THE WOLF HUNTERS 



or four days to come, and all of that time there'll 

 not be much done on the dugout, for part of my 

 time'll be taken up doing the cooking an' camp 

 work. But go ahead with your wolf killing, for 

 every pelt cured is as good as six bits or a dollar 

 in pocket at the least calculation." 



After an early breakfast next morning Jack 

 and I mounted and started. We found fully as 

 big a job as I had anticipated, for the night's 

 catch yielded us over fifty wolfskins. It took us 

 most of the morning, brisk work, to get them all 

 gathered in, and our horses were so well loaded 

 with the hides that we had to walk and lead them 

 back to camp. Jack proved an apt pupil at wolf 

 skinning and soon could snatch a hide off as 

 quickly as I. 



When we reached camp with our loads we found 

 that Tom, with his usual foresight, had whittled 

 us out a good lot of pegs, which greatly assisted 

 us in disposing of the pelts, and we soon had them 

 stretched and pegged down, flesh side up, on a 

 smooth piece of ground near the tent where we 

 had already started a drying yard. 



Each evening, while there was anything left 

 for a wolf bait of the buffalo we had recently 

 killed, I made the round, poisoning the flesh, and 

 next morning Jack and I visited the baits, skinned 

 the dead wolves, brought in the pelts, and pegged 

 them down. This generally "spoiled" the fore- 

 noon, while the afternoon would be spent in dig- 



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