The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-08-06
My EARLY RecoIlections.
Searsmont, 1896.
CHAPTER II.

think my big brother realized how much
his patient advice encouraged me. kept
on trying to get my flies to fall into the
water, but l succeeded better in fasten-
ing them to the bushes and soon stripped
them all but one from my leader. Just as
my brother was landing big trout, l
made a desperate cast with both hands.
This time | did catch a big one and
brought forth an exclamation from my
brother. s'Slack your line, sonny, and hold
your rod still until l secure this trout "
After which he proceeded to cut the hook
from his arm, which fortunately did not
go very deep. He said l had better prac-
tice where there was more room and for
the present sit down and watch him. l
had been watching him all the while and
wondered at the remarkable ease with
which he handled his rod, casting with
such precision to just the spot where the
big trouts were lurking and with such
| lightness that the flies seemed alive as
they settled down so lightly on the water
The roll of distant thunder warned us
that it was time to go home. We had a
beautiful string of seven trout that weigh
ed when we reached home II IL pounds.
improved my leisure time for several
days after this event in learning to use a
ty-rod under my brothers direction and
in time acquired fair degree of profcien-
cy. although never became such an adept
as my teacher, and have never seen his
! equal with rod or gun. For several years
this pool was favorite resort, and al
thought in after years / fished in nearly
all the waters of the State and caught
thousands of trout | never experienced
that keen sense Of enjoyment that used
to in my boyhood down in that gloomy
ravine.
l had long been looking forward to the
time when | might be allowed to 90 with
my brothers on their annual hunting trip
of from six to ten days and camp out in
the woods. My father and uncle owned a
large section of timber land in the north
ern part of Hancock and Washington
counties, where camps were located and
extensive numbering operations were car
ried on each year, and for the past three
or four years the older boys had gone up
there fol- few days hunting just before
the numbering crews we're sent in. 1t was
expected of them to secure game enough
| n cIlnnly tho pf O.;
men with meat until the snow came on
and the tote teams sent up to carry sup
plies. 1t was not unusual for them to Sc
cure ten or fifteen deer and often moose
rounds frozen up, and other parts sailed
for use of crews in camp. These trips
We're always planned toprecede the advent
of the numbering crews by about one week
in order that game might be secured be-
fore being frightened away by the opera
tions of the lumbermen.
Quite often there would be a small
stock of flour. pork and molasses left
over which would be LETT in camp for use
another season, and parties prospecting
for timber or surveying lines would oc-
caslonally occupy these camps when in
the vicinity, helping themselves to such
supplies as might be found, leaving every
thing in camp in good order, usually
making an inventory of what was found
| in and about the camps, and on coming
out of the woods would often, at consider
able trouble, report to the owners the con-
dition of the property.
1t might be supposed that the owners
would object to such free use of their
property, but they did not. On the con-
trary, they were glad to learn from these
occasional visitors of the condition of
their camps, and were always willing to
offset few pounds of flour and pork for
the sake of hearing that their property
was all right, and if not would by that
means know just what provisions to make
before the start. Sometimes fires were
started by careless hunters and large
tracts of valuable timber land destroyed,
together with camps and outfits; but
these accidents were rare, and unless
some prowling bear had broken into the
camps and eaten up the supplies the OWL
ers might reasonably expect to find things
| about as they We're left the previous
spring.
1t had been arranged that the boys
should 90 up to the camps the first week
in October, as the harvesting would be
well along by that time, and it being now
past the middle of September preparations
for this trip had already begun Rifles
were cleaned up, bullets moulded and
swedged, every one being carefully ex-
amined and submitted to my eldest broth
er for final judgment before being packed
in the camp kit. Targets were set up
against a convenient boulder one hundred
yards away and the sights on the rifles
were adjusted so that each one could
PUNK ball into the bulls-eye four times
out of five. AS my rifle was of small
calibre and not adapted for long range
shooting, Though very accurate up to
fifty Or sixty yards), did not participate
in this target practice. In fact, it was