The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-20

moment, and then politely lowered his
eyes.
Hewlett" said 1. take these sbeus
and implements to the gun room. and
drop nothing. Did Voyou come tn any
harm in the briers this morning."
No arm. Mr.. Cardenhe sir" said
Hewlett.
Then be careful not to drop any,
thing else" said /, and walked away
leaving him decorously puzzled. For
ne had dropped no cartridges. Poor
Howlettl
| About o'clock that afternoon met
David and the dogs at the sninne1,
which leads into the Sweet Fern CO.
vert. The three settlers. Voyou. Gamin
and Mioche, were in fine feather-Da-
vid had killed a woodcock and a brace
of grouse over them that morning.
and they were thrashing about the
spinney at short range when / came IN
gun under arm and pipe lighted.
What's the prospect David T
| asked, trying TO keep my feet in the
tangle of wagging, whining dogs: 'hel-
10. what's amiss with Mioche?'
A brier in his foot, sir; 1 drew il
and stopped the wound, but I guess
the gravers got in. If you have no oh
lection, sir, 1 might take him back
with me-"
It's safer" I said: take Gamin.
too. l only want one dog this after
| noon. What is the situation?"
Fair. sir; the grouse lie within a
quarter of mile of the oak second
growth. The woodcock are mostly on
the alders. ] saw any number of snfpe
the n1aadnUS
else in by the lake-I can't Just tell
what, but the wood-duck set up a clat-
ter when / was in the thicket and they
come dashing through the wood as if a
dozen foxes was snappin' at their tail
feathers"
Probably a fox" I said; leash those
dogs-they must learn to stand il. I'll
be back by dinner time"
There is one more thing, sir" said
David, lingering with his gun under
his arm.
Well said I.
Il saw a man in the woods by the
oak covert-at least I think | did"
"A lumberman?"
Il think not. sir-at Ieast-do they
have Cinnamon among them"
Chinese? No. You didn't see a
Chinaman in the woods here?'
Il think / did, sir-I can't say pos
itively. He was gone when 1 ran into
the covert"
Did the dogs notice ito"
Il can't say-exactlyA They acted
queer like. Gamin here lay down and
whined-it may have been colic-and
Mioche whimpered-perh it was the
brier"
"And Voyou?"
''VoyOu, he was most remarkable. sir
D IL
did see a grounding maxim for a tree
near by
Then no wonder Voyou bristled
David, your Chinaman was a stump or
tussock. Take the dogs now"
Il guess il was, sir; good afternoon
sir" said David, and walked away
with the Gordons leaving me alone
with Voyou in the spinney.
looked at the dog and he looked at
me.
The dog sat down and danced with
his fore feet, his beautiful brown eyes
sparkling.
You're a fraud" l said: which
shall it be, the alders or the upland?
Upland? Good.-now for the grouse
heel, my friend. and show your mirac-
ulous self-restraint."
Voyou wheeled into my tracks and
the impudent chipmunks and the thou
sand and one alluring and important
smells which an ordinary dog would
have lost no time i'm investigating
The brown and yellow autumn woods
were crisp with drifting heaps of leaves
and twigs that cracked under foot as
we turned from the spinney into the
forest Every silent little stream, hur-
rying toward the lake. was gay with
painted leaves afioat, scarlet maple or
yellow oak Spots of sunlight fell upon
the pools, searching the brown depths.
Illuminating the gravel bottom where
shoals of minnows swan to and fro
and to and fro again, busy with the
purpose Of their little lives. The crick~
cts were chirping in the long brittle
grass on the edge of the woods. but We
left them fer behind in the silence OF
the deeper forest.
Now said /, to VOyou.
The dog sprang TO the front, circled
once. zig-zagged through the ferns
ened stock still. rigid as sculptured
bronze. 1 stepped forward, raising my
gun, two PAGES, three PAGES, ten per-
haps. before a great cock grouse blum
dered up from the brake and burst
through the thicket fringe toward the
deeper growth. There was a flash and
puff from my gun, a crash of echoes
among the low wooded cliffs. and
through the faint veil of smoke some
thing dark dropped from mid-aiy amid
a cloud of feathers, brown as the brown
leaves under foot.