4 



RECREATION. 



ears, I passed a piece of buckskin 

 through it and hung the head on a 

 limb of a sapling. Some 2 miles 

 above my camp, on Whisky creek, 

 was a bear trail, and near that trail a 

 large steel bear trap, 42 pounds in 

 weight, had been set 2 or 3 nights 

 previously for a large cinnamon bear. 

 He had, however, failed to accept the 

 invitation. 



I took this trap up and carried it to 

 the place where the lion had had his 

 royal feast the night before. Remov- 

 ing the deer's head from the limb, I 

 fastened it securely to the butt of a 

 small aspen tree. Then I cut down 

 a tree from which I made a clog 

 about 8 feet long and 6 inches 

 in diameter at the large end. I put 

 the ring of the trap chain on this clog 

 and fastened it with a wedge. Then 

 I dug up the earth near the deer head 

 until I had a hole about 4 inches deep 

 and about the size and shape of the 

 trap. In that hole I placed the big 

 trap, after setting it, and covered it 

 with earth and leaves. 



I was up and on my way to the trap 

 early the next morning. The shad- 

 ows cast by those lofty mountains 

 among which my camp was placed 

 had not as yet been dispelled by the 

 rising sun, although higher up, on the 

 Sangre De Christa range, vast piles 

 of snow were glistening in his 

 rays. As I neared the place where 



the trap was set, I became anx- 

 ious to see what my luck had been. 

 After I had penetrated the thick un- 

 dergrowth, to within 50 feet of the 

 spot, I found I had made a capture. 

 The aspen trees near where the trap 

 had been set had the bark torn off. 

 The marks of teeth and claws on oth- 

 er trees and the trampled earth bore 

 evidence there had been a fierce bat- 

 tle between the beast and the big trap. 



Stealing softly forward, I soon dis- 

 covered the lion. Standing on an old 

 pine log, one foot in the great trap, he 

 glared at me, silent and grim. He 

 made no motion except with his tail, 

 which he lashed furiously. His head 

 was in a line with his body as he 

 stood directly facing me. Not wish- 

 ing to make any bullet holes in his 

 skin, I moved forward and began to 

 circle around him. He made no ef- 

 fort to change the position of his 

 body, but followed me with his in- 

 tense gaze until I had made almost 

 a half circle. His head then being 

 out of line with his body, my chance 

 to fire had come. This I did with 

 careful aim, just above and between 

 those glowing eyes. 



As the report of the rifle rang 

 through the canyon, the head of the 

 beast sank down and his body fell 

 sideways off the log. Reloading my 

 rifle, I stepped quickly forward, but 

 life was extinct before I reached him. 



He was in the parlor of a St. Louis 

 residence while his fiancee was playing 

 a Chopin sonata on the piano. Her 

 mother was seated almost opposite her 

 future son-in-law, and when the proper 

 opportunity presented itself she said: 



"Don't you think Edna has a great 

 ear for music?" 



"I certainly do," replied the young 

 man. "If you'd stretch a few strings 

 across it it would make a lovely guitar " — 



But he never finished his sentence. — 

 N. Y. Herald. 



