Newspaper Page Text
■a* 1 m i
--<5£T I II ~
♦
YOU. X.
©
ill ©H) a skS fc
BY A. LYMAN.
w E slept that night as we
ever do in the hills, with
the front of the tent wide
open, so that from my pil¬
low, the side of a saddle, I could watch
the Great Dipper do its slow somer¬
sault around the North Star. When
the camp-fire died the night before,
and we went to bed, the Dipper was
lying along the tops of the mountains,
brimming- full. It is easier to watcli
this great baud in the astronomical
clock than to light unwilling matches
from time to time in the uight and ex¬
amine a watch; and X knew that when
the constellation had nearly reversed
itself, it would be time to start mov
lri§.
A man in camp sleeps sweetly, yet
lightly. A dozen times through the
•dark hours the distant sharp bark of a
fox. the rustle of a leaf, the deep sigli
of a satiated and sleepy horse on a
picket rope, the cracking of a coal in
the embers of the camp-fire, the call
of a night bird, or the snap of a twig
under the tread of some of the animals
of our cavalcade, called me with a
gentle thoroughness from slumber.
Each time it seemed as though the
position of the encircling attendants
of the North Star had changed by only
a slight angle; and each time i sank
instantly again into the perfumed rest
that comes from a bed of balsam
boughs after a hard day’s work.
The hush that comes over all nature
just before the dawn was near
my undoing, after all. The Dipper
seemed to have made .a great sudden
sweep and was dangerously far over
when my eyes opened again. The
of tlfe morning breeze, but the eastern
was darker than the western sky,
where hovered a faint glow. It took
an effort of will to get out into the
cold air, but necessity compelled haste
and I scrambled as gently as X could
over the dewy coverlet, hurriedly put
on the few clothes I had taken off the
night before—dressing and undressing
are mutually short operations in a
hastily made camp—found my damp
and clammy slices, raked together the
•coals in the ashes, fanned a flame,
boiled coffee and munched a hasty
breakfast of bread and some cold trput.
My partner, churn, helpmate never
stirred. It is wonderful how a trustful
woman will sleep in the wilderness,
safe in the superstition that he who
sleeps beside ber is competent * to meet
danger which may arise.
I dropped half a dozen cartridges
into my pocket, together with a couple
of biscuit in case tlie c-hase should be
unduly long, shouldered the heavy rifle
and strode out through the high grass,
which was, sg^.beaded with dew that
walking was like wading an ice-cold
stream. The horses were standing on
widespread legs, heads near the ground,
asleep, while tlie burros, weary with
the long pull with the heavy packs of
the day* before, were huddled together,
lying ou tlie ground. ,
The morning _star was at its bright
est as I started across the valley, but i
by tlie time I had picked a splashing
path across the current of the little
river and got fairly started up the
trail, it was paling. Little flecks of
purple cloud began to appear above
the sun’s approaching glow, as though j
they hud been newly created. The
range to the west began to lift its
rugged ascents into view in a purple
radiance. The eastern hills grew from
shapeless masses of gloom into rounded
eminences with dainty fringes of as- j
pens and Slender minarets of spruces i
against the faintly glowing sky.' I!
wished earlier, I and had quickened started half an hour j !
my pace a
little.
In die growing twilight I could see a j
furry skunk in his sleek coat of jet
black and snowy white, treading the
clumps of bunch-grass, picking up the
benumbed insects before the sun's
heat might give them the vitality to
escape. In the trail ahead of me a fox
trotted. I was conscious of the faint
presence of his scent, but did not place
it until I saw the flash of his fur above
the grass. Ho knew I was following,
but knew too that he was safest down
in that sinuous passage between high
walls of grass and flowers, on whose
smooth surface lie could make a far
safer, swifter flight than over the
rough ground to either side.
A mile or so above camp I left the
‘To thine own self be true,and it will follow, as night the day, cbou cans’t not then be false to any man.”
LINCOLNTON, GA , THURSDAY, AUGUST 14. 1902.
trail and crossed the stream again,
getting my feet no wetter in wading,
but feeling the icy chill pervade the
water in my shoes which my feet had
warmed in the comparative dryness of
the beaten track. Close to the rip¬
pling surface a colder breath moved
and the scrubby willows had a coating
of white frost. I brushed a furry
moth from a twig in passing, but it
was too cold for more than one very
feeble flutter. It fell wide-stretched
on the water and as the current swept
it into a quiet eddy it disappeared so
quietly that one might suppose it had
sunk of its own weight. I marked
the spot where lay a trout, so big that
its mouth could take in an insect of
that size without a splash, as a good
place to drop a feathered imitation
when I carried my rod that way.
There was no mistake that it was
very light. My eyes had been growing
accustomed to the dimness, meeting
the dawn half way, but tbe first glow
of the rising sun was just striking the
tops of the higher hill. The sky was
a turquoise blue all across the dome.
The clouds, which had been purple,
had faded to lavender, flamed with a
tint of orange, and were now meltiug
away in yellow fleeces. It would soon
be time when all sensible deer would
be deep in the thickets of the green
timber, where it would be all but im¬
possible to come upon one of them un¬
awares. Already the burros, far down
the valley where camp lay, were up
and moving stiffly down to get a drink
at the river,
The southern hill before me was one
I had ma-"ked the year before as a
juuce tor ueer. it rose in smooth
slopes and narrow benches a thousand
feet or so, fringed on tbe top with the
edge of the deep thick forest of spruces
which ran back on the plateau beyond.
Tlie ascending surface had spruce and
aspen groves lying on it in long stream
ers, divided by half a dozeu open
grassy glades, each with a tiny rill
gurgling down the centre, coming from
the banks of snow which still lay pro
tected by the dense shade of the crown
of spruces. The streams were fringed
with the succulent marsh herbs which
deer and elk most fancy as dessert
after filling up on vines and tender
boughs,
It not pay to hasten or to get
out of breath when hunting deer, so 1
climbed very, very slowly upward,
keeping in the shelter of the bushy
young aspen that fringed the bigger
trees at the edge of one of the asceud
ing glades. At each step, as I placed
my foot to avoid any crackling twig, I
looked all around and listened for any
sound of game. The simulation of the
color of the early coat of the deer to
the dry bunches of grass is so close
that in the imperfect light it was well
to study closely each outline, else some
proud stag might bear bis coveted
burden of venison out of range at a
bound, before my eyes had seen the
slender legs and gracefully borne head.
There were plenty of tracks in the
mellow earth, some almost obliterated
by two or three successive dews, and
some apparently as fresh as though
the cushioned hoof had just been lifted
from them. In spite of all my caution,
a crack of twigs and stamp of hoofs
off to the right indicated that an alarm
had reached eyes or ears or nostrils of
some deer, but 1 sat still and listened
to the beating of my heart until ap
patently it decided that its suspicions
did not justify precipitate flight, for
thought it went on. it was in a noise
less walk. From tree to tree I edged
in that direction. I found the fresh
tracks, evidently a buck of good size,
and I followed carefully ou a slant up
the hill. I saw something moving
ahead of me, and was ready to slioot,
but it came fearlessly down toward
me, evidently not seeing its danger. A
doe with her two fawns was working
down to a safe shelter in tlie willow
tangle along the river. I did uot
want to turn them back in tlie direc¬
tion iii which the buck had gone, so I
crouched behind a bush to let them
pass Only a pot-hunter fails to re¬
spect femininity and infancy in hunt¬
ing deer. The motliqr was pushing
alung with all the ungracefulness of
her kind, neck out, ears back. One
fawn wanted to stop for refreshments
and was pushing in front of her like a
calf at milking time. The other spotted
pet was iDtent on play, bounding about
in extravagant semicircles. His erratic
course brought him directly upon me,
and be stopped suc'dwpy with legs
braced at wide angles; so close* that I
felt the breath of liis' startled snort.
His ears were opened*-wide, 4s and his
dewy nostrils quivered dangejflie he drew in a
scent of whose had yet to
learn. • His great soft wyes looked full
into mine for a moment, and 1 could
almost have reached but and touched
him. Then he remembered liis mother,
who had passed on out of sight, gave
a mew-like expostulating bleat, bound¬
ed a couple of yards to one side, and
gamboled on in pursuit.
The shadow of my Hill had by this
time crawled down tp the opposite
slope in tlie valley, afeil the sun was
shining full through the tops of the
trees. A raven cawed and flapped
lazily across the valley, high overhead
on a tour of investigation. His keen
eye had marked the murderous weapon
1 carried, and he circled above the
mountain and lighted in a tall dead
spruce to await the outcome of the
hunt. Tile buck on whlufe track I was
following reaching' was evidently intent on
shelter. He had been in no
haste, cropping the herbage as he went
along, but the determination with
which the tracks forced themselves up
t He bill me apt that lie had a mind for
the safe protection cf the growing
green timber forest. I must make
haste to head him off, ;.ud us it would
be fatal to burry directly behind him,
I crossed over into the next glade and
then pushed steadily up .tlie mountain
toward the summit. Just at tlie very
brow was a continuous grassy bluff
over which any animal seeking the up¬
per shelter must pass; 'ai d on this I
threw myself down. I Had no breath,
and coull not have aimed my rifle
to save my and life, attention^}!- so I devoted my few ^-hole
Strength sou® a mo¬
ments to regaining steadiness of
respiration. In the torjjgfcocr vaBfcbway below
tfiree tiny spots og MAfIff RFaS family
T - •ffacl* ■In t e r e''p’bkn 1 i? i'fig
through the grass to a wide bed of
willows that marked the filled-in site
of an old bfeaver data. Down at camp
everything was still, and the absence
of smoke told that the sleeper was still
dormant. The raven cawed impa¬
tiently.
I became suddenly conscious that
there was a deer in the trees off to the
right and a little below me. How long
he had been there I do not know, but
1 am certain that my eye had rested
on the spot and its surroundings a mo¬
ment before and saw nothing. I slipped
down off tlie grass and into the trees
and worked very cautiously in that
direction. A shot downhill is so de
ceptive that hitting is pure luck, and X
sought a place on the same level.
A stately buck lie was, stopping for a
final lunch on the tender shoots of a
dump of vetch vines on the edge of
the stream. His black nostrils were
wet and shone with the high polisli of
new patent leather. liis form was well
rounded, his coat was smooth and
glossy, and bis spreading antlers full
grown. In the motions of liis eating,
every muscle moved and quivered. The
sight was so superb that it almost pre¬
cluded murder, and I sat with rifle
half laisecl and watched for fully a
minute. His nostrils caught a breath
of hostile odor, and lie flung his head
high, poised for flight, but not quite
sure which way the danger lay. He
remembered tiie alarm downhill and
turned to look that way. The white
bead of tlie front sight rested against
liis curving neck, just back of the head,
and the white bead rested in turn on
the lower rim of the circle of the hind
peep-sight. Tbe sight was perfect
and the finger crooked against the
trigger almost without conscious voli¬
tion.
A 45-70 bullet in the cervical verte¬
brae snuffs out all power of motion as
though it were tlie flame of a candle.
There was never a struggle, just a
sudden collapse, and the beautiful ani¬
mal lay in limp confusion sprinkling
blood upon the verdure where he had
just been feeding. The hunter’s work
was done and what remained was mere
butchery. The rough surgery of the
hunting knife must let out the blood
in a foaming torrent before the heart
ceases beating, and with the same flow
release the remnant of life which still
showed dimly in staring eyes. Then
must follow the smeary task of dress¬
ing the carcass, which had been a deer
and was now venison. The raven flew
from his perch and brushed through
the trees above. It seemed as though
the sound of the shot had summoned
all the smaller pedatory birds, the mag¬
pies and gray-jays, and I could hear
their harsh cries approaching through
the trees, as they fluttered closer and
closer in short flights, Before my
gory task was clone they were busy,
without fear for me, picking the dainty
flecks of suet from the entrails, while
two or three other ravens had joined
the pioneer and were scolding from
the tops of the trees because I was so
slow in completing my work and leav¬
ing them a clear field. I hung the
venison in a tree, protecting the ex¬
posed meat with boughs, and washed
hands and arms in the waters of the
rill. Then I struck out for camp. Un¬
der tin' tall grass red-leaved plants
hugged the ground. Drops of dew had
fallen on some of them, making the
homeward path seem through a trail
of fresh blood. The sun shone down
on the valley hot and ungentle. It
seemed as though the whirring grass¬
hoppers unduly extended their flights
to escape my presence. • A startled
grouse, breakfasting in a bear-berry
bush, instead of rising to the nearest
tree, whirred away clear across to the
foot of the mountain, where it flapped
deep into a tree as though murder was
behind it. As 1 came up into camp
1 the horses scented the blood and snort
: ed as if I were some strange wild ani
! mal and moved uneasily on their pick
j et-ropes. She had just awakened and was
:
c
!
I
i ~ 1 —in—
j
I A '
gate
■
Hgst. St
\ ! 1 Mim f] 03
,
$3 «... . - — -o
~-: s Hotter Bargains and Better
v Jf*r Shoes than ever was
R. G. TARVER, Manage? Before.
Our One Dollar Brogan is better. Our One Dollar and Twenty-live
Cents Brogan beats the world.
Our One Dollar and Fifty Cents Shoes are simply superb.
Our Two Dollar Vici Kid Shoes a big value. Our Two Dollar and
Fifty Cents Iland-sewed Shoes are the best on the market.
We can give you Ladies Shoes at 75c, but the Shoes we want to soli
rou are $1.00 and $1.25 Ladies every day Shoes and our $1.25 rind $1.50
Ladies Dress Shoes. 'They are RED HOT BARGAINS and don’t you
forget it. Now our $2.00 Ladies Shoes are as good as anybody’s $3.00
Shoes.
We never forget the Children and Babies and this line of Shoes this
ge aso n is better than ever before,
HATS! HATS! HATS!
Our prices in Hats are simply Tornado Swept. We give you Boy»
Hats 10c, a real good Hat 25c. Men’s Felt Hats 65c, Men’s Extra Good
Felt Hats $1.00, and so on to the end.
We don’t expect any one to come within a mile of us this season in
Price and Quality. ‘When in the city be sure to Call and Examine and be
Convinced.
907 Broad Street, Augusta, Ga.
looking with sleepy eyes out into the
sunny world.
I Fresh meat,” I cried.
: Oh, did you get a deer? I didn't
know you were gone until just before
I heard you shoot.” Her eager interest
flamed up in question about tlie events
of tbe chase, and then, in a reverie—
“One of those prettj, pretty things!
How could you do it.”—Outing.
Five Intellectual Feet.
According to President Charles TV.
Oliiot, of Harvard University, there is
no good reason why the normal human
being should not have an intellectual
training that would meet the require¬
ments not only of our advanced civ¬
ilization, but be up to tbe highest
standard as fixed by tbe learned presi¬
dent himself, for recently he said: “A
library that will go on a sheif live feet
long is enough to give an intellectual
training to any human being that ever
came into tlie world.”
Just think of it! You cau hold the
five feet of volumes between your
extended palms, and all you have to do
is to transmute tlieir contents into
memory cells that can, at tlie will, be
put into actiou for the production of
understanding.
Only five feet! I have taken the
trouble to put the rule ou this and ap¬
ply a little mathematics. As books in
the library average, five feet means
NO. li.
thirty-seven volumes; which is not an
array calculated to frighten a reader.
Again, an average shows that these
thirty-seven book:.; contain 30,000
pages, made up of 15,000,000 words.
Not so very much material from which
to imbibe intellectual training.—New
York Herald.
Taken by Surprise.
There are some hospitable creatures
who are greatly disturbed if they can¬
not meet every demand made on them,
although there are eases when it is
ridiculous to expect them to be able to
be equal to the occasion. Iteeently a
barn took fire on a large estate, and
tbe firemen of the village worked hard
to put out the flames. After it was all
over tlie husband asked the fire-fight¬
ers into the house to partake of coffee
and whatever edibles were on hand.
His wife welcomed the men with
steaming cups of coffee, doughnuts and
pies, then she said apologetically: “Oh,
if I had only known this was going to
happen I would have had a lot of
things baked up.”—New York Press.
Avalanche Breakers.
In Switzerland tlie people have en¬
tered upon effective plans to defeat the
avalanche in its devastating work. No
more need the traveler be told, “Be-
ware the awful avalanche,” for these
rolling, pitching, sliding bodies of snow,
that accumulate into masses of de¬
struction, are now broken up before
they gain a dangerous amount of ma¬
terial or velocity sufficient to make
them dangerous.
Along tlie mountain sides, where av¬
alanches form, earthworks in the form
of a V are constructed, with tlieir
points upward, and when thfe moving
masses of snow come in contact with
them they are broken apart and so
deflected as to be rendered harmless.
It Cuts Rifle Bullets.
The machine which cuts rifle bullets
from rods of lead stamps them into
shape by means of steel dies, and
drops them, finished, into a box at the
rate of 7000 an hour.
At a recent press banquet in Eng¬
land, Mr. Asquith, M. P., said in his
speech that nearly every member of
the j. tsent British. Cabinet, from the
Premier down, worked for the news¬
papers one time or another, as a mat¬
ter of fact the leading statesmen of
England, France and the United States
have received a newspaper training,
and in England Salisbury, Gladstone,
Beaconsfield, Earl Derby and other
Prime Ministers were in their day
regular contributors to the press.