Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-05-31
WHEN THE HUNTERS
WERE HUNTED.
By c. A. STEPHENS.

tive town, who knew how to trim
his sails 10 catch the popular breeze,
bad offered a number OF the boys of
the village a dollar a quart for all the
turtle oil that they could procure for
him.
For remedial purposes turtle oil
is probably no better than goose oil.
lard or tallow; but for the time being
faith in it had sprung up. and that was
enough for this empiric doctor.
AS boys, we did not rouble our
selves with the medical question. 1t
was an attractive offer, and our indi-
lar.
The only draw back was that the Of
fer came in November, so late in the
fall that the turtles at the lake had all
gone into winter quarters in the mud
of the bog, and could no longer be
captured summing On the logs. or by
night upon the long sand-bank where
they laid their eggs. We had home
IL knowledge of their habits, hoy
ever. and knew about how deep they
bIrrowed while alternating; and on
the afternoon OF my story three of us
had gone to the lake. or rather 10 the
wide, muddy bog that bordered it,
bent on capturing a boat-load of big
turtles. An old bayonet affixed TO the
end of short pole. and a spade with
a long handle made up my equipment
for turtle hunting; but in addition to
SPADES, my two fellow hunters. Alfred
sud Willis. were provided. one with
strong hay-fGrk. the other with a
grapnel hook dashed to the end Of
stout ash saplirg.
For safety's sake. too. we had each
an old pair OF snow-shoes. For al
though the mud OF the bog was now
slightly frozen over. the deep sloughs
beneath were still dangerous. The lake
itself had not yet frozen. We were
therefore able to cross over from our
shore to the bog in boat-an old craft
that had long been common property
among the boys for fishing excursions.
Our modus operaIdi can be conjec-
tured from our outfit. Having put on
our show-shoes. we began searching
for turtle signs. and prodding deep
into the muu with the bayonet. When
touched with the point of he sharp
weapon, under such circumstances. the
burrowing turtle would stir slightly,
thus differentiating itself from a sunk
en- log or root. When the reptile was
located, the task of unearthing it was
begun with spade and grapnel.
But afternoons are short in Novem-
Ter. We mad secured no more than
three turtles, if / remember right
big, muddy, semitorpid creatures that
ay in the bottom Of the boat. hardly
tirring-Uhen the approach of sunset
armed us to set of for home. We
ere rowing back across the upper
ach of the lake. when directly in
ant of us we saw a flock of four
zoe ms. which We had already noticed,
sail ing to and fro. several times that
Afternoon.
ITS queer they haven't gone yet"
saidl Alfred They always leave here
earlier, before il gets so cold
AN four Of the looms were SWIM
ming down across our course,-great,
handsome birds.-and one OF them.
IuInlAH lAS aaN cA AO0dAA US QtitlC0 the
short. singular laugh characteristic of
looms. We noticed, however, that two
of them were much smaller than the
Others. and that one of the two lag
ged about fifty .eet behind the rest
as they swan.
Those two are this years young
ones. said Willis. Perhaps they
were late Matched and aren't large
enough to- fly far yet"
"Oh. yes. hey are" said Alfred.
"A loon can fy only there is room
to rise from the water, by the time
they are half-growa.
We had come up quite near the lag
ging one by this time, and wondered
why it did not dive Instead. il SEEM
ed TO be making frantic attempts TO
swim, yet did not progress fast and
the others were as evidently SWIM
ming slowly 10 allow it to keep near
them.
why. believe something's the mat
ter with that young loom" said Will
lis. He cannot swim much. Let's
catch him."
Al44tu anu Dlifu lle
oars smartly. while Willis steered the
boat, and after pulling for two or three
hundred yards We anne lose upon the
tagging loon. Non Ier.ng all the while
that it did not dive
II continued struggling ahead on the
surface till Willis steered the boat close
alongside, calling out TO Alfred to
catch il. The youEs loon thon made a
great effort to rise tut Alfred. drop
ping his oar, seized it by one wing
and pulled it into the boat
We then saw that something was
wrong With it's feet They we're not
properly webbed, but looked like club
feet. little deformed masses OF red
flesh and bone.
The instant it felt Alfreds grip It
uttered wild. harsh cry: ana that cry
CT distress affected deeply the two
old looms. They were fully dftF yards
ahead, but they turned instantly with
similar wild cries, and seeming 20
stand erect in the water. they flap
ped their powerful wings and came
directly toward the boat.
So far from being alarmed however,
we thought il rather a good joke at
drst, and made ready TO strike them.
But the looms had a mode OF attack