The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-23
sam Bent's Deer.


much looking for big game in the uprive1
woods came out here to Penney's last
week, and put his name down on the
register as Sam Bent Chelsea, Mass, -
says the Amherst, Me, correspondence OF
/ the New York Sun. When he said he want
ed a deer and would pay good money to
| get one, the idlers around the Office ex-
! changed winks and referred him to a
small lumberman known as Cy, who had a
camp on Union river.
How much are you offerin' fer shot at
big buck?" asked Cy,winking back to the
boys.
Five dollars" said the man from Chez
sea, land $40 if I get him"
Boards extra, you know, and SOS
guide" continued Cy, determined to drive
as good a bargain as possible.
'All right" said Bent, cheerfully. Take
me there tonight"
The visitor boarded at Cy's camp, and
Cy acted as guide. The first day they
went in under Chicks hill and climbed
until noon without seeing anything bigger
than a hedgehog. Cys brother Tom
brought the dinner to them in the woods
and took up the duties of guide while Cy
went back to camp. Before they parted the
brothers had a quiet talk with each other,
portion of which Bent overheard.
AT o'clock sharp" said Tom, as Cy
turned.
Yes" replied Cy. BE on the down
hemlock in the run and keep a sharp out
look in the beecheS to the right
Bent walked a long way that afternoon
and had a very pleasant time listening to
Toms story about the plentifulness of big
game in that region and hearing about
the mistake which hunters made in going
up river for sport when the best place in
the world for deer was right out here
among the hardwood saplings. Tom took
Bent long way among lodges to show
, i'm where a Boston man shot two deer
last fall. He led the visitor to a great hem
lock stump for the sake of pointing out a
pool of blood which was drawn from the
biggest buck in Maine" Several cradle
knobs were located as the spots where
deer at divers times had fallen before
deadly bullets, until in a few hours Bent
imagined the whole woodland was swarm
ing with deer. So charmed was he with
the conversational powers of the guide
that he forgot all about deer and would
not have missed his rifle if it had been
stolen from him.
They entered a well-worn wood road as
the sun dipped down among a bunch of
hemlocks, on a western hill, and before
they had gone half a mile Tom tapped
Bent on the shoulder
Look a Their" he cried in a stage whis-
per. Aim fer his neck an shoot on fust
squint."
Bent saw lean. long-legged buck
standing in a hardwood growth $50 yards
away. As he squnted along the rifle the
deer leaped in the air, and before it land
ed on its feet again the report of the rife
rang out sharply.
you've hit him, by thunder" cried the
| guide, who was evidently vexed about
something
Il know it," said Bent coolly. THAT'S
what l go hunting for"
Both made a dash for the woods after
the deer. and the guide, having better
wind and knowing more about the woods
| soon distanced his companion When
Bent had ran fifty rods or so he saw Tom
! leaning over the fallen deer cutting line
/ from its head AS he slashed away with
| his knife he swore to himself, and hastily
| concealed the fragments of the line under
| a mass of leaves. After this he looked at
the deer pityingly and cut it's throat.
| you here?' he asked, looking up and
! seeing Bent.
| Eyes. What's the line for?'
Dunno" replied Tom evidently net
/ tied. HE must err run inter somebody S
! clothesline, 1 reckon
/ perhaps it was bed cord" suggested
Bent. ITS been on some time, anyhow, -
/ he continued, feeling of the raw scar
/ which extended clear around the deer s
head at the base of the horns. at would
! have died a natural death before long if
! 1 hadn't killed it"
To all this banter Tom made no reply,
! though his face looked more savage than
| the hunting knives with which they dress
! ed the deer. Bent took his venison to
! Ellsworth the next day. Before he left
he learned that Cy and Tom were very
| angry with him for killing the deer They
had kept it for two years. Whenever a
! hunter came along one of the boys would
| go out with him, while the other waited
/ at an appointed place and turn the deer
/ loose at long range. Though half a
dozen men had shot at it this year, no one
had made a hit until Bent arrived. OF
course the hunters who had missed their
| game wanted to follow it up. Before
they had gone far the guide coaxed them
off on a false track, which brought no
results. Meanwhile the long line which
| was attached to the deer's horns become
entangled in the underbrush and brought
| it to standstill. 10 When the discouraged
hunter had paid his bill and gone away
! the brothers led the deer back and put it
| in pen in the hovel, where it fed on hay
and oats until another hunter wanted to
! try his luck.
IT reckon that air deer has earnt them
boys moren't er cool $780," said Bent's in
formant. And now" he concluded,
them fellows must go to work again.
| It's too darned bad"