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■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.