stock. We were not much less pleased at having destroyed the three
wolves--for these animals were very plenty in the valley, and ever since
our arrival had caused us much annoyance. A piece of meat could not be
left outside without being carried off by them; and even since the
capture of our two bucks, they had several times chased them through the
park, until the noise made by the snorting of the latter had brought our
dogs, and some of us along with them, to their rescue.

"But the most curious circumstance connected with this affair was, why
these wolves had left the doe and her fawns unmolested. They could have
killed the three in a moment's time, yet not a hair was ruffled upon any
of them! This strange conduct on the part of the wolves puzzled us all
at the time; and we could not offer even a probable conjecture as to its
cause. We found it out afterwards, however, when we became better
acquainted with the nature of these animals. We found that of the wild
creatures that inhabited our valley, the prairie wolf was by far the
most sagacious of all. Even sly Reynard himself, who has been so long
famous for his craft and cunning, is but a stupid when compared to his
own cousin, the barking wolf. This we proved satisfactorily, when we
endeavoured afterwards to trap these animals. We first tried them with
a `cage-trap,' similar to that which Frank had used in taking his
turkeys. We baited it inside with a nice piece of venison; but although
we saw tracks all around, and particularly on that side nearest to the
bait, not one of the wolves had cared to venture up the funnel-shaped
entrance. We next laid a bait with snares around it, made out of the
sinews of the deer. We found the bait gone, and the snares gnawed to
pieces, as though the rats had done it; but we knew by the tracks that
it was no other animals than the prairie wolves. Our next attempt was
with a `figure-of-four' trap. It was constructed with a large shallow
crate, made of split rails, and set leaning diagonally with its mouth
downwards. It was held in that position with a regular staying and
triggers--just as Frank and Harry used to set their traps to catch small
birds. The bait was placed underneath upon the staying, in the most
tempting manner we could think of. On returning to examine our trap in
the morning, we saw as we came near that it was down. We have caught
one of them at last, thought we. What was our astonishment to find, on