The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-31

You kin alters kerflummix a liar with
the straight truth. 'S'like right handed
boxer S1tt1n' 'sinst lef'-handed man. He
ain't lookin' fer 1t that way.-Philo sophy
Of Colonel Wheaton.
that ratified me for fair'-scene, Pow
ers' store, audience, gang, speaker,
time cruiser Note: Cruiser not
a war vessel, but a looker-up, locator,
and protector Of timber land, hence
important >citizen In this country.
Had to go way up on the Big Fork
to look after some timber the firm
owns. Heard thieves were in it, and
they were, but as the man who put
em there is good and will pay all the
timber is worth. and more, that was
soon fixed up.
"Of course I went In on the quiet,
and to put 'em next to me, gave my
self away as an evangelist. Rather
rocky thing to do. but just the same
EN- that honesty pays as well in tim
Der dealings as in any other kind. SO
wasn't as much Of a fraud as I
looked like. Stayed all night at the
camp of the robbers, and gave 'em
a little spiel after supper, got the men
singing hymns, every lumberjack
knows a surprising lot Of them, and
busted out next morning. Went we'll
out of sight along the tote road, then
struck into the woods, got back into
the works, and sized up the amount
they had cut. That took me till it was
getting nearly dark, and as had a
long way to go, and was apt to have
to travel a part of the night to reach
shelter, I took right thru the woods,
knowing could cut off lot Of travel
| that way.
afraid Of wolves? Naw!> Never
saw but two live wolves since I've been
| in the woods, and that's thirty years.
| Wolves tree men in the newspapers
| more than anywhere else. So piked
right along, and having regular Nor
| weGian skis, made for brush travel
ing, I got on a good deal faster than
If I had been on the road. I expected
to hit the road again in the works of
the next camp, and get to that before
dark, but I didn't quite do it. The
| daylight was shorter, or the distance
longer than I had figured on, and first
thing I knew it got too dark for any
thing like fast travelling. But after q
little came to small clearing with
a shack to it, and having good sleep
ing bag, and some grub in my pack,
I just thought I would tie UP for the
night.
II went up to the shack, the door Of
which was open, and going in found 1t
bench in it, and a little sheet iron
stove, but no sign of anybody's having
been there for a long time. But it
was SO dark by that time that could
not see what might be in the corners,
so went out, got a lot Of birch bark,
and made a big torch. Lighting that,
/ l came back, and If my hair didn't
stand on end when I saw what the
light showed up, I never told the
truth in my life. zr.f
"Just behind the little stove there
| was the complete skeleton of man.
and a big man he had been, too, with
the whole side Of the head battered
in as If by a sledge hammer, all the
ribs on one side, and the breast
bone caved in the same way,
never having been disturbed since
the man was killed. There were
three or four green-rusted sheels on
the floor, and what was left of a Win
chester, now looking just like the gun
old Rip brought out Of the Catskills,
lying near by. The. gun stock was
broken as if by a hard blow, but not
entirely off, and lay just where the
dying hand Of the man had dropped it.
well, I stayed in that shack till
daylight. Eat or sleep I could not
and the way got out Of there in
the morning was caution But be
fore I left I found the track of a
tremendous big bear in the clay the
poor fellow had put in the middle OF
his floor to set his stove on. The clay
had hardened and held the track as
If it was carved in stone, to place the
crime where it belonged, if that can
do any good. No, never found out
who he, was. Some trapper, no doubt
but they come and go like the wind
and nobody knows whence or whittier
when reached the next camp
!; told the foreman about it, and he sent
men over to bury the bones, on con-
dition Of my giving him my claim tc
the rifle which he wanted for relic
Welcome to it he was, and, much good
may it do him." And, of course, the
long for safety:
:, THAT minis me Of a time wonc-
: down in Wisconc, when I took {
; tenderfoot after a bear. I'd heerd o.
a she with two cubs usin' round il
the woods, ms he offered ten dollar!
to, git 'ern n, git the money. you be e
your neck. Well, I TUX him out, n
s we had to cross, little lake to gi
!, to a place g was likely, I put hin
in the birch m started cross. X
, warned him, whatever he done, no
, till told him what to do; but whats
the use o. tellin' a tenderfoot any
thing? Jest after we got over m
was hid'n the birch in the bresh,
2 heerd him yell, There's a cub up {
: tree m I'm a goin' to git him. m
9 mex thing seen was him a shinnin
up big beech.
8 "I could see some little hairy thint
: up in the crotch O. the tree, m
t broke after him ahollerin', Com
e down, you d-n fool, the old lady !
git you sures hi if you don'tp Blu
! 1nixy. He KEEP on chmbin', m all
could do was wait, m try to stop tn
: old lady when. she come. Did sh
!, come? Nav! Thing up the ire
: was a coon, m it chaWed his finger
! to the queens taste, an he was might
glad to come down, m a dunn sigh
: quicker m he went up"