The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
CRAMERA AND THE WOLVES.
MS EXPERIENCE WITT THE FETCH
IyG POWERS OF 1854 uTIDA.

GRrESvfLLE, Me-, April Fishing was over
FIR the day Mt Moosehead, and tho little houses,
standing like sentry boxes out from the shore Of
tho frozen lake, looked lone and deserted. At tho
Ham farmhouse the anglers had gathered after
mppcr about the open fire to talk over the
events Of the day and plan for the fishing OF tho
rorrow. Most Of them Ind had "fsherman's
Iuck" that day, and their talk drifted to tho
topic OF the merits OF preparations used by an
rlers to lure fish to their bait. Loveago. Gin.
namon, pcnnyroyal were discussed, and some
one mentioned assafetida- This brought old
Tom Mcservey, the guide, upon the floor.
Now you're talking" he said. THAT stuff1l
draw anything in the woods or waters to q bait.
Wolves, foxes, fishes, mipks-itll draw EN- as
far as they can smell II, and that's q long way
Of. The smell OF tho s~tufY-woll. It isn't much
to brag OF as pcrfumery, and I can't blame the
taste of the bear that prefers q bad mackorel.
But it seems TO hit the taste Of all the fur-bear-
In critters, which is why tho fur hunters are
apt to have a piece of It along with them to rub
on their traps. As for fish. Did you ever hear
tell of Jerry Cramor, who used to fish these
waters forty or fifty years agoi II he was alive
he could tell you whether assaf9tida would
bring fish TO a hook, and whether wolves
would come where 10 was.
Jerry was ono OF the greatest fishermen that
ever came to Moosehcad Lake. He'd have his
hooks in the water carly and late, summer and
winter. In all winds and weather. I've seen him
In winter when the cold kept every one else in
camp. lying on his face by q fishing hole, with
the fine snow the northwest wind brought down
the lake drifting up against him until he was
half buried-and no was having n good time. We
got great catches of fish in those days. though we
didn't have fine tackle, and we didn't fish from
houses on the ice; and when q man went up to the
lake fishing he had to make his own camp and do
his own work. 1t was in the early spring more than
forty years ago-I remember now, It was in
1854, for it was the year tho Republicans first
put up n Governor to be voted for-that Jerry
was up here fishing as usual, and there came
along to his camp one day old Remick the trap
per, on his way up the lake for his spring trap
ping. He stopped with Jerry over night, and
after breakfast in the morning, before starting
away. asked him If he could leave his traps and
h1in's with him while he went on up the lake to
explore a place for his home camp.
"'Sartin.' said Jerry. Leave EN- and well
come as long as you like
"Remick's traps and other belongings he left
lying where he had first thrown them down In q
corner Of the camp: but he took something
wrapped in a paper from his pocket and put 1t
carefully up on o shelf where Jerry kept his
small odds and ends. Then he started of up tho
shore and Jerry went out to his fishing. When
Soiig VAlic ueCA tuab uiHnt NO uOtlCeu u queer
for. 50 he laid it to his having a cold in his head.
himself. MUST be ~ I've 9 taken CT S eoId th me sa's ae T.
ting damp feet Ill grease my moccasins in the
Jerry used to grease his moocasins with a mix
tpre Of tallow and rosin, that he claimed made
. the dserskin watertight. So next morning he
reaching up to the shelf where hefept Els rosin..
took tool down a lump. dropped it into the tallow
stuff smells queer @ or OF else SEe'f my cold is H worse .n he
ssid, as he took the frying pan from the Goals.
r with thu his s0i hand til fro tSes ao sas "m1 HeaIs
s sosea.i Hn and ND W mSss' out Ths so his hs f,sIs as on r,S Sis
head Of 4 little island q mile or SO from the
in tho trip, but tho dsh BIT well this G morning.
and they bt sharper and sharper as the day
whitsh.h, cusk, all we're coming for his hook.
Big heap Of Dish on the .h Ice S Sv'e each hole In'f' was
ssiis s sses. winch si Wss dr sR to St nth The bs s1aks out Sss q
e eSt esp / ever pp f baned 't to m SIt a a5s dS. the bhIs ',;ns
there's a wolf; haven't seen one afore thiswinter.'
HE turned 70 his lines again and kept on
up again to rest his back. This time three
wolves GSalyes were in sight, all trcttine toward him
thing. Jerry was not afraid Of wolves. never
having been troubled by them in any OF his
1s6 were biting as heavily as ever. It made no
difference what his bait was or how It was stuck
70 Be- the DIST to grab It. and jerry 4as feptn So
time IN his fife, he found himself tired Of fishing.
aha took his lines out of the water while the
hsh were still biting. As he wound his lines up
ne noticed that there were now five wolves on
t "a lie, and he didn't like the way they all were
But what bothered Jerry more than wolves
for he had ten times as many HiI Is he &C ndS h msn;
tdhsn 70 camp in one trip even IL he had a sled.
fashion, and let them freeze there until he cot
ready to start for home. He set to work, and
l% .hs ,a he got through he had a pile eight feet
q cord Of fish. He hurried his work toward the
enc Tor two more wolves had come out on the ice,
along the shore. The wolves in sight were ali
t tbbeaik nos. toward "a Oh him, up against the wind, with
him with a SNOWFALL.
light lasts said Jerry 10 himself. Tor he knew
fails faG Tha ayyov wolves have Of waiting till darkness
ming to feel stitiisss t an th Pre sIsbt He 81 was as begin,
wolves. and he started At no slow pace for camp.
ice: Ike hounds on a trail. They kept drawing
f fnss "a an In the I'll til, as he struck the shore.
didn't offer to touch him.oniy snufred at his his
~ = hht hc Oulu I unuerbtanu,
Near the shore, by the path TO his camp. was
an old leaning tree stub-a yellow birch, six
Ieet through at the butt. You know how the
s yea " birch viii rot and rot away at the heart
outside; This stub was forty feet high, and it
Sas m hollow from end to end. Jerry BY this time
tree, the first one he could climb-a thing NOT
20 easy 70 md, seeing that he was a heavy man.
past middle age. The old birch stub leaning
SSs s at an angle of As degrees was the very thing
IN 90 up the inside of the Stub jerry said
III imself. II l have to stay there ali night
wi q warmer rOost than on the outside
He was an active man. and he Went IN ,be
,ns.de q that stub like a cat up a steeple. 1t
shas rather q tight squeeze for him near the top.
t 1Ht he made Il. and, as he stuck his head out at
sae END TO take a look round, he felt a good deal
safer than he had felt at any time since he
ifl icEsdd away from the fishing holes, Then he
%as shutting at his nocassins. The wolves were
rGIil H o him, one, by one. up tho hollow stub.
was growing desperate. He knew he couldn't
s'ay thsreEbut he had made a discovery.
don't know what they fancy about en-
ne said But the troubles all in these blamed