March 6, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
18S 
"An' you'll was gat. Mm 'baout raght, an' it was more 
better as all. It was mud turkej'!'' 
JoBeph recoiled upon his haunches aghast at the revela- 
tion, and Uncle Lisha exploded a snort of disgust. 
"You'll a'n't want for stick you' nose up 'fore you gat it 
in you mout'," said Antoine, as he set about his cookery. 
"You a'n't w'en you smell heem, an' w'en you heat you be 
happy." 
His companions watched him in a silence that was a 
protest against his operations while he put the meat in the 
pot and set it on the replenished fire, when after a final 
approving glance he relegated to them the further care. 
"Ah b'lieved Ah'll goin' keel dauk over on de bay, me, 
an' if you'll was goin' loafer 'raoun' here j'ou can jes' well 
keep de kittly bile, ZhozefF, an' One' Lisha keep you from 
heat all up of it," and when Joseph after pondering awhile 
did not refuse the duty, Antoine shouldered his gun and 
strolled out of sight among; the trees. 
When the sound of his departing footsteps could no 
longer be heard, Joseph stalled up with unusual agility 
and whispered wheezily, "Say, Uncle Lisher, it don't 
seem 's 'ough we orter eat that diimbed hejus riptyle jes' tu 
please him, does it naow?" The old shoemaker shook his 
head in decided negative, and he went on, "Wal, then, I 
tell ye what, le's take an' empty aout the consarned mess 
an' put in some duck meat in place on't; he won't never 
know the difTance. Seem's 'ough it wa'n't no more *'n 
sarvin' him right, seein' what a heaowdelow he made 
'baout me a cookin' that bowfin an' wouldn't let me cook 
my own mud hen, which if it was of the mud specie was 
'nough sight better lookin' faowl an' what a mud turkle is." 
"I hain't no objections," Uncle Lisha said, "for I don't 
like the idee o' bein' 'bleeged tu eat what I don't want tu. 
But we won't heave it away; we'll jest hide it till we git 
aour dinner eat, an' the critter c'n sit up nights an' cook 
an' eat his'n if he wants tu." 
The conspirators at once set about carrying out their 
plot, emptying the present contents of the pot into a pan 
which they hid inside the tent, and substituting therefor 
the fraud. Wings, skin and larger bones were rejected, 
and no flagrantly incongruous member put in except one 
gizzard, which Joseph popped into the bottom layer. 
When all this was accomplished in haste and fear of dis- 
covery, and the pot again set to boiling, the two sat down 
to tend it with more leisurely care, but were hardly settled 
in their seats when they heard cries of distress arising 
from below the clitf. 
"Oh, Unc' Lasha! Here, Zhozeff', come fas' you can! Oh, 
Ah'll broke off mah leg, bose of it! Ah guess mah arm, 
prob'ly. Come, quick!" 
Greatly alarmed, thej' hurried down the steep path 
with a speed so unwonted that it endangered their own 
limbs. They searched the foot of the clifi', expecting at 
every step to come upon the helpless form of their com- 
rade. 
"Ann Twine! Ann Twine! where be ye? Grunt if ye 
can't speak," Uncle Lisha called loudly, but no response 
came. 
" Wha' d' the dumb fool wantu go an' tumble oS o' there 
foi? He might ha' knowed it 'ould pooty nigh kill him. 
Mebby he is dead, poor cre'tur'; I wish't we'd ha' let his 
turkle be jes' as he fixed it." 
The most careful search failed to discover Antoine or 
any trace of him, and after a meditative silence Uncle 
Lisha broke out: 
"Consarn his pictur', he be'n -a-foolin' on us wi' his 
dumb French cadidoes. 'T wouldn't no more'n sarve 
him right if we hove him over the rocks an' his mud turkle 
after him." 
"Er make him kerry us up on his back," Joseph sug- 
gested, as they toiled up the path. "Seems 's 'ough that 'd 
suit me tol'able well." 
They rested themselves while they watched the pot, 
and in the middle of the afternoon Antoine returned, 
tired with tramping and sharp set for the aldermanic 
feast. 
"Darned cunnin' caper, wa'n't it, a-hollerin' bloody 
murder the way you did?" cried Uncle Lisha, and won- 
dered at the innocence of the Canadian's face as he an- 
swered in surprise: 
"Me? Ah'll a'n't holler, but Ah'll felt holler all de tarn, 
an' de more Ah'll smell dis de more Ah'll felt so. Ah guess 
it was loon you hear, Ah'll see one of it. Or wal' geeses, 
prob'ly; dar was big drove of it roos' on de lake 'tween de 
li'thaouse." 
"Ann Twine," Uncle Lisha said sadly, "you be thelyin- 
est sarpent I ever see." 
The others watched Antoine furtively as he eagerly 
sniffed the steaming pot and peered into it, but they saw 
no shadow of suspicion on his intent face. 
"Dar, sah, One' Lasha, an' too you, Zhozeff, a'n't you'll 
cure you foolish all de tam you been smell dat mud turkey 
git ready for heat? Oh, Ah tol' you he grea' deal more 
better as dauk an' he jes' tendry as cheekens," he con- 
tinued, as he prodded the contents of the pot with a fork 
, and then lifted it from the fire to the center of the table. 
' i^aow, Zhozefi", brought de plate an' de bread an' de pet- 
tetto, an' git ready for beegin. Come, One' Lasha." 
"I can't help a spleenin' ag'in it, Ann Twine, but I'm 
goin' tu try it a hack, jest tu please you," said Uncle Lisha, 
taking his place with feigned reluctance, and Joseph fol- 
lowed in like manner, after performing his part in furnish- 
ing the table. 
Each helped himself sparingly and took tentative mor- 
sels, while Antoine fell to with unquestioning faith and 
good appetite. The latter was so fully shared with him by 
his companions that they soon forgot their pretense of 
aversion and vied with him in the onslaught, and ex- 
changed knowing winks when he extolled the excellence 
of the dish and smiled upon them in benignant triumph. 
When hunger was appeased, Joseph began to be uneasy 
under the burden of his secret and troubled to know how 
to relieve himself of it, when Antoine gave him the oppor- 
tunity. 
"Dar, sah, One' Lisha, Zhozeff", naow you was be heat it, 
a'n't you willins for hown he was putty good, hein?" 
"Wal, tol'able, when a feller's hungry 'nough not to be 
p'tic'lar," Uncle Lisha admitted, "but I don't call it nothin' 
stror'nary." 
"Tu tell it jest 's 't is, Antwine," said Joseph, after due 
deliberation, ' it r'ally don't seem 's 'ough it was a turrible 
sight difTent fm duck." 
"0, he a'n't, a'n't he?" cried" Antoine. "O, Zhozeff, what 
for you a'n't talk sem you heat? You was heat more as you 
was in two day 'fore. Naow, what for you'll a'n't hown dat 
mud turkey was grea' deal more better as dauk, hein?" 
"You won't go tu r'arin' up and gittin' mad 'f I tell ye?" 
Joseph asked, swelling with suppressed laughter and 
hitching a little nearer to Uncle Lisha, who was chuckling 
audibly. 
"No, sah, Ah'll a'n't never git mad raght after dinny, 
'special w'en he was mud turkey. Dat always mek me 
good-nachel," Antoine magnanimously declared. 
"Wall, you- hedn't ortu, 'cause you know you was con- 
sid'able uppish abaout me a-cookin' my mud hen an' haow 
you went on consai'uin' a bowfin 'at I fried one time, an' 
it don't seem 's 'ough ary one looked wus'n a mud turkle 
or a eel, so it don't seem 's 'ough you'd ortu rare up much 
when I tell ye it haint nob'dy nor nothin' but duck we 
be'n a eatin'." 
"0,_ he'll a'n't, a'n't he? Wal, he was putty good dauk," 
Antoine remarked, with imperturbable coolness, 
"It wa'n't nothin' else, an' the way on't was, you see, me 
and Uncle Lisher kinder spleened ag'in that 'ere turkle so 
it didn't seem 's 'ough we could eat it, hungry as we was. 
So, arter you was gone, we jest emptied it aout'n the kittle 
an' filled it up wi' duck, which it is what you be'n a-eatin'. 
But we didn't heave away your turkle meat. It's in the 
tent yender, an you c'n eat the hull caboodle on't." 
The two conspirators curiously watched their victim, 
with the expectation of seeing lum burn with wrath or wilt 
with shame, but he calmly continued the careful cleaning 
of his pipe without speaking until he assured himself of a 
free draft by vigorously blowing and sucking. Then grin- 
ning benignantly on them while he whittled and ground a 
charge of tobacco, he said: 
"Wal, naow, Ah'll goin' toF yo'. Ah was mek four peo- 
ples heat mud turkey to-day, an' dey a'n't know it. Fus', 
SOME MORE ABOUT WOLVES. 
Mdiior Forest and Stream: 
I am very glad to see the life history of wolves come so 
prominently before your readers. There are several points 
that I should like to know more fully about. 
In my experience the gray wolf is the only predaceoxis 
mammal in America that organizes in bands to circumvent 
a quarry too swift or strong for it. A partial exception to 
this is the coyote, our American jackal, which often hunts in 
pairs; but I never saw a case of more than two coyotes 
hunting together. 
The ordinary howl of the gray wolf is its rallying cry; it 
means : ' 'I've found meat, but it's more than 1 can handle 
alone; come on." 
When wolves howl around a house at night, it is an at- 
tempt to drum up force enough to meet any emergency that 
the attempt to get food may give rise to. 
The short yelping howls of the hunting wolves are to no- 
tify their friends that game ia afoot, and also to drive said 
game, just as beaters shout in driving a cover. 
The rallying cry of the wolf is sometimes described as dis- 
cordant. To my ear it is a most melodious note — far finer 
and smoother than the tongue of the best hounds. 
Those who consider the fox the acme of cunning have 
probably never had any wolf expeiience. The reason a fox 
maintains his existence in settled country is that he is a 
small animal and is subterranean in habits. If the wolf 
with its cunning were to adopt the underground habits of . 
YUJCON RIVER (ALASKA) MC08E HEAD, OWNED BY W. T. SHEARD, TACOMA, WASH. 
Mr. Sheard supplies these ilimensions : Spread, 78}4iii, with 40 points (three not showing in photo). 
w'en Ah dress him up Ah'll fan' hoi' hwomans an' hees 
boy; dey a'n't mos' got not'ing for heat, but dey can' heat 
mud turkey, oh, no. De good meat walkin' all 'raound 
a'n't quat good 'nough for it; dey mus' had cheekin, an' de 
hoi' hwomans an' hees boy, dey was very satisfy. Den 
Ah'll brought de res' an', "bah gosh, you was very kin' for 
cook it an' help me heat it, w'en Ah'll know you'll a'n't lak 
it for heat mud turkey." 
"I tell ye, Ann Twine, it wa'n't turkle!" Uncle Lisha cried 
in some heat. We wouldn't eat the dumb stuff, an' so we 
changed it, jest as Jozeff says." 
"Dat was so, for Ah'll see you do it, me. Yes, sah," he 
continued, complacently regarding their astonished faces. 
"W'en Ah go 'way Ah'll fregit mah pipe an' Ah'll come for 
gat it an' see you an' Zhozeff was fuss wid de pot, an' Ah'll 
hid behin' dat bush till you gat it all fix as you want it. 
W'en you'll hear me holler you'll a'n't fin' me, a'n't you? 
Dat tam Ah'll come back here quick an' Ah'll swap demeat 
ag'in, an', bah gosh, sah, you'll gat lot of dat mud turkey 
inside of you." 
"Ann Twine, you're a-tellin' one o' your lies," said Uncle 
Lisha, incredulously. For answer Antoine brought forth 
the pan of duck from the tent and set it before them. 
"Dar," he said, pointing to the gizzard conspicuously dis- 
played on the top, "has mud turkey gat gizzar'? A'n't 
Ah'll see you put heem on de pot, Zhozeft? A'n't 
Ah'll see you poke for it when you heat, hein? Oh, you 
was lak de gizzar' very much, Zhozeff", but you'll a'n't fin' 
it honly but jes' de chip Ah'll put in for improve mah 
storee for be true," and after a moment's search at the bot- 
tom of the pot he fished out a cedar chip on the point of 
his fork and held it triumphantly before their faces, whose 
expression of blank amazement broadened to imbecile 
grins, while Antoine laughed uproariously. 
"Oh, One' Lasha! Oh, Zhozefll A'n't you putty smart 
for foohsh me an' gat foolish you'se'f more as Ah was," 
and he pranced about in an ecstasy of triumph, while 
Uncle Lisha groaned in disgust. 
"The dumb thing makes me feel crawly. I shall be a 
snappin' at ye fust ye know." 
"Wait, Ah'll look see if de moss beegin for grow on you 
back, One' Lasha. Oh, don't you go crawl on de ma'sh," 
as the old man stumped down the path to the landing. 
"Say, Antwine," Joseph said confidentially, "it don't 
seem 's 'ough the'd be any use o' tellin' Saniwil. If you 
won't say nothin' I won't, an' we'll come it on him." 
But when Sam came he stumbled upon the fresh turtle 
shell, and remarked as he kicked it aside: 
"Hello! be'n a-havin mud turkle, hev ye. Wal, gi' me 
some if you got any left. I al'ays be'n wantin' tu try it." 
the fox, it would swarm wherever the country is rough, 
wooded or mountainous, in spite of settlers. 
Firearms are the only things a wolf greatly dreads, and it 
is this_ dread, combined with the knowledge that all men in 
the West carry them, that makes the American wolf avoid 
a meeting with man. 
In Europe, where it is the exception for men to go armed, 
the wolves abound and are dangerous to human beings in 
every country. This excludes only Holland; in every other 
country, even in France, a number of persons are reported 
each year devotued by wolves. In that country bounties on 
about 200 wolf heads are paid each year, and there is no 
perceptible diminution of the numbers. 
In America I have never known an authentic case of 
wolves killing a human being, speaking, of course, from my 
own kaowledge. 
A map of the present range of the American gray wolf 
would no doubt coincide with the range of the deer — i. e., 
the whitetail, or Virginian, in East and South; the mule 
and blacktail in the West ; and the caribou in the North. 
Aside from such purely artificial preserves as that on 
Long Island, I doubt if there is any deer country in Amer- 
ica to-day without its due proportion of wolves. 
In the woods near Tappan, IST. Y., one dark night last 
autumn I several times heard a howl, which, if not that of a 
gray wolf, was a dog voice of the most exceptional kind. 
It is extremely difficult to get measurements of our large 
wild animals. The will and the opportunity arerarely com- 
bined. But valuable service might be rendered if some of 
your huntsmen would record a large number of weights and 
dimensions. It is desirable to have: 
Actual weight on a reliable scale or steelyard. 
Total length from point of nose to end of bone in tail- 
Total length of tail from insertion to end of bone. 
Length of hindfoot from top of hough to point of longest 
claw. 
Height at shoulder standing. 
Length of head from tip of nose to point of occiput, or 
failing this, from the point of the nose to the tip of one e^r, 
when the animal is quite dead. 
There are three other measurements of value, to the artist 
at least: 
Girth of chest. 
Length from top of elbow to point of longest fore claw. 
Length in a straight line from the point of the breastbone 
to the ischium, or tone which reaches the surface an inch or 
so below the insertion of the tail to one side. 
As a rule the more measurements the better. 
One point more: While there are numerous records of 
dogs and wolves crossing, did anyone ever know the hybrids 
to reproduce, either int&r ge or with either parent stock? I 
