The Saint Paul globe., 1904-10-30
Copyright by
s. S. McCur Co.

NE daY when I was working on a
h1 Dakota ranch, the boss, a person
bv the name of Steve, urged me
W to take All ak. go forth and chop
little wood. which did.
The weather was ideal A Dakota fall
Air vital with the mingled pleasant touch
of frost and sun, like ice cream in hot
coffee. and still as silence itself. had
good breakfast was in excellent health
and spirits; the boss could by no means
approach within a mile unperceived and
everything pointed to a pleasant day But.
alasI as the copper lined kiilelubird OF
the Rockies sings, Mans hopes rise Win
the celerity and vigor of the hind leg of
the mule only to descend with the velocity
of a stout gentleman on banana peel
On reaching the grove of cottonwoods
I sat down for a smoke and speculative
view cf things in general, having learned
at my then early age that ph1loSopny Is
never of more value thap when one Should
be doing something else.
/ heard noise behind me, a peculiar
noise, between a snort and violent bleat.
Turning, 1 saw a buck deer, and from
the cord and bell arounA his neck recog-
niZed him as one Billy, the property OF
Steve's eldest boy. He was spoken OF as
a pet.
This was the touch needed to complete
my Arcadia; the injection of what, at the
time, I considered to be poetry into the
excellent. prose of open air life. Who
could see that graceful. pretty creature
and remain 7unmoved? Not I, at all events
1 fancied myself as a knight of old IN the
royal forest, which gave touch OF the
archaic to my speech.
Come here, thou sweet-eyed forest
child!'' 1 cried, and here he camel!
At an estimate I should say that he was
four ak handles, or about twelve feet,
high and as he up-ended himself, brand
ished his antlers and jumped me. My ak
was at distance. I moved. I played
knight to kings bishops eighth, in this
case represented by fork of the nearest
tree. A wise and subtle piece Of strategy,
as it resulted in a drawn game
My friend stood erect for a while, max
ing warlike passes with his front feet
(Which, by the way, are as formidable
weapons as a man would care to have
opposed to hirn); then, seeing that there
was no sporting blood in me- he devoured
my lunch and went away-a course 1
promptly initiated as far as I could. de-
parted.
Hitherto I had both liked and admired
Steve. His enormous strength, coupled
with an unexpected agility and an agree
able way he had Of treating you as If you
were quite his own age, endeared him to
me. When I poured out my troubles to
him, however, rebuking him for allowing
such a savage beast to be at large, he
Rused my feeling to undergo a change.
For, instead of sympathizing. he fell to
Wproarious laughter, slapped his leg and
R7ore that it was the best thing he'd ever
heard of, and wished he'd been there to
see it.
There are probably no worse leases on
earth than the big boys who chase the
COW on the Western prairies. They had s.a
horses on the kid and the poor kid felt
nightmare ridden indeed. If l were out
with them some one would assume an
anxious look and carefully scout around a
bunch of grass in the distance, explain
ing to the rest that there might be a
deer concealed there, and one could not
be too careful when there were wild beasts
like that around Then the giggling ras-
Gals would pass the suspected spot with
infinite caution, perhaps breaking into a
gallop, with frightened sfrieks of "The
deeri The deer!" while tried to look as
If I liked it, and strove manfully to keep
the brine Of modification from rolling
down my cheeks.
1 didn't let my emotions take the form
of words, because 1 had wit enough to
know that could not put a better bar
rier between myself and a real danger
than those husky lads of the leather
breeches and white hats. For all that,
had, a YearFiag to see one of them en-
counter the deer at his worst. 1 did not
wish any one hurt, and was so confident
of their. physical ability that I did not
think any one would be; but l felt that
such an incident would strengthen their
understanding.
This thing came to pass and, of all peo-