Paar 6. THE CENTRE DEMOCRAT, BE LLEFONTE, PA., MAY 13, 1909. HUNTING THE WAPITI THEODORE ROOSEVELT \ \ [Copyright, 1863, by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Published under arrangement with G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.] NCE, with spent while on a hunt John Willls, 1 a week in a valn effort to kill moose among the outlying mountains at the south- ern end of the Bitter Root range. Then, as we had no meat, we determined to try for elk. We were camped with a wagon, as high among the foot-hills as wheels could go, but several hours’ walk from the range of the game; for it | was still early In the season, and they bad not yet come aown from the up- per slopes. Accordingly we made a practice of leaving the wagon for two or three days at a time to hunt; re- turning to get a night's rest in the tent, preparatory to a fresh start. On these trips we carried neither blankets nor packs, as the walking was diffii- cult and we had much ground to cov- er. Each merely put on his jacket swith a loaf of frying-pan bread and a paper of salt stuffed into the pockets. We were cumbered with nothing save pur rifles and cartridges. { On the morning In question we left eamp at sunrise. For two or three tours we walked up-hill through a rather open growth of rmall pines and spruces, the traveling being easy. Then we came to the edge of a deep walley, a couple of miles across. Into this we scrambled, down a steep slide, where the "forest had grown up among the immense boulder mu Finally, in the afternoon, we left the wvalley and began to clim gorge, down which a mo rent roared and foamed sion of cataracts. Three hours’ hard climbing brought us to another valley, different character. It several miles long, but less than a mile br Bave at the mouth, it was walle completely by chains igh peaks, thelr mits snow the forest extended a sh at up their sides. Hardly had we enter ed this valley before caught a glimpse of a yearling elk walking rap ly along a game path some distance ahead. We followed as quickly as we could without making a noise, but after the first glimpse never saw It again; for It Is astonishing how fast 18808 but of an entirely was oad of 1} sur ort dist we The erash of the meeting antlers resound ing through the valley an elk travels, with its ground-cover ing walk By the sure the of the valley time the sun set we were! elk were towards the head We utilized the short twilight in arranging our sleeping place for the night, choosing a thick grove of spruce beside a small moun taln tarn, at the foot of a great cliff As the first faint streak of dawn ap peared in the dark sky my companion touched me lightly on the arm. The | fire was nearly out; we felt numbed by the chill air. At once we sprang | up, stretched our arms, shook our- | selves, examined our rifles, swallowed | a mouthful or two of bread, and | walked off through the gloomy forest | fAt first we could scarcely see our way, but it grew rapidly lighter, Then, as we trod nolselessly over the dense moss, and on the pine needles under the scattered trees, we heard a sharp clang and clatter up the valley ahead of us. In a little glade, a hun dred and twenty-five yards from us two bull elk were engaged In deadly combat, while two others were looking on, It was a splendid sight. The great beasts faced cach other with lowered horns, the manes that covered their #8ick necks, and the hair on thelr shou! ders, bristling and erect. Then they charged furiously, the crash of the mecting antlers resounding through the valley, The shock threw them both on thelr haunches; with locked horns and glaring eyes they strove agains each other, petting their hind legs well under them, straining every muscle In huge bodies, and squealing sav- They were evenly matched In weight, strength, and courage; and push as they might, neither got the upper hand, first one ylelding a few inches, then the other, while they swayed to and fro In thelr struggles, smashing the bushes and ploughing up the soil, Finally they separated and stood some little distance apart, under the great pines; thelr sides heaving, and columns of steams rising from their nostrils through the frosty air of the brightening morning. Again they rushed together with a crash, and each strove mightily to overthrow the other, or get past his guard; but the branch ing antlers caught every viclous lunge and thrust. This set-to was stopped rather curiously, One of the onlooking elk was a yearling; the other, though their agely. | ard. |ly that of a vicious and brutal cow- He bullles her continually, and {in times of danger his one thought is | for { safety, sneaking eff to secure his own For all his noble looks he is a beast, who behaves very unamiable | with brutal ferocity to the weak, and | the frontlersmen, scarcely as heavy-bodled as either of | the fighters, had a finer head. He was evidently much excited by the battle, and he now began to walk towards the | two combatants, nodding his head and ! uttering a queer, whistling noise. They dared not leave thelr flanks uncovered to his assault; and as he approached they promptly separated, and walked off side by side a few yards apart. Ina moment, however, one spun round and jumped at his old adversary, seeking to stab him his unprotected flank; was just as quick, and as ught the rush Misly in he latter ! on his horns as ever: but do was to in } 8 on the n« r shots e¢ deadly wapitl, neither of a at the moment : “ showed any signs of ing hit The yearling ran off unscathed. The other three « 1 together and trotted be ft, be ® rowdle hind some spruce on ird for ar while we ther shot in a whereupon g vhich they e It ' 1ded about time move as litt as large bands, later in the the beginning of the fall these bands Join with another and with the bands of cows and calves, which have likewise keeping to themselves during the late winter, the spring, and the summer Vast herds are thus sometimes formed, containing, In the old days when wapiti were plenty, thousands of head. The bulls now be gin to fight furiously with one another, spots and possible; In season At one been , and the great herd becomes split into smaller ones. Each of these has one master bull, who has won his position by savage battle, and keeps It by over coming every rival, whether a solitary bull, or the lord of another harem, who challenges him. When not fighting or lovemaking he Is kept on the run, | | confidence changed to one of alarm. | chasing away the young bulls who ven. ture to pay court to the cows. He bas | hardly time to eat or sleep, and soon | becomes gaunt and worn to a de | | gree. The battles between the bulls rarely | result fatally. After a shorter period of charging, pushing, and struggling the heavier or more enduring of the two begins to shove his weaker antagonist back and round; and the latter then watches his chance and bolts, hotly, but as a rule harm lessly, pursued for a few hundred yards. The massive branching antlers serve as effective guards against the most wicked thrusts. While the an tagonists are head on, the worst that ean happen i= a punch on the shoulder which will not break the thick hide, though it may bruise the flesh under neath, Wapitl keep thelr antlers until the longer or | | level with his body and his head out of the strong. he is gullty shows abject terror According to his powers, of rape, robbery, and even murder. I | never felt the least compunction at shooting a bull, but I hate to shoot a cow, even when forced by necessity, During the rut the bulls are very noisy; and their notes of amorous challenge are called “whistling” by ~very inappropriate- They begin to whistle about ten before they begin to run; and have in addition an odd kind of which is only heard occasion- ly. days they bark, ally. Heard at a little distance, and In its proper place, the call of the wapitl Is one of the grandest and most beaut ful sounds In nature. Especlally is this the case when several rivals are answering ane another, on some frosty moonlight night in the mountains. Once, while in the mountains, I listen- ed to a peculiarly grand chorus of this kind, We were traveling with overs<ld with ' September, and Just fallen. The day before we had walked lens and hard; and during the night I slept the heavy sleep of the weary Earls in the morning. just as the east bega: to grow gray, 1 waked; and as 1 d that st the first snow : so 1! « nds id be ar hin alt ‘beat the and 1 slipped quietly to tree, 80 a8 to h when he came out into the more open wood and Day broke, and crimson gleams played across the snow.clad mountains beyond At last, just as the sun famed red above the hill-tops, 1 heard the roar of the wapiti’s challenge not fifty yards away: and I cocked and half raised my rifle, and stood motionless, In a moment more, the belt of spruces In front of me swayed and opened, and the lordly bull stepped out. He bore | his massive antlers aloft; the snow lay | thick on his mane; he snuffed the air | and stamped on the ground as he walked. As | drew a bead, the mo tion eaught his eye: and Instantly his bearing of haughty and warlike self. ed 80 ne the br with his horns from tree bushe« meet My bullet smote through his shoulder | blades, and he plunged wildly for ward, and fell full length on the blood | stained snow, Nothing ean be finer than a waplt! | bull's carriage when excited or alarm: ed; he then seems the embodiment of strength and stately grace, But at ordinary times his looks are less at tractive, as he walks with his neck stretched, his horns lying almost on his shoulders. The favorite galt of the wapiti Is the trot, which is very | fast, and which they can keep up for countless miles; when suddenly and greatly alarmed, they break Into an pwkward gallop, which Is faster, hut which speedily tires them. Next Week : “Elk Hunt at Two Ocean Pass.” | to —— The ——o Scrap Book A Quick Recovery. “If a man wants to encourage calam- | ities that sometimes result In mira- | | cles, all be has to do 1s to send a son college and present him with an automobile,” declared the father of a | young man now in hls second year at one of the big universities, “That boy of mine was likely to bankrupt me with his calls for money to pay damages to and by his machine until I wrote him that In future he must cover all such penses out of his allowance, which Is about ten times what my father gave me when I went to college, “For na there wasn't a single demand from him, but last week he sent a telegram like this: ‘Wire me $300 immediately, Have killed a man's horse.’ Of course | sald things unfit to repeat and finally telegraphed him: ‘Demand exorbttant, Will be on tomorrow to compromise.’ “Imagine my amazement, in view of the horse's late demise, at receiving within two hours this inexplicable re ply: ‘Don’t trouble to come. Horse recovering.'"” time me A Baby's Feet. A baby's feet. likes seashell pink, Might tempt, should heaven see meet An angel's lips to kiss, we think, A baby's feet, Like rose hu heat, They stretch and spread ar Their ten soft b On baby's feet ed sea flowers toward the id wink ids that part and meet No flower bells that expand and shrink m hall so heavenly sweet rodden brink Swinbu In Black and White. » affirmative to his Then e grat gral put the me question dmother When she, chiavelll phantly “There and white” He g too, sald yes young Ma- turned to his father trium father in black On the Way f Erlr One Thing He Forget ’ born Amer . : ery well for you to talk about country.” he come to thin what we sald but when you k of It you're really only Intruders. Not one of you was born here. You're welcome to this country, of course, but you really oughtn't to forget what you owe us natives who open our doors to you." “Maybe,” sald an Irishman in the party thoughtfully, “Maybe But there's one thing you seem to forget I eame into this country wid me fare pald an’ me clothes on me back. Cap you say the same? «Everybody's. nee In your comb? Whyso? Is not the head amuch better place for it? Better keep what is left where it belongs! Ayer's Hair Vigor, new improved formula, guickiy stops falling hair. here is not a particle of doubt about it. We speak very posi- tively about this, for we know. indeed, the one great leading feature of gut ow Hale Vigot aay wel be said to be this it Stopt Selling hair, Then it Fevoring the ir and dys . scalp to a he ition. Ask for *‘ the new hind." Sanlion. ML1e he nw Mal league Bcotchmen, Somewhat Puzzling. It Is not at all surprising that the | American vernacular should some | times prove a little too much for th Englishman, A case in point was that| of a visitor from London who came) | to New York last summer and was taken by his host to see one of the baseball games at the Polo! grounds, The game had progressed as | far as the third inning without any- thing In particular happening, when suddenly one of the Glants pounded out a three bagger that set everybody howling with joy. “That a bird!” ejaculated the Englishman's host after the excite ment had subsided. A moment later a foul tip sent the ball flying back to the grand stand. “And what do you call that?’ queried the Englishman, “That's a foul,” sald his host. “Ah,” returned the Englishman, “a fowl, eh? Well, it seems to me that the language of baseball Is most ex: traordinary. A fowl is a bird and a bird is a fowl, and yet you use these terms to describe two plays that seem to me to be diametrically opposed to each other. Do you call that logical?” The Englishman is still trying to think It out. —Harper's Weekly. was England's Generals. There has not been an English gen eral since Marlborough. Wellington was born at Dangan castle, Meath, of an old Irish family called Wesley and christened in Dublin, Wolfe was born at Ferneaux abbey, Kildare, and chris- | tened at Westerham-—-nearly in the same case as the Brontes (Bruaty). His grandfather defended Limerick against William III, Sir John Moore and the Naplers were B and so was Abercromble (Egypt); so were Napler of Magdala, Crawford and Clyde. Wolseley, Rob- erts and Kitchener are Irish; so was Gough. The generals and statesmer who saved India to Great Britain were Nelll, Nicholson, e Lawrence - . " eo (Irish? Awards ( h) and Rose two ments the eaterpd r, his back and bite him caterpillar would turn his bead and bite the ant and kill his tormentor. After slaughtering a dozen or more of his persecutors the caterpillar showed glgns of fatigue he made a mbined att: Retaking himself to stalk of grass, the cs ar climbed all first ¢ nte ants would catch up wit} uld mount Pausing, the and «¢ L Bal) ne w ant ans tern! rp wed by th Lo by {1 zed | being celebrated, Taking the Step. It happened while a marriage was The bridegroom did not have the usual happy, bashful look. Instead he seemed to be profound ly unhappy and fidgeted about, stand Ing first on one foot snd then on the other, Bo patent was his state of mental un quiet that the “best man” it expedient to elucidate the mystery “Hae yo lost the ring?’ he solicitously inquired. “No with a enough, thusiasm.” deemed wered the one look; man, London anf won ful but, unhappy “the ring's safe I've lost my en Scrap impressed. to have m on that n a young lady at a “He has been looking arrived.” that ade something of an impression an over there,” remarked wedding party at me ever since | “If you mean black mustrche, gaged to look after the presents! a friend with the he's the detective en- said one Very Little Change. “It's three 1 was in this city,” sald s stranger in a restaurant as he was walking out after finishing his dinner; “city looks the same” “I don't find much change!” respond. ed the walter as he took up the nickel that was left on the table, years since oe. 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