TWO RED LETTER DAYS. 



H. C. Wilcox. 



"H 



urrah boys — four inches of 

 snow and more coming," 

 brought Alf, Vol and me from 

 a bed of hemlock boughs, in Pine camp, 

 Elk county, Pa., November 25, 1891. 

 To-morrow is Thanksgiving day, and we 

 cannot do justice to the occasion with- 

 out vension for dinner. Thoroughly 

 awakened and refreshed by a wash in 

 cold, spring water, we faced the buck- 

 wheat cakes and coffee, which Jess was 

 dishing up in generous quantities. 



With a lunch in our knapsacks and 

 our briars lit, we headed for Little Mill 

 creek. "You remember, boys, where 

 we saw so much sign in the leaves ? " 

 said Vol. We should find a family near 

 there now ; but will have to run over 

 them, perhaps, as deer move but little 

 in such a storm. The frozen leaves 

 rattled under our feet in spite of our 

 efforts to move silently. Soon a crash- 

 ing of dry limbs notified us that the 

 game was afoot, when directly I walked 

 into the beds of five deer. 



No coaching was necessary. In- 

 stinctively each man took his position — 

 Alf on track with Vol — and I making 

 detours right 

 and left. At 

 the head of 

 a ravine Vol 



passed 

 around the 

 bunch, turn- 

 ing them on 

 their back 

 track. The 

 sharp report 

 of Alf s rifle, 

 followed b y 

 nine more 

 shots in quick 

 succession, 

 portended 

 tro ub 1 e in 

 that vicinity. 

 After stand- 

 ing a few 

 minutes,hop- 

 ing that some 



of them would come in my way, I ran 

 in the direction from whence the noise 

 came and succeeded in sorting Alf out 

 from among the deer and smoke in 

 time to offer my repeater to finish shoot- 

 ing the woods down, in case his was too 

 hot for further use. 



" You ought to have been here, Hank ; 

 the woods were full of them, but some 

 of them got away." 



A search revealed three of them dead, 

 and thirty minutes later they were look- 

 ing up adjacent trees. After following 

 the other two until dark, we returned to 

 camp, and supper was followed by the 

 usual re-hash of the day's sport. 



Thanksgiving morning found us on the 

 trail at daybreak. The old patriarch after 

 the morning feed, had selected the sun- 

 ny side of an old slashing where, after 

 circling to the windward of the chosen 

 spot, he lay down in the top of a fallen 

 tree, where his circling tracks were in 

 full view and scent. This clever trick was 

 old to us and we proceeded to flank the 

 party. The sun had softened thesnow and 



coming u p 

 wind we were 

 close when 

 they jumped 

 A few well 

 directed 

 shotsbrought 

 both to bag ; 

 and, enlisting 

 the aid of a 

 team we had 

 the whole five 

 hung up in a 

 convenient 

 barn at 2 p. 

 m. We arriv- 

 ed at home 

 t h e 4 next 

 evening and 

 made a rec- 

 ord of the two 

 days' hunt 

 in red ink. 



