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“Tha’s all right,” replied the big trapper complacently; then, with a quick motion, he whipped out his keen-edged knife and snatching one of my cartridges he severed the shell neatly between the two wads which separated the powder and shot; that is, a wad in each piece of the cartridge was exposed by the cut.
“All right; tha’s wha’ I mean ter do. ’Cause it hain’t a varmint natur’ to help men folks, and he done helped us, and no mistake, and left us the bulk of the b’ar too,—only took the claws, teeth and tenderloin or two for himself and pack; that is, if he be a wolf. But we will settle that if your foot will let you walk a bit.” “How far?” I asked.
"Eudory, in pickin’ out one of them men," she jerked her thumb towards the opposite side of the house, "git one tha’s clar o’ the trick o’ stampedin’ round other wimming. It’s bound to kem back to ye, same as counterfeit money." Eudora giggled. She was of an age when the fascinations of curiosity as to the unknown male animal prompt lavish conjecture. "I ’lowed they all stampeded."
“Tha’,” he grunted, “tha’s better than a bullet at short range, an’ll tar a hole in old Ephraim big enough to put your arm through.” He cut two more in the same manner, saying, “Be darned kerful not to get excited and put them in your choke barl, or tha’ may be trouble.”
Tha’s plenty of game here fur the tak’n of it and plenty of water, as fine as ever spouted from old Moses’ rock, right at hand. If the Mesa’s cut our trail we can live well here for a hundred years and not have to chew wolf mutton neither.
“Waugh, Le-loo! tha’s no witchcraft ’bout this ’cep the magic of common-sense; but we hain’t through with him yit!” By this time Pete had the end of the rawhide rope in his hands and was testing the strength of its anchorage upon the opposite cliff.
But a short time had elapsed before I heard a shout, and, hurrying to the place where my big friend was seated, I inquired, “Any luck?” “Tha’s as you may call it.
Here is wha’ tha’ boy jumped,” he replied, pointing to some marks on the stone which were imperceptible to me, “an’ tha’s wha’ he landed,” he continued, pointing to a slight ledge upon the face of the opposite cliff at least twenty feet distant. “He’s a jumper, an’ no mistake—guess I might as well have my front tooth pulled, fur I’ve lost my bet,” soliloquized the trailer, as he sat on the edge of the cliff, with his legs hanging over the frightful chasm.
“Tha’s plenty of signs ’round too an’ if we loosen t’ dogs p’raps we kin stir up a mountain lion or collar some fresh meat t’ start camp with,” said he as he slid off his horse and took the leashes off the dogs. It took us but a short time to arrange our camp, then Big Pete followed by the frisking dogs slipped silently into the woods.
He was gone scarcely a quarter of an hour when he reappeared again without the dogs, motioned for me to get my gun and follow him. “Tha’s elk signs all bout,” he said, “an’ the muts broke away on a fresh trail. Now you an’ me’ll climb through that draw yonder and hide out on the runway till they drive an elk in gun shot. Come along.”
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