UNCLE'S ADVENTURE. 



JOHN BOYD. 



We were in camp on the shores of Lake 

 Nipissing. The day had been stormy and 

 even now, as the euchre players dealt the 

 cards, the wind whistled outside as if it 

 would lift the shelter from our heads. 



" Uncle " was just finishing the cleaning 

 of his rifle, and as he passed the " iled " rag 

 through for the last time, he startled his 

 hearers with: " Durn us old fools any- 

 way! 



"What's the matter, Uncle?" chorused 

 several of the boys. 



" Oh nuthin; only I vvuz jist wonder- 

 in' which wuz the clurndest fool, me nor 

 that jack rabbit of a fawn I got out beyent 

 Dredge Islan' to-day." 



" Did you get a deer? " asked Ab, more 

 to break the silence, and to show the old 

 man we were listening, than to learn of his 

 success; for did we not all see the "jack 

 rabbit " hanging on the beam in the old 

 mill? 



" Yes I did, and I ain't overly proud of 

 it nuther; but yit it wuz no slouchy job, 

 I kin tell ye." 



" Tell us about it, Uncle! " ventured his 

 friend. 



After some coaxing, and some protesta- 

 tions from Uncle he said: 



" I don't mind spinnin' the yarn, so you 

 young fellers kin tell what to do when you 

 git cornered, like I wuz. 



" Well — when Jack took Bluche and Spot 

 over on the hardwood ridge, to'ard Perch 

 lake, I knowed they would soon pick up 

 sumthin' that might come our way. Purty 

 soon I heern Spot lettin' out a long yowl, 

 and then Bluche set up a shoutin' that you'd 

 think wuz goin' to skeer every durn thing- 

 out of Americky. 



" I says to myself, if that don't bring hair 

 down this way, I wasn't born in Glengarry. 

 But arter a while the whole music stopped. 

 Then I laid back and cussed the whole dog 

 and rabbit kingdom, for I knowed, as plain 

 as writin', the blamed critters had holed up 

 and fooled the dogs. I went back to the 

 shanty, lit my pipe, got John's glasses and 

 swung 'em up and down the lake from the 

 dureway; but there wuz nuthin' to be seen 

 ceptin' some loons, and they wuz bavin' a 

 hard time bobbin up an down on the waves; 

 for I kin tell ye, boys, it wuz gittin' mighty 

 choppy, and the white caps wuz chasin' one 

 'nother from Jessup's to the mouth of the 

 river. 



" In a few minits I went round to 'tother 

 side of the island, jist to see if any of ye 

 boys wuz movin' on the river, and jist as I 

 turned the corner, Til be durned if there 

 wasn't a deer gittin' past the island with full 



steam on. He seed me as soon as I seed 

 him, and turned for the burnt woods, up the 

 nigh shore. My Bucko, sez I, if ye git the 

 start of me, its goin' to be nip and tuck to 

 catch ye before ye strikes the bottom. So 

 I slides the canoe out stern fust, so as to 

 make her steer easy, and jumps in. The 

 wind wuz Noreast, as it is yit, and I made 

 poor headway; but still I seed I wuz ketch- 

 in' up. 



"It wuz tirin' work, but I stuck to it an' 

 in about 20 minits I wuz alongside the 

 youngster. He wuz a badly scared little 

 feller I kin tell ye, an' as I paddled erlong, 

 kinder easy, I thought I would jist ketch 

 him an' tote him to camp so you fellers 

 what hasn't seen a deer alive might take a 

 luk at one. It seemed a durned pity to 

 shoot him, tho I might hev killed him with 

 the paddle, an' I had even half a mind to let 

 him git ashore and grow bigger; but I 

 finally made up my mind to lasso him and 

 tow him to camp. 



" I got the painter off'n the canoe, for 

 mind ye I wuz paddlin' all the time stern 

 fust, and made a nice slip knot, and then 

 put on a spurt and caught up to the little 

 feller, who wuz nearly cuttin' his throat, he 

 pawed so hard to git away. I made a 

 couple of shies at him, and in one of them 

 contrived to git the rope over his nose an' 

 one ear; I pulled thinkin' I might git it 

 over his neck, but he didn't take to the fun 

 like I did, and with a wicked little shake he 

 got free agin'. I tried a good many more 

 times, but couldn't make it go, and all this 

 time I seed he wuz gittin madder an' mad- 

 der, an' we wuz gittin' closer to shore. I 

 wuz bound not to give up, so I made a big 

 spurt to cut him off, and head him out inter 

 the lake agin', and there's just where this 

 old fool made a mistake. If I'd a shot him 

 then and there I might hev done as I liked 

 with him; but es long as he wuz alive an' 

 well, he'ed a say in ther purceedins, as I 

 found out to my sorrer." 



Here Uncle stopped, as if thinking of 

 what he had passed through, but his medi- 

 tation was broken by Blackstock who 

 could not stand the strain, asking " what 

 did he do then, Uncle?" 



"Do?" repeated Uncle, as he looked 

 over his glasses at the speaker. 



" Do? Why he jist walked clean inter 

 the canoe, and me beltin' him all the time 

 with the paddle. Ef ever ye seed fightin' it 

 wuz right there, and it wuz purty nigh my 

 last fight, for he'ed one foot over the gun- 

 nel, an' wuz pawin air with tother, an' 

 the air was durn near my old carcase. At 

 last, he settled his fightin' foot erlongside 



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