Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-12

city, we had thrown our pack toeetheF
and taken to the mountains for
months outing. Our trip was to con
sist of fishing. hiking. prospectins,
beat-one frauEht with deal OF pleas.
ure that will build both mind and
muscle IL not furnished an adventure
or two.
Little did we dream as we Mixed up
tho long mountain trails that oalmy
day In July, of the gold mine we were
destined to find ere again returning 10
civilization with its manifold woes. IL
was not the kind of gold that men
use in barterinG, but n much nner,
moro unsalable substance goioen
memory. II you will.
"Rrn and me" had been cAmped for
n week in one OF the most beautiful
tho wild alluring' spots that one
could well imagine. There was
thatchy stand Of spruce and pine trees
hedging our camp on all sides whicn
VIC had pitched in a rugged canon of
the SanCre de Cristo range in the san
Isabel forest
Truly 1t was wonder spot. but.
generally I'm going to let you picture
It in your own mind know tnat
You would choose Just the kfnd OF
camp which We had.
To begin: first. last. and all the time.
Bill was n fisherman. short nun
dred Yards in front of our tepee. was
crystal clear enrandng stream that
fairly bulred with native and rainbow
trout. and 1t did not take us long to
realize that Bill was altogether too
much of fisherman for our party.
there being but he and myself. We had
not been in camp two days until all
our pots and kettles were full to over
flowing with fish and we were sore
pressed as to their disposal without
throwing them away. / did suggest
something of this character to Bill but
that's as far as I got. he glared at
mo In such baleful manner that 1
was content ever after to hold my
Of wild game.
Throw 'em away" he exploded.
"rhundernation, We're not 30 inhuman
rs all thAt-not yet. I hope- Two over
done things a bit. that's all. bein'. As
I am. new To the mountains for near
thrco years now, But any old time.
linn. YOU hear Of Fat Bill wastin' any
Wild came-takin' life without good,
legitimate cause. You do tho world .
favor by putting stick of dynamite
undcr me-. and be s,lre and bury tho
pieces so they won't SMELL"
That settled II. there would BE- none
Of II wasted around our camp. but
Bill had to ish. that WAS also settled.
n looked for a time N IL Bill might
have to foreGo his greatest pleasure.
hut tho way he had of surmountinE
the difficulty was entirely true to his
nature and. I believe. did not dctract
a particle from his sport
Bill didn't want to catch hHh ana
throw them back in-that would be
brutal. hencc-unsportsmanh he
couf'dcd this much to me before turn
Ing his attention to the mnfe tngrosa-
Ing ono Of appcasinE his enormous ap-
petite for clean sport This Ia the way
he did IL. taking our camp tweezcrs
ho broke the smells from a half dozen
ya-i-colorcd rics. leaving thereon
Just tho feathers, then. hc hailed forth
nshing Hr specialized on the big ones
generally. the hardened and trained
cnstomcrs OF fy-dom. He would fsh
for hours Just to outwit one: upon
heing successful in getting some willy
old chap 10 swallow mis- bait. he would
throw his hat In delight and war
whoop from tho bottom of his bellows
Ike lungs: IT got i'm. Jim, got i'm
u was run. more fun for me than Tor
him. The erpcctant look on Btlls face
while angling for n veteran was a
marvel IN itself. and I've often Won
dcred n tho trout did not enter into
tho spirit Of the game. droIl and hap
pity. tho same as Bill
our camp was ono OF those Z you
rad about but ono which Il seldom
struck by ones ownsrlf-the other fel-
lows camp always seeming to possess
coziness that ono's own lacks, But
such had NOT been the case with our
ramr From an aesthetic standpoint II
WAS all that any heart could wish 1r
tho rrrt place 4, was Ideally located
hcirr isolated from Wow Of all hui
man use. everything about us was
un;amcd and We could easily imagine
ourselves in the heart Of Alaska.
we had a spruce -bough bod that WA
wonder, Sometime. some trained
woodEr,an had taught BIZ this art
Taxing our hstehct. Bill had gathered
several armloads OF spruce houEhs.
none Of them over ton inches In length
and being the soft. fiuffy kind. BeEin-
ming At tho head Of the bod he laid q
row, points up and limb stems down
keerirE 20 on with layers until tbs
bod was or suriicen' length and width
I,~t mo say here. that any ono who
Ii~s down at night on this kind OF =
bod with tho pungcnt odor ot spFiics
houIghs IN his nostrils and tho clear
blue sky above him. is going to sleep
worldly troubles will not lingcr there
FoIlowinE the bed. Bill rigged up &
stone frc place. open at both ends
ard partially covered with short pieces
Of iron which he had thoughtfully
thrown into our PACK before ,ea''hs
the city over this he provided 2
forked stick on each side OF tho 6rs
and ebou, threo feet In height across
which he laid a slim pole. From this
polo our kettles could danele directly
in tho bIoyr, thus cooking while ws
smoked and Ioafed about the hres
during evenings or. in the morning
white cooking p-Jscks. We ccult
slide them bark on. Of our way Bill
early taught me never to set the cof'
foe pot on top the irr expecting re.
ruIts other than to have II tip over
uo se, tho pot fat on tho ground he
aide the nre. just within tho hot om.
myself . few days later that ronr'
would cook much sooner " thu
handled. Again, had trouble in keep
ink tho pot from boiling over snd h'
showed me how. by opening th6 lid ane
LAYING n short stick across the top
this trouble might he avertcd. He wa
r.nius about camp and in hsndi
ness. ours was about equal TO an,
modern home