Avuiy. 22, 1899.1 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
803 
hide beneath the Stones till the clouds roll by. Sunbeams 
never dance in this hollow; dank vapors arise; dark in 
dajdight, it is a dungeon at night, a fit home for bats, 
vampires and will-o'-the-wisps. 1 leave you there until 
alter nightfall, and th? banshees and goblins will get you 
if you "dont' watch out." 
I am over in the valley of the burnt plains now, stand- 
ing backed up to a charred trunk of a forest fire victim. 
The rain freezes as it falls, and the briers, twigs and 
dead grass are coated with ice. When lost in some re- 
niote nook of the Creators' domain, one is apt to wonder 
if others have stood there before hira; what human shapes 
have gone up this valley in years past. Is it not probable 
tliat the Cardiff giant, as long ago as the stone age, 
played a Jew's-harp on yonder rock in the days of his 
adolescence, and as old age came upon him, did he not 
drift towai'd the town named in his honor, and there, 
lying down to sleep, rigor mortis came over him and 
held him bound till discovei"ed by enterprising showmen. 
In the inoonli^t some busy bank president has most 
likely skipped over this brook and dashed up yonder 
runway. With his coat tails frayed, with his silk hat 
soiled by the owls, with his dress suit case bearing his 
name "Guy S. Kumon," and bulging with bills of ex- 
change on the Bank of Montreal, he hurries on, and 
stopping only to blaze the hemlocks with an ink eraser 
in a desire to help others, he reaches his goal. Later on 
the Adirondack Railroad covers the beaten track and 
. quicker time is made. Some hobo, kicked out from "pent-up 
Utica," may have tickled the snout of a sleeping bear with 
a sprig of golden rod in lieu of some better method of 
working the growler. 
I was cold, wet, and wondering if a sportsman's life is 
always a happy one. Harlem! Hoboken! Hades! there's 
a buck walking yonder hillside! Rifle makers think they 
know it all, and yet as I carefully threw in a shell the 
action clattered like a load of scrap iron. The deer 
quickly hears the noise and as quickly bounds away, 
liis speed is no match for that of the bullet sent after 
him. The flag goes down; I see him stum'ble, gather and 
run on; then began a race with two entries. A wounded 
deer seldom crosses a stream if other channels of escape 
are open, so I hoped to meet him at the base of the hill. 
Legs that had been softening in the shade of a roll-top 
desk were ill-fitted to carry surplus weight on this track, 
yet I had past evidence that I was a good mud horse. 
The result was a dead heat for the buck and blind stag- 
gers for myself. My lungs were bursting — limp and used 
up, I collapsed in the snow. I knew where the second 
bullet struck, and that the stakes were mine; yet I was in 
no condition to receive them. I wished Archie would 
come, and never felt the need of a telephone so badly. 
All I could do was to grasp a suspender buckle and 
"hold the wire." After resting awhile, the knife did itd 
work, and by bending down a sapling I trussed up the 
meat and started for camp. The faithful guide was wor- 
ried at my long absence and had started out to find nic. 
We met a. mile from the camp. I asked him if B.-in-L. 
Was worried also._ "No," he said. It seems that B.-in-L. 
had told him that "when Fatty gets tired he will go to 
sleep and you can find him by his snoring." When we 
reached camp we found another deer hanging there. 
"Who shot that?" I asked. "I did," said B.-in-L.; "you 
are not the only flea on the dog." 
That night B.-in-L. awoke us by his restlessness, and 
we found his arms moving, up and down and his jaws 
snapping convulsively. "What's the matter with you, 
uncle?" When he came to he said: "I was-dreaming, I 
guess; I thought Archie had made a flapjack as large as 
a cart-wheel and had placed me in the center along with 
the butter and maple syrup, and I was trying to eat my 
way out." Well, we placed hot cloths on the old gen- 
tleman's stomach, and then he rested quietly. 
Insomuch as all were tired from the hard day's work, 
we slept late and had a late breakfast. You should see 
the young guide, Eri, eat. Boy-like, he leaned forward, 
and placing a loaded knife and fork in his mouth at the 
Same time, he would slide full dishes in a place of ready 
access and discard empty ones with his elbows. At the 
same time his eyes would watch his brother as he pre- 
pared more food. In spite of his feeding qualities, he was 
so thin above the hips that most any bargain counter 
shirt waist would fit him. He needed no dyspepsia tab- 
lets, pepsin, or bitters — ^just a chance to eat, grow, wor'tc 
and sleep. No mud was too deep for him, no hill too 
steep, no task or errand too tiresome. He made our 
comfort and pleasure a deep study, and when, on the 
day he shot his deer, he wished us to take it home and 
give it to the needy, he showed his kindly disposition. 
If you read these lines, Eri, don't get angry with me 
for the first part. It is only my way of getting square 
with you for the sly things you said to the others about 
my shape. 
We went after my deer and brought him in swinging 
from a pole and carried upon our shoulders. It was a 
most tiresome piece of work, yet the reward was in the 
burden. Heavier deer have been shot, but none more 
handsome. A splendid head, evenly grown and well 
poised antlers, black and white striped hoofs, rich brown 
and gray coating — a fine scion of the First Families 01 
Virginia, than which none more proud have roamed the 
leafy woods. Then and there I decided that I would never 
shoot another deer. Why? I have shot three in my 
time; I have found that I -can do it; and I have pre- 
served two heads as trophies. I had rather see them alive 
and the species perpetuated that others may, in the fu- 
ture, feel the joy of meeting them in the stillness of an 
autumn day, and I ask of the law-makers now, and in 
the future, "Please don't let the dogs chase them." The 
modern rifle gives any man a suiflcient advantage, and no 
one should be unwilling to depend upon such advantage 
as sufficient. Give the deer a chance and do your hunt- 
ing yourself. Why let out the job to dogs and sit like 
a chump back of some hotel or in a boat, ready to blow 
the poor brute's head off with a shotgun as he is driven 
to you, and helpless to escape? Get out into the woods 
like a man, sleep under the trees where the deer sleep, 
move when they move, have the courage of Spartacus, 
who met upon the arena every shape of man or beast 
that the empire of Rome could furnish, and never low- 
ered his arm. Kill your own game; it tastes better. 
Don't hire the bravos to do your killing, as the Doges 
of Venice did in the olden times. Don't kill more than 
you and yours need to eat; rather spend your surplus 
time studying the habits of your best friends, i. e,. the 
game you seek. Don't kill at times wdien the deer 
ai-c about to multiply. The game of the country is like 
the few dollars you may have accumulated; don't spend 
it all in one grand round of pleasure. Draw a little at a 
time and allow the remainder to gather more and do 
what you can to increase the store. Don't call a man a 
"game hog;" it has no argumentative force. Plead with 
him; show him by example, teach him by precept and 
axiom that he is dead wrong; instruct him kindly in or- 
der that the days of the game can be long in the land. 
In the picture of the camp you see the guides, the 
deer, the smoke of the camp-fire, the airing blankets and 
the aged bird dog, hardly distinguishable from the snow 
spots. He was with us more as a guest and old friend 
than as an assistant. In the winter of his life he is cared 
for by friends; ere long he will make his last point, and 
if he could talk he would say: "When I die cover me 
with mossy sods and autumn leaves, where the grouse 
and quail hide; near the shores where the woodcock and 
jacksnipe sport; and if you pass in future days, think of 
old Rex, the faithful." 
On the morning of the seventh day we were breaking 
camp and hoping to reach the settlements without break- 
ing our necks. My pack basket was on and B,-in-L. 
was fixing my buckles in front. Eri was holding one of 
the four horses by the bit and Archie came toward them 
with a deer, and when he was about to transfer the bur- 
den to the saddle the stern of the frightened horse swuiig 
around and bumped me in the back. I butted that dear 
brother-in-law in the bosom and bowled him over and 
then slid over his head (by "right of eminent domain") 
with pack basket askew and tin plates rattling. He was 
up first, and by skillful manipulation of an extremity he 
smote me where twin patches are seen on a messenger 
boy's uniform; then he took a piece of chalk and wrote 
on the tarred paper side of our sleeping room this pas- 
sage- from Byron (not Bryan) : 
"While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; 
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 
And when Rome falls— the world." 
We were all down at the same time — the deer had 
fallen, the horse stumbled over a log, and the guides 
were rolling in the snow and leaves with laughter. After 
much exertion and care in dodging the kicks of the 
plunging horses, the three deer are on and we are off, 
leaving the camp to the winter storms. 
As I ride through the swamps and over the mountains 
the mud flies up from below and the snow pelts me from 
above when the horse stumbles against the trees or 
reaches out to eat the leaves. When suddenly he throws 
down his head to grab at the green brakes I pitch for- 
ward on his neck and the basket bangs my head and the 
rifles do the same for my shins; my trousers legs depart 
and draw upward from the boot-tops and I am a bare- 
kneed Highlander — "The Campbells are coming" — and 
the pibroch peals tliroughout the startled glen from the 
throats of frightened crows. 
After three hours from the start I am leading the van 
on the hard road at the lake shore near our journey's 
end. The guides yell from the rear: "Turn out. Shat- 
ter! Make way!" For what, I wonder? Oh, I see. 
Coming toward us, with nodding ostrich plumes and 
neck bedecked with Alaska sable (dyed skunk skin), and 
with glove-fitting, tailor-made suit, is a young woman, 
"and of her gentle sex the seeming paragon, to whom the 
kindly stars and better elements have given a form 50 
fair that Uke the air 'tis less of earth than heaven." I 
larruped the horse to make him sit up on the roadside 
wall that the vision might have the right of way. As 
often happens with a clumsy saddle horse, the attempt to 
move his head away only brought the other end around. 
With black eyes snapping and white teeth gleaming, a 
thrilling symphony of girlish fright escaped from her 
ruby lips; then there was a beautiful display of leather, 
lithe limbs and lingerie as she skipped to a safer place. 
Then I heard old Beau Brummel, B.-in-L., apologizing 
and saying something about "Beauty and the Beast." 
She said I was showing off, but as I remember the scene 
I think she had done her share. 
The next day we reached our homes, and my black 
field spaniel Dusky greeted me as only he knows how. 
My family seemed glad when I went away and pleased at 
my return. 
Now, Mr. Editor, if you will meet us in the north 
woods next October. 
We will hoist a banner to Forest and Stream, 
And another to Rod and Gun; 
And there we'll hear the eagles scream 
Their greetings to the sun. 
W. W. Hastings. 
New York City. 
On Kansas Prairies.— IV. 
Tampa, Kan., April 8. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Another storm has swept our blizzardy Kansas, so I am 
again for the day idle. Perhaps the sight of the musk- 
rat house pictured in one of your late editions has some- 
thing to do with it; but as I sit here in camp in the midst 
of these great waterless prairies I am harking back to- 
day to the old-time days on the Connecticut River and (Ls 
submerged meadows, and I can almost hear the booming 
of the guns, here on shore, there far out on the water, 
as one by one the little muskrat gives up the pelt that 
adds so much at this time the year to the pocket money 
of the farmer boy fortunate enough to grow up near that 
beautiful stream. And I thought I might write sorne- 
thing of possible interest to some of your younger read- 
ers. The older ones will here have to take the. back 
seats, for to them it would mearr rheumatism, neuralgia 
and other of the ills that the pa,ssing years bring. 
It is of a line of sport very 'tfear to- me in the days 
that are gone. One glad, happy day I came into pos- 
session of a single-barrel muzzle-loader, and from that 
tim.e the evenings of late fall and early spring became 
very precious, for it was then I liked to hunt the musk- 
rat. Just after sunset he leaves his burrow for his night- 
ly wanderings, Purblind and comparatively helpless in 
the daytime, when drowned out by the spring iresheta, 
in the night he is keen eyed and watchful as an owl, and 
as the owls and minks are among his worst enemies, he 
is alert and under water at the least sign of danger. 
Supper and "chores" done, after the manner of those 
days, I would sling over one shoulder my powder flask 
and over the other my shot pouch, filled with B. B. shot, 
put in my most convenient pocket some loose caps, and 
for wadding an old newspaper or perhaps a part of a hor- 
nets' nest, or, what I liked still better, some lead foil 
paper,, and then make quick time for the river. Lying 
down near some place I knew my game frequented; the 
waiting would begin. 
Gradually the twilight would fade away, the bluffs at 
Pecowsic would loom up, the lights of the city across the 
river would shine out, overhead the stars would appear, 
and out of the darkness would come the whirr of the 
wings of the wildfowl, the cry of the plover or the harsh 
"quack" of the night heron, and the fascination of the 
gloaming would be on me; but as time wore on, often 
the blood would begin to chill with the cold and the 
thoughts turn to the bright fireside at home. Then on 
the water would appear a ripple shaped like a letter V; 
at the point of the ripple would be a black object about 
half as big as my fist, moving as fast as four active feer 
could propel it; and straightway at sight of this, fireside, 
cold and gloaming would all be forgotten, the nerves 
would tingle, the muscles grow tense, and with a quick 
glance along the side of the gun — it woixld be too dark 
for sighting otherwise — the shot would ring out, and 
perhaps a little limp body would be floating on the water, 
or with quick circlings and short divings vainly trying 
to escape, or perhaps, unharmed, be heard diving awa^' 
down stream from where I had shot at him. Then would 
be heard the sound of the ramrod driving the wadding to 
its place, the click of the lock as the cap was placed on 
the tube, and the waiting was again begun. 
As the measures on both shot pouch and powder flask 
in the darkness and in hands trembling with cold and ex- 
citement often proved treacherous, I sometimes tried to 
make cartridges by wrapping the powder in paper and 
sewing the shot up in cloth; but this was never a suc- 
cess. As I look back now I almost wonder that the 
shades of some staid Morgan or Pynchon did not appear 
and rebuke me for disturbing the rest of quiet-loving 
people, for the booming of that old gun has been heard 
as late as 11 o'clock at night, ringing back from the bluffs 
at Pecowsic, echoing back from the tall buildings along 
Water street of the goodly city of Springfield, from the 
walls of the railroad round-house in West Springfield, 
and all along the little hills on the Agawam side of the 
river, 
I have shot by the light of the moon as the V-shapcd 
ripple crossed the silvery streak; by the light of the stars, 
and one dark night by the glare of a locomotive headlight 
shining on the river as the train swung around the curve 
at Pecowsic. And then, what room for adventure, for 1 
have often plunged into ice-cold water almost up to my 
waist after some kicking, struggling victim; have waded 
the mud and slush of the freshet to get to some favorite 
place; have floated silent and alone on the waters of the 
Connecticut; in one instance sat for hours on a cake of 
ice so small that it was rocked by the waves like a cradle, 
and, loosened by the rising waters; it was held in place 
only by a few willow twigs, frozen in as it had formed. 
I wish there were some way to get at the number of 
these creatures shot and trapped along the Connecticut 
and its tributaries, for the total must ""be sijnjjly enor- 
mous. One of my acquaintances, shooting with' a rifle 
only, secured enough one spring to bring hirri in $17. 
Another shot in one day on the meadows opposite the 
city of Springfield twenty-four of the little fur, bearers; 
and these instances might be multiplied indefinitely. 
Twice I have known the muskrat deliberately and un- 
provoked to attack human beings, both times in the 
spring when they are wandering from the. river back to 
their summer quarters. Their habits are very interesting 
to one who loves the study of such things. They leave 
the meadow^s almost at one time, following up the little 
brooks to the small ponds, where they rear their young. 
Then in the fall they find their way back to the mead- 
ows, and as winter approaches build their houses. I 
have found these in secluded places as large as 3ft. high 
and from 4to 5ft. across, and finished off very hand- 
somely on the outside; but usually the muskrat lodge is 
only a rough-looking hummock rising i or 2ft above, the 
ice. Through the winter they mostly feed below the 
surface of the ice and snow; but if the winter is cold and 
dry the water gets low and they are driven out on to the 
bare meadows to obtain food. Such a time is a red-letter 
day to the boy who finds it out, for they are then almost 
helpless. 1 
One peculiarity of the muskrat is its extreme sensitive- 
ness to the changes of the weather. Sometimes, in mid- 
winter, I would cut through the ice and set my traps in 
their runways. So long as the wind held north or west 
the traps would need but little attention; but let the 
south wind blow ever so softly and the muskrats would 
be on the move, and my traps would either be sprung or 
so covered with mud that the rats could pass over them 
without danger of being caught. Surely they must have 
felt the change even through the ice and snow of a New 
England winter. 
Yesterday morning, April 7, I heard for the first time 
the booming call of the prairie chicken. Saturday last, 
April I, I heard the notes of the sandhill crane. The 
ducks and geese seem mostly to have gone northward, 
but it has been in numbers goodly to look upon. 
I notice that the proprietors of the Blue Mountain 
Game Preserve are complaining of the small increase of 
their small game. I can say from observation here they 
will have no increase so long as they keep the wild boars. 
Hogs are not wild here, but they run loose a great deal, 
and destroy everything of the kind wherever they go. 
The average hog has as good a nose for birds as the 
best bird dog, and uses it to find the nests and young 
birds. Pine Tree. 
The FoRTSST and Stream is put to press each week on Tuesday. 
Correspondence intended for publication should reach us at th^ 
latest by Monday and as much earlier as practicable, ■ 
