The Washington herald., 1911-05-21
CoPYRIGHT by JAMES sLvERsoy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
coPYRl0Hr BY JAMES sLvERsoy :;
EaT1 HEN Stephen Walcott pulled up
III" stakes, os ne called it, his mother.
It'll .ess boy Harry thought that bidding
go all the places that he had known
since first he conH remember any
thing, was pretty hard job Yet he had not
been in the charming country surrounding
the mountain, regions Of Orizaba, Mexico,
two weeks, before. the many strange sights
and the scores Of interesting places to ex.
plore made him forget, to certain extent,
the. pleasures of his former home.
His father was q mining expert man
whose opinion on all things regarding the
mining Of silver was much sought after; and
when M 2. h ne was sent for to come down to this
TO Harry, the offer made him BY the owners
OF the large mines that needed his skill to
r"mofe! or more improved plans was SO gen.
erous that he could not afford to refuse Il. : q,
AT hrst he had thought Of leaving Harry
q home at q boarding school; but as the boy
Was really year or more in advance Of his
ege IN his studies his father finally decided
that 9 years vacation would not hurt him
ana that the novel scenes Of q mining camp
useful. hint Of the sort Of life that awaited
him. IT be followed in his fathers footsteps.
From his earliest days Harry hal shown
MARKED Ggns OF love for Nature AMI an
ssesS osaaeGr ss and % when he grew older and it
alone, or with some Others of his age, who
wanted to hnd the newest birds nests or the
biggest butterfies he was quite likely, as
Mr. Walcott well knew, to Lore all sight Of
os some coveted prize, and only return two
hours after supper.time - = : -
So, when Harry went with his father to the
mining camp on the orizaba Range, the lat
IN on<vD D.x 4 L. f. - Az
lost or ,belated after night in a Mexican
woodland wilderness was quite different
thing from being out after dark near Penn
sylvania village, and that there were dozen
dangers n these Southern attitudes to one in
This caution Harry took to heart, and fully
made up his mind to heed it.
After the newness Of simply observing the
wonders around him had worn off the desire
to possess some Of them became paramount,
as they do in all boys who have the hunters
ambition in them. -
His father. very naturally thought that his
son was rather young. to be trlstel with a
gun, and in its place had one of the natives
make the boy blow gun in the best style Of
their art. ..'-.. ~.
The blow-g,,n was six feet long and two
inches through at one end, tapering to hardly
tareea%ssteffS ns%s ef Of an inch At ths other i
wood. with a. groove running along the CEN
trc of each piece 90 that perfectly accurate
hollow tube would be made by the joining
Of these two pieces. This was BY tying them
firmly together with strips Of grapevine bark,
or other vegetable, ropes, and the cementing
Of oil the joints with sort Of wax made by
Then the whole gun was neatly tapered
and wound with grass fbres, SO as to be
smooth ,anl pleasant to handle. Afterwards
q. cup shaped mouth-piece was fixed to the
big end, and the gun was ready for use
The mid-ribs, or the leafstalks of the
fan palm, are used to make the arrows, or
darts, which, on. account Of the extreme hard
hcss Of the wood, can be tapered down to
very fine and durable point.
The upper ends Of these darts are wounl
with ball of cotton, or other fibre so that
they will fit snugly into the gun, and, with
quick blowing Of the full Contents of the
lungs iLto the mouth-pieee, the dart can be
yards -.
Although the tools that these natives have
are OF the most primitive Sort their skill and
care in using them is so great tina they pro
duce very powerful weapon-one that is
capable OF doing accurate shooting, ami that
has very decided advantages over gun.
This Harry soon found out. 1t took him
than it would have done with rifle, and it
was much lighter, With care I've could al.
ways follow his darts with his eye, and get
them back to use over and over again
There was no noise to frighten a big flock
OF birds away as soon as one of their num-
ber was shot, as there would have been
with rifle; and the total cost of the blow
gun, was but two dollars, or less than one
sixth OF the price that his father would have
had to pay for boys gun
Another present that his father made him.