THE THIEF WHO CAME IN THE NIGHT 



BY S. I. 



With Drawing by 



We had had a successful day after cari- 

 bou. We had returned to camp shortly 

 after dark, had feasted on venison and 

 many other good things, and were toasting 

 our shins about the camp fire. We asked 

 George Nichols, our guide, to tell us some 

 of his adventures in the wilds of New- 

 foundland. He said he had not had any, 

 but we insisted, and he finally recalled a 

 story which he told thus: 



I was hunting on the upper end of the 

 marsh, above where we killed the big stag 

 this afternoon. I had killed 3 caribou, had 

 carried them into camp, and hung them up 

 on a pole. I had eaten my dinner, smoked 

 my pipe, and gone to bed as usual. Some 

 time in the night I had a strange dream. 

 I dreamed that a tree which stood near my 

 camp had blown down and had fallen 

 across my legs, just below my knees. I 

 was writhing and struggling, and suffering 

 intense pain, but could not get from under 

 the tree. I was trying to yell for help, but 

 you know how it is when a fellow has that 

 kind of a dream. Anyway, it would not 

 have done any good if I had been able to 

 howl, for there was not another man with- 

 it; 15 miles of me. 



Finally I shook off the sleep and the 

 nightmare at the same time. When I got 

 my eyes open I was frightened almost 

 out of my senses by seeing a big black 

 bear standing upright at my feet, and tug- 

 ging at one of the caribou. His old planti- 



W. H. Shindler. 



grade feet were planted across my legs all 

 right enough, and he was crushing them 

 into the earth. He was a big, heavy brute, 

 and it is the greatest wonder in the world 

 his weight had not broken my legs. The 

 ground was soft where I slept, and that is 

 the only reason I got out without any bro- 

 ken bones. 



As soon as I recovered my senses I 

 stopped trying to make any noise, slipped 

 my rifle out from under the blankets, stuck 

 the muzzle up under the old bear's right 

 arm, and pulled the trigger. When the 

 bullet went through him he made a leap 

 that would have surprised you. It drove 

 my legs into the ground deeper than ever, 

 but the big brute fell heavily some 10 feet 

 away and never got up. In making the 

 spring the bear jabbed 2 of his claws al- 

 most through the calf of one of my legs, 

 and the wound bled until I was as weak as 

 a cat. I bound it up as quickly as possible, 

 but it pained me so I could not sleep any 

 more that night. The next morning I 

 snaked the 3 carcases down to the river 

 bank, loaded them in my canoe and went 

 home. The wound got worse and worse 

 for several days. My leg swelled until it 

 was twice as big as it is now, and I did not 

 get out of the house for 3 weeks. 



I got $25 for the bear's skin, but would 

 not take another such a dose of suffering 

 for 10 times that amount 



A NOVEL TRIP DOWN THE MOUNTAINS 



BY CELESTINE CUMMINGS. 



For something new in the way of outdoor 

 recreation there is nothing that will com- 

 pare with the delightful sensation of travel- 

 ing in mid-air down the lumber chutes in 

 the mountains of California. There are no 

 stopping places midway ; the traveler must 

 start from the top of the mountain where 

 the chute commences. The voyage is made 

 in a little wooden boat built to order for 

 each trip. 



It is a rudely constructed affair; its flight 

 downward is in fact so swift that has no 

 chance to leak. 



The new flume in which our trip was made 

 was recently finished in Fresno county. It 

 leads from the immense pine forests on the 

 mountains 7,000 feet above sea level, down 

 to Collis, a little town in the San Joaquin 



valley. All flumes are V shaped and the lit- 

 tle boats are built to fit. 



We made great preparations for starting, 

 the 2 hunters in our party even taking along 

 their rifles and shot guns, as they expected 

 good sport. How we laughed afterward at 

 the result ! Not a shot was fired. We sped 

 through the air so swiftly it was as much 

 as we could do to assure ourselves that we 

 were alive. Our courage was put to the 

 test the whole trip ; all we thought about 

 after the start was made was to clutch the 

 sides of the boat and hang on. There really 

 was no danger. Before we had time to look 

 around, the first half mile was sped, and we 

 were sweeping around a curve, swiftly leav- 

 ing the region of ice and snow. 



Once past this curve the sight that met 



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