The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-06-02
DIANA'S SPIDER.

meets through the winter, WIN dgpfa-
waited activity during Lent, at houses Of
the membe s its motto, First fiannels
to the INDECENT its symbol, thimble
crossed by a pair of scissors argent
on background of flannel gules sur
mounted by a spool Of thread couchant.
The demure maid who serves bouil-
lon, tea and chocolate to the society's
fair Decreases hears tales from every
quarter of the globe-of life in the sum-
mer colonies along the New England
coast, of yachting cruises through Nor
wegian fiords in the yellow wake Of the
midnight sun, of walking tours in the
Landes and camping trips in the north
woods. She knows her planet better
than many whose orbits are less cir
cumscribed and can safely be relied up
on for information regarding elk in Ore
gon or salmon III the Columbia, the
proper time to hunt the grizzly in AS
siniboia and the relative merits Of the
Andalusian donkey and his twin broth
or, the Rocky mountain buro.
After serving the Bradamante of the
society with a cup of tea and caviare
sandwich, she retires to dusky corner
of the room, refills the lamp under the
brazen kettle and rearranges the Ores
den cups and saucers and the jewel
mounted spoons upon the lockwood ia
| BILE.
When the fluffy haired Mrs. Jack,
the society's president and the hostess
Of the occasion, begins her story, there
is lull in the talk, which the wind
| fills in with neatly executed arpeggio
Mrs. Jacks mouth droops in wistful
curves, and beside her eyes an infants
would seem sophisticated.
| Jack says | must go with him to
Africa, but shall never dare to look a
| tiger in the face after my experience on
the Big MUDDY.
Mrs Jacks adventures have familiar
lied the society with Tin Cup, Big Bug,
Bumblebee and Medicine Hat. But the
| Big Muddy offers delightful fields for
speculation, for it has not yet found a
place on any map, and its only high
roads are the half obliterated trails left
by the Utes when they unwillingly de-
| parted for new hunting grounds.
| "You remember the bighorn shot
after Jack and the guides had tracked
| him for ten days over the Rattlesnake
range in Wyoming?" Mrs. Jack contin-
ues plaintively.
The society remembers the big-horn
rs well as the giant shark i'll the Next
can gulf, the mountain lion and the Gin
namon bear with amber eyes picked off
by Mrs Jacks rifle in the San Francis
quito mountains The idea of her not
daring to look tiger in the face under
any circumstances taxes the credulity of
the society. Has she ever known fear,
ever quailed before beast, bird or fish
this modern Artemis?
When she accompanies her husband
on his hunting expedition, she wears the
woods autumn livery-leaf brown and
scarlct-an abbreviated skirt and leg
gings of brown corduroy, a scarlet leath-
Ell shirt with elk's teeth for buttons, a
hat festooned with trout and salmon
flies and shining leaders. A cartridge
belt girdles her slender waist, with its
depending revolver and hunting knife.
It is remarkable that Mrs. Jack has
escaped the cinnamon's embrace, and
bruin might well be pardoned such an
indiscretion.
"Jack has always said that my phys
ical courage first attracted him But l
had never confessed to him that there
was one test 10 which | should be rin-
equal. 1t came on the Big Muddy. Lis
ten:
1--WE were camped in the quaking as
pen. Snow had fallen, and the elk were
coming down You could hear them
bungling on every side just before dawn.
It is easy to stop band Ct elk as they
pass near your camp ly initiating their
call upon an empty cartridge she'll
have learned tho trick, and Jack had
no hesitation in permitting me to choose
my own trail one morning and follow
ing it alone afoot, he and the guides
scattering in other directions. The taste
Of the camp coffee was still upon my
lips, my checks tingled with the frosty
breath of the morning air rs kept eau
tiously to the windward of the elk,
whose trumpeting stirred me like mar
tial music.
"A stray bear track showed here and
there in the fresh snow But was aft
or elk A hundred miles lay between
our camp and the nearest settlement.
All, the solitude of those woodsH
Mrs Jack leans back in her chair and
signs reminiscently as she gazes into
the blazing hearth fire, charming pic
ture in her house gown Of old blue,
frightened with CLEANS of Persian en-
broiderv, interviewer with uncut jewels
~ had gone three miles, perhaps
four, over fallen spruce up the steel
side Of rugged mountain, when crash
across my trail came band Of elk
headed by magnificent bull.
"Crouching behind a bowlder, Iwait
ed. have waited so often for big game
from Alaska to the gulf Jack says
have seen more than he can ever hops
to see If he lives to be 100. My hant
sus steady. Jack often gets buck fever
never do. l took deliberate aim. TIL
elk came toward the bullet and droppe'
dead without struggle. Blazing tn
trail as I retraced il toward camp 70
the pack animals saw that there wer
new bear tracks. | was not out tina
day for bear. and did not care 20 com
upon one alone, although l had n
thought Of Sinking the encounter wer
1t forced upon me.
"A bear in a bear pit is clums
creature. In the woods he challenge
your admiration by his clever fashio
Of covering the ground without apparen
effort The one soon deserted ahead G
me was numbering along like bunc