Jan. 19, igotj 
FOREST AND » STREAM. 
43 
chief should he meet another chief and there be none 
by te make the speeches that should never be forborne 
when two chiefs are meeting on the way. These two 
^ crossed the village green and went south along the Ala 
Sopo, and the chiefs in the circle said to one another, 
'Who goes up the mountain comes down the mountain; 
perhaps he crosses over to Safata or Siumu.*' But others 
laid- by the coir sennit that they were braiding, and 
leaned upon their hands, as they looked out from the 
house and watched the disappearing figures, and just 
before they were lost to sight among the trees it was 
seen that So'oalo and his companion turned aside into 
the path which crosses the valley of the Vaisingano, at 
ihe cascade of Papaloloa, the long rocks. Then the 
wachej-s said, one to another, 'Afimusasa'e! The fire 
bums in the East; there's many a rich marriage to be 
made before he reaches Lufilufi on that path." 
"But it was not a courting trip the chief had gone on 
that day, although after the 'mana' had come to him he 
made many marriages, and brought many fine mats to 
Tanungamanono. Where he went and how he passed 
the night the chiefs and people" learned the next morn- 
ing^ when he returned to his house and the circle of 
chiefs. Young girls brought him basins of clear water 
that he might cleanse himself of the stains of his travel. 
The women brought in food on mats, something from 
the sea and something from the land, as our ancient 
laws prescribe. Then the kava was chewed and mixed 
in the dark bowl, with its deep violet stain, and the kava- 
caller called the cup of So'oalo. But when the girl car- 
ried the cocoanut shell cup to him, the chief refused to 
^ take it, and the girl carried it back to the bowl to have 
more kava put in it. Still the chief put out no hand to 
drain the cup, and the girl brought it back again to the 
bowl, and this continued until tlie shell was brimming, 
but the chief would riot take it. Then the kava-caller 
-called the cup with more dignified words, 'Fetch forth 
the cup of So'oalo, the bone of Manono and tlie grave 
of the fleet!' Now that is the highest heaven language 
that any chief can have in that town, yet the chief re- 
fused the cup. 
"Then the chief's own tulafale, he wko had gone with 
him on the journey, and had been with him through the 
night, left the house and stood upon the town green with 
, his staff in hand. Thus standing^, he shoutel aloud, ',5ao! 
Sao! Sao!' and all the people gathered to hear the proc- 
lamation. Wheh. the shell had been filled afresh the 
tulafale called the cup for his chief, and this is how he 
called it:" 'Fetch forth the kava of Tulimanu. and its 
name is the supernatural power of the bat and the cuttle- 
fish.' Then the chief took the shell, poured out a little 
behind him for the god to drink, then drank himself. 
Thus So'oalo became Tulimanu. 
"There was still more for the tulafale to declare, while 
the cups of kava were sent around the ciixle of chiefs. 
He told how they went" to the stone house of the cuttle- 
fish god back in the mountains, the Fale o le Fe'e or 
Falepouma'a. And he told how the Fe'e gave to So'oalo 
his 'mana' and the power over things of the sea. Then 
* he told how they went thence when the night was half 
gone to the summit of the great waterfall, the Afutapu 
or Forbidden Cataract, and there the Pe'a gave to So'oalo 
the magic of the bat and the power over all birds and 
other creatures. But it is not well to talk of these things, 
for you never know when you are angering the old gods. 
And it is not necessary to talk about how this was done, 
for you know already; you have the 'm.ana' yourself, the 
'mana' that Tulimanu gave you on his own ti'a when 
you stood -upon it to kill your first pigeon. So that is 
why you have power over the living things of the sea 
and the living things of the bush — it is because Tulimanu 
gave you the 'mana' tliat the Fe'e and the Pe'a gave him 
so many generations ago." 
Llewella Pierce Chubchill. 
A January Afternoon* 
Out of doors: A foot or more of snow covered the 
facfe of the earth. The drifts were piled in the roads till 
their tops were even with the tops of the fences, and big 
drifts were piled at the lee sides of the buildings. Every 
sheltered nook and corner was piled full of it. A gale 
of bitter, cutting wind kept the air so full of flying snow 
that it was not possible to see a big barn 60 yards from the 
house. So violent was the wind that it was scarcelj' pos- 
sible to stand against it, and it blew the flour-like snow 
right through one's clothing and left it to melt against 
the skin. So thick were the clouds overhead and so full 
the air of flying snow, that the mid-afternoon was gray 
twilight. 
In the house: A cozily furnished family sitting 
room of ample size, warmed to cozy temperature by the 
big "air tight" stove, on one side of which lay a sleek, 
well-fed pointer, and behind it lay the shaggy-haired, big- 
boned old black setter. On the walls were pictures de- 
scriptive of sports with gun and rod; over the mantel 
behind the stove were two finely mounted buck heads, 
across which lay an old-fashioned full stock muzzleloading 
rifle — "grandfather's old rifle," that in its day had been 
the death of many a fine gobbler — several deer and squir- 
rels galore. On the center table a peck basket full of 
apples, big belleflowers, with glossy, greenish-yellow skins, 
with a rosy blush on the side that had been turned to 
the sun; golden russets dressed in modest brown that 
hid the honest worth of riclxness within ; Jonathans in 
livery of tJie deepest red, and there were winesaps. white 
pippins, yellow pippins, sweet pippins and flat shaped 
yellow Andersons, favorite pears, too. On the mantel 
was a glass pitcher holding a gallon of cider, which Avas 
just sharp enough to scratch the throat of him who drank 
it. A ten-year-old boy had a big stick of stovewood up- 
ended between his knees, on one side of him a basket of 
hickory nuts, which he was cracking on the end of the 
vStick between his knees, and tossing the cracked nuts into 
a basket on his other side about as fast as the two middle- 
aged men who sat in the comfortable old rocking chairs 
could eat them. These two were old cronies who had 
spent many a day together, and the two dogs that were 
lying by the stove had been their constant and faithful 
partners on a great many of their trips afield. It was 
aatural that the two should talk about things pertaining 
to field sports. One of them was telling some experiences 
with ruffed grouse in the Black Hills, and when he had 
finished the story the boy stopped cracking nuts and said, 
"Uncle Mahlon, tell me about that trip you and grandpa 
made to the rescrx-oir. I've never heard all of that story 
yet." 
"Welt," .said Uncle iMahlon, "wait till I drink about two 
glasses of cider to cut the hickcr nut grease out of my 
throat, and I will tell about it." 
After drinking a glass of the cider he said, "If Gran'ther 
Hill was drinking this cider he would be polite enough to 
^ay it was mighty good cider for the time of year, but 
1^ imagine it is not near hard enough to suit his taste. 
That trip to the reservoir was a good while ago, before 
you were born, but I remember it pretty well yet. One 
glorious October your grandpa and I hitched old Sorrel 
Top to the little spring wagon and struck out. We 
got an early start, and by noon had got to where we 
thought we could find some sort of game for dinner, so we 
drove into the edge of the woods, and having unhitched 
the horse and fed it, we struck out after game, and your 
grandpa scared up a pheasant which he killed, and we 
Avent back to the wagon and built a fire and broiled the 
pheasant on the ends of long sticks arid made coflFee, and 
with "our other stuff had the best dinner we ever ate. 
Then we lay down in the warm sun, just too lazy and con- 
tented to do anything else, and both went sound asleep, 
and maybe wouldn't have waked up the whole afternoon if 
some hogs had not come nosing round and got into 
trouble with the dogs. That evening Ave got to Fort Re- 
covery and stayed at the hotel. 
"At noon the next day we only stopped long enough 
to feed the horse and eat a cold lunch, then drove till 
3 o'clock. The horse seemed to be getting tired and the 
Avoods looked pretty good for rabbits, so avc tied the 
horse and struck out into the Avoods. We had not gone 
far Avhen your grandpa in trying to step over a log, fell 
sprawling, atid almost fell on top of a pheasant. l' was 
so interested in the spraAvling and scrambling motions he 
made that I did not .shoot at the pheasant, but he some- 
how or other got the gun to his shoulder and Avhile lying 
flat on his stomach shot at the bird, then got on his 
knees and watched the bird fly aAvay. ,A little after it 
had gone out of my sight he said, 'I've marked him all 
right.' He ahvays could beat everybody marking birds. 
We went after the bird, and when Ave Avere about 50 
yards from the tree by Avhich he had marked it. Ave heard 
a fluttering in the dry leaAxs, and rushing over there 
found the bird kicking its last. It Avould be too long a 
story to tell about each bird Ave killed that afternoon, but 
Ave and the dogs Avorked like beavers till sundown and 
brought in eighteen pheasants, and I got about tAvo-thirds 
of them, for it didn't seem to be your grandpa's daA^" for 
pheasants. I Avas mightily tickled over it, for he most 
ahvays socked it to me a little Avhen we went after quail, 
and I had a new Parker gun and noAV I felt that I had a 
gun that I just couldn't miss swith. ' 
"There was a house near where Ave had left the wagon, 
so Avhen we got back your grandpa took the horse and 
got permission to put it in tlie stable, and I set to work 
making a lean-to to shelter us OA^er night. How do I 
make a lean-to? I found a big dry log Avith two trees 
standing about 6 feet from the log and about 8 feet apart. 
I cut a pole long enough to reach from one tree to the 
other. Then I cut two saplings 8 feet long Avith forks 
on their upper ends, leaned them against the trees and 
put the pole in the forks. Then I cut other poles and 
leaned them against pole that reached from one tree to 
the other, letting the other ends of the poles rest on the 
ground so they slanted like the rafters of a house. Over 
these poles I spread a big piece of canvas we had brought 
along, and it Avas big enough for the ends to hang doAvn 
and close the ends of the lean-to. The top edge Avas 
tied to the cross pole and heavy pieces of Avood laid on 
the canvas Avhere the edges flattened out on the ground. 
By the time your grandpa got back the lean-to was al- 
most done, and he Avent right at a couple of the pheasant? 
to get them ready for cooking. He Avas the greatest fel- 
loAv you ever saAV to dress game. He can do it the 
quickest and cleanest I ever saAV it done." 
"I knoAV that," said the youngster. "I've seen him 
dress many a squirrel and quail." 
"He Avas an all-round good man about the camp every 
way. Wasn't a lazy bone in him, either in the field or 
round camp. That's Avhy I liked to have him along. 
Some fellows are so Avorthless around camp that it's a 
nuisance to have them in sight, and they are not in sight 
m more than one camp Avith me. Well. Ave built a fire 
against the big log and prepared and ate a fine supper of 
broiled pheasant, bread and butter and coffee. My! but 
It Avas good and Ave ate a lot of it— ate a Avhole bird apiece. 
We also dressed a couple of big rabbits and broiled them 
a lit le for the dogs. 
"After supper Ave brushed a lot of dry leaves into the 
lean-to for our bed and made good beds for the dogs in 
the same Avay. We spread blankets over the leaves and 
took the Avagon cushions for pillows. After everything 
Avas ready, we took some birds to the house and gaA^e 
them to the people Avho lived there, and thev invited us to 
stay over night Avith them, but we preferred our snug 
camp. Then they insisted that we have breakfast with 
them, and Ave accepted, but wished Ave hadn't, for the 
pheasants Avere not cooked to our liking, and it Avasn't 
like a breakfast in camp anyway. 
"After breakfast Ave struck out for more pheasants and 
got several more. (Just Avait, sonny, till I get another 
glass of that cider.) About 10 o'clock Ave hitched up 
and drove the rest of tlie Avay to the reservoir. gettin°' 
there before noon. What is the reserA'oir? Well, in the 
first place, it was a great big piece of woods, many of the 
trees very large ones, and there were tens of thousands 
of them. The Beaver River ran through those Avoods, and 
Its banks Avere very loAv. To furnish Avater for a canal, a 
dam was built across the riA^er, and for several miles 
across the Ioav ground on either side of the river The 
ground is so nearly all the same level that when the Avater 
Avas held back by the dam it covered 17,000 acres of the 
Avoods Avith Avater. It is said to be the largest artificial 
lake m the worM. The standing water killed all the 
trees, and after a fcAV years most of them rotted off even 
with the top of the Avater, and becoming soaked, sank to 
the bottom. At the time we Avere there, the dam Avas 
somewhat out of repair, so the Avater Avas about 4 feet 
lower than usual, leaving the tops of the stumps about 4 
feet above the water, and there were still hundreds of 
the big dead trees standing. Queer looking place? I 
should say so. Can't describe it. It is dreariness, deso- 
lation and death. When darkness begins to fall and a 
mist rises from (he water and the trees that are standing 
look like giant ghosts; and the big owls perch on them as 
they do every night, and hoot, its an eerie, uncanny 
place, 
"We stayed there only a few days, and one mallard and 
one pheasant Avas all the game Ave got. On the way home 
we stopped and hunted half a day in the woods where 
we killed so many pheasants, but not a bird could we 
find. Guess they must all have been in the trees that 
day. In the afternoon it began to rain, and the rest of 
the way was sIoav, muddy, wet. cold and miserable. 
NoAv let's have some more cider." 
O. H. Hampton. 
In Frontier Days. — HI. 
The Demise of Splayfoot. 
^ Winter set in in a few days after the wolfers had 
finished their tunnel. One morning Avhen they awoke 
they found a little pile of snow in the fireplace which had 
sifted down the chimney during the night, and when 
the door was opened they saw that a real blizzard was on. 
The bitterly cold Avind Avas from the east, and the snow 
Avas falling so last that the opposite shore of the river 
\A"is invisible. They Avere delighted at the change; their 
days of enforced idleness Avere over; from that time 
until spring they Avould be busy poisoning and skinning 
Avolves. 
Very early the day after the storm they started out to 
kill and poison some baits. Jack and Ben going to the 
Avest, Longhair and the Scribbler quartering up the hills 
to the east of the cabin. It Avas very cold; a thin spark- 
ling feather of frost htmg in the air, and great clouds of 
fog arose from the narroAv black line of open water in 
the channel of the river. The storm and intense cold 
had driven unusual numbers of game in from the plains. 
The bottoms and slopes of the valley were fairly black 
Avith buffalo, checkered Avith the light forms of the ante- 
lope, Avhich were also there in thousands. A band of 
mule deer, alarmed by the approach of the two men, sud- 
denly rushed out of a Ioav coulee and then stopped to gaze 
foolLshly about. But they Avcre safe; even the big buck 
with the massive set of antlers Avas too small for a good 
bait, and m those days his kind Avere seldom killed for 
food. 
Whatever may be the case elsewhere, the mule deer of 
the upper Missouri subsist almost entirely upon the slender 
terminal shoots and leaA'es of the greaseAvood brush; one 
always finds the paunch distended Avith it. Is it this diet 
of dry, bitter wood Avhich makes their meat so dark and 
coarse, their fat so hard that Avhen cooked and hot it 
instantly congeals and sticks to one's mouth? Their flesh 
IS certainly not to be compared to that of the other 
ruminants Avhich subsist chiefly upon grass. So little did 
the Avolfers think of them that thev never shot one; buffalo 
meat A\'as their preference, varied occasionallv by a feast 
of tat bighorn or antelope or Avhite-tail deer.' 
About half a mile from the cabin a Avell traveled game 
trail entered the valley from the plains through a break in 
the prevailing cliffs. As Longhair and the Scribbler ap- 
proached the place, a small herd of buffalo Avas just 
coming through on their Avav into the valley. They kept 
on until they Avere directly opposite the tAvo hunters, a' 
coulee about 200 yards wide intervening between them 
■ Paste that big cow in the lead, Scrib," said Longhair" 
•an^ be sure to hit her so she'll drop right there on the 
™' """^^ t '^^^"t no baits doAvn in the coulees." 
ihe Scribbler refused the shot. "You are a better 
marksman than I am." he replied; "shoot her yourself" 
Longhair brought his gun to his shoulder and fired Avith 
the ease and celerity of the professional hunter The 
crack ot the rifle sounded very faint in the cold, thin air. 
L hud ! Avent the bullet against its mark, and down dropped 
the cow in her tracks, shot through the shoulder and 
heart, as Avas afterAvard ascertained. Is the 45-70 the 
■SO-iio the 30-30 powerful enough for bear, for moose 
tor elk? modern sportsmen are continually asking. Power- 
ful fiddlesticks ! What weapon was it that practically ex- 
terminated the buffalo, and so decimated the ranks of the 
grizzly tribe? 'Twas the Henry rifle Avith its 28 grains of 
powder and 200 of lead. It was a deadly thing in the 
hands of those old-time hmiters. 
Wlien Longhair fired the herd lost no time in scamper- 
ing back up the trail. The hunters made their Avay over 
to the fallen cow, turned her on her back, propping up 
the body by turning the head sharply around against a 
foreshoulder, and then removed the entrails. A. large 
amount of blood remained in the cavitA^ and they quickly 
poured tAvo bottles of strychnine into it, thoroughly mix- 
ing It with the rapidly congealing fluid and smearing the 
whole inside. The contents of another bottle was 
sprinkled into deep gashes cut in the body and upon the 
heart and organs lying beside it. Before they had half 
brushed several interested spectators arrived. " A couple 
of magpies Avere the first to come, and they Avere so bold 
that they fluttered about the men, chattering and scolding 
almost Avithin arm's reach. Next came a kit fox sniffing 
the air and picking up his ears and alternately advancing 
and retreating m the trail just above. Poor creatures 1 
they fell victims to the deadly poison before the wolfers 
passed out ot sight of the bait. 
The next trail entering the valley was three miles further 
on. 1 here also a buffalo was killed and poisoned, and the 
two swung down the ridge to the river. Here were more 
buffalo, and the Scribbler shot one, which tumbled over 
the steep bank onto a sand bar at the Avater's ed<^e In 
winter the Avolves traveled up and down stream a great 
deal on the ice, and although the snow had fallen but a 
couple ot nights before, they already had a well-beaten 
trai near each shore. It was a sort of boulevard, a 
strolling place where they met of nights to practice their 
we^rd and melancholy chorus. It was an ideal place for 
a bait, that sandbar beside their, well-beaten road and 
Longhair surveyed the carcass of the buffalo with great 
satisfaction. "Them two up on the hills is all r'ght " he 
said, "but here's where Ave make the biggest killin' There 
we ve poisoned it to rights. Come on; le's go home" ' 
