The St. Mary banner., 1906-07-07

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COW glared round at him with black,
protrudin- eyes and muscles jumping
with fear.
All at once. with a kind Of sticky
sigh, his legs drew out Of the rub
Der boots, ana Sawyer went hand Over
hand along the tail. sliding on his
stomach like a turtle. He crawled up
over ner hips. s,raddIed her sharp
back. and began to laugh hysterlcal-
ly.
4 shadow swept over him and he
looked uD, still erianing foolishly, A
big sooty brown bird was wheeling
close above him on fitting TlnSs. An
other Was descending i ON the
clouds in complaisant ciri ;, and
third came slouching over le reeds.
Sawyer had heard about buzzarGs
and their diet, and the infe nee was
not amusing. AS he Watc I'd tnem,
two alighted upon the So ing rail
of what had once been ,-rt Of a
cow-pen. The third came straight
and softly at him. He get fieetins
impression of a red, naheG, tllth-en-
crusted neck and ruff Ct soled
feathers. Then. almost before
he could throw up his arm, the
hooked bill snapped, and he felt
pang in his cheek and the warm
trickle of blood.
The buzzard tapped Off, astonlshed
at its vigorous reception, and joined
the two on the rail. These catch
basins of the marsh were their
friends. Anything that fell into them
belonged to the buzzards eventually.
This thing evidently had not been IN
quite long enough, but the three puz-
yards could afford to wait a while.
The buzzards hunched together ami
cably. their bald heads bobbing. Saw
yer. mopping his cheek-bone, looked
at them with fear and hatred. Then
he looked at the nearest bank. II
was ten feet away-ten feet OF shak-
ing. bottomless ooZe. He we'll knew
what would happen to him If he set
a stockinged foot on that.
He thought hard and long. The
sun burned a hot spot on the top OF
his head where the hair was .nln,
and the buZzards shook their loose
wings derisively. Sooner or later
and the later it was, the better ap-
petites they would bring to the feast.
Only ten feet. If he could be
boy again for few minutes. and
the little red COW were not quite
so sharp in the back. As it was, he
was too stiff and TOO p3fuy 10 bal
ance himself on her bony fianks. let
alone doing a standing jump Of ten
feet.
When the idea came to him it
seemed so simple he rejected it at
first But his mind kept returning
to it. 1t was the one definite piece
of action that had suggested itself
He took off his ccaF, waistcoat and
flannel shirt. and laid them neatly
across the red cows spine. On top
of these, after considerable eXertlon,
he placed his muddy trousers. Then
in his underwear he shook his fist
at the buzzards.
There's many a slip.' he shouted
at them. Il hope that slip won't be
mine" he added, somewhat less con-
fidently.
He measured the distance to the
bank with an anxious eye. and one
by one tossed the various garments
forth on the ooze They formed
wavering and insecure-looking paw
ing for little over half the dis
tance.
He stretched out a foot gingerly,
tested the resistance of the walstcoat
and took the plunge!
1t was done in a dash and mad
Slide such as he used to make when
member of certain grammar-schOol
baseball team. AT the finish his nose
was jammed into the bank and his
fingers hooked among the reeds.
He was a piebald and evil-smelllns
figure when he crawled forth on the
level of the marsh but he had sell
dom felt happier. He was perfectly
content to leave the new khaki suit
and the rubber boots. And with them
he cast away all desire to become
sportsman He felt much sympathy
for the little red COW, however, and
he spoke to her comfortingly as he
curried himself with handfuls of
grass.
Il forgive you for our slight un-
pleasantness, old lady, in considera-
ton of the back you lent me. I'll
see that Scott comes your way with
a pony and rope. In the mean
time, farewell. You won't see me
again unless you should happen to
come to New York. k.'-Youth's Com.
panion.