Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-26

said they had never dreamed of being
able to keep us that long. During the
fortnight some other strangers drifted in
The trader and his wife received them
hosts were insulted at the mere mention
OF such q thing. Such quaint old place
the house was. too. 1t had been built
long. long ago by Russians; formed of
f heavy logs it looked like a primitive
Only rarely during the whole six weeks
of the Alaskan trip did the Humphreys
have fresh meat. These festal occasions
happened when they were at the home Of
the trader. The United States govern
ment has an experiment station near this
spot Cattle were som etimes killed
and fish. " w " ~
The party started out for the hunt &C.
Russian Finn as guides. This Finn in
cidentally made himself quite fortune
raising blue foxes for the fur trade He
owned small island and there had his
hatchery or kennels. or whatever a fox's
breeding place happens to be.
Mrs. Humphrey did not alter her truth
full attitude when she spoke of the game
she brought down in Alaska. On the con-
trary, she tells, as joke, her woes ut
hunting the Kadiak bears.
She and her Indian boy, "Mose," often
went out together In pursuit of these big
creatures. Day after day they tramped
over the snow. Neither hair nor hide of
the quarry could they find Not even a
baby bear of the "Goldilocks" variety
did they discover. Time after time they
would return to camp tired and discour-
aged. To the men they told of their dis
appointment In tones of real grief.
And then, after the bear-hunting days
were past and we were homeward bound
explained Mrs. Humphrey. Nose and 1
confessed to each other that we were
glad from the depths of our hearts that
we had not found bear. We would
have been frightened miserabiy if We had
seen one
But suppose, just suppose you had?'
The interviewer enjoyed shuddering at
the awful possibilities Of such an en-
counter.
Il know l was more scared at the
prospect Of coming face to face with
kadiak than we would have been if one
had unexpectedly confronted u.s." Mrs
Humphrey replied. calmly. "If we had
not shot at him, he would not have
troubled us; the danger would have been
In having wounded him a trifie. That
would have enraged the animal Then
We would have had good reason to be
terrified"
Representative Humphrey treasures the
skins OF a number Of these Arctic bears
he has killed. One hide measures ten
feet long by four feet wide. Pleasant
little spectacle one of them would be for
a woman on a lonely Alaskan plain,
wouldn't it?
The beautiful scenery in the north
fascinated me-" continued AIRS. Humpti-
rey. Il had not believed there could be
such exquisite foliage IN such a colo
climate. I can trEthfully tell you that
rolled snowbil.is with one hand and gath
cred wild flowers with the other And
such dainty biossoms they were, too 1
have never enjoyed Hover half SO much
anywhere
Mr. Humphrey and his party usrc,liy.
pitched their camp or the shore CT seine
bay. They slept III tents. Open-atr
aieelinS was far too zero-like to De cc2g
Tor q period of four whole days Mrs.
Humphrey and Nose held the camp
alone. Mr.. humphrey and the guides
had gone of. too. after hears
No. l wasn't nervous In such solitude
said Mrs. Humphrey, 'sg..tner did I en-
joy the wonderful Stiffness. Nose was a
great comfort to me. He was my COM
panion in many adventure. One adven-
ture was almost trage1y. Now that
look back on 1t. 1t seems part of the two
month frolic.
Nose ana were exploring the country
alone. We had wandered far out on the
rocks along the shore Suddenly we
were alarmed to find that we were sepa-
rated by a rapidly rising tide from the
mainland. But the Indian boy was equal
to the emergency. He jumped into the Icy
water. swan OF to solid ground and hur-
ried OF to find boat TO bring me to
safety.
81 sought the highest point of the rock
and waited In agonizing suspense for
Noses return. At last he came when the
water had reached about three inches
from my rocks peak"
Just the reverse Of this narrowing ex-
perience was the absurd situation Mrs.
Humphrey found herself In on a short
water trip she took with her husband
and one guide. They embarked IN one Of