then cooked. Each one had
been loaded as heavily as we dared to
load it.
By the time we got our gun set it
was fairly dark, and we went of home
as fast as we could.
Early next morning, before either
George or I was up, boy from the
house where we got the twine came in.
The family had heard the guns 60 of
late in the evening. AS soon as it was
light the boy had run down and looked
over the top of the crag, and had seen
the old wolf down on the pebbles,
"kicking," he said.
We were soon out Of bed and down
by the crag. And, sure enough, the
old pest that had done so much mis-
chief, lay stretched out there, not
"kicking," but stone dead.
She had gone so feet or more from
the mouth of her den, though both
her fore-legs were broken by buckshot,
and bullet had traversed the whole
length of her body. Three of the guns
had been discharged when she tipped
the line.
She was great, bony, gaunt, long
beast, the very embodiment of rapacity
and ferceness. From muzzle to tail,
she measured but an inch short of five
feet. We received a bounty of So on