FOREST ANI> STREAM. ' 
S63 
concluded we had enough of it, and packeil up and waded 
ashore. Joe had shifted his position two or three times, 
and was worrying a good deal about our abihty to get 
liack. r knew pretty well how to do it this time, though 
we were mighty tired when we reached the haystacks, be- 
hind which the wagon was stationed with the lunch box; 
but the lunch tasted good. We had a nice lot of birds, 
nearly all mallards, and we concluded to wait and see if 
there was not a little 'night shooting, a^nd were on the 
point of giving it up. when just at dusk on the brow of 
the hill the birds began coming over, and for a few mo- 
ments how they did pitch in! In almost the time I am 
writing this I had knocked down thirteen ducks that 1 
picked lip, quite a number of tlu'm canvasbacks. The 
PLLL UP THE SLIPPERY HILt. 
laher boys seemed to have gotten out of the line of 
flight a little, and 1 could see by the flash in the darkness 
they were not shooting as fast as I was; but it was a 
mighty nice ending of a day's duck shooting. We had 
fortj'-five nice birds betw^een us; several of them were 
canvasbacks, and most of the rest were mallards. 
Before starting out in the morning I had made a wager 
with Bob that our wagon would have more birds than 
theirs when we came in that night. Dan was very anx- 
ious to share this bet; it was only $5; he was avaricious, 
and was certain four of them could do up three, and Bob 
reluctantly said he could be counted in on it. We counted 
up; we had forty-five and they had just four birds, and I 
immediately made a demand for the payment of the bet. 
Bob was willing to pay his $2.50, but Dan demurred; in 
fact, went completely back on it and we concluded to 
try him then and there. 
Here is where the Judge's good qualities came in play. 
While he rendered a decision against us and in favor of 
Dan we forgave him on our way back from the Bad 
Lands. He showed so much forethought and good judg- 
ment, and saved our lives two or three tim.es in the cold 
AN OCCASIONAL BITE OUT m fHE LUNCH BOX. 
ride home on acc6ttnt of having piu-loined the only bottle 
of whisky there was in the party, taking it in the dead of 
night out of Jim Meek's satchel, not alIowin.g a soul to 
laste of it until it was needed as a medicine toward the 
end of that mighty cold sevent.v-five-mile drive we had 
later. 1 saj^ for this kind and humane act we apologized 
for all the unkind things we have said about his decision. 
AVe all went to bed feeling happy, for we had enough 
canvasbacks for a good dinner the next day, and ex- 
pected some shooting anyhow. There were a few geese, 
but they were mostly the white ones, and not enough to 
pay to bother with. 
The second day at Dawson was a disappointment. We 
started out to find some sharp-tailed grouse, and drove 
miles; it ended up after ducks, and our total bag that day 
■ivas but eight grouse and one duck. 
We came to the conclusion that the ducks were shot 
out. Every one knows the place; dozens came there to 
.■*hoot, and with the decreased water supply the birds were 
simply pounded to death, and had gotten out of there, so 
we concluded to shorten, our stay and get info the Bad 
Lands, so as to be ready for the deer when the season 
opened, Oct. 15. We had one more day at Dawson, with 
mighty poor success. It was the morning of our third 
day there. Getting up early to write a letter home, I 
(overheard Dan's soliloquy. Dan and Bob had had six 
weeks together the year before in the mountains of Col- 
orado. The stories they told showed they had had a 
mighty fine time. At any rate, thev were o'kl cronies of 
years standing, and had been sitting up until 12 and .1 
o'clock at night relating their Colorado experiences: 
How Capt. Myrick did thi.s, and what a wonder Joe 
Crandail was, what a climb it was to the Rim Rock— in 
tact, we had Rim Rock and Joe Crandail, Joe Crandail 
and Rim Rock until it was beginning to he a little bit 
board with Paddock; Bob thumped a fractious pair of 
bronchos hitched to a double seat, with James and the 
Judge as riding companions. Young Wallace Paddock 
engineered the third outfit, with Joe, Dan and Avery as 
partners. Two saddle horses were hitched alongside, and 
gaily did we leave the little town, beginning our seventy- 
five mile drive. The day ^VaS fairly pleasant, but the 
roads very muddy. Oct. 2 a snowstorm covered the 
ground 6in. deep; it no sooner melted than it set in to 
rain, and it had poured for forty-eight hours just previous 
to our getting there. We knew this meant slow driving, 
and perhaps would delay'us on the road. I kept looking 
for the baggage wagons. Hour after hout went by, and 
it dawned on iis that the horses attached to those twcw 
- 1 ^: ■ \. 
THE HAND-OUT vCNp OUiCK-Lta-VeH HOUSE. 
tiresome, and when along about midnight, with tears in 
tlieir eyes and their arm.s around each other's neck, they 
would make new^ vows of eternal friendsliip, I thought 
it was lime to have the lights put out, for they had gone 
through this same performance the night before— not that 
they drank much of anj'thing, for we had a very moderate 
crowd in that respect; but old friends will once in a while 
overstep the bounds of prudence, and Dan had had a little 
beer with Bob and then had taken a nightcap out of the 
medicine chest bottle, and thus did he soliloquize the 
next mbrning as he appeared in the bath room in his 
long night robe and his hands pressing his temples: 
"D — d — d whisky. No, whisky is all right in modera- 
tion, but d— the fool that drinks it." Then another 
squeezing of temples and a buzzing between his teeth 
like a buzz saw striking a knot, and then a souse into 
cold water. 
He did not know I heard this, but I related it at break- 
fast table, and the boys concluded that w-e would hear 
less of the Rim Rock in the future. 
The Judge asked if the grapes w^ere out of my back 
}'ard, for I had stocked the car with fruit, vegetables, 
watermelons, green corn and evei-ything under the sun, 
and informed them on every occasion that I knew the 
vegetables were fresh and nice, for I had grown them 
m my own garden, and it got so the Judge rather rubbed 
It into me. for he thought my back yard must be a 
"wonder," and the grapes were the last to be mentioned, 
Assuring him that I had grown them in my back yard, 
he seemed relieved and no more was said on the subject 
at that time. 
On the morning of the 13th we were in Dickinson, 
and our old friend Paddock, the best of guides, met us with 
horses and teams all ready for an early start. The wag- 
ons were soon loaded with our camp equipment; in the 
rear end of one was placed our mess chest, which is a 
creation of my own, and I think a dandv, notwithstand- 
ing It was made just a little too large to go in the car 
■loor, and Bob had put in a good half day the day before 
m getting it out on the car platform. It is made some- 
thing like the letter L, and just fits crossways in the 
wagon box. The upper part of it consists of sixteen 
drawers; they are dust-tight and all covered by a thick 
(id on hinges, which, when it lets down, makes a good 
table. The under part consists of two bins: one to be 
filled Avith loaves of bread, etc., tlte other will hold your 
butter crock, bushel of apples and lots of other truck. 
Tlie drawers are designed to hold your sugar, tea. coffee, 
pepper, salt and a thousand and one things that are so 
necessary to the cuisine in camping out, and also enables 
you to get a lunch whde on the road without botherivg 
to_ unpack or unload anything; you simply step to the tail 
of the wagon, unlock the iVont of this chest, and there 
you have right before you all of your canned stuff, bread, 
butter, tea, coffee, sugar, etc. The chest is made of three- 
ply veneer, thoroughly shellacked on the inside and well 
painted on the outside; so it neither swells nor shrinks, 
stands both water and dust. No patent has been applied 
lor; the whole thing cost about $15, will last a lifetime 
and is a great success. 
Jake, the cook, got in one of the baggage wagons, and 
c verything is so well arranged that the two wagons were 
loaded with all the camping equipment, provisions, bed- 
ding, tents, etc., not forgetting three cot beds, and 
started on its long journey into the Bad Lands promptly 
at 8:30 A. M. — not bad, was it? 
We then had time to look around, for we could over- 
take the baggage wagons if we did not start for two or 
three hours yet. We made a visit to our old friend Dodd, 
the taxidermist; saw the many fine specimens he had in 
his little shop. The town was full of Indians in their 
great blankets and squaws with their paoooses on their 
backs — a regular old-time', spectacle.- The Judge never 
had been West before, and' all this was new and interested 
him. Harry, our porter,' had to stay and take care of the 
car, and we at last staited ahead. I rode in the buck- 
wagons were mighty good ones, and the drivers were 
thumping them through, for it was nearly 3 o'clock be- 
fore we overtook them, and then at Indian Springs, 
twenty-eight miles on the road — a mighty good drive. 
Every one was feeling first rate. We concluded to 
shove on about five miles further and camp on Knife 
River; and our first night in camp was a novelty to Joe 
and the Judge. There was no wood in sight; a little bend 
of what was usually a dry river bed, but was now well 
filled Avith water, was our camping spot. We had only 
a bundle of wood with us, just enough to fry the bacon 
and boil the coffee, but not enough for a camp-fire. It 
was already dusk; the horses were picketed out and Jake 
was busy witli supper, when x\very asked if we were not 
going'to pitt up the tents. I replied, ''No; what is the use 
of putting up tents? Is not the starry heavens above us 
suf^cient covering? Joe shuddered, and Avery remarked 
he thought it would rain before morning. J said, "Let 
it rain. It docs not pay to unpack those wagons and put 
up the tents." "All right; we can stand it if you can.'" 
Joe did not like it a bit. but the sleeping bags were gotten 
JOE ACTira AND AT HIS BEST. 
out, also the cot beds, and in no time the chamber work 
was done. A nice, comfortable double cot Avas turned 
over to AA^ery and Joe, and they snuggled in together 
spoon fashion in great shape. 1 Avent and tucked them 
in with a rubber blanket OA-er them, and Joe. admitted 
next morning that he had slept better than he had ever 
slept before in his life, and it was the first night he had 
ever slept without a covering over him. T heard a few 
drops of rain splatter on the outside of my bed toward 
morning, and I could almost feel Avery grin, for I knew 
he Avas just hoping it would pour to pay me for not hav- 
ing the tents put up; but it Avas only a few splatters and 
gone, and Ave Avere busy packing up and loading the wag- 
ons, and had breakfast just at daylight, and got a good 
early start for the iorxy miles remaining of our drive. 
The drive was not disagreeable. With frequent stops 
to try one another's cigars and an occasional bite out of 
the lunch box. Ave made the da)-" pass pretty decently: 
but the roads were A^ery slippery still, and at about 2:30 
we reached the drop-off to the Bottom Lands of the 
Little Missouri. Far beloAv us the Avinding stream could 
