$1.00 a Year, In Advance. FOR GOI FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Slnzle Copy, s Cents.
VOL. XIII. PLYMOUTH, N. C, FRIDAY, AUGUST 8' 1902. NO. 22.
An Early Morn
For Eke
BY CLARENCE A. LYMAN.
WE slept that night as we
ever do in the hills, -with
the front of the tent wide
open, so that from my pil
low, the side of a saddle, I could watch
the Great Dipper do its slow somer
sault around tho North Star. When
the camp-fire died the night before,
and we went to bed, the Dipper was
lying along the tops of the mountains,
brimming full. It is easier to watch
this great hand in the astronomical
clock than to light unwilling matches
from time to time in the night and ex
amine a watch; and I knew that when
the constellation had nearly reversed
itself, it would be time to start mov
ing. A man in, camp sleeps sweetly, yet
lightly. A dozen times through the
dark hours the distant sharp bark of a
fox. the rustle of a leaf, the deep sigh
of a satiated and sleepy horse on a
picket rope, the cracking of a coal in
the embers of the camp-fire, the call
of a night bird, or the snap of a twig
under the tread of some of the animals
of our cavalcade, called me with a
gentle thoroughness from slumber.
Each time it seemed as though the
position of the encircling attendants
of the North Star had changed by only
a slight angle; and each time I sank
instantly again into the perfumed rest
that comes from a bed of balsam
boughs after a hard day's work.
The hush that comes over all nature
just before the dawn was near being
my undoing, after all. Tho Dipper
etcmed to have made a great sudden
sweep and was dangerously far over
when my eyes opened again. The
canvas was throbbing with the pulse
of the morning breeze, but the eastern
was darker than the western sky,
where hovered a faint glow. It took
an effort of will to get out into the
cold air, but necessity compelled haste
and I scrambled as gently as I could
over the dewy coverlet, hurriedly put
on the few clothes I had taken off the
night before dressing and undressing
are mutually short ' operations in a
hastily made camp found my damp
and clammy shoes, raked together tho
coals in the ashes, fanned a flame,
.boiled coffee and munched a hasty
breakfast of bread and some cold trout.
My partner, chum, helpmate never
stirred. It is wonderful how a trustful
woman will sleep in the wilderness,
safe In the superstition that he who
sleeps beside her is competent to meet
danger which may arise.
I dropped half a dozen cartridges
into my pocket, together with a couple
of biscuit in case the chase should be
unduly long, shouldered the heavy rifle
and strode out through the high grass,
which was so beaded with dew that
walking was like wading an ice-cold
stream. The horses were standing on
widespread legs, heads near the ground,
asleep, while the burros, weary with
the long pull with the heavy packs of
the day before, were huddled together,
lying on the ground.
The morning star was at its bright
est as I 'started across the valley, but
by the time I had picked a splashing
path across the current of the little
river and got fairly started up the
trail, it was paling. Little flecks of
purple cloud began to appear above
the sun's approaching glow, as though
they had been newly created. The
range to the west began to lift its
rugged ascents into view in a purple
radiance. The eastern hills grew from j
shapeless masses of gloom into rounded
eminences with dainty fringes of as
pens ami slender minarets of spruces
against the faintly glowing sky. I
wished I had started half an hour
earlier, and quickened my pace a
little.
In die growing twilight I could see a
furry skuuk in Ins sleek coat of jet
black and snowy white, treading the
clumps of bunch-grass, picking up the
benumbed insects before the sun's
heat might give them the vitality to
escape. In the trail, ahead of me a fox
trotted. I was conscious of the faint
presence of his scent, but did not place
it until I saw the flash of his fur above
the grass, lie knew I was following,
but knew too that he was safest down
in that sinuous passage between high
walls of grass and flowers, on whoso
smooth surface he could make a far
safer, swifter flight than over the
rough ground to either side.
A .mile or so above camp I left the
ing Hunt
k-Tul Deer.
trail and crossed the stream again,
getting my feet no wetter in wading,
but feeling the icy chill pervade the
water in my shoes which my feet had
warmed in the comparative dryness of
the , beaten track. Close to the rip
pling burf ace a colder . breath moved
and the scrubby willows had a coating
of white frost. I brushed a furry
moth from a twig in passing, but it
was too cold for more than one very
feeble flutter. It fell wide-stretched
on the water and as the. current swept
it into a quiet eddy It disappeared so
quietly that one might suppose it had
sunk of its own weight. I marked
tho spot where lay a trout, so big that
its mouth could take in an insect of
that size without a splash, as a good
place to drop a feathered imitation
when I carried my rod that way.
There was no mistake that it was
very light. My eyes had been growing
accustomed to the dimness, meeting
the dawn half way, but the first glow
of the rising sun was just striking the
tops of the higher hill. The sky was
a turquoise blue all across the dome.
The clouds, which had been purple,
had faded to lavender, flamed with a
tint of orange, and were now melting
away in yellow fleeces. It would soon
be time when all sensible deer Avould
be deep in the thickets of the green
timber, where it would be all but im
possible to come upon one of them un
awares. Already the burros, far down
the valley where camp lay, were up
and moving stithy down to get a drink
at the river.
The southern hill before me was or
I had marked the year before as a
likely place fomleer. It rose in smooth
slopes and narrow bonches a thousand
feet or so, fringed on the top with the
edge of the deep thick forest of spruces
which ran back on the plateau beyondi
The ascending surface had spruce and
aspen groves lying on it in long stream
ers, divided by half a dozen open
grassy glades, each with a tiny rill
gurgling down the centre, coming from
the banks of snow which still lay pro
tected by the dense shade of the crown
of spruces. The streams were fringed
with the succulent marsh herbs which
deer and elk most fancy as dessert
after filling up on vines and tender
boughs
It does not pay to hasten or to get
out of breath when hunting deer, so I
climbed very, very slowly upward,
keeping in the shelter of the bushj
young aspen that fringed the bigger
trees at the edge of one of the ascend
ing glades. At each step, as I placed
ray foot to avoid any crackling twig. I
looked all around and listened for any
sound of game. The simulation of the
color of the early coat of the deer to
the dry bunches of grass is so close
that in the imperfect light it was well
to study closely each outline, else some
proud stag might bear his coveted
burden of venison out of range at a
bound, before my eyes had seen the
slender legs and gracefully borne head.
There were plenty of tracks in the
mellow earth, some almost obliterated
by two or three successive dews, and
some apparently as fresh as though
the cushioned hoof had just been lifted
from them. In spite of all my caution,
a crack of twigs and stamp of hoofs
off to the right indicated that an alarm
had reached eyes or cars-or nostrils of
some deer, but I sat still and listened
to the beating of my heart until ap
parently it decided that its suspicions
did not justify precipitate flight, for
thought it went on, it was in a noise
less Avalk. From tree to tree I edged
in that direction. I found the fresh
tracks, evidently a buck of good size,
and I followed carefully on a slant up
the hill. I saw something moving
ahead of me, and was ready to shoot,
but it came fearlessly down toward
me, evidently not seoiug its danger. A
doe with her two fawns was working
down to a safe shelter in the willow
tangle along the river. I did not
want to turn them back in the direc
tion in which tho buck had gone, so I
crouched lehind a bush to let them
pass. Only a pot-hunter fails to re
spect femininity and infancy in huut
ing doer. The mother was pushing
along with all the ungracel'ulness of
her kind, neck out, ears hack. One
fawn wanted to stop for refreshments
and was pushing in front of her like a
calf at milking time. The other spotted
pet was intent on play, bounding about
in extravagant semicircles. His erratic
course brought him directly upon me,
and he stopped suddenly with legs
braced at wide angles, so close that I
felt the breath of his startled snort.
His ears were opened wide, and his
dewy nostrils quivered as he drew in a.
scent of whose danger he had yet to
learn. His great soft eyes looked full
into mine for a moment, and I could
almost have reached out and touched
him. Then he remembered his mother,
who had passed on out of sight, gave
a mew-like expostulating bleat, bound
ed a couple of yards to one side, and
gamboled on in pursuit.
, The shadow of my hill had by this
time crawled down to the opposite
slope In. the valley, and the sun was
shining full through . the tops of the
trees. A raven cawed and flapped
lazily across the valley, high overhead
on a tour of investigation. His keen
ej'e had marked the murderous weapon
I carried, and he circled above the
mountain and lighted in a tall dead
spruce to await tho outcome of tho
hunt. The buck on whose track I was
following was evidently intent on
leaching shelter. lie had been in no
haste, cropping the herbage as he went
along, but the determination with
which the tracks forced themselves up
the hill meant that he hajl a mind for
the safe protection of the growing
green timber forest. I must make
haste to head him off, and as it would
be fatal to hurry directly behind him.
I crotSt?d over into the next glade and
then pushed steadily up the mountain
toward the summit. Just at the very
brow was a continuous grassy" bluff
over which any animal seeking the up
per shelter must pass; and on this I
threw myself down. I had no breath,
and could not have aimed my rifle
to save my life, so I devoted my whole
strength and attention for a few mo
ments to regaining some steadiness of
respiration. In the valley way below
three tiny spots of buff, the deer family
I had intercepted, were crossing
through tho grass to a wide bed of
willows that marked the filled-in site
of an old beaver dam. Down at camp
everything was still, and the absence
,of smoke told that the sleeper was still
dormant. The raven cawed impatiently.-
I became suddenly conscious that
there was a. deer in the trees off to the
right, and a little, below me. How long
he had been there I do not know, but
I am certain that my eye had rested
on the spot and its surroundings a mo
ment before and saw nothing. I slipped
down off the. grass and into the trees
and worked very cautiously in that
direction. A shot downhill is so de
ceptive that hitting is pure luck, and I
sought a place on the same level. .
A stately buck he was, stopping for a
final lunch on the tender shoots of a
clump of vetch vines on the edge of
the stream. His black nostrils were
wet and. shone with the high polish of
neAV patent leather. His form was well
rounded, his coat was smooth and
glossy, and his spreading antlers full
grown. In the motions, of his eating,
every muscle moved and quivered. The
sight was so superb that it almost pre
cluded murder, and I sat with rifle
half laised and watched for fully a
minute. His nostrils caught a breath
of hostile odor, and he flung his head
high, poised for flight, but not quite
sure which way the danger lay. He
remembered the alarm downhill and
turned to look that way. The white
bead of the front sight rested against
his curving neck, just back of the head,
and the white bead rested in turn on
the lower rim of the circle of the hind
peep-sight. The sight was perfect
and the finger crooked against the
trigger almost without conscious voli
tion. A 45-70 bullet in the cervical verte
brae sijiiffs out all power of motion as
though it were the llamo of a candle.
There was never a struggle, just a
sudden collapse, and the beautiful ani
mal lay in limp confusion sprinkling
blood upon the verdure where he had
just -been feeding. The hunter's work
was done and what remained was mere
butchery. The rough surgery of the
hunting knife must let out the blood
in a foaming torrent before the heart
ceasos beating, and with the same flow
release the remnant of life which still
showed dimly in staring eyes. Then
must follow the smeary task of dress
ing the carcass, which had been a deer
and was now venison. The raven flew
from his perch and brushed through
the trees above. It seemed as though
the sound of the shot had summoned
all the smaller pedatory birds, the mag
pies and gray-jays, and I could hear
their harsh cries approaching through
the trees, as they fluttered closer and
closer in short flights. Before my
gory task was done they were busy,
without, fear for me, picking the dainty
flecks of suot from the entrails, while
two or three other ravens had joined
the pioneer and were scolding from
the tops of the trees because I was so
slow in completing my work and leav
ing them a clear field. I hung the
venison in a tree, protecting the ex
posed meat with boughs, and washed
hands and arms in the waters of the
rill. Then I struck out for camp. Un
der the tall grass red-leaved plants
hugged the ground. Drops of dew had
fallen on some of them, making the
homeward path seem through a trail
of fresh blood. The sun shone down
on the valley hot and ungentle. It
seemed as though tha whirring grass
hoppers unduly extended their flights
to escape my presence. A startled
grouse, breakfasting in a bear-berry
bush, instead of rising to the nearest
tree, whirred away clear across to the
foot of the mountain, where it flapped
deep into a tree as though murder was
behind it. As I came up into camp
the horses scented the blood and snort
ed as if I were some strange wild ani
mal and moved uneasily on their in'ck-et-ropes.
She had just awakened and was
looking with sleepy eyes out into the
sunny world.
"Fresh meat," I cried.
"Oh, did you get a deer? I didn't
know you were gone until just before
I heard you shoot." Her eager interest
flamed up in question about the events
of the chase, and then, in a reverie
"One of thoso pretty, pretty things 1
How could you do it." Outing.
Five Intellectual IVet.
According to President Charles W.
wiiot, of Harvard University, there is
no good reason why the normal human
being should not have an intellectual
training that would meet the require
ments not only of our advanced civ
ilization, but be up to the highest
standard as fixed by the learned presi
dent himself, for recently he said: "A
library that will go on a shelf five feet
long is enough to give an intellectual
training to any human being that ever
came into the world."
Just think of it! You can hold the
five feet of volumes between your
extended palms, and all you have to do
is to transmute their contents into
memory cells that can, at the will, be
put into action' for the production of
understanding.
Only five feet! I have taken the
trouble to put the rule on this and ap
ply a little mathematics. As books in
the library average, five feet means
thirty-seven volumes; which is not an
array calculated to frighten a reader.
Again, an average shows that these
thirty-seven booko contain 30,000
pages, made up of 13,000,000 words.
Not so very much material from which
to imbibe intellectual training. New
York Herald.
Taken by Surprise.
There tre some hospitable creatures
who are greatly disturbed if they can
not meet every demand made on them,
although there are cases when It is
ridiculous to expect them to be able to
be equal to the occasion. 4Itecently a
barn took fire on a large estate, and
the firemen of the village worked hard
to put out the flames. After it was all
over the husband asked the fire-fighters
into the house to partake of coffee
and whatever edibles were on hand.
His wife welcomed tho men with
steaming cups of coffee,: doughnuts and
pies, then she said apologetically: "Oh,
if I had only known this was going to
happen I would have had a lot of
things baked up." New York Press."
Avalanche Breakers.
In Switzerland the people have en
tered upon effective plans to defeat the
avalanche in its devastating work. No
more need the traveler be told, "Be
ware the awful avalanche," for those
rolling, pitching, sliding bodies of snow,
that accumulate into masses of de
struction, are now broken up before
they gain a dangerous amount of ma
terial or velocity sufficient to make
them dangerous.
Along the mountain sides, where av
alanches form, earthworks in the form
of a V are constructed, with their
points upward, and when the moving
masses of snow come in contact with
them they are broken apart and so
deflected as to be rendered harmless.
It Cut Kifle Bullet.
The machine which cuts rifle bullets
from rods of lead stamps them into
shape by means of steel dies, and
drops them, finished, into a box at the
rate of 7000 an hour.
LOOK OUT.
There's a noisy dragon coming, bo my
dearie, have a care!
The fate of other boys and girls it may he
yours to share,
A goggle-eyed fanatic, with a thirst for
blood and power,
Is raging down the highway, seeking whom
he may devour.
So lo?e no time, my dearie, for beyond all
shade of doubt,
Ihe auto man will get you if
you
don't
watch
out!
No tyrant ever sat a Throne so witiess or
so cruel,
Oh, woe to little boy3 and girls who sniff
too close hi3 fuel!
No shame sit3 on that brazen brow, no
Jaw shall say him nay.
His pleasure is the only god that moves
him, night or day,
So lose no time, my dearie, and take heed
the warning shout:
Ihe auto man will get you if
you
don't
watch
ontf
Life:
Teacher "Where was the Declara
tion of Independence signed?" Dot
"On the table." Chicago Tribune.
"Quite polite, isn't he?" "I should
say so! He is so polished that he can't
tell the plain, unvarnished truth."
Tit-Bits.
Dawson "Ejenks is a great believer
in fate, isn't he?" Lawson "Yes, he
has to blame his incompetency on some
thing." Somerville Journal.
In life's melee ,
4 Mighty tough,
. . Don't forget
Brains and bluff.
Detroit Free Press.
Miss Hoamley "Well, at any rate,
I'm sure no man will marry me for my
fortune." Miss Pert "Ah! I see. Your
face is your fortune, eh ?"' Philadel
phia Record. 1
That "talk is cheap"!
Is often true,
' t But not the sort
Our lawyers do.
Catholic Standard and Times.
"Where are you going, my pretty
maid?" "Down to the butcher shop,"
she said. "Have you money to buy a
steak?" asked ho. "Yes, we've just
mortgaged our place," said she. Chi
cago Record-Herald.
"How can you tell cut glass from the
imitation?" asked Mrs. Gaswell. "You
can't always," said Mr. Gaswell, "but
when anybody offers you a piece of
real cut glass for fifteen cents don't
buy it." Chicago Tribune.
Eriggs "How long has Buddton
been speculating in stocks?" Griggs
"Not much more than a year, X fancy.
It was only about a month ago that he
began to borrow money from his
friends." Detroit Free Tress.
Professor (a connoisseur in ancient
pottery) "But, Lisi, that vase was
2000 years old!" Housemaid "H'm!
Anybody that has used a thing so long
as that ought to be able to afford a
new one!" Fliegende Blaotter.
Smith "I don't like to make any
complaint to a neighbor, Mr. Jones,
but your dog kept up a terrible barking
all night." "Oh, that's all right; he's
used to it won't hurt him. Kind of
you to mention it, however." Tit-Bits.
Bobbie "You know them preserves
out in th' pantry wot you told me
not to eat?" Mother "Yes." Bobbie
'You know you said they'd make me
sick if I et 'em. didn't you?" Mother
"Yes." Bobbie "Well, they didn't."
Ohio State Journal.
Little Willie "Say, pa,' what is the
difi'orence between market value and
intrinsic value?" raVThe market
value, my son, is what you pay for a
thing. The intrinsic value is four times
-what a second-hand dealer offers you
for it." Chicago News.
Jeuks "I. should think you humorists
would get lots of fuimy squibs out of
this new plan to exterminate the mos
quitoes." Hugh Morist "Not much.
It's really serious. If the plan succeeds
as it promises to what on earth will we
have to joke about in the summer
time ?" Philadelphia Record.
School Savings link.
In eighteen different-' States there
have grown up what are. known as
school savings banks. The total num
ber of pupils having deposits in such
banks is 03.570, and the total net de
posits to their credit amounts to nearly
a third of a million dollars.