94 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 5, 1893. 



DANVIS FOLKS.-X. 



The Hunting- of the Wolf. 



The morning sunlight had not touched the treetops of 

 the crest of the western Danvis hills, when half of the 

 arms-bearing population of the township were arriving at, 

 or tending toward, the appointed gathering place, some in 

 sleighs, some on foot, each bearing some sort of firearm. 

 The morning was not far spent, when a formidable force 

 had gathered about the premises of Joel Bartlett, a 

 strangely warlike ai'ray to be mustered in those peaceful 

 precincts, yet Joel beheld it with a kindly and approving 

 eye as he stood in the doorway, with J emimah peering 

 timidly out behind him. 



"It's a heavy weight on my mind to see so many men 

 bearin' carnal weepons," she said with a very audible 

 sigh; "it seems too much like the marshallin' of the hosts 

 for battle." 



"But thee sees, Jemimy, it haint for no puppus of shed- 

 din' humern blood ner even for larnrn' an' practysein' the 

 weeked art o' war, but jest tu quell the ravenous beasts 

 of the wilderness, which can't be wrought upon by the 

 word nor by returnin' good for evil." 



"Yes, I s'pose thee 's right, Joel; but I can't help my 

 mind a-dwelltn' on what guns was mostly made for, in 

 times formerly. Ah, me. But, Joel, won't thee teU these 

 good folks to come in an' get some nut cakes and cheese if 

 any on 'em has occasion. Some must have eat breakfast 

 tmcommon airly this mornin'." 



Joel loosened the pucker of his lips, and loudly pro- 

 claimed the "invite,' which was ac- 

 cepted with great alacrity by many 

 who stood in no need of refreshment, 

 and with more diffidence by some who 

 already were reminded they had break- 

 fasted at an unwonted hour. 



" Wal, I guess abaout ev'ybody's got 

 here 'at 's comin'," Sam Love! said, 

 after a careful survey of the roads 

 and cross-lot bypaths, "an' we h'd 

 better choose a captain an' be a-mog- 

 gin'. I move we hev Captain Peck 

 for aour captain. Half his comp'ny's 

 here an' '11 foUer his orders nat'rally." 



"If they don't do better 'n they du 

 tu trainin', it'll take a coi-p'ral tu ev'ry 



Erivate tu keep 'em in line," said John 

 >art, struggUng with a dry mouthful 

 of doughnuts and cheese. "Then, 

 agin, he haint no hunter. We want 

 you, Lovel." 



"No, it'll look better tu hev Cap- 

 tain Peck," Sam insisted, "you secont 

 him, Dart." 



" Wal, 1 don't care. I secont Cap'n 

 Peck, wi' Sam Lovel for lef tenant." 



"You hear the nommernation," 

 Solon Briggs said, taking upon him- 

 self the office of moderator, "As'el 

 Peck for capting of this hunt, wi' 

 Sibawel Lovel for lef tenant, sort of 

 aidycong to give advices and et 

 cetery. You that's in favor, say 'aye,' 

 contrary minded, say 'no.' The ayes 

 have it an' you cliose the above-men- 

 tioned to serve you as here to before 

 stated." 



Captain Peck, a brisk little man, 

 somewhat swelled up with the im- 

 portance of his dual offices, held a 

 brief consultation with Sam, and then 

 in his biggest mihtary voice, usually 

 reserved tor trainings, gave the order, 

 •'Fall in, men," and, presently, 'Tor- 

 rid, march," and the motley company, numbering fifty 

 or more, went forward in disordeiiy ranks toward the 

 objective point. 



"You must stop your gab, men," Sam continually in- 

 sisted, as he passed along the talkative line, "erless you'll 

 skeer that aire wolf clt-an tu N' Hampshire. You haint 

 got nothin' to say but what'Il keep till we git a Line 

 araouud the cobble, an' then you c'n shoot off your 

 maouths as much as you're a min' ter." 



A half hour's march brought them to the foot of a 

 rocky hill densely clad with a black growth of spruce and 

 fir, whose blue shadows deepened into a twilight ob- 

 scurity, that the infrequent shafts of sunlight pierced but 

 to make the deeper. Three sides abutted on partially 

 cleai-ed fields, the other swep up with a long curve to the 

 steeper dechvities of the mountain. 



Tne triple column, now separated in two single files, 

 one led by Captain Peck, the other by Sam, began to in- 

 close the hillock. "When the leaders met on the further 

 side, without discovering the outgoing track of the wolf, 

 word was passed that the circuit was completed, and the 

 order given for the men to take proper distances and 

 move toward the center. Gradually the circle narrowed. 

 The gloomy depths of thicket after thicket invaded and 

 passed. Each moment the more excitable hunters grew 

 neivous with expectation, the cooler more steadUy alert. 

 To some, every moving shadow took on a wolfish sem- 

 blance; steadfast rocks and stumps became endowed with 

 grim, alert life; now, a gun was leveled to an unsteady 

 aim and its useless discharge forestalled by the sharp, 

 peremptory caution of some clear-eyed and cool-headed 

 veteran, till at last the word came too late to prevent one 

 careless shot, which was the signal for a scattered fusil ade 

 from various posts of the encircling Line. 



The random filring aroused the wolf from his lair and 

 sent him sneaking from one border of his constricted 

 limits to find another as effectually guarded against his 

 passage. Then he swept around the circle, searching 

 with eager eyes some vulnerable point, disclosing fleeting 

 ghmpses of himself that drew upon him occasional shots, 

 which increased his long, regular lopes to a wild scurry- 

 ing flight, now, bounding from side to side of the cordon, 

 now, skirting it in an agony of fear, whimpering as he 

 ran, now, halting, half cowering, while he looked in vain 

 for some loophole of escape. 



Once, as he thus crouched for an instant, Sam's quick 

 eye caught sight of him and taking an mstantaneous aim, 

 he saw ihe sight shinmg in bright refief against the dark 

 gray fvir of the wolf's side. As he felt the trigger yield- 



ing to the pressure of his finger, his heart filled with an- 

 ticipated sur-cess, but with the dull click that was the 

 only response to the fall of the striker, it collapsed and 

 sank like a plummet. 



"Cuss them caps o' Clapham's," he groaned wrath- 

 fuUy, "if one on 'em ever does go, I wish he might be 

 shot with it." 



A shot from Captain Peck's gun cut loose a shower of 

 evergreen twigs above the wolf, who cringed beneath 

 their light downfall and then sprang away, vanishing 

 like the shadow of a wind-tossed branch in the gloom of 

 the thickf t. 



Pelatiah's post was on the valley side of the hill where 

 he had caught sight of the wolf several times, and once 

 had taken a hasty and ineffectual shot. It had all hap- 

 pened in a flash and he was confusedly trying to remem- 

 ber whether he fired at the wolf or into the treetops, and 

 to formulate an excuse for his miss that should be satis- 

 factory to himself as well as to othera, when he was 

 startled by a sudden crash of dry twigs on the crest of the 

 ledge just above him, and almost at the same instant he 

 saw the animal flying at full speed down the sharp de- 

 clivity directly behind him, so close upon him that he 

 could only think to shout lustily and brandish his gun to 

 scare the brute back into the woods, but it only swerved 

 i a little from its course and rushed madly on. 



Not many paces to Pelatiah's left stood Beri Burton, as 

 gaunt and grim as the wolf himself, and so transfixed 

 with surprise at the sudden apparition that he stood stock 

 stfll, his large jaws agape till the wolf was within his 

 gun's length of him, and he stepped backward to make 

 way. His heel caught a fallen branch and he fell sprawl- 

 ing on his back. The wolf, snapping and gnashing his 

 white fangs, swept over his prostrate form, and clear at 



for the last of several tours of observation which he made 

 into the back yard, where he could look across the fields 

 to the rendezvous and see the men already clustering in 

 knots in Joel Bartlett's yard, and hear the subdued jangle 

 of arriving bells. 



'•Ho, hum, suzzy dayl I'm tew short-winded andstiff- 

 j'inted tu keep within hoUerin' distance of the oldest an' 

 laziest on 'em, an' I might jest as well seddaown an' go 

 to workin', but I wisht a feller's laigs wouldn't grow ol' 

 no faster 'n his speerits. Ho, hum, suzzy day!"' and set- 

 tling liimself into his seat, he picked up his board, 

 leather and knife, and endeavored to lose sight of age 

 and infirmities in the intricacies of his craft. 



Aunt Jerusha looked in through the open kitchen door 

 and saw his hands resting idly on the board, his eyes 

 staring abstractedly out of the window, and she said in a 

 coaxing voice: 



"What makes ye try to work, Lisher? I wouldn't ef I 

 was you. The' haint no men folks workin' to-day. Put 

 on yer kwut an' hat an' mittens an' go over to Joel's. 

 You c'n see 'em start an' git the fust news when they 

 come back. " Wouldn't you, Huldy?" 



"Sartainly. It'll do you good an' I sh'd Hke to go 

 myself," Huldah said encom-agingly, as she looked in 

 over Aunt Jerusha's shoulder, and the baby, pushing 

 between their skirts, scrambled over to the old man, 

 bearing one of his mittens in his milk teeth. 



"Well, I swan, ef bubby an' the hull kit on ye are sot 

 on gittin' red on me, I guess I'll hafter." And so smilmg 

 down upon the crowing child, as he donned his outdoor 

 gear, he trudged forth across the fields. 



A HALT FOR LUNCH. 

 Forest and Stream Amateur Photographs. 



last of the perilous cordon, sped away toward the hills. 



Pelatiah vainly attempted to cover him with a potter- 

 ing aim for a moment, then took the track and presently 

 disappeared among the blue shadows and gray tree trunks. 



Beri Burton slowly got upon his feet, sputtering and 

 mumbling, till having come to as intelligible speech as 

 was possible to him, he shouted loudly: 



"Wolf gone. Wolf gone ter Jerooslum. Gol dumb 

 sech er wolf." Then as one and another of the party 

 came hastening up, he related again and again the inci- 

 dents of the wolf's escape, "Gol dumb sech erwolf. 

 Run kerchug right ergin me an' knocked me over, ker- 

 wollopp. Flopped one foot int' my maouth. Wisht I'd 

 bit foot off, "Yes, sir, flopped dumb foot right squeer in 

 my maouth." 



"Can't blame him as I knows on," said John Dart. 

 "He'd got tu put his foot somewheres." 



"By the gre't horn spoon! we're a smart lot o' men," 

 said Sam, joining the gathering group, "to let that wolf 

 get away from us in that way. All Adams an' Pocock 'U 

 be pokin' fun at us fer a year to come." 



"Why didn't some o' you smarties shoot him then?" 

 Beri growled, "hed chances 'nough, I reckon, by the 

 bang-whangin', Gol dumb sech shootin'." 



"Don't seem's 'ough Adams an' Pocock hed no 'casion 

 to laugh," said Joseph Hill. "It wan't their wolf, least- 

 ways it haint got their ear-mark er brand o' any one o' 

 the towns, fer 's I c'n see." 



"'Taint aour wolf nuther, fer 's appears," said Sara, 

 "But what way did he head? Where's Peltier? Someb'dy 

 said he seen him last." 



"Dumb fool 's chasin' on him," Beri mtmibled, '"Spec 

 he's goin' tu ketch him, prob'ble," 



"Peltiet was mos' crazy in hees head," Antoine ex- 

 plained. "He was kanna he-widder, cos hees gal goin' 

 leff him 'fore he'U got marree togedder," 



"His head's straighter 'n aourn on this business," said 

 Sam, "an' we might as well mog along arter him. The 

 hunt is up for tu-day. But the critter may lay up on 

 Hawg Back to-nif;ht an' give us a chance to-morrer." 



And so the dejected and disappointed wolf hunters 

 made their way into the clearing, each one loudly blam- 

 ing every one else and himself, silently and less satis- 

 factorily, for the barren result of the himt. 



On the morning of the great hunt there were at least 

 two non-participants, who through being such were quite 

 as heavy-hearted as were now any of the baffled hunters, 

 Uude Lisha sighed heavily as he returned to the shop 



"It's mighty pooty idee 'at I aint a goin' tu turn aout 

 along wi' the rest on 'em. Tew ol'? Haint so spry's I 

 useter be? I'm younger an' spryer an' 

 you be, Joe Hill, ef I be risin' eighty- 

 seben." So Gran'ther Hill growled 

 and roared as he stamped to and fro 

 across the kitchen in his stocking 

 feet, glowering at his son's abashed 

 face as at each turn it was brought 

 within range of his angry eyes. 



"Don't seem's 'ough it 'ould be 

 now^ays best, father," Joseph feebly 

 argued, "it's tew exposin'; you'd get 

 rheuraatiz an' neurology." 



"Rheumatiz an' ol' roiogy more hke. 

 Ef I got 'em they wouldn't hurt me 

 none. A man 'at's marched to Canady 

 in the winter aint agoin' tu be skeered 

 aouten a wolf hunt by a pain in his 

 laigs er a tooth ache, 'specially wVien 

 he haint got no teeth. Noaw, look 

 a-here, Joseph," turning before his son 

 and assuming a less aggressive tone, 

 "I've got to go an' show 'em haow. 

 The' haint a man jack on 'em 'at 

 knows beans about wolf huntin', never 

 see a wolf an' wouldn't know one if 

 they did see him. 'Taint no ways 

 hkely the' is a wolf, but ef there is, 

 he'd orter be hunted as he'd ortu be." 



"Jes' so, father," said Joseph, catch^ 

 ing hopefully at the veteran's skepti- 

 cism, "I don't b'Ueve th' is no wolf, 

 an' the' haint no need o' you er 

 nob'dy else's goin', 'taint nothin' on'y 

 dawgs." 



"You must be a idjit, Jozeff HiU, 

 tu tliink 'at dawgs 'ould kill sheep in 

 the way them was killed. I tell yer 

 it's a wolf, an' by the Lord Harry I'm 

 goin' tu help kill the cussed varmint. 

 Gi' me that aire gun." 



"The' haint a ball er a spoo'fid o' 

 shot in the haouse, father." 



"That's almighty puoty haousekeep- 

 in'; no shot ner ball? You'd a tarnal 

 sight better be ketched wi'out tea an' sugar, yes, or 

 rum, an' wi'out ammeraition. Bub, where's yer fish 

 lines? Fetch me ev'y sinker you got." 



The younger Josiah obeyed the order with an alacrity 

 stimulated by a desire to further his grandfathers pur- 

 poses, which, if carried out, might make him his neces- 

 sary attendant. 



"I wouldn't go if I was you, father," pleaded his 

 daughter in-law, "it's tew hard fer you, an' then again, I 

 want you tu stay an' ta' care o' me." 



"You don't need nob'dy. The wolf aint a-goin' tu come 

 in the haouse an' eat you. Jozeff c'n stay." 



"But you see, father, I sorter promised to go an' I've 

 got tu." 



"So hev I got tu. Gimme my boots." 



"Father," said the son, playing his last card, Avith an 

 air of deep dejection, "I'm turrible sorry, but I took 'em 

 over to Uncle Lisher's las' night tu git 'em mended," and 

 he breathed a silent prayer, ''The Lord forgive me fer 

 lyin' an' keep me from gettin' ketched at it," 



"Y'ou etamel, iiifernel, meddlin' idjit," his father 

 roared, his voice shaken with anger, "haow dast ye send 

 my boots to get mended? Haow'd you know I wanted 

 'em mended, say? It does beat heU amazingly, what 

 tarnal luck I did hev, a bringin' on ye up. I don't wisht 

 you was dead, but I swaar, I wisht I hadn't never hed 

 ye. Clear aout. Go an' himt ye tarnal wolf, but ye 

 shan't take my gun. Not a step aouten this haouse does 

 that aire gun go, w'thout me a kerryin' on't. You c'n 

 take Bob's bow-arrer, it's good 'nough for you, Er borry 

 Joel Bartlett 'ol britch-burnt, hang-fire, Quaker gun. 

 Yeou shoot a wolf, Lordermighty ! " 



Joseph fled in dismay from the ratthng volley of his 

 father's wrath, nor stayed his steps till they brought him 

 to the meeting place, whUe his wife, with all the children 

 but the eldest boy, retreated into the fastnesses of the 

 pantry. Little Josiah, secure in his position as his grand- 

 father's favorite, remained, the sole and undismayed 

 spectator of the old man's rage. 



"Blast 'em. Kerryin' off my boots," the veteran fumed, 

 still pacing the rounds of the kitchen. "I'm a good 

 Uiineter go in my stofkin' feet, jes tu spite 'em. I hope 

 the Lord it haint nothin' but a dawg. The id jits wouldn't 

 know the diffunce." 



The boy held out two plummets of hammered lead and 

 one half buUet. "What was you goin' to do wi' 'em? " 



"Load this ere gun wi' 'em," was the hoarsely whispered 

 reply. "I've made kfllin' shots at two-legged and four- 

 legged varmints wi' wus slugs an' these. Gimme a holt oa 



