New-York tribune., 1907-06-30
OPEN-4IR BOOKS.
life IN the Field and the Forest.

nIMROD'S WIFE BY Grace GaIlatin Seton. l.
Iustrated. I2mo, pD. 405 Doubleday. Page & CO
THE BOOK OF CAMPING AND WoODCRAFT.
Tsy Horace kephaTt. illustrated. PIP 22i. The
outing Publishing Company.
EIRD CRAFT. By Mabel osgood Wright. Illus
rated. limo, PIP. ?I7. The Macmillan Company.
irated, Emo, pp, 20 Paul Elder & Co.
NATURES CRAFTSMAN. BY Henry Christopher
AcCOOk- Illustrated. Pp a.. Harper & Bros
MIS- Seton has knitted into an entertaining
fabric various episodes OF her open-air life with
her busband-e experiences of the camp and of
tte mountain and forest trail in the Far West.
There is something Of dangerous adventure in
her narrative and something OF humor, and It
Is animated by genuine feeling for nature.
Size IS at her best when she writes Of the beasts
of the wild, whose acquaintance she has made
q, first hand, and about whose manners and
dispositions, by the way. many false popular
notions" have nourished. She says kindly word
fa- these Wild Ones 1 have Canped in a re
g5ou where bears prowled increasingly, where
TIE smaller -foots-woIves, foxes, lynXes-
knew very well Of my presence. \ mountain
Hon once walked half way around my bed as
lay peacefully sleeping. his nose not hands
breadth from mine, the great padded tracks
next morning amply testified. l had much time
70 study them. as the very smell Of their owner
had stanpeded the horses miles away Hun
seen. and have never been in danger from them
unless they were being molested and therefore
on the defensive. In short, the wild animals are
TO longer menace 70 peaceful man" Her
meeting with a bear provides a Characteristic
story NimTod had left his wife alone on the
trail while he went TO respond TO a signal for
help made by their guide:
could have heard hair drop , then f did he hear
NOT tive fatI =
KIND Of terror. There, again, that low rustic
tWig snapped. No it made too much noise
a faint swlsh; very talnt ttud, Il-c- md ND
il pause and then the sound Of an animal dI dTlnh-
ibg- Il certainly q boar; nothing else makes
stood Up, and not forty feet away was
~ ox Nv eyes accustomed TO the twilight. took
70 every the gleaIa oi ms '.Se as ils 80 40
eft I4w raked into them some bueberrles from
] 20 not know how long stood there. staring at
nm. abs lutely mouonless but know now nov -
Ffcn I leean 70 think again.
F5ere was chance 10 distinguish myself. Never
rs q sta-e 5e1 more dramatically How the glory
Of il would ring down through the family annals:
: sEIa5 Boretr "a and the wonderful herosm Of
woman. etc Could do IL Fer the sake OF my my
he = f--s's when the electrical current IS turned
reached c4JtioJ sly for the gun raised II as best
Tothir- happened, do not believe aimed !
never knew. The bear turned and started back
iovard M the way he had come, evidently on a
,IInway He looked big an elephant Al
ready another cartridge was jerked in Wa
lin now ] had done il and must night II he
zre-e wounded ] knew there would be quarter
rad tfe gun al shoulder and then for the nTst
time the creature, who was now Hastodon saw
ne It's lfttla eyes glared straight at me l snail
never forget them: and there We stood. transfXed.
For tfz fraction Of a second he debated what
10 DO. and then turned slowly away Now was
ne moment There would have been no miss TINS
t;Tne A hunter knows when he VIII shoot true.
sighted along the barrel clear shot 10 the
braip-t was 50 clOse-Hy finger on The trigger!
Then I lowered the mUZZle TO the ground-and let
hin 70. He had refused to iniure me! Could l
do less
/ watches him going OF IN the woods and sat
down again amid The silence and the bears
A beg1iling book IN IS practical way IS Mr.