432 



RECREATION. 



prowling animals I hoisted it and my gun 

 into a tree by means of my belt and a piece 

 of cord 1 happened to have in my pocket. 

 After securing the carcass in a crotch, I 

 found another place for myself, and pulling 

 a lot of Spanish moss, I made a cushion, 

 which gave me a comfortble seat. I then 

 went down, rebuilt my fire and made 2 

 others, so I had fires on 3 sides of the tree. 

 Returning to my perch I entered on my 

 vigils for the night. I fully expected a visit 

 from the panther ; and the longest night of 

 my life was spent in that tree. Now and 

 then a pair of shining eyes appeared, at 

 which I promptly fired. Some time after 

 midnight I wounded a skunk by one of 

 these random shots, and the intolerable 

 stench with which he repaid my aggression 

 so nauseated me that I almost fell from the 

 tree. Another of my shots must have hit 

 a large animal of some kind, as I could hear 

 it running away through the bushes. This 

 was probably the panther. 



With this diversion and occasional trips 

 to the ground to replenish my fires, I passed 

 the night without a thought of sleep. With 

 the first faint ray of light I lowered my deer 

 and gun, and shouldering both, struck out 

 in search of the camp. 



I don't know how much ground I covered 

 that morning, but I was dead tired when 

 I saw, a short distance away, an opening in 

 the forest, which I supposed was the rail- 

 road. This encouraged me to renewed 

 efforts. I soon reached the edge of the 

 clearing and was surprised to find, not the 

 railroad, but a rail fence enclosing a 20- 

 acre field of sugar cane. I was about the 

 center of the field. The cane was consider- 

 ably higher than my head, but I could see 

 over the top of it the roof of a cabin, with 

 smoke curling upward from the chimney. 

 I congratulated myself on my great luck 

 in having at last reached a human habita- 

 tion, where I could obtain the rest and re- 

 freshment of which I was so much in need. 



The cane was planted in rows sufficiently 

 wide to admit of my crawling through it, 

 and, with the deer and gun on my back, I 

 made the journey for the most part on 

 hands and knees. It was wearisome work, 

 and I had to stop often to rest. Final- 

 ly I reached the end of the row, and rising 

 on my knees I parted the leaves of the cane 

 and peered out. Imagine if you can my con- 

 sternation when I saw a villainous-looking 

 man standing about 20 paces from me, a 

 Winchester rifle at his shoulder, with the 

 barrel leveled straight at my head. He had 

 heard the commotion I made in pushing my 

 way through the cane, and taking me for an 

 animal of some kind, was prepared to give 

 me a warm reception. 



"Hold up, partner," I cried; "don't 

 shoot !" 



"Drop that gun," was his reply. 



I dropped it without ceremony. 



"Come out here." 



I slipped the feet of the deer over my 

 head and, rising, stepped into the open. 



"Hev ver got any more arms about yer?" 

 the man asked. 



"No," I replied; "nothing except my 

 hunting knife." 



"Wal, jes' drop that, too; pitch it to'rds 

 me." 



I did as he ordered and assured him I was 

 not looking for trouble of any kind. He 

 told me to walk in front of him to the cabin. 

 I did so, and was met at the door by an- 

 other man, who motioned toward a stool, 

 and I sat down. 



"Now what are yer doin' here?" said the 

 man with the gun. "Tell it, an' tell it 

 straight, d'ye hear?" 



"Certainly," I replied; "I am only too 

 glad of the chance to tell it, but please give 

 me a drink of water and something to eat 

 first. I have been lost in the hammock 

 since yesterday noon, and am so tired, 

 sleepy and hungry I can hardly talk." 



"Yer go on an' tell yer story an' ef we 

 find yer all right, yer can have all yer want 

 to eat and drink ; but ef yer story aint 

 straight, yer'll git all the sleep yer want 

 an' yer won't need nothin' else. Do yer 

 understand?" 



During this conversation I noticed a 

 powerful odor of rum in the room. Cast- 

 ing a rapid glance around, I saw a num- 

 ber of new barrels, such as are used for 

 shipping syrup. Outside was a mill for 

 grinding cane, and, under a nearby shed, 

 a small still or worm for distilling pur- 

 poses. 



Though but a hasty glance, it was suf- 

 ficient to show me the predicament I was 

 in. I knew I was in the hands of moon- 

 shiners ; that my safety depended on the 

 simplicity of my story and my being able 

 to verify it. So, bracing up, 1 told them in 

 as few words as possible how I had come 

 to the hammock with a party to hunt, where 

 our camp was and the names of my com- 

 panions ; how I had been left alone in 

 the forest, had passed the night in a tree, 

 and how in my wanderings I had discovered 

 their cabin and crawled through the cane 

 in the hope of finding the friendly assistance 

 which I felt sure they would extend to me. 

 I finished by saying that my brother was 

 conductor on the train which would pass 

 through the hammock about noon and if 

 they would see him, he could satisfy them 

 that I was all right in every way. 



"Wal," said the spokesman, "yer tell a 

 purty straight story an' I reckon yer'e 

 all right. But look here! I'm goin' ter 

 find out, an' ef ye've lied to us yer'll 

 never leave this cane patch. D'ye under- 

 stand?" 



I told him I understood and had no fear 



