New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-08-29
METAPEDIA STORIES.
THE wILEs OF HUNTERS.

tive The light brch-bark craft few faster and faster
down the steep incline, pitching with the waves,
again cutting through the foam which told Of hidden
rocks and then making quick smooth shoot like that
OF toboggan the part of slide. Donald laid
his pole down, held his hat and trusted to Provi
dence. until shot from theiyeasty He'll Gate rapids
into stretch of smooth water below. when he pro-
ceedei to aid John in bailiug her out" with many
self sratulaory remarks The sight of quiet pool
below changed the Of his thoughts and be said
Sposin the river froze over an ye a caribou
on the side against ye. an twas too far for
a shot, how would We reach himp The nat
ural answer was that one would 90 up or
down according to the wind aud cross Donald
cbucled Well sir, what would ye say if man
would GROSS on the ice in the face o the caribou an
shoot him p Ignoring a disrespectfu remark, lie con-
tnued Once was cruisin in the woods, after carl
bou with Merchant Iniun. an we came out to the
side of little lake an there to the other side
caribou was layIn in the snow, eatin some bushes,
quite azy-like An saws TO the Merchant, Lets us
90 I'D round the lake. but he says No. too far too
much noise, caribou not stay. How'll we git him,
then, SAYS l. and he says = show you You be still
With that he bar bush three -four feet high an
crawled down to the lake The caribou was bitin'
mouthful now an then and loO1in' round but the
wind was BLOWN fom him to us. So the Injun laid
himself fat down. holdn the bar bush in front OF him
with one hand an his rife with the other and he begun
| 70 crawl. crawl very easy on the ice. The caribou
| looked I'D an saw the bar bush, an minded nothin
The lniun kept on crawlin higher Bimeby the carl
bou riz his head again, an the Injuh stopped. But
the silly beast couldn't see as the bush g tim
higher and he thought nothn' at all, at all 80 the
| lnjun worked on stOppIn' when the beast looked,
till he got nigh enough an then he aimed his rite an
killed the caribou without its gittin its legs"
| fbar NJ liar
game. "'Twas in the sprng when the snow was
met,n' IN places - he said an old Frenchman up
the main river wanted me to go fox-huntin'. Come
we 20 get some fox he says. / know some field on
re hills we're zere is bare spots an zere We Will hnd 70
fox How'll you git range OF him : says /, an he
| saws O. You sail see. Come We 90 for some ioH.
| Up we went and we got behind knoll on the hill an
looked over INTO a field There sure enough, we saw
fox sittn' on a bare spot sunnn himself. but he was
| away way or out O shot altogether. Inc oiu
Frenchman says. you sail see, you sail see an ne
began t. cbeep quite loud like mouse Pretty quicA
the fox heard him. an he cooked his head this way,
an he cooked his head that way, lstenin to make
ont where the mouse Then the Frenchman
cbeeped again an the fox started an made bee line
for u. An when he'd got nigh, he sat up TO bark
whether he might hear the cheap again. An then the
Frenchnan up gun an shot him. Bimeby we went
on TO another field an there fox but he was TOO
| far of for to make him hear So the Old frenchmah
crawed along the wall till he'd got under tree an
waited till the fox was lookn' that way. Then he
tossed up one O. his buckskin mts. an 1t came
autterin' down through the branches to the ground
! The fox seen it and he thinks twas Wounded
partridge or some bird, an he watched very sharp
PRETTY mick the Frenchman tossed up another NIT an
the fox come eapn down for to get the bird an twas
charge OF shot he got instead. An once the French
| man"
Johns story was cut short by cry from Donald A
sudden turn in the river whose unwontedly qu ct
| current had been bearing peacefully along
| had brought us to the very head OF some
angry rapids airy her TO the right" called Donald
There's water enough" answered John, and
then there came a curious shock. log imoedded
in the sand lag just where the water began 70
| break and for an instant the canoe caught III the
| middle balanced itself heplessly. threatening 10
troach TO- Snub her cried John. No, shove her
called Donald fearful OF general SPILL and the SHOVE
seLt the canoe the log. just grazing rock ana
we'll into the turbulent rapids whose swift descent
the most eIhilaratng part OF Canadian canoeing
Another feature of this voyaging the small boy who
| demands ay-hoohsp Where he comes from no one
knows He appears on the river bank in the heart
If the Wilderness toy-headed, barsfooted. ragged,
sneaking with Scotch or Irish bro-ue OF in French
natois but tho burden OF bis shr song ia always the
same Mister, ye might gimme hy-hook" lie
abounded at Mllstrcam, whore We went ashore to
forage but there was an abundance Of nothing else
Butter milk, eggs, chickens, fresh meat were all
| mpossibtes There three four houses
besides the station house but forced to Donald
| cone fusion that the inhabitants billed the kiitl'
! an ate pork 1t vers much such fate as thi;
| that befell last September when we were storm
bound in the station house for two days but it was not
| due to lack of GOOD will on the part of the little
| French station agent and madame. His wife speaks
only French the dozen people living IN this desoate
neghbOrhOOd speak only English. For the greater
mari of the wear she talk only with her husband
The little houses wo-roomed shaues. seen here and
there hills in cearings along the river represent
a deal OF feminine loneliness In one with the FOREST
coming down every side 10 the backened stumps OF
| tie clearing. | found woman lying on the floor
alone talking with her baby, the only human beng
she lad to talk with. tor her husband she told me
| could only come home once in while on sunday.
Now and then deserted cabins tell the discourage
| ment of some wOudbo settler upon Government iand
We canned that night in what had been the yard oI an
! abandoned house aud the next night. after day oil
samon and rout fishing more successful than It's pre-
| decessors we found a deserted log cabin. half
| unroofed which made or home. There ga. no
floor and our huge campfire blazed in the middle OF
the floor space. sending out such volume OF EDDY Z
smoke that tor Donald remarked, we cheated
the sandAies" John said nothing, for be had suffered
| a great shock. ,
! II Laupened in this way. Landing the beach
before the cabin began casting for trout at the mouth
of a small brook which leaps gaily down from the
forests clothing the hills above After IItte l'ona.u
| and John followed my example. But the hsh we're
small and presently called John meaning to say that
we would 90 out III the and try few casts ior
salmon. He walked up the beach TO me, the spare
trout rod in his hand and as we stood taking oe'ue
fbe canoe his back half turned to the river he care
iesslv threw out his dies. All at once the waters
opened and there. not canoe length from tie shoe'
| m roae a mighty salmon. There tremendous
splash. tho light trout rod was almost ierked from
Johns nerveless hand. and then he turned his face
fairly white TO see a parted leader dancing mookngly
! NJ the end of his line. He could not speak for a
moment Neither could l. But Donald WHO o.. came me
running up the shore was himy persuaded tn.t Tue
our plotting aud asserted his majesty and contempt
for our wes by rising to snap the leader and bear on
;, hv If was 60 be punished, for the fly had q
sting OF course we launched the canoe, and we were
hardly out before salmon broke water across the
river Three minutes later one of the splendid hsh