Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-08-03
A Man In Wolf's
Clothing
By DONALD CHAMBERLIN
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.


to an Arab town is about as marked
as any that can be made. At Tangier
one finds about him the swarthy ma
tive, wearing the baracan, q long
white cotton garment-probably the
toga Of the Romans, who once con-
quered his country, handed down to
the present day-and of a different re-
ligiOn from what he has left on the
other side of the strait, if his system
of superstition can be called religion.
At Tangier l QUILTED for a trip to
the great desert of Sahara, aiming to
penetrate as far south as Tuat, thence
northeastward to Tripoli. l had sew
eral camels and a dozen men as serv-
ants and guards.
There is no lonelier place on the face
Of the earth than the desert, though !
will admit that on q starlight night
there is a solemn grandeur about 1t.
When we were not moving at night in
stead of the day 1 established guard
about my camp just as if we were an
army marching through an enemy's
country, and, strange to say, this Wig
lance was simply exercised against
thieves and robbers The ingenuity
of these lying rascals is remarkable.
They are natural spies. They would
come into our camp in the most friend
ly way for the purpose Of theft, If they
could get their hands on anything, and,
q I'D To Iox
they could rob us at another time.
One day band of Tuaregs, as they
are called came into camp for the
purpose, | felt sure, of observation.
They numbered about as many as we,
but as my force was under the COM
mand of European and we'll armed
they would not think of attacking us.
That same night my Sentinel-1 put
one man on guard-was shot dead. |
heard the distant crack of a rifle and,
calling several of my men. hurried them
out in different directions after the
murderer. I went myself, but saw moth
Ing, only the great sandy pillows. OneOf
my men reported seeing wolf running
away, but no human being was found.
The next day we buried the muir
dered man and proceeded on our way.
That night while every one except the
mn en- guard was asleep there was
amos hCr crack, and u sentry was killed.
Again l deployed my men, proceeding
farther than before, but not even
wild animal was found There was
ample opportunity for any one to hide
among the sand pillows, and by cover
ing himself with his baracan he was
not likely to be seen. At any rate, we
were obliged to give up the search.
1 surmised that the party of Tua-
regs who had visited our camp were
lowering near us, intending to pick off
a man every night till our number
should be so reduced as to render us
an easy prey. Then our camels, our
tents. our supplies, our arms and am
munition would fall into their hands.
The outfit would be fortune to them.
I concluded that | must stop their
game at all hazards.
The next night | planted tent pole
in the ground. fixed Il crosspiece tc
it, and, tying some esparto grass
about the two, | made the body Of
manikin. This | covered with bara-
can and put q feZ on the head Thus
l had q dummy sentinel who might be
shot to pieces without being hurt.
had taken care to fix our camp on the
edge of an oasis, where l could elimi-
nate the approach in one direction, and
noted a convenient place Of conceal
ment-a hole in the grOund-a few
hundred yards from the camp. Soon
after dark taking a rife | went out to
my hole The moon gave sufficient
light for me to see any one approach
the camp.
I had a long wait, for it was near
dawn before | saw any living thing,
and then nothing more than a wolf
prowling around in search Of some
else to watch, I watched the wolf.
He would stop here and there and Dir
up the sand, then go en-, with his nose
to the ground, to another spot and dig
again. All the while he was nearing
the camp. Presently he stopped and
after turning in a circle lay down He
was lost to view, but | kept my eyes
fixed on the spot where had last seen
him.
Suddenly at a point still nearer the
camp I saw a fash, heard crack,
and the wolf, raising himself on his
hind legs, ran away like a deer.
I had a good view of the creatures
silhouette against a line Of dawn. and
l am a good shot on the wing. Rails
ing my rife, I achieved an excellent
aim and fired. The wolf pitched for
ward and lay still.
had instructed my foreman,
Hamet, that If he heard a shot to wake
the men and if he heard a second one
to bring them out. In a few minutes
they came running toward me. l
called to them and joined them. Then
we went to the body of the wolf 1 had
slain. We found him to be one Of the
Tuaregs who had come into our camp