The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1914-12-31

this continent, / verify believe. III Joe
Is free and can so with you. you will
get your moose with the sixty inch |
horns understand that he has en-
tered into some sort of contract with
the provincial police"
"With the police?" repeated.
"Yes. He is to help them in such
cases as may lie within the scope Of
his special experience. He Is. indeed,
the very last person should like to
hare upon my trail had l committed
a murder He is most skilled and
minute observer. and you must not for
get that the speciality of Sherlock
Holmes is the everyday routine OF a
woodsman Observation and deduc-
tion are part and parcel of his daily
existence He literally. reads as he
runs The floor of the forest Is his
!, page. And when crime is committed
| In the woods these facts are very for
| tunate There nature is the criminals
| best ally. She seems to league herself
| with him in many ways. Often she
delays the discovery of his i'll doing;
| she covers his deeds with her leaves
and her snow: his track she washes
away with her rain. and more than
| all she provides him with vast area
of refuge. over which she sends the
| appointed hours of darkness. during
| which he can travel fast and far
"AH things considered. it is surpris-
/ ing that so many woods crimes are
brought home to their perpetrators"
There you are forgetting one very
important point l have been present
at many trials and the most dangerous
witnesses that have ever seen have
been men of the November Joe type
/ that is, practically illiterate woodsmen.
Their evidence has quality of terrible
simplicity. They give minute but un-
answerable details All their expert
ences are first hand. They bring for
ward naked facts with sledge hammer
results. Where a town bred man
would see nothing but series of blur.
red footsteps in the morning dew. an
! ordinary dweller in the woods could
learn something from them, but No
) vember Joe can often reconstruct the
man who made them, sometimes in a
manner and with an exactitude that
has struck me as little short OF mar
velous.'
81 see he has interested you." said
; l, half smiling.
.T confess he has. Looked at from
a scientific standpoint l consider him
the perfect product of his environ
ment. There are few things would
enjoy more than to watch November
using his experience and his super
normal senses in the unraveling OF
some crime of the woods
| threw the stump of my cigar into
), the fire
"You have persuaded me-" said. ~
will try to make Il start by the end Of
the week Where is Joe to be found"
Gas to that. believe you might gel
, into touch with him at Harding's farm
: Silent Water. Beauce."
"I'n write to him"
mot much use He only calls fo'
: letters when he feels inclined"
'Then I'll go to Harding's and ar
: range the trip by word Of mouth"
THAT would certainly be the bes
plan. and. anyhow. the sooner you ge
. into the woods the better Besides
you will be more likely to secure Jo
;, by doing that. rs be is inclined to b.
Il shy of strangers.
! rose and shook hands with m.
h host
a Remember me to joe" said he. :"
: Hike that young man. Goodby an
good luck"
Along the borders of Beauce an
e Maine. between the United States an
Canada. lies land of spruce fores
It and of hardwood riGges Here littl
n farms stand on the edge of the bi
timber, and far beyond them. in tn
DEPTHS of the woodlands. lie lumbe
camps and the wide flung paths
Is trappers and pelt hunters.
Is / left the cars at Silent Water an
% rode off at once to Harding's, the hous
.e OF the Reauce farmer where NEAR
e to put up for the night. Mrs. Hart
II. ing received me genially and place
,f an excellent supper before me. Whi
Id was eating it a squall blew up wit
the fall of darkness. and | was gla
enough to find myself in safe shelter.
se Outside the wind was swishiT
among the pines which inclosed Il
n farmhouse. when inside the telephoI
Dt bell rang. which connected rs wit
II. st. George. forty miles distant. rar
Is suddenly and anonymously his
above the clan,or of the forest noise
,u Mrs Harding took up the receive
and this is what ! heard.