Gilpin observer., 1913-03-27
BRINGING IN TIE BAG

joiced by the sound of two heavy anil
mails moving slowly through the for
est There was no doubt. from the
noise of cracking sticks and the
rustling of dead leaves, that two
boars were coming leisurely through
the wood, roofing up the ground on
the way. They actually passed up
wind Of us and within thirty yards of
where We sat, breathlessly waiting be-
hind dwarf spruce tree, but SO dense
was the thicket at this point that
neither of US could detect a move
ment in the brushwood. We had.
however. the consolation Of knowing
the boars were making in straight
line for where s. was sitting, and
would probably afford him chance Of
a shot. Then all was silent again for
a while, until suddenly rifle shot
echoed from hill to hill, and was
quickly followed by another. Filled
with great expectations, we pushed
our way through the brushwood to
where We found s. using decidedly
strong language, and ruefully regard
ing the blaze on small sapling which
showed where his first bullet had
struck, and thus proved the means of
saving big boar's life, since a second
barrel at running pig in such dense
timber was naturally hopeless. Alas
for vain regrets and lost opportuni-
ties. 1t is always thus with the big
heads, or the monster fish, which we
| lose: and s., who had seen wild
| boars in many lands. declared that
this was indeed big one. Since the
shots had probably cleared the neigh
borhood of game for time. we wend-
| ed our way back to camp.
At two o'clock next morning we
were astir. and after a somewhat
early breakfast took up our positions
sun appeared. Several hours waiting.
and more battles with mosquitoes
yielded no sign of boars. Finally the
forester persuaded us to climb to the
mountain top, where we could take
up positions while he and his assist
ant would walk along the hillsides and
attempt to move some bears which
might make for the higher ground.
We had not been waiting long be-
fore fox trotted up to within a few
feet of my position and remained
listening for a while, unit finally he
was allowed to pass on his way un-
molested Soon afterward from far
below in the valley came wild shouts
from one forester. and 1t afterwards
transpired that two very big boars
had jumped up close to him and brok-
en- back in the wrong direction. In
a short time the man himself arrived
breathless from a steep climb and ex-
planned as best he could that he had
seen boar go into thicket below us
and thought it might be possible to
get a shot at him. Although feeling
very dubious about our chance of see-
ing the boar again. I was induced to
follow the forester in a wild scramble
down a steep hillside. falling over
rocks, and into punches of brambles
or nettles, as we went. Finally we
reached spot at which the second
forester had been keping observation
on the place where the boar had been
seen. and shortly after entering the
thicket this man seized my arm and.
| pointing to some dark object under a
tree said. in Roumanian, Pig. shoot"
Now. the object in question might
have been a rock. pig or anything
else, but 1t surely was no part OF the
tree, and although 1t Is strongly
against my principles to shoot at any
thing unless l can clearly distinguish
what the object is, l decided to break
this rule once. and SO fired. Sure
enough, 1t was boar, but tho bullet
only grazed his side. causing him to
lump forward into an open space be-
tween two trees. Alas! poor pig. this
was fatal. for a second later another
bullet passed through his heart. and
my first Roumanian boar lay on the