Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-10-12
ICopyrixtie.i)
SHOOTING A BEAR

tcopJrisetsi)
SHOOTING A BEAR
Being ba, boy myself l, Affords me
the CREATES, pleasure to write this series
of article. fof the boy. l have L~ay.
noticed that ~hsn . man says . good
thing the boys hsv, intelligence snoash
10 appreciate II. and when he makes .
f.ilar. they usually have sympathy
.nough TO say "give the feller another
eh.aee." In this my second letter |
-snt TO tell Of . tramp | had through
|. gr,A, force, and up bis mountain In
The territory Of Washington. There
~,v Eve person, In our party. whom ne
called Michigan. vermoa,. Ofssoa.
Maine and the guide. We lsf, the vii
l.se early in the mornius to ride on,
add look q, .oms bis timber. We bad
one wagon drssn by too horses. IN
-hieh four Of u. found seats While M!eh.
gan rode on "a Indian Poay. The esf'
n.se road sIisnd,d seven miles ir,o the
forest. aud there In the log stable OF .
deaf Daiehm.n -e lsf, Our animals aud
-,re TO make the re-, of the j0afnsy oa
foot. We ~,re armed with roll OF
blankets, two dinasr b.sks,.. some h.h
lines, q hs,ehst and Winchester rils.
Miehis.n and vsrmOn, carried the ba'-
keu. orgon the na. the guide took the
blankets and Maine. ihe-h'hing lines
Under the brOilins 'an Ne made oar
-.y three mile. through . dense Jungle.
Thick thorn bushes. fallen logs, gree,
rocks. deep eanons snd rushing streams
Of -.tsr. Three hours we're thus en-.
plo,sd. Several disasters occurred dur.
ing that time. Maine undertook TO
-slk do~na steep ball on q smooth hf
10, four feet Ia diameter. bis fee, ven,
NOR, rapidly than bis body, and the re-
.al, W. ,h., be ,lid for forty feet do-n
the los upon bis back. Michigan "a.
d,r,ook TO cross = stream Of water upoa
the rock. -hsa one Of bis feet sliPped
from the rock and bis boo, hlled With
~s,sr. ba, 90 sres, We, the quality
thu. absorbed that the bslsnoe Of the
party crossed the bed Of the stream dry
.hod. Oregon stumbled -hile walking
upon the gree, roek. across q rssing tor.
rsn, aud then gen,ly laid himself leng'h.
-i.e Of the moaatain STREAM. There
~ere lots Of fun during these three hours.
Then ~s halted for dinner hAvine reach
Cd the old Indian Trail which Ne were 20
follow ~ the mountains. Danng ,h:s
time Michigan and Maine had been
named "Th RH,iler," by their eomPsn.
IONS. a compliment which they r,eipro
Gated by calling the Others "IAs Dads'.
The guide no- decided that there vi.
no, time enough TO reach the big timber
and return 70 the tinnsr camp ths,
night, and ,ha, We would remain where
~e ~sre until the nsI, morning. then 90
to the mountains and return TO the vii
l.ss ihs, day. The sfsernoon wn to be
passed in uoa, fishing. the moaniain
streams sffordins fne opportunity fof
such sport. The rus,ler. however. de-
eided th., While troa, fishing might be
big business enough for the dudes l,
~oald no, answer for them. SO they
took the Winchester and vent out along
the trail 10 hun, for bear. while the
dades began to fish fOr trout We had
10, gone Ear bofore We saw . great red
squirrel upon . limb Of . tree. ten feet
from the ground. and aboa, twenty feet
in advance Of us. "Here goes" said Mich.
issn, taking deliberate aim. ''lt u too
bad TO kill the little fellow. ba, the temp
tation |. too s,rong to resist; l hope he
will die painless death" and crack ven,
the rife. The smoke cleared away and
there So, the squirrel. ~inkins q momsn,
in q mos, laughsble manner =, Michigan
and then ,esmpering up the tre. at
vas evidently = painless death, sag.
ge.,ed. to which Michigan ,srily replied.
"The fault 10 either with the rih. or the
pe.ky squirrel. fOr my aim Was ell
night"
The rus,lers then held . eoaneil Of
war and determined to play joke upon
the dudes by pushing along the trail.
reaching the mountains, looking at the
big trees. and returning to camp tha,
night, while the dudes were catching .
few little trout. Coats and all superaa.
ous clothing were thrown of. aud these
two worthless started forth on the trad At
the rate Of three miles an hour. Miehi.
gan was short, stout. aeshy AID heavy.
While Maine Vas tall. lean aSt lank.
The trail wound over the foothills. up
and down, nearly ell climbing and de-
.cending. These foothills were covered
.i,h . gigantic growth Of fr and cedar.
The rustlers raced on through the forests.
stopping now and then to measure fr
tree whlch Vas six. seven or eight feet
in diameter. With . beautiful trunk hs-
ing one hundred and fity feet without .
limb; Q forest where three or four hun.
dred thoassnd feet Of clear lumber can
be cut from . single acre. Stately CO.
ars elk fee, In diameter stood beside those
mountain streams. Nov and then .
marsh Was crossed which Vas covered
With brakes which stood. eight or ten
fee, high. 90 ths, standing erect they
could sssilY took through the grose be-
meath the branches - you can through
the apple trees in the orchard. On. on
they vent, hut no signs Of the noun.
tain; l, WAS up hill and down hill
Then the rustlers reflected upon the fol.
loving points; Neither Of them Possssssd
any knowledge - TO bow far Of the
mountain actually was; they had no
matches they had no food their clothes
we're We, with psnpiration. They were
In Q dense forest ssvsn miles st least
from the dudes and Il vas four o'clock 10