THE WOLF HUNTERS 



Tom was preparing the meal, Jack and I sepa- 

 rately rambled off to do a little exploring of our 

 immediate neighborhood. In doing so I found a 

 prairie ravine, not far from our camp, in which 

 there was considerable standing water at a dis- 

 tance of about three hundred yards from the tim- 

 ber on Walnut Creek. I wondered at this water, 

 but on following the ravine down to the creek I 

 discovered a beaver dam built across the creek, 

 in which a number of the dome-shaped huts were 

 standing, and saw other evidences of the presence 

 of a populous colony of these industrious animals. 

 The water I had seen up the ravine was back- 

 water caused by the dam. 



At Tom's call of "grub pile" I hurried back to 

 camp to acquaint my comrades with my dis- 

 covery, only to learn that Jack had found the 

 beaver dam before I had and, having rushed back 

 to the wagon, was now busy getting out our steel 

 traps preparatory to setting them for beaver. 



As we sat around the mess-chest eating, Tom, 

 between mouthfuls, explained his ideas about the 

 establishing of our winter camp. 



"This big timber here is in the right place to 

 shelter us from the northwest winds. We must 

 also remember that weVe got to protect ourselves 

 and stock against a surprise by hostile Injuns. I 

 ain't looking for trouble of that kind, but it's 

 always best to be prepared for such emergencies. 

 So I think it'll be best to move out to the bank 



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