Year: 1879




BILL MARSTON, THE TRAPPFR.
by GOODRICH.


| In the autumn of 1916 concluded TO
90 on hunting trip to the head waters
| of the Suscatchcwan-the North Branch
and l speedily found myself travelling
in northwest direction, well supplied
with the simple nccessaries for a six
months absence in that wild region.
had provided myself with a monstrous
Kentucky rifle, which in itself was d
heavy load, but which l valued highly
on account of its accuracy and long
range. My companion in this cxpcdi-
tion was an old trapper, with whom
had become intimate at a trading post
He had taken fancy to me at a shoot
1 ing match wherein had won the envi.
able reputation of the crack shot,
This was no mean distinction where
eight out of ten bullets were always put
into the bulls-eye," of about one and
a half inches in diameter, at a distance
of eighty yards. This excellence as a
ritieman stood me in good stead as The
sequel will show. My companion was a
tall, raw-boned, heavy y-shouldered man,
whose nationality would have puzzled
a physiognomist, rs nothing of his face
could be seen but a very large Roman
nose, pair of piercing grey eyes, and
an unlimited quantity of grizzled beard
| lie said little of himself, except that
he had " trapped and hunted of and Oh
for he didn't know how long in them
parts, and kalkerlated as how some
un 'ud find his old grizzled karkis out
there some bright day, for he couldn't
| abide the settlements nohow" AS foi
myself, was young man of ordinary
variety, about twenty-five years of age
and Canadian by birth. Il had spent
some years in the Hudson Bay territory
and was on my way southwark when
formed the idea of joining Bill MarsloI
in his winters hunt.


| MarstOn's reputation as q keen and
wary hun er stood high among the band
of which he had been a quasi member
and il was admitted that he could draw
a quicker and truer bead " than an,
man thereabouts. He never hunted in
company with others of his class, but
came and went-no one knew whence
or whittier; and the surprise was great
when l was seen stepping into his old
"dug-out andItakingka hand in the
management of that rather ticklish craft
| even heard another grizzled, buck.
skinned old trapper say that he had pro.
posed accompanying my companion
but he had been rcpulsed in pretty shori
terms; "and now," said the indignant
trapper, splitting ont huge flood OF
tobacco juice, "he's tuck that young III
instead to keep him in perpetual hot
water" Marston must have heard this
as l did, but he took 10 notice of il
whatever; and /, little taken down
was glad when he gave the dugout 4
strong push off shore, and sprang in
with astonishing agility for a man Of
his age-which L afterwards learned
was over fifty.


We were about three weeks i'm reach
ing Marston's Camp-Map, far from any
human habitatiOn, except the occasional
wigwam of some Indian hunter ell
gagged like ourselves. Part of the wa,
we sailed along in our dugout between
the beautifully tinted and ever varying
tree clad banks of the river, pushing
along by day as rapidly as possible
against the strong current, and carefully
drawing up our canoe under some ovei
hanging tree, passing the night envel





| AT the end of two weeks we arrived
at fork of the river, where we left oul
canoe -concealing it in the hollow of ,
cottonwood log, which Marston hat
used for this purpose many years. Ht
told me there was considerable fall /,
short distance above the forks, ovel
which we could not get the canoe; S,
we shouldered our packs and made th'
rest of our journey on foot.


On the fourth day of our march
Marston's keen eye detected "Indial
signs here and there along our route
and while he seemed to feel ANNOYED a
being meddled with" and perhap
his traps stolen," it did not greatly af
feet me, as knew that all the tribes O
British Indians were on friendly term
with the Company and The hunters.


At length we reached "the lodge
as Marston invariably called his hut
without seeing anything more of tn
Indians, and my hosts temper was Wis
IDLY improved when he found every
thing was exactly as he left il sometim
before. He at once commenced Initial
ing me into the art of making up an,
setting traps for mink, beaver and otter
with which the river and adjacen
meadows seemed to be alive, and in


short time / could do this as we'll as m
teacher, though perhaps less expedi
tiously.


One morning, after we had been thu
occupied about three weeks, and ha
taken and cured large number of fin
skins, Marston got up and went ou
very early, saying that he would visi
some distant otter traps that had bee
set long time. l remained in cam
several hours, but finally, after payin
visit to all the other traps in ou
neighborhood those that ha
been spruDg-I took my rifle and wen
in search OF game to supply our lardei
This usually fell to my lot, and it wa
by no means laborious occupation, a
deer were plenty and tame, while pal
fridge and grouse flew up at almost ey
cry step.


/ had been ont about an hour an
had bagged several fine birds, and wa
intently looking up into a giant oil
. pine for one of covey l had Just busl
ed, when the distant report of a rifl
broke the stiffness of the mid-forest ali


1t seemed to me as II there were tw
reports almost simultaneous; just as


came to the conclusion that II mul
have been the echo of Marston's gun
the thought suddenly struck me that /


had that morning left his rifle at III
I lodge, as he expected TO be laden wit


peltries on his return, and the riff
would make his journey rather irksom
! No sooner had this flashed through N
mind than ! felt sure that some of Il
wandering Indians, who perhaps kne
of MarsfOn's solitary hahits had A