The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1913-12-03
around his waist and gleefully ex-

~asAAACUs
"Woodsman. to work. to work. and
the hum Of the flying chips shall mingle
with the merry ring Of the bounding
AK! Here she goes"
He squared off, uttered a "Ha! and
made his first stroke. He rather ex.
pected to see the AK sink to the eye In
the wood. but it didn't do it. He was
&c far away that he just grazed the
trunk. and the AK kept on and sunk
in the earth Mt the roots. As he had a
good grip on the handle, Mr.. Bowser
was brought to his knees by the force
of the blow. and his head came into
collision with the tree.
eowser Sees Stars.
He saw suns and moons and stars for
a moment. Then he slowly got up and
rubbed his eyes and looked in the d.
rection of the house. Mrs. Bowser was
not to be seen, and he mentally thank
ed heaven and added:
II was all right, but the blamed tree
Jumped back just as l struck. Mebbe
I'd better go slow and practice a little
before 1 rush things"
He went slow. He stood of and
pecked at the tree with light strokes
for a few minutes. Somewhat to his
surprise 1t stood still. and after FIVE
minutes work he saw n small chip
fly away. This delighted and encour-
aged him, and. growing holder. he ut
tered a sort of war whoop and swung
the Ak for liberty or death.
1t was an upward blow. and the old
tree was as hard as iron. AS the TX
glanced and went over his head Mr..
Bowser took a tumble and brought up
with his nose deep in the soil. Just
as he got up Mrs. Bowser arrived to
say:
"Well, I see you have made a begin
ming. Were you after roots down
there?"
"W-what are you doing here, wo-
MANI" he exclaimed as he rose with
red face and blazing eyes.
Came to SEQ Fun.
II came to see you chop and be on
hand when the accident happened. I
see you have made a mark on the
tree"
"Go!' he hoarsely whispered as he
pointed to the house.
She went slowly away. and when he
had seen her vanish he picked up his
ak and growled:
1--WE come out here to cut this tree
down, and I'll do the work II It takes
me a hundred days and nights! The
blamed thing must have jumped at me
instead Of backward that time. I'll
get on to the trick this time or know
the reason why!"
There were wariness and caution in
Mr.. Bowser's actions for the next ten
minutes. He kept n eye on the tree
all the time and was on guard. He got
the "hang" Of the ak and released two
more chips, and was finally ready to
deliver a telling blow. He didn't deliv.
er 1t, however. until he had made three
or four false motions and found the
tree firmly rooted in place.
Then he set his teeth, got a 1rmer
hold Of the AK and struck with all his
might. He had forgotten about dis
lance, and the blow was too far over.
The ak handle struck the tree, and
as the ak few away the end Of the
handle hit Mr.. Bowser in the pit of
the stomach.
The whole world, including Alaska
and the Sandwich islands, went whirl-
ing around with him for a few seconds.
and then he seemed to be falling
through space.
Comes Back to Life.
Ten minutes later no opened his eyes
and knew that he had not been buried
alive. Sounding soft and low and far
away, he hears Mrs. Bowser's voice
saying to a boy:
mo. my son, he is not dead, but
merely resting"
twill he cut the tree down after he
gets rested" asked the boy.
II do not think he will-not today.
he may try to milk the cow-build a
rail fe~nce-clean out the we'll or use q
scythe, but he won't tackle that tree
again for several days. How do you
feel, Mr.. BowserT
"Is-is that tree still thereT' he faint
~ asked.
ION, yeS-r1ght there"
"And It didn't kick me in the stom.
ach?"
mo"
"Then you did. You were deter
mined l should make a failure Of it,
and while l was busy you sneak up
and
"Mr. Bowser, are you convincedT"
she interrupted.
you betcher life I am" he shouted
as he sat up.
"And can't you recall that it was a
furniture van that turned in here and
ran owe your"
Mr.. Bowser looked at her suspicious
~ and then got up and threw the Ak
over the fence and followed her home,
limping in all his legs and arms and
stomach.
Our Actors.
/ NNhop0o, 1DovO cclJ A..