FOREST AND STREAM 
14»‘> 
lived on the shore* of Salt Lake Instead of Clitheral. One 
golden rule they observe most religiously: "If you mccl 
a stranger take him in." and they took our unfortunate 
party in, must decidedly, when wo curnc to nay tho bill for 
the wretched accommodation afforded. Then they at- 
tempted another game, which, fortunately, did not work. 
During the storm on the prairie a young and valuable 
oi ntcr strayed away. Wc spent half a day looking for 
im in rain," and left word to have him sent out to the rail- 
road, if found, for which service we would pay liberally. 
An-hour or so after our departure the dog made hisuppear- 
nnce, and a week after, half starved, and looking as if he 
lmd been flogged within an inch of his life, he was sent out 
to the station, with orders to ‘‘collect twenty-live dollars or 
keep the dog." Yank, the pointer in question, is safe in 
his ownei’» kennel, and the twenty-five dollars has never 
been paid I 
Glad enough were we to get away from Clitfternl; and 
we drove along all day, stopping occasionally to take a few 
shots at plover or grouse, and at evening came to Otter Tall 
city, where, under Bill McArthur's hospitable churge, we 
felt that once again "our lines had fallen in pleasant places." 
After supper we took u stroll around the deserted village. 
The wind was blowing fresh; the waves rolled high on the 
sandy beach, far out on tho ycusty lake some squaws, in a 
birch canoe, were setting their gill nets, three or four 
blanketed Indians stood on the shore, and a flock of hulf- 
naked Indian children were practising with bow and arrow 
in the dusty street. In western parlance, "there's a good 
lay out” here for a town; a beautiful lake, with its shores 
broken and diversified with wooded bluffs and headlands 
in front, and tho rolling prairie behind it. Years ago it 
was a trading post of considerable importance. Fortunes 
liuve been made and* fortunes gambled away here in the 
flush limes; tho sandy streets have been stained with the 
blood of tbe dusky natives, and the bluffs around the town 
have echoed to their wild whoops as they danced the scalp 
dance, only u few years ago, with scalps newly taken, 
and too often from tho lieud of some unfortunate settler. 
When, a few years ago, the surveyors of the N. P. It. R 
were runuing their lines all over the country, Otter Tail 
took a new start, property went up at once, corner lots 
could not bo bad at any price, buildings were put up, 
heavy stocks of goods were brought in, but the road was 
built" miles to tbe north, and the ambitious city "went 
buck," and is now, like loo nuiny paper Iowub, "played 
out." 
Wc called, of course, fin Donald McDonald, a weather- 
beaten bale old Scotchman, kuown all over the north and 
northwest as "Old Mac.” lie is certainly a character, a 
blood relation of the prominent Canudian family of that 
name, lie left Montreal when a boy, and joined the Hud- 
eon Bay Co. at Lachine, forty years ago, and remained in 
their employ for years, visiting the far northern regions, 
becoming conversant with tbe different Indian languages, 
and well versed in their peculiar habits. Becoming tired 
of the wilderness life, ho left tho Company without leave 
sud engaged in business at St. Croix, trading with Indians, 
nnd ua he enjoyed a monopoly almost, he soon, to use his 
own words, "got muckle gold," having properly and cash 
worth $20,000, which he lost in a scries of games of poker, 
lasting a week; and, without a cent, wc next hear of him 
at Fort Ripley, where he worked till he got money enough 
to take him back to the hunting grounds of the North, 
whither he went and stayed for some years, notwithstand- 
ing the efforts of his old employers, the H. B. Co., who, 
jealous of his influence among the Indians, and then, as 
now, grasping iu the extreme, had a standing offer of one 
hundred pounds for him, dead or alive. He skirmished 
about this bleak country for a long time, trading with the 
Indians and gambling with anyone who came nlong, with 
such success that he was able to come South again, and 
located at the Half Way House, between St. Paul and St. 
Anthony. Hotel keeping was too dull music for the old 
vogageur, and be sold out for an "old shot gun and half a 
keg ot whiskey," moved to Crow Wing, opeuud a trading 
post, and on his opening ( night lost $U),000 in gold to one 
mau. When the game closed, at daylight, Mac went into 
his cellnr, and rolled up a keg full of gold coin, telling the 
wiuncr if that was not enough he would loll up some 
more. lie then "swore off" for a while, but the infatua- 
tion of play was too strong for him to resist. He again 
commenced, was "out of luck," and one by one be rolled 
away the kegs of coin; then he struck out for Otter Tail 
with his squaw, and here lie lives, poor, proud and cour- 
teous to all. Ho lias never seen a railroad, and but one 
steamer — one luunched on the St. Lawrence fifiy-six years 
ago. He L yet vigorous aud full of fun, will take a hand 
in a game of cards with ns much "vim" os when he was a 
young man and piles of gold were the stakes. lie is a 
medium-sized, broad-shouldered, gray-haired, red-faced 
man, dressed usually iu half Indian costume, his weather 
beaten old figurehead crowned with a "plug hat" of ancient 
style, tastefully bound with red braid, and cocked rakishly 
ou one side. lie welcomed us to liis house os if it hail 
been a castle; introduced us to his "folks;" talked about 
fish, game and his wild life in the far North; gave P. a 
prescription for a chill, and went iuto raptures when lie 
found that one of our party was from Montreal, and could 
tell him many startling facts about that city, the home of 
hi? boyhood, tli.*t he last saw over half a century ago. 
"Boys," said the old man, fts he bade us good bye, "let 
Old Mac gie ye a bit of advice, it will no do ye a bit barm; 
never bet against unothcr man’s game." 
The road troui Otter Tall to .Wadena, via Deer Creek, 
leads through dense woods part of the way, blocked up by 
fallen trees, and washed away in places by ruin ; tbe bridges 
over l he streams are gone, and wo had to drop our way 
through at limes, then to steady the wagon as it plunged 
iu'o the "wash outs,” aud to “pack our plunder" when we 
swum the horses over the bunk-full streams. It was late iu 
the day when wc watered our tired horses in Deer Creek, 
and ou guiuiug the level prairie beyond, we saw a sight 
tucli us we never saw before. Tbe prairie and stubble 
fields, seemingly as far as eye could reach, were literally 
alive with sharp-lulled grouse, hundreds und hundreds of 
them, some ou the move, others standing perfectly still, 
walehing us, To let tho dogs loose and empty eight bur- 
rel» oi ih'-in was the work of a very few moments; and for 
uu bom , all tbe dujliglu that remumed, we bad rare sport. 
'1 he prairie is small, mid surrounded by timber, ami we 
drove llu- birds buck und forward over it in scattered bauds 
ol Irom a dozen to titty, aud blazed away at them as long 
H6 we could see. borne very “pretty w ork" was done, 
Hicks, at tbe commencement, killiug (or claiming to) two 
birds with one shot, one on a tree twenty feet trorn the 
ground, the other in the air, thirty yards to the left. ITow 
be did it "deponent saith not." He was very much ex- 
cited at the time, and it was useless to argue with him. 
When it got so durk that we could no longer see to shoot, 
wc tied up our dog9, put the guns in tboir cases, and with- 
out further incident, arrived in Wadcua in time for the 
traiu for home, well pleased with our long trip. 
For Forttt and Stream. 
OFF THE LINE. 
T HE line was our line of traps, extending for inilc9 
through the forest, over hills and mountains, by 
ponds and streams •and they needed our care at some point 
constantly, as the storms of snow broke down our dead 
falls, and tbe weasel aud other pests were continually rob- 
bing our traps of bait. There wits not much excitement 
"on the line," as it was soon an old story, varied only by 
tbe different degrees in which wc hud been .successful in 
enticing fur into our trups. At times wt. would strike out 
fur a short hunt, and then wc would have plenty -of ex- 
citement, as well as hard work. I propose to tell you some 
of our experience "off the line." 
Wo lmd a line running along the cast base of Bates 
Mountains, through the notch across Pierce Pond, oyer 
Otter Pond Mountain, and out again to the river. This line 
had numerous small branches, built according as we found 
signs. The line had paid pretty well; in fact, very well, 
our greatest trouble being to keep the line baited, as wea- 
sels and other pests were unusually numerous nnd bold. 
We had killed or scared off all the’ bait in the immediate 
vicinity of the line, aud as our provisions were short we 
determined to look up something for both bait and provi- 
sion, and to that end started from "Camp Desolation," on 
Pierce Pond, one morning, taking with us our dinners only. 
We had a short branch line some three miles long to look 
to first, but the recent storms had sprung or clogged all 
our traps, aud it was late when we got through- >Ve left 
our line and struck for Otter Pond Mountain, on the west 
side, and, circling around the mountain on that side, we 
soon found signs of deer, made some two months before. 
The signs consisted of browsings, and we judged the time 
when made by the condition the browse was in; that is, 
how much it had dried or withered where bitten off. We 
followed tbe browsings until we reached the edge of their 
yard; but as we had been detained so much on our branch 
line we thought it not prudent to try them that night, so 
we returned to camp. The snow lay on the ground a solid 
foot nnd a half, and it was splendid snow-shoeing and 
equally os good traveling lor the deer; yet we made up our 
minds that, fuiling in creeping to them, we would try and 
run one down the uext day. 
The next morning, as on the day previous, we only took 
oue knapsack, to carry our dinners, dishes, etc., and to 
bring back some venison if wo should get any. Going to 
where we had left the yard the night before, we proceeded 
carefully to creep, but after half an hour spent in that en- 
deavor we found that the deer had goue. We had been 
nearer to them the night before than wc thought, and had 
started them. 
Perhaps some of your readers have an idea of a deer or 
moose yard, as they gather from pictures, representing the 
snow all tramped down solid, in an uneven space, w ith the 
bushes all exposed for the deers’ food, the snow forming a 
wall, as it were, to prevent their escape. I have just sucli 
a picture in my mind now. It is in Newhouse’s Trapper’s 
Guide, page 79, aud is as unnatural as anything can well 
be. Their yard is simply their feeding place, with a thou- 
sand paths through it, tracking over the ground back and 
forth iu every direction. When Winter overtakes them they 
have some feeding ground iu mind, and go there, uot cov- 
ering any more ground limn is necessary, aud enlarging the 
yard— i. e., making more paths— a9 tile Winter progresses. 
Their old pallia or yards look ns though a log had been 
drawn through the hdow, and a little snow had fallen iuto 
the rut; that is all a yard is. But it gives a novice strange 
feelings the first time he visits one. 1 don’t feel competent 
to tell how 1 behaved in my first deer yard. I know this, 
that after emptying my six shooter the deer had not lobt 
any blood, und'l didn’t get that deer. 
But to resume, finding our game gone we concluded to 
follow. Now it was a lest of pluck if we came up with 
them. No creeping, nnd giving the deer no chance, but put 
your legs against bis, ana give him a fair fight. We fol- 
lowed tbe fresh slot right up tbe mouutuin, over it, down 
through dense thickets and tangled windfalls, where the 
deer, in vain endeavors to brush off their pursuers, had 
run, then into dark cedar swamps, then over a hard wood 
knoll, and into the thicket again. So the race went on, or 
rather the pursuit, for we did not hurry any. Aftsr hav- 
ing traveled thus for some two miles, we found where a 
buck — a very large one — had turned out from the rest (six 
in number) aud gone off to tbe north, the rest going east. 
We determined to follow this one, so leaving the main slot 
we passed on after the buck. After getting down into the 
swamp land we struck a stream into which the deer had 
jumped, as it was better traveling for him than in the snow. 
1 had been carrying ray rifle, knapsack and axe all the 
morning, aud as I wanted to be fresh for the run I gave 
Nathan my rifle to carry until we got on the buck’s slot 
again, I still wearing iny knapsack and carrying the axe 
till 1 should run. Nathan took tbe left side of the stream, 
and I the right, so as to be sure and see where the buck hud 
come out. After going some distance llie stream forked, 
but uot seemingly for auy distance, or the branches very 
far apart, and l soon saw by my shadow that I was getting 
around to the right very fust. I paused a moment to con- 
sider the propriety of being iu such a situation without 
my rifle, solacing myself with the thought that perhaps 
Nathan might have the best use for it. 
The branch of the slrcum, on the bank of which I stood, 
was only about five or six feet wide, and very little water 
ruuniog, although a short time previous there had been a 
freshet which had submerged the surrounding low land, 
aud the ice formed by Ibis tresbet was iu many places held 
up from the snow a foot by tbe alders and small bushes, 
making it a dangerous place to travel on, especially us tbe 
ice was glare, and there had only fallen about three inches 
of very light snow. It was on such a foundation that I 
stood tor a moment, decidiug whether to strike across or 
go buck. 1 had about decided to strike across when "Spry" 
guve a sniff in the direction 1 intended traveling. Looking 
and listening, 1 thought I detected the souud of ice break- 
ing, us under the fool of something. With the repetition 
of the souud, though faint, and the eager desire of "Spry" 
to go, I gave hitn the word “Gol" and away he went. It 
was but a moment and I heard his music; another moment 
and there was the buck coming right ou toward me. I 
can’t tell how I felt; all I remember was that I made up 
my mind to kill that deer, rifle or no rifle. While I was 
making up my mind the buck was lessening the distance 
between us rapidly, hastened by tbe hungry hound at l:is 
heels, aud when I had made up my mind to have him lie 
came with a bound to the stream directly opposite me. 
IIow I longed for my rifle! "Spry” had the buck by the 
hock just as lie launched out for u spring to my side of the 
stream, where I stood motionless, axe in hand, and as he 
sprang the dog’s extra weight brought him down into the 
stream; the fail loosened the dog’s hold, and the buck 
sprang for the bank aguin, followed by the dog, which 
gripped him on the hock again, bringing him on his knees 
before me. With a jump I was at his side. Swinging my 
axe to strike him in t lie head, I struck, and at tho moment 
my feet weDt from under me, my axe went through the 
air, and I fell right across the buck’s neck. The dog, see- 
ing me thus, gave up his claim, which idieved the buck’s 
hind legs. The first intimation I had of the fact was when 
he struck me with botli hoofs in the small of my back. I 
carry the marks now. I don’t know ns that hau anything 
to do with tho savage plunge I made at liis throat with my 
bowie knife, but before I could get off the buck his hind 
legs had completely stripped my pants into shreds, cov- 
ered my legs with blood, and rutiled my mad up into tbe 
nineties. All foolish; but I know more about deer now. 
Experience has knocked out all faith iu the gentleness of 
deer, even when narrated by a clergyman, us exhibited in 
the Adirondacks. 
I stood a moment trembling all over from excitement. 
The buck made a few springs, and then fell dead. Nathan 
arrived in time to see the closing scene, and said that when 
lie first saw me he was fearful I would get badly pounded, 
and so I did. I got tbe buck, and laid three days in camp 
too sore to move; but then there would be no enjoyment if 
there were no hardships. Happiness would not be happi- 
ness were it not for its contrast— misery. 
By the way, that reminds me of another deer limit on 
the “Misery." 1 will tell of it anon. E. 
For Formt and Stream. 
PISCATORY REMINISCENCE. 
A BOUT fishing, Uncle John thought lie knew all that 
was worth knowing; und if auybody questioned his 
knowledge or skill, he was ready to go into a long agru- 
ment to prove his claims to both . He was a professional 
fisherman; so he said, and so he thought; and what was 
more, was certain that he knew every fool of fishing 
ground from "Slade’s Ferry" to the "Slone Bridge," and 
from "Cedar Island" all along shore to "Beaver Tail 
Light.” He would not allow the possibility of .his being 
mistaken, for what he knew, he knew, ho would say, anil 
you could no more argue him out of liis notions than you 
could illuminate a sunbeam, or catch a whale with a cod 
line. Reason with him, you could uot, for lie would anni- 
hilate all your arguments with the unanswerable logic, 
"What I know, I know," and anchored on this argumentum 
ad hominem, liis position was invulnerable. But how sure 
Uncle John was of what he knew, the following little 
piscutory reminiscence will illustrate: 
One beautiful day in the month of April, some two years 
ago, being in a fishing mood, and anxious to try my luck, 
I started with my good friend, the Doctor, for wlmt was 
regarded by those who didn’t know no much as Uncle John, 
the best fishing grouud in the vicinity of Fall River. On 
reaching the shore directly opposite the fishing ground, 
who should we find but Uncle with his boat anchored on 
the spot we were seeking. From t lie manner in which the 
old fisherman began to decry the grouud, we were satisfied 
that he "knew what lie knew," and oue thing was, that 
this was the place for good flailing, and he did not intend 
that we should know it. Understanding this, we plcasaully 
saluted the old gentleman, and asked, "what luck?" and 
received iu answer, "None — none at all; there are no fish, 
here and never was. Folks talk about this being good 
fishing ground, but they know nothing about it. I 
have fished the bay over and over, aud know every spot 
in it worth knowing, aud this isn’t one on 'em. 1 
caugbt one or two here yesterday, but it ouly happened so. 
There are no fish here to-day and may never be again. 1 
haven’t had my fingers tickled with even so much as a 
nibble." 
It was flood tide and wc were anxious to get on the 
ground before the full, so we tried to bargain with t he 
fisherman for his boat aud bait, the latter of which con- 
sisted of about a quart of lively “fiddlers,” a kind of crab 
the readers of the Fokest and Stheam know all about 
undoubtedly; if not, will Mr. Editor please to enlighten 
them? Now, Uncle John was as fond of the "stamps" as 
be was of fishing, and a little more no. Indeed, tins was 
his weakness, and you hit a man— even a fisherman — in liis 
weak spot, and you have him. So in order to make sure 
of the boat, we told the old gentleman we would take all 
the fiddlers he could catch for the day at fifty cents a quart. 
This was enough, and lie handed the boat over to us, re- 
marking that be could make more by catching fiddlers at 
that rate than by fishing iu such water. 
We look possession of the boat aud Uncle John started 
for the bait, and before his old hat was out of sitrbt the 
Doctor and I were anchored upon the coveted fishing 
ground. In no time our hooks were overboard, baited 
with the delicious morsels we bad purchased of the "old 
fisherman." 
Soon I experienced at my fingers ends that peculiar sen- 
sation so encouraging to a fisherman; first a nibble, then a 
jerk, then u pull, as though something was bound to carry 
away bait, book, fisliiug tackle und all. I gave a jerk and 
found I had hooked something, and hand over hand went 
ul it, and directly there lay on the bottom of our boat as 
pretty and as plump a seven pound tautog us Uncle John 
or uny other man, professional fisherman or otherwise, 
could wish to see. The Doctor followed my example, aud 
in no time we were laughing over the sale boating of 
another beautiful black fellow of about the same weight. 
The sport had commenced; the fish were plentilul and 
hungry, und in forty minutes twenty-eight of these plump 
and delicious dwellers ot the vasty deep were floundering 
in the bottom of our boat, the smallest of wbicli weighed 
two and one-half pounds, and from that up to seven 
pounds. 
Soon we saw Uncle John returning from bis catch of 
fiddlers, tin tmil iu hund, und nearly empty it proved to 
be. We reached the shore about the same time the old 
