Dec. 28, 1895. j 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



689 



The Dog Sledge Express. 



In expectation of this trip to the Buckatabon region, 

 Joe had already taken his toboggan and camping outfit 

 up to Saynor's place on rium Lake, intending to make 

 that the starting place. (It seemed that I was to see yet 

 another style of trapper's transportation.) We had there- 

 fore little to carry on our six miles' journey in the morn- 

 ing, from Joe's cabin to Plum Lake. By noon we had 

 our supplies all ready, Mr. Saynor generously helping us 

 out in that line, and offering to go with us and help us 

 get our stuff over to Buckatabon Lake. 



We had a tent, a sheet iron stove, blankets, cooking 

 utensils, axe, camera and supplies for a week or more, 

 besides our outfit of traps. This would not appear to 

 figure up much, but it makes a big load for one toboggan, 

 more than one man can pull unless the snow be very 

 good. It is more than two men can pack on their backs. 

 We decided therefore to use not one, but two toboggans, 

 for part of the way at least. Moreover, and most inter- 

 esting of all, part of our rolling stock was to be the dog 

 sledge express operated by Mr. Saynor's son, a chunky, 

 rosy-cheeked little fellow about 7 years old. 



Joe and I both agreed that this boy was "an awful 

 good kid." If I said that he hauls all the wood the fam- 

 ily uses in winter time, and brings it a mile and a half 

 from the forest to the house, I might not be believed, yet 

 this is true. His playmate and fellow-laborer in this is a 

 big, strong staghound, only 16 months old at that time, 

 but apparently strong as a mule. The boy has a collar 

 and traces for the dog, and when he wants a load of 

 wood he hitches up, gets into the toboggan, cracks his 

 whip and goes off across the lake a good deal faster than 

 a man could run. He gets his toboggan full of wood, 

 heads back for the house, and the big staghound, with 

 head down, comes trotting in about as fast as he went 

 out. If the sledge sticks at a hummock, he stoops, 

 strains in the collar, the muscles on his thighs standing 

 up like those of a cart horse, and over any ordinary ob- 

 stacle he will snatch the load or break something trying. 

 When the toboggan is loaded very heavily the boy trots 

 along at the head of the dog, carrying his short whip, 

 and young as he is, I should woefully dislike to have to 

 keep up with him. That boy will surely grow up with 

 good legs and lungs. He and his dog have a perfect un- 

 derstanding, and the latter does not work so well for any- 

 body else. Together they make a freighting outfit about 

 equal to three powerful men, and very much faster than 

 any man on foot. This was the oddest sort of transporta- 

 tion I ever saw in the pine country, and the best for the 

 locality where it was used — mostly on the level, frozen 

 lakes. 



The Real Toboggan. 



The best toboggan is made of maple, which is hard and 

 wears smooth. The toboggan should be 1ft. to 16in. wide 

 and (5 to 8ft. long. The front end is curved up and back, 

 the bottom being tight and solid, with no cracks. There 

 should be a light sideboard on each side and an end 

 board, all nailed tightly on to the bottom and extending 

 3 or 4in. high clear above the bottom. This keeps the 

 snow out of the toboggan, and makes it run much more 

 easily. When the sideboards break and the snow gets in 

 on the bottom board, one quickly finds he is pulling three 

 times the load. 



Our able monthly magazines sometimes print pretty 

 pictures of jaunty-looking sportsmen pulling a moose or 

 two along swiftly on a toboggan which is apparently 

 made of a piece of board turned up round and nice at one 

 end. Perhaps the artists get their ideas from the tobog- 

 gans in the show windows, which usually are simply slats 

 cleated together and bent up forward, but with no tight 

 bottom and no sideboards at all. That is a very pretty 

 style of toboggan, and it is also very worthless for woods 

 work, though it might do to slide down hill on. If you 

 want a trapping toboggan, you want one of the sort 

 above described. And then you want a good dog and a 

 husky kid, such as we had. Supplied that way, you can 

 surely travel. 



Dog Train and an Ice Trail. 

 We loaded up our two sledges at Mr. Saynor's house, as 

 I was saying, about noon, and pulled out, Mr, Saynor, 

 Joe and myself, the kid and the dog. I have rarely 

 started out under more picturesque conditions. It was 

 biting cold — for everybody at lease except for the kid and 

 the uog, who didn't mind it— when we got out on the 

 lake, but I could not forbear halting the procession and 

 getting some pictures of our singular outfit. Then the 

 boy cracked his whip and started off ahead over the trail 

 up Plum Lake to the Star Lake portage. He trotted at 

 the dog's head, and the time they made was a caution. 

 The rest of us, taking turns at the other toboggan, soon 

 were laboring far in the rear. 



A Nervy Boy. 



The Star Lake portage is over a quarter of a mile of 

 high, rough ridge, and here we had hard work, though 

 the big staghound buckled into the traces nobly and left 

 little to be done except to help him over the logs. Then we 

 had a smooth run to Star Lake settlement, a little saw- 

 mill town at the terminus of the new line of railroad 

 lately built in. This was about five miles, I believe, from 

 Mr. Saynor's house. Here we transferred the boy's sled 

 load on to Joe's toboggan, and I put on my pack, which 

 till then had been on Joe's toboggan. It was necessary 

 for the boy to leave us here and go back home. The day 

 was bleak and cold, and the forests looked wild for a 

 youngster to travel alone. His father had no fear for 

 nim, however, and the boy was unconcerned, except that 

 he wanted to go on with us and not go back home. The 

 last we saw of him he was going a clinking pace toward 

 the portage, the dog trotting like a thoroughbred, the 

 boy sitting up straight on the toboggan and driving like a 

 king. He got home all right in about three-quarters of 

 an hour. 



Night at a "Summer Resort." 

 We three men now found that we had our work cut out 

 for us. We wanted to get over to Lake Laura that night, 

 about four or five miles further on our way. The way 

 was over choppy hills, and the trail was awful, being cut 

 up by logging teams which had plunged through once or 

 twice and left a double row of icy ridges and holes in the 

 deep snow. It was nearly dark and we were all tired 

 when we felt that strange, cold breath in the forest by 

 which one knows that a lake is not far off. Then we soon 

 made Laura Lake, which neither of my companions had 

 visited over this trail. We were now getting well into 



wild country — though indeed all the country , from Wood- 

 ruff to where we now were, is wild enough in the winter 

 time. Laura Lake is the very head of the Manitowish 

 waters. We were here at the divide between the Mani- 

 towish and Wisconsin River systems. Laura Lake was 

 once a famous bass lake. An enterprising man started a 

 "summer resort" here, and sought to lure city people to 

 his place for the fishing. Meantime he and his family 

 fished for market all the time, all seasons, spring, sum- 

 mer and winter, and cleaned all the bass out. They 

 shipped 9001bs. of bass at one shipment. Laura Lake to- 

 day is a denuded water, as thousands of other lakes in that 

 wonderful region soon will be. 



Apparently business had not been good lately, for we 

 found the "summer resort" (which was a three-room, 

 story and a half frame house) abandoned. There were 

 many deer legs and horns about. The hide of a skunk 

 was flapping idly in the wind. Inside the "summer re- 

 sort" we found, to our joy, that the cook stove had not 

 been moved, that there was a good pile of wood already 

 cut, and that there were two old mattresses on the floor in 

 the room where the stove was. Being thus saved from 

 pitching camp on the enow, we joyfully kicked off our 

 snowshoes, moved in, and soon had made ourselves thor- 

 oughly comfortable over a meal of hearty pine woods 

 food, after which we rolled down our blankets and passed 

 a good winter night on the floor of the "summer resort." 



E. Hough. 



909 Security Building, Chicago. 



CURLY. 



Wisconsin.— The subject of my narrative is not a myth, 

 but a solid reality, one of which the poets have never 

 sung and whose deeds, though heroic, were never recorded 

 in history. And though Curly was a dog and only a dog, 

 his memory is cherished by every member of our family. 

 He was a true friend; and he who despises the friendship 

 of a dog misses one of the choice things in life. 



Curly was a large, square, black water spaniel, with an 

 intelligent face, large brown eyes, and a silky coat that 

 resembled the choicest Astrakhan. He was presented to 

 our youngest son by the janitor of the academy where 

 our boys were attending school, and he became attached 

 to every member of our family, but his love for his young 

 master was something out of the ordinary. He followed 

 him like his shadow. On one occasion, when there was 

 preaching at the schoolhouse on a beautiful Sunday after- 

 noon, the family attended, and when the boy came in 

 and took his seat with other boys Curly was on hand and 

 insisted upon sitting beside his master. He sat sedately 

 and quietly for a while, but he grew tired of this monot- 

 ony and would look wistfully out at the door, then up in 

 his master's face and whine, then again he would look 

 wistfully out of the door, as much as to say, "Can't you 

 see how lovely it is out in the sunshine?" Then his mas- 

 ter would point his finger at him and whisper, to the de- 

 light of every urchin present, "Now, Curly, you sit still 

 and listen to the sermon, and you'll be a better dog if you 

 do." He then settled down and went to sleep, but as soon 

 as the congregation rose to sing Curly jumped up and 

 gave one joyous bark! 



When he was two years old the boys went to Minnesota 

 and took him with them. He learned many bright tricks 

 in his absence, and when they returned at the end of a 

 year it would have been hard to tell which was most de- 

 lighted to get home, the boys or the dog. One of the 

 tricks he had learned was to toss up crackers, candy or 

 peanuts and catch them, never missing one. He was a 

 general favorite, and never entered a grocery but what 

 some one was ready to lay crackers and candy on his 

 nose to see him toss them up and catch them. He had a 

 great appetite as well as capacity for sweetmeats, and his 

 appetite, without doubt, shortened his days. Curly was 

 very neat in his habits, never failing to bathe in the 

 morning when conditions were favorable, said conditions 

 requiring nice, high, wet grass or light snow; he seemed 

 delighted with either, and would frolic and roll until he 

 was thoroughly clean, whereupon he would dry himself 

 before coming into the house. He was extremely sensi- 

 tive, and would show as much chagrin at being laughed 

 at as would a sensitive boy. 



He came in one day in a frolicsome mood, frisked into 

 the conservatory, where a fresh sheet of sticky fly paper 

 had just been spread. The tip end of , the long wavy hair 

 on his tail just touched it and lifted it high over his back. 

 He shook it, barked and growled, but his efforts only 

 made it stick the tighter. He wouldn't let us touch it, 

 and finally becoming frantic, went out in the dooryard, 

 rolled over, spreading it the length of his back. After we 

 stopped laughing, he seemed perfectly willing to have us 

 free him from his tormentor, and in a few minutes was 

 as cheerful as ever. 



After awhile one of the boys married. Curly became 

 greatly attached to the bride, and finally, as his master was 

 much from home, took up his abode with the young 

 couple, who lived on a farm on the opposite side of the 

 road from the homestead. Still he was a frequent visitor 

 at the old home. While the young people were at break- 

 fast he would walk around the table and greet each one, 

 expecting and getting a choice morsel from each, then he 

 would trot right over to his old home to see us. Our 

 houses stood about eighty rods apart, but he generally 

 managed to get there before we had left the table. If the 

 door was shut he would scratch it gently. We always made 

 it a point to meet him and open the door. He would come 

 in laughing, as we termed his peculiar short breathing 

 when he was pleased. He was greatly disappointed if we 

 had left the table before he arrived. If his young mistress 

 scolded him or told him his feet were dirty, he would 

 march right over to his old home. 



We could always tell by his manners when he was in 

 disgrace. Then sometimes we would scold him just to see 

 him perform. He would put on such a "woebegone" ex- 

 pression and start right back, but never at such times 

 would he go more than half way, where he would sit 

 down on the turnpike, with his face to the west, and stick 

 his nose up as high as he could, shut his eyes and sulk it 

 out, then he would be his own lovable self again; but with 

 all his redeeming qualities he had his faults. 



He was jealous to a human degree, but was not human 

 enough to be revengeful. He was not only jealous, but 

 was a thief, a petty thief, his weakness being for 

 peanuts and candy. I well remember one Christmas, 

 when a little girl brought a bag of peanuts and candy for 

 the Christmas tree, and not wanting to eat them that 

 night, put them on the top shelf in the conservatory. In 



the morning when we entered the dining room the 

 carpet was strewn with peanut shucks and paper. 

 Curly could not resist the temptation, and like any other 

 thief waited until all was still, then feasted. He had torn 

 the bag to pieces, evidently fearing a little peanut or bit of 

 candy had escaped him. Of course he was only petted 

 for his sagacity. We told him it was no crime, and that 

 there was no law against dogs stealing as long as they 

 didn't steal sheep. 



He would carry packages as well as a boy. One time 

 his young mistress intrusted him with packages, among 

 them a little bag of peanuts. He no sooner got a sniff of 

 the freshly roasted peanuts than he sat right down in the 

 middle of the road in the snow, tore open the bag and ate 

 every one, then trotted on home with the other package. 



Curly was a privileged character, and on account of his 

 neat habits was allowed to roam all over the house. Some- 

 times, when a room got too warm for his majesty, he 

 would get up and walk to the door, asking us in his mute 

 way to open the door, and when we had complied with 

 his wishes he would sit down just inside the door and . 

 sniff the fresh air to his satisfaction, then go back and lie 

 down and watch to see if we shut the door. 



He would never eat like other dogs. If we offered him 

 scrapings from the table he would turn up his aristocratic 

 nose and walk away. At such times we would draw upon 

 his jealousy by calling the cats. Soon as we called, 

 "kitty, kitty," he would fly at the food and eat it in a 

 trice. I saw his young mistress take some dry biscuit 

 out one day to feed the chickens. Curly asked for the 

 biscuit and ate every one before the chickens got there. 

 If we had offered him fresh biscuit well buttered, he 

 would have refused it. 



On one occasion one of the boys went to the library in 

 the second story to write some letters. Curly, of course, 

 followed; he laid down under the secretary and went to 

 sleep. The young man went out, closed the door, and 

 went to town. Curly slept on until the sun was far down 

 in the west; then we were startled by hearing a rumbling 

 noise and feeling a jarring' sensation overhead, then the 

 library door would shake violently, None of the girls or 

 kitchen help dared go up and see what was the matter. 

 All at once there was a calm followed by a crash, and 

 broken glass fell from the large east window and lay in a 

 thousand pieces on the ground. We rushed out and 

 looked up at the window, expecting to see something, but 

 alas! nothing met our gaze but broken sash and space. 

 Then we commenced daring one another to go up and 

 open the door. A girl in the kitchen said the racket was 

 caused by spirits. "Well!" said I, "spirits were never 

 known to hurt anyone, and I am going," and suited the 

 action to the word. Judge of my surprise when I opened 

 the door and met only the black face of Curly with a 

 malicious gleam in his dear old brown eyes. "You black 

 rascal!" said I, "why didn't you finish the job by jumping 

 out and breaking your old neck, after you had made a 

 way?" He looked up at me complacently and wagged his 

 tail, as much as to say, "I knew too much for that." 

 Strange, none of us even thought of Curly ; strange too, 

 that he didn't bark or howl. I suppose when he awoke 

 and found himself a prisoner he became frantic. 



Curly was always civil to other dogs, and tried to keep 

 out of trouble. He tried in a doggish way to live up to 

 the golden rule, but if a dog persisted and seemed bent on 

 a fuss he would accommodate him. . Curs would fre- 

 quently run out after him when he would be passing 

 farm houses in the country; then he would trot to the 

 opposite side of the road and whine, as much as to say, 

 "I am a peaceable dog and don't want to fight;" but if the 

 canine still persisted Curly would stop and shake him 

 well, and send him yelping back whence he came, "a 

 wiser if not a better dog." Then Curly would trot on 

 after the team as if nothing had happened. He in this 

 way gave many a mongrel a lasting lesson, and many of 

 them, twice his size. At one time he followed our teams, 

 which were going to the pinery, sixty miles away, got 

 tired of it and turned back, reaching home the following 

 day, and after a good supper and a night's rest was as 

 frisky aB ever. * 



His young master went to England and imported some 

 fine horses. After they were rested and well groomed 

 they were led to the door for the ladies to look at. After 

 their long and perilous journey they naturally became 

 objects of interest, and in proportion to the interest we 

 lavished upon them Curly's jealousy was aroused. When 

 he could stand it no longer he walked off a few feet, 

 struck his peculiar attitude, and all the while the horses 

 stood there he sat with his back toward them with his 

 nose elevated in the air, his eyes closed, perfectly oblivious 

 to everything until the horses were taken away to their 

 stalls; then at the first sound of his name he would give 

 one sigh and bound around as playfully as e^er. 



To prove his jealousy we took to petting old Jack, the 

 house dog, more than usual. We petted the chickens, 

 kittens, anything, just to see Curly sulk; but soon as the 

 obnoxious object was banished he was his own dear self 

 again, and would look at us in such a confiding manner 

 that it would give us a pang of remorse; then he always 

 got an extra amount of petting to pay for it. His forgiv- 

 ing spirit would put many a human to shame. 



At one time when the craze was on for advertising 

 cards, the girls brought some home from an upholsterer's. 

 Among them was the picture of a pug dog. Now, said 

 the girl, I am going to plague Curly if I can. She stood 

 it in the middle of the floor, then called, "Come, Curly, 

 and see the pretty doggie." He came, walked up to it, 

 sniffed around it, gave a little low growl and left the 

 room, and could not be prevailed upon to return until the 

 inanimate and offensive object was removed. We hung 

 a pier glass opposite the entrance to the parlor, and when 

 Curly first saw himself in that the hair raised up on his 

 back and he gave his picture a saucy growl and looked 

 behind the glass to see where the dog was that dare go in 

 the parlor, and when he found nothing he looked silly, 

 but was really quite jealous of his own handsome profile. 



Curly was quite useful as well as entertaining. He 

 learned to retrieve without being trained in any way. 

 The first time he showed his ability was one day while his 

 young master and a friend of his went out to a little pre- 

 serve or pond to shoot some ducks. They shot several 

 and found all but one, a wounded one, and were getting 

 ready to return home when they heard a rustling among 

 the willows; in a minute out walked Curly holding gingerly 

 in his teeth a large wounded mallard. 



At one time one of the boys had to make a business trip 

 to Minnesota, and as his train left at 3 o'clock the next 

 morning he thought he would pack his trunk over night, 



