ciation
at the next village, but he did not belong to it. For bold riding,
skillful hunting, wood-chopping, hay-tossing, ploughing, it was hard to
find his equal; but, in the matter of learning, he could write legibly,
read well enough, spell in an independent manner, and not much more.

With regard to the wolf story, which rests upon tradition only, it is
not improbable, and there is no good reason to doubt it. Similar deeds
have been done by brave backwoodsmen from the beginning, and are still
done within the boundaries of the United States every year. The story
goes, that when he had been about two years on his new farm, the report
was brought in one morning that a noted she-wolf of the neighborhood had
killed seventy of his sheep and goats, besides wounding many lambs and
kids. This wolf, the last of her race in that region, had long eluded
the skill of every hunter. Upon seeing the slaughter of his flock, the
young farmer, it appears, entered into a compact with five of his
neighbors to hunt the pernicious creature by turns until they had killed
her. The animal was at length tracked to her den, a cave extending deep
into a rocky hill. The tradition is, that Putnam, with a rope around his
body, a torch in one hand, and rifle in the other, went twice into the
cave, and the second time shot the wolf dead, and was drawn out by the
people, wolf and all. An exploit of this nature gave great celebrity in
an outlying county in the year 1742. Meanwhile he continued to thrive,
and one of the old-fashioned New England families of ten children
gathered about him. As they grew towards maturity, he bought a share in
the Library Association, built a pew for his family in the church, and
comported himself in all ways as became a prosperous farmer and father
of a numerous family.

So passed his life until he reached the age of thirty-seven, when he
already had a boy fifteen years of age, and was rich in all the wealth
which Connecticut then possessed. The French war broke out--the war
which decided the question whether the French or the English race should
possess North America. His reputation was such that the legislature of
Connecticut appointed him at once a captain, and he had no difficulty in
enlisting a company of the young men of his county, young farmers or the
sons of farmers. He gained great note as a scouter and ranger, rendering
such important service in this way to the army that the legislature made
him a special gran