Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1899-05-11
DOG WAS A SURPRISE.

Olu-llnc lovers OF lRc chase cannot Dul keep /
him in memory as one Of the gamest most !
intelligent and most loyal of friends. He /
has the courage and endurance of the tiger |
without his instructive savagery. lie will !
keep a trail as long as it can be found, re-
gardless of the pangs of hunger and thirst, |
and either finds his quarry or surrenders
to exhaustion. He is gentleness itself to his
master and yet as tenacious as hungry wolf !
when following his prey.
The old. hunters never tire of telling Of
the proves of their favorite deerhounds in
the days before the law placed ban on
them and many Of the most exciting stories
of the woods have these noble dogs for cen
trail figures.
/ admit the responsibility Of having in
troduced new and better strain into many
Of the deerhounds in northern Michigan.
Their occupation is gone, but, like an inn
poverished nobility, they still retain their
pride and the evidences Of good breeding
! brought this sire from the east to the
Alpena district in 1884. He was blood
hound, fresh from the kennel, and a very
uncertain quantity in the minds of sports
men who passed judgment. lie was a
handsome specimen of has kind, tau, strong
lmbed, with fine coating and with ears
1t was the unanimous view Of the local
huntsmen that had made foolish in
vestment. They pooh-poohed the idea Of
man-ehaser being a deer-chaser. There
were more specific objections, such as that
he was too young, he was tender-footed, he
was too finely bred, and lot Of other ex-
ceptions to my dog, such as are always TO
be encountered when radical innovation
is proposed.
/, however, had faith in Ranger and
was determined to give him trial. But
decided that it should be secret trial, so
that the skeptics should not triumph over
me in the event of failure. / started early
on the first day of October with my old
Chippewa friend, Neswassoba, our means
of transportation being raneey horse that
| could make good time over our sandy
route, and a blackboard, the best light
vehicle for such roads as we had to travel.
We drove straight for the hermitage of a
retired lake captain whose command on the
! inland seas had been a sailing vessel de-
! voted largely to coastwise trade. He was
! then a hunter and trapper, his cabin in a
/ little clearing hemmed by vast depths Of
unbrolSen forest The old salt was not at
home, but we knew the laws Of hospitality
in that part of the world. Neswassoba
entered through window with the clever
ness Of a burglar, opened the door from
within, and by the time ths salt returned
there was a cheerful fire glowing, while we
were RECALLING ourselves from his larder.
"Hello, my heartiesw was the cheerful
announcement of his return. Glad TO see
you. That's right, make the harbor snug
and don't slight the rations." After us the
captain at once noticed our dog. "Whew!"
he exclaimed, big fellow, hain't he? Reg
ular three decker. / wonder if he'll run, il
you put him on courseg Where did you
get him|
Il / proudly produced the dogs pedigree, q
most imposing dscument, Out even it failed
to convince the gruf captain that the dos
would run down deer But he was to be
given the benefit of a fair trial, for the
captain knew all about the runways and
was glad to give us the benefit of hi:
n knowledge. was surprised at the Indian
after we had been discussing the dog fol
some time He pulled Ranger to him by
the ears, took his paws in his hands AM
whispered something that was all the more
mysterious because in the Chippewa
tongue. am sure that it was some sort Of
a "pow-wow," for Neswassoba turned t
us with a solemn air of conviction anG
said: "HeaR good dog. Him never leav'
trail. Him outrun swiftest deer and hin
never get tired."
have never been charged with supersti
5 ton, but the assurance Of the Indian CAV
e me a great deal OF confidence and L wa
= afterwards inclined to believe that Mes
a wassoba knew all about the BLOODHOUND
= and the glories thar were to come to hi
a progeny.
e The next morning we had our breakfas
and the captain had given us our place
on the runaway by the coming of daylight
My stand was just by the edge of
slashing, and from it could see back &c
s wards the hills for half a mile, while be
fore me was the water for which the dee
would make if so hard pressed that h
could not shake the dog off. 1t is tn
last resort had scarcely seated mysel
p, on log and filed my pipe when / hear
d Ranger give tongue. o, what a voice
clear and musical as bell. Here was
point in his favor, but would he stick
e lit the pipe, confident that there would b
s a long run before the deer would be force
q to the water. The bay Of the hound tol
i that he was coming nearer, and coming lib
n the wind. felt sure that but for the gra
p mist Of the morning / could see the dog an
his game
: A shot rang cut from the upper end Of II
slashing. There was a brief silence, then I'll
s powerful voice of the hound My PHI
8 dropped from my mouth and my Winchest'
: went 10 my shoulder in response to an il
stinctive impulse. Not eight rods ava
: from me there went bounding by one Of IL
largest does ever saw. She seemed ilas
propelled by springs Of steel, and it was pla'
Z that she was so hard pushed that she WI
s seeking the shortest way TO safety.
q "Bangl bangl" Yes, have her. She
down, but up again. Twice more the Wi
I chester speaks and the quarry is nine
L have just time to do the blood letting r
Z quired in such a case, and step behind
= tree, when Ranger rushes from the slas
e ing, his nose close to the ground and
> ring Of triumph in his voice. He pass
" within reach Of my hand, but pays no mo
heed to me than to the tree against whi'
l. I leaned. Coming to the deer he sat dow
al with a puzzled look that made me laugh
y, went to him, told him how nobly be h,
le done and patted him in approval. Then
be licked the deer all over, trick that sor
a. hounds have, never offering 10 taste OF {
DC tempting meat. It seemed the act OF a sc
g erous winner in a magnificent race.