Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-09-24
LOVE AND PERIL.
By TIE MARQUIS OF LoRNE.
Copyright, 1896. !
CHAPTER III

Dear me, What an angel hlOOSnKi
isI' l used TO say to myself as stretch
ed out on the fir twig mattress before
the fire she had kindlod and helped my
self to the nice roast steak of venisoI
or the smoking fish she had prepared
And thus time passed, and felt no in
clination to regret that did not keeI
Christmas that year at home in the far
OF east The blaze of the pine logs lii
up for me Christmas trees in the wild
forest which seemed to me fairer thar
any had helped to delight the children
with at home Our candles amid the
branches were only the sparks ascending
fitfully and dying in the green boughs,
through which every here and there to-
ward the outer fringes peeped the stars
Of the clear frosty heavens My lodge Of
cedar and spruce bark, hung around q
stack of sturdy young tree poles, was as
smart and good as any in the camp.
had store of smoked fish and venison
strips for all contingencies. Ihad deer.
skins and furs from the bodies of some
bears we had slaughtered, beautifully
cured by Kiooshka, and on these / sat
and smoked the pipe Of peace and con-
tentment
Then came entanglements Of yet
more formidable character had gone
with two Indians on hunting expedi-
tion. One of these men was decided
admirer of Kiooshka, and although
she seemed to give him no encourage
ment he had been looked upon as her
affianced husband. This worthy young
brave naturally disliked me, and l saw
him sullenly contemplating me often
enough. He and the other had been no
choice Of mine as companions that day,
but started with a rife. and they had
followed the same path l had taken.
After awhile, in thicket Of cedar, we
came upon traces Of moose. By this
time the i'll disposed Mistusu, Kiooshka s
friend, only was with me. The other
man had diverged from us and we had
not seen him for three hours or more. I
had not expected to have much sport
and had only taken three cartridges
with me loose in my pocket. In follow
ing the game stumbled more than once,
and it must have been then that I lost
these spare cartridges. But my rife was
loaded, and looking amid the boughs
heavily laden with snow l heard a
rush and saw dark object for mo-
ment. I raised my rife and fired. and
struggling through the dense and snow
laden boughs of evergreen l came on
blood marks, and eagerly tracked them.
In about half an hour | came up to a
fine bull moose, whose horns were alone
at first visible, for the animal was lying
down in little gully. l stopped for
moment to recharge my rife and found
to my CONSERVATION that my few spare
cartridges were gone. pulled out my
knife and rushed on, and as | did So
and when near the moose, he regained
his legs lowered his head, and charged
like Spanish bull. l leaped on one
side, but too late to avoid a sweep of
his broad antlers, which wounded me
in the leg and threw me on one side.
But it was his last effort He reeled and
tell, and found that my bullet had
been we'll planted behind the shoulder.
l shouted to the Indian, but he was
nowhere to be seen. now felt my leg
very painful, and dragged myself with
difficulty out of the gully and shouted
again through the glades of the woods.
There was no answer. Whether the In
dian was watching me or not l never
knew. / felt the greatest distrust of
Mistusu. don't think / should have
minded Kiooshka's marrying some In
dian at this period, but certainly did
dislike very much the idea of her mar
riage with Mistusu. Now, however, 1
thought little of Kiooshka, and l shout
ed again for Mistusu. l certainly could
not carry off any meat from the carcass
without him, and | doubted, SO great
was the pain in my leg, which was now
all swollen and blue, if I could get
home without him. 1t was no joke to
be benighted in this lame condition,