The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-14

One night ne told me- had made some
asual reference to shooting and fishing,
nd he said with scowl, II used to be
cry fond of both, before got this cursed
imp" Only he spelt cursed rather Wig
prausly.
THAT is hardly pronounced enough TO
Interfere with your pleasure" ventured.
''The limp is not. but the recollection of
now | got it is" he said. Then. after a
pause, he added, II may as well tell you,
for see you want to hear the story"
| nodded, and he continued: Il was the
junior officer on the steamboat Surveyor,
of the United States lake survey, in 1856.
We were busy fixing the shore line of
Whitefish bay, on the Lake Superior coast,
during the whole season, and as my duties
were very light had ample time and OBJ
portunity for sport. Game was abundant,
and never saw finer fishing than there
was in the waters of the lake and in the
streams that flow into it.
''There are not many Indians along the
Canadian shore of Lake Superior, at least
in that part, but there are a few, and
more worthless set of human beings does
not exist-thst is, supposing that they are
human, which / doubt. The only thing
tucy art ROOu lOI - buIJilH, anu lOu
can find one of them sober you can hire
him for almost nothing as guide
81 came to know one or two of the bright
est of them, and questioned them as to the
chance Of shooting deer. had never shot
a deer, but very much wanted to. One of
them told me, whether truthfully or not,
that he could take me where l could not
miss getting at least one or two within
half days tramp. therefore applied for
three days leave from the boat, and received
it, together with caution from the chief
officer.
"'Be careful you don't get caught in a
forest fire, my boy, he said. 4 have been
smelling fire for some days, and you know
these pine woods burn fiercely when they
do burn
Il will he careful, SIR replied, but
reckon my halfbreed will be careful enough
for two. He is going with me-
"The chief shook his head doubtfully,
but he was man of few words. and he
said no more. / started early in the morn
ing, expecting to tramp nearly all day be-
fore reaching the hunting ground, and was
not disappointed. AT length the half
breed showed me what he said were deer
tracks Qm sure / don't know whether he
lied or not, and proposed that we camp
out for the night. / agreed, and after we
had cooked and eaten a few birds that we
had shot by the way / wrapped myself in
blanket and smoked myself to sleep. IL
you have ever slept on pile of pine boughs
you know that / slept well.
Next morning we made an early start,
and ! was full of the excitement of the
hunt when I made an unlucky step on a
fallen tree and sprawled headlong TO the
ground That wouldn't have been any
thing serious II my foot hadn't caught in
the crotch OF one of the limbs Of the tree.
AS it was, my leg snapped just above the
ankle. Ii was a compound fracture.
Il naturally tainted When / came to
my guide had extricated me, and / was ly
ing fat on my back, while he was trying
to pour some whisky out Of my flask down
my throat. remember it as one of the
curious incidents of the day. Ny first
thought was that the TASK was almost
empty, and the copper colored rascal must
have drunk deeply before giving me any.
1T was no time, though, to be thinking
about whisky. The pain in my leg was,
of course, intense, and my first care was 70
get the bone set. / knew that the Indians
are often sxillful in such matters, and