the Sheep and barked a loud defiance. The Collie
jumped up with bristling mane and furious growl, then,
seeing the foe, dashed straight at him. Now was
the time for the steady nerve and the unfailing limbs.
Saddleback let the Dog come near enough almost
to catch him, and so beguiled him far and away into
the woods, while the other Coyotes, led by Tito, stampeded
the Sheep in twenty directions; then following the
farthest, they killed several and left them in the
snow. In the gloom of descending night the Dog
and his master laboured till they had gathered the
bleating survivors; but next morning they found that
four had been driven far away and killed, and the
Coyotes had had a banquet royal.
[Illustration] The shepherd poisoned the carcasses
and left them. Next night the Coyotes returned.
Tito sniffed the now frozen meat, detected the poison,
gave a warning growl, and scattered filth over the
meat, so that none of the band should touch it.
One, however, who was fast and foolish, persisted
in feeding in spite of Tito’s warning, and when
they came away he was lying poisoned and dead in the
snow.
[Illustration]
Jake now heard on all sides that the Coyotes were
getting worse. So he set to work with many traps
and much poison to destroy those on the Garner’s
Creek, and every little while he would go with the
Hounds and scour the Little Missouri south and east
of the Chimney-pot Ranch; for it was understood that
he must never run the Dogs in country where traps
and poison were laid. He worked in his erratic
way all winter, and certainly did have some success.
He killed a couple of Grey Wolves, said to be the
last of their race, and several Coyotes, some of which,
no doubt, were of the Bobtailed pack, which thereby
lost those members which were lacking in wisdom.
Yet that winter was marked by a series of Coyote raids
and exploits; and usually the track in the snow or
the testimony of eye-witnesses told that the master
spirit of it all was a little Bobtailed Coyote.
One of these adventures was the cause of much talk.
The Coyote challenge sounded close to the Chimney-pot
Ranch after sundown. A dozen Dogs responded with
the usual clamour. But only the Bull-terrier dashed
away toward the place whence the Coyotes had called,
for the reason that he only was loose. His chase
was fruitless, and he came back growling. Twenty
minutes later there was another Coyote yell close at
hand. Off dashed the Terrier as before.
In a minute his excited yapping; told that he had
sighted his game and was in full chase. Away he
went, furiously barking, until his voice was lost
afar, and nevermore was heard. In the morning
the men read in the snow the tale of the night.
The first cry of the Coyotes was to find out if all
the Dogs were loose; then, having found that only
one was free, they laid a plan. Five Coyotes hid
along the side of the trail; one went forward and
