WOLVES AND WOLF-HOUNDS. 191 



a rush at him, while the other stole round to 

 get at the kid. The dam, as always with 

 these spirited little prong-bucks, made a good 

 fight, and kept the assailants at bay ; yet I 

 think they would have succeeded in the end, 

 had I not interfered. Coyotes are bold and 

 cunning in raiding the settlers' barn-yards for 

 lambs and hens ; and they have an especial 

 liking for tame cats. If there are coyotes in 

 the neighborhood a cat which gets into the 

 habit of wandering from home is surely lost. 

 Though, I have never known wolves to 

 attack a man, yet in the wilder portion of the 

 far Northwest I have heard them come around 

 camp very close, growling so savagely as to 

 make one almost reluctant to leave the camp 

 fire and go out into the darkness unarmed. 

 Once I was camped in the fall near a lonely 

 little lake in the mountains, by the edge of 

 quite a broad stream. Soon after nightfall 

 three or four wolves came around camp and 

 . kept me awake by their sinister and dismal 

 howling. Two or three times they came so 

 close to the fire that I could hear them snap 

 their jaws and growl, and at one time I posi- 

 tively thought that they intended to try to get 

 into camp, so excited were they by the smell 

 of the fresh meat. After a while they stopped 

 howling ; and then all was silent for an hour 

 or so. I let the fire go out and was turning 

 into bed when I suddenly heard some animal 

 of considerable size come dowu to the stream 

 nearly opposite me and begin to splash across, 

 first wading, then swimming. It was pitch 



