The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-05-28
wNu Service


1t was a splendid night that fol-
lowed Perhaps BARGE would have
slept through it in his nest on the
top Of the dam If the bacon smell had
not stirred the new hunger in him.
Since his adventure in the canyon,
the deeper forest had held dread for
him, especially at night But this
might was like pale, golden day: 1t
was moonless; but the stars shone
like billion Distant lamps, flooding
the world in a soft and billowy sea of
light. A gentle whisper of wind made
pleasant sounds in the treetops. Be-
yond that it was very quiet, for it was
Puskowepesim-the Moulting Moon
and the wolves were not hunting, the
owls had lost their voice, the foxes
skunk with the silence of shadows, and
even the beavers had begun to cease
their labors. The horns of the moose,
the deer and the caribou were In ten
der velvet, and they moved but little
and fought not at all. 1t was late
July, Moulting Moon of the Cree.
Moon of Silence for the Chippewayan.
In this silence Baree began to hunt.
He stirred up family of half-grown
cartridges, but they escaped him. He
pursued rabbit that was swifter than
he. For an hour he had no luck. Then
he heard sound that made every
drop of blood in him thrill He was
close to McTaggart's camp, and what
he had heard was a rabbit in one of
McTaggart's snares. He came out
into little starlit open and there he
saw the rabbit going through most
marvellous pantomime. 1t amazed him
for a moment, and he stopped in his
tracks
Wapoos, the rabbit, had run his
furry head into the snare, and his
first frightened jump had "shot" the
sapling to which the copper wire was
attached so that he was now hung half
in midair, with only his hind feet
touching the ground. And there he
was dancing madly while the moose
about his neck slowly choked him to
death.
Baree gave sort of gasp. He could
understand nothing of the part that
the wire and the sapling were playing
in this curious game. All he could see
:, was that Wapoos was hopping and
j dancing about on his hind legs in a
most puzzling and unrabbit-like fash
ion. 1t may be that he thought it
some sort of play. In this instance,
however, he did not regard Wapoos as
he had looked on Umisk the beaver.
He knew that Wapoos made mighty
fine eating, and after another moment
or two of hesitation he darted upon
his prey
Wapoos, half gone already, made al
most no struggle, and in the glow of
the stars Baree finished him, and for
half an hour afterward he Toasted.
McTaggart had heard no sound, for
the snare into which Wapoos had run
his head was the one set farthest from
his camp. Beside the smoldering
Goals, of his fire he sat with his back
to tree. smoking his black pipe and
dreaming GENEROUSLY of Nepeese. when
Baree continued his night-wandering.
Baree no longer had the desire to
hunt. He was too full. But he nosed
in and out of the starlit spaces, en-
jOying immensely the stiffness and the
golden glow of the night. He was fol-
lowing Il rabbit-run when he came to
a place where two fallen logs left a
trail no wider than his body. He
squeezed through; something tight
ened about his neck; there was q
sudden snap--a swish as the Sapling
was released from its ''trigger"-and
Baree was jerked off his feet so sud.
denly that he had no time to conjec-
ture as to what was happening,
The yelp in his throat died in a CUR
gle, and the next moment he was
going through the pantomimic actions
of Wapoos, who was having his ven
geance inside him. For the life of him
Baree could not keep from dancing
about, while the wire grew tighter and
tighter about his neck. Furiously he
struggled 1t was miracle that the
fine wire held him. In few moments
more it must have broken-but Nc
Taggart had heard him! The Factor
stick, as he hurried toward the snare
It was not rabbit making those
sounds-he knew that. Perhaps 9
fisher-cat-a lynx fox. a young
wolf
1t was the wolf he thought of frs
when he saw Baree at the end of the
WIRE He dropped the blanket ant
raised the club. If there had beer
clouds overhead. or the stars had beer
less brilliant. Baree would have dice
as surely as WapoOs had died. Will
the club raised over his head Nc
Taggart saw in time the white star
the whlte-tirped ear and the jet
black of Barrels coat.
With a swift movement he ex
changed the club for the blanket.
In that hour. could McTaggart hav,
looked ahead to the days that were Il
come, he would have used the club
Could he hive fOreSeen the grea