AfRiL t4, 1900.] 
BOREST AND STHEAM. 
breaking from my grasp disappeared in a thicket, and we 
did not see him again for three days. When he did re- 
turn k was with the same caution as at first. 
How Pom came to be there, eighty miles from the 
nearepf settlement, we never knew. We left him there 
when we moved and never heard from him after. 
Some weeks later I was out for a ramble one sunny 
afternoon in company with one of the men from the 
camp. Our wanderings took us to where a bend in the 
stream encircled a cluster of a dozen rather large Cot- 
tonwood trees. As we approached them an object in 
one of trees attracted our attention, and on closer in- 
spection it proved to be a wildcat sunning itself in a fork 
of the tree some 50 feet from the ground. 
We had no gun with us, but I agreed to sit under the 
tree while my companion went to camp and got the rifles. 
As )k' left I told him to be sure and bring Smith (the 
man who tied wildcats up in his kerchief) back with him, 
as we might need him before we were through Avith the 
cat. 
My companion soon retm-ned with the rifles, Smith and 
a shepherd dog, which followed them. The shot was 
mine by right of discovery, but I yielded to my friend's 
importunities for the first try. He stationed himself in 
front of the- cat where a fair shot at the head ofliered, 
while I stationed myself on the opposite side of the tree, 
prepared to follow up the attack is necessary. The shot 
was an easy one, but went too low and only broke the 
cat's jaw. At the crack of the gun it sprang from the 
tree, and drawing its forefeet up to its jowls and its hind 
ones up to flank, sailed like a shingle or a flying squirrel 
straight at the shooter and landed in the tracks hastily 
vacated by him by falling and rolling OA^er backward. I 
took a flying shot at it as it sailed downward, but only 
succeeded, as I afterward learned, in laying the skin open 
about 6 inches along its ribs, doing no particular damage. 
When the cat landed it ran into the bushes, with the 
dog in close pursuit. The yells of the dog soon located 
the direction of the chase, and following on we found 
the cat perched on the limb of a fallen tree some 8 fai;t 
above the ground in the center of a dense tangle of vines 
and bushes. A rifle shot tumbled it to the ground, the 
dog charging out of the thicket as it fell. 
To get the cat out of the tangle was a task which 
Smith promptly volunteered to perform. Crawling on 
hands and knees, Stnith made his way slowly toward tlie 
cat and was just reaching out to take hold "of it when i; 
raised to a sitting posture, drew back one paw as if to 
strike and gave a savage growl. Smith never thought of 
his poceket kerchief, but just came out of there back- 
ward, leaving a great part of his clothes hanging to the 
bushes. He came out faster than he went in, arid when 
he regaiiiJid his feet on the outside his complexion wu'<!d 
have made the manufacturers of lily white ashamed of 
their efl"orts. I mildly asked him why he didn't bring ihe 
cat along, but he said he would be dod gasted if any 
rneasly cat hunters was going to rhake a retriever of 
him. This event gave us relief from jokes about, my 
cat adventure, which were growing very old by constant 
repetition. 
These rehearsals bring several other wildcat adventures 
to the stage door, but I think I hear the tinkle of a bell. 
The P.^rson. 
Sam's Boy, — XIX. 
The Boy Famous. 
S.A.MMY did not continue long in that way of feeling. 
The praise that he got was more than enough to soothe 
any pangs of reraose that were raised by Uncle Lisha's 
story of the life he had taken. 
It came from almost every one, and almost unstinted. 
Even his Grandmother Purington went so far as to say: 
■"That 'ere boy lies done suthin' wuth while for oncte 
which the men couldn't or wouldn't du," then heaved a 
deep sigh and had recourse to her smelling bottle ; "but 
it'll be a massy if it don't finish spilin' on him, an' set 
him trampoosin' fur an' near, wi' a gun an' a haoun' 
dawg, the hul indurin' time." 
His father looked somewhat chapfallen when he learned 
the identity of Sammy's victim, but complimented him 
generously on his sharpness in forestalling her tricks. 
"An' didn't I tell ye you'd git your shot when the time 
come?" 
Gran'ther Hill hailed him from the window to repeat 
what lie had long ago foretold, that he would one day 
make a keen fox hunter. Mrs. Hill rejoiced that a new 
defender of her poultry had arisen, and best of all, the 
pretty face of his sweetheart was wreathed with a proud 
and happy smile. 
Whenever he stopped at a house where he was known 
for a drink of water when he was hunting, the fame of 
his exploit had gone before him, and the good wife was 
sure to ofi'er doughnuts and cheese to the protector of 
poultry 5'ards. Old fox hunters condescended to tallc 
to him of hoimds and foxes, and treated him as an entered 
apprentice of the craft. 
But .\ntoine was incorrigible. "Ah'U hear 'em said, some 
of it, dat fox you'll gat hees skin of it, was be so hoi' he'll 
jes gat ready for dead for hoi', an' fall off de walls an' 
keel liese'f. Den some of it said, de fox was be so scare 
of de nowse de gawn mek raght in hees face of it, he'll 
had some kan' o' fit in hees heart an' come dead so. 
Naow, you tol' me de way he was, Bawb. Ah'll an't tol' 
somebody, me." 
"You can go an' look o' the shot marks in the pelt if you 
want tu find aout," Sammy answered, testily. 
■'Poh!_ Dat ant not'ing," i\ntoine scoffed. "You could 
sliot it jes well hafter hees dead as 'fore. Oh, Ah'll de 
boy for keel de fox Av'en Ah leave in Canada, jes wid club. 
Ah'll see fox on de lot. hunt some mices, den Ah'll hid 
ma'^e'f behin' stump an' shreek jes lak miccs, 'Speep ! 
Socep!" " — drawing in his breath between his compressed 
lips — "an' dat foxes he'll stick his ear an' come raght 
where Ah'll be an' Ah'll stroke it wid club ! Yas, sah, 
Bawb ! An' Ah'll do dat two-tree tam. me. Den one 
tpni Ah'll skreek so preflic Ah'll fool de fox so bad, he'll 
come jomp raght hover de stomp an' touch hoi' mah back 
neck an' ant le' go fore Ah'll holler lak loons. 'F 5^1*11 
ant b'leeve dat, you look dat scars. What you tink for dat, 
hein?" 
A convenient cicatrix left by a boil of long ago furnished 
a confirmation of the story, yet Sammy was incredulous 
and asked rather impudently, "Which is the biggest fools 
in Ganerdy, the folks or the foxes?" 
"You sassy leetly causs 1" Antoine cried, in a towering 
rage. "You t'ink de peop' in Canada ant know som© more 
as you damn Yankee?" 
"No, they don't 1" Sammy stoutly asserted, loyal to his 
own people. 
"Bah gosh, den Ah leek you for show you de Canada 
mans he ant rembler so much every day as de Yankee 
mans know all hees laf tam!" And with that he advanced 
in 'series of short jumps, seeming to lift himself by the 
baggy seat of his trousers and utterirlg a frightful roar 
from his disturbed and violently shaken visage. 
He cut such an abstird figure that at first Sammy 
thought it all a joke, but a second look at Antoine' s face 
convinced him that his wrath was genuine. Though 
frightened, Sammy was of no mind to run, but backed 
avvay from his assailant, searching the ground out of the 
tail of an eye for some means of defense. Presently he 
discovered the boy's natural weapon, a stone, and laying 
hold of it stood at bay, and at once felt strengthened. 
"Naow, don't you come a-nigh me, Mr. Antoine," he 
said. 
Antoine executed another series of leaps without ad- 
vancing, and roared more terribly, but Sammy stood his 
ground with his weapon at a ready^ whereupon the ex- 
pression of the Canadian's face changed from intense 
wrath to a blank, then to one of astonishment, and then 
began slowly to widen into an intended expression of 
mirthfulness, but it was a mournful failure. A little 
beyond him Sammy caught fleeting glimpses of a faded fur 
cap showing and hiding behind a scrawny thicket of wild 
plums in a roadside fence corner. The old cap had a 
familiar individuality, and beneath its torn and notched 
visor shone a pair of honest, kindly eyes watching every 
motion of Antoine. 
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" Antoine roared hilariously. 
"What hailed you, Bawb? Ant you t'ink Ah'll. was jes 
in funs? You t'ink Ah'll mad? You ant t'ink Ah'll wan' 
hurt you, don't you ? Bah gosh ! Ah'll lak you fader sem 
Am do mah brudder. An' all hees fam'ly, bah gosh, too ! 
T'row dawn you stone, mah boy, t'row. him dawn." 
Sammy hesitated, not quite convinced by Antoine's 
friendly declarations of the. expediency of disarming him- 
self. 
Just then the old fur cap with Pelatiah Gove under it 
walked from behind the plum tree thicket and lounged 
into the road. 
"Hello, Antoine !'* he drawled ; "you an' Sammy hevin' 
a argerment this mornin'?" 
The Canadian wheeled about quickly quite taken by sur- 
prise, and Sammy quietly dropped the stone. 
"Gosh a'maghty, Peltare, you mos' scare rae!" cried 
the first, violently exhaling the words. "Ah'll ant know 
you was in four mile, me." 
"I p'sume likely," said Pelatiah. "You was makin' 
consid'able noise one spell." 
"Gosh! You hear me?" Antoine laughed, apparently 
much amused, "Ah'll was jes try for had leetly funs wid 
de boy 'baout hees fox." 
"Gol, is that all ? I cal'lated by the noise you made you 
was hevin' one 0' them mad fits o' yaurn," said Pelatiah 
demurely. 
"Bah gosh! 'F 3'ou'll ever see me w'en Ah'll mad Ah 
guess you'll ant t'ink so !" said Antoine with a scornful 
laugh and a terribly fierce look. "Four mans can' hoi' 
me, an' tpak holler shook de Avinder ! Ah'll was honly 
w'isper distance. Say, Peltare, Sammy pooty smart boy 
for keel dat hoi' fox all 'lone. Ah tol' you, hein? He'll 
goin' mek jes such mans lak hees fader." 
"He'll make a good one, then," said Pelatiah, " 'most as 
good as they make 'em in Ganerdy. Come, Bub, be you 
goin' towards hum? I was goin' tu git a leetle job done 
tu Uncle Lisher's," and with that they parted, company 
with Antoine, who henceforth spoke only in praise of 
Sammy's exploits. 
"My, I was .scairt !" said Sammy, exhaling a long-drawn 
breath when out of earshot. "I s-pected he was goin' -tu 
give me a hidin'." ' 
"Wal, he wouldn't ha'. I was a-watchin' on him from 
behind the bushes," said Pelatiah meekly. 
",You was? Oh. Peltier" 
"You was right 'long as you kep' holt o' your stun, only 
I was feared you'd drop it when he begin a soft-sawd'"- 
rin', an' so I come aout." 
They plodded on in silence tiH they came to the shop. 
When Sammy vvas absent from it, Pelatiah entertained 
Uncle Lisha with the morning's adventure while the old 
man sewed up a ripped seam of his bootleg. 
Rowland E. Robinson, 
-[to be continued.]- , 
In the Matter of Evidence* 
Philadelphia, March 22. — In some' of the cases, which 
have been prosecuted by men zealous in the cause of game 
protection, concerning the serving of game out of season 
by restaurants, I note that the usage or procedure seems 
to be accepted as correct, when the complainant orders 
a quail, or other game bird, eats part of it and puts the 
rest in his pocket as evidence. 
Why is it necessary for a game warden, duly appointed 
by law, or duly appointed by force of insistence, to eat 
game which is illegally served, when he can secure the 
bird as evidence without eating it or a part of it? If it is 
served at all, the bird is then in the possession of ;him 
who orders it, and it is not at all hecessaty in the way 
of evidence that he then eat it or a part of it.- 
To a man up on a fence, it appears very much like a 
crafty manner of obtaining a good game dinner out of 
season, cloaked under a demonstration for the enforce- 
ment of law, and displaying the same: appetite for game 
out of season which is possessed by: men' who' are fond of 
game,^ 3'et have nothing to gain byTnotofiety. 
If it is illegal to serve certain- kinds of game out of. 
season, it is morally illegal, if riot illegal by "the letter of 
the law, to eat it. Still it may be a more satisfying and 
enticing manner of convicting a caterer — the eating of the 
bird which he serv'es, then testifying against him after- 
ward. Lucius Andrews Childress. 
The Petrified Forest National Park. 
_ Washington, April 7.— In the House of Representa- 
tives to-day Mr. Lacey, Chairman of the Committee on 
the Public Lands, secured the passage of the bill (H. R., 
963s) setting apart as a public reservation Townships 16 
and 17, Ranges 23 and 24, east, Gila and Salt River 
meridian, Arizona, to be known as the Petrified Forest 
National Park, and to be under the exclusive control of 
the Secretary of the Interior, whose dutjr it ishall be to 
prescribe such rules and regulations ^and establish such 
service as he may deem necessary for the- care and man- 
agement of the same, and for the preservation from injury 
or spoliation of the mineralized or fossilized formations or 
deposits, natural curiosities and wonders within said park. 
The act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior in- the 
exercise of his discretion, to rent or lease, loader rules slnd 
regulations to be made by him, pieces or parcels of ground 
within the park for the erection of such buildings as may 
be required for the accommodation of visitors.. 
AH funds arising from the privileges so granted shall be 
covered into the Treasury of the United States as a special 
fund, to be expended in the care of the park.: .•; 
All persons who shall unlawfully intrude upon the park, 
or who shall, without permission, appropriate, injure^'-or 
destroy any of the mineralized or fossilized formations 
or deposits found therein, or other natural wonders or 
curiosities therein, or commit unauthorized waste> or 
who shall violate any of the rules and regulations pre- 
scribed, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not 
more than $S,ooo, or be imprisoned for .a period of not 
more than twelve months, or shall suffer both fine and 
imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. 
In support of the bill, Mr. Lacey said : 
One of the most remarkable of the natural curiosities 
of the American continent is known as the Petrified 
Forest, or Chalcedony Forest, of Arizona. This region 
has not been extensively visited by the American public. 
When properly cared for and, supplied with suitable 
accommodations for visitors, it will take its place with 
the Yellowstone, Yosemite and Mount Ranier national 
parks. It is not far distant from the Grand Cation of the 
Colorado, which is one of the wonders of the world. 
-I will quote from the report of Prof. Lester F. Ward, 
paleontologist of the United States Geological Survey. 
Mr, Ward's report will soon be published, and I only make 
such quotations from it as will explain the importance and 
necessity of the proposed park. The Territorial Legisla- 
ture of Arizona in 1895 recommended the establishment 
of this proposed park. This request led to Mr. Ward's 
examination, which he made last year. Mr. Ward in his 
report, among others things, says : 
"With regard to the scenic aspect, I can safely say that 
it has never been exaggerated by any who have attempted 
to describe this region. The pictures given in the letter of 
the assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion are not overdrawn, and the more ox less 
glowing descriptions of Mollhausen, Marcon, Newberry 
and other explorers faU far short of what might, truly be 
said from this point of view. These petrified forests may 
properly be classed among the natural wonders of Aiher- 
ica, and every reasonable effort should be made not only 
to preserve them from destructive influences, but also to 
make their existence and true character known to the 
people. 
"Some of the most important considerations .that can 
be urged in favor of the importance of this region com- 
pared with other petrified forests rests upon its geological 
relations. In the first place, it is much more ancient than 
the petrified forests of the Yellowstone Park, of certain 
parts of Wyoming, and of the California Calistoga de- 
posits. These latter are of the Tertiary age, while the 
Arizona forests belong far back in the Mesozoic time, 
probably to the Triassic formation. The difference in 
their antiquity is therefore many millions of years. Scat- 
tered blocks of silicified wood do indeed occur in the Trias 
at other points, but this is. the only region, in which 
they are in such abundance as to deserve the name of a 
petrified forest. 
"In the second place there is no other petrified forest in 
which the wood assumes so many varied and interesting 
forms and colors, and it is these that present the chief 
attraction to the general public. The state of mineraliza- 
tion in which much of this wood exists almost places 
them among the gems and precious stones. Not only are 
chalcedony, opals and agates found among them, but many 
approach the condition of jasper and onyx. The degree of 
hardness attained by them is such that they are said to 
make an excellent quality of emery. 
"The particular region known as the Petrified Forest of 
Arizona lies in the area between the Little Colorado and 
the Rio Puerco, fifteen mile? east of the junction, seven- 
teen miles east of Holbrook, and six miles south of 
Adamana station, on the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad, which 
measurements terminate on the outer edge of the area, on 
the west and north sides. It is about eight miles square, 
and falls chiefly within Township 17 north. Range 24 
east, but extends a short distance on the south into "Town- 
ship t6 north, and on the west into Range 23 east. 
"The region consists of the ruins of a former plain hav- 
ing an altitude above sea level of 5,700 to 5,750 feet. -This 
plain has tmdergone extensive erosion to the maximum 
depth of 700 feet, and is cut into innumerable ridges, 
buttes and small mesas, with valleys, gorges and gulches 
between. The strata consist of alternating beds of clay, 
.':anditonc shales and massive sandstones. The- clays are 
purple. _ white and blue, the purple predominating.'' and 
the white and blue forming bands of different thickness 
between the others,^ giving the cliffs a lively and pleasing 
effect The sandstones are chiefly of a reddish-brown 
color and closely resemble the hrcTwnStones of the Port- 
Jaild and Newark qiiarrics on the Potomac River and at 
■Mianassas, in A^'irginia, but some -are light brown, gray, or 
■•whitish in Color. The mesas are formed by the resistance 
of the massive sandstone layer.s, of which there are 
several at different horizons, to erosive agencies, and 
vary in size from mere capstones to srnaU buttes or tables 
several miles in extent, stretching to the east and to the 
northwest. 
