The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-05-17
A STRANGE EXPERIENCE
IN THE MAINE WOODS.

l place this on recOrl as the mos
remarkable story that has ever come
out of the Maine hunting woods-and
| know considerable about the stories
of the Maine woods. If it were not
vouched for so emi1ently | would not
tell it. It would be too much for cred
ulity and wouldn't be worth the tell
ing | believe it, for | know the men
VINO tell it to me, even though they
cannot explain it. They believe II
and do not try to explain it, for they
feel they cannot. Here it is. If the
thing seems too much to believe, then
don't believe it, But the facts are just
the same.
On the north side of Boarstone
mountain. in the town of Elliotsville,
in Piscatauquis county, Maine, lives
Trustrum II. Brown, who calls himself
| THE Mediator" He entertains the
harmless vagary that he is the media
| tor between man and God. For some
| Is years since his retirement to the
| wilderness of northern Maine he has
been writing what he calls a new BIZ
bic, and he has a mass of manuscript
piled foot high By the way, l have
examined the "Mediators" manu-
script considerably, and it is far from
being balderdash. Much of his writ
ing indicates real thought and consid-
cradle ability. The Mediator" Is in
no sense of the word a crazy man, de-
spite his Authorization on the subject
of religion.
Brown has a bit Of a farm and
raises potatoes and vegetables enough
to last him through the winter. He
traps little and hunts a bit AMI
never goes hungry.
Early in December just after the
first snow of the season, he discovered
one morning the fresh tracks of a
moose near his house. BY the man.
ner in which the creatures great feet
had splayed into the snow, Brown
saw that the moose was a big one.
In his capacity of Mediator" he as.
serts that there are 10000 spirits
about him all the time. He alleges
that he asked one of these spirits to
tell him how big the moose was and
that the spirit skipped along ahead
and then came back and rendered him
the information that the moose was
none other than the Ambajejus Giant
that had iefied the rifles of hunters
for years. The spirit further ie-
clared, SO Brown AYERS, that the
moose didn't have much of start.
So the Mediator" tied on his SNOW
shoes, grabbed his rifle and a bit of
a snack, and started away on the
lope into the forest. This was early
in the morning. Well, the Mediator"
scuffed along till noon without COM
ing up with the moose. But the
tracks still continued fresh and his
spirit guide, SO he says, kept breath.
ing into his ear that the animal was
almost in reach. He ate his lunch of
cold venison as he walked, for in
stern chase Of moose no time is to
be wasted. His keen woodsman's eye
noted that the clouds nung low and
were massing darker and darker. Had
he not been SO confident that the
moose was just ahead Of him and
would yard" at the coming Of night.
fall, he would have abandoned the
chase.
At o'clock 1t was dusk, and still
the splay tracks were stretching on
ahead of him. Then he could see them
no longer. and regretfully he brought
to in a ravine and abandoned the
chase for the night.
He had not reckoned on the long
pursuit and therefore he had not pro-
vided himself in the usual cautious
manner. Above all, he had not
brought his woods axe.
Only a man accustomed to the
woods realizes how serious an omis-
'ion this Is. The Mediator" was able
TO collect some dry kye or limbs that
had dropped from the trees and he
hewed OF some low branches with his
hunting knife. He hniled a bit of |
tre at the foot of a tree. He did not |
1are to go to asleep, for tn. cold was |
raw and piercing. So he stood and |
turned himself before the fire like
IN animated spit, moving constantly
% keep awake.
In the morning there was nothing
eft Of his provender except one nat
,hested biscuit. Had he not been un-
July fired with zeal to catch that
moose he would have retraced his
teps. But he felt that probably the
lnimal had yaried little way ahead.
md SO on he went. He did come
lcross the trampled place where the
moose had spent the night. and with
IS great teeth had ripped off the
wigs and bark. BY the mighty reach
he Mediator" saw that the animal
vas monster, and OH he drove Gag
'rly in skurry of snow from his
'road shoes. Still those monster
plotches in the snow kept trailing
way ahead Of him.
Then some unkind weather sprite
oggled the clouds overhead. The
now commenced to come in the fine
irving flakes that indicate a protract-
q storm. Then, and not till then.
Id the reckless hunter turn about.
tut before an hour had passed the
now, driving faster and faster. GOV.
red his tracks. Night came on again
)rc,N more ho krttod b;c o..