The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-02-20


trails with fallen timber. Other rap
Ids we ran. but quarter mile above
the pond we came to one we could
not run.
This was Limestone Falls, which in
reality was merely very bad bit of
rapid, perhaps fifty yards in length,
and with fall of six or eight feet.
AS the worst place on the river, it had
| attained the distinction of an indi-
vidual name. We were nearing the
| place whence the shots had come, but
the roar and dash of the cascade eff
fectually drowned any noise of our
approach.
We ran the canoe ashore at the
head of the rapids, and landed to ex-
| anime the condition of the trail. The
rocky banks of the river were over
grown with clumps of hemlock and
spruce, interspersed with larger trees,
and we were uncertain on which side
Of the river it would be best to make
the portage.
We walked hurriedly down almost
to the foot of the rapid without en-
countering any serious obstacle, and
had come near the lower landing
place when Abbott suddenly gripped
my arm and pointed ahead and up
ward.
Looking where he pointed. saw q
dead cedar leaning heavily over the
tail of the rapid, projecting its top
into clear moonlight, and among the
skeleton branches perched man. We
could see him distinctly; he had no
gun, and seemed to be looking
earnestly in the opposite direction.
sThat's one of the gang. I've seen
him before!" muttered the ranger.
Il can't make out what he's doing
there, but I'll have him down and
find out"
Going little closer, Abbott hailed
the tree at the top of his voice.
"Hello!" he cried. what"
The words were cut from his lips
by a tremendous crash among the
thick underbrush, and with an ear
SCATTERING below, out of the darkness
charged q giant black animals that
looked in the gloom almost as huge as
an elephant.
Abbott and jumped away to right
and to left. My sole idea was to get
back to the canoe where we had left
the guns, ana I ran desperately,
stumbling and tripping. Then l heard
the brush crash behind me, and
fancying the brute was at my heels,
I seized the low branch Of q spruce
and swung myself up with desperate
agility of which did not know that
was capable.
l had been deceived by my mag
ination. The attention of the big
moose was directly entirely to Abbott,
who was scrambling into another tree
close 10 the river. The bull charged
into the trunk with force that
should have stunned him, and then
drew back and glared sullenly at
Abbott on his perch above. Then,
after circling the tree three or four
times, he stalked back to the cedar
perhaps thirty yards away.
called to Abbott and succeeded in
attracting his attention, but the noise
Of the water was too loud to permit
1t occurred to me,
however, that the bull did not seem
to have observed my refuge, and that
[ might slip to the ground and get to
the canoe lnobserved.
l made the attempt, but had not
reached the lower branches of the
tree before the wary old warrior es-
pied my maneuvre, and came smash |
ing through the shrubbery with q
roar of defiance.
/ scrambled back to my original po- |
sition as he charged under the tree,
his shovel-pointed antlers brushing |
he leaves at my feet. He seemed to
De a monster there In the moonlight;
could see his black name standing |
erect, and his wicked eyes glittering
n the flashes of moonlight.
From time to time he threw back
lis head with an impatient movement
md licked spot on his shoulder,
where / could distinguish a darker
patch on the Internationally
,ullet wound inflicted by the man in
he cedar tree.
He walked about, grunting. be-
heath me for few minutes, and then
to his first enemy against