THE WOLF HUNTERS 



had a navy pistol, too, for this shot he give him- 

 self was a navy ball." 



'And taking a navy bullet out of his pocket, 

 Tom showed us that it would just fit the hole in 

 the skull. 



"He's been right-handed, too," continued the 

 old man, "for the ball went in on the right side 

 an' come out on the left. You see, the little 

 hole is clean-cut on the right side but bigger an' 

 ragged on the left where it come out. That tells 

 where it went in an' where it come out. When 

 he wrote that note on the old shoulder-blade he's 

 been getting nervous, or maybe weak from loss 

 of blood. It's a pity, though, that he didn't set 

 down his name an' the town where he come from 

 a little plainer so's we could write to his folks 

 an' let 'em know what become of him. But, like 

 many another poor devil that's been wiped out 

 by Injuns, his people'll never know where, when, 

 or how he died. 



"Well," continued the old man after a pause, 

 "I b'lieve I'll ride over to the fort to-morrow; an' 

 get our mail an' come back next day, an' I guess 

 I'll just take them things along," pointing to the 

 bones, "an' maybe some o' the folks over there 

 can tell me somethin' more about this affair. If 

 anybody knows anything about it French Dave'll 

 know, for he's been among the Injuns a good 

 deal an' would be likely to have heard something 

 about it." 



158 



