Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-20

cone away from England a. 90 to Il. and
that those who come away will make room
fer us"
with the approach OF every spring scar
face feels the promptinEs OF the ancient
wild life. There IL food enough at the
traders stsre GA the reservation ana II
sourface has noscash he has credit. for he
does not know what dishonesty is: but
according 10 tradition the Indians Iarder
should be we'll nigh empty and he should
so forth to seek the deer when the sun
has warmed the snow sufficiently for the
night TO build hard crust on r.
Adventure with n Deer.
The inherited habit OF hunting at this
season, 10 say nothing OF his necessary
habit when he was a young man. impels
scarfsce to mend his snowshoes and travel
to the not distant regions where red deer
and caribou are still abundant. And 80 II
came about that he had another adventure,
quite edualling that with the bear In peril
to himself, but wholly novel and probably
unique In the annals Of the chase.
He had come upon the track OF the deer
and was pursuing It in the old time fashion
which means that there was q contest OF
endurance between man and beast. The
feet animal was running a race against
the comparatively slow human, and the
animal had long start, miles maybe. but
the crust at almost every step and the icy
edges lacerated it's legs. causing the blood
to now and thus enhancing the exhaustion
due to incessant running
Behind came the Indian gliding conf
IDENTIFY on his broad shoes, sereney bldinR
, the time when his tired quarry would stop
| and walt the mereiful bullet to end its
misery and terror.
The chase had been on for many hours
and scarfaee was beginning to think that
q sight q the deer was about due when the
/ trail brought him to an extensive cleared
| region. A little way in front OF him was q
| hillock around which the deer tracks led,
| but from the top Of which scarface thought
he might see the animal and try q long
range shot
So he left the tran when II turned to
/ avoid the sharp rise and went instead
straight up the hiilock. He had come
almost TO the top when one Of his shoes
| caught on what he supposed to be a bush
Protruding slightly from the snow and
he fell face Down with such force az 10
break the crust
| Then, instead Of coming to rest IN the
drift and wallowing until he regainsd his
footing he continued to fall He heard
his rife, which had slipped from his hand,
humping against things somewhere below
/ him. His snowshoes, entangied with what
had tripPed him, impeded his descent and
eventually stopped It entirely, whereupon
scarface found himself hanging by the
toes head down like a trapeze performer
and unable to get further in any direo-
ton.
There was no mystery about his situation
and no doubt about his extreme peril.
The hillock was a huge drift formed over
j a fallen tree. Scarface had trtpped on a
branch protrudlnG from the snow twenty.
Eve or thirty feet above the ground
At the top Of the almost hollow hill thus
formed the snow was thin, hardly deeper
than the crust itself. and but for the broad
shoes the Indian would have broken
through and gone humping against the
tree branches until he landed on the
ground, but the shoes caught on the
branches and held
How He Escaped.
| As Scarface tells the storyt II grab q
branch and try to pull my feet free, but
no use. They UP there to stay ana my
head begin feel dizzy.
II think how bimeby the snow melt and
the crows come, and that don't make me
| feel good. 1 don't know how get out,
and think been crazy one minute,
p'T'aps two, for shake that tree as If
could tear IL to pieces, but nothing happen
except got dizzier, and then just IN time
1 think me fool man, for forgot my knife.
1t was in my belt all time and 30 scared
1 forgot It.
80 1 draw my knife very slow, very
careful, no hurry now, for II make mis-
| take, II drop knife and It follow rife,
I must hang there till die sure, I take
my knife In my teeth so land scarface
ilustrates) and use both hands TO pull my
body double so / can reach my shoes.
This hard work. for branches do not
break, but they bend when pull, and It Il
hard to catch hold Of the right ones. The
best branches was behind me; can see
them when turn my head, but cannot
bend my back double, you understand, /
have TO bend my stomach
80 I pull and pull. first one branch.
then another, and bimeby no feel dizzy
80 much. My head up, understand? Then
/ hold on with one hand, take my knife
and cut the straps of my shoes-three,
four FIVE, more times, and bimeby tum-
ble."
scarface was scratched and his clothes
were somewhat torn by his tumbhng down
through the leafless branches, but he was
not seriously injured. and after ne had
caught his breath he found his rife and
| sought a way out
The wind had built a snow roof COM
pletely over the fallen tree, but the drift
was mainly on the side up which the In
dian had climbed 80 he tried to force his
way through the other side. The force
OF the trees fall had broken and twisted
the branches on the under side OF the
| trunk so that they were an impenetrable
snarl N#Il
| The best scarface could do was to climb
up a large limb and break through at the
top. This done, he crept on his belly to
his snowshoes, disentangled them and slid
down the hollow hill to the point where
he had started to climb. Then hO~mended
and put on his snowshoes and resumed the
chase.
II md the deer" he says, ''just little
way beyond the tree. I kill him and pack
him home same night"