THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 171 



be up at daylight, and be on the coyote ground, three 

 miles away, by four o'clock. The evening was spent in 

 telling stories of hunting experiences about all sorts of 

 wild animals, and I learned more on that occasion about 

 the natural history of Western animals than I did out of 

 all the learned works I had ever read. The intervals be- 

 tween the tales were filled up with music on the " pi-anor," 

 as the "fust settler" called it, by the young ladies of the 

 house — charming, independent, self-reliant, and domestic 

 young ladies, who would do honor to any drawing-room in 

 their easy, obliging behavior, and in their good looks ; but 

 I fear they would not pass muster in their dress, for it was 

 a simple calico, made graceful by no other accessories than 

 their good taste and Venus-like forms. It is a peculiarity, 

 or I might say a feeling of paternal pride, in all Western 

 men, that the moment they are able to purchase a piano 

 they do it for the sake of the daughters, for, as they say 

 locally, " boys are boys, and gals are gals ;" and while one 

 wants " a rifle, a dog, and a horse, the other wants nothing 

 but a new dress or a hat, and a c pi-anor.' " The boys are 

 nobodies, the girls are everything ; the former can hunt or 

 fish, or be anything they please ; the girls must be educated, 

 and able to talk a little French and play the " pi-anor," else 

 they are also nobodies. What with music, singing, story- 

 telling, and the contents of a barrel, the evening was pleas- 

 antly spent, and by midnight we were all soundly sleeping. 

 We were awake before daylight, and had breakfast by 

 lamplight; and after that we saddled our steeds, and each 

 taking a spare horse with him, we were off by 4 a.m., and in 

 half an hour after we were amidst the haunts of the prowl- 

 ing coyote. We had scarcely reached the ground before 

 we espied a vagrant trotting about, and, getting after it 

 close behind, we ran it for five miles at a rattling rate, and 

 the hounds killed it on a knoll before we were within 

 shooting range. The "blooding" they received seemed 

 to have sharpened their appetite for more coyotes, for they 

 were jumping about and giving tongue as if they were on 

 a trail; but we supposed it was the buoyancy of their feel- 



