ADVENTURE WITH WOLVES. 319 



He begged to be allowed to skin the wolves which 

 had fallen to the rifles of his comrades. 



" It does this niggur good," he said, " to rise the pelts 

 off the varmints thur sich sneakin' thieves, an' hev 

 played me a purty trick afore now. I reckin though 

 they hain't made much out o' rubbin' up this child's fur 

 the wrong way." 



" What did they do to you, Jake ? " asked Gaultier. 



" What did they do ! " cried the old trapper as he 

 forced the skin from the back of one of the wolves, the 

 beast's body lying across his legs, which were stained 

 with its blood. " This is what the skunks did, an' I 

 guess 'twur enough to make me hate 'em as long as I 

 live." 



Here Jake paused, and after mumbling and mutter- 

 ing a little, proceeded : 



" I wur camped upon a peraira near Clerk's Fork o' 

 the Yallerstone," he began, "an' hed good times, I 

 reckin. Thur wur a sight o' game ; an' this niggur, you 

 bet, wur thick fat wi' dint o' the best eatin' in the 

 mountains. I hed to keep my eyes skinned though, 

 fur Injun sign wur plenty, an' from the heights I one 

 day seed three smokes, o' coorse risin' from as many 

 Injun fires. They wur a long way off though, I reckin ; 

 but still I knew the skunks 'd not be long in huntin' 

 me out ef once they got my trail. I wa'n't a-gwine to 

 clur out o' sich diggin's anyway, ef I knew it ; an' so I 

 took chance, an' stayed. Wai, as it turned out, 'twurn't 

 the Redskins, arter all, as kern near sendin' this coon 



