Ocrr. 37, 1894.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
356 
another moment the sheep disappeared in a small gulch 
leading to the right. 
We had bagged one sheep when we should have had at 
least three or four, and provoked and disgusted beyond, 
measure, I turned to the Doctor and asked: "What 
on earth made you jump up there as you did ? You spoiled 
the whole thing." 
For a moment he made no attempt to reply, and then 
to my unutterable astonishment he said in a trembling, 
querulous voice, "It was your talking that did it." 
"My talking," I said, surprised almost out of the power 
of speech. "What did I say?-" 
"You shouldn't have asked me that question about 
Wales, it upset me," he replied, but his voice was scarcely 
audible, and he hung his head in a shame-faced way as 
though ashamed himself of the contemptible excuse 
which he offered. 
"Well," I replied, almost choking with disgust, "I had 
no idea that you were so readily upset, although I don't 
know as it should have surprised me." 
Then I started up toward the sheep which I had bagged. 
I had just stopped before it, and was admiring its $mas- 
sive horns and graceful proportions, when the Doctor 
joined me. 
"You got one, did you?" he said in greatly mollified 
tones. "He's a beauty, isn't he?" 
Then after a moment's pause he continued, "Pardon me 
for what I said about your upsetting me; there was no one 
to blame but myself. It was the sight of all those sheep 
which upset me." 
It was the frankest admission I had ever heard him 
make, and withal he looked so thoroughly wobegone 
that I really felt sorry for him. 
"That's all right," I replied, "only I should like to have 
seen you get a sheep. You will never get another such a 
chance." 
He admitted the truth of my statement, and then after 
a moment's reflection said, "Would you mind selling me 
the sheep for $35?" 
The question surprised me greatly, and for a moment I 
hardly knew what to say. After a moment's reflection, 
however, I replied, "I wouldn't care about selling it to you, 
but you are welcome to it if you want it." 
"And would you mind saying that I shot it, too?" he 
then asked. 
This was a little bit too much. I was willing to make a 
sacrifice for the manager's sake, but this seemed like rub- 
bing it in. 
"No," I replied, "I will not say that you shot it. You 
can if you want to, and I will not say anything about it 
unless some one asks me." 
This was not as the Doctor would liked to have had it, 
but it was better than nothing; and he accepted my con- 
ditions with many expressions of thanks. 
He went back after the horses, while I took care of the 
sheep, and when he returned with them, accompanied by 
Dawson, it was clear that the latter believed that it was 
his master who had killed the sheep. He began at once 
with some sarcastic reference to me and my gun, which, 
under the circumstances, I didn't propose to submit to, 
and I quietly intimated to the Doctor that it would be 
very much to his advantage to put a stop to his servant's 
comments, a hint which he thoroughly appreciated and 
acted upon with so much vigor as to thoroughly discon- 
cert Dawson. 
As the Doctor wished it, we packed the sheep on his 
horse, and owing to the latter's restiveness, the operation 
consumed a great deal of time. It was after 5 o'clock 
when we started upon our return. It had been the in- 
tention to pick up our antelope on our return, but the 
hour was so late that we decided to leave it until to-mor- 
row when the Doctor said he would go and get it. 
We moved with all possible haste, but long before we 
reached the slope of the mountain leading down to camp 
the shadows of approaching night began to gather about 
us, and when at length we struck the edge of the timber 
whence we had descried the first antelope, it was quite 
dark. Traveling became quite difficult, not only because 
of the sharp descent down which we were going, but also 
because of the steadily thickening timber, low sweeping 
boughs from which were apt at any moment to unseat 
and probably injure us. My horse was an experienced 
and very intelligent broncho, who on more than one 
occasion had helped me out of a bad spot. Soon after 
striking the heavy timber I dismounted, and taking my 
position just behind him with a firm grasp on his tail, I 
started him forward, trusting to his sagacity to find our 
way safely back to camp. The Doctor, who was riding 
Dawson's horse, at my suggestion dismounted and led his 
horse, while the servant brought up the rear leading the 
packed horse. 
For some considerable time we thus pursued our way 
without anything of special moment occurring, although 
the Doctor kept calling to. me for the purpose of ascer- 
taining my exact position, and from the tones of his voice 
it was quite evident that he was not altogether easy con- 
cerning our position. 
Suddenly there burst upon our ears from the timber at 
our right the cry of a mountain lion. The beast was 
evidently not far from us, and as his cry rang through 
the stillness of the gloomy, dark woods, the effect was 
anything but pleasant and assuring. I of course knew 
that there was no probable danger of an attack from him, 
but at the same time all the surroundings did not tend to 
make his immediate presence exactly desirable. 
As his cry died away the Doctor asked in a low voice 
tremulous with fear: "For God's sake what is it?" 
Then there came to mind a diabolical thought. I had 
a long series of pent up grievances against the two in- 
dividuals behind me, and here was clearly a chance to 
even up matters a little. 
Waiting a moment to give additional effect to my words 
I replied in a voice vibrating with simulated fear: "It 
would not be right to deceive you Doctor, it is a mountain 
lion." 
For a moment a deathly silence followed my words, 
and then the Doctor asked in a voice almost inaudible 
from suppressed emotion: "What does he mean, do vou 
think?" J 
Again did I delay a moment before replying, and then 
answered in a voice apparently deep in the throes of an 
awful fear: "I can think of but one thing, he means to 
attack us. It is their invariable method of attack. He is 
doubtless hungry, and the smell of fresh blood has infuri- 
ated him, and unless by some lucky chance we should be 
able to stop him, he will, I fear, be in our midst in a few 
momenta." 
Hollow groans of terror and despair came from the two 
men behind me, and then Dawson broke silence by asking 
in a low faltering voice: "Does 'e hever heat men?" 
"It is his favorite food," I unblushingly replied. 
After this nothing startling happened for several 
moments, and I was just thinking that the lion had 
abandoned us, when suddenly his cry rang out again, and 
evidently nearer than before. The Doctor and his servant 
too had begun to breathe easier, and this renewed evi- 
dence of the beast's presence threw them into a state of 
awful consternation. They both begged me to halt, and 
besought me to protect them, the Doctor promising me a 
munificent reward in case I conducted him safely back to 
camp. It was well for my scheme that the darkness hid 
my face from their view, for had they been able to catch 
one glimpse of it they would have quickly realized that 
anything but fear was the dominating emotion with me. 
Not that our situation was not an exceedingly uncom- 
fortable one, for it was, and withal our horses were quite 
uneasy under the near presence of the lion, but I had lit- 
tle fear of his attacking us, and so taken up was I with 
the success of my scheme that I really quite enjoyed it. 
I presume that I should not have carried my joke any 
further, but the humor of the situation possessed me to the 
exclusion of every other thought, and withal I had such 
a hearty contempt for the two men with me that I re- 
solved upon a grand coup. I waited several minutes until 
we had got over an especially rough bit of ground, and 
then as a bit of precaution I moved up to my horse's head 
and slipped the bridle over his head, retaining it in a firm 
grasp so that he could not bolt under the excitement of 
my grand finale. 
Then I suddenly shouted in tones of wild alarm, "Look 
out! Look out!" following it up quickly with a shot from 
my rifle, and then a wild frenzied yell. 
The effect exceeded my wildest expectations. What 
followed I could not see, because of the intense darkness, 
but what really happened was this: Both the Doctor and 
Dawson hadn't the slighest doubt that the Hon was right 
upon us; and thoroughly and completely panic-stricken 
they sought safety in flight. Dawson was in the lead and 
he had taken but a few steps when he stumbled over an 
old log and pitched headlong to the ground. The Doctor 
chanced to take the same direction, and just as Dawson 
started to pick himself up, tbe Doctor stumbled over the 
log and fell upon him. 
Dawson hadn't the slightest doubt that the lion had 
him in his fell grasp at last, and the shrieks and yells of 
terror which escaped his lips for a moment it would be 
impossible to give any adequate conception of in words. 
Indeed, it quite alarmed me, for I could not conceive of 
the cause; and hastily dropping my bridle rein, as my 
horse did not seem particularly alarmed, I made my 
way as rapidly as I could in the direction of his cries. 
Before I reached him I heard the Doctor say, "Shut 
up, you fool; shut up, you fool; it's only me; you'll bring 
the beast on us sure." From the direction of their voices 
I knew they were on the ground, and immediately sur- 
mised how it all happened. I was so convulsed with in- 
ward laughter that I dare not trust to my voice to speak 
to them. 
Thinking, however, that I heard them crawling through 
the brush, I at length mastered my voice sufficiently to 
ask: "Did he hurt you any, Doctor?" having reference of 
course to the lion. 
For an instant there was no answer, but in another 
moment I heard the Doctor reply in a low voice in which 
evident fear struggled with anger: "The blawsted idiot 
scratched me quite a bit, but I punched his beastly head 
good and hard." Then he asked, in an evidently surprised 
and frightened tone: "Didn't the lion get you?" "No," 
I answered, with the greatest difficulty, for it seemed as 
though I could no longer restrain the pent-up laughter 
within me, "I frightened him off, if I didn't kill him." 
In a few moments they werf> both by my side, and 
while I longed to strike a match to see their condition, I 
did not dare put my power of composure to such a test. 
It was evident, however, that neither of them had the 
slightest suspicion of me, and the Doctor said in a tone of 
breathless terror that when I' screamed he thought the 
lion had me sure. 
The remainder of our journey was without any incident 
of moment, and about 9 o'clock we rode into camp, and a 
few minutes later drew up before the store, which was 
still open. As we did so several of the men crowded 
about us to learn the result of our hunt, and then by the 
aid of a lantern which one of them carried I noticed sev- 
eral savage scratches on the Doctor's face, while one of 
Dawson's eyes was discolored and swollen nearly shut. 
Several of the men noticed it also, and big Jack Shammel, 
the foreman of the whole mine, asked Dawson the cause 
of it. 
"Hit was ha bloody Hamerican lion," he replied. 
A broad smile appeared on the faces of the men, 
noticing which he added with evidences of considerable 
spirit, "You hask 'im," pointing to me; "the beast nearly 
heat 'im hup." 
Of course I was pressed for an explanation, but certain 
ominous quiverings about my mouth, a feeling of tumul- 
tous hilarity within, warned me that the story was not 
one which I could venture to tell, certainly before the 
Doctor and Dawson, and I excused myself and went in- 
side the store under the pretext of wanting some tobacco. 
There must have been something telltale about my face, 
for Shamml and several of the men followed me inside, 
and with faces wreathed in broad smiles of expectancy 
they asked me the truth about the "bloody Hamerican 
lion." 
I dared not tell them for fear that the story would get to 
the Doctor's ears and result in my losing my place, as I 
knew that he would insist upon the manager discharging 
me in such an event. 
In the course of a week or so, however, he left for Eng- 
land, and then I told my story. No man I think ever had 
a more appreciative audience, and the keen delight which 
those rough men took in the discomfiture of the Doctor 
and Dawson illustrated better than anything else the ex- 
treme unpopularity of the two. Indeed for many a day 
to come the story was laughed over, and the phrase 'A 
bloody Hamerican lion" got to be a standing onu in tha 
camp. Sancho. 
BLANTON. 
I was 'watching on a stand in the Ozarksrone day 
listening to the distant music of the hounds, when a man 
came along with an old Kentucky rifle, doubtless think- 
ing to cover my stand, not knowing; any one was there 
before him. He told me I was a little off the runway, 
placed me right, and then asked who I was with, seeing 
I wis a stranger. I told him I was with my friend whose 
name adorns the head of this rambling tale. 
"Did you ever see him ride through these hills?" he 
asked. I told him I had heard him doing it a few times 
and had tried to follow him the day or two before. 
"Well," he said, "it is a sight! I have seen him try to 
head a'deer and it is a wonder he don't get killed. He 
jabs the spurs in aa hard as he can and goes through the 
woods, under branches and through brush and across logs 
and gulleys at top speed. I wouldn't ride after a deer the 
way that man does if I knew it had on diamond 
earrings." 
The day before, I was sitting on a stump at the point 
of a ridge listening to the receding music of the pack 
back in the hills. It died out, and after a while I heard 
them coming into the flat woods down a draw a mile or 
so below me. I jumped on my horse and hurried down 
there to intercept the deer; but it had turned and I came 
back to my stand. After a while I heard them down 
there again and before I could make up my mind to go 
down again the dogs and Blanton after them burst into 
the flat. I could tell where the dogs were by their 
mellow voices, and could tell that he was close behind 
by the "yip" that now and then floated to me on the 
breeze, and it told me that they were going through 
those close trees on the dead run. 
The story is not about the run but about the stop. 
Suddenly a shot rang out, and then the "yip" changed to 
a yell of victory and joy. I knew what had happened 
and as I blew a blast on my horn and yelled a yell or two 
on my yeller and, a moment after, as I held the screw-off 
top in my hand, said to an imaginary man in front of 
me, "Well Blanton, here's to you." And that night by 
the camp-fire he told about his quick stop. 
"Well, sirs. I was just a-cuttin' it through the brush 
and the dogs went wild all at once about 200yds. ahead 
of hie, and there came a big doe on the back track. We 
saw each other at the same time, and the doe stopped 
behind a white oak, and I says, 'Whoa, Billy,' and Billy 
stopped so quick I nearly went over his head. Thinks I, 
'Old lady, you're goin' to catch it when you come out 
from behind that tree.' And I yelled, 'Come out of there 
and take your medicine,' and she just poked her head 
around at me and wouldn't come, and I fixed my gun on 
that side so I could get her the first jump. And then she 
jumped out on the other side, and it's a wonder I didn't 
miss." 
But he had not missed, for as we sat there on our camp 
stools and toasted our shins, while our backs were away 
out in the cold, Madame C. Virginianus was perched 
aloft in a sapling beside the tent. Blanton chuckled and 
said: 
"Why, "she'd like to chase me back out of the flat 
woods. * * * But the only time my father ever 
whipped me was for turning back, and I don't believe I 
ever turned back from anywhere from that day to this." 
We other fellows were ready to believe this, but we 
asked what he had tnrned back from, and he continued: 
"One day when I was about twelve years old my father 
told me to take two jugs and go to a blind distillery about 
sixteen miles away and get them filled, and when I got 
half way there I got to feeling lonesome, and I don't 
know what made me do it, but I turned around and came 
back. When my father saw me come home and found 
out what I had done he whooped me good and told me 
never to tuj-n back again when I set out to do anything 
or go any where, and started me off again, and you can 
just bet I went. When I got back it was nearly night 
and I was pretty tired, and I slid off the horse at the 
horse block and started to pull the sack off, and an old 
nigger we had, named Uncle Billy, said, 'I'll take 'em off 
for you; go and get your supper.' But I was stubborn 
and I pulled it off myself, and when the jug in one end 
of the sack came against the jug in the other end of the 
sack they both broke and all the whisky ran out on the 
road. When my father saw what I had done he spoke to 
me very kindly and quietly and told me to go in and get 
my supper, and I knew after that that he wanted to 
have a boy that would not turn back a heap more than he 
wanted the whisky. He never whooped me again, and I 
have never turned back again. When I got through that 
day I had ridden forty miles through the woods." 
The Colonel and I have just returned from a visit to him 
at his home. We brought back with us a deer each and a 
bunch of quail, and the skin of the biggest wolf we had 
any of us ever seen. It was killed by Charlie Peace as it 
ran, fully a quarter of an hour ahead of the hounds. 
Two buckshot went into its head and four through its 
body, yet it jumped to its feet and ran 200yds. before it 
finally dropped. I give the following dimensions: Tip 
of head to tip of tail, 59in.; nose to occiput, llin.; ear to 
ear, 13£in. ; height at shoulder, 30in. 
It weighed 601bs. even, and was a savage-looking speci- 
men, and was the first one killed in that neighborhood 
for a long time. Charlie was very modest about it, and 
did not seem to realize that he had performed a great feat 
in stopping a streak of gray wolf with his old 12-gauge. 
The Colonel promptly paid the bounty to him and took 
the skin to have it tanned, and then Charlie Peace (and I 
never tire of repeating his name) did the finest thing of 
all. He divided up even with the other boys. We didn't 
care to affront a manly youth like he is by telling him 
what pleasure he gave us, but we may be allowed to 8ay 
so here. No English duke who bathes the Rocky Moun- 
tains in blood ever will do a finer day's hunting than our 
Sir Charles Peace did that day — a prince of peacefulness, 
a wolf slayer and the conqueror of all avarice and selfish- 
ness. May all those dear boys grow up into good men. 
Geobge Kennedy. 
A Quail's Nest in October. 
Editor lorest and Stream: 
On Oct. 10, near Wakefield, R. I., I killed two old birds 
on a puint in front of my dogs. Then walking over the 
fk-ld, I found a quail's nest with ten eggs, which weie 
warm. E. 0. SchUylek. 
