The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-10-17

| AS ue uIoppeu, q INV ono' oASSN
from the canoe.
The long squirt of fame seemed
almost to reach him, and the acrid
smoke was blown in his face. In;
stinctively he tried to shout, but hlf
throat failed him. Only a sibilanl
whisper came from his lips.
This was drowned in yell from
the canoe.
That hit him! He's down!
shouted two or three boyish voices
and the canoe darted toward lane
| with a ,.-eat splashing Of paddles.
Again Murray tried desperately tt
| call out, but the relaxed vocal cords
| refused to produce found. 1t war
like a nightmare; and fearing that he
would be shot before he was clearly
seen, he 6ived with a crash into the
swamp, and burrowed among tht
ferns.
There he goes!" shouted on.
voice.
Its bear!' proclaimed another;
and another shot was fired after him
The canoe grated upon the beach,
and the hunters juEped ashore. Muir
ray tried to crawl deeper among the
tangled vines and evergreen shrub
berry, and smashed half a dozer
ranches.
That's no deer; it's a bear fol
certain" remarked one of the youth.
full voices, with conviction. The
speaker was not thirty feet away
Better be careful, for he's wounded,
Listen, and see if we can hear him. y
There was silence for a time, dur
ing which Murray hardly dared to
breathe. He had hopes that, failing
to hear or see him, they would pres
emily go away.
The whole affair seemed to hin
like some preposterous and horrible
dream. These boys did not wan. tc
kill him; but he was physically un'
able to call out, and he was afraid
to move. In the gloom he would cer'
tainly :, shot at the .t:Tst glimpse;
and, curiously, his mind was largely
occupied with the horror his slayers
would feel when they discovered
their mistake. After listening IT
vain for some minutes, the hunters
began to throw sticks and stones int
the swamp to make him show HIM
SELF
Hes either dead or got away"
said some one. I'm going in aftel
him."
Better not, Billy. Be careful, ,
warned another; but cracking anc
brushing among the cedar boughs
indicated that Billy was coming in
1t struck Murray that the action wa!
plucky. if rather foolhardy.
The hunter advanced slowly. He
was hardly more than ten feet away,
but in the darkness, among the
dense growths, Murray could not ses
thread of him. He stopped at every
step, listened, and beat about witt
his riIie barrel, ind some instinct lee
him directly toward the spot where
Murray crouched behind the damp.
cdorous cedar boughs.
He turned aside and receded, and
Murray's heart rose. But he came
back again, and zigzagged and cir
cled, drawing still nearer.
Murray was in an agony of indecis'
ion whether to reveal himself or not
But the decision was not left to him.
Billy came close till the barrel of his
extended rifle swung over Murray's
head. The photographer could al
most have touched him, and another
step would bring him stumbling over
his body. With a desperate resolu'
ton Murray flung himself forward
and clasped the boy round the legs
crying, Don't shoot! It's a mani!
in a kind Of screaming whisper.
The hunter gave a startled yell
and leap. There was an excited
shout from the rest of the party, and
so-::-.hing crashed upon Murray's
head. He seemed to sink through a
dark g:lf spangled with shooting
comets.
He came to himself with the gleaT
of fire in his face. He was lying
on the beach, and his late hunters
were kneeling around him, anxiety
written upon every one CT their faces
His head ached violently, and putting
his hand up, he discovered a lump
as large as an apple, on which was
laid vet handkerchief.
Murray explained the mishap-i7
whisper. The three youths. whs
were camping a mile away, had gone
out for a little nocturnal hunting
without greatly concerning them
selves about the law. They over
flowed with remorse and kindness
however. They padded him WITH
his camera, to his camp; and until
his head had subs.ded to it's usual
size, one Of them came over every
day to ascertain his. condition, and
to bring him trout and canned deli'
cacies.
Murray's bruised Uranium was well
in a week, and before he left the
woods his voice had partially re-
turned to him. But the adventure
left him with a powerful and lasting
repugnance to killing wild game. He
had had too intimate a glimpse oil
hunting from the wrong side
Youths Companion.