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

W
to be chiefly directed. | could not
| help laughing at the queer pradica-
ment We were in. We formed three
parties, each arrayed against the
| other two, but there was no doubt
that the bull had the best of the sit
uatiOn.
| With the passage Of time, however,
the affair grew less humorous. 1t
was cold; l shivered in my cramped
position, and it seemed not unlikely
| that the brute would keep us there
till daylight. If we could have talked
| together we might have formed a
plan for circumyenting him, but the
roar Of the water made this impossi-
BILE, and indeed l felt sure that Abbott
| would refuse to enter into any league
with the poacher which might in
volve letting him slip through his
fingers again.
The moose was moving energetical-
ly about the base Of the dropping
cedar, and as / watched him he
seemed to be making a determined
and systematic effort to uproot it. He
stamped and butted and pushed, and
l could see the tree waver violently
at each attack. He would certainly
was already half-fallen, and it's dead
roots had no strong hold on the rocky
earth.
l directed Abbott's attention to the
movements of the animal, and as the
moon had now risen so high that all
clear light, we watched the progress
of the drama with intense interest.
The tree dropped lower and lower,
and began to sway heavily as the bull
pushed it. The end, which might be
tragic, seemed at hand. CHANGING at
Abbott, l saw that he was coming
down his tree, undoubtedly contem-
plating dash for the guns, and not
to be outdone, l prepared to follow
him.
The moose, on the verge of sue
cess, was too intent to notice us as
and scampered at the top of our speed
toward the canoe. AS we ran l heard
all at once above the rush of the
water sudden rending crash, a yell
of dismay, and roar from the bull.
knew what was happening, but
when l glanced over my shoulder
could see nothing.
Abbott gained the canoe yard
ahead OF me, and instead of Selling
his rifle he jumped aboard and knelt
in the stern.
Take the bowl" he commanded,
sharply, and l obeyed blindly, too
astonfshed to dissent, although l did
not comprehend what he was going
to do.
The canoe darted out; l dipped my
paddle mechanically, and the swift
current above the falls picked US up.
Now understood, and l had a bad
attack of fright. But the fact was
that in no other way could we get
back to the foot of the rapid in time
to be of service. Now we would be
there in few second-dead or alive
did not believe that we could run
the rapids; I did not think that any
canoeman in the world could take his
craft down that roaring and rock
staked chute that in the moonlight |
looked like a caldron of foam But |
I saw that / was committed to the at
tempt, and mere shame kept my
mouth shut
A splash of froth struck me on the |
cheek, and in another instant the |
water was boiling under the bows. |
The canoe dipped and plunged into a
current, all but collided |
with an ink-black boulder, and under
l sweep of the steering-pad veered |
Of into a swirl of eddies and smoth-
n Of spray.
can never sufficiently admire the
skill of the ranger in that all but sui
tidal dash; indeed, it was beyond all
He seemed to choose
he open passages by instinct, for he
lad never been through them before.
\ dozen times We escaped wreck by
he breadth of hair, and he had
lefty sheered aside from the danger
'efore 1 had recognized its presence.
Our passage could not have lasted
light seconds, and to me it was a
mere blur of breathless speed through
White leaping water in the dark and
noonshine, savage rock-tops darting
,ast, a deafening roar and dash of
pray, and an intolerable strain of
MUSCLE and nerve that made me for
,et everything except the very pres
mt moment.
With a swoop the canoe cleared
lerself and we shot into the tail of
he rapids, where the water, although,
turbulent, was not dangerous; and I
our object again with q