The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-08-21
THE SLIDE
BY FISHER A3IEs. JR.

Two friends, William PEBBLES an
Harry Osgood were trapping in one G
those narrow, well-watered valleys o.
the Eastern slope of the Rockies. nea
the Canadian line. Their hut of lodg
poles covered with sod was close un
der the shelted of the foothills, and
few hundred yards from the upper wat
ers OF swift little stream that
although clear OF ice, was still clotte.
with occasional RATS of slush.
Spring was we'll advanced, and thu
ground everywhere was damp with the
seepage that trickled down in myriads
OF little silver threads from the snow
beds lying on the high ridges. The ali
was filled with the soft, murmurous
sound of moving waters and the low
vibrating roar of shifting snow.
Sometimes a great patch, many
acres in extent, woulu slip down to-
ward the foothills, leaving the wet
rock bare and glistening in the sun.
The deep hum of its rush always start
led PEBBLES, and he would look up and
note with frown and an air of alert
ness the cloud of snow that hung
above the front of the Slide
PEBBLES had been caugh in a snow
slide once, and he had a very good
memory. He grew irritable sometimes
When OsgoOd joked about his timidity,
out his caution never lessened. In {.
way he was proud of his experience,
although the last thing he wished to
do was to repeat 1t. The rough lives
OF the trappers are largely measured
by such violent experiences, and the
man who has been through the most
varied and greatest number of hair
breadth escapes is apt to be best fitted
for his work, because every accident
has left him with little more knowl-
edge.
PEBBLES knew that he was wiser in
many ways than his chum, and as
trappers have their vanities like the
rest Of us, he was secretly incensed
because Osgood refused to acknowledge
this superiority.
Not that Osgood was disagreeagle
about it. He was SO overlooking with
animal spirits that he could not look |
on the serious side Of things. Laugh
ter was his criticism on everything.
good, bad and Indifferent; but he was
more than willing to do his share OF
the work, and when 1t was done and
the heavy silence Of the mountains
pressed about the campfire, he would
sing or tell stories until the solemn.
listening PEBBLES would begin to think
that Osgood was a very good fellow,
after all.
The pair differed in many ways.
PEBBLES was really old-fashioned. a sort
q Spartan with preference for
roughing It. The sky was q good
enough roof for him in clear weather.
and the ground sufficiently soft bed.
He built the tiniest of fires-hardly
more than two or three coals-over
which he cooked just the amount of
meat necessary to support life. He
never cooked a second portion or had
! crumb left over.
Osgood liked a tight hut, bonfire
hat was good to look at, and three big
meals day. He disdained the bacon
md bareback that sufficed for his part
Ter. He understood how to cook beay-
RS tails. which II properly prepared, III
make an excellent dish; and he could
~ small fresh trout in way to pre-
erve every drop Of their juices. Grouse
nd rabbits are poor in spring, but o.
God relished stew of them now and II
hen. Occasionally he shot an elk II
rom the bands that were beginning to
'ork up from the south. but elk meat h
alls quickly, and trappers have a the :,
~ that 1t does not -stay by" a man. y
There Is only one wild animal Of the :
ockies whose flesh fills all the "a
airements Of the epicure and the ac- !,
We hunter. That is the mountain =,
leep, or bighorn, and he seems to :,
now his value, and keeps himself to -
le high. bare. inaccessible buttresses -
rock.
Osgood was always hungry for noun =,
In sheep chops. Every morning be- -
re breakfast he put his keen blue :.
es TO the feld-glasses and swept the :.
per levels, while PEBBLES cut his lit : !.
slices q bacon methodically and I.