The farmer and mechanic., 1913-10-28

teffy. or a jaunty snowbird. The dis
tant acres. along the valley. are popu.
ious with well-favored dun tent
SNAPPED shocks. distributed about id all
sorts OF whimsical attitudes. some
pitched in sympathetic companies.
each anxious TO lend his neighbor \
willing shoulder; others braccd n
reeling angles against the group. or
PROSTATE where they sank in ancled
heaps when the wind of yesterday
hurled them
The sun IS half sunk nov and peer
ING horizontally across the horizon.
"hiie all the trees are matching skill
IN casting shadows across the old
trail. a chilling wind has Just risen
and comes moaning down the hollows.
starting the leaves in clouds. before il.
until they eddy off and az last con
gregate in rustling heaps in low places
Now they are hurrying away 10 ioin
the rushing throng, soaring awhile in
great commotion among the bending
trees, then gradually falling. bedrae-
Sied, IN the damp road. or scurrying
across the pasture where every clunD
OF weeds lntercepts a few. and finally
settling down in the lea Of some shell
tering bank, where tomorrow a skiff
Of snow is likely TO blot from sight
these last veStigeS of October's painted
glory.
But more than all this to the sports
man. 1t is in just such weather as
this that the mallard and the redhead
| become particularly restive when the
| chicken lie a little closer in the for
| lorn corn, and when the fox squirrel
| is at his best. Yet it is November
| too, that gives US our brief two weeks
with the quail, as we'll as a taste of
1 n n ho no
that tests our stamina and sporting
| blood. and infuses our system with a
| renewal OF energy, with renewal of
| life, hope and happiness
! Wildness Beautiful.
to the eyes Of him who enjoys it in
all its phases, the courageous wander
er Of the low, wet grounds along the
bleak SlOughts shores, and across wild
swept fields. In his unsubduable en-
fthusiasm he finds the finer flavor Of
his favored pastime. Every marking
on the gray trunks in the ragged
woods OF the valleys, each cluster or
withered fern, every mossy patch or
weedy crypt, to the delicate tracery OF
the bare branches and their confus-
ing shadows on the brown baldrick OF
the forest floor, have a charm, as dis
tinctive as the fulness OF summer and
the tang and tingle of early autumn
Not single wind flower or dimmeC
daisy is left to glare out in lionel.
| light wherever he may tramp, unles
it be in some concealed Granny, wher,
Jack Frost has yet been unable t,
, thrust his devastating fingers. Tn
: witch hazel, here and there, still Strug
giles to unfold it's unreasonable bios
l SONS, and there, interwined with tn
, stripped grape vine, cluster of tn
2 orange racemes Of the bitter-swee
I holds out with most commendable for
, titude. Along the outskirts Of WOO
/ and field the everlasting wild hem
! and tough rug weed along rattle thei
r shapeleSs stalks in the passing breeze
e All these, and more, the sportsma
q sees as he treds his silent way peer
> ing here and peering there, at ever
r turn Of the slough. for lurking NAL
n lards, or ready for the quick whir G
: uprising chicken No sense Of lone
i, liness oppreSSeS his soul as he drill
: along over the boggy places, throug
r weed and briar, ever alert for on
: feathered target or the other. Th
a brown stubble Is as pleasing to hiI
II as the pastures when they are gree
n with spring grass. November is Jun
y to him when the chicken are feedin
q amid the crementS of the year, and tt
r mallard glints his emerald hood
the waters as he scurries swiftly acro
the slough.