EXPERIENCES OF A TRAPPER AND HUNTER 
FROM YOUTH TO OLD AGE 
By T. ALEXANDER 
CHAPTER VI. 
I worked for Mr. Earnhart seven months and never missed having 
up steam at the mill at 6:00 A. M. and sometimes at half past five. 
This pleased my friend, as I shall call him, for he proved to be one. 
Mr. Earnhart had only two children. Miss Nettie, the elder child, 
and her brother. Miss Nettie and I became good chums; she was a 
very pretty girl, and in spite of myself I fell desperately in love with 
her. I fought this love like a lion because should I give away and 
ask Miss Nettie to marry me, and if she accepted, surely this would 
put an end to the romantic life I had decided to lead. Finally it got 
to a point where I decided I must leave as I was becoming so hope¬ 
lessly in love with her I know I could not stay near her any longer 
and not ask her to be my wife, and I could also see that Nettie was 
in love with me, so one morning I told her I was going to tell her 
father to get another engineer as I was going to Arkansas. The poor 
girl turned pale, then flushed and asked: “Why don’t you stay 
here?” I told her, as I had often told her before, that I intended to 
lead a hunter and trapper’s life. “Yes, I know,” she said, “but it 
seems to me that it would be an awfully lonely life. ’ ’ Then she added, 
“I believe my father would raise your wage rather than permit you 
to go.” T explained to her that it was not my wage in which I was 
interested but the desire of my heart from early youth. The tears 
raised in both of our eyes, in spite of the restraint we tried to com¬ 
mand. 
At my first opportunity I told Mr. Earnhart to get him another 
man within a week, as I wanted to go to Arkansas. My friend began 
to try to persuade me to stay and offered me a raise, but to no avail, 
I assured him I could not stay any longer, much as I liked my new 
friends, my time was up and I must go to Arkansas to take up my 
hunting and trapping for the winter, so he saw it was utterly useless 
to argue and wished me Godspeed. 
The remainder of that week was the trial of my life. I truly 
love Miss Nettie and I could not relish my meals that week as Miss 
Nettie always sat opposite me at the dinner table and the thought 
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