The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-12-09
lRr Theodore Roosevelt.l

dinner. Inc winter set IN late tnat
year, and there had been compare
lively little cold weather, but one
day the fee on the river had been suf-
iiciently strong, TO enable us to haul
up q wagonload OF -four, with enough
salt pork to last through the winter
and very few tins OF canned goods
to BE- used at special feasts We had
some bushels OF potatoes, the heroic
ylctors of struggle for existence In
which the rest OF our garden vege-
tables had suocumbed to drought
frost and grasshoppers: and we also
had some Wild plums and dried elk
yenlson. But we had no fresh meat
and so one day my foreman and
agreed to make a hunt on the NOR.
row.
Accordingly one OF the cowboys
rode out In the frosty afternoon 10
fetch In the saddleband from the pia.
teau three miles on. where they were
grazing. II was after sunset when he
returned
II was necessary 10 get 10 the hunt.
ing grounds by sunrise. and II still
lacked a couple OF hours OF dawn
when the foreman Weakened me as
lay asleep beneath the buffalo robes
Dressing hurriedly and breakfastine
on n cup OF coffee and some mouth
fuls OF bread and jerked elk meat
we slipped out TO the barn. threw the
saddles on the horses, and were on.
The air was bitterly chill: the cold
had been severe rotwo days, 40 that
the river ice would again bear the
horses. Beneath the light covering
Of powdery snow We could feel the
rough ground like wrinkled iron I'M
der the horses hoofs. There was no
moon. but the stars shown beautiful
~ down through the cold, clear air,
and our willing horses galloped
swiftly across the long bottom on
which the ranch house stood, thread
ing their way deity among the
clumps Of sagobrush.
A mile on we crossed the river. the
ice cracking with noises like pistol
shots M our horses picked their way
gingerly over Il. On the opposite
side was a dense jungle OF burberry
bushes. and on breaking through this
We found ourselves galloping up
Song. winding valley, which led back
many miles into the hills. The Gran
mics aud little side rayines were filled
with brushwood and groves of stunt
ed ash. by this time there was n
faint flush OF gray In the east. and as
we rode silently along we could make
out dimly the tracks made by wild
animals as they had passed and re-
passed In the snow. Several times
we dismounted 10 examine them. A
couple OF coyotes. possibly frightened
by our Approach. had trotted and
loped up the valley ahead Of us. leav
ing a trail like that Of two dogs; the
sharper. more delicate footprints OF
fox crossed our path: and outside one
long patch OF brushwood a series OF
round Imprints In the snow betrayed
where a bobcats plainsmen term
the small lynx--had been lurking
around TO try to pick up a rabbit or
a prairie fowl.
AS the dawn Redeemed. and II be-
came light enough TO see objects
some little way on. we began TO sit
erect In our saddles and 10 scan the
hillsldes sharply for sight OF feeding
deer. Hitherto, we had seen no deer
tracks save inside the burberry
bushes by the river, and we knew
that the deer that lived in that i'm
penetrable jungle were cunning
whitetalls which In such place
could be hunted only by aid of a
hound. But Just before sunrise we
came on three lines OF heart-shaped
footmarks in the snow. which showed
where as many deer had Just crossed
n little plain ahead of us. They were
walking leisurely and from the lay
Of the land we believed that we
could find them over the ridge. where
there was a brush coulee.
Riding to one side OF the trail, We
topped the little ridge just as the sun
famed up. burning ball of crimson
beyond the snowy waste at our backs
Almost Immediately afterwards my
companion leaped from his horse and
raised his rife, and as he pulled the
trigger | saw through the twlgs OF n
brush patch on our left the erect.
startled head of young black-talled
doe as she turned to look at us. her
breat mule-like ears thrown forward
The hall broke her neck. and she
turned complete somersault down
hill, while a sudden smashing of I'M
derbrush told of the fright OF her
terrified companions.
We both laughed and called out
"dinner" as we sprang down toward
her, and in few minutes she was
dressed and hung up by the hind legs
on a small ash tree. The entraus
and vlscera we threw on to one side.
after carefully poisoning them from
a little bottle of stryehnine which I
had in my pocket. Alpost every cat
tleman carries poison and neglects no
chance of leaving out wolf bait, for
the wolves are sources OF serious loss
ia the uufenced and unhoused Jocks
49,. :.