The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-18

he heard the distant bay of a wolf. He paid no attention to it. for wolves are common in this section and rarely at tack a man unless pressed by hunger. Nevertheless. when he heard several an- swering howls Hinkens quickened his pace and occasionally threw an appre- hensive glance over his shoulder. It was not long before he discovered that half a dozen big gray fellows were trotting down the trail after him, only few hundred yards away.
 The homesteader was unarmed, and, seeing a giant pine. partly broken off by the wind, near the trail decided to ascend 1t in the hope that the wolves would pass him by unnoticd. He reached the top of the stump, trife over six feet above the level of the snow, none too soon, for the band of wolves instead of passing on down the trail followed his footsteps to the foot of the line, and, seeing their prey treed, sat down on their launches and awaited developments.
 Nothing happening one big fellow, ap- parently the leader of the band, suddenly leaped at Hinkens feet, which were hanging carelessly down the side of the tree trunk. Henry drew them up just in time to escape having his flesh nipped, and then the rest of the band began to  they could come to nipping the treed homesteader
 Hinkens began to find their amusement rather tiresome, and, remembering to have heard somewhere that there Is a charm in music which soothes the saw age beast, decided to try the effects of a tune upon the wolves. He unloosened his kit drew the fiddle to his chin and, after little preliminary tuning up, started in with his favorite, Teasing, Teasing, I Was Only Teasing You'
 The effect upon the brutes was in- stantaneous They stood stock still for an instant with ears pricked up as If curious to know whence came the lively music. Then the full force of the catchy pastime seemed to strike them, and, swaying their bodies in unison with the notes of the music, they began what Hin- kens afterward said was the best imita- tion of a cake walk he had ever seen. The big gray leader was especially ac- tive and cut more fantastic igeon wings than the biggest "buck'' that ever led walk.
 By the time Teasing was finished Hinkens had warmed to the work, and struck into the Blue Danube" waltz, and again the timber wolves performed their gyrations in unison with the mu- sic.
 Hinkens likes to fiddle; with him 1t is a labor of love- So he continued to play, waltz following waltz with a two-step thrown in now and then and an occa- sional divergence to ragtime And still the wolves leaped and bounded to the strains of the music. Apparently 1t had become a contest between man and beast to see which would tire first. Hin kenS felt that his reputation was at stake and sawed tune after tune out of his fiddle with such vigor and anima- tol that he did not notice the lapse of time.
 When. however. the lumberjacks were ready to begin their dance they found their fiddler was absent. and a party of them started down the trail to look for him. They had gone about half the dis tance when they were puzzled to hear the strains of a waltz waited on the night air from the woods a little off of the trail. They started to investigate and discovered Hinkens perched on top of the tree stump, Adding away for dear life.
 Five big gray wolves were stretched out on the snow, apparently dead, while one immense fellow was circling round and round, with faltering step and dropping head, trying in vain to keep time to the exhilarating strains of the waltz which was flowing under Hinkens' skillful manipulation of the bow. They gave a shout and Hinkens dropped his fiddle to the ground and himself followed 1t. His arm was so tired he could scarce ly raise it, but he was able to whisper in a husky tone: T outstayed em, any how"
 The wolves were speedily dispatched and Hinkens was lifted on the shoulders of the sturdy jacks" and carried to the dance hall. where he played for the bal l ance of the night.