LOST IN THE DEVILS GARDEN. 



355 



son, arrived with their trapping outfit. 

 They came straight for Graham's shanty, 

 prepared to stay a month and trap otters; 

 so that evening the crackling of 2 camp 

 fires shed a glow high up into the hanging 

 moss and far out over nature's wild re- 

 pose. Even the owls appeared to notice 

 the sudden awakening of the old camp, 

 and with their "wah-wah-hoo-hoo-ko-hoo" 

 ventured surprisingly near. 



After an early start the following morn- 

 ing Mr. Hendry clipped the lower jaw 

 of a young doe with a 25-30 soft nose, 

 smashing both bones. The skin acting as 

 a hinge, the lower jaw flapped against the 

 poor creature's throat as it ran away. We 

 were distressed beyond measure at the 

 thought of its lingering death from starva- 

 tion, not even being able to quench thirst! 

 After that we covered considerable coun- 

 try, and saw a number of deer. Mr. Hough 

 made a noble effort to place me within 

 range of a bunch of 8, which he discovered 

 at noon feeding in an open slough ; but 

 while we were within easy rifle range, both 

 carried shot guns, and these beautiful 

 creatures, scenting danger, bounded away. 

 About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, by the 

 merest accident, I walked up to a small 

 bunch of palmetto, of which there are 

 thousands of acres, when up sprang the 

 doe with the broken jaw! I did my best 

 to make a sure shot. Possibly the same 

 power wich led me unconsciously to that 

 stricken creature also enabled me to shoot 

 straight. The doe was killed cleanly 

 at 60 yards. The animal had bled 

 but little, and not having had time to 

 sicken and become feverish, was as fine as 

 any venison secured on the trip. 



Half an hour later, seeing fresh turkey 

 signs by a hammock, I exchanged buck shot 

 shells for those loaded with No. 2 turkey 

 shot. There were no turkeys, but instead 

 a large 4 prong buck sprang up. The range 

 was close, so I gave him the turkey shot 

 at 40 yards. It did the business, 5 No. 2's 

 perforating the lungs, while 2 more pierced 

 the aorta close to the heart. Mr. Hendry 

 also made one of the finest rifle shots ever 

 seen, the same evening, dumping a large 

 buck in a heap, as it was springing in mid 

 air. Near this deer our dogs took the trail 

 of a panther, but could do nothing with it. 



As the day's hunt had been so successful, 

 I suggested that our party break camp in 

 the early morning and return to Fort 

 Meyers with the venison, giving them 2 

 days to reach home by Christmas, and 

 leaving me with the otter trappers for sev- 

 eral days. This plan worked admirably. 

 I moved over to our neighbors' camp, 

 where they gave me a hearty welcome, and 

 I felt at home from the start. As we had 

 no venison, and "fryin' grease" was getting 

 scarce, we started out the next morning 



STRICKLAND BRINGS IN AN OTTER. 



looking for both deer and a fat pig. Re- 

 membering my bunch of 8 deer the day 

 before, I carried my 30-30 Winchester. 

 Mr. Strickland must have owned the first 

 breech loader that ever came to America, 

 as it was wired up and tied together in a 

 number of places. 



"Never mind 'er looks," he said, "if I 

 pok 'er out right she'll do the business 

 every time !". It was a fact that whenever 

 old "rattletrap" did speak something 

 dropped. Bruce had his coon up a tall 

 pine before we had gone a quarter of a mile 

 from camp. Mr. Strickland said it was a 

 shame to disappoint the old dog, as I had 

 already done on several occasions out of 

 sympathy for the coon, so I decided to lift 

 this coon out with my rifle, providing they 

 would take care of the skin. Down it came. 

 Its pelt was quickly removed, and proved 

 to be an exceedingly fine one. 



Soon thereafter we found fresh tracks of 

 a large boar and several shoats. The 

 ground was rooted up in places. 



"If you come on 'em suddenly an' the old 

 boar don't run, but throws his nose down 

 and snorts, plank him one square between 

 the eyes or else go for the closest tree and 

 shin up like lightnin' !" 



With this advice I momentarily expected 

 a "snort" until we lost the tracks on hard 

 palmetto ground. While trying to follow 

 these, Mr. Strickland's old reliable sud- 

 denly lumbered off at my right. At the 

 same moment I saw a spike buck crossing 



