The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-10-03
THE BLOOD OF
HIS SIRES
Bu C. B. LEWIS
Copyright, 1906. by r. B. Mcclure
By c. B. LEWIS

WOlI.
When night had come down there had
come with it from the crest of the
mountains, from the black mouths of
the passes, from the depths of the dis
NAL canyons, wind that cut like a
knife and shriyeled like fire, and now
and then gust had brought hail to
sting like bird shot The wolf had gone
back to his lair and given up the hunt
for the night. There would be no game
afoot for him in such weather.
When morning came the weather had
softened a bit, and there were snow
fakes flying about in wild confusion.
The wolf sat up at the mouth of his
lair and whined and complained As
he felt the pangs of hunger he howled
diSmally. No beast of prey can find
his game blindfolded Back in the cave
was mother wolf, with her two young,
softly growing to herself as she heard
the bowls of the father
By and by the wind ceased for mo
ment, as if smothered by the falling
fakes, and then it came with noisy
around the rocky cliffs and big bowl
ders. The wolf ceased bowling The
wind brought him taint-a scent. He
stood on his hind legs and paved the
air and shifted and showed his fangs.
A moment later he signaled for the
mother wolf to join him. She also
reared up and shifted at the air.
4 4I.., "a
was feeble and came from afar, but it
was worth investigation. With a half
angry growl at each other, born of hun
ger and greed, the wolves bounded
away down the wind. The falling cur
tain Of snow limited their vision to
yards, but VOLTS nose guides him
after he becomes blind of old age.
I'VE will go out this morning." said
the leader of the park patrol to his
men. I'VE will go north, east, south
and west The buffaloes will be lying
up in the thickets in such a storm as
this, and the wolves will be hungry to
find them"
They went in pairs, the strong and
hardy men who brave the seasons to
protect life in the great park set aside
for the nation away up where the wa
tiers of the muddy Missouri are as cold
as the Arctic ocean and as clear as
glass.
The buffaloes would have only one
enemy on such day-the big timber
wolf. The bear would wait for better
weather to search for his food. The
men turned their backs on each other,
leaned forward on their snowshoes and
in thirty seconds were hidden from
each others sight. They knew the
groves, the thickets, the spots which
the buffalo would seek for shelter, and
they skirted or passed through such
places with the stealthy tread Of
ghosts.
''Hark! 1t is the snarl of wolfp'
The two men who had gone to the
north halted In their tracks with hand
to ear and listened. AS the wind had
brought the scent to the wolf at the
door of his lair so it also brought the
menacing snarls Of beast of prey to
the expectant patrollers.
evolves, for surew
"And after buffalo! Straight aheadr'
The wolves had followed the scent to
Its source A buffalo bull and three or
four cows, scattered some distance
from the main herd, were sheltered up
In small grove on the bank of creek.
The bull had come to his prime in the
wild and rugged park. He was not a
stranger to the grunt of the bear and
the snarl of the wolf. They had men
aced him many times. and many times
he had defied them. though it had new
er come to open attack. Both wolf and
bear appeared to have an intuition that
the buffalo was under mans protection
and that it would not do to go too far
With the scent coming stronger at
every jump, the wolves at length broke
through the dead vines and stunted ce-
dars to find themselves upon their prey.
In front of the thicket was an open
glade. They paused here for a mo-
ment to plan the attack, and as they
planned they whined and snarled and
growled They did not want to have
anything to do with the bull. The cows
were not fighters, and their flesh was
more tender. If they became fright
ened at the growing they would make
a bolt for 1t and separate.
| The bull had caught sight of his enc
mics as they broke cover. He never
had seen timber wolf at such close
quarters. Something told him that they
were hungry and desperate and that
/ how Of only 10 q oh
of apprehension and almost started to
fee Then the blood of his sires came
surglng through him. They had fought
the wolves of the prairie, the wolves of
the timber, the lions of the foothills
Many had been pulled down after a
long, hard battle, but not one had
ever turned tail and run away With
call to stand their ground and with
head and tail up and eyes beginning to
burn, he dashed out Of his covert to
begin the battle He had bulk, and he
must have freedom of movement The
wolves, surprised by his sudden attack
gave way, but they did not go far.
NOW we shall see a fight worth talk
ing Of" said one of the patrollers as
both took positions of vantage "The
wolves are big and hungry and Gun
ming, but If the bull is not the son OF
his father we will kill him for a COW.
ard. Now the battle beglnsw
The wolves. separated to make the at
tack They were done with snarls and
growls They needed all their breath
for sterner work While one dashed al
dle muzzle of the bull the other sought
to gain his rear and hamstring him
A long leap and savage bite would
do the trick. The bull bore no sears OF
former conflicts, but instinct told him
what to do. His wheelings were SC
swift that every spring of the wolf was
disappointed, and twice within ten min
utes a pair of cloven hoofs caught the
shaggy beast in the ribs and rolled him
over and over in the snow. Then the
pair gathered in front to make an at
tack on the throat. 1t was only feint
intended to force the bull back into the
thicket, where his movements would be
hampered. He had scarcely given
ground when he saw through the game
and blocked it.
did you see? Did you see?" glee-
fully exclaimed the elder patroller as
he softly clapped his mittened hands
together Il was not mistaken in the
bull. He is the son of his father
But the timber wolf is cunning and
tireless," replied the other, with doubt
in his tones.
"Wait and you will see"
The wolves sought to attack on both
TANKS at once. The bull needed agil-
ity here and he put it forth. There
was a foot of snow on the open, but
that was in his favor For a quarter
of an hour the wolves pursued their
plan and two or three times the teeth