A SHARP F°REBODING. 4t 
“And the solution is?” chimed in Wo. , 
- Catamount and Badger all together. 
“That smokeless powder is the cause of 
our undoing,” growled Grizzly, with a 
dramatic swing of his left paw that threat- 
ened disastrous contact with Doe’s shapely 
head. 
“Smokeless powder? What the d——” 
“One bushel of the choicest leaves you 
can gather in your jurisdiction is the fine 
imposed on you for profanity uttered in our 
presence,’ pronounced the Monarch, his 
angry eyes darting reproach at the impul- 
sive offender. 
“I can see my youngsters wearing out 
their fall allowance of clothing to sat- 
isfy that stunt,” chuckled Imperturbable 
Porcupine. 
“Ves, and I can see portions of your car- 
cass in the process of digestion in Wolf’s 
stomach if the fine isn’t forthcoming,” was 
the comforting retort of Squirrel. 
“It’s smokeless powder and nothing else,” 
resumed Grizzly, when the surprise which 
his discovery caused had subsided sufficient- 
ly to allow the assemblage to listen with its 
wonted unanimity of attention. 
“To convince you all that I’m right in my 
deductions, I will review the evolution of 
the sportivg arm, which I have learned is 
the name of the weapon used by Man in 
gratifying his thirst for blood. I will make 
it as brief as possible.” 
“If you spoke until Doomsday our inter- 
est would remain at fever heat,” said the 
Fox, seeing a diplomatic opening by which 
to regain favor in Grizzly’s eye. 
“Mr. Slick is throwing a bunch of con 
again. We ought to appoint him minister 
plenipotentiary to negotiate terms of peace 
with Man,” was Porcupine’s-envious com- 
ment. 
“To continue,” said Grizzly, “I wish to 
explain that much I am going to tell you 
was handed down by my ancestors, my 
great uncle in particular. He was a mighty 
scientist, having an investigating turn of 
mind from his early youth. His relatives, 
farther back than I can call to mind, had 
some great experiences with the French 
couriers des bois and the trappers of the 
Hudson Bay company. They were relent- 
less men, strong of limb, steady of aim and 
devilishly accurate with their damned long 
barreled guns. Those guns were muzzle 
loaders; that is, the powder was poured 
from a flask into the muzzle of the gun. 
Black powder was used exclusively in those 
days and even up to quite recent times. It 
was of a much coarser quality and not so 
sure of fire as it is to-day. A pinch of 
powder was placed in a pan at one side 
of the lock, connecting with a tube entering 
the barrel at the breach at a point where the 
powder lay. The gun’s hammer contained 
a flint, which, striking a piece of steel con- 
nected with the powder pan, emitted sparks 
and ignited the powder. Then the bullet 
flew out, but not with half the force or 
range of later day black powder guns. 
“Later came the percussion cap gun. 
Then the pin-fire weapon, which used a 
cartridge similar to those which to-day end 
the lives of our brethren. These old time 
smooth bore guns were sufficiently effective 
to kill our largest and most formidable 
people. Just think, though, what a cinch 
our ancestors hid compared to what we 
have to cope with. It took more than a 
minute to reload one of those old guns. In 
that time one of our forefathers could give a 
trapper the merry ha ha and even contem- 
plate a flank movement destructive alike of 
the pursuer’s mental equilibrium and bodily 
solidity. Even if wounded, our forefathers 
had time to make themselves scarce, unless 
they desired to mix things. 
“But powder and ball were new to our 
ancestors,” continued Grizzly, “and it took 
time for them to get next. After many 
years the rim fire breach loader came out. 
Then the slaughter increased. Not satis- 
fied with this, inventive Man (those 2 
legged beasts must be very devils with their 
brains) brought out a repeating rifle, using 
various cartridges of all shapes and sizes. 
Up to a few years ago nothing new was 
doing in the gun line. All of a sudden 
some crank stumbled on the smokeless 
game to make more convenient and certain 
our slaughter. 
“My brethren, I fear we are undone. 
There is no escape for us. This new dis- 
covery gives increased range, makes no 
smoke, scarcely any noise, and steel jack- 
eted bullets with a portion of the lead ex- 
posed are used. They smash like a bowlder 
hurled from the mountain top. Now hav- 
ing told you all this, who present can fore- 
see the future?” 
“T can,” yelled out Porcupine. . 
“What is it?” gravely asked the Monarch. 
“Tt’s all to the mustard for us,” replied 
the assembly’s joyous spirit. 
This bit of levity so enraged the others 
that a riot ensued. Half an hour after 
Wolf came around and cleaned up the re- 
mains. 
“If all the meetings break up this wav 
it’ll be a good thing for me, now that food 
is somewhat scarce,” he said to himself. 
Willie—Pa, if a warship is called “she” 
why isn’t it a woman-of-war? 
Father—It’s your bed time, Willie——Bos- 
ton Post. 
