The Jennings daily record. [volume] (Jennings, La.) 1900-1903, 1902-07-21

low, the side of saddle. l could watch
the Great Dipper do its slow somer-
sault around the North Star. When
the campfire died the night before,
and we went to bed, the Dipper was
lying along the tops of the mountains,
brimming full. 1t is easier to watch
this great hand In the astronomical
clock than to light unwilling matches
from time to time in the night and ex-
anime q watch; and knew that when
the constellation had nearly reversed
itself, it would be time to start NOV
ing.
A man in camp sleeps sweetly, vet
lightly. A dozen times through the
dark hours the distant sharp bark Of a
fox, the rustic of q leaf, the deep sigh
Of a satiated and sleepy horse on q
picket rope. the cracking of coal in
the embers Of the campfire, the call
Of a night bird. or the snap Of twig
under the tread Of some of the animals
Of our cavalcade, called me with a
gentle thorOughness from s1umber.
Each time it seemed as though the
position Of the encircling attendants
q slight angle; and each time / sank
instantly again into the perfumed rest
that comes from bed Of balsam
boughs after hard days work.
The hush that comes over all nature
just before the dawn was near being
my undoing, after all. The Dipper
seemed to have made great sudden
sweep and was dangerously far over
when my eyes opened again. The
canvas was throbbing with the pulse
of the morning breeze, but the eastern
was darker than the western sky,
where lowered a faint glow. 1t took
an effort of will to get out into the
cold air, but necessity compelled haste
and / scrambled as gently as l could
over the dewy coverlet. hurriedly put
on the few clothes l had taken OF the
night DISTINGUISHING and undressing
are mutually short operations in
hastily made camp-found my damp
and clammy shoes, raked together the
Goals in the ashes, famed flame,
boiled coffee and munched hasty
breakfast of bread and some cold trout.
My partner. chum, helpmate never
stirred. 1t is wonderful how trustfui
woman will sleep in the wilderness,
safe in the superstition that he who
sleeps beside her is competent to meet
danger which HAY arise
into my pocket, together with Il couple
Of biscuit in case the chase should be
nnduly long. shouldered the heavy rifle
and strobe out through the high grass,
which was so beaded with dew that
walking was like wading an ice-cold
stream. The horses We're standing on
widespread legs. heads near the ground,
asleep, While the burros. weary with
the long pull with the heavy packs of
the day before, We're huddled together,
lying on the ground
The morning star was at its bright
est as / started across the valley. but
by the time l had picked splashing
path across the current of the little
river and got fairly started up the
trail, it was paling. Little f1ecks of
purple cloud began to appear above
the SUMS approaching glow. as though
they had been newly created. The
rugged ascents into view in q purple
radiance. The eastern hills grew from
shapeless masses of gloom into rounded
eminences with dainty fringes of as
pens and slender minaretS of spruces
against the family glowing sky. J.
wished l had started half an hour
earlier, and Quickened my pace a
little.
In The growing twilight l could see q
Tnrry SKUNK in his sleek coat of jet
black and snowy white. treading the
clumps of bunch grass, picking up the
benumbed insects before the sun S
heat might give them the vitality to
escape. In the trail ahead of me a fox
trotted. ! was conscious of the faint
presence of his scent. but did not place
IT until l saw the flash of his fur above
the grass. He knew / was following,
but knew too that he was safest down
IN that sinuouS passage between high
walls of grass and flowers on whose
smooth surface he could make IA far
safer, swifter fight than over the
rough ground to either side.
a mile or so above camp ] left the
tran and crossed the stream again,
getting my feet no wetter in wadins.
but feeling the icy chill pervade the
water in my shoes which my feet had
warmed in the comparative dryness OF
the beaten track. Close to the rip
ping surface colder breath moved
and the scrubby willows had coating
of white frost. | brushed furry
moth from twig in passing but it
was too cold for more than one very
feeble f1utter. 1t fell wide stretched
ON the water and as the current swept
1t into quiet eddy it disappeared so
quietly that one might suppose it had