242 Sport and Life. 



down like a dog. I was riding at a trot towards Sandpoint, along 

 the narrow trail at a point where it twisted through a particularly 

 dense bit of forest, when suddenly I saw Sprowle, half concealed 

 behind a big pine, with a rifle to his shoulder, taking deliberate aim 

 at me. The tree was fortunately not more than 3ft. or so from the 

 trail, and my horse, suddenly perceiving the figure, shied violently, 

 providentially, the very same instant that Sprowle pulled the 

 trigger. He missed me clean, and the next second the terrified 

 animal was tearing along the crooked trail, taking me out of 

 Sprowle's sight before he had time to pump a second cartridge 

 into his rifle. The shot was fired at such close quarters that my 

 right hand, which, I suppose, I must have thrown up instinctively, 

 bore powder marks. It was a close shave, and the speed at which 

 I sent good old " Boston " over the intervening twenty miles to 

 Sandpoint was, perhaps, not the kindest reward for the service 

 the old horse had just rendered me in saving my life by that 

 lucky shy. 



The absence of any police or Justice of the Peace at Sandpoint, 

 where the only representative of the latter class a notorious 

 gambler had lately " run agin a gun and passed in his chips 

 suddenlike," made it impossible for me to take any steps to have 

 Sprowle arrested, and I knew only too well, that it was useless, 

 in the presence of a number of toughs who were practically 

 running the " town," to appeal to the few decent citizens in the 

 place. 



The nearest ' town " where I could swear out a warrant was 

 Rathdrum, a settlement some forty miles to the west. The only 

 Westbound train of the day had gone hours before I reached 

 Sandpoint, and, as I was expecting a friend from England, Messiter 

 by name, next morning, I decided to- stay the night in Sandpoint. 

 Sprowle I did not see, but I heard that he had arrived shortly after 

 my reaching Sandpoint, his horse dropping down dead as he rode 

 into the single street consisting of two rows of shanties that faced 

 the railway track. My lighter weight and better horse had 

 probably saved me a second time, for had he overtaken me in the 



