THE WOLF HUNTERS 



**Well/' said Tom with some hesitation, "we'll 

 take him then, but we must have a fair and square 

 understanding with him and fire him if he don't 

 come to time and behave Hke a man. We can't 

 fool away time with a drunken man." 



Besides being an all-around good fellow, Jack 

 had a fiddle and could play it and could also sing. 

 On these musical accomplishments I counted for 

 much enlivening of our lonely winter's work. 



When spoken to about binding himself to let 

 whiskey alone. Jack readily promised that after 

 one little spree when we got our pay he would 

 swear off entirely till the wolf hunting trip was 

 over. He was willing to turn over his money to 

 Tom or to me when we should be paid off, reserv- 

 ing only a few dollars for the ''good time" that he 

 had promised himself. 



We now began trading with the Indians for the 

 skins needed for our buckskin suits, and as we got 

 them we smoked them, using for this purpose a 

 large dry-goods box, to the bottom of which, on 

 the inside, we tacked the hides in place. The box 

 was then turned over a little smothered fire in a 

 hole in the ground. We found that this way of 

 smoking skins was an improvement on the Indian 

 method, smoking them more quickly and evenly 

 and giving them a more uniform color. 



In 1 86 1 the agency for the five tribes — Chey- 

 ennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Comanches, and Prai- 

 rie Apaches — was at Fort Wise, and, as the time 



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