HOW SOME WOMEN WENT SHOOTING. 



Julia C. Welles. 



^r^HEREwere 4 ladies and 6 gentle- 

 X men in our camping party. It 

 was agreed that we should get 

 as far as possible away from " cark- 

 ing care " and civilization, so it was 

 decided to select a spot, then, as yet, 

 unstartled by the steam whistle. One 

 of the party who had "been there," 

 described it as a " sylvan nook," which 

 suited the romantic tastes of the only 

 unmarried lady in the party, and 

 whose huge trunks were the subject 

 of more secret balloting than would 

 have been comfortable for her to 

 know. 



One of the women was said to be 

 a crack shot. We had learned, at 

 the hotel fireside, of her prowess; of 



how, with slight assistance, she had 

 killed a wildcat or two, and wounded 

 a panther; thatshe knew the* -a;: 

 having shot all over it with her hus 

 band, while she could give a wo- 

 man's yell sufficient t«> curdle the 

 blood in the veins of an unrr 

 structed rebel. ( )| course, we women 

 relied upon her with a babe's 1 

 fidence. 



Alter much time spent in stowing 

 away the trunks, adjusting them with 

 an eye to ballast, and taking an in- 

 ventory of our larder, which con- 

 sisted to an alarming degree oi "fire- 

 water," necessary tor snake-bite i 

 the guide, as the gentlemen informed 

 us, at the first stiff breeze we un- 

 furled sail, and a merrier, noisier 

 party never sailed up the Kissimmee. 



It was noon of the next day when 

 we reached our camping spot. A 

 sylvan nook it really was, with that 

 oppressive stillness which character- 

 izes such nooks doubly so at mid- 

 day. 



The dropping of the heavy dew in 

 the heart oi t his " prime> al I 

 fell with disturbing distinctness on 

 our senses. The voices of oui com* 

 panions chilled US to the marrow 

 while our ow n took OH a hollow : 1 

 strange to our ears. 



" 1 low c mid \ .Mi ha\ e M<x>d it ? 



asked the young w oman <>t the 1 



w ho had " shot all over th< 



w ith her husband." e oi hi 1 



man laughed gleefully, rounding it up 



w ith a whoop w hich brought 



their feet, and made even Our m 



companions, who v. 



their tent paraphernalia, turn | 



It was a relief to hear th< 

 the hatchets as the 

 ing driven. A str< 

 penetrated the dense !"■ 



tin- new, white 1 



tent, sendii a shadow branch 



its wa\ !e. 



271 



