Trail and Camp-Fire 



merely a man, whose craft and mysterious 

 powers enable him to work wonders and to 

 perform many marvelous deeds. Yet, whether 

 god or man, he possesses a bad and malicious 

 disposition, and is always getting into trouble, 

 and constantly bringing misfortune on those 

 with whom he is associated. The deeds at- 

 tributed to the coyote by the Indians, while 

 they pay a high tribute to his intelligence 

 leave much to be desired as to his morals. 



Coyotes do many curious things ; but one 

 of the oddest that I ever heard of was wit- 

 nessed by my friend Captain North, at the 

 old ranch on the Dismal River in northern 

 Nebraska. The ranch house at the lake was 

 built of sods or adobes, with walls eighteen 

 inches or two feet thick. The window casings 

 were set in the same plane with the inner 

 walls, and the sashes were hinged above, and 

 when the windows were open hooked to the 

 ceilings of the rooms. There was thus at 

 each window an embrasure as deep as the 

 thickness of the wall, and as long and high as 

 the sash. 



Among the dogs at the ranch was a bull- 

 terrier, which among the cow punchers there 

 had a great reputation as a fighter, and was 



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