The Columbus journal., 1892-08-17

factor in my calculations During
the afternoon had taken into my
confidence . neighbors boy Of my own
size Him dressed up in my every
day hat and clothea gave him q ride
! and bountiful supply OF doughnutS
and packed him OF to keep watch all
night at the foot OF the rocks 1t was
| q wild kind OF an idea; but 1 believed
that the wolverine could reason to
some extent and that supposing the
watcher to be me. aud the traps con-
seauently unguarded he would come
down for his accustomed fun.
Then / went out and planted q 70 (
trap righ. in the winds eye not
more than ten feet from the open end
of the hollow log and in line with the
center of its cavity. Having baited
the trap with some choice morsels OF
raw chicken sprinkled with oil 0l
rhodium. I went home to supper.
When it became dark I borrowed
my fathers heavy eight-gause duck
ing gun. loaded each of the barrels
with six drains of powder and twelve
No. l buckshot and went hopefully
away on my enterprise Arrived at
the log I showed myself feet forem ost
into the hollow. dragging chunk Of
rotten wood and the gun. butt first
after me.
From the entrance up to where the
tree became solid its cavity was prob
ably thirty feet long. and at the lower
end. fully twenty inches in diameter
giving me lots OF room for all need
full operations Going in until l
judged that my gun was two feet from
the outer edge of the hole l turned
over on my breast rested the barrel
on the soft chunk of wood and waited
events.
Within my hiding place all was
black as pitch. Not oven the eye OF
a lynx could have penetrated the
gloom one inch beyond the opening;
but !. looking out through the tube
into the really dark. though by con-
trast comparatively light night could
see the outlines of surrounding oh. ..ects.
or rather objects in front of me.
All my hopes of success lay In the
wind which was now blowing almost
q hurricane. directly from the trap to
me- This would not only render it
impossible for my expected prey to
scent me. but its moaning through
tho nc. accent tree tops would effectual-
ly cover the noise OF any slight move
ment I might be compelled to make.
Hour after hour lay in my narrow
quarters feeling a bit lonesome. but
comfortable and heard nothing ev-
cept the soughing OF the gale and the
grOaning response of the vexed forest
giants. Neither could see any
thing unusual though I now became
SO habituated to gazing out OF my
inky- black retreat that l could mark
the exact spot where my trap was set
The storm still ragged furiously. but
no rain fell; and l was dry. snug and
warm as possible. while l said. conf
deutially to myself: oh. if that
rascally beast would only GOMEZ"
actually began to feel little super
stitiOus on the subject and remem-
bering how often the crafty brute had
fooled ma a suspicion arose within
me that he might even then be laugh
ing at my simple ruse
1t must have been nearly midn ght
when. fatigued by staring SO long in
one direction l closed M cy;cs for n
minute. On opening them again l
saw that some change had occurred
in tho contour of the grounds surface
a few yards beyond the trap. There
seemed 10 be a little mound or lump
there which l had not noticed before
but as it remained meantime quite
mot:onlcss could not tell whether it
was a mass of inert matter or the
CO led up body OF an animal
Although there was not the slight
est chance OF any noise l was likely
to make being carried Onward in the
face of that tornado l hardly ven-
tured to breathe rs looked steadily
at the mysterious object in which.
for fully ten minutes there was no ap-
pearan of life.
'POOh! l muttered; Its nothing
but a lot Of leaves heaped up by the
wind"
The whisper had barely crossed my
lips when the thing rose to a greater
height aud came a little nearer and !
saw that it was indeed a wild beast
but of ~hat kind could not in that
uncertain light determine. After
advancing a foot or two the
creature lay down again and so re
mained for some time and then !
caught the CLEAN of a pair OF green
eyes! Still I would not shoot; for it
night be only lynx. marten or rae
coon. So with my heart in my throat
l watched it curiOusly as little by lit
tie and with extreme caution. it stole
along until close to tho trap
Then it looked to me like bear
cub But its next move dispelled
that illusion. Being apparent
ly satisfied that the coast
was clear, it settled down by the side
of the concealed trap and seemed to
be intently studying its exact posi-
tion. Then. deity as a miner might
have done it dug around and under
it. with a vigorous toss jerked it into
the air (the sudden motion. OF course
springing it) and began calmly to eat
the bait
This was the moment i had waited
for. The creatures peculiar tactics
had established its identity. The
long looked for wolverine stood be.
fore me!
Trembling with excitement I laid
my cheek against the gunstock
glanced roughly along the barrels.
and pulled both triggers. The smoke
driven back by the wind nearly
choked me- but quickly got out into
the air; and thero riddled by buck
shot very emphatically dead and with
q wing of chicken still between his
teeth lay my archenemy outwitted at
last by q green boy.-N. Y. Indepen.
dent
Important Br.iness.
oh papa" she said with blush.
young Mr.. Chestnut who owns so
many coal mines in Pennsylvania is
coming again this evening. and he