142 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



LSept. 10, 1891. 



AT DAWN. 



T STAND alone ere yet the sun has risen. 



Within the circle of fair Bedford's park; 

 The mnny buildings, sombre as a prison. 



Loom through the shadows silent still, and dark. 

 A single star above the western mountain, 



A glittering jewel from the crown of night. 

 Gleams through the foliage, upon the fountain, 



Whoso waters sparkle to its silver liglit. 

 A soft haze fills the valley, like a veil 



To shroud the lustre of the coming morn; 

 And faint and mellowed, from the southward trail, 



A distant clarion, sounds the house- wife's horn. 



The robin, earliest of the caroling throng. 



Rings out, from swaying maple's lofty crest, 

 To list'ning mate, his flute-like matin song; 



The orchard oriole twitters in its nest; 

 From yonder deep ravine where hickories grow. 



Is heard the gray squirrels' chattering bark; 

 And the deep murmur of the streamlet's flow 



Breathes lulling music, faintly, through the dark. 

 The small brown hackey from his snug retreat 



Beneath the old oak's roots, peers softly out. 

 And 800U are heard his swiftly pattering feet. 



And the quick splash of leaping, frightened trout. 



From the rich meadows now the risen kino 



Begin to low: the frogs sing loud and clear; 

 The watchman's dog comes close with cringe and whine, 



And cheerily crows the distant chanticleer. 

 A rosy flush lights up the eastern sky; 



The brigh-t star fades within the ai'ching dome; 

 The shadows of the night dissolve and fly; 



On noiseless wing the night-hawk seeks his home. 

 And soon beyond the eastern mountain's side, 



Where still the shadows faintly strive to linger. 

 Up the dark pine the bright sim seems to glide. 



Like jewel drawn slowly from an Ethiop's flager. 



And as I meditate alone, and far 



From those around whose lives my heart-strings twine, 

 It seems that darkness, shadows, sun and star. 



The fast dissolving night, the morn, serene, divine, 

 Are emblems of that fateful, mighty day 



When earthly shadows, doubts, despair, 

 Shall like this morning's mist be swept away 



By the sweet zephyrs of the heavenly air; 

 When clothed in radiant white, his trump in hand. 



Whose golden tones shall sound o'er land and^ea, 

 The Messenger of God by the great Throne shall stand; 



Earth's night forever lost in Heaven's eternity, 

 Bedfohd Springs, July 17. p. 



NO-MAN'S LAND AND BEYOND. 



A MAN who has business to do in a live Western town 

 cannot go on a long hunt often; but one November, 

 not long ago, when the nights were getting cold and the 

 geese were flying south, I could withstand the migratory 

 instinct no longer, and made preparations for a trip, into 

 the Neutral Strip for sure, and further if we should not 

 find good hunting. 



To go on a long excursion into a region where you can 

 get no food nor horse feed for a month at a time requires 

 some preparation, if you wish to go in comfort. I first 

 lired old man Price (an old bu5alo hunter) with enthusiasm 

 and got him to go with me with his wagon and mule 

 team, on condition that I should buy aU the supplies and 

 give him $10 in addition. He promised to go where I 

 wanted to and stay as long as I pleased. I invited two 

 young men, Hanny and Noah, to go, each to bear a third 

 of the expenses for food and horse feed. So we loaded 

 up and pulled for the south from Cimarron, Kan. , where 

 I usually live, Hanny and I were in my heavy buggy 

 with my two hunting horses, Price and Noah in the bag- 

 gage wagon, loaded up to the bows. I had loaded grain 

 and food into both wagons until the boys declared that 

 I intended to stay away a year; and then put in some 

 more on my own account. Tent and camp stove, lantern, 

 blankets and guns completed the outfit. Nov. 15 we 

 rolled away to the south, with Nigger, my black grey- 

 hound, curled up at my feet. He was three years old 

 half stag, half greyhound, and as fast and good a dog as 

 I ever owned. I had my rifle and also my lO-bore shot- 

 gun. The other boys didn't want to kill anything smaller 

 than an antelope, and so took only their rifles. I had also 

 a bad cough which 1 expected to freeze out on the road. 



Starting at noon, we reached a small town named 

 Montezuma by dark, twenty-three miles south. The 

 next day a drive of thirty-five miles landed us at West 

 Plains. The next night we struck Fargo Springs, a town 

 on the Cimarron River, and then we cut loose from towns 

 and started southwest for Dudley's ranch on the Beaver. 

 We drove all day through a desolate country that was at 

 that time still infested by the claim holder, whose dugout 

 appeared at intervals. Toward dark we took possession 

 of a vacant claim house that had a good well and a big 

 stable. There was a stove in the house and we soon had 

 supper. There was no table, and just as we sat down to 

 eat, with the plates on a wagon sheet spread on the floor, 

 in walked a man with a scowl and a big six-shooter 

 buckled on. 

 "What are you doing here?" 

 "Eating supper, won't you have some?" 

 "No, I ain't hungry. What are you doing;;in this 

 house?" 



"Is it yours?" 



"No, but I am living about a mile from here and look- 

 ing out for it." 



We finally mollified him and he ate more than any 

 two of us. After he had filled up I asked him if he liked 

 apples. 



"Do you mean canned apples, or real honest-to-Gk)d 

 apples?" 

 "I mean green apples." 

 "You bet!" 



I produced the apples, and after remarking that he had 

 not seen any for two years he ate a few, and I made him 

 fill his pockets for his children. He told us to stop when 

 we came back, and said that he was paid for watching 

 the place, bijt that he knew no one coiild 4o any dg-mage 



unless they stole the well, but that he had to make a talk 

 for his money. 



At daybreak we started, and I decided to strike the 

 Beaver at a three-house town named Optima, as a man 

 named Carter lived there whom I knew well, and I hoped 

 to get information from him in regard to game. About 

 noon we came to two frame houses and a store. This 

 town was in Kansas, on the Neutral Strip line, and the 

 store keeper informed us that we were in the city of 

 Lafayette. He then tried to sell me a corner lot in town, 

 and offered me a block cheap. He had a beautiful map 

 of Lafayette as it Would be, with lots reserved for 

 churches, opera house and town hall. He offered me 

 three lots between his store and the opera house for $325, 

 one-third cash, the balance in six and twelve months. 

 The store was erected and was 12x16. The land was 

 there ready to put the opera house on. It must require a 

 vivid imagination, great faith and some gall to live in 

 such a town and try to sell lots. We got some water at 

 Lafayette and promised to call if we came back that way. 



We drove to Pony Creek by dark and camped; had the 

 tent up and everything in good shape inside of fifteen 

 minutes and sat down to a good supper. At daybreak we 

 saw a band of about twenty antelope, and decided to 

 camp a day and try them. The antelope were about two 

 miles away on level prairie feeding. They seemed to be 

 uneasy and watchfiil and would move around. I tried 

 crawling up to them on two sides, and could not get 

 within a half-mile of them, and finally went back to 

 camp to get something to eat and try another plan. I 

 left Harry in a buffalo wallow as near them as I could get 

 him, with strict injunctions not to move or shoot unless 

 they came within 135yds. After a cup of coffee I took 

 my gentlest pony, and put on a bridle without the reins, 

 which I put in my pocket. I tied my wooden cleaning- 

 rod to the bit at one end, and took the other end in my 

 hand. I could thus make him walk along with his head 

 up, and I walked in a stooping position on his off side, so 

 as to keep him between me and the antelope. When I 

 found a buffalo wallow 1 could lie down oht of sight of 

 the game and rest a little, for it was very tiring to walk 

 in a stooping position and keep the pony in just the right 

 place. I would tack up a little closer by going diagonally 

 the other way. The wind was from the south, Harry 

 told me afterward that the pony and I looked precisely 

 like a six-legged horse. 



I had; got within SOOyds., when spang! came a bullet 

 whistling past me; and my horse twitched the rod from 

 my hand and ran to camp. I dropped down, so as to take 

 less chances of getting hit by Harry, and shot three or 

 four times at an old buck that led the gang as they ran 

 toward the south. At the last shot he crumpled up and 

 went down in a heap; and the rest ran over a knoll and 

 disappeared. Harry had one with his hip broken, and 

 in five minutes here came Price and Noah in my buggy, 

 the mules at a dead run, with Price whipping and Noah 

 holding the dog to prevent him jumping out too quick. 

 They drove within 300yds. of the wounded antelope: Nig 

 jumped up and landed on his head, rolled over and went 

 to work. After a run of half a mile Nig caught him and 

 had him killed before the mules and men got there. I 

 had hit my buck right behind the eye; I meant to hit him 

 in the body, but shooting at a running mark at 300 or 

 400yd8. one does well to hit it anywhere. Well, we had 

 fried liver and bacon for supper. Every one seemed sat- 

 isfied, and Noah and Harry made a calculation that if 

 we killed two antelope a day for twenty days, we should 

 have to pull over to the railroad in Texas and ship a ton 

 or s© of venison to Kansas City. Mr. Price grunted like 

 an Indian and smoked vigorously, but made no remarks; 

 and we went to bed at 10 o'clock, after several games of 

 seven-up, and slept the sleep of the just. My cough 

 showed no signs of weakening, and Noah made a rude 

 remark to me when I got up in the night to take some 

 medicine, just because I stepped on his foot; but we for- 

 gave each other in the morning. Nig was prospecting 

 around in the night away from camp and something ran 

 him into camp just before we went to bed. He seemed 

 scared and stayed in the tent the rest of the night. It 

 was a wolf probably. Rig wolves are rather savage and 

 don't fear one dog much. Coyotes are cowards and will 

 rvm from a dog night or day. 



We noticed a big prairie fire north of us in the after- 

 noon, but it was twenty miles away and the wind came 

 from the south, so we did not pay much attention to it 

 when we went to bed; but the wind changed to the 

 north in the night, and when we got up we could smell 

 the smoke and the fire was coming toward us. There 

 was no danger, for we were camped in short grass and 

 could have set another fire and then gone on the burnt 

 ground long before the fire could possibly reach us; but 

 it was easier to hitch up and pull out on the road. We 

 crossed Pony Creek and had not gone far when we saw a 

 I band of about 20 mustangs feeding a mile away from the 

 road. They soon saw us and ran to the top of a knoll, 

 with heads up and manes and tails floating in the breeze. 

 They looked as if they were worth $200 apiece. Mus- 

 tangs are deceiving things. Get those same ponies in a 

 corral and almost every one is poorly buUt and scrubby, 

 all the stallions scarred up by fighting and the mares 

 cat-hammed, vdth their manes and tails full of burs. The 

 band finally ran off west and the last we saw of them 

 they were still going. 



We came across nothing of interest from there to 

 Optima, except a jack rabbit chase in which Nig carried 

 off the honors and the rabbit too. It was on a level plain 

 and the rabbit ran in a half circle around the wagons. 

 Nig "wrenched" three times and then picked the game 

 up, and never let go till he killed him and fetched him 

 up to the wagon, Harry cut off the ears and put them 

 on his hat, and I think I threw them and his pipe away 

 twenty times during the next month. I found them 

 in the bread box, in our bed, in my cartridge sack. He 

 always seemed to select a place for those cursed ears 

 where hair would get into the grub. And I can almost 

 smell that old briarwood pipe yet. 



We landed at the city of Optima, on the Beaver, dur- 

 ing the afternoon. It is, or was, in the Beaver Valley, 

 seventy miles west of Beaver City, for which see a good 

 map of Indian Territory, It consisted of two sod stores 

 and two sod houses. The stores did not keep much of 

 anything. Since then they have been run as saloons and 

 I have heard of some interesting fights that the Neutral 

 Strippers and others have had there. 



John Carter kept one store, and we camped near and 

 visited with him that night. He did not know much 

 about the ganje south or west of Optima, but gave me a 



good deal of indefinite direction, and I decided to go west 

 about 80 mUes to Company M water holes for buffalo. We 

 heard of two hunters that had come down Beaver two 

 days before loaded with buffalo meat and three hides. 

 We reasoned that we stood a chance to find buffalo if they 

 had, and started next morning late. 



We saw two heavy teams and four men pass about two 

 hours before we started, and I learned at the store in Op- 

 tima a few minutes before starting that they were hunters 

 from Springfield, Kansas, and that they said they were 

 going to Company M. So we hitched up and pulled fast 

 to overtake them. We made about 25 miles that day and 

 got to the other hunters' camp that evening and camped 

 with them. We soon became acquainted and passed a 

 pleasant evening. They were well armed with both rifles 

 and shotguns, had several greyhounds, and seemed to be 

 good fellows. They seemed to be disinclined to tell where 

 they were going, and 1 suppose that they thought the 

 same of ua; but to tell the truth, we didn't know and 

 didn't care much. We camped side by side and all ate 

 supper together. One of their number made night hideous 

 with an old battered French horn. I thoug:ht he was an 

 awful fool and was "no good" for a hunter; but he after- 

 ward proved to be a nice fellow and a first-class hunter. 



We all pulled out at daybreak and drove past Dudley's 

 ranch and had a splendid jack xabbit chase a few miles 

 further on. My dog beat theirs out and out and caught 

 both rabbits. 



We got to Lee Harlan's ranch about 3 P.M., and I 

 drove up to the house to ask permission to camp inside 

 his fence so we might turn our horses loose. There was 

 no one at the house and no dogs around. Nig, who went 

 with me, ate a piece of poisoned meat and died in fifteen 

 minutes in spite of aU I could do. I almost cried. 



The Mexican ranch keeper just then returned, and 

 gave us permission to camp inside the fence. Lee Harlan 

 and his partner came in that night with an outfit of four 

 fine horses, a wagon and three water barrels, camp kit, 

 saddles, fleld glass and guns. They had been out seven 

 days and had not seen a buffalo. 



They had a ranch full of meat, hides and heads, how- 

 ever, that they had killed in the last month. Harlan 

 knew who I was and gave me all the information he 

 could. The men that came down the creek with meat 

 had bought it off him at 9 cents per pound ; hides $6 each, 

 raw hides of course. Buffalo were scarce and wild. There 

 was but little water in the county and he made a practice 

 of filling his barrels and going into a big waterless scope 

 of country south of the Beaver and southwest from his 

 ranch, making a camp, saddling his fast, strong horses 

 and riding the coimtry for miles around. When they 

 found buffalo they ran up to them and killed what they 

 could before their horses ran down; and then one watched 

 the carcasses, while the other moved camp up to the car- 

 casses; and they cut them up next day. They saved 

 meat, bides and heads. A good cow or bull netted them 

 about |40. 



Price and I held a council and decided that, as we had 

 only my horses that were fit to ride, but one saddle (mine), 

 and no water barrels, we had better not try for buffalo. 

 We concludsd to pull south for Palo Duro Creek in Texas, 

 hunting on the way, and then decide where to go from 

 there. 



It was snovdng when we woke up next morning, and 

 we did not move that day. We all hunted on foot in the 

 afternoon, all but Price, who lay and grumbled when he 

 was strong enough. I saw some antelope and managed 

 to kill a small doe after a long crawl that wore the skin 

 pretty thin on my knees; and then went to camp, took 

 the buggy and brought the meat in by dark. W. J. D. 

 [TO BE CONCLUDED.] 



A RECEPTION TO MR. HALLOCK* 



IT was a notable tribute which was given by the sports- 

 men and city officials of Northampton, Mass., on 

 Sept. 5, to the life-work of Mr. Charles Hallock, the 

 founder of Forest iND Stream, and the author of at 

 least a dozen sporting books and kindred ptlblications, in 

 which we feel to share, as it were, by a sort of reflected 

 light. Plates were laid for thirty at Barr's popular eaf^, 

 and sea food in great variety was served. An immense 

 salmon stretched its full length across the head of the 

 table, at which Dr. Fay presided, and all along the vista 

 which extended to the lower end, legends were displayed 

 in guide-board fashion among the oysters and soft-shell 

 crabs and bouquets of celery, setting forth some incident 

 of the autlior*s work. "Fishing Tourist" and "Salmon 

 Fisher" were conspicuous. Satin souvenirs, embellished 

 with an appropriate vignette of fish, game and sporting 

 equipments, and inscribed with a List of titles of the 

 author's books, were laid before each guest. The Mayor 

 and chief city officials, and the representative professional 

 and chief business men of Northampton were present, all 

 of them interested or identified with various lines of 

 al fresco sport. Mr. Hallock gave them a cursory review 

 of sport and sporting literature during the past twenty 

 years, showing how a taste for these things had devel- 

 oped until the climax had now apparently been reached; 

 deprecating the absorption of extensive areas by a few 

 favored persons of wealth to the exclusion of the old 

 habituea of the streams and woods; and alluding very 

 pointedly to the rivalry which fifteen years ago had 

 divided sentiment on the subject of game protection and 

 conservation of species until the result was a heterogenous 

 and unintelligible code of laws with little game to hunt 

 or preserve; so that as a matter of feral economy we were 

 not now a whit in advance of 1876, with a good deal of 

 irreparable mischief done in the interval. An informal 

 chat and pipes followed this address, and the party broke 

 up at 11 o'clock after three hours of solid enjoyment. 

 The whole menu and entertainment was happily COU' 

 ceived and put in motion by Mr. Coll H. Gere, editor of 

 the Hampshire Gazette, assisted by Mr. Harris, chief of 

 the Gazette Publishing Company. The Gazette is a jour- 

 nal which has been running considerably more than a 

 century without once getting out of gear, having been 

 transmitted through three generations of that name. 



The Pine Tree Club of Northampton is one of the oldest 

 in New England, having a life-history of more than a 

 quarter of a century. Chief of Police Maynard is its 

 president. It is the nucleus of sport in Hampshire county. 

 It has a trout preserve of the most suitable water and en- 

 vironment, and is likely to attain a high degree of success 

 in trout culture under the l^est approved methods which 

 it employs. ' - - ' . * 



