Leaving me with these cheerful subjects for thought, the two men proceeded to their work.
After they left I moved our horses and mules across the ravine where the dog and I could guard them on one side, while on the other the two haymakers would be some protection. During the forenoon I worked at the banks of the gulch, a little above our tent, to make a crossing for the wagon.
In searching for the place for a crossing for the wagon I discovered a little spring of water trickling out of the bank a few steps above our dugouts. It was only a weak vein, but by digging a pit under it, in which we planted an empty barrel, we made a reservoir that furnished us an abundance of good water.
The discovery and improvement of this little spring made our camp an ideal one. At first we had expected to use backwater from the beaver dam, but we soon realized that the trash from our camp might render this water unfit for drinking and cooking; and but for finding the spring we should have been obliged to carry water from the creek, which would have been laborious and inconvenient.
When an occasional rain or melting snow flushed out the trash in the ravine we could use that water for our stock for a few days, but at other times we watered them at the creek.
I felt more confidence in the protection afforded by our shepherd dog than in all the measures we were taking for the safety of our outfit. With the natural instinct of his breed, Found spent most of his time out with the stock, always selecting a position on some elevation between our animals and camp where he could see all that was going on in our neighborhood; and I was satisfied that neither friend nor foe could approach without his giving notice.
At noon when the men came in to dinner they reported that they had raked up a good load of the hay that had been scattered, and in the afternoon they took the mules and wagon with them and Tom brought the first load to camp on returning in the evening, while Jack remained and began skinning the dead buffalo. When I joined him we soon stripped the hide off, applied the strychnine to the carcass, and left it for the wolves.
"First come, first served, will be the rule here to-night," I remarked as we started to camp. "The first wolves to reach the bait will probably get laid out before they have time to get half a feed, while those that come later may not get strychnine enough to give them a bellyache."
"How many do you expect to find in the morning?" asked Jack.
"Oh, about eight or ten for the first night will be a pretty fair haul; but by to-morrow night I'll poison the bait again, and by that time it ought to catch more—maybe as many as twelve or fifteen—for the scent of the dead buffalo will then attract them from a greater distance."