1 62 



RECREATION 



elk and was blood mad, killing all in 

 sight, intoxicated with the brutal delight 

 of slaughter, Pete administered a severe 

 reprimand, and with a look of disgust 

 upon his handsome face turned and left 

 me among the slain and wounded ani- 

 mals. It was days before he forgave 

 me and then he gave me a lecture, and 

 to it I owe the first satisfactory expla- 

 nation of the difference between a 

 sportsman and a butcher. 



''You see, tenderfoot, it's like this," 

 he said, "when a man goes out to kill 

 a deer for the fun of blood spilling or to 

 get the poor critter's head to hang in 

 his shack, he's nothing more'n a wolf 

 or butcher ; hain't half as good a man 

 as the one who never shot a deer, but 

 goes hum and lies about it. The liar 

 hain't harmed nothing with his lies, his 

 fairy stories don't hurt game an' are in- 

 teresting to the tenderfuts in the States. 

 The real sportsman is the pot-hunter. 

 Yes, that's jist what I mean, a pot- 

 hunter — he's out 'cause the camp kettle 

 is empty, and it's up agin him to fill it 

 or starve. Now then, this fellow is not 

 after blood ; nor is he hunting for the 

 market. It's self-preservation with him, 

 that's what it is. He's an animal 'long 

 with the rest of 'em, and he knows he's 

 got just as much right to live as they 

 have, an' no more ! He is hustling for 

 his living 'long with the bunch, forcing 

 it from savage nature, and I tell you, 

 boy, there is no greater physical pleas- 

 ure in life than holding old Mother Na- 

 ture up and jist saying to her 'You're 

 got a living for me and I'm going to get 

 it.' 



"Such talk pleases the old girl, makes 

 her your friend, 'cause she likes your 

 spunk, an' because of it she'll give you 

 the wind of the gray wolf, the step of 

 the painter,* the strength of the buffalo 

 and the courage of a lion ; she is always 

 generous with her favorites. Ah, lad, 

 she kin make your blood dance in your 

 veins, make fire flash from the eyes and 

 give the steady nerve necessary to face 

 a she-grizzly when she's fighting for her 

 cubs. 



*Panther. 



"Why? 'Cause, you see, you are a 

 grizzly yourself when the camp kettle 

 is empty!" And Big Pete relapsed into 

 silence, turned to his tin platter, exam- 

 ined it carefully, and then with a piece 

 of dough-godf carefully wiped the plat- 

 ter clean and contentedly munched the 

 savory bit. 



All out-door men, like Big Pete Dar- 

 linkle, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone 

 and Kit Carson are a constant source of 

 annoyance and wonder to that tribe of 

 students whose whole lives are spent in 

 seeking second-hand knowledge from 

 books. The book-worm cannot grasp 

 the reason why the foolish public insist 

 upon considering these illiterate moun- 

 taineers, plainsmen and hunters as great 

 men. They do not understand the pos- 

 sibility of developing intellect outside of 

 a regularly established university, and 

 any knowledge possessed by a man 

 without an M.A., Ph.D., LL.D. ? or 

 similar set of initials after his name, 

 is looked upon as spurious. 



Even the existence of such men as 

 Abe Lincoln and Thomas Edison, with 

 their brilliant resourceful minds and 

 great knowledge, is thought by the uni- 

 versity man to be irregular, revolution- 

 ary and dangerous, and the possessor of 

 this illicit moonshine knowledge is 

 looked upon as a living paradox, an 

 anarchanic in the field of knowledge. 



Few but professional astronomers 

 have a more intimate acquaintance with 

 the heavens, and none can read the 

 shorthand notes of nature as accur- 

 ately as the Pete Darlinkles, the chil- 

 dren of the wilderness. Their knowl- 

 edge is all first hand, fresh knowledge, 

 derived from personal investigation, and 

 they do their own thinking while in the 

 saddle, on the trail and in action. It 

 is with them as it is with the beasts of 

 the field, Jhe penalty of mistaken judg- 

 ment is death, and the fact that many 

 do live and have lived to a ripe old age 

 is a guarantee that they have fairly won 

 Nature's highest degree of Healthy 

 Normal Man. You will not find the 

 initials H.N.M. printed after the names 



fCamp bread baked before open fire. 



