The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-11-28


crosses between greyhound and
wiEe-hairel Scotch deerhound. Old
tnan PrinGie'S contribution to the pack
consisted OF two immense brindled
monggels Of great strength aud Zero
ciGus temper.
As was very anxious to see a wolf.
hunt the Judge VOLUNTEERED to get one
up, and asked old man prtndIe to as
slst, for the sake Of his two big fight
ing dogs; though the very names Of the
latter. General Grant and Old Abe,
were gall and wormwood to the I'M,
reconstructed soul Of the Judge. Still
they were the only dogs anywhere
around capuble OF tackllng savage
timber wolf. and without their mid.
the Judges own Iiigh-splrited animals
ran serious risk Of injury. for they
were altogether too game to let any
beast escape without struggle.
Luck favored us. Two wolves had
killed a calf and dragged 1t into u long
patch Of dense brush where there was
little spring. the whole furnishing ad.
mirable cover for any wild beast. Ear.
ly in the morning we started on horse.
back for this bit of cover. which was
some three miles off The party con.
sisted Of the Judge. old man Prlndle. n
cowboy, myself. and the dogs. The
judge and carried our rifles and the
cowboy his revolver, but old man Prtn.
die had nothing but heavy whip, for
he sw0re, with many oaths, that no one
should Interfere with his big dogs. for
by themselves they would surely
make the wolf feel slcker than
stuck hog" Our shaggy ponies rack
Ell along Mt n five-mlle gait over the
dewy prairie grass. The tWo big dogs
trotted behind their master, grim and
fcrocious. The truck-hOunds were tied
/ in couples. AMI the beautiful grey.
hounds Ioped lightly and gracefully
alongside the horses. The country was
fine. y mile 10 our right a small plains
river wound in long curves between
banks frnged with cottonwoods. Two
or three miles to our left the foothills
rose sheer aud bare. with cIumps Of
black pine and cedar in their gOrges.
We rode over gently rolling prairie,
with here and there patches OF brush
ut the bottoms of the slopes around
the dry waterc0urses.
At List we reached a somewhat deep.
or. valley, In which the wolves were
harborel. Wolves lie close In the day
time and will not leave cover If they
can help 1t: and as they had both food
ana water within we knew 1t was
most unlikely that this couple would
be gone The valley was a couple Of
hundred yards broad and three or four
times as long. filled with q growth OF
"sh and dwarf elm and cedar, thorny
sndcrbrtEsiI choking the spaces be-
tween. Posting the cowboy. to whom
he gave his rifle. With two greyhounds
on one side of the upper end. and old
man Frindle with two others on the
opposite side, while was left at the
lower end TO guard against the posst
hillty Of the wolves breaking back, the
Judge himself rode into the thtcket
near Ire and tooSencd the track-houndS
to let them find the wolves trail. The
big dogs also were uncouple1 aud al.
lowed 10 go in with the hounds. Their
power Of scent was very poor. but they
We're sure to he guided Alright by the
bayfns Of the hounds, and their pres.
ence would give confidence to the lat.
ter aud make them ready to rout the
wolves out of the thlcket, which they
would probably have shrunk from do.
Ing alone. There was a moments
pause Of expectation after the Judge
entered the thlcket With his hounds.
We S0t motionless on our horses,
eagerly looking through the keen fresh
morning air. Then a cIamorous baying
from the thicket in which both the
horseman ana dogs Ind disappeared
showed that the hounds had struck
the trail OF their quarry and were run
ming on Il hot scent. For couple Of
minutes we could not be quite certain
which way the game was going to
break. The hounds ran zigzag through
the brush. as we could tell by their
hNying, and once some 1Yelping aud
great row showed that they had come
rather closer than they had expected
upon ut least one of the wolves.
In another minute however. the lat
ter found 1t too hot for them aud
holtcd from the thickct. My first no.
ttce OF this was seeing the cowboy.
who was standing by the side Of his
horse, suddenly throw up his rife and
fire. while the greyhounds who had
been sprlnging high In the air, half
maddCncu by tile clAmor in the thicket
below, for moment dashed of the
/ wrong way; confused by the report Of
the gun. rode for all was worth
to where the cowboy stood, and in.
stantly caught glimpse Of two
wolves, grizzled.gray and brown.
which having been turned by his shot
had started straight over the hill
across the plain toward the mountains
three miles away. As soon as saw
them saw also that the rearnost OF
the couple had been hit somewhere in
the body and was tagging behind, the
blood running from lis tanks. while
the two greyhonpls we're racing after
| n. On1 NJ 4I,n on,On t,nS,,n,,k 49, A.. -.