The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-06-11

ak, 30 forth and chop little wood,
which did.
The weather was ldeal~a Dakota
fnll air vital with the mingled pleas.
ant touch OF frost and sun, like ice
cream IN hot coffee. and still as si
lohee itself ! had good breakfast;
was In excellent health aud spirits.
ihe boss could by no means approach
within u mile unperceivcd. and every.
thing pointed TO pleasant day. But,
alas, as The Copper Lined KllIelubird Of
the Rockies aings. Mans hopes rise
with tho celebrity and vlgor Of the hind
leg OF the mule only 10 descend with
the velocity Of stout gentleman on
q banana peel"
ON reaching the grove OF cottonwoods
] sat down for q smoke and q npecu.
lhtive View Of things In general, having
learned nj my then early agc that
philosophy In never OF more value than
/when one should be doing something
4 else.
heard noise behind me, n peculiar
noise, between snort and vlolcn,
blcst. Turning, | saw buck deer
hnd from the cord and bell around
bis neck recognized him M one Billy,
the property Of Stevo's eldest boy. He
was spoken Of as pet,
This was the touch needed 10 com.
plcte my Arcadia, the injection OF
what ut tho time | considered 10 be
poetry into the excellent prose OF open
air life Who could see that grace.
ful. pretty creature aud remain un.
movcdf Not !. NJ all events fan.
cird myself NJ knight OF old In the
roynl forest. which gave n touch of the
archaic to my speech
Come here. thou sweet eyed forest
chlld"' cried And here he came.
Al an estimate should sny that he
was four nx handles or about twelve
feet, high ns ho upended himself.
brandlshed his antlcrs and Jumped me.
Ny ax was at n distance. | moved
played knight 10 kings bishops eighth.
10 this case represented by fork Of
the nearest tree, wise and subtle
piece OF strategy. nv Il resulted In
drawn game.
My friend stood erect for awhile,
making warllke passes with his front
feet. which, by the way, are as for.
midabie weapons as man would care
TO have opposed to him: then seeing
that there was no sporting blood In
me. be devoured my lunch and went
away. course ! promptly initiated AZ
far as could. departed.
Hitherto | had both liked and ad.
mlred Steve. His enormous strength.
coupled with nm unexpected agility and
an agreeable wny he had OF treating
you as II you were quite his own age.
endeared him 10 me. When | poured
out my troubles 10 him. however, re-
bnklng him for allowing such savage
beast 10 be- at large he caused my feel.
ings to undergo n change, for instead
OF sympathIzlng he fell TO uproarous
laughter, slapped his leg and swore
that II 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 pralrles They |
had "a horse on the kid" and the poor
kid felt nightmare ridden indeed II |
were out with them some one would |,
assume an anxious look and carefully |
scout around bunch OF grass In the
/. distance. explaining to the rest that
there might be deer concealed there. |
and one could not be too careful when
there were wild beasts like that |
around Then the glggllng rascals
would pass the suspected spot with In.
finite caution. perhaps breaking into |
gallop with frightened shrIeks of The :,
deer, the deerw while tried TO look as
II | liked II and strove manfully to
keep the brine of modification from
rolling down my cheeks,
didn't let my emotions take the
form of words, because had wit
enough to know that could not put
better barrier between myself and
real danger than those husky lads OF
the leather breeches and white hats.
For all that had yearnIng to see
one OF them encounter the deer at his
worst did not wish any one hurt
and was 80 confident of their physical
ability that did not think any one
would be, but felt that such an Incl
dent would strengthen their under
standing.
This thing came to pass, and, OF all
people, on my arch enemy, Steve. If
had had the arrangement OF details
could not have planned It better.
Because Of my tender years the light
chores OF the ranch fell to my share.
One day every one was off, leaving me
to chink UP the "bul pen" or mems
quarters, with mud against the cold
of approaching winter Steve had TAX
en- his eldest boy on trip to pick out
some good wood.
Presently arrived the boy, hatless.
running as fast as he could tear, the
breath whistling In his lungs. Come
quick" was the message.
It seems the deer had followed the
a a. ~. |