I put down the rifle, drew my knife, and went to work. Having had considerable experience in skinning wolves, I was quite expert at it and soon had the eight pelts stripped off the dead coyotes and rolled up together ready for tying on behind my saddle.
The process of skinning was simple. I turned the wolf on his back and with the point of my knife split the skin from the point of the chin down the throat and belly to the root of the tail; then split the inside of each leg from the foot to an intersection of the first, or belly cut; then stripped back the skin from belly, legs, and sides. The tail was then slipped off the bone whole, without splitting, in this way: strip the skin of the tail away from the bone for about an inch at the root; then slip a split stick over the bone, take an end of the stick in each hand, clamping the bone tightly, and give a jerk toward the end of the tail. The bone slips out of its skin as if it were greased.
When it came to tying the skins on behind the saddle, Prince objected very strongly, and I was compelled to blindfold him before I could accomplish the job. After I had mounted, Prince was still nervous, but by coaxing and talking kindly to him I soon got him reconciled to carrying the burden.
When I reached camp I found Jack jubilating over three fine beavers which he had carried up from the creek. He was grumbling because he had not put out more traps.
"Time enough," said Tom consolingly. "We've now found out that there's plenty of 'em there and can wait awhile. Their fur'll be getting heavier an' better all the time."
He and Jack were finishing skinning the third one as I dismounted and threw down my batch of coyote pelts.
"How many did you get?" asked Jack.
"Only eight," I replied. "If I'd had time to have killed and poisoned three or four buffalo in different directions out around camp I'd 'a' got as many as the horse could carry."
"Time enough for the wolves, too, by and by," said Tom.
"Now, men," said Tom after we had discussed beaver and how to catch them, "while you were out I went over to the ravine and found a good place for our dugouts and measured and staked off the ground where we'll dig 'em. After dinner we can move camp over there close to the work. And while I'm getting the grub ready you two can water the horses and mules and be a-making a lot of little pins to peg your skins down to dry."