Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-05-14

blowing out the light Then, of course,
it was necessary to relight my lamp be-
fore | could proceed. and this was not al
ways easy, owing to the high wind. |
was walking at random, as ! had no idea
which direction the fugitives had taken.
In the course of an hour of steady hun,-
ing, ! came upon one of them, seated IN
the fork of white birch tree. calmly
eating the bark. He showed so little de-
sire to escape, that ! decided to watch
him for a while. 50 / leaned against
tree and held up my lamp and waited.
The animal had paused when came close
up, but presently he began to eat again
with his large yellow incisor teeth he
quickly ripped away the dry papery outer
covering. and then scraped of the Juicy
inner bark. which he chewcd up ana swal-
lowed with evident relish, watching me
meanwhile with his rucful black eyes.
But I still had another porcupine to find,
and there as no time to waste, SO ] APP
preached with the intention OF PICKING
him up and carrying him back TO the
cn-hcuse. But when ] put out my hand
to Law hold of him, he wheeled around,
and at the same time raising all the hair
ON his ia ok. disclosed an array of sharp
1uills. which were anything but inviting
I moved round toward the front OF him.
but he had turned more quickly than l
did. and there was his Formidable Dack
presented to me once more. however.
his tail hung down very innoccntly, ana
as all the quilts upon it lay fiat ana point
ed toward the tip, | decided that there
was the vulnerable point ON which to make
an attack That was where | made
mistake for had | been lust a little pet
ter acquainted with the animal should
have known that. slow as he is. porcu-
pines tail is the last part of his anatomy
to take liberties with. IT is the one mem
her ne has which cannot he accused of
N
sprang upwards, as though propelled by
n powerful spring and. somehow or other.
my right glove was brstling with quilts.
1t took me some tim" to remove thcSe
ouills. for. although they went in easily
enough. the barbs with which the tips
were furnished made them very hard to
pull out.
Next time. tried to grasp a hind leg.
but | found that porcupines tail works
sideways as we'll as upward and that once
more ] got my gloves fun OF quillS. At
last / held down his tail with n stick,
and, grasping it firmly with one hand.
looscned his claws from the bark with
the other. Then, picking up my lamp i
made the best of my way back to tho hcn-
house. the outraged porcupino clutching
at every twig and tree stump In our path.
He was quite heavy and twice was ohlig-
cd to set him down. and as one OF my
hands was occupied with the lamp, he
got away from me both times. Finally,
however had him safe. and set Off in
search of the other one. After examining
the surrounding country a foot at time,
for another hour, happened to look over
the wall into n neighbours wood, and there
Law my spinY friend, his head between
his fore paws, and every quill on end.
| climbed over the fence. but before
I could attempt his capture the porcu-
pine shufilcd off at his fastest gait, and
10
pace was not hot one. but it was quite
hot enough for me. handicapped as ] was
with nv lamp | was most anxious to
keep him in sight for. if | lost him again.
there was no telling when | should find
him. So | hurried along, now humping
into trees now falling over rocks in the
uncertain light and scratching myself
on more bramble bushes than | had any
idea grew in my part of the country.
But I never lost sight Of the shadowy
FORM and after a stern chase perhaps
quarter Of Il mile. | saw him run under
our noiChbors hon house, the floor or
which was raised about two rect six inches
from the ground. Under this Owed
lamp in hand hoping that my adventures
were about at an end But the house
was a large one, and the fugitive had
plenty of room i'm which to manoeuvre
and was some time before | succeeded
in bringing him to bay in "A corner, with
his head to a post. Here, whenever
tried to take hold of him, he uttered the
most pathetic cries. which at length dis
turbed the hens to such an extent that
they began to souawk in chorus. A mo-
ment later Il pistol shot was heard from
the direction of our neighbours house, and
peeping round the corner, | was just in
time to see the fash of another shot which
came from an upper window. This was
getting serious. for knew now that the
1,.I hn ,,nier h
hors. and that they had taken my light
for that of chicken-thief So FASTENED
to explain the mistake before it was too
late.
Mr. Jones'" I shouted. ITS 7. MIR.
Jones' My porcupne has got under your
hen-house. and I'm trying to get him
out"
Mr.. Jones said something about por-
| curines and juvenile naturalsts which
| was not very complimentary to either,
| and which we will not repeat here.
| The next moment the window went
down with bang, and | was left to con-
| tinue my absorbing pursuit without fur
thor interference. | was getting a little
| out of patience by this time. I was very
| tired, had bruised and scratched myself
| until | felt sore all over I had annoyed
| our nearest neighhor. and worst OF all I
| hadn't caught my porcupne. My gloves,
| covered with quilts I had lost in my race
| through the wood. but ! snatched my cap
| from my head, ana setting down my lamp
| ! crawled to the attack. The "porly'
was waiting for me, but was in no humor
to be trifed with. ] was prepared for a
| handful OF quilts. and | got it and said
nothing. But I caught the tail ION tho
n.y." SO to speak, and hanging on to it,
! dragged out my prisoner foot at time.
How these spines did hurt. but it was
now or never. and | trudged back Ia
l.,
| Reading the window with wooden boxes
filed with stone. | tugged those quilts
from my flesh, washed my wounded hands
and went to bed with respect for porcu-
hines which lasted me for some time.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES.