19S 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
Caldwell had no doubt been looking for Indians until 
now he had them on the brain, but 1 did not want him 
to shoot me for one. Taking off my hat I waved it, 
and then called his name. He still kept the gun up. 
I got off my horse, and then going to one side held 
both my hands up; then calling my horse to follow we 
went slowly toward Caldwell, keeping a good look 
out that he did not shout me. I was ready to drop 
at the flash of his gun. 
Caldwell jumped up now, and throwing his gun down 
began to dance. Then I ran the rest of the way to him. 
When I had got to him the first question he a.sked 
was, "Where am I?" 
"Why, you seem to be right here, I don't see any of 
you missing," I told him. "Where did you suppose 
you were?" 
"Well, where is camp?" 
"Oh, camp is. a little short of 24.000 miles from this. 
That is, if you mean to go to it by the route you have 
been taking. It is only about twenty-five miles behind 
you, though, that is a shorter roiUe. What brought 
you here?" 
"Why, I started after dark and must have taken the 
wrong direction." 
"That is what you did. You should have gone east; 
you went west." 
He had taken his boots off and his feet were so 
badly swollen that he could not get them on again, so 
I sent him down to the water, telling him to bathe his 
feet, while I made camp and got us something to eat. 
Then after I had taken off my saddle and staked my 
horse out on grass, I started a fire and boiled coffee. 
I was well pleased, I had found my man in less than 
twelve hours after starting to hunt him, but it would 
be a job now to get him to Phantom Hill. I would 
have to do most of the walking, while he rode, and I 
had no use for walking, else I should not be in the 
cavalry. 
Caldwell got back just as I had the coffee boiled and 
we ate supper, he would have eaten about all I had if 
I had let him; but I told him to eat only moderately, 
this being the first he had eaten since yesterday morn- 
ing. We were only fed twice a day when on the march, 
and he had missed his supper last night. He said that 
while he was bathing his feet he saw what he took to be 
a lot of deer come across the prairie toward the water, 
but they saw him and ran back again. 
"They were antelope, most likely," I told him. "I 
have not seen any deer here, but just before sunset I 
will go down and wait for them; I want one; I would 
sooner have them than the buft'alo. If I can't get one 
I must shoot a buffalo, we must have something to eat." 
Just before sunset I had Caldwell ride my horse down 
and water him, then had the horse tied out where he 
could not be seen from the water. Then going about 
• fifty yards from the pool I lay down in the grass to wait 
for the antelope. The buffalo were coming in in long 
files for water. I did not want them here, but was afraid 
to run them off lest I might scare off any antelope that 
might be following them, and if the antelope did not show 
up before it had got too dark to shoot I would drop a 
buffalo. At last I saw a band of half a dozen or more 
antelope coming in from the west just across from where 
I lay flat in the grass. I let them come, meaning to shoot 
one just as they were leaving; but as they reached the 
water one of them threw up his head and looked in my 
direction ; he had winded me. 
I cut loose on them now with the Spencer, and put three 
shots into them just as they started to run, and one of 
them dropped. Then I stopped firing and going over to 
him found him to be a rather small one, but more than we 
needed; and carrying him down to camp I got my saddle 
on, then put him and Caldwell on it, then carefully put- 
ting out my fire, I moved back a mile or more away from 
this water and camped for the night without fire, just as 
an Indian would do when in the enemy's country. Then 
I got my antelope dressed ready for breakfast and to 
carry with us to-morrow. 
"I cannot imagine," I told Caldwell, "what ever led you 
to go west. A school boy would know that as we had 
come from the west and you had left camp west of it, 
the camp must be east of you." 
"How could I tell the east from the west after night?" 
he asked. 
"I can, and if I could not I would not move an inch 
from where night found me." 
"Well, we ain't all scouts and trailers," he said, "and 
anyhow, I never paid any attention to where camp was 
Vvhen I left it. I expected the rest to do that." 
"Well, depend on yourself after this; and if you do 
get to be a scout and trailer it won't hurt you any. If 
you had been one you would not be here and need not 
furnish a subject for a lot of fools to laugh at when you 
get back. Some of them would get lost as easy as you 
did, but that won't prevent them from laughing at you." 
We took turns sleeping and watching; I did not want 
to fun any risk of losing my horse; there was small 
danger of our being found here, but it was well to be 
careful. At daylight we were back at the water ready 
to get breakfast, and were ready to start soon after sun- 
rise. 
Caldwell now began to study the first principles of a 
scout. He wanted the points of the compass, and pointing 
to the sun that was just rising he asked, if that was not 
"No, not exactly east; it is a little south of it." 
"Well, when I went to school the sun rose in the east 
and set in the west," 
"You only thought so. In fact, it has about 360 days in 
the year in which it does not rise in the east nor set in 
the west, but it comes so near it that we can use those 
points if we have to to determine the east and west. I 
use the compass." And taking it I gave him the true 
east. 
I followed my trail this day back to the camp I had left 
to come here, and it was well I did so. I had looked at 
the map before starting this morning, and had seen that 
to go through this camp would not take me much out of a 
straight line, and I knew that there was water there; I 
might not find any by keeping west of it without having 
to go too far for my horse to travel and keep in good 
order. He was net getting any forage now and had not 
had any for the past two weeks. 
Caldwell and I rode turn about to-day, each of us rid- 
ing five miles at a time ; he had been able to get his boots 
on again this morning, and could do his share of the 
walking, I telling him that he was a better walker than I 
was — his trip west had proved it. I got to the camp I had 
left yesterday morning at about three o'clock in the after- 
noon, and on going into it the first thing I saw was a 
paper tied to a tree where I would not fail to see it. The 
captain had left it to tell me if I came this way to follow 
him into Fort Griffin; he had concluded to go there arid 
not to Phantom HiU. I had been wondering why he did 
not go there in the first place, but I suppose he may have 
thought that they would not have much forage or rations 
there to spare him. This was a new post that had been 
started after our post at the Concho had been begun, and 
everything needed at both had to be hauled by ox trains 
all the way from San Antonio. Griffin was built on the 
Clear Fork a few miles west of the old town of Palo 
Pinto. 
Caldwell wanted.to go hunting again as soon as we had 
made camp. 
"No, not to-day, I don't want to do any more hunting 
for you ; take a rest here to-day. I mean to go clean 
through to Griffin to-morrow ; it will be a long ride but 
my horse can stand it, There is a feed of com for him 
when he gets there." 
We started as soon as it was light enough to see the 
trail next morning, and got into Griffin a few hours after 
the troop did, they having taken two days to go in while I 
made it in one. 
Then I reported my return and turned Caldwell over to 
the captain, I had- expected that he would get a calling 
down from the captain; but all the captain said to, him 
was, "You have got off very lucky, Caldwell ; you probably 
owe your life to the corporal. After this keep your eyes 
open and watch where you go; it pays to do that in this 
country." Cabia Blanco. 
Camping in Ontario. 
III. — A Rainy Day. 
Drip ! Drip ! Drip ! No heavy showers had fallen 
during the night; yet the branches of the pines drooped 
with the weight of moisture in them, weeping copious 
tears upon our shrouded . island — like near relatives. 
From the doorway of our camp shack we cast our eyes 
about, from the ground to the water, from the water to 
the nebulous mist that hung above it, from mist to sky, 
and from the sky back to the ground and the saturated 
branches of the trees. All were in league. The ground 
seemed to perspire in all places ; the lake's surface gave 
off a vapory steam; somber night clouds seemed to linger 
in the vault of the sky as the first smoke of the camp- 
fire lingered in our shack ; and down through the fog per- 
colated a fine, misty, drizzling rain. Drizzle, drizzle ; drip, 
drip. When a breeze should start to blowing from the 
bay, and things should cool off a bit, we might expect to 
receive our showers clean-cut; but that would come later 
in the day. 
Upon high, bare Hmbs of three of the tallest of the 
dead, white pine trees of "Burnt Island," across the way, 
sat three stately eagles. A rain storm is always a thing 
to rejoice over in the feathered kingdom. Like three 
grave saints the birds seemed silently to return thanks 
to the Sender of all Good Things. It seemed to be their 
hour of consecration. Irreverently a small rifle was pro- 
duced and bullets were fired; but the aim being poor at 
that distance they made as little impression upon the 
eagles as a peasant's gibes upon a king. 
The breakfast fire sizzled and sputtered, meanwhile, 
with a noise like that which comes from a blacksmith's 
tempering tub. Drip, drip; drizzle, drip. It took the 
guide longer to get breakfast than usual, so it seemed; 
but we were not without employment in the interval in 
searching out our rainy day apparel. 
After our morning meal we made ready to put off, as 
usual, in the canoe, this morning detei-mined to coast 
along the shores trying each favorite hole and testing the 
truth of the commonly accepted belief that fish bite best 
on rainy days. Out upon the water it seemed that the 
rain fell to more purpose than previously. A million fine 
drops made their quick impacts upon the water's surface, 
each creating a tiny series of rings, the widening forms 
of which were immediately destroyed by succeeding 
drops. A light breeze, at first scarcely perceptible, but 
fceHng comfortably cool against the wet cheek, began to 
give a slant to the rain. The mist above us vanished so 
stealthily that our first knowledge of its withdrawal 
came when, chancing to glance skyward, we ascertained 
that the clouds had taken definite shape and that they 
moved with the upper air currents. Now a darker cloud 
blew over us and the rain from it came in larger drops 
and more fiercely, so that instinctively we drew our 
mackintoshes closer about us; now it came aeain mildly. 
The soft "thur-r-r-r-r-r" that comes from an unreel- 
ing line when the bait is cast, and the gentle splash as the 
bait strikes the water, told me that my companion had 
stolen a march upon me; but my laugh was best, for he 
was soon permitted to take from his hook a hungry 
"rockie" for his pains. How voracious the rock bass 
were ! A moment's fishing in that place taught us that 
we must move further on for the small-mouths. Holding 
our rods expectantly aloft, like delicate masts to our 
canoe, we drifted slowly near the wet foliage of the 
shore, impelled by an occasional dip of the paddle, and 
cast our frogs or bits of perch into this or that likely ap- 
pearing hole. Suddenly I knew by a quick bending of 
my rod that a fish had struck. With a rapid succession, 
of movements my rod whipped the water's surface as the 
bass swam with powerful tug in a downward slant under 
the canoe. A momentary release of the reel freed my 
pole; but now I found it necessary to reel in quickly to 
take up the slack, for the fish had turned upward in an- 
other direction. Away he went with it again,_ however^ 
tugging like a spirited horse upon the reins. With instant 
courtesy my companion for the day attempted to handle 
our hark in the manner which should prove most to my 
advantage in the struggle. Ever alert between the neces- 
sity of letting out line and of taking in slack, so that_ the 
fish should not be left for a second without proper bridle,. 
I held firmly to the throbbing pole, while the fish dived,, 
rose, tacked this way and now in the opposite direction. 
at one time keeping the pole bent and the line taut, and 
at another time making me work to keep them so. Now 
he dived under the canoe; now he started upon a straight 
away run, tugging with all the vigor that was in him. 
At the end of one of these long runs I felt a sudden 
slack in the length of line I had let out; and before my 
reel could do its work a splendid fish leaped clear of the 
water and dived back with a powerful twist of its shining 
body, striking the water with a great splash. My hand 
worked quickly, nervously, at the reel ; but a turn or two 
told me that the fish had thrown the hook. Groans of 
regret escaped from my companion's lips before I could 
bring in the line for a glimpse of the empty barb. Im- 
mediately he pronounced the fish a "whopper," and the 
"king of bass" — and I believe it grew faster there in ten 
minutes than it had ever done before in an entire season 
or two. 
Again and again we cast into this deep hole from which 
the grandfather of bass had arisen, and once or twice we 
thought that we had tempted him; but not again could 
he be coaxed above the rain smitten surface. Once espe- 
cially a vigorous tug and pull aroused momentary hopes; 
but the fish that was hooked was brought quite easily to 
the surface and proved to be a lusty pike. Throwing this 
fish disgustedly back into the water — to which he took 
very Icindly, indeed, dashing immediately away in quest, 
no doubt, of a fish surgeon to patch his lacerated jaw — 
we gave up the bass for that day and paddled down the 
lake for other grounds, talking over the encounter on the 
way and planning how we might catch the fellow at 
another time. 
Shower after shower swept over us. Whenever, look- 
ing behind us, we saw a heavy wall of water advancing 
down the lake, we merely paused in our fishing, meekly 
took the dousing and proceeded again good naturedly 
when the cloud had passed. But our sport, for some 
reason, began to give out. This was due, I think, to the 
fact that rock bass, perch, and bullheads looked upon our 
bait as legitimate food for their stomachs and rushed 
upon it with their rainy-day appetites whenever it came 
within their reach, leaving the more wary bass to appease 
their hunger elsewhere. Overwhelmed at last by this 
voraciousness of the common rabble of fish, we settled 
down at a likely pool to catch for the morrow's break- 
fast a mess of bullheads — lazy, yet savage fighters, whom 
one, nor two, nor three pricks of the hook does not teach 
discretion. 
So our rainy day became a careless, jolly day, as such 
a day will. We laughed immoderately at each new wet- 
ting. We ate our luncheon between showers, with poles 
in hand, remaining in the canoe all day. As the after- 
noon wore on the sun burst now and then through the 
clouds, lighting up distant storm areas and adding a 
peculiar beauty to the showers that passed over us in 
shadow and receded with the light upon them. 
Resuming, upon our homeward journey, however, our 
more serious fishing, we whipped each likely pool with 
thoroughness. So zealous were we, indeed, that, in hug- 
ging the shore line, we passed unwittingly beyond our 
camping place, and when, at last, we turned the nose of 
our canoes about we beheld the island in the mellow light 
of a waning sun. For a moment before dipping the pad- 
dles we lost ourselves in admiring contemplation of the 
picture; there, arching the eastern skies above our camp, 
we beheld with fresh joy that signal of the mightiest of 
truces — the Bow of Promise. Milton Marks. 
m 
Wild Rice. 
In Forest and Stream of March 29, 1902, we called 
attention to Mr. Albert Ernest Jenks' most interesting 
paper on the wild rice gatherers of the Great Lakes 
and said something of the importance of this food to 
prunitive man in this country and to many of the wild 
creatures that at certain seasons swarm over our in- 
land waters. There has just been issued by the Bureau 
of Plant Industry of. the Department of Agriculture an 
interiesting paper on Wild Rice: Its Uses and Propa- 
gation, which contains so much information and of so 
practical a sort that we are glad to make full extracts 
from it here. The many unsuccessful efforts made by 
gunners to propagate this food for wild fowl justify 
our speaking of it at length, and it is advised that this 
article be retained for reference. From the article we 
take the following paragraphs: 
The importance of wild rice as a food for wild fovvl 
and the interest in its artificial propagation are indi- 
cated by the large number of inquiries regarding it 
that have come to the Department of Agriculture dur- 
ing recent years. These inquiries have emanated from 
many different localities widely separated, thus showing 
that the interest in this plant is not confined to any 
limited region. The general demand has been to know 
where viable seed of this plant could be obtained and 
how and where it should be sown to bring successful 
results. Some interest has also been manifested in the 
possibilities of preparing from this seed a commercial 
cereal food. 
The seed of wild rice has been used for food by the 
Indians, particularly those of the middle Northwest, 
since as long ago, at least, as the first acquaintance of 
the white man with their customs. Notwithstanding 
the abundance of other forms of cereal food, such as 
flour and corn meal, since the advent of the white man, 
the Indian of the upper Mississippi Valley has con- 
tinued to use large quantities of wild rice, and this, too, 
in spite of the fact that the harvesting and curing of 
the seed require considerable arduous labor. Wild rice, 
as prepared for food by the Indians, is highly esteemed 
by the white men who have had the opportunity of test- 
ing it, and the entire available supply now sells at from 
two to three times the price of ordinary white rice. 
While by far the largest demand for information re- 
garding this plant has come from men or organizations 
wishing to secure viable seed for planting near shoot- 
ing grounds to attract wild fowl, the possibility of pre- 
paring from the seed a large and regular supply of a 
nutritious and highly flavored cereal food has received 
some attention. The importance of maintaining good 
