Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-05
"I DID IT."
BEST THOUGHT IN AMERICA
DIGEST OF THE MAGAZINES

! stiffened my back and kept my eyes open,
/ and ! did see more.
Then came a long, hard climb. At last
we reached the top and sat down on some
! boulders was plumb out of breath,
| but men who are most gallant elsewhere
are absolutely heartless on a hunt | was
scarcely through painting before we began
to descend, We hastily seCreted ourselves
along the narrow gorge through which
the elk must pass We were all on one
side, and Mr.. Haynes said to me: REST
your gun on that rock and aim at the hrst
rib back of the shoulder" 1t didn't seem
minute before we heard the beat of
| their hoofs and queer painting noise
that / can't describe First came beau
tiful thing with his head held high; his
great antlers seemed to lie half his length
on his back; his eyes were startled, and
his shining black name seemed to briste
! heard the report of guns, and he tum-
bled In a confused heap. He tried TO rise
but others coming leaped over him and
knocked him down.
Mr. Haynes shouted to me, Shoot
shoot; why don't you shoot?" So | fired
my Krag; but next l found myself pick
ing myself up and wondering who had
struck ME and for what. | was so dizzy
l could scarcely move, but ! got down
| to where the others were eXcitedly ad-
miring the two dead elk that they said
were the victims of Mrs. Shaughnessy's
as If she had never declared she would
| not kill anything. Sure it's many a
| meal they'll make for little hungry
mouths" she said. She was rubbing her
shoulder ruefully. II don't want to fire
any more big guns. | thought old Goliath
had hit me biff with a blackthon shil-
laleh," she remarked.
Mr.. Haynes turned to me and said
You are a dandy hunter You didn't
shoot at all until after the elk were
gone, and the way you held your gun, it
is wonder 1t didn't knock your head
off instead of just smashing your jaw"
1t was dark before We reached camp
Supper was ready. but l went to bed at
once. They all thought 1t was because
l was disappointed, but 1t was because
/ was so stiff and sore l could hardly
move, and so tired I couldn't sleep.
Shag Tobacco and It's Kick
There is thoroughly masculine de-
scription of fishing trip in Field and
Stream (3), by Robert Davis. There
are black bass aplenty in the story,
but more characteristic than the ac-
tual adventure is the combination of
poetic and comic feeling with which
Mr., Davis describes a night in camp.
Unless you are interested in waters
where black bass can be taken on flies
three at a crack, and on plugs in pairs
you had better pass this article up, and
turn to the advertising in the back pages
We pitched our tents In the high
est point, taking shelter in some scrub
pine and hemlock, through which the
night winds breezed a perpetual lullaby
Then McLaurin pulled out corncob
pipe, tamped 1t full of shag tobacco and
put the place on the bum. Shag, for the
benefit of the untutored Is a combina-
tion stencil that suggests a smoldeTlng
hair mattress that has caught fire IN
the livestock sheds of a State fair During
the Typing rebellion in China, when the
stlnkpots We're introduced as a phase of
warfare, shag tobacco was In its infancy
But in later years II came into its own
and has since established a record for
purtrescence that is without peer In the
| history of odors. McLaurin, through per
sistent endeaYor, an inconquerable will
| and inexhsustlble patience, had learned
to inhale 1t.
What some OF US that night mistook
for sleep was In reality asphyxiation. In
the morning Larry, with a hercuean Of
fort, emerged from his coma, and nv
| throwing buckets OF cold water in the
faces of his swooning comrades, revived
us one at time. Packard. being a SEN
sitiYe man and somewhat delicate owing
TO the pursuit OF literature, did not re-
cover consciousness till after breakfast
Upon discovering that he had missed a
meal he lapsed again to a state of in
| sensibility. A hasty conference was held
and thereafter, so far as We were con-
| eerned, there was an embargo on shae
In Canada. We put the camp In shin
/ shape, hung out our blankets to flIml-
| gate and made for our canoes. The nov
/ elist and the banker, with a bookful OF
hiss, took the west shore. Larry and I
took the east. MeLaurin took nap on
/ shore