The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-03

principled invention, to say, as some | do, that she became so blind that 1 | had to tie lanern to her tail when l we went hunting. had another splendid dog. con corning whose deeds a great many | lies gre told by persons who think | that 1t is joke to tauper with the | truth The strict facts about this in- | teligent animal, Pikas. are interesting enough. though they may not be so extraordinary as invention might be.
 One day I was quail hunting with Pikas. when he came to a point be- fore flock of several hundred birds l. withheld my shot beca use was waiting for my wife, who was to come up with my lieutenant and my groom They did not arrive and 1 rode back part of the way. leaving PI- kas on his point. A courier on a. foam-iathered hopse met me with an order to so without delay to the Fort ress Wesel on a matter of the highest importance. I galloped to my castle. changed my clothes and rode there straightway. It was fourteen days be. fore I returned.
 "on the day after my arrival home I wished to go hunting and called for Pikas. My servants told me that the dog had not been seen since my depar- ture and that they had supposed he was With me. I rode to the field ana soon found myself near the spot where l mad left Pfkas two weeks before Be- hold! There was the faithful dog, holding his point, but so nearly stary- CT that he looked like a skeleton. advanced and up spranR the birds equally thin. Not wishing to slaurhter them in that condition contented my seif with one shot, which brought down only twenty live of them. I have rarely heard of a dog holding his nirds longer than that. Have you?
 He was really one of the best dogs mat ever had. When he died had his skin tanned for had a sontinnentaI desire to have Pikas with me afI mv hunts in some form or another. rather peculiar thing happened the the held VII
 "Ai at once, quite without warning the waistcoat became as rigid as iroI,. so that 1t actually squeezed my heart stopped A button flew of ana m sprang covey Of quail. of which l shot hve. had not walked fifty feel before the same thing happened Tn snort, gentlemen. since that Aav T need no dog. But 1t costs me A nrett,, penny TOT buttons. I consider this one
 tne most touching proofs of the ft- ueilty or dog even after death.
 Ot course every hunter has odd a~ perienees. and mine are noe ta bs oSi1 ga wonderful. although some are rs- sneF interesting. For instance. onA morning l saw a flock of wild fou,l nr, me lake and hurried Sc ca zerlv to aat shot that I struck my head arainst ene aoor post with crash that made ny out or my eyes. found st mat 'ne eoiiision had also knocked the nint rom my gun. There I was with a loaded weapon and no way "a nre IL. had happy thought. I put the gun to my shoulder. aimed ana then htt myself in the eve with all rnv nll@nt or course saw sparks inn medlateiy and one of them exnIodsd the priminE. The shot went off and had the pleasure of returning win i've pairs of duck. four geese and two moorhens, '""
 That trip to the Fortress wesA, which have just mentioned. was con' nected with q mysterious occurrence mat l did not intend to mention. bo- cause 1t Is state secret. But [ sec .nSt you are all curious. and as there 's little danger of a recurrence of thc episode. will simply ask you to re- spect my confidence and keep the mat ter to yourselves.
 When l arrived in wesel. the Com mandant and the other oflcers mel me with desperate alarm in every feature. Silently they led me to the petterles. and silently. with despair m the evry motion of his hand the Commandant poined to the guns. T looked and saw an almost io credible sight. The immense cannon were full of worm holes! The terrible ron worm had attacked them There were sixty-three cases last night said the surgeon with q hopeless voico, mnre'
 T shuddered. for this was ouick and fearful work. even for the iron worm. immediately ordered the con ysFuetiou Of great caldron, which vas ready within three days. But swiftly as the men worked. eleven more guns had been attacked before 1t was ready. """
 T must confess that myself aia not Know exactly at that's time how to destroy the worm; but 1 ordered inc caldron to be made white hot and then we threw twenty of the worm ca ten cannon into 1t with twelve that were still sound. To make a long story snort, we kept them there in white heat for three days and nights. dur | ing which time fifty-one other connon were eaten by worms The rsrri. | son had already begun to toast me as the worm hero and cannon doctor. | when we took the guns out-and found to our horror that all the guns. even the twelve originally sound ones were pierced through and through win worm holes.
 "rhe officers were thunderstruet Not so I. I ordered the entire garri- son out to gather poisonous mIish- . | rooms. We filled the caldron. bolIad them int a paste, and put all the can non in. The next morning visited the caldron early. and saw millions of long thin. creatures dead on the sur | face. They were the iron worms, killed at last! Two of the creatures. about three inches long. had crawled out and were sitting on the edge of the caldron. writhine with pain, and moaning. At their heads they had tiny red hot feelers like little files. | Just as reached for them they sprang into the poison and disappear. | ed. There never has been a case of the iron worm since.
 "In my connection with the artil- | lery have had some other experiences with cannon that are at least enter | taining if not so remarkable as this | On a fourth of June I once found my self in WappinR.. in England, when ] l felt so far overcome by the heat that decided u lie down for a while cool place. The only refuge I
 could see was the muzzle of one of the huge cannon that are planted there. I crawled in and soon was in a sound sleep. Unfortunately. did not know that the guns had been loaded to fire a salute. Presently the | their stations and of went all the can non. Your humble servant. the Bar on won Mumhausen. was shot clear | apr0aa Tharas and flaw