Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-05-09
ON The BAR.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
These little snipes-the ones with
the fox-red tails and shoe-button eyes
ARE right smart wizards on the
wing" said Mr.. Gould, hooking his
thumbs In his suspenders and lean
ing against the veranda post. They're
. little too clever To- my sightin'
eye, but you look like you'd get some.
sub"
As Sawyer, nodding his apprecia-
tion OF the implied compliment,
creaked OF in his new. khaki shoot
Ing clothes and rubber boots. MIR.
] Gould winked humorously at Scott,
his foreman.
IT one Of them snipes should
come corkscrew, twist on that fell
low. he'd get most entirely out O.
plumb I've seen tobacco-store In
juns more limberer'n him.
He's all wood and not drop Of
oil, and that's fact" agreed Scott.
New York dries a man out, l rec
kon.S q
Moth Carolinys the only place
that breeds an raises 'em true" said
Gould. senteniously. well. rustic
out the boys. and we'll kinder look:
up them calves. Seems like we new
or would get this job done"
Gould was cattle king In small
way, although no one would have
suspected 1t from the little tidy house
and quarter-acre patch that comprised
his home on the mainland. Here on
! the broad bar was his real farm"
. long. rlckety-legged shack. with
! mile ON mile OF brackish swale land
cut by tide water creeks and ram
parted high against the heavy bat
teries Of the Atlantic by great, bald.
shining, shifting dunes. There was
not q fence on the range. Wide water
kept the cattle from leaving the barn..
Summer and winter alike they roam
ed about with no other shelter than
I their own tough skins.
One or twice a year Gould brought
over his force for a roundup. Calves
were branded, marketable cattle shot,
or roped and led on to the broad fat
Z boats. and general account of stock
taken. Gould was ON the point Of
starting OF on one Of these expedi-
lions when j. Renforth Sawyer. with
whose leather house Gould had some,
dealings. arrived on the scene.
Come over and rough it sfo' d
espell, :" said the hospitable cattleman.
There's good snlpe shootin' and air
without any smoke in 1t. Come over
and get fat"
Mr.. Sawyer was already rotund.
but the novelty of the trip appealed
to him. He decided to come over
and show these lean and jocose men
that New Workers could exist away
from asphalt pavements and sky
scrappers.
He had an intuitive perception of
the conversation between Scott and
Gould Is he left the shack, and It
angered him. He did not expect to
Kill any "snipe." Better men with
gun than he confess that the long
bill" Is diMcult mark; but he. re-
scented the general air Of good-natured
ridicule with which he felt the men
! regarded him.
guess a man that's played tag with
gripcars and elevated trains and
ferry boats and automobiles ali his
life can take a walk on their little
sand.bar without losing many but
tons,' he said to himself, somewhat
passionately.
The walk certainly promised to be
. monotonous bit OF exercise. Not
Q snipe rose from the green, soggy
stretches bordered by low bushes.
which seemed to be struggling their
shoulders about their ears to keep on
the ocean breezes. The tall, whisper
ing sedge. which rippled over the
greater part Of the bar. seemed equal
~ tenantless.
Sawyer had been told that II was
: the home OF an uncountable number
Of sora-rail, but he did not know that
! rail- will flush" only at high or near.
" high water. He simply concluded
that his informer had basely taken adj
Z vantage OF his ignorance. He was SO
wrought up by this time that he VOW
cd he would bring some kind OF game
= back to camp. II he had to 60 to the
southern end Of the bar to get It.
Dust then, from patch Of ooze
fifteen yards ahead, q snipe sprang
up with startling scaipe! scatpe!
bored like bullet into the wind, then,
turned and came racking directly
over Sawyer's head.
He threw up his gun, fired and sat
down hard in the slime: but although
somewhat disconnected, he kept his
eyes glued to the zigzagging bird.
!. He had never flushed a snipe before,
and such lightning evolutions won his
respect. His lips frightened when he
saw 1t double suddenly on Its course
and return to the southwark, pitching
headlong to cover beyond point of
reeds some two hundred yards dis
tant. He would bag that longbill or
quit the business.
On the other side Of the reedy point
[ he came upon a little bunch Of brows.
ing cattle three cows and pair OF
staring coated. thick-jointed calves.
They looked up, surprised and UNI
easy, for the bar herds were almost
- wild and as unused to man as deer.
Three Of them whisked their tails
apd jumped for the reeds. leaving a,
small. red. bright-eyed COW standing
over her calf. The little creature
was too young and. too frightened to