Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-09-05

ltItoN Win bijfh Nill>ktf>. WHO lilt,ip a
whole arsenal Jingle at each movement,
hunting knife, cartrid.c-b"x, powder
flask. without counting CATERS hu-klrd
To the knee which made HIM look still
taller: At the other end little old man
leaned against the Tree. smoked his pipe
TRANQUILITY. wnkng his eyes aS if sleep
lng. OF the latter was not afraid;
but the big fellow b,yond
''lou know nothing. Roug,t,' said
my c"mr;ule laughing; and fcarleS>ly,
with his wings sprcd out, he flew almost
against the legs OF the terrible wlliskcred
huntsman.
And the truth is that the poor man
was 81 cntanglrd i'll all his hunting ap-
parcl, so occupied i'll admlring himself
from head To foot, that when he got his
gun To his shoulder We were already out
of shot All. if Sportsmen knew. when
they believed themselves alone in some
corner of the woods. how many steady
little eyes watch them from the tlicket,
how many restrain Il laugh at their awk-
wardneSS.
We kept moving. always moving Be-
Ing able To do nothing better thau follow
my ancient companion, my wings kept
stroke with his, in order to fold them
selves motionlcSs as soon as he stopped
| have still before my eyes all the places
which We passed; the warren pink with
heather, full of burrows at the foot of
yellow trees, with a green curtain of
oaks, where seemed to see death hidden
everywhere; the little green path where
my mother partridge had SO many times
taken her brood to walk in the May sun,
where We all hopped about, pecking at
the red ants which swarmed on our
claws, where We met cOnceitcd little
pheasants, heavy as chickens, that would
not play with us.
saw it as i'll ii dream, my little path
way just as \ hind crossed it, high on
her slender h"ofS, her great eyes wide
open and ready for II leap. Then the
pool where they 90 i'll parties of fifteen
or thirty, all of the same cover, rising
together from the plain to drink water
from the spring and Splatter about the
little drops which roll over their lus-
trous plumcs. In the midst of this pool
there was clump of bushy alders; it
was on this iSlet that we took refuge.
The dogs would have needed a famous
nose 10 seek us there. We had been
there for moment when roe-buck ar
rived, dragging himself on three feet
and leaving Il red track on the mosSes
behind him. 1t was SO sad to SEE that |
hid my head under the leaves, but |
heard the wounded animal drink at the
pool painting, burning with fever.
The day declined. The reports of the
guns We're more distant, became rarer.
Then all was still. 1t was finished. We
returned slowly toward the plain to get
news of our companions. Passing the
little house in the woods | saw some
thing horrible.
On the edge of ditch harcS with red
fur and little gray rabbits with white
tails lay side by side. Here were little
paws joined 10y death, which looked as if
begging for mercy, and closed eyes
which seemed to weep; then red part
ridges, grey partridgcS, which had the
horseshoe like my comradc, and young
ones of this years brood, which, like me
still had down under their feathers. DO
you know anything sadder than II dead
bird! Wings are SO full of life! To see
them folded and cold makes one shud-
der. a great deer, stately and still,
appeared asleep, his little pink tongue
hanging out of his mouth us if to lap
once more.
And the huntSmcn We're, bent over
this slaughter, counting and drawing
toward their galnc-bags the bloody paws,
the mangltd wings, careless of all these
fresh made wounds. The dogs, coupled
for the journey, wrinklcd their lips and
pointed, aS if making ready To throw
themselves anew into the undrrbruSh.
oh, while the great sun sank and they
all departed, weary, their shadows grow
ing long over the hllocks of earth, and
the pathways damp with evening dew,
how dete>tei them, men and beasts,
the whole troop! Neither my companion
Nor had courage to throw, as usual a
little farewell note to this day as it
ended.
On our way We met unfortunate little
creatures, struck by Il chance shot, and
lying there, abandoned To the ants and
fieldmicc their muzzlcs full of dust;
magpics, swallows, lightning struck III
their flight, lying Oh their backs and
stretching their little stiff claws toward
the night, which descended quickly, as ii
always does in the autumn, clear, cold
and damp. But the most yricvous of all
was TO hear, alon. the woodsidc, at the
edge of the meadow and below in the
willow thckcts by the river, anxious,
sad, scattered cries, to which there was
no pusWrr