130 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



class of sport in it, and hounds and horses seem to enjoy it as 

 well as the men. I recall distinctly such a hunt on the plains 

 of Kansas. The pack consisted of fifteen couples of fairly fast 

 fox-hounds trained to wolf-hunting 1 , and two large Scotch 

 deer-hounds, and they were followed by twenty men, who 

 were well mounted, and armed with revolvers. "When the 

 quarry was driven out of a small coppice of poplars it broke 

 away over the prairie, with the hounds in full cry behind it, 

 the deer-hounds being 1 led by a leash beside one of the horses. 

 Over the magnificent prairie, which extended in an unbroken 

 line to the horizon like a vast flower-clad meadow, we dashed 

 at the best pace of our fresh and spirited steeds, nor did we 

 pull rein until we had covered at least ten miles, the pack 

 being 1 all that time going at their highest speed ; but seeing 

 that the quarry was still keeping its lead, and that there was 

 a probability of losing it in a coppice a mile or two ahead, the 

 deer-hounds were unleashed and away they sped like a flash 

 of gray light. A run of a few minutes placed them beside 

 their foe, and they promptly brought it to a halt. It darted 

 at them with open jaws, but they avoided its fangs; and when 

 it ti'ied to escape, one or the other bit it severely in the flanks. 

 They worried it in this manner until the pack arrived, and 

 when we reached the scene we could only see a struggling 

 mass of dogs and flying hair, and hear an occasional yelp as 

 some hound was severely bitten ; but the struggle was soon 

 over, and a splendid wolf lay dead before us, its head and throat 

 being covered with scars and its limbs broken. The spoils were 

 then distributed among the equestrians, but that was a simple 

 affair and easily done, for the first horseman in at the death 

 received the brush, and the owner of the pack took the skin. 



Some persons run down the animal with greyhounds trained 

 to the business, and they keep it at bay until the hunters 

 arrive, when it is killed with fire arms. " Wolfers " resort to 

 this method on the plains sometimes, but as thev seek the hide 

 only when it is in good condition, in winter and spring 1 , they 

 cannot use greyhounds to good advantage in the wild country 

 they frequent during their expeditions. 



In several merry spins that I have had after the wolf, both 



