The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-10-29
Cought
in the
Wild :
BY Robert
Ames Bennett
WNU Service
Copyright by
Robert Ames Bennett

moose bull hide. He could have
stretched out and gone to sleep no
less readily than had the chechahcos.
On the other had, he was able to
keep awake as long as he wished. He
scraped steadily at the coarse moose
hair, the while his ears drank in the
voice of the Wild.
By the time the sun glared over
the jagged crests on the northeast
wall of the valley, Garth had the
hair grained from both the moose
hides. AS he started to cut into the
larger skin, Miss Ramill crawled
from the leanto.
She blinked and yawned, straight
ened her rumpled sports skirt, and
sat down to lace her boots. He gave
her friendly good morning.
Good? Pah!" she scoffed. 81 feel
like the morning after. Here am flat.
Not drop of anything for bracer;
no bath; no clothes or face cream or
lotions; no makeup! Not even a
cigarette! Yet you have the face to
gibe me about it!'
At that, he could not resist giving
her the old quip: Cheer up; the
worst is yet to Gomez
She ignored it to point at the SIM
mering muffle in the gold pan. Look
at that filthy mess; half full of ashes.
If you had spark of decency, you'd
throw it out and warm me a pan of
water for my face and hands"
He finished the cutting of moe
casin piece before he replied: 'In the
first place, I'm too busy performing
needed work to act as lady's maid.
In the second place, that muffle is
not filthy. You'll say it's the most
delicious aspic you ever tasted.
About the rest, douse your head in
the rill. That will give you COM
bined wash and bracer. If you wish
a smoke, there's the fire. For cos
metics, I'll soon be making up a
batch of grease and pitch mosquito
dope My final dose of frogite went
on too thin to last long"
She looked her disgust. Grease
and pitch! When I have headnet?"
'Soon as we start travelling through
brush it's question which will 60
first, your net or your stockings.
Dope doesn't snag on branches, and
you'll find it better cosmetic than
rouge and powder"
ugh! If use your nasty dope at
all, it will be on my legs
mo go. You'll be scraping against
rocks and running upon snags.
Won't have any knees left if you try
the Highland style How about those
lynx skins for leggings, along with
moose moccasins?"
For the first time since they had
met, the girl gave him genuinely
friendly smile That's decent of you,
Alan. How soon can you make
them?"
"Cut me a steak off that nearest
leg of moose. While you're cooking
it, I'll see what can be done"
When she returned the knife and
started to broil the great slab of
meat she had sliced off, he laid out
the pair of lynx skins. A few knife
strokes cut off the great hair-padded
paws and slit the legs into thongs.
When the girl brought him his broil-
ed moose steak, he showed her how
to wrap a skin around each leg like
a high-topped Logging, tying it with
the crossed thongs.
There you are, Miss Ramill. It's
a pair of leggings such as our an
cestors wore when they pirated the
high seas in viking ships and sailed
up the Thames with Henghist and
Horsa"
Hubby sat up, blinking. The thin
shake-down of moss and spruce tips
had done little to soften the stony
ground. He rubbed his stiffened
back and hips. "Confound those
rocks!"
The engineer looked at the partly
eaten steak in Garth's hand. "How
about breakfast"
Help yourself to all you want.
Along with your own, you might
broil steaks for Miss Ramill and her
father. Miss Ramil is about to take
a lesson in sewing. She will soon
need pair of moccasins."
The last remark checked the girls |
intended refusal While Huxby sui
1enly cut the three steaks and start
ed to cook them, she carried out
Garth'S suggestion to grease her
lynx skins with chunk of fat.
When Garth finished his meal, he
threaded a needle with smoked cat |
gut and showed the girl how to sew
the thick moosehide. Holes punched
with the awl made the work fairly
easy. Within a few minutes she
caught the knack of handling the
awl and needle. Though her stitches
were irregular, they promised to
hold. He cut out the mate of the
first moccasin, and another pair
smaller in size. !
Mr.. Ramil crawled from the lean
to, stiff, hungry and irritable. But
sleep and the open air had whetted
all appetites. AS with the broiled
liver, the three .chechahcos million
aire, mining engineer and fastidious
heiress at the hot meat with |
fingers and teeth. They were down
to bedrock-to the fundamentals of
living. ALI the elegancies of civilized
eating were absent, even the suppos-