THE WOLF HUNTERS 



"Well, Tom, what do you make of it?" 



"It's my guess," he replied deliberately, holding 

 the skull up before him as though reading its his- 

 tory, "that this man was a wolf hunter, like our- 

 selves, an* if so there'll be more of this affair to 

 be discovered hereabouts. He had killed that buf- 

 falo for wolf bait, 'cause if he'd been after meat 

 he'd V killed a younger one, or a cow, for you 

 say the bones showed it was a big bull. A man 

 wouldn't be so far away from the Santa Fe road 

 huntin' buffalo without he had a camp in this 

 neighborhood. If he had a camp he's had a 

 pardner or two, an' what must have become of 

 them? Their camp must have been somewheres 

 along the creek, not far from here. Have either 

 of you seen any signs of such a layout in your 

 rambles up or down the creek?" 



"No," I answered, "but, then, neither of us has 

 been more than about three miles up or down." 



"Well, after this, when you go up or down the 

 creek make your trips extend a little farther each 

 time till you've covered at least ten or twelve 

 miles each way; an' by keeping your eyes peeled 

 you may be able to find some remains of a hunt- 

 er's camp or some sign that'll give us something 

 more about this. This man came to his death 

 about as you an' Jack guessed it; that is, while 

 getting ready to poison his buffalo for wolf bait 

 the Injuns came onto him an' surrounded him." 



"I think," I interrupted him to say, "that he 



156 



