

-^^ 



AMERICAN 



SPORTSMAN'S JOURNAL. 



Terms, .Four Dollars a Yeur 1 



Ten llcnig a Uopy. I 



6 month--), 8a ; 3 mumlm, g I . I 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1879. 



TRUTH LIES TO WINDWARD STILL. 



TITT boat la on a treacherous sea, 



- LTJ - My boat la very frail,— 



A painted toy on a boundless deep, 



Yet it drifts not with the gale ; 

 For on its mast, its swaying inaat, 



T have hoisted a snowy sail. 



And snugly lies she on the wind, 



It were rash to bear away, 

 For winds are transient and life Is brief, 



And my voyage ?— I dare not say 

 How far to windward gleams the land 



In the light of the eye of day ! 



A mist conceals the daylight land, 



A mist that Is all about ; 

 But I must not lower my snowy sail 



Nor yield to a Hopeless doubt. 

 No ! not if I shut the blue and gold 



Of the starlit midnight out ! 



Nor though no beacon greet my eye, 



Nor spire on towering hill, 

 Though not a bnoy mark the way, 



1 can find It if I will; 

 For well I know, where'er I go, 



Truth lies to windward still. 



And so I cannot furl my sail 

 Though the sea with hills be strewn, 

 I must sail or drift, for no cable here 



Can help me hold my own ; 

 And amid the boiling waves of life 



A calm is a thing unknown. 



My boat will never reach the shore- 

 Poor fool ! J rondly dreamed 



Tlj:it the day light land lay near at hand, 

 Jus: beyond the mist it seemed. 



Vet sun I follow my zig-zag course 

 And I ilnd that I only dreamed. 



And other hands shall guide the helm, 



And o;hers shall watch like me 

 The broken waves as they drown her bow, 



And in torrents roll off a-lee, 

 And others be drenched by the frighted foam 



That dies from an angry sea. 



But the boat will never reach the shore 



Let mortal do what he will, 

 Lei liiui coll from the morn till tlio noon come again, 



Let him double his utmost skill ; 

 \v lion all is done— let him rest '. let him reat ! 

 Lo 1 Truth lies to Windward Still ! 



—Melon Journal, 



Fur Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun. 



^dvmtttres in the $ungehg gnhe 

 ffegiotu 



THE snow held off until quite lute last fall in our lake 

 region, but the first good time for still-hunting found 

 ine at the Upper Dam. 



With my Ballard rifle in good working order, my cartridge- 

 box full and a cold biscuit in my pocket, I left camp by day- 

 ligbt in the morning. I had been gone about three hours, when 

 I struck the largest deer track, I think, that I ever saw. It 

 had been made that morning. 1 took it. up, cautiously going 

 slow and looking sharp, never moving ahead a rod without 

 looking over the next ten ; now down on one knee, then on 

 the other, looking here, there and everywhere, behind every 

 tree, rock and old windfall. 



At last, as it generally proves in still-hunting, I made the 

 deer out in rather an unexpected way. He was lying down 

 on low ground, and the first tiling that attracted my attention 

 was his huge antlers, which I could just see over the top of 

 a large pine log, not six rods away. I had hardly time to 

 cock my rifle before he rose to his feet. And such a sight ! 

 I see him still in my mind, as he stood there with his broad- 

 side toward me, his handsome bend highin the air ,- his scrag- 

 gy antlers looking like a dry cedar top; his large' mule ears 

 stuck forward ; bis nostrils expanded and his eyes wide open, 

 staring in the woods to the left of me. 



I raised my rifle to my shoulder, took a slow, and what I 

 thought was a sure aim, and fired. He didn't fall— no. sir ; 

 nor drop on to one knee, nor even stagger ; but just hoisted 

 his tail in the air, blew his whistle so you would have known 



that steam was up had you been a half mile away, and took 

 himself oil out of sight in about three seconds. 



I don't remember of sayirig anything worse than : " Cuss 

 the luck I I have done something smart this time ; overshot 

 the biggest buck in the Country, not six rods off ! First one 

 of the season, too ; might as well shoulder my rifle and go 

 home ; shan't get another crack this season ; miss the first 

 one and you are sure not to get another chance." These were 

 the ideas that ran through my head while I was reloading my 

 rifle. But I didn't give way to my disappointment five min- 

 utes, for 1 was soon creeping along as though nothing had 

 happened. I didn't look for blood, for experience had taught 

 me that a deer never went out of sight with his tail up that 

 had just had a .44 bullet shot through him. I was soon con- 

 vinced that if I got another shot I would have to work for it. 

 I looked at my watch ; it wanted a quarter of eleven. I 

 took out my biscuit and ate it, and then started in good ear- 

 nest. Where the growth was open and I could see for a good 

 way ahead, I would almost run ; but where it was thick, and 

 the deer, instead of going straight, would zig-zag a little, I 

 slowed my pace. 



I crossed several fresh tracks, and once had a good shot at 

 a doe ; but thinking the old buck was close by, and not carinff 

 much for the doe, I let the chance slip. Does looked small 

 to me then ; I was after something that had antlers, and I 

 kept after that something, until on drawing my watch I was 

 surprised to see that it was three o'clock, and I was obliged 

 to throw up the game for that day. 



Now, the. first thing thought of after giving up the idea of 

 shooting the biggest buck in the country was to get to camp 

 as soon as possible. I had about two hours of daylight left, 

 and a good eight miles ot mountain, swamp and underbrush 

 between me and it. I threw off my cartridge-box and coat, 

 and climbed -the tallest spruce tree there was bandy, to get 

 my exact bearings. I set my compass, took a hasty look at 

 the needle and then at the surrounding country, scrambled 

 down, whipped on my coat and cartridge-box, took a starting 

 look at my compass, and struck out. S.W. was the course. 

 I kept my compass in my hand, and set it as I went ; by so 

 doing I lost no time, and was sure to make a straight course ; 

 and the way I went over the underbrush and old logs was a 

 caution to belated travelers. It was dark when I reached the 

 top of the hill north of the camp, but I had no trouble in fol- 

 lowing back my tracks of the morning. A good hot supper 

 did not come amiss, and before a red-hot stove that evening 

 1 told the adventures and disappointments of the day. 



The hands on the old clock soon got around to nine, and 

 we doused the glim. After breakfast next morning I again 

 climbed the ridge in hope the deer would work back a little 

 nearer camp. At ten o'clock I was on a buck track that had 

 been made but a few hours, but he went through all of the 

 worst going there was in the country, and finally the approach 

 of night forced me to leave the track and turn my steps to- 

 ward camp again. Another well-relished supper, a few 

 questions about my luck, a story or two, eight hours of re- 

 freshing sleep, and it was again time to turn out. "Now, 

 fellows," said I, at the breakfast table, "it is the third day, 

 and you need not be surprised if 1 bring in something." I 

 felt as though I should not hunt in vain, notwithstanding the 

 bad luck I had the two previous days, and I did not, for at 

 two o'clock I again drew a bead on a buck. He was standing 

 behind an old spruce tree that had blown down, and I could 

 hardly see him through the boughs. Hewas twelve or fifteen 

 rods off ; I knalt down, rested my elbow on one knee and fired. 

 The deer disappeared from sight. I slid a cartridge into my 

 rifle and then began to look around to see if he wss anywhere 

 to be seen, but be was not. I went to the placo where he stood 

 when I tired. There were his tracks where he stood, and 

 those he made when he bounded away. I picked up a little 

 wad oi hair, but nowhere could I find any blood. I examined 

 the hair and saw that it was cut out by a'bullet, but I thought 

 that also went against me, for instead of hitting him square I 

 must have just shaved his back. I was almost ready to give 

 way to despair and believe the old adage about missing the 

 first shot. I started along on the track determined to make 

 sure that I had not hit him. I followed about ten rods, and 

 could hardly believe my eves when I saw my deer, fie was 

 lying stretched out at full length and stone dead. I looked on 

 him with admiration for a few moments, and then as I had no 

 time to waste I took my sheath knife, skinned his neck whole 

 and un jointed the back bone way up to his bead, and of course 

 saved his head. I soon had his cat cuss hanging from a limb. 

 It was quite a job to dress him off. I bad shot him through 

 the body, and he made up for not bleeding outside by filling 

 himself full inside. After dressing him 1 washed my knife 

 and hands in snow, shouldered the head and skin and started 

 for camp. I got there before dark without working very 

 hard, and that night they did not ioko tne any. I made ar- 

 rangements with Tom to let Boardman go with me and get 

 the meat the next day. I thought we would get the venison 

 the. easiest to take a boat and row up the lake near the island, 

 then leave our boat and strike across the country. 



I took my rifle along, not with the idea of doing any hunt- 

 ing, but thinking perhaps something might coma in our way, 

 and Boardman took an old navy revolver. It was a dark, 

 misty morning and rained quite hard as we went skipping 

 along up through Trout Cove, Boardman pulling a good lively 

 stroke with the oars and I keeping pace with the paddle. We 

 had eight miles of boating to do, and that was by far the 

 pleasantest part of our journey, as we soon found out after 



leaving the boat, for with the water running a stream off 

 from every tree we were wet to the skin. The snow was 

 three or four inches deep and fast melting. When we had 

 been from the boat an hour or two we camo upon two very 

 fresh doe tracks ; they were going very near our direction, so 

 we concluded to try them. It was splendid weather for busi- 

 ness, but not much for fun. The snow was so full of water 

 we could go very still. I was ahead and Boardman a rod or 

 two behind, when I caught sight of one of the does. She 

 was standing front toward me with her head turned to one 

 side. I clapped my Title to my shoulder, took a good aim at 

 the bow of her neck and fired. She disappeared from sight. 

 I ran toward the place where I saw her last, loading as I went 

 in hope of getting a shot at her mate. There was quite a 

 high knoll a little to the left of where she had stood. 

 As I ran toward the knoll I saw a deer about half way up the 

 side, standing still. I could not tell whether she was the one 

 I had fired at first or not ; but I blazed away, and whichever 

 one it was I was satisfied I had fixed her that time, for she 

 dropped without making a bound. I sbovedin another cartridge, 

 took a sharp look around, and then started for the knoll again. 

 As I stepped up the side of it I caught sight of Boardman a 

 little way from me, walking also ai if he was stepping on 

 eggs and his life depended on his breaking one, his hand behind 

 him on the but of his revolver, which was still in its sheath, 

 and with red-hot, premeditated murder glowing in his eyes. 

 I think the deer which stood just over the knoll must have 

 got a glimpse of her would-be assassin's phiz by the way she 

 snorted, for she fairly made the woods ring. Boardman 

 gave a jump as if lightning had struck him, and landed with 

 his heels deep in the ground a full yard apart. His body 

 was bent forward as his left handheld his coat-tail high in air, 

 while his right pulled and twiched at his revolver, which 

 seemed to have grown to its sheath all of a sudden. I 

 laughed ready to split, as I ran over the knoll in hopes of 

 getting a flying shot, but the deer was out of sight. I fol- 

 lowed a short distance, and then gave her up. We had more 

 on our hands now than we had got daylight for, and so 

 hastened on to the dead deer and took her inwards out. 

 Both of my shots had hit her, and the first one would have 

 secured her. We left her where she was and started again 

 for the venison of the day before. It was past noon when we 

 got to it. We divided it up into two packs and struck for 

 the lake again, reaching it after three hours of hard lugging 

 and walking. 



We laid our loads down and started off for the deer we 

 had killed in the forenoon. We found her, put a string 

 through her under jaw, one ahead of the other, and started 

 with her. For the first half mile the job was easy, as the 

 growth was open and the land descending ; then we came to 

 thick spruce "horse-locks," or ridges, with alder swamps be- 

 tween, and three or four inches of water. With night set- 

 tling down upon us our fix was not pleasant. Nevertheless 

 we got our deer through to the lake, but it wag so dark when 

 we got there that we could hardly tell ground from water. 

 Our boat was three-fourths of a mile above ug ; 30 1 ried my 

 white handkerchief to a bush above the spot where we laid 

 the carcass, and then got a bearing by the top of a frfei 11 

 pine, which stood on one of the islands, and Llie top of Bald- 

 head Mountain, which rose high toward the clouds from the 

 further side of the lake. We then started lor the boat. It 

 was a great relief not to have the deer to drag ; but the way 

 we tumbled and crept through the thick bushes and over 

 rocks and old logs was not Tike walking down Broadway. 

 Probably many of the readers of the Forest and Stkbam 

 have been in the same predicament. To them I will say, 

 " You know how it is yourself!" But to those who never 

 were there I'd advise " Don't get there," for if you have the 

 sweet disposition of an angel, the patience of Job, and a suit 

 of black broadcloth on, you would spoil the whole in going 

 half a mde. 



But Boardman and I had nothing to spoil, and what we did 

 have wouldn't have kept much longer, 1 guess, if we had 

 not run against the boat when we did. We turned it over 

 and tumbled into it— wet, stiff and hungry, but not cold I 

 took the oars and Board, the paddle this time. We first went 

 up the lake for the first deer, and had no trouble in finding it, 

 as we left it at the mouth of a little brook, and its rippling 

 sounds guided us. 



After getting it aboard safely, we pulled down the lake, 

 until we reached the place where we had marked the second 

 deer ; then we worked along slowly and kept our eyes riveted 

 on the top of our tree. When it came just in range of our 

 landmark on the top of the mountain, we turned our boat and 

 rowed directly ashore, keeping the two objects just in line. 

 When the bow struck I got ashore and felt around for a min- 

 ute, and was on the point of telling Board, that we had not 

 hit just right, when I put my hand on my handkerchief 

 that I had lied up for a sign. I could hAv? seen it just ns 

 well had I kept it in my pocket. "We soon had the deer aboard, 

 and again shoved out into the darkness: this lime we were 

 cold as well as still and hungry. The day had been very 

 warm and wet, but the night had set in dry and (Sold ; bill, 

 after we were fairly on the homestretch, I don't think we 

 could have bettered our time if we had been in a race with a 

 thousand dollars in the pool ; and an eight-mde stretch i i 

 fellow a chance to try his third wind as well as his second. 

 When we reached the point above the camp we both agreed 

 that it was a mighty pleasant sight to see the light streaming 

 out of the front window. 



