Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-01-16

I We seated ourselves under the old beech to
prepare for dinner 3 eshraE
| sBoy, bring the basket s-e ael s.1oss
.Humph!' said Archy, 81 know whose wife
| put up that prog
sYes, indeed,' replied L-----, sever since
you imposed on my good wife as beggar, in
green goggles and a knapsak. and drew on her
| sympathies for good dinner, and was broom
| sticked out of the house to pay for it,
| Archy chuckled at the remembrance. sPick-
| les, Indian bread, salt, chunk Of raw pork.
and potatoes to roast. Good
eAh ha p said Ables, ethree black quarts =
twas tho rock he usually split on, tho our
! general failings might be said to be primitive.
A circular hole of three feet across, by four
inches deep, was soon dug in the ground, and
| filed with clean stones from the brook. On
these a rousing fire was kindled, and left to
burn nearly out. Meanwhile, Arcby had cut a
half-dozen chops from the venison. The Sher-
if had occupied himself with preparing his
! two-pound trout for bake. The ntoaas oper-
add beg to set forth as q rule for all gour-
inands inlile situation. After properly cleans
ing it, he, with knife, made an incision down
the whole length of the back, nearly as deep as
the backbone. Into this was laid a thin slice
OF raw pork if you can add squeeze of the
lemon to the pork, all the better. The belly was
stuffed with the soft part OF a loaf Of rye and
Indian-bread, mixed with say 4 gill of Madeira
wine. His troutship was then carefully and
tightly rolled up in the half ola clean newspa-
per, and laid in the embers to bake. The time
Oh,
on its size. should say for two-poundcr,
forty minutes, and when properly done, he is
morsel for an epicure. Talk of your tar6Ota
la creme, it's mere pop and lolly-pop to the
rich fragrance, the delicate flavor Of a we'll
baked deep-water trout.
The fish devourcd first, as was proper, then
came the chops. Oh ye well-fed city alder
man, who think ye sit down to your groaning
boards and eat renison, would one of the best
of you could have partakcn of those chops :
.Ycn.son as was vcniSon' We're they, cut from
adeer that had been browsing in his native
woods but two hours before none of your
black, disgusting stuff that comes down from
the country in February, coursed Until his
blood is heated and unwholeSoIne before he is
killed, aud then frozen and thawed and frozen
again, until no trace Of jnfciness. or fbrine, or
of rensoa is left; but rich in flavor, tendey be-
cause well fed and fat, and luscious wit b the
rich juices with which nature seasoned it,
broilcd on the glowing hickory Goals, and eat
enyet smoking with the bubbling heats of its
own juices. y single glass of wine to each,
and then for the dessert. What, dessert in
the woedsi Yes, indeed, and such dessert
When Archy went up the brook trouting in
the morning, he returned, to ali appearances,
an unluclzy fsiIeramn. Now, however, he step
ped up the stream few rods, and returned
with a dripping basket, inrWhieh were about
twenty little troutlings, ofifrom three to three
and a half inches in length, which he had man
aged to keep alive, by taking them carefully
from the hook, and keeping the basket under
water. To kill these, dip them in Indian meal,
and lay them in frying-pan over the Goals,
was but moments work. Was it not worthy
dessert for sEchsa dinner-tempting naorceaur
to revive the dropping appetites of appoplec-
tic alderman
The days hunt, the days feast were now
ended, and, reclining under the spreading
beech, the party rested from the fatigues and
excitements of the day, relieving the time by
tales and stories Of old hunts, escapes by flood
and field, and all the varied trials and expo
sures of border life. iaIi2ilee
esquire said Abels to the Sheriff, sI'il bet
the venison you can't hit the yaller bird top
of that mullen.' r Il sal 3as aa ,a.g
sNot now, my hands too lame to shoot
Archy can '.7a ..-
sYes,' said Archy, sif Harry will lend me his
gum 6olse $40 gusiiaas ii
The rifle was Caswell, made at Lansing
burg, the only manufacturer n orthern hunters
in those days thought capable of boring a de-
cent barrel. The bird was good ten rods
distant, and the ball hundred and twenty to
the pound. He slowly drew sight on the lit
tie fellow, as he said, sI'n not kill him, but
L ii cut his legsaoff.' The bird piled his little
wings as he fred flew around and around, tri-
ed in vain TO alght, but could not, and at last,
wearied and bleeding, fell to the earth, both
legs missing.' s..ea go sa Ia4 f2t5
We were all astonished. well. -Archy,
said the Sheriff, sthat beats my shot, when you
held the chip for me to split at twenty-dv
rods aeJd 8VE.i ssarn Hsa2 g5l II heas
BY this time the lengthening shadows Of the
mountain were drawing toward US, and We har-
messed up for home. And thus ended our day S
sport on the banks of the Bouquet.
Horace Mann thinks that Moses was the
first conductor on the underground railroad,
| as he took out of Egypt the biggest train on
| record, containing two millions of passengers.