neighbors strongly remonstrated against the perilous enterprise; but he,
knowing that wild animals were intimidated by fire, and having provided
several strips of birch-bark, the only combustible material he could
obtain that would afford light in this deep and darksome cave, prepared
for his descent. Having accordingly divested himself of his coat and
waistcoat, and having a long rope fastened about his legs, by which he
might be pulled back at a concerted signal, he entered head foremost,
with the blazing torch in his hand. The aperture of the den, on the east
side of a very high ledge of rocks, is about two feet square; from
thence it descends obliquely fifteen feet, then running horizontally
about ten more, it ascends gradually sixteen feet to its termination.
The sides of this subterraneous cavity are composed of smooth and solid
rocks, as also are the top and bottom, and the entrance in winter, being
covered with ice, is exceedingly slippery. It is in no place high enough
for a man to raise himself upright, nor in any part more than three feet
in width.

"Having groped his passage to the horizontal part of the den, he found
it dark and silent as the house of death. He, cautiously proceeding
onward, came to the ascent, which he slowly mounted on his hands and
knees until he discovered the glaring eyeballs of the wolf, who was
crouching at the extremity of the cavern. Startled by the sight of fire,
she gnashed her teeth and gave a sullen growl. Having made the necessary
discovery (that the wolf was in the den), Putnam kicked at the rope, as
a signal for pulling him out. The people at the mouth of the den, who
had listened with painful anxiety, hearing the growling of the wolf, and
supposing their friend to be in the most imminent danger, drew him forth
with such celerity that his shirt was stripped over his head and his
skin severely lacerated.