THE WOLF HUNTERS 



''Well, we can soon get them," I replied. "In 

 the morning Jack and I will go out and kill a few 

 buffalo and bring in the hides, and by to-morrow 

 night we can have this dugout about completed/' 



Next morning the Irishman and I saddled up 

 and started out to secure the hides. We could 

 have killed what we needed out of the first band 

 we struck, but, as I wished to use the carcasses 

 for wolf baits, we decided to distribute the baits 

 at different points about the camp and not less 

 than a mile from it. 



We killed and skinned six bulls, making a com- 

 plete circuit of our camp, and by noon had re- 

 turned with the hides. 



After dinner we spread enough of them over the 

 roof timbers to completely cover them and then 

 set to work shovelling on the dirt, making quite 

 a mound of it. This finished our stable, except 

 for the mangers and feed-boxes inside and making 

 a door of some kind to close up the opening we 

 had cut through the bank. This last Tom made 

 next day by a frame of poles on which was tacked 

 a buffalo-hide. This door was hung on rawhide 

 hinges. 



"Now, men," said the old man as we topped 

 out the dirt roof and smoothed it up, "we've a 

 snug shelter here for our stock in case of need, 

 but, of course, we won't put 'em into it till we 

 have to. As long as it's fair they'll do better out 

 on the buffalo-grass, as they've been doing. Our 



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