WOLF DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 121 



we first hit this path, we noticed a patli coming 

 into the path we were following, but at the angle 

 the path came would indicate- we were going in 

 the wrong direction. A few rods farther on a path 

 came in on the opposite side, and a little further on 

 another path, and other paths, and auguring wrong 

 for us to be going in the I'ight direction, and the path 

 we were following kept getting smaller until we got 

 on top of the mountain, when we did not have any 

 path. As it was very cold, there being a heavy frost, 

 and the sun shone in through an open space, we sat on 

 an old log in the sunlight to get warm and to think the 

 subject over. After a few minutes we thought we 

 would howl and see if the wolves would answer us. 

 In about two seconds one of them answered. It was 

 about fifty rods away in an easterly direction. Before 

 the sound had died away the other one answered about 

 the same distance away, but to the west. They kept 

 howling to each other, so we kept still and waited. 

 The sound of the one east was getting nearer. Directly 

 we saw the animal coming. We got in position to 

 shoot it, but to our surprise our rifle would not stand 

 cocked. We tried to hold the hammer back with our 

 thumb and shoot by letting the hammer slip from 

 under the thumb, but the thumb hid the sights, so the 

 wolf got away with a whole hide. I took my 

 lock off and found that oil that had been put on the lock 

 the Fall before had become gummy and thick, and the 

 cold night had made it so hard it would not let the "dog" 

 work enough to catch in the cocked notch. After 



