The Monte Vista journal., 1903-12-26
Floating with a Wolf
0sta 8spsrsesss Of WestsrAs =
d 4issaaSi River.

w" ELL, sir. this thing Of sailing
w on an ice raj, doe. not con,
form TO the requirements Of the. Sun.
day-school picnic. Dismal aA the lat
ter may be and generally il. it is orien-
tai luNuriance compared to he former,
especially IL the highway being trav-
ersed happens to be the Missouri river
when it feels pert" The speaker was
= western man.
1T was in the early sos. You re-
member the winter l had that thing
on in Kansas City," he resumed.
'Whew. what winter that was. Their
mometer down below zero for six
weeks, wind bowling blizzard all day
and resting up At night for the next
day. snow three feet deep and frozen
solid 80 that wagon wheels played
harmonics all the time. n mans breath
adding to the arcumulations of snow
and ice and"
''Oh. come, Charlie broke In th..
sufferer. draw II mild. like SAirey
Camp liked It,"
We'll. you know 1t was fearful win.
ter IN well a. |. What's the matter.
You visited In~ and nearly froxe to
death. Couldn't keep warm. aliho ugh
burned up ton Of coal week Well.
YOU know. I'm something Of a hunter.
/ had plenty Of Idle time and used Ia
wrap up we'll and take my Parker out
across into kansxs. where chicken and
duck wer~ pleaty. i had some fine spcr,
sniping. too. along the big river hn.,
th~ slough. There arr too many hills
thereab"uts for good Aloughing,
though.
"li was aioag In March. You know
the id~a that The weather out there l.
better thaa here won't hold water. for
the water would freeze Ia winter. The
season outlasts our. sometimes, too.
II did this particular winter. for they
had snow In the middle Of April Fact
got out my gun on~ day when il wa.
= hit mild and went over the road Ia a
Few miles up river from Quinharo. You
know this once famous town Is now
sh. r~s~rvoir for the waterworks. Well
I snips-d along the bank In the reesis
and waa knocking over quite . few,
when l Jaw I had better start back
down river II ! wanted to grit home
before dark. I bad had good sport
but nch-d for mor~. II was a grand day
cold. To liz sure. but bracing.
AZ last spi-d some duck sitting on
the waier--thc river rarely fr-ex-s all
the way o,~r-just beyond the rim OF
Ice which frine-d the shore. At thi,
point the river sweeps wide Ia III,
porth and then cuts into the hills on
&he spu'h side. forming narrow sovg.
near the ~a,-r~oska. There il . b-nd
which the rarsess strikes and Il had
piled up lot u Ne In humnorks - II
ground againat The shor~ ledge These
humm"cks hslpsd NE . heap. tor I
conid sneak out O. the shoes lcs and
grt a chance 1t the duck. ! foeRot
all about the time. for Vas shy . ZOO.
fat r-dhead aud WAITED him.
We'll. sir. I west cut % shae aAosr
I~sig~-i, ~as shoal wAt~r shers-asd
h~sv~d chunks os 10 ~ shnse dsoks Ia
get '-n up. zoe know. for M husser
phao,a at ~aa~r fswl ~hea s~imnins.
They baked like Han Hili ssd ] crsI.X
ont farther asA farther. suu heevipe
,hings a. 'ea- A. lass thsy roe asd
~ss busy sAeotia4 right and left -
ssst - eosA ~. TAea wAea ws
got out of ssa9s iosnA ! AsA sary
duck. WA out ~ cartridges sd 10 dug
y" bring In ths dsal. I killed . los,
but ih~y fell IL the water or, whsA ~ss
~ors~. ~ the haok.
"Ses. sir. skss's . faet. I TUNED
back I" IN 70 ~ aAsse and disssvsesa
that ~as - - Ne fsfs yell ost IA
the curr~st. II wea whirliAe srouuA In
the ~tdyine ssreaa Nike . top. and b.
the time ! had ssea The ~sseswueks
half doses uass asd last EN- - ostss
I declare di6st ksow u ! vas q
ouindsro ~ II ~ AipA Kay. nsyhs
you think ] uhsd Il. I iiin't. That
river is . hssd peepoaition aaywherv.
II Is harder II what they cali . thross
gorge one At shsss sassv~iass Of the
hsnks-shaa anywhere eise. I wss In
en. IT these 9usg~s and working down.
s'''rn ~ fsst ~ The neid Ics would
Ut me.
"M I sAid. the crushing 81 the aos
aeuinst that sa9ie In the hank hsd
allied up \ lot of b~sgs higher than my
hessi. What nax1e nm 50 Ear q mysejs
far fool 49, shas had forgotten -
saIssiats ~ sotsssssss Of Ice q hat
eeneun. ysns ~ - ths shes. 80.