444 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
goods in his possession, an' nobuddy seems to know 
how they come there. That makes him the defendant. 
How much money you got, Sam?" 
" 'Baout four dollars, I reck'n," Hawkins replied. 
"Waal, this yere coui^t," continued the judge, "finds the 
defendant guilty to the tune of three dollars (that'll leave 
you a dollar, Sam), an' moves that the plaintiff collects 
the money and invites everybody to have a drink at his 
expense, an' we'll bury the hatchet." 
This decision was loudly applauded by every one except 
Hawkins, He thought deeply for awhile, and then ad- 
dressed the court : 
"Ther's another thing niought be settled while we're 
'baout hit," said he. "Eb owes me fer three pigs which 
(.hat onery cuss uv a mule done killed onct. an' which 
same he ent paid fer. Ef Eb's wilhn' t' call it square, I'll 
call the pigs of[,, iji.ganny, an' we'll both chip in an' buy 
the drinks." 
And in that way the case was finally settled, and 
Saunders remarked to Hawkins late in the day as they 
parted to go their separate unsteady ways : 
"Sam, I reck'n I'll go hum an' give that mule the dog- 
gondest lickin' a mule ever had, an' then sell him cheap, 
ef airyone raound these yere parts'U buy the onery critter. 
He's the devul hisself in a mule skin, hi ganny." 
To which Hawkins replied: 
''He suttenly is." F.vyette Duri.in. Jr. 
Cottontails in Morris County. 
TheIie had been several slight tugs at the chain during 
bay snipe shooting, for that is lazy business for old uns. 
But when the skies grew somber and the moaning wind 
rattled at my chamber window o' nights, or swept around 
the corner of the street, stirring up fantastic eddies of 
,dust; when the darting swallows in the upper atmosphere 
had all departed and even the flocks of blackbirds and 
robms and such had chirped their good-bys as they 
hustled southward, and the maples had put on their coats 
of red and gold, and slight tinges of white frost glistened 
of a morning on the bade yard fence, the tugs grew more 
repeated. A loving fondle of the faithful Scot (faith- 
ful unto death), a casual drop in on genial Bob Sneider, 
of S. D. & G., on which interesting interview smokeless 
powder, shot and shells were predominantly discussed, did 
not tend at all to allay the strain on the chain. Bob 
says E C with No. y'yi chilled is about the thing for 
partridges (grouse), rabbits (hare) or squirrels, and 
what Bob says goes, for he knows. We used the same 
with telling eifect. But when a neighbor of ours on the 
Heights, George Earl, an enthusiast where a gun or dog 
is concerned, received a pressing invitation from a kins- 
man to come up into Morns county for a day with the 
cottontails, and that same invite included the under- 
signed, the chain snapped — slam bang — a link dropped out 
and the 9:35 A. M. train found us armed and equipped 
bound w.th a rush out of Hobokcn Boonton way, 
Mow Molly Cottontail shooting may not be very high 
toned, or especially sportsmanlike, but at three score 
and ten we are not climbing the mountains for the 
lordly grouse so much as we used to. Watching on a 
deer run we never did think much of any way, and as 
for goose and duck shooting, the weather it demands for 
success is decidedly incompatible with our old rheumatic 
bones and muscles. No; we drop back to short trips for 
quail and rabbit, and we enjoy them. Wouldn't you? 
Wc were met at the depot by Theodore M., Jr, called 
Dodey for short, a bright eyed lad of some sixteen years. 
A drive of half an hour brought us to the cozy farmhouse 
of Mr. M., where we were most cordially welcomed by 
Mrs. M. Mr. M. is a valued and trusted employee on 1 
the railroad, and was attending to his duty at the time. 
He visits only occasionally, as his duties will allow, but 
his farm is in able hands of Mrs. M. and Dodey. Mr. 
M. we found (on his hurried visit home in the eve, only , 
to remain an hour or two and then back to be ready for 
his train) to be one of those indefatigable, irrepressible 
workers, full of inventions of a practical character and a 
force to bring them to fruition, as the surroundings on 
his model little farm of some fifty acres, only will show. 
Cribs full of corn, stacks of stalks for winter fodder, barn 
full of splendid timothy, fine young peach and apple 
orchards, and grape vines, and the evening we arrived 
he was within a half hour at work on his driving well 
close by the house. He has indeed a model home and a 
wonderful helpmate. Mrs. M. is the healthy and hearty 
mother of eleven children. What a task for one to attend 
to such a group and oversee the various other matters 
on the farm in the absence of her husband. But she 
does it and does it well, as the tidiness about the place 
and the hearty robust looks of the children prove. 
Theodore, Sr., is something of a sportsman himself 
when his duties will allow, and is a reader of Forest and 
Stream, as I find a good many of the engineers on the 
road are. 
After a hearty lunch, with Dodey and his black hound 
pup we started for only a few hours' hunt. We stopped 
at Mr. Walter Treeless' (beg pardon if I have not his 
name right) and enlisted him and his hound.' Mr. T. 
is a character, a practical hare hunter (rabbit shooter) 
of this section of the country, a man of intelligence, likes 
a good story and can tell one, knows his dog and the 
country surrounding. He has the matter of rabbit hunt- 
ing down to a nicety. Upon getting upon the grounds 
he sends his dog in, takes to a stump or rock or some 
rising ground if near, lights his pipe and awaits develop- 
ments. Should the dog immediately give tongue he takes 
the direction, and maybe he moves a short distance to 
intercept; but the chances are, as he knows his dog, that 
he can complacently puff his pipe and Molly will come 
around in due time very near to the place from where she 
started. 
A short walk brought us to the first copse (sprouts he 
calls them), and we had barely got our places when 
Leona the yellow hound, gave tongue. Ah, what music ! 
A flash flew by us like a streak of gray lightning, and was 
oft oyer the pasture lot and plowed ground. It did not 
act like a sensible rabbit and run along so that dne of 
us could make a closer investigation. Hallo ! there's an- 
other. See him dodge under that confounded wire fence 
and away over the knoll. "Good for you, George." It 
turns a double somersault at the crack of the first gun. 
The ball is open. The next fell to Walter T. ; then the 
undersigned, not to be behind, took a hand. 
But it was in crossing from copse to copse through 
some deep grass that the fun began. We had left 
Walter sitting on his stump waiting for his dog to come 
around. George E, and I strayed into the aforesaid, 
grass, when whirr, whirr, whirr, a full sized covey of 
quail essayed to get away in our front. Three barrels sent 
their hurtling contents. "Good for you. Judge," said 
George. "A splendid double right and left. I have one 
here to the right, and if that right-hand plunger had 
done its duty I would have had another shot, if not an- 
other bird." Three birds were not so bad. Now to find 
them in this grass ; a long hunt it was, too. Oh ! for a 
bird dog. Finally the hound came smclHng around, and 
we heard a crunch. A quick jump by George and the 
bird was taken, little injured, from the black dog's mouth. 
Now for the other one. He fell near that bunch of flag 
to the left. It was my first barrel. A long hunt was un- 
successful. I knew I had killed him dead. Just then the 
yellow dog stuck his head down a hole and George 
rescued another bird. By this time Walter and Dodey 
came up, and we. crossed over to the brush and sent in the 
dogs. 
Yep ! yep ! called the yellow hound, and was off straight 
away. "Take your time," said Walter; "he'll bring him 
here to rights." And so he did, and the game was in- 
continently knocked over by Walter. But just previous to 
that, while wc were all together and before the dog 
gave tongue, George stepped on or near something, and 
whirr! up jumped a nice cock quail. It was George's 
bird, and although his right plunger failed him again, he 
dropped the bird with his left just as I was about to pull. 
Well, why continue the tale of the very pleasant day 
and a half in Morris county? We walked up some four or 
five coveys of quail, at which we had divers successful 
shots. Had we had a good bird dog to follow vtp the 
coveys, we have no doubt we could have made a splendid 
bag. The quail seemed to be everywhere; and without a 
retriever we lost outright several dead birds. 
Good shots were made and some outrageous misses 
not to be accounted for. We got some game, enough for 
home use. We didn't devastate the country. We made 
some very pleasant acquaintances, and were made to 
promise faithfully to come up again. 
Upon arriving at the farmhouse at the end of our day's 
trip, how good that cider did taste, and those buckwheat 
cakes so deftly handled by Mrs. M. with the fresh golden 
butter made that day. In the evening Dodey drove us 
over to the depot, and it was a cheering sight to see the 
large silk factories a blaze of light from cellar to cornice 
and the immense furnaces in full blast. Don't look like 
hard times here now. 
As we crossed the fields of plowed grund we noticed 
divers holes, some 4 to 6 inches deep, scattered here and 
there. Mr. Treeless said they were made by skunks in 
pursuit of grubs. I 'wonder if that is a fact. Some of 
our scientists on skunk lore mav be able to tell. 
Jacoestaff. 
The Outing of Two Old Soldiers. 
Mo.ST of the outing and fishing trips reported have 
been to the lakes, rivers and streams of Maine and 
Canada, Wisconsin, Minnesota, or to the mountains, or 
to far-of¥ Alaska, Oregon, Washington and California, 
or to the shores of the Southern Gtilf after tarpon, of 
which trips are expensive beyond the reach of a limited 
income, for railroad fares, guides, hotels, hired boats, 
fine tackle and outfits. Many people would like to take 
outing trips without great expense, if they knew how to 
prepare or where to go. Modern business and profes- 
sional life is too strenuous for the average man to endure 
without a letup, hence the desire for summer outings. 
1 want to tell how two old soldiers indulged in a fish- 
ing trip without spending a year's income, on the noblest 
of our rivers — the Mississippi. We went to St. Paul, and 
in three days (being handy with tools) built a scow r8 
feet long, 4 feet wide and 14 inches deep; sides com- 
posed of two white pine planks dressed to iJ4-inch 
thickness; bottom of ^-inch Oregon red pine; tarred 
the bottom and painted the balance. Decked over the 
bow and stern, with hatches for storage. Lumber, tar, 
nails, paint and oarlocks cost $6. Built a slender frame 
structure over the whole boat, and covered it with heavy 
browai muslin; sides could be jet down or rolled up, just 
as we wanted. Thus we had a flat-bottomed boat, roomy 
enough to eat, sleep and cook in, and float down stream 
at our pleasure. At night we had a close canvas house; 
in daytime, with sides rolled up, an open, airy covering. 
We sent to our Congressmen and got from the Govern- 
ment's Engineering Department a topographical survey 
of the river from its source to its mouth. W"e had a 
sheet iron camp stove and a few cooking utensils. We 
did not carry a large stock of provisions, for we could 
stop at all towns along the river and replenish when 
.getting low We got milk, butter and eggs from farms. 
We had crackers, bacon and other army fare. We boiled, 
stewed and fried; occasionally made a camp-fire on the 
shore, baked potatoes in the ashes or roasted a chicken 
in hunter style. 
■ We had a shotgun for any stray duck that might come 
along or squirrel lurking in the timbered bottoms. We 
fished and caught bass and salmon, all we wanted to 
eat. We were not fishing for market, nor did we kill 
fish uselessly. Had a live fish box floating; when we 
wanted fish we could take them out of the box, rap 
them on the head with a knife, scale and clean them, 
then cook at once — the only way to have good fish, fit to 
eat. No finer bass can be found than in the clear waters 
from St. Paul to the lower rapids at Keokuk. 
We spent September and October — most delightful 
months of the year — floating down to the Illinois River, 
where we sold our scow for the cost of the lumber, 
packed up our outfit in bundles covered with the canvas, 
had them checked as baggage, and took the train for 
home. We thus had a two months' vacation at small 
cost. We ate and slept in our boat, tied up to shore at 
night, went to bed when sleepy, ate when hungry, got 
up when we liked, received and sent mail at different 
towns along the riyer, fished when we wanted fish, and 
enjoyed ourselves as only old soldiers know how on an 
outing trip. Everything in our outfit was as light as 
could be made, consistent with good service. We had 
spent our boyhood days on the banks of the river, hence 
knew how to rnanage a., boat, and our four years of 
camoing in the army had taught us just how little we 
could get along with in clothing, food and camp equip- 
age. It was a delightful trip, so free from care and the 
worry of business life. Such a trip could be made by 
boys or men on any swollen streams which would float 
a boat drawing 6 inches of water, giving a pleasant out- 
ing at small expense to any who could enjoy it. 
We are thinking of making a similar trip to the St. 
Francis River country next autumn, if it would be prac- 
ticable. We would like to start as far up as we we cari; 
rowing our boat to White River, then go up that some 
distance, hunting, fishing and camping, as we found it 
suited our pleasure. Would some one who knows that 
region give us a little advice where to start in, and what 
obstacles we would be likely to meet? Time would noi 
be much of an object, as we could stay as long as we 
liked. We might build a differently shaped boat than the 
one on our Mississippi trip if needed. Senex, 
Woman in the Saddle. 
Des Moines, la., Nov. 11. — Your editorial, "Woman 
in the Saddle," was a sensible one that should commend 
the sentiments to all right-thinking people on the riding 
question. Public feeling in such a matter is rather con- 
servative, and it is hard to make sudden changes, espe- 
cially among the gentler sex. 
We have all heard our mothers and grandmothers tell 
of the long rides they made on horseback, visiting, shoot- 
ing, going to church, to weddings and to funerals, as 
buggies and carriages were scarce in those days, and it 
Avas go on horseback or stay at home. We often wonder 
why it is that in these days so few women ride horses, 
especially as horses are so plentiful. I have often heard 
ladies say they would like to ride, but are afraid; fear 
they would fall off a side saddle, or afraid people would 
laugh at them if they rode astride in a divided skirt. I 
believe there is not much hope of a change in the matter 
of grown-up and older ladies, but the young girls can be 
trained to new ideas if taken in time. 
In this place, when the bicycle fad was at its height, and 
good wheels cost $[00 each, the exclusive set rode them, 
but when every shop girl and messenger boy can ride 
a $10 bicycle, the exclusive fashionables dropped this 
mode of locomotion, and don't ride them at all. The 
men have been riding horses and many ladies drive their 
own buggies. Many young girls, twelve to fourteen years 
old, rode ponies and small horses the past summer, and 
they did not use side saddles or divided skirts either, but 
rode like boys. They clattered at a lively gait over our 
brick-paved streets with as much fearlessness as cow- 
boys or rough riders from the plains. Everybody thought 
they looked cute, and nobody thought they were acting 
immodestly. After they have learned to ride this way 
when children, they will not likely Avant to follow the old 
style when they become young women. They will gain 
confidence in themselves when they can feel there is not 
much danger of tailing off when both feet can be used to 
balance them. So, then, give the young girls a pony or 
small horse, and let them ride astride all they like. 
Senex. 
A Visit to the New York Zoo. 
New York, Nov. 23. — ^The visitor to the Zoological Park 
scarcely realizes that it is almost the first of Decembei". 
It is true that many of the trees are already bare of 
leaves, that the buffalo seem to have donned their winter 
clothing, as have also the bears, wolves and foxes. The 
bull elk, too, are beginning to look ragged and rather 
thin in flesh, as they often do at the beginning of winter. 
Yet the air is mild, the sun warm and pleasant, and the 
grass as fresh and green as it is in June. 
Nevertheless, as we have said, signs of winter here are 
not wanting. The elk calf born this summer has long 
ago lost his spots and assumed the heavy winter coat. 
The buffalo calves are as dark as their parents, and their 
little stubby horns are an inch or two long. More 
striking than all, within the last two weeks a flock of 
nine wild geese winging their swift and clamorous way 
southward from Northern breeding grounds, saw, as 
they passed over the park, a number of captive wild 
geese swimming in one of the ponds, and lowering their 
flight in response to the familiar calls, settled there in 
the quiet waters. 
It may be imagined that the advent of these birds was 
regarded with great interest by the authorities of the 
park, and plans were soon laid to capture them. They 
associated in the most friendly way with the captive 
birds, swam about with them, talked with them and shared 
their food. Moreover, seeing that the captives displayed 
no fear of man, the wild geese in a measure lost their 
shyness. 
The geese had been there but a short time, when a 
large cage of Avire netting was erected near one end 
of the lake, so arranged that the birds could readilv go 
in, but that the pulling of a string would close the 
entrance, and after several days, when the visitors seemed 
to haA-e become more or less wonted to their surround- 
ings, a force of men gently urged the whole flock, tame 
and wild, toward the cage. The birds Avere handled 
with great judgment, and most of them entered without 
hesitation, and among these Avere six of the Avild birds. 
But before all had entered the cage the old gander — the 
leader of the flock— and two others took alarm, and 
rising from the Avaters fleAv far away, not to be seen, 
again — ^as the keepers supposed. They rose higher and 
higher in the air, circling abot.it and calling those below 
to come and join them, M^hile their fellows in the cage 
called back most earnestly. And at last the three wild 
birds once more loAvered their flight and alighted on 
the pond. The Avild birds AA'hich had been captured, 
having had their Avings clipped, Avere turned loose 
again, and for a few days goose life on the pond went 
on evenly and happily. Then another attempt was made 
to drive the birds into the cage, and it was so far suc- 
cussful that tAvo of the remaining three wild geese, one 
of them the old gander, were driven into the cage and 
