CHAPTER XX. 



7MH CAYOTES' STRYCHNINE FEAST CAPTURING A TIMBER WOLF — A FEW CORDS Ol- 



VICTIMS WHAT THE LAW CONSIDERS "INDIAN TAN " " FINISHING " THE NEW 



YORK MARKET A NEW YORK FARMEr's OPINION OF OUR GRAY WOLF — WEST- 



V^ARD AGAIN — EPISODES IN OUR JOURNEY THE WILD HUNTRESS OF THK 



PLAINS — WAS OUR GUIDE A MURDERER? THE READER JOINS US IN A BUFFALO 



CHASE THE DYING AGONIES. 



THE next day's life began, as did the previous 

 one, before sunrise, and while breakfast was 

 cooking, we followed the Mexicans down to examine 

 their baits. The ground around the carcasses was 

 flecked with forms which, in the early light, looked 

 like sleeping sheep. A half-dozen or more wolves, 

 which were still feeding, scampered away at our ap- 

 proach. From the number of animals lying around, 

 we at first supposed most of them simpl}'' gorged, but 

 the rapid, satisfied jabbering of the Mexicans quickly 

 convinced us that the strychnine had been doing its 

 work more efi'ectually than we had given it credit for. 

 Twenty-three dead wolves were found, and the even 

 two dozen was made up by a large specimen of the 

 gray variety — or timber-wolf, as it is called in contra- 

 distinction from the cayote — who was exceedingly 

 sick, and went rolling about in vain efi*orts to get out 

 of the way. 



Before proceeding to skin the dead wolves, the 



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