Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-01-09

the bride tied to the stump all right,
but the pony had vanished. He had
walked leisurely away. Then he
pricked up his ears and trotted off.
And then he saw something out of the
tail of his eye that quiekened his
pace, and then he began reeling-off
that trail twenty feet at a jump as
though old Satan were after him.
We stumbled over quarter section
of bear at the first turn in the trail.
The pony was then hitting only the
high places, and we speedily picked
up more bear meat. Down the trail
that scared piece of horseflesh went
in a wild stampede, and then in a
fearful burst of speed he let 90
another section of bear.
When we reached the barn at the
foot of the mountain the cayuse was
standing quietly in the yard with the
saddle under his feet, but no bear
skin was in sight. So we had to
hump along on the back track and
circumnavigate that peak for an hour
in search of that pelt. We came at
last to a bend in the trail>where the
pony rounded the curve at mile
a-minute clip, and there it had jump
ed off and taken to the brush. So
that blooming bear came near getting
away after all.
But it was fine beast. IT was big,
rawboned andrangy; and withal was
juicy and we'll favored, and tasted
just like a sheperd dog smells. So we
baked and boiled, stewed and fried
Ursa Major, but somehow the longer
we would chew piece of the re-
mains the bigger it would get. At
length we gave it up, and "jerked' y
the remainder a-la-venison for distri-
button among oNr many admirng
friends.
Sunday morning came and the
disciple of Blackstone said he would
take his old krag and go up to the
big barn. to look at the sheep! He
said he would take his 30-30 and
stroll down to the berry patch to look |
at the cows! But the parson deci-
ded to take religious snooze in the
tent. While the elder was thus
in slumber and lost to this
sinful world, the urchins came in and
said. "Pa, do you care if we go up
the creek with our poles?" And .
they both swore the preach
er said he didn't care" So away
they went, and when they returned
they had seventeen rainbow trout
and the Sabbath. as the Indian would
say, was "hias cockchit,' y badly broll-
en-.
One morning the judge and the
chaplain, with a coulpe of dogs. went .
up into brushy terrace to look after
a bear that had been trespassing
there. Whole troops. battallions and
firing squads of deer flies, buffalo
gnats, gallinippers, and "no-see-ums"
were over on the trail or in ambush .
for us. Small focks of band-tailed .
pigeons are found in the Coast Range
Their soft cooling. as they sit on a
dead branch of a lofty fir, adds a
home-feeling to the charm of the
solitudes. Our dogs nosed .
around for while, and then took a
pretty hot track. They gave tongue,
and the music was worth hearing, but .
they soon ran off over the mountain
and ont of hearing. But We nimrods .
had mounted big logs for bird 's-eye
view of the chase. While closely
scanning the pillows of fern, a yellow
dog was seen running through the
thickets, and jumping the rocks and
logs. 1t turned and ran toward the
legal fraternity. The old krag belch-
ed fire and hail but failed to stop
HIM The "cnitter' then wheeled
toward the exhorter, and as it leaped
over a monster log, he turned loose
MS old Remington at the yellow dog
head, and shot off hind quarter.
When the smoke drifted away the
yellow dog proved to be fifty pound
.ow-head. But it counted for a veni-
son, and fell to the lot of the preach
,r, and the urchins were happy.