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ON THE TRAIL OF WHITETAILED DEE Dan J Singers Thrilling1 Narrative of a Tr Through the Woods of New Brunswick The cumulusnimbus clouds laing lov nmlbla in a ilirk and somber sky Then night blacki than ink shut down over tlio vast still wildernes With the darkness came a deathlike hush tin settled over the immense forest For an hour the was that intense stillness that precedes a storn Quiet gave way to the merest breath that rnsth tlie spruce tops ever so gently Then came anotlu linshed pause which was broken by the march of tl storm coming up through the forest forestIt It rose like the distant wail of a shewolf first then grow louder with the storms approac until it struck with all the violence it had gatl ered ushering in a great deluge of rain The b trees writhed and waved their long arms mull the urg of the wind the rain in big pelting dn i came sluicing down and played a rollicking tin n the roof of the little cabin where George Aik and I had recently arrived arrivedWo Wo had journeyed fourteen miles over an ol portage road from Iemiaie New Urunswick 1 one of W Harry Allens camps Our log cabin w comfortable with sleeping bunks filled with sof swotscented balsam boughs a good stove plentiful supply of provisions anil a crystalclef spring hard by The camp was situated on tl north side of a hardwood ridge nmid glorious la trees that lent majesty and breathed the roniam of the ageold woods Ve purposed to spend few weeks in the big forest with the object i studying and stillhunting the whitetailed dee About us roved many other species of big game bi it was on deer alone we concentrated our though ind efforts permitting all other wild folk to g their way unmolested unmolestedWith With the first faint pallor of dawn a light win breathed softly through the big spruce birch an beech lringing with it the rich fresh fragrance the ancient woods lly the time the pearly light ha filtered down through the great everrearing fores corridors Jeorgn and I swung our way up a lonj narrow trail The storm clouds had passed givin promise of a clear day The rain of the night be fore had softened the leaves upon the ground an we strode along almost as noiselessly as the craft lynx stealing up through the thicket thicketVe Ve intended to skirt several large open glades the first one of which was about a league froi camp In New Irunswick these open spaces ar called burns which conveys the impression tha they are blackcharred scopes of country but the are not With the exception of occasional ol burnt slumps then is little else that would sug gest they were once swept by a great fire Cov cred with a luxuriant growth of grass and dotte with young poplar balsam and wild cherry the I ave the appearance of a beautiful park that imtiir had tucked away in the midst of a great wilderness wildernessGREAT GREAT SILENCE OF MORNING DAWN DAWNAs As w emerged from the big forest to the edge o the open glade we paused to look carefully over th wide space that had suddenly been revealed an to listen in the great silence of the morning ijawn Every tree bush and shrub was drippin wot but ere long the sun now near to its rising would lick up the wet and every wisp of driftiii vapor At the far side of the glade reared raggedcrested line tf tall spruce that loomei I lack against Ihe red amber oC the eastern sky Several little brownish dots accompanied by a gentl fluttering of wings darted l y then from a neigh boring tree the little brown dots with voices tha semed timid at intriiling noon the unbroken silence pronounced their name ever so sweetly chickadee hicka deedeedee deedeedeeCeorge Ceorge drew my attention to some tracks tliei whispered Looks like a big buck done since tin rain We moved mi slowly watchingly search ingly expectantly After taking about twenty step we both stopped dead a slow languorous ininuti went by then the cause of our sudden stop re urrcd Down in the thicket a twig snapped fol ¬ lowed hen a sharp cracking sound and another in li rval of silence which was suddenly shatterei by a deep incomprehensible voice that suggostoi f it rcenes ami passion in its gruff grunting bellow bellowIt It was in the midst of the rutting season foi moose and Ceorge who has a wide reputation as moose caller had said he would call up a bull somi time even if I did not care to shoot him Thi was his opportunity lie placed a hand on his bird one and glanced at me inquiringly whereupon 1 nodded and a strange drama of the solitudes fol ¬ lowed 1licing the cone of birch to his lips Seorgi murmured a soft whining note full of desire am tenderness that rose then fell to a coarser nasa ending Almost at once the bull responded with lib deep gruff voice Then after a moment he came 01 with more thrashing of the brush and occasionally giving strange voice to the magic impulse that M upon him himAgain Again he would pause to listen ill the perfect stillness still save for the gentle whisperings now and again of the crisp leaves that drifted down from the big birch beech and maple trees Again Ceorge called through the crude horn a perfect mimicry of the cow moose when she calls to hei mate with all the plaintive yearning known to hei SUSPECTS A RIVAL IN EVERY THICKET THICKETWith With his antlers the bull thrashed the underbrush rud came on making a noise that seemed to speak defiance to all the other wild folk The bulls at this season seem to suspect that a rival lurks in every thicket and when they hear the sweet music of a cows love call they often lay aside their craft and with an attitude of gruffness and fight they make much unnecessary noise on their way to the summons of the cow Iut when the moose is not on a love errand he usually moves through the forest as noiselessly as a wolf for all his great bulk and widexproading antlers antlersCeorge Ceorge gave one more short low seductive call and was rewarded with the sound of the bull coming nearer We waited now what seemed many min ¬ utes Nothing stirred no sound came to our atten ¬ tive ears I sensed the bull must be by now within a hundred yards of us and too that Ceorge had given his last coaxing call for it would not be wise to call again or make another movement when the bull was in such close proximity proximityAll All about pervaded a strained silence I was wondering if the interesting play that a few minutes ago was so promising had come to a close Had the indignant bull discovered us and stalked off in disgust 1 glanced at Ceorgo whoso face was full of confidence and a slight nod told me that tin climax was waxing nigh To my surprise he picked up a thin dry stem and promptly snapped ff several pieces each one making a sharp short crack This was his final bit of craft for to the bull it was the sound of the cow cropping off some savory twigs This last bit of subtle trickery over jiowered any suspicions the bull may have had for o blew out a deep breath with the suggestion of a grunt and strode boldly out into the golden blaze of the rising sun sunPresently Presently he halted tossed his head high and to one side lie held his broad muzzle to the gentle breeze ami sampled the air with dilated nostrils lie was a marvel of strength ami vigor with a fair set of antlers that he seemed highly proud of A few moments he held the picturesque pose all bathed in a torrent of sunlight then as if to give voice again he stretched out his neck but instead remained silent for a time timeIt It may have been that a stray current of air brought the scent of danger to his nostrils for Middenly his whole attitude changed from defiance to a suggestion that he was late to keep an engage ¬ ment However he turned and trotted blithely off to the edge of the wood where he paused for a brief moment to turn a farewell glance back to the glade then disappeared amid the friendly fir wood woodSplendid Splendid I remarked to Ceorge when it was all over Von have the craft of the wild born in yon yonI I love the woods was his modest reply We wont lo ik at anything but deer from now on said Ceorge and we wont let up until yon find that big back you are looking for forONLY ONLY ANSWER KEEP READY moved down along the edge of the glade ever on the alert eyes peering ahead and on all sides scrutinizing carefully each little scope as it opened to our view Hcneath the big trees where the light was dim and into the shadow of the bushes our eyes were constantly searching for that sleek and wary antlered shadow of the big woods Any second any hour any day the chance might come and when it did it might only last while one could count two fast On the other hand there might be ample time Who could tell The only answer was keep ready readyAlmost Almost at once we had an adventure At the far edge of the glade a brook a silver snake alive leaped romped and sang a rollicking song down through the somber spruce and fir wood Ceorge who had brought along the ax went down into the leu to fell a tree across the stream as we expected to pass this way often ou our daily hunt and the ford would have been a deep one I remained a few paces out in the open thinking the sound of the six might startle one of the furtive folk from the shaded recesses of the gleu out into the open I stood by an old dead birch about sixty yards from the north corner of the glade where the big woods formed an I All sound was dead here in the glade save the soft crooning of the stream that drifted up from the gleu Presently George commenced to cl down the lire and the sound of the aY rang do on the still frosty air For a half mile or mo all the wild folk must have frozen when th caught ear of the strang hollow clang of the a for nothing moved nothing stirred or came out the open afc I had half expected expectedAfter After a time the chopping ceased came then cracking sound followed by a loud snap Then could hoar the tree crashing down through t brush Suddenly across the silvered silence of t glade rocketed a cock grouse stiffened his winj then slid on a long curve down into the leafag lust for fun 1 followed his line of flight over tl sights of the rifle and bet myself a pipeful tobacco that I could have got him with the p scatter gun It behooved me however to mil my business and watch what I was about likewii to leave all grouse that chanced to buzz by strict alone the law was ou grouse this year anywa anywaIn In breathless stillness that settled again I waite Soon a round pudgy little rabbit came leaping aloi with gay leisure Xear by he halted and eyed 11 curiously with one big bulging eye then sudden jerked lalf around as if to question by present and get a better view His little white puffba of a tail long erected ears and deft nose aipiiv made a picture so pleasant that it would hy tickled the whiskers of a lucifee to say noUiii of liis palate palateFACE FACE LIKE A BAD DREAM DREAMrneeremonionsly rneeremonionsly our rabbit departed in hast Perhaps the air currents had told him mnre th they had told me At any rate you will pictur please down in the gleu dozing contentedly outlaw of the wild with a wholly bad record record handed down from his ancestors with nil counted unhallowed deeds and evil ways of living livingNature Nature had given him a garb that matched silt prisingly with the tawny brown of the autum leaves All this wrapped tip in about three fei of fur Add to this a stump of a tail slashd daws en four legs that are padded to the toes insure a dead silent tread that matches a shado for its soundlessness soundlessnessHis His face was that of a bad dream it wi round bewhiskered and those eyes with tliei evil leer expressed no less than all the diabolic deeds of his ancestors crowded into one To the ti of each ear was added a stub of a black brush r Jeast so it appeared He had fangs too fan long and sharp a disposition that was not eve good to think about and his entire face savore of another world The same of course was lynx How could it be otherwise For convenient we will call him the angel angelSomething Something moved I swear it did or was just a shadow that lengthened amid the thin leal screen of brandies Followed a long tense pans and a silence that pall d Suddenly a rufuslme shadow with two lung marvelously quick an equally marvelously silent bounds came and wei1 like a smoke puff across the corner of the gla The very spirit of the woods the angel himseli had passed almost under my nose In a twinklin he had come and gone and in that time I had line up the rifle but pressed the trigger just as h melted into cover Had it not been for a liandfn of long fur I picked up later just where I ha ihot through the long grass at the angel I migl lave reproached myself for shooting at a passin hadow Selfeffacement seemed a science with th mgel mgelPresently Presently Ceorgc rejoined me and after tellin lim briefly what had taken place we tried t follow up the trail of the lynx but were not re warded witli the slightest success It was evideu the angel had escaped unharmed except for th small daaiage to his fur coat We then repaired t fleorges bridge in the form of a big tree which h liad skilfully felled across the stream streamWe We passed on over the waterway through th slew and out across another wide upon space A ive swung down into a patch of young fir wood u ivent a white flag only twenty yards away an the rifl came to the shoulder with a feeling I ai ready this time At second glance 1 lowered tin rifle for no man would want to shoot the sleek raceful yearling that bounded away awayFAWN FAWN PUZZLED AT OUR PRESENCE PRESENCEWe We stood perfectly still and presently sojnethin iccniTcd that was interesting After the fawn hai rone about fifty yards he stopped stood a moment hen turned and walked with dainty cautious step lireetly toward us We remained perfectly motion ess and as the little fellow came on he stared a is though greatly puzzled at our presence He heh lis head high stretched his muzle far out am miffed with curiosity trying vainly to get ou cent He presented a novel ami pleasin pietim is he raised each dainty foot and placed it forwan n the ground with unmatched grace and caution Vfter approaching within fifteen yards of us IK topped and eyed us with suspicion Then turning le slowly circled until he finally got our scenl ind made off offCning Cning on again we soon turned into an old lumbe oad which had long since been abandoned and iiuch overgrown Softly we journeyed along througl he green bowery archway noting often in the sof arth the trail signatures of many of tin wilder less folk Moose tracks far outnumbered al jthers but there wen many telltale records of dee nd often the fresh heartshaped impress of a hi mck made the blood in my veins flow the faster Ve stepped along so quietly that a big spruce rouse in the center of the road allowed me to ap iroach almost near enough to have caught him in rab net before taking wing Leaving the old roai re swung off to the north to hunt out some likely ittle pockets that Ceorge knew of ofMile Mile after mile hour after hour we threaded tin1 Hiiet solitudes often stopping for minutes to listei n the vast thrdihing silence down through a lon I retch of stately spruce where the stillness was crfect and there was nothing to hint of the wih ife that thronged again out into the open across acrosswide wide barren of hardhack dimpled and patchei nth cloud shadows that flitted and gambolei ike sheep at play over a hard wood ridge where iitnnin with her magic brush had lavished a riot f color It had touched the maples and behold hey flamed scarlet in the sun when only a week go they were tender green The birch and beech rere saffron and gold and among them splashes f every shade of green All a miracle of color Lhenio that stood mt boldly against the sunsleeped lue lueAnd And so the days passed pleasantly with their arious adventures while we were searching for the rand old buck we hoped some day to find The venihgs though short were no less enjoyable as re exchanged stories of the woods between puffs rom our pipes The most interesting story was told a me by Ccorge as follows followsMAN MAN AND BEAR IN DEADLY COMBAT COMBATA A man named Henchpy one spring evening about usk was walking up the road in the vicinity of lie Miramidii Hiver He met a bear coming in the iposite direction llenchey expected that the bear onld run off any minute into the woods but the isir kept on toward him and finally got so close lowing no sign of turning aside that the man icked up a stick At that moment the bear was dose as to make it unwise for the man to turn ml run As Henchev straightened up with his ick the bear rose on his hind legs Instantly the an who was an expert woodsman and strong of im wielded his stick which struck fair over le bears head but unfortunately broke in two At about the same moment or an eyewink later ic bear struck with his paw The man cut deep oni the claws of the bear and the bear partly unned by the heavy blow from the stick went to le ground together The man seized the bear by ith sides of the head in order to keep him from Hug and at the same time kicked the bear about le uuderparts The bear was not idle either iring these exciting moments Itringing up his iud paws raked the man with his claws until he id torn away his clothing and cut deep gashes i his abdomen It looked bad for the man At this juncture a small dog that was accompany ig the man launched himself in the midst of the fray with all the spunk and fierceness he pos ssed The plucky little canine seized the bear the hind leg Immediately the bear directed his tention toward the dog Uy this time the man as weak and the bear easily broke away and arted for the dug Pnt he did not proceed far r he had been terribly injured by he mans kicks id knees hammering in his stomach After going few paces the bear fell and lay still The mail rriblv mauled walked a mile to the nearest house rter several weeks he recovered and is living today ISoisetown New Itrunswick The morning after e attack the bear was found dead in the road Uarely a day passed that we failed to see both nose and deer One morning in a little glade at e edge of a fir wood before the sun was up id the mist hung about in gauzy veils I jumped fair buck but his antlers were nothing unusual unusualwe we let him too go his way One rainy afternoon when we had decided to call calla a day and were directing our steps campward e chanced to hear something moving about in a ngled growth of birch and fir From the sound sensed it was a good sized bull moose and just r sport decided to make a stalk to see how near could get getAfter After a short circle I worked up slowly to where expected to glimpse a lordly bull any moment I mill go on a step or two and stop and listen was sure he had not moved off as I was too ar for him to steal away unheard It was evident iwever that he had become aware of something iiisual for he had stopped browsing and was no ubt standing as still as a statue and listening PUFF OF WIND BETRAYS US USA A puff of wind must have brought the pungent scent to him for suddenly a big bull went crashing through the brush only to stop sixty yards away in plain view and look back over his shoulder He had a spread of antlers that a larger bull might justly be proud of and a coat so dark that it loomed black amid the silvery birch 1 raised my rifle then lowered it The shot would have been an easy one for the man who wauled moose A moment later the bull fled in mad haste passing with sur ¬ prising ease through the thickly wooded forest forestThat That same afternoon near nightfall the clouds thinned and finally breaking up drifted off to the south leaving a clear sky When tin big round October moon rose that night ami wrought magic through the still forest the air turned glassy dear and frosty cold The next dawning was without a breath and amid the great wash of violet light day broke in rose and gold Pp through the silent forest corridors with long swinging strides two figures moved without word without sound Not a breath disturbed the dear balsamy fragrance of the crisp air We had about a league to travel through the thick forest on our way to some grassy little pockets where George pinned great faith oil finding a big buck buckHefore Hefore the sun was fairly up we crossed a brook and followed its course for a mile down through the quaking gloom of a tamarack swamp As the sun rose a little breeze came purring through the trees from out the north This made conditions most favorable for hunting the country we had chosen leaving the stream we turned off to the north passing through some thick brush then we came out along a fringe of young fir and birch with here and there a little grassy pocket It was in ¬ deed a most likely Junking place for deer iust enough cover with an abundance of feed We worked slowly upwjnd and employed all our craft and stealth I carried my rifle in the hollow of my left arm with the fingers of my right hand resting on the safety ready to throw it over on the instant In the keen pulsing air leaving silence behind silence and the red sun aslant behind the serried wall of tall spruce we glided like specters iu and out through the copse copseAH AH hunters have it I had it that morning5a hunch that my opportunity was close at hand I know George felt it too for from the time we turned off from the the brook he was hunting in dead earnest Moving on we rounded a little clus ¬ ter of firs and at once came into view a grand old buck feeding near a small birch seventy yards away With all his craft we had caught him un ¬ awares Instantly I threw off the safety Instantlr he flung up a fine antlered head As I raised the rifle the buck with one magnificent spring was under way and went sailing off in splendid long loops whim came the sharp vicious smack of the rifle rifleThe The bullet found its mark behind the shoulder but this we did not know until later when we found him in a repose from which there was no awakening The buck bore a handsome set of antlers with twelve points and weighed as nearly as we could judge 170 pounds We packed in all of the hind quarters ami the head and enjoyed thereafter the venison of our hard won prize Dan J Singer in Field and Stream
