The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-08-22


and her gray mate, hunting alone
was hard put to it to keep starvation
from the cave.
The gray wolf trotted briskly down
the broken face of the plaster rock
in the full glare of the moon, and
stood for a moment to sniff the all
that came blowing lightly, but keen
ly, over the stiff tops of the forest
The wind was clean. 1t gave him nc
tidings of a quarry. Descending hur.
riedly the last so yards of the slope
he plunged into the darkness of the
firwoods. Soft as was the snow in
those quiet recesses, it was yet sufii.
ciently packed to support him as he
trotted, noiseless and alert, on the
broad-spreading pads of his paws
Furtivc and fierce. he slipped through
the shadow like a ghost. Across the
open glades he fleeted more swiftly,
n bright and sinister shape, his head
swinging little from side to side,
every sense upon the watch. His di-
rection was pretty steadily to the
west of north.
He had travelled long, till the direc-
tion of the moon shadows had taken
n different angle to his path, when
suddenly there came a scent upon the
wind. He stopped, one foot up, ar
rested in his stride. The gray, cloudy
brush of his tail stiffened out. His
nostrils, held high to catch every watt
of the new scent, dilated; and the
edges of his upper lip came down over
the white fangs, from which they had
been snarlingly withdrawn. His pause
was but for breath or two. Yes,
there was no mistaking it. The scent
was moose-very far off, but moose,
without question. He darted forward
Mt a gallop, but with his muzzle still
held high. following that scent up the
,>s-I
Presently he struck the trail of the
herd. An instant's scrutiny told his
trained sense that there were calves
and young cows, one or another OF
which he might hope to stampede by
nC StuHt .
scrutiny revealed to him that the
herd had passed nearly an hour ahead
of him. Up went the gray cloud of
his tail and down went his nose; and
then he Strengthened himself to his
top speed, compared to which the
pace wherewith he had followed the
scent up the wind was mere casual
sauntering.
When he emerged upon the open
plateau and reached the spot where
the herd had scattered to browse, he
slackened his pace and went warily,
peering from side to side. The COW
moose, lying down in the bushes to
fondle her imprisoned young, was hid
den from his sight for the moment;
and SO it chanced that before he dis
covered her he came between her and
the wind. That scent-it was the
taint Of death to her. 1t went
through her frame like an electric
shock. With snort Of fear and fury
she heaved to her feet and stood,
wide-eyed and with lowered brow,
facing the menace. J gk-L. 4 ia 4.
The wolf heard that snorting chal.
lenge, and, saw the awkward bulk Of
her shoulders as she rose above the
scrub. His jaws wrinkled back tight
ly, barring the full length Of his keen
white fangs, and a greenish phosphor-
escent film seemed to pass suddenly
across his narrow eyeballs. But he
did not spring at once to ths attack.
He was surprised. Moreover, he in
ferred the calf, from the presence of
the COW apart from the rest of the
herd. And a full-grown COW moose,
with the mother fury in her heart,
he knew to be a dangerous adversary.
Though she was hornless. he Knew the
force of her battering front, the swift,
sharp stroke of her hoof, the dauntless
of her courage. Further,
though his own courage and the avid
urge of his hunger might have led him
under other circumstances to attack
tonight he knew that he
must take no chances. The cave in
the blue and white rocks was depend
ing on his success. His mate, wound
ed and heavy with young-if he let
get disabled in this hunting
she must perish miserably. With
prudent tactics, therefore, he circled
at safe distance around the hidden
pit; and around its rim circled the
wary mother, presenting to him
ceaselessly the defiance of her huge
and sullen front. BY this means he
easily concluded that the calf was
prisoner in the pit. This being the
case he knew that with patience and
his experienced craft the game was
safely his. He drew of some half
dozen PAGES, and sat upon his
contemplatively to weigh
the situation. Everything had turned
out most fortunately for his hunting
and food would no longer be scarce
in the cave of the painted rocks.
That same night, in cabin of un-
utterable loneliness some miles to
the west of the trail from the moose
yard a sallow-faced, lean backwoods-
man was awakened by the moonlight
into his face through the
p,,,on conora ~x,;pIoxv Ho 81, p,oJ ~