02 
FOREST ^ND STREAM. 
Deer Hunting Days in the 
Adirondacks. 
An October afternoon in '98 found us waiting for the 
crazy craft to start up the lakes — 'twas a twin-screw affair, 
twin-engines using steam expansively and expensively. 
The bells called "Go ahead!" There was a cloud of leak- 
ing steam, a hipity-click, bump, clatter from the engines 
and they're oflf. Like human twins they went evenly for 
awhile, and then, either from lack of stamina on the 
part of one or an excess of vigor in the other, they drew 
apart, and the course changed until the creaking rudder 
slewed things straight. 
With a plethora of wood and water, what need to take 
an indicator card or worry how valves are set? I ex- 
plained to my companion the pitiable condition of the 
steam plant, He merely said: "The bed-bug has no 
wings to fly, but he gets there just the same." We threw 
off mail bags, merchandise and ennui, and the boat finally, 
with its crew and passengers, put up for the night. _ I 
met Delmarsh out under the trees where he looked like 
himself. We talked of the massage treatment he had 
given me the year before, of the buck that I had shot, of 
the fun we had in camp, and then I told him that my 
brother-in-laAV Avas with me. 
"How did that happen?" said he. 
"Why. he married my sister," I replied. 
"Oh, no. no; what did yon bring him for?" 
T told him that it was a matter of gratitude. "He has 
been kind to our family; he came in at a time when Cupid 
Avas about to confer the degree of O. M. Dun and Brad- 
street say lie is Avell off. He is sixty-seven years old— ;-of 
course I don't speculate on either condition, but I am ir- 
clined to' be very kind to him, although they tell me that 
he has a will of his OAvn. Come over, B.-in-L., I've been 
telling Archie all about you," 
"Don't mind him, Mr. Delmarsh, said B.-in-L. "He 
is light-headed on account of the Avar, because he had 
several ancestors in the battle of Lexington and has 
played marbles and spun tops on Lexington Common, 
because he has 'hooked jack' from the Concord schools 
and bathed in the Avaters at North Bridge. Avhere 'they 
fired the shot heard round the Avorld"; because he has 
been a member of the A. & H. Artillery Company and 
the First Battalion of Cavalry of Boston (these troops 
discovered thirst), he thinks that by inheritance and 
enA'ironment he is a great military strategist and that the 
AA'hole burden of the war has been upon him. War cor-, 
respondents and others have had the same trouble. When 
the Manila affair came off he wrote poetry, beginning: 
We dont forget the Maine, 
Do we? ■ 
"The papers did not publish it. His wife tells me that 
on the Fourth of July he loaded all his guns and lam- 
basted the fence and clothesline posts in the backyard, 
and when the little boys of the neighborhood looked over 
and cheered him he said: 'Don't cheer boys, the poor 
devils are dying.' One night he thought himself Col. 
Roosevelt, and getting up in his sleep he took an old 
saber, tried to climb up the side of the room and yelled: 
'Come on, boys, we'll lick h— 1 out of them!' 
"He had killed the canary and smashed the clock be- 
fore they got him to bed again. He is worn out and his 
money all gone in buying papers. So, Archie, I want 
'you to fix him up and pull him down to earth agam; if 
you cannot do it he aviU be lying at death's door, Avith 
no one to pttll him through." . , , ,r 
"I guess he will lie, anyway," Delmarsh said. You 
two men talk all the time. The pack-horses and supplies 
are ready and my brother consents to go. The trail is 
very heavy from late rains, and you will both need time 
and muscle to cover the seven miles of hard trampmg, 
and you Avill blow differently, soon." 
Little did he know how I longed to see that old open 
ramp again or how pleased I Avas to see his honest face 
once more. How soft the flannel shirt. The baggy cor- 
duroys that at home would debar me from polite society 
were now in style, and the old boots hidden from sight 
for months now sought the forest voluntarily. The rifle 
fitted its place upon my shoulder, and its breech action 
wkispered in my ear, "Oh, Avhat a snap !" 
We leave the road, cross the brook and the trees close 
in behind us and shut us from the "common people.; 
The pack-horse at my side seemed to remember me ana 
gave me the best path; and when, coming to some steep 
incline I reached out for assistance, it was cheerfully 
given. That B.-in-L. of mine, in spite of years, was as 
tough as a barbed-wire fence; 1^ has tramped New_ Eng- 
land for nearly fifty years with dog and gun; his old 
Schaffer i2-bore has brought down many birds, and 
is so worn that it is several ounces lighter than when 
made; his wiry form was in advance always, and on a 
steep climb he looked back and sang: 
"Climb up, ye little chillunsj . 
Climb up, ye older people. 
Climb -up to de sky. 
Tiov) is your chance for heaben. 
Go up in six an' seben, 
Climb up, ye chillun, climb!" 
Down the other side Archie would look back, at me 
and say: "Slide, Kelly, slide!" Five miles were coverea 
and I was a wreck. Tenderly they lifted me to_ a saddle, 
and then I ached in new places. The mountain was so 
steep that my pipe brushed the ears of the horse m trymg 
to be upright; going down into the valleys i would lea.i 
back so far that the cantle of the saddle damaged my 
kidneys However, Ave reached camp in due time and I. 
dismounted by clasping a tree truiik and sliding down 
like a brown bear. Rozinante and Don Quixote parted 
Sav has any one told you about this camp? If not i 
will." Three logs 8ft. long are piled up on three sides, the 
open side faces a like structure, Avhich is about 8ft. dis- 
tant, and the openings face each other; the roof is of poles 
and tarred paper, and slopes back from a man s height 
in front to the top of the three logs in the rear. Between 
these two structures is our stone fireplace, and from 
poles reaching 'from one roof to the other we suspend 
pots and kettles in the culinary processes. This camp 
is bounded on the north by a huge mountain and a state 
of wildness, on the east be the coldest and purest 
spring in the Avorld and a little brook, on the south by the 
sun, on the west by the happy hunting grounds, wherein 
abide deer, partridges, squirrels, owls, bluejays and 
ground hogs. The architecture is Colonial, if anything. 
Art? Well, there are no mottoes made of perforated 
cardboard and multi-colored worsteds framed in black 
Avalnut and reading, "God bless our home,'" and yet I 
believe that sentiment Avas with us. The literature con- 
sisted of what might be found on tobacco packages and 
baking-powder cans — one advised as to the laAV and the 
other in relation to absolute purity. The staple produc- 
tions of this habitat were venison steak, broiled birds, 
flapjacks, hilarity and sleep. Its inhabitants at the time 
of which I write were a boy with a big appetite, an ex- 
cellent cook and guide, a fine old gentleman-sportsman, 
and yours truly, done up in bandages and court plaster, 
and smelling of arnica and a corncob pipe. 
A satisfying lunch, the sunshine, past exertion and the 
soothing influence of a pipe well loaded Avith a mixture 
of Virginia, Havana, Turkish and perique blended in 
unison, invited a siesta. The start was propitious — the 
balsam mattress fitted my graceful curves and day dreams 
began — barring sex, I Avas an Alice in Wonderland; re- 
laxing jaws allowed my pipe to drop or turn, and the 
hot ashes were spilled on my pearly bosom. "Wow! 
Holy smoke!" The expletives brought in B.-in-L. and 
Archie to my feet. One said, "He's got 'em," the other 
said, "Snakes!" "Two imps on the footboard," I sug- 
gested. B.-in-L, removed the bottle of furniture polish 
and Archie covered my delicate form with a. blanket. I 
Avas off again, dreaming as folloAvs: There are two kinda 
of Adirondacks, and few see the real; usually one gels 
no further than some hotel ; iazza, and sitting there 
another meal. The pungent odor of burning greenwood 
and the gray smoke from the camp-fire greet you and a 
sublime feeling of satisfaction with all things is about 
you like the halo of a pictured angel. There are no 
signs, "Keep off the grass," and you doze on the bench 
in the sunshine with no dread of an unfriendly locust or 
of a gruff voice saying; "GAvan outer that"! I hear a 
voice — the spell is over and I wake up feeling as fresh as 
a drummer on. his first trip. 
GAMP HASTINGS. 
adorned in negligee shirt, blazer, golf cap, link buttons 
and an electro-plated gold Avatch that sounds like a stock- 
ticker as you Avind it to attract attention— you gaze at 
your imitation Scotch golf stockings and shapely legs (?) 
and wonder if your money will hold out for the week; 
then you seek an introduction to some limpid summer 
girl, and get it. Then you ask her if cigarettes are of- 
fensive to her, and before she can reply you are blowing 
clouds of smoke through your nostrils, hoping thereby 
to convince her that you are a man of the world; then 
you entertain her with your profound familiarity with the 
writings of Ibsen, Balzac, Tolstoi, BroAvning, George 
Eliot and George Sand, and suddenly cease talking, in- 
asmuch as you have doubts as to the sex of the last two. 
As you lift your cap to leave you hear her tell he- 
manima in a stage whisper "that Mr. Ballbearings is a 
most chaAvming gentleman, and such a scholar." You 
realize that you are not, also that she is out for a hus- 
band. A few more days of piazza and parlor life and you 
are home again admitting that all you have had that you 
could not get at home is fresh air; then some noon yon 
dash into a "quick lunch" death-trap and bolt a lot of 
indigestible pastry, and as you pay your check your 
eyes meet those of the cashier, and you know the yQlce 
as she twitters, "It looks like 30 cents." 
Oh, come away from such scenes, come miles out into 
the forest with .us, away up on a mountain side to our 
camp among the balsams; come where high collars and 
Hamburg edging have no place and are not seen; come 
where the bluejays and the squirrels guy us, where the 
owls hoot o' nights as we sleep on the ground, and the 
pensive skunk spreads a balm impartially over all nature 
in the wee small hours. Then up at daAvn, a cold scrub 
at the spring, and rustle with us for breakfast. The 
viscosity of the coffee will shame a chef and the venison 
steak and flapjacks send rich blood hustling through 
your veins, and you will go out and kick stumps for 
exercise. Then "Johnny, get your gun" and take a long 
tramp among the beeches; go where the spruce gum i.s 
not alloyed with rubber, and as you pass a clump ot 
mountain ash some gay cock partridge caroms off into 
space with a whir like that of an electric motor. You 
smile quietly and admit that you were frightened, that 
you did not have time to shoot, and don't care a rap 
any way. Anon, you come to some gurgling brook, and 
as you part the alders and peer doAvn into clear Avater 
you see the scurrying trout dart oft' toward some dark 
pool; then you lie down and drink deeply of the pure 
water, and as you regain your feet your eyes glance up 
to the crest of yonder ridge,, and you see the Avhite flag 
of a fleeing deer shaken at you derisively as it disappears 
into the valley on the other side. 
Wending your Avay back to camp, you congratulate 
yourself that you have not destroyed life; you tighten 
your belt hole bv hole to appease a growing hunger and 
wonder if the process can be continued till you reach 
The two guides go one way, B.-in-L. and myself an- 
other, each party hoping to bring back venison. My 
companion had such faith in my skill that he deemed it 
useless to carry a rifle. Quietly we passed through the 
fore.st, and creeping up some slope on hands and knees 
we think to surprise some browsing deer on the ofher 
side. Absence Avithout leave is the report. Again I 
stood where my rifle had done its work a year ago. A 
hand touched my arm, then pointed across the valley. 
Standing side toward us Avas a splendid specimen of a 
Virginia deer and of gender masculine. With delibera- 
tion and assurance the Lyman sights sought the shoul- 
der, and gas pushed lead, and the deer stirred not. The 
same process again, and the same result; then I went to 
pieces and Avas rattled; then four or five more shots rat- 
tled in quick succession and the deer loped off uncon- 
cerned. Derision was on B.-in-L. 's face and I appre- 
ciated the sentiment of Cambronne at the Battle of 
Waterloo, as described by Victor Hugo. As we went 
back to camp without speaking, I recalled the fact that 
the orginal front sight had been replaced by a new one: 
this was too high and a little to one side; hence all shots 
had gone Ioav and far to the left. A small error at the 
sights means yards at a distance. Moral: Test your gun 
and do your range finding on an inanimate target. 
Some time after we had been in camp Delmarsh came 
doAvn the mountain side in the twiHght bearing on his 
shoulder the limp form of a large doe. This sturdy guide 
walked easily under a weight more than his own, and as 
he shook off his burden the firelight disclosed his look 
of pride, and I euAded him not. I essayed to cut wood 
lor the night fire, while the others retired to a safe dis- 
tance. Delmarsh called me Washington, Gladstone and 
a kindling-Avood factory. B.-in-L. whistled "There will 
be a hot time in the old town to-night." The product 
warmed me more in the cutting than in the burning. We 
Avere aAvakened at midnight by snow blowing in .upon 
us from the windward side. Opposite, the fierce heat of 
burning logs melted the crystals ere they touched the 
earth, and a brown streak extended away from the fire 
like a running coft'ee stain below a diamond stud on a 
white shirt bosom. Soon the huge back log, burnt in 
twain, fell into the coals below, then ten thousand bright 
sparks went zig-zagging heavenward to meet as many 
descending snowflakes in a clinch of mutual extermina- 
tion, and tiny specks of a smutty water descended to- 
Avard the fire, to be in turn destroyed. I began to recite 
a prize essay upon the wonderful workings of nature and 
Avas telling Archie how nothing was lost — "Except sleep," 
said he, interrupting me. Then the sleeping bag of the 
old man moved, and from its depths came a grim voice, 
saying, "And from out the mouths of babes and sucklings 
shall come forth Avords of Avisdom." I could not keep 
awake with an unappreciative audience, and slept and 
snored to such an extent that B.-in-L. said that if my 
sister had the same ability he would get a divorce, I 
dreamed that I was home again and snow-balling with a 
band of Palmer Cox's brownies on the roof; then my 
wife came up to ask for 50 cents to pay for cleaning off 
the sidewalk, and I told her to take it from the foreign 
mission fund that she had charge of. 
Before cla)^light I was aroused by the click of cart- 
ridges as they Avere pressed into the magazine of a rifle. 
_ "Hush my babe, lie still and slumber," was the advice 
of B.-in-L. He had appointed me cook for that morning, 
and I Avas to remain in camp while they went hunting. 
I thought to scatter balsam boughs around the fire to 
cover the mud; thought the spot might resemble an open 
hearth in a green room. The first stroke of the axe on 
the tree brought a bushel of snow down upon me; the 
first .'Splotch knocked my cap off; the rest slid from my 
bald head down around my neck. 
As a servant I did my best. I warmed over some hard- 
boiled eggs, put a can of baked beans to soak, cut bread 
and my thumb, made beautiful imprints on blocks of 
butter Avith the hob-nailed heel of a boot, listened for 
the milk Avagon and got the Avash on the line before the 
folks came down to breakfast. After the meal Ave had 
a three-cornered game of coin comparison, and before 
I really understood it thej had absorbed all of my specie. 
Disgusted with sixteen to one odds, I decided to still- 
hunt alone. It Avas snoAving and blowing, but the old 
man said that "the Lord tempers the wind to the shorn 
lamb." 
Navigation Avas open, and in an hour's time I Avas in 
the Avildest part of the State. Snow had become slush 
under foot and rain over head. The new process, bel- 
lows tongue, lap Avelded and patented hunting boots had 
become pumps— not dancing pumps, except when T 
slipped, but real suckers, and 9. stream of water, with an 
occasional bit of woolen stocking, was flowing over the 
tops. Snow Avater will penetrate harveyized armor-plate. 
Wild, did I say? Just look about with me. Huge 
mountains on all sides, seen at times through the open- 
ings, are patched with evergreen trees, with the frost- 
bleached beeches, fnaples and oaks, and barren rocks, 
now white in part with snow. Immense birds, hawks or 
eagles, sail overhead ready to drop like shots upon their 
prey; in the Ioav depths adjacent to us lie the flotsam an.l 
jetsam of forest wreckage; all around are rotting tree 
trunks, upturned roots, dense barricades of tangled 
brush and vines, small distorted saplings struggling for 
the light, waving green brakes side by side with the 
unburied dead of their OAvn kind; bronze, gray and green 
mosses clinging to rocks, trees and brook banks. Un- 
couth excrescences Hke huge Avarts blemish the body and 
limbs of the Avoodland chiefs. 
The brook is fed by the filtered and j^ellow essence of 
dead leaves and rottening mould. A huge tree, felled 
athwart the stream in some past storm, has its branches 
driven like piles into the channel; then branches, tAvigs 
and leaves from up stream lodge against them. The- 
water deepens, the soft banks, saturated and heavy, slough 
off; a new course is found, and the troat down stream 
