Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/421

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nor Allen, is a well-known Oregon poet, who is considered elsewhere in this book. "Buckskin's Fight with the Wolves" is one of the best boy's stories of Oregon ever written. Buckskin's Fight with the Wolves Condensed from Stories of Old Oregon, 1905 What was known thirty years ago as Central Ferry was some eighteen or twenty miles above Farewell bend on Snake river. . . . When the travel ceased for the winter of 1863, Mart and Guy remained to take care of the ferry. Mart was a well-preserved bachelor of 35 or 40 years, and Guy was a handsome boy of 16. . . . As the winter holidays approached, there came a heavy fall of snow, covering the ground to the depth of two feet or more. . . . The only domestic animal near them was an old packhorse which had been turned out early in the fall by some packers. . . . He was on the opposite side of the river from the house and frequently came down to the ferry landing, looking for company. . . . Buckskin, ... he was called, in compliment to his rich tan color. After the snow fell. . . with a glass ... he was seen. . about two miles distant. . . standing up to his knees in the snow, digging away industriously for his dinner. With one forefoot he would make about fifteen or twenty strokes, making the snow fly in every direction, then he would rest that foot by using the other one. In this way he reached the grass and satisfied his hunger. . . . One day, as Guy was standing in the yard with the glass in his hand, he cried: "O, Uncle Mart! Come here quick! There's a lot of wolves fighting old Buckskin. Look! Look! A great band of them." "How can I see him without the glass?" said Mart. "Here! Here! Quick! They are trying to pull him down. » "Don't be uneasy," said Mart, as he adjusted the glass to his eye and leveled it on the distant pony, "the wolves are