DIGGING OUT A WOLF'S DEN
As all hands were down at the barn next morning, the two men hitching
up the team and the boys saddling their horses, Hugh said, "I guess
I'll ride in the waggon this morning and let old Baldy have a rest.
I'm getting to be too old to race round over the prairie the way I've
been doing the last two days. But I want you to look out for yourself
to-day, son. I don't want anything bad to happen to you while we're
off here away from the ranch. You seem to have a natural way of
getting yourself into trouble. Two days ago you came pretty near
being clawed by a lion, and yesterday you took a sort of a running
jump into a scuffle between dogs and a wolf. You've got to look out
for yourself and try to keep a head on your shoulders and think where
you're going. When I saw you fly out of the saddle yesterday I could
not help wondering whether you'd kill two or three dogs when you came
down, or yourself. Do you feel pretty sore this morning?"
"Well," said Jack, "my shoulders are pretty lame, and my head aches
a little, but I think I'll be all right after I've ridden a little
way."
They started off all together, the boys riding soberly just ahead of
the waggon. The prairie was rough with sage-brush and the team could
only advance at a walk; so it took them nearly two hours to get to
the ravine where the wolf's hole was. If Jack had been alone he would
not have been able to find the place, but Charley seemed to know
just where it was, and when Jack spoke to him about this he said,
"Oh, it's easy enough. You see, I am riding all the time, and I know
pretty nearly every hill and ravine within ten miles of the ranch,
in any direction. Then, of course, there's the big high hills for
landmarks, and even if I don't know the precise place that I am going
to I can always ride toward the hill that I know lies beyond it. Then
of course, the sun always gives a fellow his direction, and often the
wind too, though you can't depend on that, for sometimes the hills
make eddies, and the wind seems to change its direction."
"Why did you leave all the dogs at home?" said Jack, "I should think
they might be useful in case you find the old wolf near the den."
"We ain't likely to do that," said Charley. "She's fed her puppies
early this morning, and is probably lying up on some hill, quite a
little way from the hole, and will see us and sneak off long before
we get to it. Besides that, the dogs have had hard work for the last
three or four days, and some of them are cut up too badly to take
out, and even those that are well are likely to get tender-footed if
they are run too often."
When they reached the ravine where the hole was, they drove down into
it and stopped the team on the windward side. Hugh went up to look at
the place, and returning, announced that he believed the pups were
still there. They picketed out the horses where they could feed, and
then carried up near to the hole the picks and spades, and a slatted
box that had been prepared to hold the puppies, if they caught them,
some sacks and a lot of leather strings, and a long slim pole that
Hugh had cut that morning.
"Now," said Hugh, "I am going to try and find the direction this hole
takes, and while I am doing that it would be good for you boys to
cover up this mess."
The mouth of the hole was foul with decaying meat, old bones, parts
of calves, colts, and rabbits that had been brought there by the old
wolf for the young to eat and play with, and a little fresh dirt
thrown over all this made the place much pleasanter.
Hugh worked for some time with his pole, trying to determine the
direction in which the hole ran, but without much success. He could
thrust the stick in for five or six feet, but, twist it as he might,
it would not go further than that. The two men, therefore, took their
picks and vigorously attacked the side of the bank, breaking down
the dirt, which they afterward shovelled out. The bank was steep,
and in order to make room to work they had to loosen and remove a
considerable quantity of dirt, so that their progress was slow. The
morning was warm, and the work gradually grew harder and harder.
About six feet from the entrance the hole took a sharp upward turn,
and then seemed to run straight in. Probing it with his pole, Hugh
felt something soft, and then pushing it in a little further, reached
a wall of dirt, which he pronounced the end of the den. By moving the
point of the pole from side to side he could feel the young wolves,
and once, when he gave a sharp push, a sound like the yelping of a
pup in pain came from the hole.
"Now, Powell," said Hugh, "if we can make this hole a little larger,
so that I can work my pole, I'll put a rope on the end of it and
try and snare some of them puppies. We've got to go pretty careful,
though. I expect these little fellows are pretty good size by now,
and they're likely as not to make a bolt out of the hole when we
get close to them, and maybe get off. Wish we had one of the dogs
here. I'll tell you what you two boys do: you get your gun, son, and
Charley, you take your six-shooter, and stand just behind us, and if
anything runs out, you try to kill it, but look out you don't shoot
your father nor me, and look out you don't shoot the horses. These
pups can't run very fast yet, and you'll have plenty of time to take
a careful sight at them, and get them."
The boys did as they were told, and while the work with pick and
shovel progressed, waited and watched. Nothing came out, however,
and after a time Hugh declared that he was going to try to snare
the pups. He fastened a short rope to the end of his pole and made
in it a running noose about a foot in diameter. Then he lay down
and began to angle for the little wolves. For some time he worked
without success, but at length, giving a quick jerk, he rose to his
feet, declaring, "I've got one," and dragged to the light a kicking,
yelping puppy, caught by a hind leg. It was a dull white, woolly
little beast, sharp-nosed and thick-legged, and about as big as a
three months' old Newfoundland pup. As soon as it appeared, it was
seized by Mr. Powell, who had wisely put on his heavy leather gloves.
The creature fought like a little demon, and bit, and kicked, and
struggled, and yelled, but soon a string of buckskin was tied about
its muzzle, confining its jaws, its four legs were tied together,
and it was thrown in a gunny sack, which was tied up and put in the
slatted box. Again and again Hugh tried to get another, but without
success, and finally, in disgust, he threw his pole aside, and the
men attacked the bank again. Another hour's work enabled them to look
into the hole, and to see a mass of grey huddled together, almost
within arm's length of the opening. Hugh declared that if one of his
arms were only six feet long, instead of three, he would reach in
and haul the puppies out one by one with his hand. The entrance to
the hole was now so large that either of the boys might have crawled
in, as both proposed to do, but the men declined to permit this.
Cutting off his pole to about the depth of the hole, Hugh again began
to try to noose the pups, and this time with success, for one by one
he hauled out three more, which were disposed of as the first had
been. The last pup, taking advantage of a moment when he had moved
away from the hole, bolted out, but was struck a mighty blow with the
spade by Mr. Powell and killed on the spot.
"Well," said Powell, "I calculate that's a mighty good day's job.
Those five pups during the winter would have eaten five hundred
dollars' worth of beef, and might have killed five thousand dollars'
worth. It seems like I ought to make you men a good present for what
you have done to help get rid of these varmints."
"Pshaw!" said Hugh, "we've been mighty glad to do it, and I expect
son, here, would be mighty glad to take his pay in one or two of them
pups that's in the waggon."
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Powell," said Jack, "we've been glad to help, and
it's been great fun. Of course, if you and Charley don't want all
these pups, I'd like one of them for myself, to see if I could not
tame him and make a dog of him. It would be great fun to walk up and
down the streets of New York, leading a real wolf at the end of a
chain. I expect he'd take first prize at all the dog shows."
"I expect likely he would," said Mr. Powell, "and you'd be certain
sure he had a good straight pedigree, running back to the first wolf
that ever came to America."
Mrs. Powell had put a lunch in the waggon, but before this could
be eaten water must be found. Charley said that not more than a
half-mile away there was a good clear spring, running out from under
a rock in the bank, and when they went to the place they spent a
pleasant hour eating their lunch, and lying in the shade of the
waggon. Jack and Charley looked once or twice at the wolf pups, to
see that they were still alive and still properly tied, and, at
length, as the sun began to fall toward the western horizon, the
party started for the ranch.
When they got there, it was necessary to make a permanent cage for
the wolf puppies, as no box or rope would hold them long after their
jaws were free. Charley asked Hugh what they had better do. They
could build a log pen, but if they did that the pups would be likely
to dig out under the logs. Hugh studied for a while and at length
said, "I'll tell you what we've got to do; we've got to build a
regular cage, with walls so smooth and high that the pups can't climb
up them, and running down into the ground so far that they won't be
likely to dig out under them. Now, you go and ask your pa if we can
use a lot of fence poles from that pile he has over there. We'll
sharpen them and drive them down as far as we can into the dirt,
close together in a circle, and then we'll saw them off about three
feet high and wire a roof of poles to the top of them; but, before we
do that we'll pave the cage with a lot of big flat stones. I reckon
if we do that we'll have the bulge on these fellows, and they can't
get away from us."
The plan was adopted. A circle was traced in the ground and the earth
loosened all about its borders. Then a lot of fence poles were cut
into four-feet lengths, sharpened at one end and driven firmly into
the ground, close together about the circle. Next the boys brought
flat stones from the prairie and made a neat pavement on the ground
inside the cage. Other poles cut to a proper length were laid across
the top of the cage and firmly wired down, all except the last two,
which were left loose. The box containing the wolf pups was now
brought up, the little fellows one by one were taken out of their
sacks, their lashings cut, and they were dropped into the cage, and
then the last two poles were placed in position and fastened. Several
heavy sticks were laid across the roof to hold it down, so that the
roof poles should remain firm, even though considerable force were
exerted on them. They all drew back when the work was done, and eyed
it with satisfaction, and for a time watched the four puppies within,
restlessly trotting about the cage and constantly pushing their noses
between the poles in the endeavour to squeeze out. Everything seemed
to be firm, however, and they left the pups to their own devices.
"Seems to me there's one thing we've forgotten, Charley," said Hugh.
"How are you going to feed and water them puppies? I did forget all
about that, didn't I? You can stick food in anywhere between the
poles, but we'll have to take off part of the roof again and put a
dish in for them to drink out of. When that is there it can be filled
as often as they need it, from the outside." By the time this change
had been made it was supper time, and all hands went to the house.