HE was mighty hard to convert. As he put it 

 himself, he was " sorter sot in his ways," and above 

 all, he " didn't keer fur no durn boys to be foolin' 

 round him." I doubt if evangelist ever softened a 

 tougher subject. 



I was then a big, raw-boned lad, a fairly good shot 

 for my years, and crazy to get hold of all possible 

 information about shooting and trapping. I had to 

 stay with an elder brother in the woods till his 

 lumbering operations could be concluded in the 

 following spring, which meant that I had at least 

 ten months during which I could fish, shoot, and 

 trap, according to season. It was a fine opportunity, 

 for there was plenty of game, large and small, within 

 rifle-shot of the wretched village which consisted of 

 a foot-path, with a saloon and a couple of dozen 

 other buildings strung along it. At least half of 

 the male residents hunted or trapped at odd times, 

 but they didn't amount to much. Several of them 

 used to find pleasure in stuffing me full of yarns of 



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