22 KRIDER'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



though traps were set on the hills, and a watch 

 kept, no signs of a wolf could be perceived. 



A few nights after vigilance had been relaxed, 

 a sheepcot was broken into, and a number of the 

 flock either slain outright or so mangled as to 

 render it necessary to put the knife to their 

 throats. 



The grazier and his men were greatly enraged 

 at this, and a price of twenty dollars a large 

 sum for the neighborhood was forthwith set 

 upon the depredator's head. 



From the circumstance of there being no snow 

 upon the ground at the time, it was, of course, 

 impossible to track him; but a close inspection 

 of the premises established the fact, that the ani- 

 mal was alone and of unusual size. From this 

 the conclusion was arrived at that it was a wolf, 

 which had its den at a great distance, most pro- 

 bably in the mountains at the foot of which the 

 farm was located. 



Several good hunters turned out with their 

 dogs, but utterly failed to strike the trail, although 

 the search was continued for several days. At 

 last, however, it so chanced that as one of these 

 men was crossing a piece of waste land between 

 the sheephills and the main road, an hour or two 

 before dawn, he saw, by the waning light of the 



