IN THE FAR WEST. 133 



" When he had a moment to rest an' gaze about, all he saw 

 was them two acres of open mouths, restless bristles, and fiery 

 eyes. His long red tongue hung out of his open jaws, and as 

 he moved his head from side to side he seemed to have about 

 the poorest conceit of his smartness of any wolf I ever seed. 

 He had got himself into a nice pickle by tryin' to steal a pig, 

 and he knowed it jist as well as if he'd bin human, and was 

 ashamed of himself accordin'. No quarter could he expect 

 anywhere in all that sea of open, roarin' mouths. 



" Sich was the noise and chargin' and plungin' and surgin' 

 to and fro, that I hardly felt safe behind my tree 100 yards 

 away. 



" I determined to try an experiment on that wolf. I raised 

 my gun, and tired into the air. At the report the critter forgot 

 himself. He bounded from the stump with the crack of the 

 gun, but he never tetched ground. Half a dozen open mouths 

 reached up for him, and in them he landed. There was jist 

 one sharp yell, then for a rod around was seen flyin' strips of 

 wolf skin, innards, legs, and hair for half a minit was heard 

 a crunchin' of bones, and then them old sows were lickin' 

 their chops, rairin' up onto that thar stump, and prospectin' 

 about for more wolf. 



" 'Bout that time I concluded the neighbourhood was likely 

 to prove onhculthy, and I got up and peeled it for the nearest 

 clearin's." 



