400 



RECREATION. 



A DEER HUNT AND A CAPTURED 

 DEAR. 



ELLWOOD. 



My bachelor companion and I were sit- 

 ting in our little country shanty, dis- 

 cussing the actions of the weather and the 

 progress of our summer's work. A cold 

 wind from the Northwest, with occasional 

 scuds of rain, had caused us to come in 

 from the field earlier than usual. We had 

 then tinkered around at odd jobs about the 

 house and stable. 



Will had given the horses their evening 

 feed and bedding. I, being cook and shanty 

 keeper, had cleared the table and we sat be- 

 fore the fire, for the chill was very no- 

 ticeable after a warm day. 



Listening to the rushing wind and the 

 rain against the window and on the roof 

 we felt a sense of security, though a tor- 

 nado might at any moment demolish our 

 rude dwelling. 



"What a fine evening for duck shoot- 

 ing," suddenly remarked Will, looking out 

 toward the pond. 



"Yes," said I, 'but what good is it going 

 to do us without the ducks? The only game 

 in this vicinity are one or 2 small flocks 

 of snipe, which neither of us would shoot." 



"None," responded Will, "but it reminds 

 me of a similar evening years ago, when 

 the ducks and geese were first becoming 

 scarce. Though we lived in a section of 

 country where there was good shooting, we 

 were not satisfied with such game as prairie 

 chickens and rabbits, so as the deer season 

 drew near we planned to go to the woods 

 for a few days and try deer hunting. 



"We were to go across country, with an 

 outfit suitable for a party twice the size of 

 ours. 



"The first day all went well, but on the 

 .second we had a breakdown, so we cov- 

 ered only 12 or 15 miles. 



"Camping time found us on a narrow 

 ridge between a lake and a grassy slough. 



"During the early part of the night the 

 sound of whistling wings passing near us 

 so aroused us that we could hardly stay 

 in bed. 



"When about to hitch up in the morning 

 we were surprised and disappointed to find 

 one of our horses acting much like a boy 

 who has eaten dried apples that have 'not 

 digested. As it became apparent that some- 

 thing serious affected our horse, we decided 

 to postpone our start and return him to 

 the farmer's stable. 



"We were in haste to reach the deer 

 country, but did not mourn long, for we 

 were camped at a good duck pass. 



"We all wanted to hunt during our lay- 

 over, but some one must doctor the sick 

 horse. Finally we drew cuts, which gave 

 this position to my chum, Eugene. 



"The others tramped around all day, re- 

 turning to the pass for the evening flight. 



"About supper time a brisk wind came up 



from the Northwest, with occasional spits 



of cold rain, but we thought only of the 

 ducks, for the Might was fine. There were 

 teals, pintails, canvasbacks and redheads. 



"There were not shot guns enough to go 

 around, so some of us would watch for 

 incoming ducks and laugh at the amusing 

 misses of the others, then in turn try our 

 skill. We got more real fun out of that 

 evening's shooting than if each had a gun. 

 We had secured enough ducks for our- 

 selves and the farmer. 



"We were up early next morning to see 

 our horse, and were disappointed to find 

 him showing the same symptoms as be- 

 fore. 



"We were compelled to repeat the pro- 

 gram of the day before or else do nothing. 

 When the question who should remain with 

 the horse came up we were surprised to 

 have Eugene offer to take the place' again, 

 remarking perhaps it would be best to have 

 the same individual act as horse doctor 

 throughout the case. We were puzzled 

 over his display of willingness, but soon 

 left him for another day of hunting, with 

 the understanding that if the brute should 

 recover Eugene was to signal us with shots 

 from a rifle. There were no signal shots 

 fired, however. During the evening we got 

 more pass shooting, but had not such a 

 flight as before. 



"The continued illness of the beast forced 

 us to remain there so long that we felt com- 

 pelled to give up our trip into the woods, 

 150 miles distant. 



"Eugene, however, expressed no regret. 

 This indifference brought forth some 

 pointed remarks about the attractive farm- 

 er's daughter, a handsome miss of 18 or 20. 



"On the last evening, after supper, as we 

 were gathering around our camp fire, 

 Eugene strolled off toward the farmer's. 

 The evening passed quickly and some time 

 after we had gone to bed we heard Eugene 

 returning down the path, singing gaily. 



"Next day we started for home, going by 

 the way of a goose-feeding ground of which 

 we had learned. We got a few of these 

 great birds and some fine sport. 



"Thus ended our deer hunt, without hav- 

 ing reached the deer country. Eugene, 

 however, has since declared it the best dear 

 hunt he ever had, for within a few months 

 the farmer's daughter became Mrs. Eugene 



The Davenport ejector gun for 12 sub- 

 scribers to Recreation arrived promptly. 

 From all standpoints it is a fine piece of 

 workmanship. I thank vq^ heartily for 

 your prompt response, and wish you con- 

 tinued success. 



Frank R, Evans, Kansas City, Mo. 



"Yes," concluded the medical raconteur, 

 "she became insane through excessive 

 dancing." 



"One might say she was hopping mad, I 

 suppose," gurgled the Cheerful Idiot.— 



Baltimore American. 



