The Washington weekly post., 1900-05-22
THE Blue HOLF
OF OCEAN COUNTY
BT CHARLES BATTELb LoOXrs

1 1uI UosS VINO 1--we IN cities QOn I know
what a nuisance wolves can make Of
themselves when they set their crafty
| minds 10 u, and even those Of you who live
In the Wolf country or who have read the
| ripping good storiss about them BY Ernest
| Seto1-ThcmpsOn can have no idea OF the
trouble that the blue wolf of Ocean COun-
". State OF Maine. caused TO the farm
! ers thereabouts.
Ocean County may be sad to lie just lc0
miles due east OF Portland. and if you'll
look It up on the map you will understand
re
The selectmen Of latham had offered n
standing reward of sl0c0 To the man. wo-
man, boy, or girl who would bring in that
| blue wolf dead o. alive
The wolf stood eight feet high in her
stocking feet and il didn't make a bit OF
difference TO her whether mamma had a
headache or not, when she felt like COM
ing in and eating up ;he canary or the
/ sold fish or the horse or whole hOck of
| sheep, Why she did il, and there was no
sheep dog SO brave ror any marksman 80
sure that he was able TO damage old Blue
skin. as she was called
Why. she had enough lead in her 10 sink
a ship, but she grew fat on lead and
| ed Of shooting at her
It's singular that no one suspected that
| she Was an enchanted wolf of course,
you knew ii as soon as you began to read
this. but that's only because Of the name
| OF this series. Those hard-headed Maine
farmers never thought of Blueskin being
| enchanted even when they considered
| her preposterous color, which shaded from
| light blue ut the tip of her tail TO marine
blue at her collar and a greenish blue
| around her wickedly scarlet eyes.
One day she came down like Ssnnache-
! ribs army on a sheepfOld and spoiled
fOrty-cight legs Of mutton, which gave
! the alarm by crying baa in twelve differ
| ent tones, there being one voice TO every
| four legs. as IS usual with mutton ana
| other rcasts,
| Ii was the morning after this slaughter
| among the sheep that Ike. the scissors
| grinder. suggested to little Ned SOule that
| the wolf was enchanted. Ike tramped all
| over Maine ard nobody knew where he
! had originally come from. bat he was
| popularity supposed 70 be one hundred and
! three years old, and he himself said that
| he remembered the battle OF Bunker Hill
! very we'll which. if he had stopped 10
| think was ridiculous, because the battle
| Of Bunker Hill was fought in seventeen
/ hundred and-er-
| Well, "a / was saying, he stopped at the
! Soules' To sharpen their scissors, and when
little Ned told him how his fathers flock
| Of a dozen sheep had vanished, Ike SAID
| the wolf was enchanted
| His head was always shaking and his
| voice was as wheezy as pump windlass
| that needs Oiling THAT wolf amt no
| ord nary wolf It's enchanted and no one
! but perfectly brave boy can kill 1t. He
| Gon't mind men no mOre'n a bad boy
minds his mother. Now, If you get two
| companions an go up to latham Four
| Corners you'll find holler log right be-
| side the sign post. Creep through II TO
/ the country of the blue wolf and YOU il
| come TO helm tree. 200 feet high. The
| boy that relies on himself an clear grit
will climb to the top and he'll find there
| crimsOn-tipDed arrow, an arrow with
| blue tip. and a whte-tipped one. Then
| each boy must take an arrow and armed
! with a bow of his own make, he must
| seek the wolf. The rest you must do for
yourself. but the real brave boy will bag
the blue wolf. There take that scissors
to your ma and tell her it's a quarter be-
cause ii was very dull
AtltE Ike Hdu SOilC uONI tIir lOdu WIN
| his quarter Ned went off to hunt UP Car
roll MIllken and Jed WadswOrth, and
finding them. he told them Ike's story
without delay.
"TII bring in old Blueskn tO-morrer.
See. if | don't" said Jed boastfully.
I'm most afraid to go, but If you fell
lers can go | guess | can" said Carroll,
his rosy cheeks growing several shades
paler at the thought of his ceruean high
ness.
That afternoon they made bows out of
hickory wood, and strung them with whip
cord The next morning. early. the day
being Saturday, they left home without
saying word TO any one and set out
for latham Four Corners. 1t was at the
fag end OF the winter and tire roads We're
frozen here and snow covered there, but
they didn't mind the mud and they liked
the snow. Each boy had made his own
preparations for the coming events.
I've got a cOntraptiOn thatH take me
TO the top Of that elm quicker'n scat,
said Jed
Il hope mine will work" said Carroll
Little Ned said nothing
AZ the sign post at the Corners lay the
hollow log and into it crept Carroll. 1t
was tight squeeze for he was a chubby
boy, but he managed 10 work his way in
and then Jed went after him, and as he
was slim he had no trouble
1t might have frightened some boys to
notice that although the two boys were
each four feet high and the trunk was
only six feet long, they didn't come out AT
the other END, but Ned didn't quite know
what fear was 50 in he went.
A moment later all three boys found
themselves in a field starred with Grim
son daisies so that the meadow looked
aaame with the flowers. In the middle Of
the field grew the great elm, its top SEEM
ing 10 touch the clouds.
''Oh, how easy, how easily, easily easy,
sang Jed, bOastfuily, and he fitted 10 his
knees climbers made Of leather gdTteTs
pierced with sharpened horseshoe nails.
He sprang at the trunk and went up
about ten feet, and then he came down 80
hard that all climb was knocked out Of
him, and he set his teeth and limped pain
fully away from the tree With nothing 10
say, for a wonder.
ITS hard work, but | think that rubber
sleeves will DO It for me. ! can't slip with
them On" said Carroll.
He went iI'y feet before he fell, and II :
Il wonder that he didn't break every bone
III MS 4al BO4sr AtA 4AI ASAAN Ny"sa ssAsN "a
pile driver.
I'm afraid can't DO It, as all have Is
my TWO hands" said Ned, bat he went
rIanfully 10 work. and 10 The great Won
derment Of the bigger boys he climbed
that tree as easily Is If It had been fruit
rec.
When he reached the top he found three
branches that were shaped exactly Ike
arrows, even 10 the feathering. one had
a white point, one had blue point, and
the other q red p0laL-
Il bOny the red one" yelled Jed from
below.
And I guess I'll take the blue one.
said Carroll, and that left Ned with Hob
sons choice OF the white one Personally
he would have liked the red one. but he
didn't want 10 make Z fuss. 20 he broke
the three arrows from the tree ana threw
taem down, and then Ae sid down the
trunk, and fortunately reached the ground
without falling, although his hands and
eFFr