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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1901-h.zip b/1901-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..38242a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/1901-h.zip diff --git a/1901-h/1901-h.htm b/1901-h/1901-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..545a423 --- /dev/null +++ b/1901-h/1901-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4881 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Secrets of the Woods, by William J. Long + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Secret of the Woods, by William J. Long + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Secret of the Woods + +Author: William J. Long + +Release Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1901] +Last Updated: February 4, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET OF THE WOODS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + SECRETS OF THE WOODS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Wood Folk Series Book Three + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William J. Long + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + 1901 + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h4> + TO CH'GEEGEE-LOKH-SIS, "Little<br /> Friend Ch'geegee," whose<br /> coming + makes the winter glad. + </h4> + <p> + <br /><br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + This little book is but another chapter in the shy 'wild life of the + fields and woods' of which "Ways of Wood Folk" and "Wilderness Ways" were + the beginning. It is given gladly in answer to the call for more from + those who have read the previous volumes, and whose letters are full of + the spirit of kindness and appreciation. + </p> + <p> + Many questions have come of late with these same letters; chief of which + is this: How shall one discover such things for himself? how shall we, + too, read the secrets of the Wood Folk? There is no space here to answer, + to describe the long training, even if one could explain perfectly what is + more or less unconscious. I would only suggest that perhaps the real + reason why we see so little in the woods is the way we go through them—talking, + laughing, rustling, smashing twigs, disturbing the peace of the solitudes + by what must seem strange and uncouth noises to the little wild creatures. + They, on the other hand, slip with noiseless feet through their native + coverts, shy, silent, listening, more concerned to hear than to be heard, + loving the silence, hating noise and fearing it, as they fear and hate + their natural enemies. + </p> + <p> + We would not feel comfortable if a big barbarian came into our quiet home, + broke the door down, whacked his war-club on the furniture, and whooped + his battle yell. We could hardly be natural under the circumstances. Our + true dispositions would hide themselves. We might even vacate the house + bodily. Just so Wood Folk. Only as you copy their ways can you expect to + share their life and their secrets. And it is astonishing how little the + shyest of them fears you, if you but keep silence and avoid all + excitement, even of feeling; for they understand your feeling quite as + much as your action. + </p> + <p> + A dog knows when you are afraid of him; when you are hostile; when + friendly. So does a bear. Lose your nerve, and the horse you are riding + goes to pieces instantly. Bubble over with suppressed excitement, and the + deer yonder, stepping daintily down the bank to your canoe in the water + grasses, will stamp and snort and bound away without ever knowing what + startled him. But be quiet, friendly, peace-possessed in the same place, + and the deer, even after discovering you, will draw near and show his + curiosity in twenty pretty ways ere he trots away, looking back over his + shoulder for your last message. Then be generous—show him the flash + of a looking-glass, the flutter of a bright handkerchief, a tin whistle, + or any other little kickshaw that the remembrance of a boy's pocket may + suggest—and the chances are that he will come back again, finding + curiosity so richly rewarded. + </p> + <p> + That is another point to remember: all the Wood Folk are more curious + about you than you are about them. Sit down quietly in the woods anywhere, + and your coming will occasion the same stir that a stranger makes in a New + England hill town. Control your curiosity, and soon their curiosity gets + beyond control; they must come to find out who you are and what you are + doing. Then you have the advantage; for, while their curiosity is being + satisfied, they forget fear and show you many curious bits of their life + that you will never discover otherwise. + </p> + <p> + As to the source of these sketches, it is the same as that of the others + years of quiet observation in the woods and fields, and some old notebooks + which hold the records of summer and winter camps in the great wilderness. + </p> + <p> + My kind publishers announced, some time ago, a table of contents, which + included chapters on jay and fish-hawk, panther, and musquash, and a + certain savage old bull moose that once took up his abode too near my camp + for comfort. My only excuse for their non-appearance is that my little + book was full before their turn came. They will find their place, I trust, + in another volume presently. + </p> + <p> + STAMFORD, CONN., June, 1901. Wm. J. LONG. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>SECRETS OF THE WOODS</b> </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> A WILDERNESS BYWAY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> FOLLOWING THE DEER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> STILL HUNTING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> WINTER TRAILS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> SNOW BOUND </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_GLOS"> GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + SECRETS OF THE WOODS + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE + </h2> + <p> + Little Tookhees the wood mouse, the 'Fraid One, as Simmo calls him, always + makes two appearances when you squeak to bring him out. First, after much + peeking, he runs out of his tunnel; sits up once on his hind legs; rubs + his eyes with his paws; looks up for the owl, and behind him for the fox, + and straight ahead at the tent where the man lives; then he dives back + headlong into his tunnel with a rustle of leaves and a frightened whistle, + as if Kupkawis the little owl had seen him. That is to reassure himself. + In a moment he comes back softly to see what kind of crumbs you have given + him. + </p> + <p> + No wonder Tookhees is so timid, for there is no place in earth or air or + water, outside his own little doorway under the mossy stone, where he is + safe. Above him the owls watch by night and the hawks by day; around him + not a prowler of the wilderness, from Mooween the bear down through a + score of gradations, to Kagax the bloodthirsty little weasel, but will + sniff under every old log in the hope of finding a wood mouse; and if he + takes a swim, as he is fond of doing, not a big trout in the river but + leaves his eddy to rush at the tiny ripple holding bravely across the + current. So, with all these enemies waiting to catch him the moment he + ventures out, Tookhees must needs make one or two false starts in order to + find out where the coast is clear. + </p> + <p> + That is why he always dodges back after his first appearance; why he gives + you two or three swift glimpses of himself, now here, now there, before + coming out into the light. He knows his enemies are so hungry, so afraid + he will get away or that somebody else will catch him, that they jump for + him the moment he shows a whisker. So eager are they for his flesh, and so + sure, after missing him, that the swoop of wings or the snap of red jaws + has scared him into permanent hiding, that they pass on to other trails. + And when a prowler, watching from behind a stump, sees Tookhees flash out + of sight and hears his startled squeak, he thinks naturally that the keen + little eyes have seen the tail, which he forgot to curl close enough, and + so sneaks away as if ashamed of himself. Not even the fox, whose patience + is without end, has learned the wisdom of waiting for Tookhees' second + appearance. And that is the salvation of the little 'Fraid One. + </p> + <p> + From all these enemies Tookhees has one refuge, the little arched nest + beyond the pretty doorway under the mossy stone. Most of his enemies can + dig, to be sure, but his tunnel winds about in such a way that they never + can tell from the looks of his doorway where it leads to; and there are no + snakes in the wilderness to follow and find out. Occasionally I have seen + where Mooween the bear has turned the stone over and clawed the earth + beneath; but there is generally a tough root in the way, and Mooween + concludes that he is taking too much trouble for so small a mouthful, and + shuffles off to the log where the red ants live. + </p> + <p> + On his journeys through the woods Tookhees never forgets the dangerous + possibilities. His progress is a series of jerks, and whisks, and jumps, + and hidings. He leaves his doorway, after much watching, and shoots like a + minnow across the moss to an upturned root. There he sits up and listens, + rubbing his whiskers nervously. Then he glides along the root for a couple + of feet, drops to the ground and disappears. He is hiding there under a + dead leaf. A moment of stillness and he jumps like a jack-in-abox. Now he + is sitting on the leaf that covered him, rubbing his whiskers again, + looking back over his trail as if he heard footsteps behind him. Then + another nervous dash, a squeak which proclaims at once his escape, and his + arrival, and he vanishes under the old moss-grown log where his fellows + live, a whole colony of them. + </p> + <p> + All these things, and many more, I discovered the first season that I + began to study the wild things that lived within sight of my tent. I had + been making long excursions after bear and beaver, following on wild-goose + chases after Old Whitehead the eagle and Kakagos the wild woods raven that + always escaped me, only to find that within the warm circle of my + camp-fire little wild folk were hiding whose lives were more unknown and + quite as interesting as the greater creatures I had been following. + </p> + <p> + One day, as I returned quietly to camp, I saw Simmo quite lost in watching + something near my tent. He stood beside a great birch tree, one hand + resting against the bark that he would claim next winter for his new + canoe; the other hand still grasped his axe, which he had picked up a + moment before to quicken the tempo of the bean kettle's song. His dark + face peered behind the tree with a kind of childlike intensity written all + over it. + </p> + <p> + I stole nearer without his hearing me; but I could see nothing. The woods + were all still. Killooleet was dozing by his nest; the chickadees had + vanished, knowing that it was not meal time; and Meeko the red squirrel + had been made to jump from the fir top to the ground so often that now he + kept sullenly to his own hemlock across the island, nursing his sore feet + and scolding like a fury whenever I approached. Still Simmo watched, as if + a bear were approaching his bait, till I whispered, "Quiee, Simmo, what is + it?" + </p> + <p> + "Nodwar k'chee Toquis, I see little 'Fraid One'" he said, unconsciously + dropping into his own dialect, which is the softest speech in the world, + so soft that wild things are not disturbed when they hear it, thinking it + only a louder sough of the pines or a softer tunking of ripples on the + rocks.—"O bah cosh, see! He wash-um face in yo lil cup." And when I + tiptoed to his side, there was Tookhees sitting on the rim of my drinking + cup, in which I had left a new leader to soak for the evening's fishing, + scrubbing his face diligently, like a boy who is watched from behind to + see that he slights not his ears or his neck. + </p> + <p> + Remembering my own boyhood on cold mornings, I looked behind him to see if + he also were under compulsion, but there was no other mouse in sight. He + would scoop up a double handful of water in his paws, rub it rapidly up + over nose and eyes, and then behind his ears, on the spots that wake you + up quickest when you are sleepy. Then another scoop of water, and another + vigorous rub, ending behind his ears as before. + </p> + <p> + Simmo was full of wonder, for an Indian notices few things in the woods + beside those that pertain to his trapping and hunting; and to see a mouse + wash his face was as incomprehensible to him as to see me read a book. But + all wood mice are very cleanly; they have none of the strong odors of our + house mice. Afterwards, while getting acquainted, I saw him wash many + times in the plate of water that I kept filled near his den; but he never + washed more than his face and the sensitive spot behind his ears. + Sometimes, however, when I have seen him swimming in the lake or river, I + have wondered whether he were going on a journey, or just bathing for the + love of it, as he washed his face in my cup. + </p> + <p> + I left the cup where it was and spread a feast for the little guest, + cracker crumbs and a bit of candle end. In the morning they were gone, the + signs of several mice telling plainly who had been called in from the + wilderness byways. That was the introduction of man to beast. Soon they + came regularly. I had only to scatter crumbs and squeak a few times like a + mouse, when little streaks and flashes would appear on the moss or among + the faded gold tapestries of old birch leaves, and the little wild things + would come to my table, their eyes shining like jet, their tiny paws + lifted to rub their whiskers or to shield themselves from the fear under + which they lived continually. + </p> + <p> + They were not all alike—quite the contrary. One, the same who had + washed in my cup, was gray and old, and wise from much dodging of enemies. + His left ear was split from a fight, or an owl's claw, probably, that just + missed him as he dodged under a root. He was at once the shyest and + boldest of the lot. For a day or two he came with marvelous stealth, + making use of every dead leaf and root tangle to hide his approach, and + shooting across the open spaces so quickly that one knew not what had + happened—just a dun streak which ended in nothing. And the brown + leaf gave no sign of what it sheltered. But once assured of his ground, he + came boldly. This great man-creature, with his face close to the table, + perfectly still but for his eyes, with a hand that moved gently if it + moved at all, was not to be feared—that Tookhees felt instinctively. + And this strange fire with hungry odors, and the white tent, and the + comings and goings of men who were masters of the woods kept fox and lynx + and owl far away—that he learned after a day or two. Only the mink, + who crept in at night to steal the man's fish, was to be feared. So + Tookhees presently gave up his nocturnal habits and came out boldly into + the sunlight. Ordinarily the little creatures come out in the dusk, when + their quick movements are hidden among the shadows that creep and quiver. + But with fear gone, they are only too glad to run about in the daylight, + especially when good things to eat are calling them. + </p> + <p> + Besides the veteran there was a little mother-mouse, whose tiny gray + jacket was still big enough to cover a wonderful mother love, as I + afterwards found out. She never ate at my table, but carried her fare away + into hiding, not to feed her little ones-they were, too small as yet—but + thinking in some dumb way, behind the bright little eyes, that they needed + her and that her life must be spared with greater precaution for their + sakes. She would steal timidly to my table, always appearing from under a + gray shred of bark on a fallen birch log, following the same path, first + to a mossy stone, then to a dark hole under a root, then to a low brake, + and along the underside of a billet of wood to the mouse table. There she + would stuff both cheeks hurriedly, till they bulged as if she had + toothache, and steal away by the same path, disappearing at last under the + shred of gray bark. + </p> + <p> + For a long time it puzzled me to find her nest, which I knew could not be + far away. It was not in the birch log where she disappeared—that was + hollow the whole length—nor was it anywhere beneath it. Some + distance away was a large stone, half covered by the green moss which + reached up from every side. The most careful search here had failed to + discover any trace of Tookhees' doorway; so one day when the wind blew + half a gale and I was going out on the lake alone, I picked up this stone + to put in the bow of my canoe. That was to steady the little craft by + bringing her nose down to grip the water. Then the secret was out, and + there it was in a little dome of dried grass among some spruce roots under + the stone. + </p> + <p> + The mother was away foraging, but a faint sibilant squeaking within the + dome told me that the little ones were there, and hungry as usual. As I + watched there was a swift movement in a tunnel among the roots, and the + mother-mouse came rushing back. She paused a moment, lifting her forepaws + against a root to sniff what danger threatened. Then she saw my face + bending over the opening—Et tu Brute! and she darted into the nest. + In a moment she was out again and disappeared into her tunnel, running + swiftly with her little ones hanging to her sides by a grip that could not + be shaken,—all but one, a delicate pink creature that one could hide + in a thimble, and that snuggled down in the darkest corner of my hand + confidently. + </p> + <p> + It was ten minutes before the little mother came back, looking anxiously + for the lost baby. When she found him safe in his own nest, with the man's + face still watching, she was half reassured; but when she threw herself + down and the little one began to drink, she grew fearful again and ran + away into the tunnel, the little one clinging to her side, this time + securely. + </p> + <p> + I put the stone back and gathered the moss carefully about it. In a few + days Mother Mouse was again at my table. I stole away to the stone, put my + ear close to it, and heard with immense satisfaction tiny squeaks, which + told me that the house was again occupied. Then I watched to find the path + by which Mother Mouse came to her own. When her cheeks were full, she + disappeared under the shred of bark by her usual route. That led into the + hollow center of the birch log, which she followed to the end, where she + paused a moment, eyes, ears, and nostrils busy; then she jumped to a + tangle of roots and dead leaves, beneath which was a tunnel that led, deep + down under the moss, straight to her nest beneath the stone. + </p> + <p> + Besides these older mice, there were five or six smaller ones, all shy + save one, who from the first showed not the slightest fear but came + straight to my hand, ate his crumbs, and went up my sleeve, and proceeded + to make himself a warm nest there by nibbling wool from my flannel shirt. + </p> + <p> + In strong contrast to this little fellow was another who knew too well + what fear meant. He belonged to another tribe that had not yet grown + accustomed to man's ways. I learned too late how careful one must be in + handling the little creatures that live continually in the land where fear + reigns. + </p> + <p> + A little way behind my tent was a great fallen log, mouldy and moss-grown, + with twin-flowers shaking their bells along its length, under which lived + a whole colony of wood mice. They ate the crumbs that I placed by the log; + but they could never be tolled to my table, whether because they had no + split-eared old veteran to spy out the man's ways, or because my own + colony drove them away, I could never find out. One day I saw Tookhees + dive under the big log as I approached, and having nothing more important + to do, I placed one big crumb near his entrance, stretched out in the + moss, hid my hand in a dead brake near the tempting morsel, and squeaked + the call. In a moment Tookhees' nose and eyes appeared in his doorway, his + whiskers twitching nervously as he smelled the candle grease. But he was + suspicious of the big object, or perhaps he smelled the man too and was + afraid, for after much dodging in and out he disappeared altogether. + </p> + <p> + I was wondering how long his hunger would battle with his caution, when I + saw the moss near my bait stir from beneath. A little waving of the moss + blossoms, and Tookhees' nose and eyes appeared out of the ground for an + instant, sniffing in all directions. His little scheme was evident enough + now; he was tunneling for the morsel that he dared not take openly. I + watched with breathless interest as a faint quiver nearer my bait showed + where he was pushing his works. Then the moss stirred cautiously close + beside his objective; a hole opened; the morsel tumbled in, and Tookhees + was gone with his prize. + </p> + <p> + I placed more crumbs from my pocket in the same place, and presently three + or four mice were nibbling them. One sat up close by the dead brake, + holding a bit of bread in his forepaws like a squirrel. The brake stirred + suddenly; before he could jump my hand closed over him, and slipping the + other hand beneath him I held him up to my face to watch him between my + fingers. He made no movement to escape, but only trembled violently. His + legs seemed too weak to support his weight now; he lay down; his eyes + closed. One convulsive twitch and he was dead—dead of fright in a + hand which had not harmed him. + </p> + <p> + It was at this colony, whose members were all strangers to me, that I + learned in a peculiar way of the visiting habits of wood mice, and at the + same time another lesson that I shall not soon forget. For several days I + had been trying every legitimate way in vain to catch a big trout, a + monster of his kind, that lived in an eddy behind a rock up at the inlet. + Trout were scarce in that lake, and in summer the big fish are always lazy + and hard to catch. I was trout hungry most of the time, for the fish that + I caught were small, and few and far between. Several times, however, when + casting from the shore at the inlet for small fish, I had seen swirls in a + great eddy near the farther shore, which told me plainly of big fish + beneath; and one day, when a huge trout rolled half his length out of + water behind my fly, small fry lost all their interest and I promised + myself the joy of feeling my rod bend and tingle beneath the rush of that + big trout if it took all summer. + </p> + <p> + Flies were no use. I offered him a bookful, every variety of shape and + color, at dawn and dusk, without tempting him. I tried grubs, which bass + like, and a frog's leg, which no pickerel can resist, and little frogs, + such as big trout hunt among the lily pads in the twilight,—all + without pleasing him. And then waterbeetles, and a red squirrel's + tail-tip, which makes the best hackle in the world, and kicking + grasshoppers, and a silver spoon with a wicked "gang" of hooks, which I + detest and which, I am thankful to remember, the trout detested also. They + lay there in their big cool eddy, lazily taking what food the stream + brought down to them, giving no heed to frauds of any kind. + </p> + <p> + Then I caught a red-fin in the stream above, hooked it securely, laid it + on a big chip, coiled my line upon it, and set it floating down stream, + the line uncoiling gently behind it as it went. When it reached the eddy I + raised my rod tip; the line straightened; the red-fin plunged overboard, + and a two-pound trout, thinking, no doubt, that the little fellow had been + hiding under the chip, rose for him and took him in. That was the only one + I caught. His struggle disturbed the pool, and the other trout gave no + heed to more red-fins. + </p> + <p> + Then, one morning at daybreak, as I sat on a big rock pondering new baits + and devices, a stir on an alder bush across the stream caught my eye. + Tookhees the wood mouse was there, running over the bush, evidently for + the black catkins which still clung to the tips. As I watched him he fell, + or jumped from his branch into the quiet water below and, after circling + about for a moment, headed bravely across the current. I could just see + his nose as he swam, a rippling wedge against the black water with a + widening letter V trailing out behind him. The current swept him downward; + he touched the edge of the big eddy; there was a swirl, a mighty plunge + beneath, and Tookhees was gone, leaving no trace but a swift circle of + ripples that were swallowed up in the rings and dimples behind the rock.—I + had found what bait the big trout wanted. + </p> + <p> + Hurrying back to camp, I loaded a cartridge lightly with a pinch of dust + shot, spread some crumbs near the big log behind my tent, squeaked the + call a few times, and sat down to wait. "These mice are strangers to me," + I told Conscience, who was protesting a little, "and the woods are full of + them, and I want that trout." + </p> + <p> + In a moment there was a rustle in the mossy doorway and Tookhees appeared. + He darted across the open, seized a crumb in his mouth, sat up on his hind + legs, took the crumb in his paws, and began to eat. I had raised the gun, + thinking he would dodge back a few times before giving me a shot; his + boldness surprised me, but I did not recognize him. Still my eye followed + along the barrels and over the sight to where Tookhees sat eating his + crumb. My finger was pressing the trigger—"O you big butcher," said + Conscience, "think how little he is, and what a big roar your gun will + make! Aren't you ashamed?" + </p> + <p> + "But I want the trout," I protested. + </p> + <p> + "Catch him then, without killing this little harmless thing," said + Conscience sternly. + </p> + <p> + "But he is a stranger to me; I never—" + </p> + <p> + "He is eating your bread and salt," said Conscience. That settled it; but + even as I looked at him over the gun sight, Tookhees finished his crumb, + came to my foot, ran along my leg into my lap, and looked into my face + expectantly. The grizzled coat and the split ear showed the welcome guest + at my table for a week past. He was visiting the stranger colony, as wood + mice are fond of doing, and persuading them by his example that they might + trust me, as he did. More ashamed than if I had been caught potting quail, + I threw away the hateful shell that had almost slain my friend and went + back to camp. + </p> + <p> + There I made a mouse of a bit of muskrat fur, with a piece of my leather + shoestring sewed on for a tail. It served the purpose perfectly, for + within the hour I was gloating over the size and beauty of the big trout + as he stretched his length on the rock beside me. But I lost the fraud at + the next cast, leaving it, with a foot of my leader, in the mouth of a + second trout that rolled up at it the instant it touched his eddy behind + the rock. + </p> + <p> + After that the wood mice were safe so far as I was concerned. Not a trout, + though he were big as a salmon, would ever taste them, unless they chose + to go swimming of their own accord; and I kept their table better supplied + than before. I saw much of their visiting back and forth, and have + understood better what those tunnels mean that one finds in the spring + when the last snows are melting. In a corner of the woods, where the + drifts lay, you will often find a score of tunnels coming in from all + directions to a central chamber. They speak of Tookhees' sociable nature, + of his long visits with his fellows, undisturbed by swoop or snap, when + the packed snow above has swept the summer fear away and made him safe + from hawk and owl and fox and wildcat, and when no open water tempts him + to go swimming where Skooktum the big trout lies waiting, mouse hungry, + under his eddy. + </p> + <p> + The weeks passed all too quickly, as wilderness weeks do, and the sad task + of breaking camp lay just before us. But one thing troubled me—the + little Tookhees, who knew no fear, but tried to make a nest in the sleeve + of my flannel shirt. His simple confidence touched me more than the + curious ways of all the other mice. Every day he came and took his crumbs, + not from the common table, but from my, hand, evidently enjoying its + warmth while he ate, and always getting the choicest morsels. But I knew + that he would be the first one caught by the owl after I left; for it is + fear only that saves the wild things. Occasionally one finds animals of + various kinds in which the instinct of fear is lacking—a frog, a + young partridge, a moose calf—and wonders what golden age that knew + no fear, or what glorious vision of Isaiah in which lion and lamb lie down + together, is here set forth. I have even seen a young black duck, whose + natural disposition is wild as the wilderness itself, that had profited + nothing by his mother's alarms and her constant lessons in hiding, but + came bobbing up to my canoe among the sedges of a wilderness lake, while + his brethren crouched invisible in their coverts of bending rushes, and + his mother flapped wildly off, splashing and quacking and trailing a wing + to draw me away from the little ones. + </p> + <p> + Such an one is generally abandoned by its mother, or else is the first to + fall in the battle with the strong before she gives him up as hopeless. + Little Tookhees evidently belonged to this class, so before leaving I + undertook the task of teaching him fear, which had evidently been too much + for Nature and his own mother. I pinched him a few times, hooting like an + owl as I did so,—a startling process, which sent the other mice + diving like brown streaks to cover. Then I waved a branch over him, like a + hawk's wing, at the same time flipping him end over end, shaking him up + terribly. Then again, when he appeared with a new light dawning in his + eyes, the light of fear, I would set a stick to wiggling like a creeping + fox among the ferns and switch him sharply with a hemlock tip. It was a + hard lesson, but he learned it after a few days. And before I finished the + teaching, not a mouse would come to my table, no matter how persuasively I + squeaked. They would dart about in the twilight as of yore, but the first + whish of my stick sent them all back to cover on the instant. + </p> + <p> + That was their stern yet, practical preparation for the robber horde that + would soon be prowling over my camping ground. Then a stealthy movement + among the ferns or the sweep of a shadow among the twilight shadows would + mean a very different thing from wriggling stick and waving hemlock tip. + Snap and swoop, and teeth and claws,—jump for your life and find out + afterwards. That is the rule for a wise wood mouse. So I said good-by, and + left them to take care of themselves in the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A WILDERNESS BYWAY + </h2> + <p> + One day in the wilderness, as my canoe was sweeping down a beautiful + stretch of river, I noticed a little path leading through the water grass, + at right angles to the stream's course. Swinging my canoe up to it, I + found what seemed to be a landing place for the wood folk on their river + journeyings. The sedges, which stood thickly all about, were here bent + inward, making a shiny green channel from the river. + </p> + <p> + On the muddy shore were many tracks of mink and muskrat and otter. Here a + big moose had stood drinking; and there a beaver had cut the grass and + made a little mud pie, in the middle of which was a bit of musk scenting + the whole neighborhood. It was done last night, for the marks of his fore + paws still showed plainly where he had patted his pie smooth ere he went + away. + </p> + <p> + But the spot was more than a landing place; a path went up the bank into + the woods, as faint as the green waterway among the sedges. Tall ferns + bent over to hide it; rank grasses that had been softly brushed aside + tried their best to look natural; the alders waved their branches thickly, + saying: There is no way here. But there it was, a path for the wood folk. + And when I followed it into the shade and silence of the woods, the first + mossy log that lay across it was worn smooth by the passage of many little + feet. + </p> + <p> + As I came back, Simmo's canoe glided into sight and I waved him to shore. + The light birch swung up beside mine, a deep water-dimple just under the + curl of its bow, and a musical ripple like the gurgle of water by a mossy + stone—that was the only sound. + </p> + <p> + "What means this path, Simmo?" + </p> + <p> + His keen eyes took in everything at a glance, the wavy waterway, the + tracks, the faint path to the alders. There was a look of surprise in his + face that I had blundered onto a discovery which he had looked for many + times in vain, his traps on his back. + </p> + <p> + "Das a portash," he said simply. + </p> + <p> + "A portage! But who made a portage here?" + </p> + <p> + "Well, Musquash he prob'ly make-um first. Den beaver, den h'otter, den + everybody in hurry he make-um. You see, river make big bend here. Portash + go 'cross; save time, jus' same Indian portash." + </p> + <p> + That was the first of a dozen such paths that I have since found cutting + across the bends of wilderness rivers,—the wood folk's way of saving + time on a journey. I left Simmo to go on down the river, while I followed + the little byway curiously. There is nothing more fascinating in the woods + than to go on the track of the wild things and see what they have been + doing. + </p> + <p> + But alas! mine were not the first human feet that had taken the journey. + Halfway across, at a point where the path ran over a little brook, I found + a deadfall set squarely in the way of unwary feet. It was different from + any I had ever seen, and was made like this: {drawing omitted} + </p> + <p> + That tiny stick (trigger, the trappers call it) with its end resting in + air three inches above the bed log, just the right height so that a beaver + or an otter would naturally put his foot on it in crossing, looks innocent + enough. But if you look sharply you will see that if it were pressed down + ever so little it would instantly release the bent stick that holds the + fall-log, and bring the deadly thing down with crushing force across the + back of any animal beneath. + </p> + <p> + Such are the pitfalls that lie athwart the way of Keeonekh the otter, when + he goes a-courting and uses Musquash's portage to shorten his journey. + </p> + <p> + At the other end of the portage I waited for Simmo to come round the bend, + and took him back to see the work, denouncing the heartless carelessness + of the trapper who had gone away in the spring and left an unsprung + deadfall as a menace to the wild things. At the first glance he pronounced + it an otter trap. Then the fear and wonder swept into his face, and the + questions into mine. + </p> + <p> + "Das Noel Waby's trap. Nobody else make-um tukpeel stick like dat," he + said at last. + </p> + <p> + Then I understood. Noel Waby had gone up river trapping in the spring, and + had never come back; nor any word to tell how death met him. + </p> + <p> + I stooped down to examine the trap with greater interest. On the underside + of the fall-log I found some long hairs still clinging in the crevices of + the rough bark. They belonged to the outer waterproof coat with which + Keeonekh keeps his fur dry. One otter at least had been caught here, and + the trap reset. But some sense of danger, some old scent of blood or + subtle warning clung to the spot, and no other creature had crossed the + bed log, though hundreds must have passed that way since the old Indian + reset his trap, and strode away with the dead otter across his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + What was it in the air? What sense of fear brooded here and whispered in + the alder leaves and tinkled in the brook? Simmo grew uneasy and hurried + away. He was like the wood folk. But I sat down on a great log that the + spring floods had driven in through the alders to feel the meaning of the + place, if possible, and to have the vast sweet solitude all to myself for + a little while. + </p> + <p> + A faint stir on my left, and another! Then up the path, twisting and + gliding, came Keeonekh, the first otter that I had ever seen in the + wilderness. Where the sun flickered in through the alder leaves it glinted + brightly on the shiny puter hairs of his rough coat. As he went his nose + worked constantly, going far ahead of his bright little eyes to tell him + what was in the path. + </p> + <p> + I was sitting very still, some distance to one side, and he did not see + me. Near old Noel's deadfall he paused an instant with raised head, in the + curious snake-like attitude that all the weasels take when watching. Then + he glided round the end of the trap, and disappeared down the portage. + </p> + <p> + When he was gone I stole out to examine his tracks. Then I noticed for the + first time that the old path near the deadfall was getting moss-grown; a + faint new path began to show among the alders. Some warning was there in + the trap, and with cunning instinct all the wood dwellers turned aside, + giving a wide berth to what they felt was dangerous but could not + understand. The new path joined the old again, beyond the brook, and + followed it straight to the river. + </p> + <p> + Again I examined the deadfall carefully, but of course I found nothing. + That is a matter of instinct, not of eyes and ears, and it is past finding + out. Then I went away for good, after driving a ring of stout stakes all + about the trap to keep heedless little feet out of it. But I left it + unsprung, just as it was, a rude tribute of remembrance to Keeonekh and + the lost Indian. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN + </h2> + <p> + Wherever you find Keeonekh the otter you find three other things: + wildness, beauty, and running water that no winter can freeze. There is + also good fishing, but that will profit you little; for after Keeonekh has + harried a pool it is useless to cast your fly or minnow there. The largest + fish has disappeared—you will find his bones and a fin or two on the + ice or the nearest bank—and the little fish are still in hiding + after their fright. + </p> + <p> + Conversely, wherever you find the three elements mentioned you will also + find Keeonekh, if your eyes know how to read the signs aright. Even in + places near the towns, where no otter has been seen for generations, they + are still to be found leading their shy wild life, so familiar with every + sight and sound of danger that no eye of the many that pass by ever sees + them. No animal has been more persistently trapped and hunted for the + valuable fur that he bears; but Keeonekh is hard to catch and quick to + learn. When a family have all been caught or driven away from a favorite + stream, another otter speedily finds the spot in some of his winter + wanderings after better fishing, and, knowing well from the signs that + others of his race have paid the sad penalty for heedlessness, he settles + down there with greater watchfulness, and enjoys his fisherman's luck. + </p> + <p> + In the spring he brings a mate to share his rich living. Soon a family of + young otters go a-fishing in the best pools and explore the stream for + miles up and down. But so shy and wild and quick to hide are they that the + trout fishermen who follow the river, and the ice fishermen who set their + tilt-ups in the pond below, and the children who gather cowslips in the + spring have no suspicion that the original proprietors of the stream are + still on the spot, jealously watching and resenting every intrusion. + </p> + <p> + Occasionally the wood choppers cross an unknown trail in the snow, a heavy + trail, with long, sliding, down-hill plunges which look as if a log had + been dragged along. But they too go their way, wondering a bit at the + queer things that live in the woods, but not understanding the plain + records that the queer things leave behind them. Did they but follow far + enough they would find the end of the trail in open water, and on the ice + beyond the signs of Keeonekh's fishing. + </p> + <p> + I remember one otter family whose den I found, when a boy, on a stream + between two ponds within three miles of the town house. Yet the oldest + hunter could barely remember the time when the last otter had been caught + or seen in the county. + </p> + <p> + I was sitting very still in the bushes on the bank, one day in spring, + watching for a wood duck. Wood duck lived there, but the cover was so + thick that I could never surprise them. They always heard me coming and + were off, giving me only vanishing glimpses among the trees, or else + quietly hiding until I went by. So the only way to see them—a + beautiful sight they were—was to sit still in hiding, for hours if + need be, until they came gliding by, all unconscious of the watcher. + </p> + <p> + As I waited a large animal came swiftly up stream, just his head visible, + with a long tail trailing behind. He was swimming powerfully, steadily, + straight as a string; but, as I noted with wonder, he made no ripple + whatever, sliding through the water as if greased from nose to tail. Just + above me he dived, and I did not see him again, though I watched up and + down stream breathlessly for him to reappear. + </p> + <p> + I had never seen such an animal before, but I knew somehow that it was an + otter, and I drew back into better hiding with the hope of seeing the rare + creature again. Presently another otter appeared, coming up stream and + disappearing in exactly the same way as the first. But though I stayed all + the afternoon I saw nothing more. + </p> + <p> + After that I haunted the spot every time I could get away, creeping down + to the river bank and lying in hiding hours long at a stretch; for I knew + now that the otters lived there, and they gave me many glimpses of a life + I had never seen before. + </p> + <p> + Soon I found their den. It was in a bank opposite my hiding place, and the + entrance was among the roots of a great tree, under water, where no one + could have possibly found it if the otters had not themselves shown the + way. In their approach they always dived while yet well out in the stream, + and so entered their door unseen. When they came out they were quite as + careful, always swimming some distance under water before coming to the + surface. It was several days before my eye could trace surely the faint + undulation of the water above them, and so follow their course to their + doorway. Had not the water been shallow I should never have found it; for + they are the most wonderful of swimmers, making no ripple on the surface, + and not half the disturbance below it that a fish of the same weight + makes. + </p> + <p> + Those were among the happiest watching hours that I have ever spent in the + woods. The game was so large, so utterly unexpected; and I had the + wonderful discovery all to myself. Not one of the half dozen boys and men + who occasionally, when the fever seized them, trapped muskrat in the big + meadow, a mile below, or the rare mink that hunted frogs in the brook, had + any suspicion that such splendid fur was to be had for the hunting. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes a whole afternoon would go slowly by, filled with the sounds and + sweet smells of the woods, and not a ripple would break the dimples of the + stream before me. But when, one late afternoon, just as the pines across + the stream began to darken against the western light, a string of silver + bubbles shot across the stream and a big otter rose to the surface with a + pickerel in his mouth, all the watching that had not well repaid itself + was swept out of the reckoning. He came swiftly towards me, put his fore + paws against the bank, gave a wriggling jump,—and there he was, not + twenty feet away, holding the pickerel down with his fore paws, his back + arched like a frightened cat, and a tiny stream of water trickling down + from the tip of his heavy pointed tail, as he ate his fish with immense + relish. + </p> + <p> + Years afterward, hundreds of miles away on the Dungarvon, in the heart of + the wilderness, every detail of the scene came back to me again. I was + standing on snowshoes, looking out over the frozen river, when Keeonekh + appeared in an open pool with a trout in his mouth. He broke his way, with + a clattering tinkle of winter bells, through the thin edge of ice, put his + paws against the heavy snow ice, threw himself out with the same wriggling + jump, and ate with his back arched—just as I had seen him years + before. + </p> + <p> + This curious way of eating is, I think, characteristic of all otters; + certainly of those that I have been fortunate enough to see. Why they do + it is more than I know; but it must be uncomfortable for every mouthful—full + of fish bones, too—to slide uphill to one's stomach. Perhaps it is + mere habit, which shows in the arched backs of all the weasel family. + Perhaps it is to frighten any enemy that may approach unawares while + Keeonekh is eating, just as an owl, when feeding on the ground, bristles + up all his feathers so as to look as big as possible. + </p> + <p> + But my first otter was too keen-scented to remain long so near a concealed + enemy. Suddenly he stopped eating and turned his head in my direction. I + could see his nostrils twitching as the wind gave him its message. Then he + left his fish, glided into the stream as noiselessly as the brook entered + it below him, and disappeared without leaving a single wavelet to show + where he had gone down. + </p> + <p> + When the young otters appeared, there was one of the most interesting + lessons to be seen in the woods. Though Keeonekh loves the water and lives + in it more than half the time, his little ones are afraid of it as so many + kittens. If left to themselves they would undoubtedly go off for a hunting + life, following the old family instinct; for fishing is an acquired habit + of the otters, and so the fishing instinct cannot yet be transmitted to + the little ones. That will take many generations. Meanwhile the little + Keeonekhs must be taught to swim. + </p> + <p> + One day the mother-otter appeared on the bank among the roots of the great + tree under which was their secret doorway. That was surprising, for up to + this time both otters had always approached it from the river, and were + never seen on the bank near their den. She appeared to be digging, but was + immensely cautious about it, looking, listening, sniffing continually. I + had never gone near the place for fear of frightening them away; and it + was months afterward, when the den was deserted, before I examined it to + understand just what she was doing. Then I found that she had made another + doorway from her den leading out to the bank. She had selected the spot + with wonderful cunning,—a hollow under a great root that would never + be noticed,—and she dug from inside, carrying the earth down to the + river bottom, so that there should be nothing about the tree to indicate + the haunt of an animal. + </p> + <p> + Long afterwards, when I had grown better acquainted with Keeonekh's ways + from much watching, I understood the meaning of all this. She was simply + making a safe way out and in for the little ones, who were afraid of the + water. Had she taken or driven them out of her own entrance under the + river, they might easily have drowned ere they reached the surface. + </p> + <p> + When the entrance was all ready she disappeared, but I have no doubt she + was just inside, watching to be sure the coast was clear. Slowly her head + and neck appeared till they showed clear of the black roots. She turned + her nose up stream—nothing in the wind. Eyes and ears searched below—nothing + harmful there. Then she came out, and after her toddled two little otters, + full of wonder at the big bright world, full of fear at the river. + </p> + <p> + There was no play at first, only wonder and investigation. Caution was + born in them; they put their little feet down as if treading on eggs, and + they sniffed every bush before going behind it. And the old mother noted + their cunning with satisfaction while her own nose and ears watched far + away. + </p> + <p> + The outing was all too short; some uneasiness was in the air down stream. + Suddenly she rose from where she was lying, and the little ones, as if + commanded, tumbled back into the den. In a moment she had glided after + them, and the bank was deserted. It was fully ten minutes before my + untrained cars caught faint sounds, which were not of the woods, coming up + stream; and longer than that before two men with fish poles appeared, + making their slow way to the pond above. They passed almost over the den + and disappeared, all unconscious of beast or man that wished them + elsewhere, resenting their noisy passage through the solitudes. But the + otters did not come out again, though I watched till nearly dark. + </p> + <p> + It was a week before I saw them again, and some good teaching had + evidently been done in the meantime; for all fear of the river was gone. + They toddled out as before, at the same hour in the afternoon, and went + straight to the bank. There the mother lay down, and the little ones, as + if enjoying the frolic, clambered up to her back. Whereupon she slid into + the stream and swam slowly about with the little Keeonekhs clinging to her + desperately, as if humpty-dumpty had been played on them before, and might + be repeated any moment. + </p> + <p> + I understood their air of anxious expectation a moment later, when Mother + Otter dived like a flash from under them, leaving them to make their own + way in the water. They began to swim naturally enough, but the fear of the + new element was still upon them. The moment old Mother Otter appeared they + made for her whimpering, but she dived again and again, or moved slowly + away, and so kept them swimming. After a little they seemed to tire and + lose courage. Her eyes saw it quicker than mine, and she glided between + them. Both little ones turned in at the same instant and found a resting + place on her back. So she brought them carefully to land again, and in a + few moments they were all rolling about in the dry leaves like so many + puppies. + </p> + <p> + I must confess here that, besides the boy's wonder in watching the wild + things, another interest brought me to the river bank and kept me studying + Keeonekh's ways. Father Otter was a big fellow,—enormous he seemed + to me, thinking of my mink skins,—and occasionally, when his rich + coat glinted in the sunshine, I was thinking what a famous cap it would + make for the winter woods, or for coasting on moonshiny nights. More often + I was thinking what famous things a boy could buy for the fourteen + dollars, at least, which his pelt would bring in the open market. + </p> + <p> + The first Saturday after I saw him I prepared a board, ten times bigger + than a mink-stretcher, and tapered one end to a round point, and split it, + and made a wedge, and smoothed it all down, and hid it away—to + stretch the big otter's skin upon when I should catch him. + </p> + <p> + When November came, and fur was prime, I carried down a half-bushel basket + of heads and stuff from the fish market, and piled them up temptingly on + the bank, above a little water path, in a lonely spot by the river. At the + lower end of the path, where it came out of the water, I set a trap, my + biggest one, with a famous grip for skunks and woodchucks. But the fish + rotted away, as did also another basketful in another place. Whatever was + eaten went to the crows and mink. Keeonekh disdained it. + </p> + <p> + Then I set the trap in some water (to kill the smell of it) on a game path + among some swamp alders, at a bend of the river where nobody ever came and + where I had found Keeonekh's tracks. The next night he walked into it. But + the trap that was sure grip for woodchucks was a plaything for Keeonekh's + strength. He wrenched his foot out of it, leaving me only a few glistening + hairs—which was all I ever caught of him. + </p> + <p> + Years afterward, when I found old Noel's trap on Keeonekh's portage, I + asked Simmo why no bait had been used. + </p> + <p> + "No good use-um bait," he said, "Keeonekh like-um fresh fish, an' catch-um + self all he want." And that is true. Except in starvation times, when even + the pools are frozen, or the fish die from one of their mysterious + epidemics, Keeonekh turns up his nose at any bait. If a bit of castor is + put in a split stick, he will turn aside, like all the fur-bearers, to see + what this strange smell is. But if you would toll him with a bait, you + must fasten a fish in the water in such a way that it seems alive as the + current wiggles it, else Keeonekh will never think it worthy of his + catching. + </p> + <p> + The den in the river bank was never disturbed, and the following year + another litter was raised there. With characteristic cunning—a + cunning which grows keener and keener in the neighborhood of civilization—the + mother-otter filled up the land entrance among the roots with earth and + driftweed, using only the doorway under water until it was time for the + cubs to come out into the world again. + </p> + <p> + Of all the creatures of the wilderness Keeonekh is the most richly gifted, + and his ways, could we but search them out, would furnish a most + interesting chapter. Every journey he takes, whether by land or water, is + full of unknown traits and tricks; but unfortunately no one ever sees him + doing things, and most of his ways are yet to be found out. You see a head + holding swiftly across a wilderness lake, or coming to meet your canoe on + the streams; then, as you follow eagerly, a swirl and he is gone. When he + comes up again he will watch you so much more keenly than you can possibly + watch him that you learn little about him, except how shy he is. Even the + trappers who make a business of catching him, and with whom I have often + talked, know almost nothing of Keeonekh, except where to set their traps + for him living and how to care for his skin when he is dead. Once I saw + him fishing in a curious way. It was winter, on a wilderness stream + flowing into the Dugarvon. There had been a fall of dry snow that still + lay deep and powdery over all the woods, too light to settle or crust. At + every step one had to lift a shovelful of the stuff on the point of his + snowshoe; and I was tired out, following some caribou that wandered like + plover in the rain. + </p> + <p> + Just below me was a deep open pool surrounded by double fringes of ice. + Early in the winter, while the stream was higher, the white ice had formed + thickly on the river wherever the current was not too swift for freezing. + Then the stream fell, and a shelf of new black ice formed at the water's + level, eighteen inches or more below the first ice, some of which still + clung to the banks, reaching out in places two or three feet and forming + dark caverns with the ice below. Both shelves dipped towards the water, + forming a gentle incline all about the edges of the open places. + </p> + <p> + A string of silver bubbles shooting across the black pool at my feet + roused me out of a drowsy weariness. There it was again, a rippling wave + across the pool, which rose to the surface a moment later in a hundred + bubbles, tinkling like tiny bells as they broke in the keen air. Two or + three times I saw it with growing wonder. Then something stirred under the + shelf of ice across the pool. An otter slid into the water; the rippling + wave shot across again; the bubbles broke at the surface; and I knew that + he was sitting under the white ice below me, not twenty feet away. + </p> + <p> + A whole family of otters, three or four of them, were fishing there at my + feet in utter unconsciousness. The discovery took my breath away. Every + little while the bubbles would shoot across from my side, and watching + sharply I would see Keeonekh slide out upon the lower shelf of ice on the + other side and crouch there in the gloom, with back humped against the ice + above him, eating his catch. The fish they caught were all small + evidently, for after a few minutes he would throw himself flat on the ice, + slide down the incline into the water, making no splash or disturbance as + he entered, and the string of bubbles would shoot across to my side again. + </p> + <p> + For a full hour I watched them breathlessly, marveling at their skill. A + small fish is nimble game to follow and catch in his own element. But at + every slide Keeonekh did it. Sometimes the rippling wave would shoot all + over the pool, and the bubbles break in a wild tangle as the fish darted + and doubled below, with the otter after him. But it always ended the same + way. Keeonekh would slide out upon the ice shelf, and hump his back, and + begin to eat almost before the last bubble had tinkled behind him. + </p> + <p> + Curiously enough, the rule of the salmon fishermen prevailed here in the + wilderness: no two rods shall whip the same pool at the same time. I would + see an otter lying ready on the ice, evidently waiting for the chase to + end. Then, as another otter slid out beside him with his fish, in he would + go like a flash and take his turn. For a while the pool was a lively + place; the bubbles had no rest. Then the plunges grew fewer and fewer, and + the otters all disappeared into the ice caverns. + </p> + <p> + What became of them I could not make out; and I was too chilled to watch + longer. Above and below the pool the stream was frozen for a distance; + then there was more open water and more fishing. Whether they followed + along the bank under cover of the ice to other pools, or simply slept + where they were till hungry again, I never found out. Certainly they had + taken up their abode in an ideal spot, and would not leave it willingly. + The open pools gave excellent fishing, and the upper ice shelf protected + them perfectly from all enemies. + </p> + <p> + Once, a week later, I left the caribou and came back to the spot to watch + awhile; but the place was deserted. The black water gurgled and dimpled + across the pool, and slipped away silently under the lower edge of ice + undisturbed by strings of silver bubbles. The ice caverns were all dark + and silent. The mink had stolen the fish heads, and there was no trace + anywhere to show that it was Keeonekh's banquet hall. + </p> + <p> + The swimming power of an otter, which was so evident there in the winter + pool, is one of the most remarkable things in nature. All other animals + and birds, and even the best modeled of modern boats, leave more or less + wake behind them when moving through the water. But Keeonekh leaves no + more trail than a fish. This is partly because he keeps his body well + submerged when swimming, partly because of the strong, deep, even stroke + that drives him forward. Sometimes I have wondered if the outer hairs of + his coat—the waterproof covering that keeps his fur dry, no matter + how long he swims—are not better oiled than in other animals, which + might account for the lack of ripple. I have seen him go down suddenly and + leave absolutely no break in the surface to show where he was. When + sliding also, plunging down a twenty-foot clay bank, he enters the water + with an astonishing lack of noise or disturbance of any kind. + </p> + <p> + In swimming at the surface he seems to use all four feet, like other + animals. But below the surface, when chasing fish, he uses only the + fore-paws. The hind legs then stretch straight out behind and are used, + with the heavy tail, for a great rudder. By this means he turns and + doubles like a flash, following surely the swift dartings of frightened + trout, and beating them by sheer speed and nimbleness. + </p> + <p> + When fishing a pool he always hunts outward from the center, driving the + fish towards the bank, keeping himself within their circlings, and so + having the immense advantage of the shorter line in heading off his game. + The fish are seized as they crouch against the bank for protection, or try + to dart out past him. Large fish are frequently caught from behind as they + lie resting in their spring-holes. So swift and noiseless is his approach + that they are seized before they become aware of danger. + </p> + <p> + This swimming power of Keeonekh is all the more astonishing when one + remembers that he is distinctively a land animal, with none of the special + endowments of the seal, who is his only rival as a fisherman. Nature + undoubtedly intended him to get his living, as the other members of his + large family do, by hunting in the woods, and endowed him accordingly. He + is a strong runner, a good climber, a patient tireless hunter, and his + nose is keen as a brier. With a little practice he could again get his + living by hunting, as his ancestors did. If squirrels and rats and rabbits + were too nimble at first, there are plenty of musquash to be caught, and + he need not stop at a fawn or a sheep, for he is enormously strong, and + the grip of his jaws is not to be loosened. + </p> + <p> + In severe winters, when fish are scarce or his pools frozen over, he takes + to the woods boldly and shows himself a master at hunting craft. But he + likes fish, and likes the water, and for many generations now has been + simply a fisherman, with many of the quiet lovable traits that belong to + fishermen in general. + </p> + <p> + That is one thing to give you instant sympathy for Keeonekh—he is so + different, so far above all other members of his tribe. He is very gentle + by nature, with no trace of the fisher's ferocity or the weasel's + bloodthirstiness. He tames easily, and makes the most docile and + affectionate pet of all the wood folk. He never kills for the sake of + killing, but lives peaceably, so far as he can, with all creatures. And he + stops fishing when he has caught his dinner. He is also most cleanly in + his habits, with no suggestion whatever of the evil odors that cling to + the mink and defile the whole neighborhood of a skunk. One cannot help + wondering whether just going fishing has not wrought all this wonder in + Keeonekh's disposition. If so, 't is a pity that all his tribe do not turn + fishermen. + </p> + <p> + His one enemy among the wood folk, so far as I have observed, is the + beaver. As the latter is also a peaceable animal, it is difficult to + account for the hostility. I have heard or read somewhere that Keeonekh is + fond of young beaver and hunts them occasionally to vary his diet of fish; + but I have never found any evidence in the wilderness to show this. + Instead, I think it is simply a matter of the beaver's dam and pond that + causes the trouble. + </p> + <p> + When the dam is built the beavers often dig a channel around either end to + carry off the surplus water, and so prevent their handiwork being washed + away in a freshet. Then the beavers guard their preserve jealously, + driving away the wood folk that dare to cross their dam or enter their + ponds, especially the musquash, who is apt to burrow and cause them no end + of trouble. But Keeonekh, secure in his strength, holds straight through + the pond, minding his own business and even taking a fish or two in the + deep places near the dam. He delights also in running water, especially in + winter when lakes and streams are mostly frozen, and in his journeyings he + makes use of the open channels that guard the beavers' work. But the + moment the beavers hear a splashing there, or note a disturbance in the + pond where Keeonekh is chasing fish, down they come full of wrath. And + there is generally a desperate fight before the affair is settled. + </p> + <p> + Once, on a little pond, I saw a fierce battle going on out in the middle, + and paddled hastily to find out about it. Two beavers and a big otter were + locked in a death struggle, diving, plunging, throwing themselves out of + water, and snapping at each other's throats. + </p> + <p> + As my canoe halted the otter gripped one of his antagonists and went under + with him. There was a terrible commotion below the surface for a few + moments. When it ended the beaver rolled up dead, and Keeonekh shot up + under the second beaver to repeat the attack. They gripped on the instant, + but the second beaver, an enormous fellow, refused to go under where he + would be at a disadvantage. In my eagerness I let the canoe drift almost + upon them, driving them wildly apart before the common danger. The otter + held on his way up the lake; the beaver turned towards the shore, where I + noticed for the first time a couple of beaver houses. + </p> + <p> + In this case there was no chance for intrusion on Keeonekh's part. He had + probably been attacked when going peaceably about his business through the + lake. + </p> + <p> + It is barely possible, however, that there was an old grievance on the + beavers' part, which they sought to square when they caught Keeonekh on + the lake. When beavers build their houses on the lake shore, without the + necessity for making a dam, they generally build a tunnel slanting up from + the lake's bed to their den or house on the bank. Now Keeonekh fishes + under the ice in winter more than is generally supposed. As he must + breathe after every chase he must needs know all the air-holes and dens in + the whole lake. No matter how much he turns and doubles in the chase after + a trout, he never loses his sense of direction, never forgets where the + breathing places are. When his fish is seized he makes a bee line under + the ice for the nearest place where he can breathe and eat. Sometimes this + lands him, out of breath, in the beaver's tunnel; and the beaver must sit + upstairs in his own house, nursing his wrath, while Keeonekh eats fish in + his hallway; for there is not room for both at once in the tunnel, and a + fight there or under the ice is out of the question. As the beaver eats + only bark—the white inner layer of "popple" bark is his chief dainty—he + cannot understand and cannot tolerate this barbarian, who eats raw fish + and leaves the bones and fins and the smell of slime in his doorway. The + beaver is exemplary in his neatness, detesting all smells and filth; and + this may possibly account for some of his enmity and his savage attacks + upon Keeonekh when he catches him in a good place. + </p> + <p> + Not the least interesting of Keeonekh's queer ways is his habit of sliding + down hill, which makes a bond of sympathy and brings him close to the + boyhood memories of those who know him. + </p> + <p> + I remember one pair of otters that I watched for the better part of a + sunny afternoon sliding down a clay bank with endless delight. The slide + had been made, with much care evidently, on the steep side of a little + promontory that jutted into the river. It was very steep, about twenty + feet high, and had been made perfectly smooth by much sliding and + wetting-down. An otter would appear at the top of the bank, throw himself + forward on his belly and shoot downward like a flash, diving deep under + water and reappearing some distance out from the foot of the slide. And + all this with marvelous stillness, as if the very woods had ears and were + listening to betray the shy creatures at their fun. For it was fun, pure + and simple, and fun with no end of tingle and excitement in it, especially + when one tried to catch the other and shot into the water at his very + heels. + </p> + <p> + This slide was in perfect condition, and the otters were careful not to + roughen it. They never scrambled up over it, but went round the point and + climbed from the other side, or else went up parallel to the slide, some + distance away, where the ascent was easier and where there was no danger + of rolling stones or sticks upon the coasting ground to spoil its + smoothness. + </p> + <p> + In winter the snow makes better coasting than the clay. Moreover it soon + grows hard and icy from the freezing of the water left by the otter's + body, and after a few days the slide is as smooth as glass. Then coasting + is perfect, and every otter, old and young, has his favorite slide and + spends part of every pleasant day enjoying the fun. + </p> + <p> + When traveling through the woods in deep snow, Keeonekh makes use of his + sliding habit to help him along, especially on down grades. He runs a + little way and throws himself forward on his belly, sliding through the + snow for several feet before he runs again. So his progress is a series of + slides, much as one hurries along in slippery weather. + </p> + <p> + I have spoken of the silver bubbles that first drew my attention to the + fishing otters one day in the wilderness. From the few rare opportunities + that I have had to watch them, I think that the bubbles are seen only + after Keeonekh slides swiftly into the stream. The air clings to the hairs + of his rough outer coat and is brushed from them as he passes through the + water. One who watches him thus, shooting down the long slide belly-bump + into the black winter pool, with a string of silver bubbles breaking and + tinkling above him, is apt to know the hunter's change of heart from the + touch of Nature which makes us all kin. Thereafter he eschews trapping—at + least you will not find his number-three trap at the foot of Keeonekh's + slide any more, to turn the shy creature's happiness into tragedy—and + he sends a hearty good-luck after his fellow-fisherman, whether he meet + him on the wilderness lakes or in the quiet places on the home streams + where nobody ever comes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST + </h2> + <p> + Koskomenos the kingfisher is a kind of outcast among the birds. I think + they regard him as a half reptile, who has not yet climbed high enough in + the bird scale to deserve recognition; so they let him severely alone. + Even the goshawk hesitates before taking a swoop at him, not knowing quite + whether the gaudy creature is dangerous or only uncanny. I saw a great + hawk once drop like a bolt upon a kingfisher that hung on quivering wings, + rattling softly, before his hole in the bank. But the robber lost his + nerve at the instant when he should have dropped his claws to strike. He + swerved aside and shot upward in a great slant to a dead spruce top, where + he stood watching intently till the dark beak of a brooding kingfisher + reached out of the hole to receive the fish that her mate had brought her. + Whereupon Koskomenos swept away to his watchtower above the minnow pool, + and the hawk set his wings toward the outlet, where a brood of young + sheldrakes were taking their first lessons in the open water. + </p> + <p> + No wonder the birds look askance at Kingfisher. His head is ridiculously + large; his feet ridiculously small. He is a poem of grace in the air; but + he creeps like a lizard, or waddles so that a duck would be ashamed of + him, in the rare moments when he is afoot. His mouth is big enough to take + in a minnow whole; his tongue so small that he has no voice, but only a + harsh klr-rr-r-ik-ik-ik, like a watchman's rattle. He builds no nest, but + rather a den in the bank, in which he lives most filthily half the day; + yet the other half he is a clean, beautiful creature, with never a + suggestion of earth, but only of the blue heavens above and the + color-steeped water below, in his bright garments. Water will not wet him, + though he plunge a dozen times out of sight beneath the surface. His + clatter is harsh, noisy, diabolical; yet his plunge into the stream, with + its flash of color, its silver spray, and its tinkle of smitten water, is + the most musical thing in the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + As a fisherman he has no equal. His fishy, expressionless eye is yet the + keenest that sweeps the water, and his swoop puts even the fish-hawk to + shame for its certainty and its lightning quickness. + </p> + <p> + Besides all these contradictions, he is solitary, unknown, inapproachable. + He has no youth, no play, no joy except to eat; he associates with nobody, + not even with his own kind; and when he catches a fish, and beats its head + against a limb till it is dead, and sits with head back-tilted, swallowing + his prey, with a clattering chuckle deep down in his throat, he affects + you as a parrot does that swears diabolically under his breath as he + scratches his head, and that you would gladly shy a stone at, if the + owner's back were turned for a sufficient moment. + </p> + <p> + It is this unknown, this uncanny mixture of bird and reptile that has made + the kingfisher an object of superstition among all savage peoples. The + legends about him are legion; his crested head is prized by savages above + all others as a charm or fetish; and even among civilized peoples his + dried body may still sometimes be seen hanging to a pole, in the hope that + his bill will point out the quarter from which the next wind will blow. + </p> + <p> + But Koskomenos has another side, though the world as yet has found out + little about it. One day in the wilderness I cheered him quite + involuntarily. It was late afternoon; the fishing was over, and I sat in + my canoe watching by a grassy point to see what would happen next. Across + the stream was a clay bank, near the top of which a hole as wide as a + tea-cup showed where a pair of kingfishers had dug their long tunnel. + "There is nothing for them to stand on there; how did they begin that + hole?" I wondered lazily; "and how can they ever raise a brood, with an + open door like that for mink and weasel to enter?" Here were two new + problems to add to the many unsolved ones which meet you at every turn on + the woodland byways. + </p> + <p> + A movement under the shore stopped my wondering, and the long lithe form + of a hunting mink shot swiftly up stream. Under the hole he stopped, + raised himself with his fore paws against the bank, twisting his head from + side to side and sniffing nervously. "Something good up there," he + thought, and began to climb. But the bank was sheer and soft; he slipped + back half a dozen times without rising two feet. Then he went down stream + to a point where some roots gave him a foothold, and ran lightly up till + under the dark eaves that threw their shadowy roots over the clay bank. + There he crept cautiously along till his nose found the nest, and slipped + down till his fore paws rested on the threshold. A long hungry sniff of + the rank fishy odor that pours out of a kingfisher's den, a keen look all + around to be sure the old birds were not returning, and he vanished like a + shadow. + </p> + <p> + "There is one brood of kingfishers the less," I thought, with my glasses + focused on the hole. But scarcely was the thought formed, when a fierce + rumbling clatter sounded in the bank. The mink shot out, a streak of red + showing plainly across his brown face. After him came a kingfisher + clattering out a storm of invective and aiding his progress by vicious + jabs at his rear. He had made a miscalculation that time; the old mother + bird was at home waiting for him, and drove her powerful beak at his evil + eye the moment it appeared at the inner end of the tunnel. That took the + longing for young kingfisher all out of Cheokhes. He plunged headlong down + the bank, the bird swooping after him with a rattling alarm that brought + another kingfisher in a twinkling. The mink dived, but it was useless to + attempt escape in that way; the keen eyes above followed his flight + perfectly. When he came to the surface, twenty feet away, both birds were + over him and dropped like plummets on his head. So they drove him down + stream and out of sight. + </p> + <p> + Years afterward I solved the second problem suggested by the kingfisher's + den, when I had the good fortune, one day, to watch a pair beginning their + tunneling. All who have ever watched the bird have, no doubt, noticed his + wonderful ability to stop short in swift flight and hold himself poised in + midair for an indefinite time, while watching the movements of a minnow + beneath. They make use of this ability in beginning their nest on a bank + so steep as to afford no foothold. + </p> + <p> + As I watched the pair referred to, first one then the other would hover + before the point selected, as a hummingbird balances for a moment at the + door of a trumpet flower to be sure that no one is watching ere he goes + in, then drive his beak with rapid plunges into the bank, sending down a + continuous shower of clay to the river below. When tired he rested on a + watch-stub, while his mate made a battering-ram of herself and kept up the + work. In a remarkably short time they had a foothold and proceeded to dig + themselves in out of sight. + </p> + <p> + Kingfisher's tunnel is so narrow that he cannot turn around in it. His + straight, strong bill loosens the earth; his tiny feet throw it out + behind. I would see a shower of dirt, and perchance the tail of Koskomenos + for a brief instant, then a period of waiting, and another shower. This + kept up till the tunnel was bored perhaps two feet, when they undoubtedly + made a sharp turn, as is their custom. After that they brought most of the + earth out in their beaks. While one worked, the other watched or fished at + the minnow pool, so that there was steady progress as long as I observed + them. + </p> + <p> + For years I had regarded Koskomenos, as the birds and the rest of the + world regard him, as a noisy, half-diabolical creature, between bird and + lizard, whom one must pass by with suspicion. But that affair with the + mink changed my feelings a bit. Koskomenos' mate might lay her eggs like a + reptile, but she could defend them like any bird hero. So I took to + watching more carefully; which is the only way to get acquainted. + </p> + <p> + The first thing I noticed about the birds—an observation confirmed + later on many waters—was that each pair of kingfishers have their + own particular pools, over which they exercise unquestioned lordship. + There may be a dozen pairs of birds on a single stream; but, so far as I + have been able to observe, each family has a certain stretch of water on + which no other kingfishers are allowed to fish. They may pass up and down + freely, but they never stop at the minnow pools; they are caught watching + near them, they are promptly driven out by the rightful owners. + </p> + <p> + The same thing is true on the lake shores. Whether there is some secret + understanding and partition among them, or whether (which is more likely) + their right consists in discovery or first arrival, there is no means of + knowing. + </p> + <p> + A curious thing, in this connection, is that while a kingfisher will allow + none of his kind to poach on his preserves, he lives at peace with the + brood of sheldrakes that occupy the same stretch of river. And the + sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one. The same thing is noticeable among + the sheldrakes also, namely, that each pair, or rather each mother and her + brood, have their own piece of lake or river on which no others are + allowed to fish. The male sheldrakes meanwhile are far away, fishing on + their own waters. + </p> + <p> + I had not half settled this matter of the division of trout streams when + another observation came, which was utterly unexpected. Koskomenos, half + reptile though he seem, not only recognizes riparian rights, but he is + also capable of friendship—and that, too, for a moody prowler of the + wilderness whom no one else cares anything about. Here is the proof. + </p> + <p> + I was out in my canoe alone looking for a loon's nest, one midsummer day, + when the fresh trail of a bull caribou drew me to shore. The trail led + straight from the water to a broad alder belt, beyond which, on the + hillside, I might find the big brute loafing his time away till evening + should come, and watch him to see what he would do with himself. + </p> + <p> + As I turned shoreward a kingfisher sounded his rattle and came darting + across the mouth of the bay where Hukweem the loon had hidden her two + eggs. I watched him, admiring the rippling sweep of his flight, like the + run of a cat's-paw breeze across a sleeping lake, and the clear blue of + his crest against the deeper blue of summer sky. Under him his reflection + rippled along, like the rush of a gorgeous fish through the glassy water. + Opposite my canoe he checked himself, poised an instant in mid-air, + watching the minnows that my paddle had disturbed, and dropped bill first—plash! + with a silvery tinkle in the sound, as if hidden bells down among the + green water weeds had been set to ringing by this sprite of the air. A + shower of spray caught the rainbow for a brief instant; the ripples + gathered and began to dance over the spot where Koskomenos had gone down, + when they were scattered rudely again as he burst out among them with his + fish. He swept back to the stub whence he had come, chuckling on the way. + There he whacked his fish soundly on the wood, threw his head back, and + through the glass I saw the tail of a minnow wriggling slowly down the + road that has for him no turning. Then I took up the caribou trail. + </p> + <p> + I had gone nearly through the alders, following the course of a little + brook and stealing along without a sound, when behind me I heard the + kingfisher coming above the alders, rattling as if possessed, klrrr, + klrrr, klrrr-ik-ik-ik! On the instant there was a heavy plunge and splash + just ahead, and the swift rush of some large animal up the hillside. Over + me poised the kingfisher, looking down first at me, then ahead at the + unknown beast, till the crashing ceased in a faint rustle far away, when + he swept back to his fishing-stub, clacking and chuckling immoderately. + </p> + <p> + I pushed cautiously ahead and came presently to a beautiful pool below a + rock, where the hillside shelved gently towards the alders. From the + numerous tracks and the look of the place, I knew instantly that I had + stumbled upon a bear's bathing pool. The water was still troubled and + muddy; huge tracks, all soppy and broken, led up the hillside in big + jumps; the moss was torn, the underbrush spattered with shining water + drops. "No room for doubt here," I thought; "Mooween was asleep in this + pool, and the kingfisher woke him up—but why? and did he do it on + purpose?" + </p> + <p> + I remembered suddenly a record in an old notebook, which reads: "Sugarloaf + Lake, 26 July.—Tried to stalk a bear this noon. No luck. He was + nosing alongshore and I had a perfect chance; but a kingfisher scared + him." I began to wonder how the rattle of a kingfisher, which is one of + the commonest sounds on wilderness waters, could scare a bear, who knows + all the sounds of the wilderness perfectly. Perhaps Koskomenos has an + alarm note and uses it for a friend in time of need, as gulls go out of + their way to alarm a flock of sleeping ducks when danger is approaching. + </p> + <p> + Here was a new trait, a touch of the human in this unknown, clattering + suspect of the fishing streams. I resolved to watch him with keener + interest. + </p> + <p> + Somewhere above me, deep in the tangle of the summer wilderness, Mooween + stood watching his back track, eyes, ears, and nose alert to discover what + the creature was who dared frighten him out of his noonday bath. It would + be senseless to attempt to surprise him now; besides, I had no weapon of + any kind.—"To-morrow, about this time, I shall be coming back; then + look out, Mooween," I thought as I marked the place and stole away to my + canoe. + </p> + <p> + But the next day when I came to the place, creeping along the upper edge + of the alders so as to make no noise, the pool was clear and quiet, as if + nothing but the little trout that hid under the foam bubbles had ever + disturbed its peace. Koskomenos was clattering about the bay below as + usual. Spite of my precaution he had seen me enter the alders; but he gave + me no attention whatever. He went on with his fishing as if he knew + perfectly that the bear had deserted his bathing pool. + </p> + <p> + It was nearly a month before I again camped on the beautiful lake. Summer + was gone. All her warmth and more than her fragrant beauty still lingered + on forest and river; but the drowsiness had gone from the atmosphere, and + the haze had crept into it. Here and there birches and maples flung out + their gorgeous banners of autumn over the silent water. A tingle came into + the evening air; the lake's breath lay heavy and white in the twilight + stillness; birds and beasts became suddenly changed as they entered the + brief period of sport and of full feeding. + </p> + <p> + I was drifting about a reedy bay (the same bay in which the almost + forgotten kingfisher had cheated me out of my bear, after eating a minnow + that my paddle had routed out for him) shooting frogs for my table with a + pocket rifle. How different it was here, I reflected, from the woods about + home. There the game was already harried; the report of a gun set every + living creature skulking. Here the crack of my little rifle was no more + heeded than the plunge of a fish-hawk, or the groaning of a burdened elm + bough. A score of fat woodcock lay unheeding in that bit of alder tangle + yonder, the ground bored like a colander after their night's feeding. Up + on the burned hillside the partridges said, quit, quit! when I appeared, + and jumped to a tree and craned their necks to see what I was. The black + ducks skulked in the reeds. They were full-grown now and strong of wing, + but the early hiding habit was not yet broken up by shooting. They would + glide through the sedges, and double the bogs, and crouch in a tangle till + the canoe was almost upon them, when with a rush and a frightened + hark-ark! they shot into the air and away to the river. The mink, changing + from brown to black, gave up his nest-robbing for honest hunting, + undismayed by trap or deadfall; and up in the inlet I could see grassy + domes rising above the bronze and gold of the marsh, where Musquash was + building thick and high for winter cold and spring floods. Truly it was + good to be here, and to enter for a brief hour into the shy, wild but + unharried life of the wood folk. + </p> + <p> + A big bullfrog showed his head among the lily pads, and the little rifle, + unmindful of the joys of an unharried existence, rose slowly to its place. + My eye was glancing along the sights when a sudden movement in the alders + on the shore, above and beyond the unconscious head of Chigwooltz the + frog, spared him for a little season to his lily pads and his minnow + hunting. At the same moment a kingfisher went rattling by to his old perch + over the minnow pool. The alders swayed again as if struck; a huge bear + lumbered out of them to the shore, with a disgruntled woof! at some twig + that had switched his ear too sharply. + </p> + <p> + I slid lower in the canoe till only my head and shoulders were visible. + Mooween went nosing along-shore till something—a dead fish or a + mussel bed—touched his appetite, when he stopped and began feeding, + scarcely two hundred yards away. I reached first for my heavy rifle, then + for the paddle, and cautiously "fanned" the canoe towards shore till an + old stump on the point covered my approach. Then the little bark jumped + forward as if alive. But I had scarcely started when—klrrrr! klrrr! + ik-ik—ik! Over my head swept Koskomenos with a rush of wings and an + alarm cry that spoke only of haste and danger. I had a glimpse of the bear + as he shot into the alders, as if thrown by a catapult; the kingfisher + wheeled in a great rattling circle about the canoe before he pitched upon + the old stump, jerking his tail and clattering in great excitement. + </p> + <p> + I swung noiselessly out into the lake, where I could watch the alders. + They were all still for a space of ten minutes; but Mooween was there, I + knew, sniffing and listening. Then a great snake seemed to be wriggling + through the bushes, making no sound, but showing a wavy line of quivering + tops as he went. + </p> + <p> + Down the shore a little way was a higher point, with a fallen tree that + commanded a view of half the lake. I had stood there a few days before, + while watching to determine the air paths and lines of flight that + sheldrakes use in passing up and down the lake,—for birds have + runways, or rather flyways, just as foxes do. Mooween evidently knew the + spot; the alders showed that he was heading straight for it, to look out + on the lake and see what the alarm was about. As yet he had no idea what + peril had threatened him; though, like all wild creatures, he had obeyed + the first clang of a danger note on the instant. Not a creature in the + woods, from Mooween down to Tookhees the wood mouse, but has learned from + experience that, in matters of this kind, it is well to jump to cover + first and investigate afterwards. + </p> + <p> + I paddled swiftly to the point, landed and crept to a rock from which I + could just see the fallen tree. Mooween was coming. "My bear this time," I + thought, as a twig snapped faintly. Then Koskomenos swept into the woods, + hovering over the brush near the butt of the old tree, looking down and + rattling—klrrrik, clear out! klrrr-ik, clear out! There was a heavy + rush, such as a bear always makes when alarmed; Koskomenos swept back to + his perch; and I sought the shore, half inclined to make my next hunting + more even-chanced by disposing of one meddlesome factor. "You wretched, + noisy, clattering meddler!" I muttered, the front sight of my rifle + resting fair on the blue back of Koskomenos, "that is the third time you + have spoiled my shot, and you won't have another chance.—But wait; + who is the meddler here?" + </p> + <p> + Slowly the bent finger relaxed on the trigger. A loon went floating by the + point, all unconscious of danger, with a rippling wake that sent silver + reflections glinting across the lake's deep blue. Far overhead soared an + eagle, breeze-borne in wide circles, looking down on his own wide domain, + unheeding the man's intrusion. Nearer, a red squirrel barked down his + resentment from a giant spruce trunk. Down on my left a heavy splash and a + wild, free tumult of quacking told where the black ducks were coming in, + as they had done, undisturbed, for generations. Behind me a long roll + echoed through the woods—some young cock partridge, whom the warm + sun had beguiled into drumming his spring love-call. From the mountain + side a cow moose rolled back a startling answer. Close at hand, yet + seeming miles away, a chipmunk was chunking sleepily in the sunshine, + while a nest of young wood mice were calling their mother in the grass at + my feet. And every wild sound did but deepen the vast, wondrous silence of + the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + "After all, what place has the roar of a rifle or the smell of sulphurous + powder in the midst of all this blessed peace?" I asked half sadly. As if + in answer, the kingfisher dropped with his musical plash, and swept back + with exultant rattle to his watchtower.—"Go on with your clatter and + your fishing. The wilderness and the solitary place shall still be glad, + for you and Mooween, and the trout pools would be lonely without you. But + I wish you knew that your life lay a moment ago in the bend of my finger, + and that some one, besides the bear, appreciates your brave warning." + </p> + <p> + Then I went back to the point to measure the tracks, and to estimate how + big the bear was, and to console myself with the thought of how I would + certainly have had him, if something had not interfered—which is the + philosophy of all hunters since Esau. + </p> + <p> + It was a few days later that the chance came of repaying Koskomenos with + coals of fire. The lake surface was still warm; no storms nor frosts had + cooled it. The big trout had risen from the deep places, but were not yet + quickened enough to take my flies; so, trout hungry, I had gone trolling + for them with a minnow. I had taken two good fish, and was moving slowly + by the mouth of the bay, Simmo at the paddle, when a suspicious movement + on the shore attracted my attention. I passed the line to Simmo, the + better to use my glasses, and was scanning the alders sharply, when a cry + of wonder came from the Indian. "O bah cosh, see! das second time I + catchum, Koskomenos." And there, twenty feet above the lake, a young + kingfisher—one of Koskomenos' frowzy-headed, wild-eyed-youngsters—was + whirling wildly at the end of my line. He had seen the minnow trailing a + hundred feet astern and, with more hunger than discretion, had swooped for + it promptly. Simmo, feeling the tug but seeing nothing behind him, had + struck promptly, and the hook went home. + </p> + <p> + I seized the line and began to pull in gently. The young kingfisher came + most unwillingly, with a continuous clatter of protest that speedily + brought Koskomenos and his mate, and two or three of the captive's + brethren, in a wild, clamoring about the canoe. They showed no lack of + courage, but swooped again and again at the line, and even at the man who + held it. In a moment I had the youngster in my hand, and had disengaged + the hook. He was not hurt at all, but terribly frightened; so I held him a + little while, enjoying the excitement of the others, whom the captive's + alarm rattle kept circling wildly about the canoe. It was noteworthy that + not another bird heeded the cry or came near. Even in distress they + refused to recognize the outcast. Then, as Koskomenos hovered on quivering + wings just over my head, I tossed the captive close up beside him. "There, + Koskomenos, take your young chuckle-head, and teach him better wisdom. + Next time you see me stalking a bear, please go on with your fishing." + </p> + <p> + But there was no note of gratitude in the noisy babel that swept up the + bay after the kingfishers. When I saw them again, they were sitting on a + dead branch, five of them in a row, chuckling and clattering all at once, + unmindful of the minnows that played beneath them. I have no doubt that, + in their own way, they were telling each other all about it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER + </h2> + <p> + There is a curious Indian legend about Meeko the red squirrel—the + Mischief-Maker, as the Milicetes call him—which is also an excellent + commentary upon his character. Simmo told it to me, one day, when we had + caught Meeko coming out of a woodpecker's hole with the last of a brood of + fledgelings in his mouth, chuckling to himself over his hunting. + </p> + <p> + Long ago, in the days when Clote Scarpe ruled the animals, Meeko was much + larger than he is now, large as Mooween the bear. But his temper was so + fierce, and his disposition so altogether bad that all the wood folk were + threatened with destruction. Meeko killed right and left with the temper + of a weasel, who kills from pure lust of blood. So Clote Scarpe, to save + the little woods-people, made Meeko smaller—small as he is now. + Unfortunately, Clote Scarpe forgot Meeko's disposition; that remained as + big and as bad as before. So now Meeko goes about the woods with a small + body and a big temper, barking, scolding, quarreling and, since he cannot + destroy in his rage as before, setting other animals by the ears to + destroy each other. + </p> + <p> + When you have listened to Meeko's scolding for a season, and have seen him + going from nest to nest after innocent fledgelings; or creeping into the + den of his big cousin, the beautiful gray squirrel, to kill the young; or + driving away his little cousin, the chipmunk, to steal his hoarded nuts; + or watching every fight that goes on in the woods, jeering and chuckling + above it,—then you begin to understand the Indian legend. + </p> + <p> + Spite of his evil ways, however, he is interesting and always unexpected. + When you have watched the red squirrel that lives near your camp all + summer, and think you know all about him, he does the queerest thing, good + or bad, to upset all your theories and even the Indian legends about him. + </p> + <p> + I remember one that greeted me, the first living thing in the great woods, + as I ran my canoe ashore on a wilderness river. Meeko heard me coming. His + bark sounded loudly, in a big spruce, above the dip of the paddles. As we + turned shoreward, he ran down the tree in which he was, and out on a + fallen log to meet us. I grasped a branch of the old log to steady the + canoe and watched him curiously. He had never seen a man before; he + barked, jeered, scolded, jerked his tail, whistled, did everything within + his power to make me show my teeth and my disposition. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he grew excited—and when Meeko grows excited the woods are + not big enough to hold him. He came nearer and nearer to my canoe till he + leaped upon the gunwale and sat there chattering, as if he were Adjidaumo + come back again and I were Hiawatha. All the while he had poured out a + torrent of squirrel talk, but now his note changed; jeering and scolding + and curiosity went out of it; something else crept in. I began to feel, + somehow, that he was trying to make me understand something, and found me + very stupid about it. + </p> + <p> + I began to talk quietly, calling him a rattle-head and a disturber of the + peace. At the first sound of my voice he listened with intense curiosity, + then leaped to the log, ran the length of it, jumped down and began to dig + furiously among the moss and dead leaves. Every moment or two he would + stop, and jump to the log to see if I were watching him. + </p> + <p> + Presently he ran to my canoe, sprang upon the gunwale, jumped back again, + and ran along the log as before to where he had been digging. He did it + again, looking back at me and saying plainly: "Come here; come and look." + I stepped out of the canoe to the old log, whereupon Meeko went off into a + fit of terrible excitement.—I was bigger than he expected; I had + only two legs; kut-e-k'chuck, kut-e-k'chuck! whit, whit, whit, + kut-e-k'chuck! + </p> + <p> + I stood where I was until he got over his excitement. Then he came towards + me, and led me along the log, with much chuckling and jabbering, to the + hole in the leaves where he had been digging. When I bent over it he + sprang to a spruce trunk, on a level with my head, fairly bursting with + excitement, but watching me with intensest interest. In the hole I found a + small lizard, one of the rare kind that lives under logs and loves the + dusk. He had been bitten through the back and disabled. He could still use + legs, tail and head feebly, but could not run away. When I picked him up + and held him in my hand, Meeko came closer with loud-voiced curiosity, + longing to leap to my hand and claim his own, but held back by fear.—"What + is it? He's mine; I found him. What is it?" he barked, jumping about as if + bewitched. Two curiosities, the lizard and the man, were almost too much + for him. I never saw a squirrel more excited. He had evidently found the + lizard by accident, bit him to keep him still, and then, astonished by the + rare find, hid him away where he could dig him out and watch him at + leisure. + </p> + <p> + I put the lizard back into the hole and covered him with leaves; then went + to unloading my canoe. Meeko watched me closely. And the moment I was gone + he dug away the leaves, took his treasure out, watched it with wide bright + eyes, bit it once more to keep it still, and covered it up again + carefully. Then he came chuckling along to where I was putting up my tent. + </p> + <p> + In a week he owned the camp, coming and going at his own will, stealing my + provisions when I forgot to feed him, and scolding me roundly at every + irregular occurrence. He was an early riser and insisted on my conforming + to the custom. Every morning he would leap at daylight from a fir tip to + my ridgepole, run it along to the front and sit there, barking and + whistling, until I put my head out of my door, or until Simmo came along + with his axe. Of Simmo and his axe Meeko had a mortal dread, which I could + not understand till one day when I paddled silently back to camp and, + instead of coming up the path, sat idly in my canoe watching the Indian, + who had broken his one pipe and now sat making another out of a chunk of + black alder and a length of nanny bush. Simmo was as interesting to watch, + in his way, as any of the wood folk. + </p> + <p> + Presently Meeko came down, chattering his curiosity at seeing the Indian + so still and so occupied. A red squirrel is always unhappy unless he knows + all about everything. He watched from the nearest tree for a while, but + could not make up his mind what was doing. Then he came down on the ground + and advanced a foot at a time, jumping up continually but coming down in + the same spot, barking to make Simmo turn his head and show his hand. + Simmo watched out of the corner of his eye until Meeko was near a solitary + tree which stood in the middle of the camp ground, when he jumped up + suddenly and rushed at the squirrel, who sprang to the tree and ran to a + branch out of reach, snickering and jeering. + </p> + <p> + Simmo took his axe deliberately and swung it mightily at the foot of the + tree, as if to chop it down; only he hit the trunk with the head, not the + blade of his weapon. At the first blow, which made his toes tingle, Meeko + stopped jeering and ran higher. Simmo swung again and Meeko went up + another notch. So it went on, Simmo looking up intently to see the effect + and Meeko running higher after each blow, until the tiptop was reached. + Then Simmo gave a mighty whack; the squirrel leaped far out and came to + the ground, sixty feet below; picked himself up, none the worse for his + leap, and rushed scolding away to his nest. Then Simmo said umpfh! like a + bear, and went back to his pipemaking. He had not smiled nor relaxed the + intent expression of his face during the whole little comedy. + </p> + <p> + I found out afterwards that making Meeko jump from a tree top is one of + the few diversions of Indian children. I tried it myself many times with + many squirrels, and found to my astonishment that a jump from any height, + however great, is no concern to a squirrel, red or gray. They have a way + of flattening the body and bushy tail against the air, which breaks their + fall. Their bodies, and especially their bushy tails, have a curious + tremulous motion, like the quiver of wings, as they come down. The flying + squirrel's sailing down from a tree top to another tree, fifty feet away, + is but an exaggeration, due to the membrane connecting the fore and hind + legs, of what all squirrels practice continually. I have seen a red + squirrel land lightly after jumping from an enormous height, and run away + as if nothing unusual had happened. But though I have watched them often, + I have never seen a squirrel do this except when compelled to do so. When + chased by a weasel or a marten, or when the axe beats against the trunk + below—either because the vibration hurts their feet, or else they + fear the tree is being cut down—they use the strange gift to save + their lives. But I fancy it is a breathless experience, and they never try + it for fun, though I have seen them do all sorts of risky stumps in + leaping from branch to branch. + </p> + <p> + It is a curious fact that, though a squirrel leaps from a great height + without hesitation, it is practically impossible to make him take a jump + of a few feet to the ground. Probably the upward rush of air, caused by + falling a long distance, is necessary to flatten the body enough to make + him land lightly. + </p> + <p> + It would be interesting to know whether the raccoon also, a large, heavy + animal, has the same way of breaking his fall when he jumps from a height. + One bright moonlight night, when I ran ahead of the dogs, I saw a big coon + leap from a tree to the ground, a distance of some thirty or forty feet. + The dogs had treed him in an evergreen, and he left them howling below + while he stole silently from branch to branch until a good distance away, + when to save time he leaped to the ground. He struck with a heavy thump, + but ran on uninjured as swiftly as before, and gave the dogs a long run + before they treed him again. + </p> + <p> + The sole of a coon's foot is padded thick with fat and gristle, so that it + must feel like landing on springs when he jumps; but I suspect that he + also knows the squirrel trick of flattening his body and tail against the + air so as to fall lightly. + </p> + <p> + The chipmunk seems to be the only one of the squirrel family in whom this + gift is wanting. Possibly he has it also, if the need ever comes. I fancy, + however, that he would fare badly if compelled to jump from a spruce top, + for his body is heavy and his tail small from long living on the ground; + all of which seems to indicate that the tree-squirrel's bushy tail is + given him, not for ornament, but to aid his passage from branch to branch, + and to break his fall when he comes down from a height. + </p> + <p> + By way of contrast with Meeko, you may try a curious trick on the + chipmunk. It is not easy to get him into a tree; he prefers a log or an + old wall when frightened; and he is seldom more than two or three jumps + from his den. But watch him as he goes from his garner to the grove where + the acorns are, or to the field where his winter corn is ripening. Put + yourself near his path (he always follows the same one to and fro) where + there is no refuge close at hand. Then, as he comes along, rush at him + suddenly and he will take to the nearest tree in his alarm. When he + recovers from his fright—which is soon over; for he is the most + trustful of squirrels and looks down at you with interest, never + questioning your motives—take a stick and begin to tap the tree + softly. The more slow and rhythmical your tattoo the sooner he is charmed. + Presently he comes down closer and closer, his eyes filled with strange + wonder. More than once I have had a chipmunk come to my hand and rest upon + it, looking everywhere for the queer sound that brought him down, + forgetting fright and cornfield and coming winter in his bright curiosity. + </p> + <p> + Meeko is a bird of another color. He never trusts you nor anybody else + fully, and his curiosity is generally of the vulgar, selfish kind. When + the autumn woods are busy places, and wings flutter and little feet go + pattering everywhere after winter supplies, he also begins garnering, + remembering the hungry days of last winter. But he is always more curious + to see what others are doing than to fill his own bins. He seldom trusts + to one storehouse—he is too suspicious for that—but hides his + things in twenty different places; some shagbarks in the old wall, a + handful of acorns in a hollow tree, an ear of corn under the eaves of the + old barn, a pint of chestnuts scattered about in the trees, some in + crevices in the bark, some in a pine crotch covered carefully with + needles, and one or two stuck firmly into the splinters of every broken + branch that is not too conspicuous. But he never gathers much at a time. + The moment he sees anybody else gathering he forgets his own work and goes + spying to see where others are hiding their store. The little chipmunk, + who knows his thieving and his devices, always makes one turn, at least, + in the tunnel to his den too small for Meeko to follow. + </p> + <p> + He sees a blue jay flitting through the woods, and knows by his unusual + silence that he is hiding things. Meeko follows after him, stopping all + his jabber and stealing from tree to tree, watching patiently, for hours + it need be, until he knows that Deedeeaskh is gathering corn from a + certain field. Then he watches the line of flight, like a bee hunter, and + sees Deedeeaskh disappear twice by an oak on the wood's edge, a hundred + yards away. Meeko rushes away at a headlong pace and hides himself in the + oak. There he traces the jay's line of flight a little farther into the + woods; sees the unconscious thief disappear by an old pine. Meeko hides in + the pine, and so traces the jay straight to one of his storehouses. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes Meeko is so elated over the discovery that, with all the fields + laden with food, he cannot wait for winter. When the jay goes away Meeko + falls to eating or to carrying away his store. More often he marks the + spot and goes away silently. When he is hungry he will carry off + Deedeeaskh's corn before touching his own. + </p> + <p> + Once I saw the tables turned in a most interesting fashion. Deedeeaskh is + as big a thief in his way as is Meeko, and also as vile a nest-robber. The + red squirrel had found a hoard of chestnuts—small fruit, but sweet + and good—and was hiding it away. Part of it he stored in a hollow + under the stub of a broken branch, twenty feet from the ground, so near + the source of supply that no one would ever think of looking for it there. + I was hidden away in a thicket when I discovered him at his work quite by + accident. He seldom came twice to the same spot, but went off to his other + storehouses in succession. After an unusually long absence, when I was + expecting him every moment, a blue jay came stealing into the tree, spying + and sneaking about, as if a nest of fresh thrush's eggs were somewhere + near. He smelled a mouse evidently, for after a moment's spying he hid + himself away in the tree top, close up against the trunk. Presently Meeko + came back, with his face bulging as if he had toothache, uncovered his + store, emptied in the half dozen chestnuts from his cheek pockets and + covered them all up again. + </p> + <p> + The moment he was gone the blue jay went straight to the spot, seized a + mouthful of nuts and flew swiftly away. He made three trips before the + squirrel came back. Meeko in his hurry never noticed the loss, but emptied + his pockets and was off to the chestnut tree again. When he returned, the + jay in his eagerness had disturbed the leaves which covered the hidden + store. Meeko noticed it and was all suspicion in an instant. He whipped + off the covering and stood staring down intently into the garner, + evidently trying to compute the number he had brought and the number that + were there. Then a terrible scolding began, a scolding that was broken + short off when a distant screaming of jays came floating through the + woods. Meeko covered his store hurriedly, ran along a limb and leaped to + the next tree, where he hid in a knot hole, just his eyes visible, + watching his garner keenly out of the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Meeko, has no patience. Three or four times he showed himself nervously. + Fortunately for me, the jay had found some excitement to keep his + rattle-brain busy for a moment. A flash of blue, and he came stealing + back, just as Meeko had settled himself for more watching. After much + pecking and listening the jay flew down to the storehouse, and Meeko, + unable to contain himself a moment longer at sight of the thief, jumped + out of his hiding and came rushing along the limb, hurling threats and + vituperation ahead of him. The jay fluttered off, screaming derision. + Meeko followed, hurling more abuse, but soon gave up the chase and came + back to his chestnuts. It was curious to watch him there, sitting + motionless and intent, his nose close down to his treasure, trying to + compute his loss. Then he stuffed his cheeks full and began carrying his + hoard off to another hiding place. + </p> + <p> + The autumn woods are full of such little comedies. Jays, crows, and + squirrels are all hiding away winter's supplies, and no matter how great + the abundance, not one of them can resist the temptation to steal or to + break into another's garner. + </p> + <p> + Meeko is a poor provider; he would much rather live on buds and bark and + apple seeds and fir cones, and what he can steal from others in the + winter, than bother himself with laying up supplies of his own. When the + spring comes he goes a-hunting, and is for a season the most villainous of + nest-robbers. Every bird in the woods then hates him, takes a jab at him, + and cries thief, thief! wherever he goes. + </p> + <p> + On a trout brook once I had a curious sense of comradeship with Meeko. It + was in the early spring, when all the wild things make holiday, and man + goes a-fishing. Near the brook a red squirrel had tapped a maple tree with + his teeth and was tasting the sweet sap as it came up scantily. Seeing him + and remembering my own boyhood, I cut a little hollow into the bark of a + black birch tree and, when it brimmed full, drank the sap with immense + satisfaction. Meeko stopped his own drinking to watch, then to scold and + denounce me roundly. + </p> + <p> + While my cup was filling again I went down to the brook and took a wary + old trout from his den under the end of a log, where the foam bubbles were + dancing merrily. When I went back, thirsting for another sweet draught + from the same spring, Meeko had emptied it to the last drop and had his + nose down in the bottom of my cup, catching the sap as it welled up with + an abundance that must have surprised him. When I went away quietly he + followed me through the wood to the pool at the edge of the meadow, to see + what I would do next. + </p> + <p> + Wherever you go in the wilderness you find Meeko ahead of you, and all the + best camping grounds preempted by him. Even on the islands he seems to own + the prettiest spots, and disputes mightily your right to stay there; + though he is generally glad enough of your company to share his + loneliness, and shows it plainly. + </p> + <p> + Once I found one living all by himself on an island in the middle of a + wilderness lake, with no company whatever except a family of mink, who are + his enemies. He had probably crossed on the ice in the late spring, and + while he was busy here and there with his explorations the ice broke up, + cutting off his retreat to the mainland, which was too far away for his + swimming. So he was a prisoner for the long summer, and welcomed me gladly + to share his exile. He was the only red squirrel I ever met that never + scolded me roundly at least once a day. His loneliness had made him quite + tame. Most of the time he lived within sight of my tent door. Not even + Simmo's axe, though it made him jump twice from the top of a spruce, could + keep him long away. He had twenty ways of getting up an excitement, and + whenever he barked out in the woods I knew that it was simply to call me + to see his discovery,—a new nest, a loon that swam up close, a + thieving muskrat, a hawk that rested on a dead stub, the mink family + eating my fish heads,—and when I stole out to see what it was, he + would run ahead, barking and chuckling at having some one to share his + interests with him. + </p> + <p> + In such places squirrels use the ice for occasional journeys to the + mainland. Sometimes also, when the waters are calm, they swim over. + Hunters have told me that when the breeze is fair they make use of a + floating bit of wood, sitting tip straight with tail curled over their + backs, making a sail of their bodies—just as an Indian, with no + knowledge of sailing whatever, puts a spruce bush in a bow of his canoe + and lets the wind do his work for him. + </p> + <p> + That would be the sight of a lifetime, to see Meeko sailing his boat; but + I have no doubt whatever that it is true. The only red squirrel that I + ever saw in the water fell in by accident. He swam rapidly to a floating + board, shook himself, sat up with his tail raised along his back, and + began to dry himself. After a little he saw that the slight breeze was + setting him farther from shore. He began to chatter excitedly, and changed + his position two or three times, evidently trying to catch the wind right. + Finding that it was of no use, he plunged in again and swam easily to + land. + </p> + <p> + That he lives and thrives in the wilderness, spite of enemies and hunger + and winter cold, is a tribute to his wits. He never hibernates, except in + severe storms, when for a few days he lies close in his den. Hawks and + owls and weasels and martens hunt him continually; yet he more than holds + his own in the big woods, which would lose some of their charm if their + vast silences were not sometimes broken by his petty scoldings. + </p> + <p> + As with most wild creatures, the squirrels that live in touch with + civilization are much keener witted than their wilderness brethren. The + most interesting one I ever knew lived in the trees just outside my + dormitory window, in a New England college town. He was the patriarch of a + large family, and the greatest thief and rascal among them. I speak of the + family, but, so far as I could see, there was very little family life. + Each one shifted for himself the moment he was big enough, and stole from + all the others indiscriminately. + </p> + <p> + It was while watching these squirrels that I discovered first that they + have regular paths among the trees, as well defined as our own highways. + Not only has each squirrel his own private paths and ways, but all the + squirrels follow certain courses along the branches in going from one tree + to another. Even the strange squirrels, which ventured at times into the + grove, followed these highways as if they had been used to them all their + lives. + </p> + <p> + On a recent visit to the old dormitory I watched the squirrels for a + while, and found that they used exactly the same paths,—up the trunk + of a big oak to a certain boss, along a branch to a certain crook, a jump + to a linden twig and so on, making use of one of the highways that I had + watched them following ten years before. Yet this course was not the + shortest between two points, and there were a hundred other branches that + they might have used. + </p> + <p> + I had the good fortune one morning to see Meeko, the patriarch, make a new + path for himself that none of the others ever followed so long as I was in + the dormitory. He had a home den over a hallway, and a hiding place for + acorns in a hollow linden. Between the two was a driveway; but though the + branches arched over it from either side, the jump was too great for him + to take. A hundred times I saw him run out on the farthest oak twig and + look across longingly at the maple that swayed on the other side. It was + perhaps three feet away, with no branches beneath to seize and break his + fall in case he missed his spring, altogether too much for a red squirrel + to attempt. He would rush out as if determined to try it, time after time, + but always his courage failed him; he had to go down the oak trunk and + cross the driveway on the ground, where numberless straying dogs were + always ready to chase him. + </p> + <p> + One morning I saw him run twice in succession at the jump, only to turn + back. But the air was keen and bracing, and he felt its inspiration. He + drew farther back, then came rushing along the oak branch and, before he + had time to be afraid, hurled himself across the chasm. He landed fairly + on the maple twig, with several inches to spare, and hung there with claws + and teeth, swaying up and down gloriously. Then, chattering his delight at + himself, he ran down the maple, back across the driveway, and tried the + jump three times in succession to be sure he could do it. + </p> + <p> + After that he sprang across frequently. But I noticed that whenever the + branches were wet with rain or sleet he never attempted it; and he never + tried the return jump, which was uphill, and which he seemed to know by + instinct was too much to attempt. + </p> + <p> + When I began feeding him, in the cold winter days, he showed me many + curious bits of his life. First I put some nuts near the top of an old + well, among the stones of which he used to hide things in the autumn. Long + after he had eaten all his store he used to come and search the crannies + among the stones to see if perchance he had overlooked any trifles. When + he found a handful of shagbarks, one morning, in a hole only a foot below + the surface, his astonishment knew no bounds. His first thought was that + he had forgotten them all these hungry days, and he promptly ate the + biggest of the store within sight, a thing I never saw a squirrel do + before. His second thought—I could see it in his changed attitude, + his sudden creepings and hidings—was that some other squirrel had + hidden them there since his last visit. Whereupon he carried them all off + and hid them in a broken linden branch. + </p> + <p> + Then I tossed him peanuts, throwing them first far away, then nearer and + nearer till he would come to my window-sill. And when I woke one morning + he was sitting there looking in at the window, waiting for me to get up + and bring his breakfast. + </p> + <p> + In a week he had showed me all his hiding places. The most interesting of + these was over a roofed piazza in a building near by. He had gnawed a hole + under the eaves, where it would not be noticed, and lived there in + solitary grandeur during stormy days in a den four by eight feet, and + rain-proof. In one corner was a bushel of corncobs, some of them two or + three years old, which he had stolen from a cornfield near by in the early + autumn mornings. With characteristic improvidence he had fallen to eating + the corn while yet there was plenty more to be gathered. In consequence he + was hungry before February was half over, and living by his wits, like his + brother of the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + The other squirrels soon noticed his journeys to my window, and presently + they too came for their share. Spite of his fury in driving them away, + they managed in twenty ways to circumvent him. It was most interesting, + while he sat on my window-sill eating peanuts, to see the nose and eyes of + another squirrel peering over the crotch of the nearest tree, watching the + proceedings from his hiding place. Then I would give Meeko five or six + peanuts at once. Instantly the old hiding instinct would come back; he + would start away, taking as much of his store as he could carry with him. + The moment he was gone, out would come a squirrel—sometimes two or + three from their concealment—and carry off all the peanuts that + remained. + </p> + <p> + Meeko's wrath when he returned was most comical. The Indian legend is true + as gospel to squirrel nature. If he returned unexpectedly and caught one + of the intruders, there was always a furious chase and a deal of scolding + and squirrel jabber before peace was restored and the peanuts eaten. + </p> + <p> + Once, when he had hidden a dozen or more nuts in the broken linden branch, + a very small squirrel came prowling along and discovered the store. In an + instant he was all alertness, peeking, listening, exploring, till quite + sure that the coast was clear, when he rushed away headlong with a + mouthful. + </p> + <p> + He did not return that day; but the next morning early I saw him do the + same thing. An hour later Meeko appeared and, finding nothing on the + window-sill, went to the linden. Half his store of yesterday was gone. + Curiously enough, he did not suspect at first that they were stolen. Meeko + is always quite sure that nobody knows his secrets. He searched the tree + over, went to his other hiding places, came back, counted his peanuts, + then searched the ground beneath, thinking, no doubt, the wind must have + blown them out—all this before he had tasted a peanut of those that + remained. + </p> + <p> + Slowly it dawned upon him that he had been robbed and there was an + outburst of wrath. But instead of carrying what were left to another + place, he left them where they were, still without eating, and hid himself + near by to watch. I neglected a lecture in philosophy to see the + proceedings, but nothing happened. Meeko's patience soon gave out, or else + he grew hungry, for he ate two or three of his scanty supply of peanuts, + scolding and threatening to himself. But he left the rest carefully where + they were. + </p> + <p> + Two or three times that day I saw him sneaking about, keeping a sharp eye + on the linden; but the little thief was watching too, and kept out of the + way. + </p> + <p> + Early next morning a great hubbub rose outside my window, and I jumped up + to see what was going on. Little Thief had come back, and Big Thief caught + him in the act of robbery. Away they went pell-mell, jabbering like a + flock of blackbirds, along a linden branch, through two maples, across a + driveway, and up a big elm where Little Thief whisked out of sight into a + knot hole. + </p> + <p> + After him came Big Thief, swearing vengeance. But the knot hole was too + small; he couldn't get in. Twist and turn and push and threaten as he + would, he could not get in; and Little Thief sat just inside jeering + maliciously. + </p> + <p> + Meeko gave it up after a while and went off, nursing his wrath. But ten + feet from the tree a thought struck him. He rushed away out of sight, + making a great noise, then came back quietly and hid under an eave where + he could watch the knot hole. + </p> + <p> + Presently Little Thief came out, rubbed his eyes, and looked all about. + Through my glass I could see Meeko blinking and twitching under the dark + eave, trying to control his anger. Little Thief ventured to a branch a few + feet away from his refuge, and Big Thief, unable to hold himself a moment + longer, rushed out, firing a volley of direful threats ahead of him. In a + flash Little Thief was back in his knot hole and the comedy began all over + again. + </p> + <p> + I never saw how it ended; but for a day or two there was an unusual amount + of chasing and scolding going on outside my windows. + </p> + <p> + It was this same big squirrel that first showed me a curious trick of + biding. Whenever he found a handful of nuts on my windowsill and suspected + that other squirrels were watching to share the bounty, he had a way of + hiding them all very rapidly. He would never carry them direct to his + various garners; first, because these were too far away, and the other + squirrels would steal while he was gone; second, because, with hungry eyes + watching somewhere, they might follow and find out where he habitually + kept things. So he used to bide them all on the ground, under the leaves + in autumn, under snow in winter, and all within sight of the window-sill, + where he could watch the store as he hurried to and fro. Then, at his + leisure, he would dig them up and carry them off to his den, two cheekfuls + at a time. + </p> + <p> + Each nut was hidden by itself; never so much as two in one spot. For a + long time it puzzled me to know how he remembered so many places. I + noticed first that he would always start from a certain point, a tree or a + stone, with his burden. When it was hidden he would come back by the + shortest route to the windowsill; but with his new mouthful he would + always go first to the tree or stone he had selected, and from there + search out a new hiding place. + </p> + <p> + It was many days before I noticed that, starting from one fixed point, he + generally worked toward another tree or stone in the distance. Then his + secret was out; he hid things in a line. Next day he would come back, + start from his fixed point and move slowly towards the distant one till + his nose told him he was over a peanut, which he dug up and ate or carried + away to his den. But he always seemed to distrust himself; for on hungry + days he would go over two or three of his old lines in the hope of finding + a mouthful that he had overlooked. + </p> + <p> + This method was used only when he had a large supply to dispose of + hurriedly, and not always then. Meeko is a careless fellow and soon + forgets. When I gave him only a few to dispose of, he hid them + helter-skelter among the leaves, forgetting some of them afterwards and + enjoying the rare delight of stumbling upon them when he was hungriest—much + like a child whom I saw once giving himself a sensation. He would throw + his penny on the ground, go round the house, and saunter back with his + hands in his pockets till he saw the penny, which he pounced upon with + almost the joy of treasure-trove in the highway. + </p> + <p> + Meeko made a sad end—a fate which he deserved well enough, but which + I had to pity, spite of myself. When the spring came on, he went back to + evil ways. Sap was sweet and buds were luscious with the first swelling of + tender leaves; spring rains had washed out plenty of acorns in the + crannies under the big oak, and there were fresh-roasted peanuts still at + the corner window-sill within easy jump of a linden twig; but he took to + watching the robins to see where they nested, and when the young were + hatched he came no more to my window. Twice I saw him with fledgelings in + his mouth; and I drove him day after day from a late clutch of robin's + eggs that I could watch from my study. + </p> + <p> + He had warnings enough. Once some students, who had been friendly all + winter, stoned him out of a tree where he was nestrobbing; once the + sparrows caught him in their nest under the high eaves, and knocked him + off promptly. A twig upon which he caught in falling saved his life + undoubtedly, for the sparrows were after him and he barely escaped into a + knot hole, leaving the angry horde clamoring outside. But nothing could + reform him. + </p> + <p> + One morning at daylight a great crying of robins brought me to the window. + Meeko was running along a limb, the first of the fledgelings in his mouth. + After him were five or six robins whom the parents' danger cry had brought + to the rescue. They were all excited and tremendously in earnest. They + cried thief! thief! and swooped at him like hawks. Their cries speedily + brought a score of other birds, some to watch, others to join in the + punishment. + </p> + <p> + Meeko dropped the young bird and ran for his den; but a robin dashed + recklessly in his face and knocked him fair from the tree. That and the + fall of the fledgeling excited the birds more than ever. This thieving + bird-eater was not invulnerable. A dozen rushed at him on the ground and + left the marks of their beaks on his coat before he could reach the + nearest tree. + </p> + <p> + Again he rushed for his den, but wherever he turned now angry wings + fluttered over him and beaks jabbed in his face. Raging but frightened, he + sat up to snarl wickedly. Like a flash a robin hurled himself down, caught + the squirrel just under his ear and knocked him again to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Things began to look dark for Meeko. The birds grew bolder and angrier + every minute. When he started to climb a tree he was hurled off twice ere + he reached a crotch and drew himself down into it. He was safe there with + his back against a big limb; they could not get at him from behind. But + the angry clamor in front frightened him, and again he started for his + place of refuge. His footing was unsteady now and his head dizzy from the + blows he had received. Before he had gone half a limb's length he was + again on the ground, with a dozen birds pecking at him as they swooped + over. + </p> + <p> + With his last strength he snapped viciously at his foes and rushed to the + linden. My window was open, and he came creeping, hurrying towards it on + the branch over which he had often capered so lightly in the winter days. + Over him clamored the birds, forgetting all fear of me in their hatred of + the nestrobber. + </p> + <p> + A dozen times he was struck on the way, but at every blow he clung to the + branch with claws and teeth, then staggered on doggedly, making no + defense. His whole thought now was to reach the window-sill. + </p> + <p> + At the place where he always jumped he stopped and began to sway, gripping + the bark with his claws, trying to summon strength for the effort. He knew + it was too much, but it was his last hope. At the instant of his spring a + robin swooped in his face; another caught him a side blow in mid-air, and + he fell heavily to the stones below.—Sic semper tyrannis! yelled the + robins, scattering wildly as I ran down the steps to save him, if it were + not too late. + </p> + <p> + He died in my hands a moment later, with curious maliciousness nipping my + finger sharply at the last gasp. He was the only squirrel of the lot who + knew how to hide in a line; and never a one since his day has taken the + jump from oak to maple over the driveway. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE + </h2> + <p> + Of all the wild birds that still haunt our remaining solitudes, the ruffed + grouse—the pa'tridge of our younger days—is perhaps the + wildest, the most alert, the most suggestive of the primeval wilderness + that we have lost. You enter the woods from the hillside pasture, lounging + a moment on the old gray fence to note the play of light and shadow on the + birch bolls. Your eye lingers restfully on the wonderful mixture of soft + colors that no brush has ever yet imitated, the rich old gold of autumn + tapestries, the glimmering gray-green of the mouldering stump that the + fungi have painted. What a giant that tree must have been, generations + ago, in its days of strength; how puny the birches that now grow out of + its roots! You remember the great canoe birches by the wilderness river, + whiter than the little tent that nestled beneath them, their wide bark + banners waving in the wind, soft as the flutter of owls' wings that swept + among them, shadow-like, in the twilight. A vague regret steals over you + that our own wilderness is gone, and with it most of the shy folk that + loved its solitudes. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly there is a rustle in the leaves. Something stirs by the old + stump. A moment ago you thought it was only a brown root; now it runs, + hides, draws itself erect—Kwit, kwit, kwit! and with a whirring rush + of wings and a whirling eddy of dead leaves a grouse bursts up, and darts + away like a blunt arrow, flint-tipped, gray-feathered, among the startled + birch stems. As you follow softly to rout him out again, and to thrill and + be startled by his unexpected rush, something of the Indian has come + unbidden into your cautious tread. All regret for the wilderness is + vanished; you are simply glad that so much wildness still remains to speak + eloquently of the good old days. + </p> + <p> + It is this element of unconquerable wildness in the grouse, coupled with a + host of early, half-fearful impressions, that always sets my heart to + beating, as to an old tune, whenever a partridge bursts away at my feet. I + remember well a little child that used to steal away into the still woods, + which drew him by an irresistible attraction while as yet their dim arches + and quiet paths were full of mysteries and haunting terrors. Step by step + the child would advance into the shadows, cautious as a wood mouse, timid + as a rabbit. Suddenly a swift rustle and a thunderous rush of something + from the ground that first set the child's heart to beating wildly, and + then reached his heels in a fearful impulse which sent him rushing out of + the woods, tumbling headlong over the old gray wall, and scampering + halfway across the pasture before he dared halt from the terror behind. + And then, at last, another impulse which always sent the child stealing + back into the woods again, shy, alert, tense as a watching fox, to find + out what the fearful thing was that could make such a commotion in the + quiet woods. + </p> + <p> + And when he found out at last—ah, that was a discovery beside which + the panther's kittens are as nothing as I think of them. One day in the + woods, near the spot where the awful thunder used to burst away, the child + heard a cluck and a kwitkwit, and saw a beautiful bird dodging, gliding, + halting, hiding in the underbrush, watching the child's every motion. And + when he ran forward to put his cap over the bird, it burst away, and then—whirr! + whirr! whirr! a whole covey of grouse roared up all about him. The terror + of it weakened his legs so that he fell down in the eddying leaves and + covered his ears. But this time he knew what it was at last, and in a + moment he was up and running, not away, but fast as his little legs could + carry him after the last bird that he saw hurtling away among the trees, + with a birch branch that he had touched with his wings nodding good-by + behind him. + </p> + <p> + There is another association with this same bird that always gives an + added thrill to the rush of his wings through the startled woods. It was + in the old school by the cross-roads, one sleepy September afternoon. A + class in spelling, big boys and little girls, toed a crack in front of the + waster's desk. The rest of the school droned away on appointed tasks in + the drowsy interlude. The fat boy slept openly on his arms; even the + mischief-maker was quiet, thinking dreamily of summer days that were gone. + Suddenly there was a terrific crash, a clattering tinkle of broken glass, + a howl from a boy near the window. Twenty knees banged the desks beneath + as twenty boys jumped. Then, before any of us had found his wits, Jimmy + Jenkins, a red-headed boy whom no calamity could throw off his balance and + from whom no opportunity ever got away free, had jumped over two forms and + was down on the floor in the girls' aisle, gripping something between his + knees— + </p> + <p> + "I've got him," he announced, with the air of a general. + </p> + <p> + "Got what?" thundered the master. + </p> + <p> + "Got a pa'tridge; he's an old buster," said Jimmy. And he straightened up, + holding by the legs a fine cock partridge whose stiffening wings still + beat his sides spasmodically. He had been scared-up in the neighboring + woods, frightened by some hunter out of his native coverts. When he + reached the unknown open places he was more frightened still and, as a + frightened grouse always flies straight, he had driven like a bolt through + the schoolhouse window, killing himself by the impact. + </p> + <p> + Rule-of-three and cube root and the unmapped wilderness of partial + payments have left but scant impression on one of those pupils, at least; + but a bird that could wake up a drowsy schoolroom and bring out a living + lesson, full of life and interest and the subtile call of the woods, from + a drowsy teacher who studied law by night, but never his boys by day,—that + was a bird to be respected. I have studied him with keener interest ever + since. + </p> + <p> + Yet however much you study the grouse, you learn little except how wild he + is. Occasionally, when you are still in the woods and a grouse walks up to + your hiding place, you get a fair glimpse and an idea or two; but he soon + discovers you, and draws himself up straight as a string and watches you + for five minutes without stirring or even winking. Then, outdone at his + own game, he glides away. A rustle of little feet on leaves, a faint + kwit-kwit with a question in it, and he is gone. Nor will he come back, + like the fox, to watch from the other side and find out what you are. + </p> + <p> + Civilization, in its first advances, is good to the grouse, providing him + with an abundance of food and driving away his enemies. Grouse are always + more numerous about settlements than in the wilderness. Unlike other + birds, however, he grows wilder and wilder by nearness to men's dwellings. + I suppose that is because the presence of man is so often accompanied by + the rush of a dog and the report of a gun, and perhaps by the rip and + sting of shot in his feathers as he darts away. Once, in the wilderness, + when very hungry, I caught two partridges by slipping over their heads a + string noose at the end of a pole. Here one might as well try to catch a + bat in the twilight as to hope to snare one of our upland partridges by + any such invention, or even to get near enough to meditate the attempt. + </p> + <p> + But there was one grouse—and he the very wildest of all that I have + ever met in the woods—who showed me unwittingly many bits of his + life, and with whom I grew to be very well acquainted after a few seasons' + watching. All the hunters of the village knew him well; and a half-dozen + boys, who owned guns and were eager to join the hunters' ranks, had a + shooting acquaintance with him. He was known far and wide as "the ol' + beech pa'tridge." That he was old no one could deny who knew his ways and + his devices; and he was frequently scared-up in a beech wood by a brook, a + couple of miles out of the village. + </p> + <p> + Spite of much learned discussion as to different varieties of grouse, due + to marked variations in coloring, I think personally that we have but one + variety, and that differences in color are due largely to the different + surroundings in which they live. Of all birds the grouse is most invisible + when quiet, his coloring blends so perfectly with the roots and leaves and + tree stems among which he hides. This wonderful invisibility is increased + by the fact that he changes color easily. He is darker in summer, lighter + in winter, like the rabbit. When he lives in dark woods he becomes a + glossy red-brown; and when his haunt is among the birches he is often a + decided gray. + </p> + <p> + This was certainly true of the old beech partridge. When he spread his + tail wide and darted away among the beeches, his color blended so + perfectly with the gray tree trunks that only a keen eye could separate + him. And he knew every art of the dodger perfectly. When he rose there was + scarcely a second of time before he had put a big tree between you and + him, so as to cover his line of flight. I don't know how many times he had + been shot at on the wing. Every hunter I knew had tried it many times; and + every boy who roamed the woods in autumn had sought to pot him on the + ground. But he never lost a feather; and he would never stand to a dog + long enough for the most cunning of our craft to take his position. + </p> + <p> + When a brood of young partridges hear a dog running in the woods, they + generally flit to the lower branches of a tree and kwit-kwit at him + curiously. They have not yet learned the difference between him and the + fox, who is the ancient enemy of their kind, and whom their ancestors of + the wilderness escaped and tantalized in the same way. But when it is an + old bird that your setter is trailing, his actions are a curious mixture + of cunning and fascination. As old Don draws to a point, the grouse pulls + himself up rigidly by a stump and watches the dog. So both stand like + statues; the dog held by the strange instinct which makes him point, lost + to sight, sound and all things else save the smell in his nose, the grouse + tense as a fiddlestring, every sense alert, watching the enemy whom he + thinks to be fooled by his good hiding. For a few moments they are + motionless; then the grouse skulks and glides to a better cover. As the + strong scent fades from Don's nose, he breaks his point and follows. The + grouse hears him and again hides by drawing himself up against a stump, + where he is invisible; again Don stiffens into his point, one foot lifted, + nose and tail in a straight line, as if he were frozen and could not move. + </p> + <p> + So it goes on, now gliding through the coverts, now still as a stone, till + the grouse discovers that so long as he is still the dog seems paralyzed, + unable to move or feel. Then he draws himself up, braced against a root or + a tree boll; and there they stand, within twenty feet of each other, never + stirring, never winking, till the dog falls from exhaustion at the strain, + or breaks it by leaping forward, or till the hunter's step on the leaves + fills the grouse with a new terror that sends him rushing away through the + October woods to deeper solitudes. + </p> + <p> + Once, at noon, I saw Old Ben, a famous dog, draw to a perfect point. Just + ahead, in a tangle of brown brakes, I could see the head and neck of a + grouse watching the dog keenly. Old Ben's master, to test the splendid + training of his dog, proposed lunch on the spot. We withdrew a little + space and ate deliberately, watching the bird and the dog with an interest + that grew keener and keener as the meal progressed, while Old Ben stood + like a rock, and the grouse's eye shone steadily out of the tangle of + brakes. Nor did either move so much as an eyelid while we ate, and Ben's + master smoked his pipe with quiet confidence. At last, after a full hour, + he whacked his pipe on his boot heel and rose to reach for his gun. That + meant death for the grouse; but I owed him too much of keen enjoyment to + see him cut down in swift flight. In the moment that the master's back was + turned I hurled a knot at the tangle of brakes. The grouse burst away, and + Old Ben, shaken out of his trance by the whirr of wings, dropped + obediently to the charge and turned his head to say reproachfully with his + eyes: "What in the world is the matter with you back there—didn't I + hold him long enough?" + </p> + <p> + The noble old fellow was trembling like a leaf after the long strain when + I went up to him to pat his head and praise his steadiness, and share with + him the better half of my lunch. But to this day Ben's master does not + know what started the grouse so suddenly; and as he tells you about the + incident will still say regretfully: "I ought to a-started jest a minute + sooner, 'fore he got tired. Then I'd a had 'im." + </p> + <p> + The old beech partridge, however, was a bird of a different mind. No dog + ever stood him for more than a second; he had learned too well what the + thing meant. The moment he heard the patter of a dog's feet on leaves he + would run rapidly, and skulk and hide and run again, keeping dog and + hunter on the move till he found the cover he wanted,—thick trees, + or a tangle of wild grapevines,—when he would burst out on, the + farther side. And no eye, however keen, could catch more than a glimpse of + a gray tail before he was gone. Other grouse make short straight flights, + and can be followed and found again; but he always drove away on strong + wings for an incredible distance, and swerved far to right or left; so + that it was a waste of time to follow him up. Before you found him he had + rested his wings and was ready for another flight; and when you did find + him he would shoot away like an arrow out of the top of a pine tree and + give you never a glimpse of himself. + </p> + <p> + He lived most of the time on a ridge behind the 'Fales place,' an + abandoned farm on the east of the old post road. This was his middle + range, a place of dense coverts, bullbrier thickets and sunny open spots + among the ledges, where you might, with good-luck, find him on special + days at any season. But he had all the migratory instincts of a + Newfoundland caribou. In winter he moved south, with twenty other grouse, + to the foot of the ridge, which dropped away into a succession of knolls + and ravines and sunny, well-protected little valleys, where food was + plenty. Here, fifty years ago, was the farm pasture; but now it had grown + up everywhere with thickets and berry patches, and wild apple trees of the + birds' planting. All the birds loved it in their season; quail nested on + its edges; and you could kick a brown rabbit out of almost any of its + decaying brush piles or hollow moss-grown logs. + </p> + <p> + In the spring he crossed the ridge northward again, moving into the still + dark woods, where he had two or three wives with as many broods of young + partridges; all of whom, by the way, he regarded with astonishing + indifference. + </p> + <p> + Across the whole range—stealing silently out of the big woods, + brawling along the foot of the ridge and singing through the old pasture—ran + a brook that the old beech partridge seemed to love. A hundred times I + started him from its banks. You had only to follow it any November morning + before eight o'clock, and you would be sure to find him. But why he + haunted it at this particular time and season I never found out. + </p> + <p> + I used to wonder sometimes why I never saw him drink. Other birds had + their regular drinking places and bathing pools there, and I frequently + watched them from my hiding; but though I saw him many times, after I + learned his haunts, he never touched the water. + </p> + <p> + One early summer morning a possible explanation suggested itself. I was + sitting quietly by the brook, on the edge of the big woods, waiting for a + pool to grow quiet, out of which I had just taken a trout and in which I + suspected there was a larger one hiding. As I waited a mother-grouse and + her brood—one of the old beech partridge's numerous families for + whom he provided nothing—came gliding along the edge of the woods. + They had come to drink, evidently, but not from the brook. A sweeter + draught than that was waiting for their coming. The dew was still clinging + to the grass blades; here and there a drop hung from a leaf point, + flashing like a diamond in the early light. And the little partridges, + cheeping, gliding, whistling among the drooping stems, would raise their + little bills for each shining dewdrop that attracted them, and drink it + down and run with glad little pipings and gurglings to the next drop that + flashed an invitation from its bending grass blade. The old mother walked + sedately in the midst of them, now fussing over a laggard, now clucking + them all together in an eager, chirping, jumping little crowd, each one + struggling to be first in at the death of a fat slug she had discovered on + the underside of a leaf; and anon reaching herself for a dewdrop that hung + too high for their drinking. So they passed by within a few yards, a shy, + wild, happy little family, and disappeared into the shadow of the big + woods. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps that is why I never saw the old beech partridge drink from the + brook. Nature has a fresher draught, of her own distilling, that is more + to his tasting. + </p> + <p> + Earlier in the season I found another of his families near the same spot. + I was stealing along a wood road when I ran plump upon them, scratching + away at an ant hill in a sunny open spot. There was a wild flurry, as if a + whirlwind had struck the ant hill; but it was only the wind of the mother + bird's wings, whirling up the dust to blind my eyes and to hide the + scampering retreat of her downy brood. Again her wings beat the ground, + sending up a flurry of dead leaves, in the midst of which the little + partridges jumped and scurried away, so much like the leaves that no eye + could separate them. Then the leaves settled slowly and the brood was + gone, as if the ground had swallowed them up; while Mother Grouse went + fluttering along just out of my reach, trailing a wing as if broken, + falling prone on the ground, clucking and kwitting and whirling the leaves + to draw my attention and bring me away from where the little ones were + hiding. + </p> + <p> + I knelt down just within the edge of woods, whither I had seen the last + laggard of the brood vanish like a brown streak, and began to look for + them carefully. After a time I found one. He was crouched flat on a dead + oak leaf, just under my nose, his color hiding him wonderfully. Something + glistened in a tangle of dark roots. It was an eye, and presently I could + make out a little head there. That was all I could find of the family, + though a dozen more were close beside me, under the leaves mostly. As I + backed away I put my hand on another before seeing him, and barely saved + myself from hurting the little sly-boots, who never stirred a muscle, not + even when I took away the leaf that covered him and put it back again + softly. + </p> + <p> + Across the pathway was a thick scrub oak, under which I sat down to watch. + Ten long minutes passed, with nothing stirring, before Mother Grouse came + stealing back. She clucked once—"Careful!" it seemed to say; and not + a leaf stirred. She clucked again—did the ground open? There they + were, a dozen or more of them, springing up from nowhere and scurrying + with a thousand cheepings to tell her all about it. So she gathered them + all close about her, and they vanished into the friendly shadows. + </p> + <p> + It was curious how jealously the old beech partridge watched over the + solitudes where these interesting little families roamed. Though he seemed + to care nothing about them, and was never seen near one of his families, + he suffered no other cock partridge to come into his woods, or even to + drum within hearing. In the winter he shared the southern pasture + peaceably with twenty other grouse; and on certain days you might, by much + creeping, surprise a whole company of them on a sunny southern slope, + strutting and gliding, in and out and round about, with spread tails and + drooping wings, going through all the movements of a grouse minuet. Once, + in Indian summer, I crept up to twelve or fifteen of the splendid birds, + who were going through their curious performance in a little opening among + the berry bushes; and in the midst of them-more vain, more resplendent, + strutting more proudly and clucking more arrogantly than any other—was + the old beech partridge. + </p> + <p> + But when the spring came, and the long rolling drum-calls began to throb + through the budding woods, he retired to his middle range on the ridge, + and marched from one end to the other, driving every other cock grouse out + of hearing, and drubbing him soundly if he dared resist. Then, after a + triumph, you would hear his loud drum-call rolling through the May + splendor, calling as many wives as possible to share his rich living. + </p> + <p> + He had two drumming logs on this range, as I soon discovered; and once, + while he was drumming on one log, I hid near the other and imitated his + call fairly well by beating my hands on a blown bladder that I had + buttoned under my jacket. The roll of a grouse drum is a curiously muffled + sound; it is often hard to determine the spot or even the direction whence + it comes; and it always sounds much farther away than it really is. This + may have deceived the old beech partridge at first into thinking that he + heard some other bird far away, on a ridge across the valley where he had + no concern; for presently he drummed again on his own log. I answered it + promptly, rolling back a defiance, and also telling any hen grouse on the + range that here was another candidate willing to strut and spread his tail + and lift the resplendent ruff about his neck to win his way into her good + graces, if she would but come to his drumming log and see him. + </p> + <p> + Some suspicion that a rival had come to his range must have entered the + old beech partridge's head, for there was a long silence in which I could + fancy him standing up straight and stiff on his drumming log, listening + intently to locate the daring intruder, and holding down his bubbling + wrath with difficulty. + </p> + <p> + Without waiting for him to drum again, I beat out a challenge. The roll + had barely ceased when he came darting up the ridge, glancing like a bolt + among the thick branches, and plunged down by his own log, where he drew + himself up with marvelous suddenness to listen and watch for the intruder. + </p> + <p> + He seemed relieved that the log was not occupied, but he was still full of + wrath and suspicion. He glided and dodged all about the place, looking and + listening; then he sprang to his log and, without waiting to strut and + spread his gorgeous feathers as usual, he rolled out the long call, + drawing himself up straight the instant it was done, turning his head from + side to side to catch the first beat of his rival's answer—"Come + out, if you dare; drum, if you dare. Oh, you coward!" And he hopped, five + or six high, excited hops, like a rooster before a storm, to the other end + of the log, and again his quick throbbing drumcall rolled through the + woods. + </p> + <p> + Though I was near enough to see him clearly without, my field glasses, I + could not even then, nor at any other time when I have watched grouse + drumming, determine just how the call is given. After a little while the + excitement of a suspected rival's presence wore away, and he grew + exultant, thinking that he had driven the rascal out of his woods. He + strutted back and forth on the log, trailing his wings, spreading wide his + beautiful tail, lifting his crest and his resplendent ruff. Suddenly he + would draw himself up; there would be a flash of his wings up and down + that no eye could follow, and I would hear a single throb of his drum. + Another flash and another throb; then faster and faster, till he seemed to + have two or three pairs of wings, whirring and running together like the + spokes of a swift-moving wheel, and the drumbeats rolled together into a + long call and died away in the woods. + </p> + <p> + Generally he stood up on his toes, as a rooster does when he flaps his + wings before crowing; rarely he crouched down close to the log; but I + doubt if he beat the wood with his wings, as is often claimed. Yet the two + logs were different; one was dry and hard, the other mouldy and + moss-grown; and the drumcalls were as different as the two logs. After a + time I could tell by the sound which log he was using at the first beat of + his wings; but that, I think, was a matter of resonance, a kind of + sounding-board effect, and not because the two sounded differently as he + beat them. The call is undoubtedly made either by striking the wings + together over his back or, as I am inclined to believe, by striking them + on the down beat against his own sides. + </p> + <p> + Once I heard a wounded bird give three or four beats of his drum-call, and + when I went into the grapevine thicket, where he had fallen, I found him + lying flat on his back, beating his sides with his wings. + </p> + <p> + Whenever he drums he first struts, because he knows not how many pairs of + bright eyes are watching him shyly out of the coverts. Once, when I had + watched him strut and drum a few times, the leaves rustled, and two hen + grouse emerged from opposite sides into the little opening where his log + was. Then he strutted with greater vanity than before, while the two hen + grouse went gliding about the place, searching for seeds apparently, but + in reality watching his every movement out of their eye corners, and + admiring him to his heart's content. + </p> + <p> + In winter I used to follow his trail through the snow to find what he had + been doing, and what he had found to eat in nature's scarce time. His + worst enemies, the man and his dog, were no longer to be feared, being + restrained by law, and he roamed the woods with greater freedom than ever. + He seemed to know that he was safe at this time, and more than once I + trailed him up to his hiding and saw him whirr away through the open + woods, sending down a shower of snow behind him, as if in that curious way + to hide his line of flight from my eyes. + </p> + <p> + There were other enemies, however, whom no law restrained, save the + universal wood-laws of fear and hunger. Often I found the trail of a fox + crossing his in the snow; and once I followed a double trail, fox over + grouse, for nearly half a mile. The fox had struck the trail late the + previous afternoon, and followed it to a bullbrier thicket, in the midst + of which was a great cedar in which the old beech partridge roosted. The + fox went twice around the tree, halting and looking up, then went straight + away to the swamp, as if he knew it was of no use to watch longer. + </p> + <p> + Rarely, when the snow was deep, I found the place where he, or some other + grouse, went to sleep on the ground. He would plunge down from a tree into + the soft snow, driving into it headfirst for three or four feet, then turn + around and settle down in his white warm chamber for the night. I would + find the small hole where he plunged in at evening, and near it the great + hole where he burst out when the light waked him. Taking my direction from + his wing prints in the snow, I would follow to find where he lit, and then + trace him on his morning wanderings. + </p> + <p> + One would think that this might be a dangerous proceeding, sleeping on the + ground with no protection but the snow, and a score of hungry enemies + prowling about the woods; but the grouse knows well that when the storms + are out his enemies stay close at home, not being able to see or smell, + and therefore afraid each one of his own enemies. There is always a truce + in the woods during a snowstorm; and that is the reason why a grouse goes + to sleep in the snow only while the flakes are still falling. When the + storm is over and the snow has settled a bit, the fox will be abroad + again; and then the grouse sleeps in the evergreens. + </p> + <p> + Once, however, the old beech partridge miscalculated. The storm ceased + early in the evening, and hunger drove the fox out on a night when, + ordinarily, he would have stayed under cover. Sometime about daybreak, + before yet the light had penetrated to where the old beech partridge was + sleeping, the fox found a hole in the snow, which told him that just in + front of his hungry nose a grouse was hidden, all unconscious of danger. I + found the spot, trailing the fox, a few hours later. How cautious he was! + The sly trail was eloquent with hunger and anticipation. A few feet away + from the promising hole he had stopped, looking keenly over the snow to + find some suspicious roundness on the smooth surface. Ah! there it was, + just by the edge of a juniper thicket. He crouched down, stole forward, + pushing a deep trail with his body, settled himself firmly and sprang. And + there, just beside the hole his paws had made in the snow, was another + hole where the grouse had burst out, scattering snow all over his enemy, + who had miscalculated by a foot, and thundered away to the safety and + shelter of the pines. + </p> + <p> + There was another enemy, who ought to have known better, following the old + beech partridge all one early spring when snow was deep and food scarce. + One day, in crossing the partridge's southern range, I met a small boy,—a + keen little fellow, with the instincts of a fox for hunting. He had always + something interesting afoot,—minks, or muskrats, or a skunk, or a + big owl,—so I hailed him with joy. + </p> + <p> + "Hello, Johnnie! what you after to-day—bears?" + </p> + <p> + But he only shook his head—a bit sheepishly, I thought—and + talked of all things except the one that he was thinking about; and + presently he vanished down the old road. One of his jacket pockets bulged + more than the other, and I knew there was a trap in it. + </p> + <p> + Late that afternoon I crossed his trail and, having nothing more + interesting to do, followed it. It led straight to the bullbrier thicket + where the old beech partridge roosted. I had searched for it many times in + vain before the fox led me to it; but Johnnie, in some of his prowlings, + had found tracks and a feather or two under a cedar branch, and knew just + what it meant. His trap was there, in the very spot where, the night + before, the old beech partridge had stood when he jumped for the lowest + limb. Corn was scattered liberally about, and a bluejay that had followed + Johnnie was already fast in the trap, caught at the base of his bill just + under the eyes. He had sprung the trap in pecking at some corn that was + fastened cunningly to the pan by fine wire. + </p> + <p> + When I took the jay carefully from the trap he played possum, lying limp + in my hand till my grip relaxed, when he flew to a branch over my head, + squalling and upbraiding me for having anything to do with such abominable + inventions. + </p> + <p> + I hung the trap to a low limb of the cedar, with a note in its jaws + telling Johnnie to come and see me next day. He came at dusk, shamefaced, + and I read him a lecture on fair play and the difference between a + thieving mink and an honest partridge. But he chuckled over the bluejay, + and I doubted the withholding power of a mere lecture; so, to even + matters, I hinted of an otter slide I had discovered, and of a Saturday + afternoon tramp together. Twenty times, he told me, he had tried to snare + the old beech partridge. When he saw the otter slide he forswore traps and + snares for birds; and I left the place, soon after, with good hopes for + the grouse, knowing that I had spiked the guns of his most dangerous + enemy. + </p> + <p> + Years later I crossed the old pasture and went straight to the bullbrier + tangle. There were tracks of a grouse in the snow,—blunt tracks that + rested lightly on the soft whiteness, showing that Nature remembered his + necessity and had caused his new snowshoes to grow famously. I hurried to + the brook, a hundred memories thronging over me of happy days and rare + sights when the wood folk revealed their little secrets. In the midst of + them—kwit! kwit! and with a thunder of wings a grouse whirred away, + wild and gray as the rare bird that lived there years before. And when I + questioned a hunter, he said: "That ol' beech pa'tridge? Oh, yes, he's + there. He'll stay there, too, till he dies of old age; 'cause you see, + Mister, there ain't nobody in these parts spry enough to ketch 'im." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOLLOWING THE DEER + </h2> + <p> + I was camping one summer on a little lake—Deer Pond, the natives + called it—a few miles back from a quiet summer resort on the Maine + coast. Summer hotels and mackerel fishing and noisy excursions had lost + their semblance to a charm; so I made a little tent, hired a canoe, and + moved back into the woods. + </p> + <p> + It was better here. The days, were still and long, and the nights full of + peace. The air was good, for nothing but the wild creatures breathed it, + and the firs had touched it with their fragrance. The faraway surge of the + sea came up faintly till the spruces answered it, and both sounds went + gossiping over the hills together. On all sides were the woods, which, on + the north especially, stretched away over a broken country beyond my + farthest explorations. + </p> + <p> + Over against my tenting place a colony of herons had their nests in some + dark hemlocks. They were interesting as a camp of gypsies, some going off + in straggling bands to the coast at daybreak, others frogging in the + streams, and a few solitary, patient, philosophical ones joining me daily + in following the gentle art of Izaak Walton. And then, when the sunset + came and the deep red glowed just behind the hemlocks, and the gypsy bands + came home, I would see their sentinels posted here and there among the + hemlock tips—still, dark, graceful silhouettes etched in sepia + against the gorgeous after-glow—and hear the mothers croaking their + ungainly babies to sleep in the tree tops. + </p> + <p> + Down at one end of the pond a brood of young black ducks were learning + their daily lessons in hiding; at the other end a noisy kingfisher, an + honest blue heron, and a thieving mink shared the pools and watched each + other as rival fishermen. Hares by night, and squirrels by day, and wood + mice at all seasons played round my tent, or came shyly to taste my + bounty. A pair of big owls lived and hunted in a swamp hard by, who hooted + dismally before the storms came, and sometimes swept within the circle of + my fire at night. Every morning a raccoon stopped at a little pool in the + brook above my tent, to wash his food carefully ere taking it home. So + there was plenty to do and plenty to learn, and the days passed all too + swiftly. + </p> + <p> + I had been told by the village hunters that there were no deer; that they + had vanished long since, hounded and crusted and chevied out of season, + till life was not worth the living. So it was with a start of surprise and + a thrill of new interest that I came upon the tracks of a large buck and + two smaller deer on the shore one morning. I was following them eagerly + when I ran plump upon Old Wally, the cunningest hunter and trapper in the + whole region. + </p> + <p> + "Sho! Mister, what yer follerin?" + </p> + <p> + "Why, these deer tracks," I said simply. + </p> + <p> + Wally gave me a look, of great pity. + </p> + <p> + "Guess you're green—one o' them city fellers, ain't ye, Mister? Them + ere's sheep tracks—my sheep. Wandered off int' th' woods a spell + ago, and I hain't seen the tarnal critters since. Came up here lookin' for + um this mornin'." + </p> + <p> + I glanced at Wally's fish basket, and thought of the nibbled lily pads; + but I said nothing. Wally was a great hunter, albeit jealous; apt to think + of all the game in the woods as being sent by Providence to help him get a + lazy living; and I knew little about deer at that time. So I took him to + camp, fed him, and sent him away. + </p> + <p> + "Kinder keep a lookout for my sheep, will ye, Mister, down 't this end o' + the pond?" he said, pointing away from the deer tracks. "If ye see ary + one, send out word, and I'll come and fetch 'im.—Needn't foller the + tracks though; they wander like all possessed this time o' year," he added + earnestly as he went away. + </p> + <p> + That afternoon I went over to a little pond, a mile distant from my camp, + and deeper in the woods. The shore was well cut up with numerous deer + tracks, and among the lily pads everywhere were signs of recent feeding. + There was a man's track here too, which came cautiously out from a thick + point of woods, and spied about on the shore, and went back again more + cautiously than before. I took the measure of it back to camp, and found + that it corresponded perfectly with the boot tracks of Old Wally. There + were a few deer here, undoubtedly, which he was watching jealously for his + own benefit in the fall hunting. + </p> + <p> + When the next still, misty night came, it found me afloat on the lonely + little pond with a dark lantern fastened to an upright stick just in front + of me in the canoe. In the shadow of the shores all was black as Egypt; + but out in the middle the outlines of the pond could be followed vaguely + by the heavy cloud of woods against the lighter sky. The stillness was + intense; every slightest sound,—the creak of a bough or the ripple + of a passing musquash, the plunk of a water drop into the lake or the snap + of a rotten twig, broken by the weight of clinging mist,—came to the + strained ear with startling suddenness. Then, as I waited and sifted the + night sounds, a dainty plop, plop, plop! sent the canoe gliding like a + shadow toward the shore whence the sounds had come. + </p> + <p> + When the lantern opened noiselessly, sending a broad beam of gray, full of + shadows and misty lights, through the even blackness of the night, the + deer stood revealed—a beautiful creature, shrinking back into the + forest's shadow, yet ever drawn forward by the sudden wonder of the light. + </p> + <p> + She turned her head towards me, and her eyes blazed like great colored + lights in the lantern's reflection. They fascinated me; I could see + nothing but those great glowing spots, blazing and scintillating with a + kind of intense fear and wonder out of the darkness. She turned away, + unable to endure the glory any longer; then released from the fascination + of her eyes, I saw her hurrying along the shore, a graceful living shadow + among the shadows, rubbing her head among the bushes as if to brush away + from her eyes the charm that dazzled them. + </p> + <p> + I followed a little way, watching every move, till she turned again, and + for a longer time stared steadfastly at the light. It was harder this time + to break away from its power. She came nearer two or three times, halting + between dainty steps to stare and wonder, while her eyes blazed into mine. + Then, as she faltered irresolutely, I reached forward and closed the + lantern, leaving lake and woods in deeper darkness than before. At the + sudden release I heard her plunge out of the water; but a moment later she + was moving nervously among the trees, trying to stamp herself up to the + courage point of coming back to investigate. And when I flashed my lantern + at the spot she threw aside caution and came hurriedly down the bank + again. + </p> + <p> + Later that night I heard other footsteps in the pond, and opened my + lantern upon three deer, a doe, a fawn and a large buck, feeding at short + intervals among the lily pads. The buck was wild; after one look he + plunged into the woods, whistling danger to his companions. But the fawn + heeded nothing, knew nothing for the moment save the fascination of the + wonderful glare out there in the darkness. Had I not shut off the light, I + think he would have climbed into the canoe in his intense wonder. + </p> + <p> + I saw the little fellow again, in a curious way, a few nights later. A + wild storm was raging over the woods. Under its lash the great trees + writhed and groaned; and the "voices"—that strange phenomenon of the + forest and rapids—were calling wildly through the roar of the storm + and the rush of rain on innumerable leaves. I had gone out on the old wood + road, to lose myself for a little while in the intense darkness and + uproar, and to feel again the wild thrill of the elements. But the night + was too dark, the storm too fierce. Every few moments I would blunder + against a tree, which told me I was off the road; and to lose the road + meant to wander all night in the storm-swept woods. So I went back for my + lantern, with which I again started down the old cart path, a little + circle of wavering, jumping shadows about me, the one gray spot in the + midst of universal darkness. + </p> + <p> + I had gone but a few hundred yards when there was a rush—it was not + the wind or the rain—in a thicket on my right. Something jumped into + the circle of light. Two bright spots burned out of the darkness, then two + more; and with strange bleats a deer came close to me with her fawn. I + stood stockstill, with a thrill in my spine that was not altogether of the + elements, while the deer moved uneasily back and forth. The doe wavered + between fear and fascination; but the fawn knew no fear, or perhaps he + knew only the great fear of the uproar around him; for he came close + beside me, rested his nose an instant against the light, then thrust his + head between my arm and body, so as to shield his eyes, and pressed close + against my side, shivering with cold and fear, pleading dumbly for my + protection against the pitiless storm. + </p> + <p> + I refrained from touching the little thing, for no wild creature likes to + be handled, while his mother called in vain from the leafy darkness. When + I turned to go he followed me close, still trying to thrust his face under + my arm; and I had to close the light with a sharp click before he bounded + away down the road, where one who knew better than I how to take care of a + frightened innocent was, no doubt, waiting to receive him. + </p> + <p> + I gave up everything else but fishing after that, and took to watching the + deer; but there was little to be learned in the summer woods. Once I came + upon the big buck lying down in a thicket. I was following his track, + trying to learn the Indian trick of sign-trailing, when he shot up in + front of me like Jack-in-a-box, and was gone before I knew what it meant. + From the impressions in the moss, I concluded that he slept with all four + feet under him, ready to shoot up at an instant's notice, with power + enough in his spring to clear any obstacle near him. And then I thought of + the way a cow gets up, first one end, then the other, rising from the fore + knees at last with puff and grunt and clacking of joints; and I took my + first lesson in wholesome respect for the creature whom I already + considered mine by right of discovery, and whose splendid head I saw, in + anticipation, adorning the hall of my house—to the utter + discomfiture of Old Wally. + </p> + <p> + At another time I crept up to an old road beyond the little deer pond, + where three deer, a mother with her fawn, and a young spike-buck, were + playing. They kept running up and down, leaping over the trees that lay + across the road with marvelous ease and grace—that is, the two + larger deer. The little fellow followed awkwardly; but he had the spring + in him, and was learning rapidly to gather himself for the rise, and lift + his hind feet at the top of his jump, and come down with all fours + together, instead of sprawling clumsily, as a horse does. + </p> + <p> + I saw the perfection of it a few days later. I was sitting before my tent + door at twilight, watching the herons, when there was a shot and a sudden + crash over on their side. In a moment the big buck plunged out of the + woods and went leaping in swift bounds along the shore, head high, antlers + back, the mighty muscles driving him up and onward as if invisible wings + were bearing him. A dozen great trees were fallen across his path, one of + which, as I afterwards measured, lay a clear eight feet above the sand. + But he never hesitated nor broke his splendid stride. He would rush at a + tree; rise light and swift till above it, where he turned as if on a + pivot, with head thrown back to the wind, actually resting an instant in + air at the very top of his jump; then shoot downward, not falling but + driven still by the impulse of his great muscles. When he struck, all four + feet were close together; and almost quicker than the eye could follow he + was in the air again, sweeping along the water's edge, or rising like a + bird over the next obstacle. + </p> + <p> + Just below me was a stream, with muddy shores on both sides. I looked to + see if he would stog himself there or turn aside; but he knew the place + better than I, and that just under the soft mud the sand lay firm and, + sure. He struck the muddy place only twice, once on either side the + fifteen-foot stream, sending out a light shower of mud in all directions; + then, because the banks on my side were steep, he leaped for the cover of + the woods and was gone. + </p> + <p> + I thought I had seen the last of him, when I heard him coming, bump! bump! + bump! the swift blows of his hoofs sounding all together on the forest + floor. So he flashed by, between me and my tent door, barely swerved aside + for my fire, and gave me another beautiful run down the old road, rising + and falling light as thistle-down, with the old trees arching over him and + brushing his antlers as he rocketed along. + </p> + <p> + The last branch had hardly swished behind him when, across the pond, the + underbrush parted cautiously and Old Wally appeared, trailing a long gun. + He had followed scarcely a dozen of the buck's jumps when he looked back + and saw me watching him from beside a great maple. + </p> + <p> + "Just a-follerin one o' my tarnal sheep. Strayed off day 'fore yesterday. + Hain't seen 'im, hev ye?" he bawled across. + </p> + <p> + "Just went along; ten or twelve points on his horns. And say, Wally—" + </p> + <p> + The old sinner, who was glancing about furtively to see if the white sand + showed any blood stains,—looked up quickly at the changed tone. + </p> + <p> + "You let those sheep of yours alone till the first of October; then I'll + help you round 'em up. Just now they're worth forty dollars apiece to the + state. I'll see that the warden collects it, too, if you shoot another." + </p> + <p> + "Sho! Mister, I ain't a-shootin' no deer. Hain't seen a deer round here in + ten year or more. I just took a crack at a pa'tridge 'at kwitted at me, + top o' a stump"— + </p> + <p> + But as he vanished among the hemlocks, trailing his old gun, I knew that + he understood the threat. To make the matter sure I drove the deer out of + the pond that night, giving them the first of a series of rude lessons in + caution, until the falling leaves should make them wild enough to take + care of themselves. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + STILL HUNTING + </h2> + <p> + October, the superb month for one who loves the forest, found me again in + the same woods, this time not to watch and, learn, but to follow the big + buck to his death. Old Wally was ahead of me; but the falling leaves had + done their work well. The deer had left the pond at his approach. Here and + there on the ridges I found their tracks, and saw them at a distance, shy, + wild, alert, ready to take care of themselves in any emergency. The big + buck led them everywhere. Already his spirit, grown keen in long battle + against his enemies, dominated them all. Even the fawns had learned fear, + and followed it as their salvation. + </p> + <p> + Then began the most fascinating experience that comes to one who haunts + the woods—the first, thrilling, glorious days of the still-hunter's + schooling, with the frost-colored October woods for a schoolroom, and + Nature herself for the all-wise teacher. Daylight found me far afield, + while the heavy mists hung low and the night smells still clung to the + first fallen leaves, moving swift and silent through the chill fragrant + mistiness of the lowlands, eye and ear alert for every sign, and face set + to the heights where the deer were waiting. Noon found me miles away on + the hills, munching my crust thankfully in a sunny opening of the woods, + with a brook's music tinkling among the mossy stones at my feet, and the + gorgeous crimson and green and gold of the hillside stretching down and + away, like a vast Oriental rug of a giant's weaving, to the flash and blue + gleam of the distant sea. And everywhere—Nature's last subtle + touches to her picture—the sense of a filmy veil let down ere the + end was reached, a soft haze on the glowing hilltops, a sheen as of silver + mist along the stream in the valley, a fleecy light-shot cloud on the sea, + to suggest more, and more beautiful, beyond the veil. + </p> + <p> + Evening found me hurrying homeward through the short twilight, along + silent wood roads from which the birds had departed, breathing deep of the + pure air with its pungent tang of ripened leaves, sniffing the first night + smells, listening now for the yap of a fox, now for the distant bay of a + dog to guide me in a short cut over the hills to where my room in the old + farmhouse was waiting. + </p> + <p> + It mattered little that, far behind me (though not so far from where the + trail ended), the big buck began his twilight wandering along the ridges, + sniffing alertly at the vanishing scent of the man on his feeding ground. + The best things that a hunter brings home are in his heart, not in his + game bag; and a free deer meant another long glorious day following him + through the October woods, making the tyro's mistakes, to be sure, but + feeling also the tyro's thrill and the tyro's wonder, and the + consciousness of growing power and skill to read in a new language the + secrets that the moss and leaves hide so innocently. + </p> + <p> + There was so much to note and learn and remember in those days! A bit of + moss with that curiously measured angular cut in it, as if the wood folk + had taken to studying Euclid,—how wonderful it was at first! The + deer had been here; his foot drew that sharp triangle; and I must measure + and feel it carefully, and press aside the moss, and study the leaves, to + know whether it were my big buck or no, and how long since he had passed, + and whether he were feeding or running or just nosing about and watching + the valley below. And all that is much to learn from a tiny triangle in + the moss, with imaginary a, b, c's clinging to the dried moss blossoms. + </p> + <p> + How careful one had to be! Every shift of wind, every cloud shadow had to + be noted. The lesson of a dewdrop, splashed from a leaf in the early + morning; the testimony of a crushed flower, or a broken brake, or a + bending grass blade; the counsel of a bit of bark frayed from a birch + tree, with a shred of deer-velvet clinging to it,—all these were + vastly significant and interesting. Every copse and hiding place and + cathedral aisle of the big woods in front must be searched with quiet eyes + far ahead, as one glided silently from tree to tree. That depression in + the gray moss of a fir thicket, with two others near it—three deer + lay down there last night; no, this morning; no, scarcely an hour ago, and + the dim traces along the ridge show no sign of hurry or alarm. So I move + on, following surely the trail that, only a few days since, would have + been invisible as the trail of a fish in the lake to my unschooled eyes, + searching, searching everywhere for dim forms gliding among the trees, + till—a scream, a whistle, a rush away! And I know that the bluejay, + which has been gliding after me curiously the last ten minutes,—has + fathomed my intentions and flown ahead to alarm the deer, which are now + bounding away for denser cover. + </p> + <p> + I brush ahead heedlessly, knowing that caution here only wastes time, and + study the fresh trail where the quarry jumped away in alarm. Straight down + the wind it goes. Cunning old buck! He has no idea what Bluejay's alarm + was about, but a warning, whether of crow or jay or tainted wind or + snapping twig, is never lost on the wood folk. Now as he bounds along, + cleaving the woods like a living bolt, yet stopping short every hundred + yards or so to whirl and listen and sort the messages that the wood wires + bring to him, he is perfectly sure of himself and his little flock, + knowing that if danger follow down wind, his own nose will tell him all + about it. I glance at the sun; only another hour of light, and I am six + miles from home. I glance at the jay, flitting about restlessly in a + mixture of mischief and curiosity, whistling his too-loo-loo loudly as a + sign to the fleeing game that I am right here and that he sees me. Then I + take up the back trail, planning another day. + </p> + <p> + So the days went by, one after another; the big buck, aided by his friends + the birds, held his own against my craft and patience. He grew more wild + and alert with every hunt, and kept so far ahead of me that only once, + before the snow blew, did I have even the chance of stalking him, and then + the cunning old fellow foiled me again masterfully. + </p> + <p> + Old Wally was afield too; but, so far as I could read from the woods' + record, he fared no better than I on the trail of the buck. Once, when I + knew my game was miles ahead, I heard the longdrawn whang of Wally's old + gun across a little valley. Presently the brush began to crackle, and a + small doe came jumping among the trees straight towards me. Within thirty + feet she saw me, caught herself at the top of her jump, came straight + down, and stood an instant as if turned to stone, with a spruce branch + bending over to hide her from my eyes. Then, when I moved not, having no + desire to kill a doe but only to watch the beautiful creature, she turned, + glided a few steps, and went bounding away along the ridge. + </p> + <p> + Old Wally came in a little while, not following the trail,—he had no + skill nor patience for that,—but with a woodsman's instinct + following up the general direction of his game. Not far from where the doe + had first appeared he stopped, looked all around keenly, then rested his + hands on the end of his long gun barrel, and put his chin on his hands. + </p> + <p> + "Drat it all! Never tetched 'im again. That paowder o' mine hain't wuth a + cent. You wait till snow blows,"—addressing the silent woods at + large,—"then I'll get me some paowder as is paowder, and foller the + critter, and I'll show ye—" + </p> + <p> + Old Wally said never a word, but all this was in his face and attitude as + he leaned moodily on his long gun. And I watched him, chuckling, from my + hiding among the rocks, till with curious instinct he vanished down the + ridge behind the very thicket where I had seen the doe flash out of sight + a moment before. + </p> + <p> + When I saw him again he was deep in less creditable business. It was a + perfect autumn day,—the air full of light and color, the fragrant + woods resting under the soft haze like a great bouquet of Nature's own + culling, birds, bees and squirrels frolicking all day long amidst the + trees, yet doing an astonishing amount of work in gathering each one his + harvest for the cold dark days that were coming. + </p> + <p> + At daylight, from the top of a hill, I looked down on a little clearing + and saw the first signs of the game I was seeking. There had been what old + people call a duck-frost. In the meadows and along the fringes of the + woods the white rime lay thick and powdery on grass and dead leaves; every + foot that touched it left a black mark, as if seared with a hot iron, when + the sun came up and shone upon it. Across the field three black trails + meandered away from the brook; but alas! under the fringe of evergreen was + another trail, that of a man, which crept and halted and hid, yet drew + nearer and nearer the point where the three deer trails vanished into the + wood. Then I found powder marks, and some brush that was torn by buck + shot, and three trails that bounded away, and a tiny splash of deeper red + on a crimson maple leaf. So I left the deer to the early hunter and + wandered away up the hill for a long, lazy, satisfying day in the woods + alone. + </p> + <p> + Presently I came to a low brush fence running zigzag through the woods, + with snares set every few yards in the partridge and rabbit runs. At the + third opening a fine cock partridge swung limp and lifeless from a + twitch-up. The cruel wire had torn his neck under his beautiful ruff; the + broken wing quills showed how terrible had been his struggle. Hung by the + neck till dead!—an atrocious fate to mete out to a noble bird. I + followed the hedge of snares for a couple of hundred yards, finding three + more strangled grouse and a brown rabbit. Then I sat down in a beautiful + spot to watch the life about me, and to catch the snarer at his abominable + work. + </p> + <p> + The sun climbed higher and blotted out the four trails in the field below. + Red squirrels came down close to my head to chatter and scold and drive me + out of the solitude. A beautiful gray squirrel went tearing by among the + branches, pursued by one of the savage little reds that nipped and snarled + at his heels. The two cannot live together, and the gray must always go. + Jays stopped spying on the squirrels—to see and remember where their + winter stores were hidden—and lingered near me, whistling their + curiosity at the silent man below. None but jays gave any heed to the five + grim corpses swinging by their necks over the deadly hedge, and to them it + was only a new sensation. + </p> + <p> + Then a cruel thing happened,—one of the many tragedies that pass + unnoticed in the woods. There was a scurry in the underbrush, and strange + cries like those of an agonized child, only tiny and distant, as if heard + in a phonograph. Over the sounds a crow hovered and rose and fell, in his + intense absorption seeing nothing but the creature below. Suddenly he + swooped like a hawk into a thicket, and out of the cover sprang a leveret + (young hare), only to crouch shivering in the open space under a hemlock's + drooping branches. There the crow headed him, struck once, twice, three + times, straight hard blows with his powerful beak; and when I ran to the + spot the leveret lay quite dead with his skull split, while the crow went + flapping wildly to the tree tops, giving the danger cry to the flock that + was gossiping in the sunshine on the ridge across the valley. + </p> + <p> + The woods were all still after that; jays and squirrels seemed appalled at + the tragedy, and avoided me as if I were responsible for the still little + body under the hemlock tips. An hour passed; then, a quarter-mile away, in + the direction that the deer had taken in the early morning, a single jay + set up his cry, the cry of something new passing in the woods. Two or + three others joined him; the cry came nearer. A flock of crossbills went + whistling overhead, coming from the same direction. Then, as I slipped + away into an evergreen thicket, a partridge came whirring up, and darted + by me like a brown arrow driven by the bending branches behind him, + flicking the twigs sharply with his wings as he drove along. And then, on + the path of his last forerunner, Old Wally appeared, his keen eyes + searching his murderous gibbetline expectantly. + </p> + <p> + Now Old Wally was held in great reputation by the Nimrods of the village, + because he hunted partridges, not with "scatter-gun" and dog,—such + amateurish bungling he disdained and swore against,—but in the good + old-fashioned way of stalking with a rifle. And when he brought his bunch + of birds to market, his admirers pointed with pride to the marks of his + wondrous skill. Here was a bird with the head hanging by a thread of skin; + there one with its neck broken; there a furrow along the top of the head; + and here—perfect work!—a partridge with both eyes gone, + showing the course of his unerring bullet. + </p> + <p> + Not ten yards from my hiding place he took down a partridge from its + gallows, fumbled a pointed stick out of his pocket, ran it through the + bird's neck, and stowed the creature that had died miserably, without a + chance for its life, away in one of his big pockets, a self-satisfied grin + on his face as he glanced down the hedge and saw another bird swinging. So + he followed his hangman's hedge, treating each bird to his pointed stick, + carefully resetting the snares after him and clearing away the fallen + leaves from the fatal pathways. When he came to the rabbit he harled him + dexterously, slipped him over his long gun barrel, took his bearings in a + quick look, and struck over the ridge for another southern hillside. + </p> + <p> + Here, at last, was the secret of Wally's boasted skill in partridge + hunting with a rifle. Spite of my indignation at the snare line, the cruel + death which gaped day and night for the game as it ran about heedlessly in + the fancied security of its own coverts, a humorous, half shame-faced + feeling of admiration would creep in as I thought of the old sinner's + cunning, and remembered his look of disdain when he met me one day, with a + "scatter-gun" in my hands and old Don following obediently at heel. + Thinking that in his long life he must have learned many things in the + woods that I would be glad to know, I had invited him cordially to join + me. But he only withered me with the contempt in his hawk eyes, and + wiggled his toe as if holding back a kick from my honest dog with + difficulty. + </p> + <p> + "Go hunting with ye? Not much, Mister. Scarin' a pa'tridge to death with a + dum dog, and then turnin' a handful o' shot loose on the critter, an' call + it huntin'! That's the way to kill a pa'tridge, the on'y decent way"—and + he pulled a bird out of his pocket, pointing to a clean hole through the + head where the eyes had been. + </p> + <p> + When he had gone I kicked the hedge to pieces quickly, cut the twitch-ups + at the butts and threw them with their wire nooses far into the thickets, + and posted a warning in a cleft stick on the site of the last gibbet. Then + I followed Wally to a second and third line of snares, which were treated + in the same rough way, and watched him with curiously mingled feelings of + detestation and amusement as he sneaked down the dense hillside with tread + light as Leatherstocking, the old gun over his shoulder, his pockets + bulging enormously, and a string of hanged rabbits swinging to and fro on + his gun barrel, as if in death they had caught the dizzy motion and could + not quit it while the woods they had loved and lived in threw their long + sad shadows over them. So they came to the meadow, into which they had so + often come limping down to play or feed among the twilight shadows, and + crossed it for the last time on Wally's gun barrel, swinging, swinging. + </p> + <p> + The leaves were falling thickly now; they formed a dry, hard carpet over + which it was impossible to follow game accurately, and they rustled a + sharp warning underfoot if but a wood mouse ran over them. It was of + little use to still-hunt the wary old buck till the rains should soften + the carpet, or a snowfall make tracking like boys' play. But I tried it + once more; found the quarry on a ridge deep in the woods, and followed—more + by good-luck than by good management—till, late in the afternoon, I + saw the buck with two smaller deer standing far away on a half-cleared + hillside, quietly watching a wide stretch of country below. Beyond them + the ridge narrowed gradually to a long neck, ending in a high open bluff + above the river. + </p> + <p> + There I tried my last hunter's dodge—manoeuvered craftily till near + the deer, which were hidden by dense thickets, and rushed straight at + them, thinking they would either break away down the open hillside, and so + give me a running shot, or else rush straightaway at the sudden alarm and + be caught on the bluff beyond. + </p> + <p> + Was it simple instinct, I wonder, or did the buck that had grown old in + hunter's wiles feel what was passing in my mind, and like a flash take the + chance that would save, not only his own life, but the lives of the two + that followed him? At the first alarm they separated; the two smaller deer + broke away down the hillside, giving me as pretty a shot as one could + wish. But I scarcely noticed them; my eyes were following eagerly a swift + waving of brush tops, which told me that the big buck was jumping away, + straight into the natural trap ahead. + </p> + <p> + I followed on the run till the ridge narrowed so that I could see across + it on either side, then slowly, carefully, steadying my nerves for the + shot. The river was all about him now, too wide to jump, too steep-banked + to climb down; the only way out was past me. I gripped the rifle hard, + holding it at a ready as I moved forward, watching either side for a + slinking form among the scattered coverts. At last, at last! and how easy, + how perfectly I had trapped him! My heart was singing as I stole along. + </p> + <p> + The tracks moved straight on; first an easy run, then a swift, hard rush + as they approached the river. But what was this? The whole end of the + bluff was under my eye, and no buck standing at bay or running wildly + along the bank to escape. The tracks moved straight on to the edge in + great leaps; my heart quickened its beat as if I were nerving myself for a + supreme effort. Would he do it? would he dare? + </p> + <p> + A foot this side the brink the lichens were torn away where the sharp + hoofs had cut down to solid earth. Thirty feet away, well over the farther + bank and ten feet below the level where I stood, the fresh earth showed + clearly among the hoof-torn moss. Far below, the river fretted and roared + in a white rush of rapids. He had taken the jump, a jump that made one's + nostrils spread and his breath come hard as he measured it with his eye. + Somewhere, over in the spruces' shadow there, he was hiding, watching me + no doubt to see if I would dare follow. + </p> + <p> + That was the last of the autumn woods for me. If I had only seen him—just + one splendid glimpse as he shot over and poised in mid-air, turning for + the down plunge! That was my only regret as I turned slowly away, the + river singing beside me and the shadows lengthening along the home trail. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WINTER TRAILS + </h2> + <p> + The snow had come, and with it a Christmas holiday. For weeks I had looked + longingly out of college windows as the first tracking-snows came sifting + down, my thoughts turning from books and the problems of human wisdom to + the winter woods, with their wide white pages written all over by the feet + of wild things. Then the sun would shine again, and I knew that the + records were washed clean, and the hard-packed leaves as innocent of + footmarks as the beach where plover feed when a great wave has chased them + away. On the twentieth a change came. Outside the snow fell heavily, two + days and a night; inside, books were packed away, professors said Merry + Christmas, and students were scattering, like a bevy of flushed quail, to + all points of the compass for the holidays. The afternoon of the + twenty-first found me again in my room under the eaves of the old + farmhouse. + </p> + <p> + Before dark I had taken a wide run over the hills and through the woods to + the place of my summer camp. How wonderful it all was! The great woods + were covered deep with their pure white mantle; not a fleck, not a track + soiled its even whiteness; for the last soft flakes were lingering in the + air, and fox and grouse and hare and lucivee were still keeping the storm + truce, hidden deep in their coverts. Every fir and spruce and hemlock had + gone to building fairy grottoes as the snow packed their lower branches, + under which all sorts of wonders and beauties might be hidden, to say + nothing of the wild things for whom Nature had been building innumerable + tents of white and green as they slept. The silence was absolute, the + forest's unconscious tribute to the Wonder Worker. Even the trout brook, + running black as night among its white-capped boulders and delicate arches + of frost and fern work, between massive banks of feathery white and green, + had stopped its idle chatter and tinkled a low bell under the ice, as if + only the Angelus could express the wonder of the world. + </p> + <p> + As I came back softly in the twilight a movement in an evergreen ahead + caught my eye, and I stopped for one of the rare sights of the woods,—a + partridge going to sleep in a warm room of his own making. He looked all + about among the trees most carefully, listened, kwit-kwitted in a low + voice to himself, then, with a sudden plunge, swooped downward head-first + into the snow. I stole to the spot where he had disappeared, noted the + direction of his tunnel, and fell forward with arms outstretched, thinking + perhaps to catch him under me and examine his feet to see how his natural + snowshoes (Nature's winter gift to every grouse) were developing, before + letting him go again. But the grouse was an old bird, not to be caught + napping, who had thought on the possibilities of being followed ere he + made his plunge. He had ploughed under the snow for a couple of feet, then + swerved sharply to the left and made a little chamber for himself just + under some snow-packed spruce tips, with a foot of snow for a blanket over + him. When I fell forward, disturbing his rest most rudely ere he had time + to wink the snow out of his eyes, he burst out with a great whirr and + sputter between my left hand and my head, scattering snow all over me, and + thundered off through the startled woods, flicking a branch here and there + with his wings, and shaking down a great white shower as he rushed away + for deeper solitudes. There, no doubt, he went to sleep in the evergreens, + congratulating himself on his escape and preferring to take his chances + with the owl, rather than with some other ground-prowler that might come + nosing into his hole before the light snow had time to fill it up + effectually behind him. + </p> + <p> + Next morning I was early afield, heading for a ridge where I thought the + deer of the neighborhood might congregate with the intention of yarding + for the winter. At the foot of a wild little natural meadow, made + centuries ago by the beavers, I found the trail of two deer which had been + helping themselves to some hay that had been cut and stacked there the + previous summer. My big buck was not with them; so I left the trail in + peace to push through a belt of woods and across a pond to an old road + that led for a mile or two towards the ridge I was seeking. + </p> + <p> + Early as I was, the wood folk were ahead of me. Their tracks were + everywhere, eager, hungry tracks, that poked their noses into every + possible hiding place of food or game, showing how the two-days' fast had + whetted their appetites and set them to running keenly the moment the last + flakes were down and the storm truce ended. + </p> + <p> + A suspicious-looking clump of evergreens, where something had brushed the + snow rudely from the feathery tips, stopped me as I hurried down the old + road. Under the evergreens was a hole in the snow, and at the bottom of + the hole hard inverted cups made by deer's feet. I followed on to another + hole in the snow (it could scarcely be called a trail) and then to + another, and another, some twelve or fifteen feet apart, leading in swift + bounds to some big timber. There the curious track separated into three + deer trails, one of which might well be that of a ten-point buck. Here was + luck,—luck to find my quarry so early on the first day out, and + better luck that, during my long absence, the cunning animal had kept + himself and his consort clear of Old Wally and his devices. + </p> + <p> + When I ran to examine the back trail more carefully, I found that the deer + had passed the night in a dense thicket of evergreen, on a hilltop + overlooking the road. They had come down the hill, picking their way among + the stumps of a burned clearing, stepping carefully in each other's tracks + so as to make but a single trail. At the road they had leaped clear across + from one thicket to another, leaving never a trace on the bare even + whiteness. One might have passed along the road a score of times without + noticing that game had crossed. There was no doubt now that these were + deer that had been often hunted, and that had learned their cunning from + long experience. + </p> + <p> + I followed them rapidly till they began feeding in a little valley, then + with much caution, stealing from tree to thicket, giving scant attention + to the trail, but searching the woods ahead; for the last "sign" showed + that I was now but a few minutes behind the deer. There they were at last, + two graceful forms gliding like gray shadows among the snow-laden + branches. But in vain I searched for a lordly head with wide rough antlers + sweeping proudly over the brow; my buck was not there. Scarcely had I made + the discovery when there was a whistle and a plunge up on the hill on my + left, and I had one swift glimpse of him, a splendid creature, as he + bounded away. + </p> + <p> + By way of general precaution, or else led by some strange sixth sense of + danger, he had left his companions feeding and mounted the hill, where he + could look back on his own track. There he had been watching me for half + an hour, till I approached too near, when he sounded the alarm and was + off. I read it all from the trail a few moments later. + </p> + <p> + It was of no use to follow him, for he ran straight down wind. The two + others had gone quartering off at right angles to his course, obeying his + signal promptly, but having as yet no idea of what danger followed them. + When alarmed in this way, deer never run far before halting to sniff and + listen. Then, if not disturbed, they run off again, circling back and down + wind so as to catch from a distance the scent of anything that follows on + their trail. + </p> + <p> + I sat still where I was for a good hour, watching the chickadees and red + squirrels that found me speedily, and refusing to move for all the + peekings and whistlings of a jay that would fain satisfy his curiosity as + to whether I meant harm to the deer, or were just benumbed by the cold and + incapable of further mischief. When I went on I left some scattered bits + of meat from my lunch to keep him busy in case the deer were near; but + there was no need of the precaution. The two had learned the leader's + lesson of caution well, and ran for a mile, with many haltings and + circlings, before they began to feed again. Even then they moved along at + a good pace as they fed, till a mile farther on, when, as I had forelayed, + the buck came down from a hill to join them, and all three moved off + toward the big ridge, feeding as they went. + </p> + <p> + Then began a long chase, a chase which for the deer meant a straightaway + game, and for me a series of wide circles—never following the trail + directly, but approaching it at intervals from leeward, hoping to circle + ahead of the deer and stalk them at last from an unexpected quarter. + </p> + <p> + Once, when I looked down from a bare hilltop into a valley where the trail + ran, I had a most interesting glimpse of the big buck doing the same thing + from a hill farther on too far away for a shot, but near enough to see + plainly through my field glass. The deer were farther ahead than I + supposed. They had made a run for it, intending to rest after first + putting a good space between them and anything that might follow. Now they + were undoubtedly lying down in some far-away thicket, their minds at rest, + but their four feet doubled under them for a jump at short notice. Trust + your nose, but keep your feet under you—that is deer wisdom on going + to sleep. Meanwhile, to take no chances, the wary old leader had circled + back, to wind the trail and watch it awhile from a distance before joining + them in their rest. + </p> + <p> + He stood stock-still in his hiding, so still that one might have passed + close by without noticing him. But his head was above the low evergreens; + eyes, ears, and nose were busy giving him perfect report of everything + that passed in the woods. + </p> + <p> + I started to stalk him promptly, creeping up the hill behind him, + chuckling to myself at the rare sport of catching a wild thing at his own + game. But before I sighted him again he grew uneasy (the snow tells + everything), trotted down hill to the trail, and put his nose into it here + and there to be sure it was not polluted. Then—another of his + endless devices to make the noonday siesta full of contentment—he + followed the back track a little way, stepping carefully in his own + footprints; branched off on the other side of the trail, and so circled + swiftly back to join his little flock, leaving behind him a sad puzzle of + disputing tracks for any novice that might follow him. + </p> + <p> + So the interesting chase went on all day, skill against keener cunning, + instinct against finer instinct, through the white wonder of the winter + woods, till, late in the afternoon, it swung back towards the starting + point. The deer had undoubtedly intended to begin their yard that day on + the ridge I had selected; for at noon I crossed the trail of the two from + the haystack, heading as if by mutual understanding in that direction. But + the big buck, feeling that he was followed, cunningly led his charge away + from the spot, so as to give no hint of the proposed winter quarters to + the enemy that was after him. Just as the long shadows were stretching + across all the valleys from hill to hill, and the sun vanished into the + last gray bank of clouds on the horizon, my deer recrossed the old road, + leaping it, as in the morning, so as to leave no telltale track, and + climbed the hill to the dense thicket where they had passed the previous + night. + </p> + <p> + Here was my last chance, and I studied it deliberately. The deer were + there, safe within the evergreens, I had no doubt, using their eyes for + the open hillside in front and their noses for the woods behind. It was + useless to attempt stalking from any direction, for the cover was so thick + that a fox could hardly creep through without alarming ears far less + sensitive than a deer's. Skill had failed; their cunning was too much for + me. I must now try an appeal to curiosity. + </p> + <p> + I crept up the hill flat on my face, keeping stump or scrub spruce always + between me and the thicket on the hilltop. The wind was in my favor; I had + only their eyes to consider. Somewhere, just within the shadow, at least + one pair were sweeping the back track keenly; so I kept well away from it, + creeping slowly up till I rested behind a great burned stump within forty + yards of my game. There I fastened a red bandanna handkerchief to a stick + and waved it slowly above the stump. + </p> + <p> + Almost instantly there was a snort and a rustle of bushes in the thicket + above me. Peeking out I saw the evergreens moving nervously; a doe's head + appeared, her ears set forward, her eyes glistening. I waved the + handkerchief more erratically. My rifle lay across the stump's roots, + pointing straight at her; but she was not the game I was hunting. Some + more waving and dancing of the bright color, some more nervous twitchings + and rustlings in the evergreens, then a whistle and a rush; the doe + disappeared; the movement ceased; the thicket was silent as the winter + woods behind me. + </p> + <p> + "They are just inside," I thought, "pawing the snow to get their courage + up to come and see." So the handkerchief danced on—one, two, five + minutes passed in silence; then something made me turn round. There in + plain sight behind me, just this side the fringe of evergreen that lined + the old road, stood my three deer in a row—the big buck on the right—like + three beautiful statues, their ears all forward, their eyes fixed with + intensest curiosity on the man lying at full length in the snow with the + queer red flag above his head. + </p> + <p> + My first motion broke up the pretty tableau. Before I could reach for my + rifle the deer whirled and vanished like three winks, leaving the heavy + evergreen tips nodding and blinking behind them in a shower of snow. + </p> + <p> + Tired as I was, I took a last run to see from the trail how it all + happened. The deer had been standing just within the thicket as I + approached. All three had seen the handkerchief; the tracks showed that + they had pawed the snow and moved about nervously. When the leader + whistled they had bounded straightaway down the steep on the other side. + But the farms lay in that direction, so they had skirted the base of the + hill, keeping within the fringe of woods and heading back for their + morning trail, till the red flag caught their eye again, and strong + curiosity had halted them for another look. + </p> + <p> + Thus the long hunt ended at twilight within sight of the spot where it + began in the gray morning stillness. With marvelous cunning the deer + circled into their old tracks and followed them till night turned them + aside into a thicket. This I discovered at daylight next morning. + </p> + <p> + That day a change came; first a south wind, then in succession a thaw, a + mist, a rain turning to snow, a cold wind and a bitter frost. Next day + when I entered the woods a brittle crust made silent traveling impossible, + and over the rocks and bare places was a sheet of ice covered thinly with + snow. + </p> + <p> + I was out all day, less in hope of finding deer than of watching the wild + things; but at noon, as I sat eating my lunch, I heard a rapid running, + crunch, crunch, crunch, on the ridge above me. I stole up, quietly as I + could, to find the fresh trails of my three deer. They were running from + fright evidently, and were very tired, as the short irregular jumps + showed. Once, where the two leaders cleared a fallen log, the third deer + had fallen heavily; and all three trails showed blood stains where the + crust had cut into their legs. + </p> + <p> + I waited there on the trail to see what was following—to give right + of way to any hunter, but with a good stout stick handy, for dealing with + dogs, which sometimes ran wild in the woods and harried the deer. For a + long quarter-hour the woods were all still; then the jays, which had come + whistling up on the trail, flew back screaming and scolding, and a huge + yellow mongrel, showing hound's blood in his ears and nose, came slipping, + limping, whining over the crust. I waited behind a tree till he was up + with me, when I jumped out and caught him a resounding thump on the ribs. + As he ran yelping away I fired my rifle over his head, and sent the good + club with a vengeance to knock his heels from under him. A fresh outburst + of howls inspired me with hope. Perhaps he would remember now to let deer + alone for the winter. + </p> + <p> + Above the noise of canine lamentation I caught the faint click of + snowshoes, and hid again to catch the cur's owner at his contemptible + work. But the sound stopped far back on the trail at the sudden uproar. + </p> + <p> + Through the trees I caught glimpses of a fur cap and a long gun and the + hawk face of Old Wally, peeking, listening, creeping on the trail, and + stepping gingerly at last down the valley, ashamed or afraid of being + caught at his unlawful hunting. "An ill wind, but it blows me good," I + thought, as I took up the trail of the deer, half ashamed myself to take + advantage of them when tired by the dog's chasing. + </p> + <p> + There was no need of commiseration, however; now that the dog was out of + the way they could take care of themselves very well. I found them resting + only a short distance ahead; but when I attempted to stalk them from + leeward the noise of my approach on the crust sent them off with a rush + before I caught even a glimpse of them in their thicket. + </p> + <p> + I gave up caution then and there. I was fresh and the deer were tired,—why + not run them down and get a fair shot before the sun went down and left + the woods too dark to see a rifle sight? I had heard that the Indians used + sometimes to try running a deer down afoot in the old days; here was the + chance to try a new experience. It was fearfully hard traveling without + snowshoes, to be sure; but that seemed only to even-up chances fairly with + the deer. At the thought I ran on, giving no heed when the quarry jumped + again just ahead of me, but pushing them steadily, mile after mile, till I + realized with a thrill that I was gaining rapidly, that their pauses grew + more and more frequent, and I had constant glimpses of deer ahead among + the trees—never of the big buck, but of the two does, who were + struggling desperately to follow their leader as he kept well ahead of + them breaking the way. Then realizing, I think, that he was followed by + strength rather than by skill or cunning, the noble old fellow tried a + last trick, which came near being the end of my hunting altogether. + </p> + <p> + The trail turned suddenly to a high open ridge with scattered thickets + here and there. As they labored up the slope I had the does in plain + sight. On top the snow was light, and they bounded ahead with fresh + strength. The trail led straight along the edge of a cliff, beyond which + the deer had vanished. They had stopped running here; I noticed with + amazement that they had walked with quick short steps across the open. + Eager for a sight of the buck I saw only the thin powdering of snow; I + forgot the glare ice that covered the rock beneath. The deer's sharp hoofs + had clung to the very edge securely. My heedless feet had barely struck + the rock when they slipped and I shot over the cliff, thirty feet to the + rocks below. Even as I fell and the rifle flew from my grasp, I heard the + buck's loud whistle from the thicket where he was watching me, and then + the heavy plunge of the deer as they jumped away. + </p> + <p> + A great drift at the foot of the cliff saved me. I picked myself up, + fearfully bruised but with nothing broken, found my rifle and limped away + four miles through the woods to the road, thinking as I went that I was + well served for having delivered the deer "from the power of the dog," + only to take advantage of their long run to secure a head that my skill + had failed to win. I wondered, with an extra twinge in my limp, whether I + had saved Old Wally by taking the chase out of his hands unceremoniously. + Above all, I wondered—and here I would gladly follow another trail + over the same ground—whether the noble beast, grown weary with + running, his splendid strength failing for the first time, and his little, + long-tended flock ready to give in and have the tragedy over, knew just + what he was doing in mincing along the cliff's edge with his heedless + enemy close behind. What did he think and feel, looking back from his + hiding, and what did his loud whistle mean? But that is always the despair + of studying the wild things. When your problem is almost solved, night + comes and the trail ends. + </p> + <p> + When I could walk again easily vacation was over, the law was on, and the + deer were safe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SNOW BOUND + </h2> + <p> + March is a weary month for the wood folk. One who follows them then has it + borne in upon him continually that life is a struggle,—a keen, hard, + hunger-driven struggle to find enough to keep a-going and sleep warm till + the tardy sun comes north again with his rich living. The fall abundance + of stored food has all been eaten, except in out-of-the-way corners that + one stumbles upon in a long day's wandering; the game also is wary and + hard to find from being constantly hunted by eager enemies. + </p> + <p> + It is then that the sparrow falleth. You find him on the snow, a + wind-blown feather guiding your eye to the open where he fell in + mid-flight; or under the tree, which shows that he lost his grip in the + night. His empty crop tells the whole pitiful story, and why you find him + there cold and dead, his toes curled up and his body feather-light. You + would find more but for the fact that hunger-pointed eyes are keener than + yours and earlier abroad, and that crow and jay and mink and wildcat have + greater interest than you in finding where the sparrow fell. + </p> + <p> + It is then, also, that the owl, who hunts the sparrow o' nights, grows so + light from scant feeding that he cannot fly against the wind. If he would + go back to his starting point while the March winds are out, he must needs + come down close to the ground and yewyaw towards his objective, making + leeway like an old boat without ballast or centerboard. + </p> + <p> + The grouse have taken to bud-eating from necessity—birch buds + mostly, with occasional trips to the orchards for variety. They live much + now in the trees, which they dislike; but with a score of hungry enemies + prowling for them day and night, what can a poor grouse do? + </p> + <p> + When a belated snow falls, you follow their particular enemy, the fox, + where he wanders, wanders, wander's on his night's hunting. Across the + meadow, to dine on the remembrance of field mice—alas! safe now + under the crust; along the brook, where he once caught frogs; through the + thicket, where the grouse were hatched; past the bullbrier tangle, where + the covey of quail once rested nightly; into the farmyard, where the dog + is loose and the chickens are safe under lock and key, instead of roosting + in trees; across the highway, and through the swamp, and into the big bare + empty woods; till in the sad gray morning light he digs under the wild + apple tree and sits down on the snow to eat a frozen apple, lest his + stomach cry too loudly while he sleeps the day away and tries to forget + that he is hungry. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere it is the same story: hard times and poor hunting. Even the + chickadees are hard pressed to keep up appearances and have their sweet + love note ready at the first smell of spring in the air. + </p> + <p> + This was the lesson that the great woods whispered sadly when a few idle + March days found me gliding on snowshoes over the old familiar ground. + Wild geese had honked an invitation from the South Shore; but one can + never study a wild goose; the only satisfaction is to see him swing in on + broad wings over the decoys—one glorious moment ere the gun speaks + and the dog jumps and everything is spoiled. So I left gun and rifle + behind, and went off to the woods of happy memories to see how my deer + were faring. + </p> + <p> + The wonder of the snow was gone; there was left only its cold bitterness + and a vague sense that it ought no longer to cumber the ground, but would + better go away as soon as possible and spare the wood folk any more + suffering. The litter of a score of storms covered its soiled rough + surface; every shred of bark had left its dark stain where the decaying + sap had melted and spread in the midday sun. The hard crust, which made + such excellent running for my snowshoes, seemed bitterly cruel when I + thought of the starving wild things and of the abundance of food on the + brown earth, just four feet below their hungry bills and noses. + </p> + <p> + The winter bad been unusually severe. Reports had come to me from the + North Woods of deep snows, and of deer dying of starvation and cold in + their yards. I confess that I was anxious as I hurried along. Now that the + hunt was over and the deer had won, they belonged to me more than ever + more even than if the stuffed head of the buck looked down on my hall, + instead of resting proudly over his own strong shoulders. My snowshoes + clicked a rapid march through the sad gray woods, while the March wind + thrummed an accompaniment high up among the bare branches, and the + ground-spruce nodded briskly, beating time with their green tips, as if + glad of any sound or music that would break the chill silence until the + birds came back. + </p> + <p> + Here and there the snow told stories; gay stories, tragic stories, sad, + wandering, patient stories of the little woods-people, which the frost had + hardened into crust, as if Nature would keep their memorials forever, like + the records on the sunhardened bricks of Babylon. But would the deer live? + Would the big buck's cunning provide a yard large enough for wide + wandering, with plenty of browse along the paths to carry his flock safely + through the winter's hunger? That was a story, waiting somewhere ahead, + which made me hurry away from the foot-written records that otherwise + would have kept me busy for hours. + </p> + <p> + Crossbills called welcome to me, high overhead. Nothing can starve them + out. A red squirrel rushed headlong out of his hollow tree at the first + click of my snowshoes. Nothing can check his curiosity or his scolding + except his wife, whom he likes, and the weasel, whom he is mortally afraid + of. Chickadees followed me shyly with their blandishments—tsic-a-deeee? + with that gentle up-slide of questioning. "Is the spring really coming? + Are—are you a harbinger?" + </p> + <p> + But the snowshoes clicked on, away from the sweet blarney, Leaving behind + the little flatterers who were honestly glad to see me in the woods again, + and who would fain have delayed me. Other questions, stern ones, were + calling ahead. Would the cur dogs find the yard and exterminate the + innocents? Would Old Wally—but no; Wally had the "rheumatiz," and + was out of the running. Ill-wind blew the deer good that time; else he + would long ago have run them down on snowshoes and cut their throats, as + if they were indeed his "tarnal sheep" that had run wild in the woods. + </p> + <p> + At the southern end of a great hardwood ridge I found the first path of + their yard. It was half filled with snow, unused since the last two + storms. A glance on either side, where everything eatable within reach of + a deer's neck had long ago been cropped close, showed plainly why the path + was abandoned. I followed it a short distance before running into another + path, and another, then into a great tangle of deer ways spreading out + crisscross over the eastern and southern slopes of the ridge. + </p> + <p> + In some of the paths were fresh deer tracks and the signs of recent + feeding. My heart jumped at sight of one great hoof mark. I had measured + and studied it too often to fail to recognize its owner. There was browse + here still, to be had for the cropping. I began to be hopeful for my + little flock, and to feel a higher regard for their leader, who could plan + a yard, it seemed, as well as a flight, and who could not be deceived by + early abundance into outlining a small yard, forgetting the late snows and + the spring hunger. + </p> + <p> + I was stooping to examine the more recent signs, when a sharp snort made + me raise my head quickly. In the path before me stood a doe, all a-quiver, + her feet still braced from the suddenness with which she had stopped at + sight of an unknown object blocking the path ahead. Behind her two other + deer checked themselves and stood like statues, unable to see, but obeying + their leader promptly. + </p> + <p> + All three were frightened and excited, not simply curious, as they would + have been had they found me in their path unexpectedly. The widespread + nostrils and heaving sides showed that they had been running hard. Those + in the rear (I could see them over the top of the scrub spruce, behind + which I crouched in the path) said in every muscle: "Go on! No matter what + it is, the danger behind is worse. Go on, go on!" Insistence was in the + air. The doe felt it and bounded aside. The crust had softened in the sun, + and she plunged through it when she struck, cr-r-runch, cr-r-runch, up to + her sides at every jump. The others followed, just swinging their heads + for a look and a sniff at me, springing from hole to hole in the snow, and + making but a single track. A dozen jumps and they struck another path and + turned into it, running as before down the ridge. In the swift glimpses + they gave me I noticed with satisfaction that, though thin and a bit + ragged in appearance, they were by no means starved. The veteran leader + had provided well for his little family. + </p> + <p> + I followed their back track up the ridge for perhaps half a mile, when + another track made me turn aside. Two days before, a single deer had been + driven out of the yard at a point where three paths met. She had been + running down the ridge when something in front met her and drove her + headlong out of her course. The soft edges of the path were cut and torn + by suspicious claw marks. + </p> + <p> + I followed her flight anxiously, finding here and there, where the snow + had been softest, dog tracks big and little. The deer was tired from long + running, apparently; the deep holes in the snow, where she had broken + through the crust, were not half the regular distance apart. A little way + from the path I found her, cold and stiff, her throat horribly torn by the + pack which had run her to death. Her hind feet were still doubled under + her, just as she had landed from her last despairing jump, when the tired + muscles could do no more, and she sank down without a struggle to let the + dogs do their cruel work. + </p> + <p> + I had barely read all this, and had not yet finished measuring the largest + tracks to see if it were her old enemy that, as dogs frequently do, had + gathered a pirate band about him and led them forth to the slaughter of + the innocents, when a far-away cry came stealing down through the gray + woods. Hark! the eager yelp of curs and the leading hoot of a hound. I + whipped out my knife to cut a club, and was off for the sounds on a + galloping run, which is the swiftest possible gait on snowshoes. + </p> + <p> + There were no deer paths here; for the hardwood browse, upon which deer + depend for food, grew mostly on the other sides of the ridge. That the + chase should turn this way, out of the yard's limits showed the dogs' + cunning, and that they were not new at their evil business. They had + divided their forces again, as they had undoubtedly done when hunting the + poor doe whose body I had just found. Part of the pack hunted down the + ridge in full cry, while the rest lay in wait to spring at the flying game + as it came on and drive it out of the paths into the deep snow, where it + would speedily be at their mercy. At the thought I gripped the club hard, + promising to stop that kind of hunting for good, if only I could get half + a chance. + </p> + <p> + Presently, above the scrape of my snowshoes, I heard the deer coming, + cr-r-runch! cr-r-runch! the heavy plunges growing shorter and fainter, + while behind the sounds an eager, whining trail-cry grew into a fierce + howl of canine exultation. Something was telling me to hurry, hurry; that + the big buck I had so often hunted was in my power at last, and that, if I + would square accounts, I must beat the dogs, though they were nearer to + him now than I. The excitement of a new kind of hunt, a hunt to save, not + to kill, was tingling all over me when I circled a dense thicket of firs + with a rush, and there he lay, up to his shoulders in the snow before me. + </p> + <p> + He had taken his last jump. The splendid strength which had carried him so + far was spent now to the last ounce. He lay resting easily in the snow, + his head outstretched on the crust before him, awaiting the tragedy that + had followed him for years, by lake and clearing and winter yard, and that + burst out behind him now with a cry to make one's nerves shudder. The + glory of his antlers was gone; he had dropped them months before; but the + mighty shoulders and sinewy neck and perfect head showed how well, how + grandly he had deserved my hunting. + </p> + <p> + He threw up his head as I burst out upon him from an utterly unexpected + quarter—the very thing that I had so often tried to do, in vain, in + the old glorious days. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? Well, here am + I." That is what his eyes, great, sad, accusing eyes, were saying as he + laid his head down on the snow again, quiet as an Indian at the torture, + too proud to struggle where nothing was to be gained but pity or derision. + </p> + <p> + A strange, uncanny silence had settled over the woods. Wolves cease their + cry in the last swift burst of speed that will bring the game in sight. + Then the dogs broke out of the cover behind him with a fiercer howl that + was too much for even his nerves to stand. Nothing on earth could have met + such a death unmoved. No ears, however trained, could hear that fierce cry + for blood without turning to meet it face to face. With a mighty effort + the buck whirled in the snow and gathered himself for the tragedy. + </p> + <p> + Far ahead of the pack came a small, swift bulldog that, with no nose of + his own for hunting, had followed the pirate leader for mere love of + killing. As he jumped for the throat, the buck, with his last strength, + reared on his hind legs, so as to get his fore feet clear of the snow, and + plunged down again with a hard, swift sabre-cut of his right hoof. It + caught the dog on the neck as he rose on the spring, and ripped him from + ear to tail. Deer and dog came down together. Then the buck rose swiftly + for his last blow, and the knife-edged hoofs shot down like lightning; one + straight, hard drive with the crushing force of a ten-ton hammer behind it—and + his first enemy was out of the hunt forever. Before he had time to gather + himself again the big yellow brindle, with the hound's blood showing in + nose and ears,—Old Wally's dog,—leaped into sight. His whining + trail-cry changed to a fierce growl as he sprang for the buck's nose. + </p> + <p> + I had waited for just this moment in hiding, and jumped to meet it. The + club came down between the two heads; and there was no reserve this time + in the muscles that swung it. It caught the brute fair on the head, where + the nose begins to come up into the skull,—and he too had harried + his last deer. + </p> + <p> + Two other curs had leaped aside with quick instinct the moment they saw + me, and vanished into the thickets, as if conscious of their evil doing + and anxious to avoid detection. But the third, a large collie,—a dog + that, when he does go wrong, becomes the most cunning and vicious of + brutes,—flew straight at my throat with a snarl like a gray wolf + cheated of his killing. I have faced bear and panther and bull moose when + the red danger-light blazed into their eyes; but never before or since + have I seen such awful fury in a brute's face. It swept over me in an + instant that it was his life or mine; there was no question or + alternative. A lucky cut of the club disabled him, and I finished the job + on the spot, for the good of the deer and the community. + </p> + <p> + The big buck had not moved, nor tried to, after his last great effort. Now + he only turned his head and lifted it wearily, as if to get away from the + intolerable smell of his dog enemies that lay dying under his very nose. + His great, sorrowful, questioning eyes were turned on me continually, with + a look that only innocence could possibly meet. No man on earth, I think, + could have looked into them for a full moment and then raised his hand to + slay. + </p> + <p> + I approached very quietly, and dragged the dogs away from him, one by one. + His eyes followed me always. His nostrils spread, his head came up with a + start when I flung the first cur aside to leeward. But he made no motion; + only his eyes had a wonderful light in them when I dragged his last enemy, + the one he had killed himself, from under his very head and threw it after + the others. Then I sat down quietly in the snow, and we were face to face + at last. + </p> + <p> + He feared me—I could hardly expect otherwise, while a deer has + memory—but he lay perfectly still, his head extended on the snow, + his sides heaving. After a little while he made a few bounds forward, at + right angles to the course he had been running, with marvelous instinct + remembering the nearest point in the many paths out of which the pack had + driven him. But he stopped and lay quiet at the first sound of my + snowshoes behind him. "The chase law holds. You have caught me; I am + yours,"—this is what his sad eyes were saying. And sitting down + quietly near him again, I tried to reassure him. "You are safe. Take your + own time. No dog shall harm you now."—That is what I tried to make + him feel by the very power of my own feeling, never more strongly roused + than now for any wild creature. + </p> + <p> + I whistled a little tune softly, which always rouses the wood folk's + curiosity; but as he lay quiet, listening, his ears shot back and forth + nervously at a score of sounds that I could not hear, as if above the + music he caught faint echoes of the last fearful chase. Then I brought out + my lunch and, nibbling a bit myself, pushed a slice of black bread over + the crust towards him with a long stick. + </p> + <p> + It was curious and intensely interesting to watch the struggle. At first + he pulled away, as if I would poison him. Then a new rich odor began to + steal up into his hungry nostrils. For weeks he had not fed full; he had + been running hard since daylight, and was faint and exhausted. And in all + his life he had never smelled anything so good. He turned his head to + question me with his eyes. Slowly his nose came down, searching for the + bread. "If he would only eat!-that is a truce which I would never break," + I kept thinking over and over, and stopped eating in my eagerness to have + him share with me the hunter's crust. His nose touched it; then through + his hunger came the smell of the man—the danger smell that had + followed him day after day in the beautiful October woods, and over white + winter trails when he fled for his life, and still the man followed. The + remembrance was too much. He raised his head with an effort and bounded + away. + </p> + <p> + I followed slowly, keeping well out to one side of his trail, and sitting + quietly within sight whenever he rested in the snow. Wild animals soon + lose their fear in the presence of man if one avoids all excitement, even + of interest, and is quiet in his motions. His fear was gone now, but the + old wild freedom and the intense desire for life—a life which he had + resigned when I appeared suddenly before him, and the pack broke out + behind—were coming back with renewed force. His bounds grew longer, + firmer, his stops less frequent, till he broke at last into a deer path + and shook himself, as if to throw off all memory of the experience. + </p> + <p> + From a thicket of fir a doe, that had been listening in hiding to the + sounds of his coming and to the faint unknown click, which was the voice + of my snowshoes, came out to meet him. Together they trotted down the + path, turning often to look and listen, and vanished at last, like gray + shadows, into the gray stillness of the March woods. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_GLOS" id="link2H_GLOS"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cheokhes, the mink. + Ch'geegee-lokh, the chickadee. + Cheplahgan, the bald eagle. + Chigwooltz, the bullfrog. + Clote Scarpe, a legendary hero, like Hiawatha, of the Northern + Indians. Pronounced variously, Clote Scarpe, Groscap, Gluscap, + etc. + Deedeeaskh, the blue jay. + Hukweem, the great northern diver, or loon. + Ismaques, the fish-hawk. + Kagax, the weasel. + Kakagos, the raven. + Keeokuskh, the muskrat. + Keeonekh, the otter. + Killooleet, the white-throated sparrow. + Kookooskoos, the great horned owl. + Koskomenos, the kingfisher. + Kupkawis, the barred owl. + Kwaseekho, the sheldrake. + Lhoks, the panther. + Malsun, the wolf. + Meeko,the red squirrel. + Megaleep, the caribou. + Milicete, the name of an Indian tribe; written also Malicete. + Mitches, the birch partridge, or ruffed grouse. + Moktaques, the hare. + Mooween, the black bear. + Musquash, the muskrat. + Nemox, the fisher. + Pekquam, the fisher. + Seksagadagee, the Canada grouse, or spruce partridge. + Skooktum, the trout. + Tookhees, the wood grouse. + Upweekis, the Canada lynx. +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Secret of the Woods, by William J. 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Long + +Posting Date: November 7, 2008 [EBook #1901] +Release Date: September, 1999 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET OF THE WOODS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +SECRETS OF THE WOODS + +Wood Folk Series Book Three + +By William J. Long + + +1901 + + + TO CH'GEEGEE-LOKH-SIS, "Little + Friend Ch'geegee," whose + coming makes the winter glad. + + + + +PREFACE + +This little book is but another chapter in the shy 'wild life of the +fields and woods' of which "Ways of Wood Folk" and "Wilderness Ways" +were the beginning. It is given gladly in answer to the call for more +from those who have read the previous volumes, and whose letters are +full of the spirit of kindness and appreciation. + +Many questions have come of late with these same letters; chief of which +is this: How shall one discover such things for himself? how shall +we, too, read the secrets of the Wood Folk? There is no space here +to answer, to describe the long training, even if one could explain +perfectly what is more or less unconscious. I would only suggest that +perhaps the real reason why we see so little in the woods is the way we +go through them--talking, laughing, rustling, smashing twigs, disturbing +the peace of the solitudes by what must seem strange and uncouth +noises to the little wild creatures. They, on the other hand, slip with +noiseless feet through their native coverts, shy, silent, listening, +more concerned to hear than to be heard, loving the silence, hating +noise and fearing it, as they fear and hate their natural enemies. + +We would not feel comfortable if a big barbarian came into our quiet +home, broke the door down, whacked his war-club on the furniture, +and whooped his battle yell. We could hardly be natural under the +circumstances. Our true dispositions would hide themselves. We might +even vacate the house bodily. Just so Wood Folk. Only as you copy their +ways can you expect to share their life and their secrets. And it is +astonishing how little the shyest of them fears you, if you but keep +silence and avoid all excitement, even of feeling; for they understand +your feeling quite as much as your action. + +A dog knows when you are afraid of him; when you are hostile; when +friendly. So does a bear. Lose your nerve, and the horse you are riding +goes to pieces instantly. Bubble over with suppressed excitement, and +the deer yonder, stepping daintily down the bank to your canoe in the +water grasses, will stamp and snort and bound away without ever knowing +what startled him. But be quiet, friendly, peace-possessed in the same +place, and the deer, even after discovering you, will draw near and show +his curiosity in twenty pretty ways ere he trots away, looking back over +his shoulder for your last message. Then be generous--show him the flash +of a looking-glass, the flutter of a bright handkerchief, a tin whistle, +or any other little kickshaw that the remembrance of a boy's pocket +may suggest--and the chances are that he will come back again, finding +curiosity so richly rewarded. + +That is another point to remember: all the Wood Folk are more curious +about you than you are about them. Sit down quietly in the woods +anywhere, and your coming will occasion the same stir that a stranger +makes in a New England hill town. Control your curiosity, and soon their +curiosity gets beyond control; they must come to find out who you are +and what you are doing. Then you have the advantage; for, while their +curiosity is being satisfied, they forget fear and show you many curious +bits of their life that you will never discover otherwise. + +As to the source of these sketches, it is the same as that of the +others years of quiet observation in the woods and fields, and some old +notebooks which hold the records of summer and winter camps in the great +wilderness. + +My kind publishers announced, some time ago, a table of contents, which +included chapters on jay and fish-hawk, panther, and musquash, and a +certain savage old bull moose that once took up his abode too near my +camp for comfort. My only excuse for their non-appearance is that my +little book was full before their turn came. They will find their place, +I trust, in another volume presently. + +STAMFORD, CONN., June, 1901. Wm. J. LONG. + + + +CONTENTS + + TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE + A WILDERNESS BYWAY + KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN + KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST + MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER + THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE + FOLLOWING THE DEER + SUMMER WOODS + STILL HUNTING + WINTER TRAILS + SNOW BOUND + GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES + + + + +SECRETS OF THE WOODS + + + + +TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE + +Little Tookhees the wood mouse, the 'Fraid One, as Simmo calls him, +always makes two appearances when you squeak to bring him out. First, +after much peeking, he runs out of his tunnel; sits up once on his hind +legs; rubs his eyes with his paws; looks up for the owl, and behind him +for the fox, and straight ahead at the tent where the man lives; then +he dives back headlong into his tunnel with a rustle of leaves and a +frightened whistle, as if Kupkawis the little owl had seen him. That is +to reassure himself. In a moment he comes back softly to see what kind +of crumbs you have given him. + +No wonder Tookhees is so timid, for there is no place in earth or air or +water, outside his own little doorway under the mossy stone, where he is +safe. Above him the owls watch by night and the hawks by day; around him +not a prowler of the wilderness, from Mooween the bear down through a +score of gradations, to Kagax the bloodthirsty little weasel, but will +sniff under every old log in the hope of finding a wood mouse; and if he +takes a swim, as he is fond of doing, not a big trout in the river but +leaves his eddy to rush at the tiny ripple holding bravely across the +current. So, with all these enemies waiting to catch him the moment he +ventures out, Tookhees must needs make one or two false starts in order +to find out where the coast is clear. + +That is why he always dodges back after his first appearance; why he +gives you two or three swift glimpses of himself, now here, now there, +before coming out into the light. He knows his enemies are so hungry, so +afraid he will get away or that somebody else will catch him, that they +jump for him the moment he shows a whisker. So eager are they for his +flesh, and so sure, after missing him, that the swoop of wings or the +snap of red jaws has scared him into permanent hiding, that they pass on +to other trails. And when a prowler, watching from behind a stump, sees +Tookhees flash out of sight and hears his startled squeak, he thinks +naturally that the keen little eyes have seen the tail, which he forgot +to curl close enough, and so sneaks away as if ashamed of himself. Not +even the fox, whose patience is without end, has learned the wisdom of +waiting for Tookhees' second appearance. And that is the salvation of +the little 'Fraid One. + +From all these enemies Tookhees has one refuge, the little arched nest +beyond the pretty doorway under the mossy stone. Most of his enemies +can dig, to be sure, but his tunnel winds about in such a way that they +never can tell from the looks of his doorway where it leads to; +and there are no snakes in the wilderness to follow and find out. +Occasionally I have seen where Mooween the bear has turned the stone +over and clawed the earth beneath; but there is generally a tough root +in the way, and Mooween concludes that he is taking too much trouble +for so small a mouthful, and shuffles off to the log where the red ants +live. + +On his journeys through the woods Tookhees never forgets the dangerous +possibilities. His progress is a series of jerks, and whisks, and jumps, +and hidings. He leaves his doorway, after much watching, and shoots +like a minnow across the moss to an upturned root. There he sits up and +listens, rubbing his whiskers nervously. Then he glides along the root +for a couple of feet, drops to the ground and disappears. He is hiding +there under a dead leaf. A moment of stillness and he jumps like a +jack-in-abox. Now he is sitting on the leaf that covered him, rubbing +his whiskers again, looking back over his trail as if he heard footsteps +behind him. Then another nervous dash, a squeak which proclaims at once +his escape, and his arrival, and he vanishes under the old moss-grown +log where his fellows live, a whole colony of them. + +All these things, and many more, I discovered the first season that I +began to study the wild things that lived within sight of my tent. I +had been making long excursions after bear and beaver, following on +wild-goose chases after Old Whitehead the eagle and Kakagos the wild +woods raven that always escaped me, only to find that within the warm +circle of my camp-fire little wild folk were hiding whose lives were +more unknown and quite as interesting as the greater creatures I had +been following. + +One day, as I returned quietly to camp, I saw Simmo quite lost in +watching something near my tent. He stood beside a great birch tree, one +hand resting against the bark that he would claim next winter for his +new canoe; the other hand still grasped his axe, which he had picked up +a moment before to quicken the tempo of the bean kettle's song. His dark +face peered behind the tree with a kind of childlike intensity written +all over it. + +I stole nearer without his hearing me; but I could see nothing. The +woods were all still. Killooleet was dozing by his nest; the chickadees +had vanished, knowing that it was not meal time; and Meeko the red +squirrel had been made to jump from the fir top to the ground so often +that now he kept sullenly to his own hemlock across the island, nursing +his sore feet and scolding like a fury whenever I approached. Still +Simmo watched, as if a bear were approaching his bait, till I whispered, +"Quiee, Simmo, what is it?" + +"Nodwar k'chee Toquis, I see little 'Fraid One'" he said, unconsciously +dropping into his own dialect, which is the softest speech in the world, +so soft that wild things are not disturbed when they hear it, thinking +it only a louder sough of the pines or a softer tunking of ripples on +the rocks.--"O bah cosh, see! He wash-um face in yo lil cup." And when +I tiptoed to his side, there was Tookhees sitting on the rim of my +drinking cup, in which I had left a new leader to soak for the evening's +fishing, scrubbing his face diligently, like a boy who is watched from +behind to see that he slights not his ears or his neck. + +Remembering my own boyhood on cold mornings, I looked behind him to see +if he also were under compulsion, but there was no other mouse in sight. +He would scoop up a double handful of water in his paws, rub it rapidly +up over nose and eyes, and then behind his ears, on the spots that wake +you up quickest when you are sleepy. Then another scoop of water, and +another vigorous rub, ending behind his ears as before. + +Simmo was full of wonder, for an Indian notices few things in the woods +beside those that pertain to his trapping and hunting; and to see a +mouse wash his face was as incomprehensible to him as to see me read a +book. But all wood mice are very cleanly; they have none of the strong +odors of our house mice. Afterwards, while getting acquainted, I saw him +wash many times in the plate of water that I kept filled near his den; +but he never washed more than his face and the sensitive spot behind his +ears. Sometimes, however, when I have seen him swimming in the lake +or river, I have wondered whether he were going on a journey, or just +bathing for the love of it, as he washed his face in my cup. + +I left the cup where it was and spread a feast for the little guest, +cracker crumbs and a bit of candle end. In the morning they were gone, +the signs of several mice telling plainly who had been called in from +the wilderness byways. That was the introduction of man to beast. Soon +they came regularly. I had only to scatter crumbs and squeak a few times +like a mouse, when little streaks and flashes would appear on the moss +or among the faded gold tapestries of old birch leaves, and the little +wild things would come to my table, their eyes shining like jet, their +tiny paws lifted to rub their whiskers or to shield themselves from the +fear under which they lived continually. + +They were not all alike--quite the contrary. One, the same who had +washed in my cup, was gray and old, and wise from much dodging of +enemies. His left ear was split from a fight, or an owl's claw, +probably, that just missed him as he dodged under a root. He was at +once the shyest and boldest of the lot. For a day or two he came with +marvelous stealth, making use of every dead leaf and root tangle to hide +his approach, and shooting across the open spaces so quickly that one +knew not what had happened--just a dun streak which ended in nothing. +And the brown leaf gave no sign of what it sheltered. But once assured +of his ground, he came boldly. This great man-creature, with his face +close to the table, perfectly still but for his eyes, with a hand that +moved gently if it moved at all, was not to be feared--that Tookhees +felt instinctively. And this strange fire with hungry odors, and the +white tent, and the comings and goings of men who were masters of the +woods kept fox and lynx and owl far away--that he learned after a day or +two. Only the mink, who crept in at night to steal the man's fish, was +to be feared. So Tookhees presently gave up his nocturnal habits and +came out boldly into the sunlight. Ordinarily the little creatures come +out in the dusk, when their quick movements are hidden among the shadows +that creep and quiver. But with fear gone, they are only too glad to run +about in the daylight, especially when good things to eat are calling +them. + +Besides the veteran there was a little mother-mouse, whose tiny gray +jacket was still big enough to cover a wonderful mother love, as I +afterwards found out. She never ate at my table, but carried her fare +away into hiding, not to feed her little ones-they were, too small as +yet--but thinking in some dumb way, behind the bright little eyes, that +they needed her and that her life must be spared with greater precaution +for their sakes. She would steal timidly to my table, always appearing +from under a gray shred of bark on a fallen birch log, following the +same path, first to a mossy stone, then to a dark hole under a root, +then to a low brake, and along the underside of a billet of wood to +the mouse table. There she would stuff both cheeks hurriedly, till +they bulged as if she had toothache, and steal away by the same path, +disappearing at last under the shred of gray bark. + +For a long time it puzzled me to find her nest, which I knew could not +be far away. It was not in the birch log where she disappeared--that was +hollow the whole length--nor was it anywhere beneath it. Some distance +away was a large stone, half covered by the green moss which reached up +from every side. The most careful search here had failed to discover any +trace of Tookhees' doorway; so one day when the wind blew half a gale +and I was going out on the lake alone, I picked up this stone to put in +the bow of my canoe. That was to steady the little craft by bringing her +nose down to grip the water. Then the secret was out, and there it was +in a little dome of dried grass among some spruce roots under the stone. + +The mother was away foraging, but a faint sibilant squeaking within the +dome told me that the little ones were there, and hungry as usual. As I +watched there was a swift movement in a tunnel among the roots, and +the mother-mouse came rushing back. She paused a moment, lifting her +forepaws against a root to sniff what danger threatened. Then she saw +my face bending over the opening--Et tu Brute! and she darted into the +nest. In a moment she was out again and disappeared into her tunnel, +running swiftly with her little ones hanging to her sides by a grip that +could not be shaken,--all but one, a delicate pink creature that one +could hide in a thimble, and that snuggled down in the darkest corner of +my hand confidently. + +It was ten minutes before the little mother came back, looking anxiously +for the lost baby. When she found him safe in his own nest, with the +man's face still watching, she was half reassured; but when she threw +herself down and the little one began to drink, she grew fearful again +and ran away into the tunnel, the little one clinging to her side, this +time securely. + +I put the stone back and gathered the moss carefully about it. In a few +days Mother Mouse was again at my table. I stole away to the stone, put +my ear close to it, and heard with immense satisfaction tiny squeaks, +which told me that the house was again occupied. Then I watched to find +the path by which Mother Mouse came to her own. When her cheeks were +full, she disappeared under the shred of bark by her usual route. That +led into the hollow center of the birch log, which she followed to the +end, where she paused a moment, eyes, ears, and nostrils busy; then she +jumped to a tangle of roots and dead leaves, beneath which was a tunnel +that led, deep down under the moss, straight to her nest beneath the +stone. + +Besides these older mice, there were five or six smaller ones, all shy +save one, who from the first showed not the slightest fear but came +straight to my hand, ate his crumbs, and went up my sleeve, and +proceeded to make himself a warm nest there by nibbling wool from my +flannel shirt. + +In strong contrast to this little fellow was another who knew too well +what fear meant. He belonged to another tribe that had not yet grown +accustomed to man's ways. I learned too late how careful one must be in +handling the little creatures that live continually in the land where +fear reigns. + +A little way behind my tent was a great fallen log, mouldy and +moss-grown, with twin-flowers shaking their bells along its length, +under which lived a whole colony of wood mice. They ate the crumbs that +I placed by the log; but they could never be tolled to my table, whether +because they had no split-eared old veteran to spy out the man's ways, +or because my own colony drove them away, I could never find out. One +day I saw Tookhees dive under the big log as I approached, and having +nothing more important to do, I placed one big crumb near his entrance, +stretched out in the moss, hid my hand in a dead brake near the tempting +morsel, and squeaked the call. In a moment Tookhees' nose and eyes +appeared in his doorway, his whiskers twitching nervously as he smelled +the candle grease. But he was suspicious of the big object, or perhaps +he smelled the man too and was afraid, for after much dodging in and out +he disappeared altogether. + +I was wondering how long his hunger would battle with his caution, when +I saw the moss near my bait stir from beneath. A little waving of the +moss blossoms, and Tookhees' nose and eyes appeared out of the ground +for an instant, sniffing in all directions. His little scheme was +evident enough now; he was tunneling for the morsel that he dared not +take openly. I watched with breathless interest as a faint quiver nearer +my bait showed where he was pushing his works. Then the moss stirred +cautiously close beside his objective; a hole opened; the morsel tumbled +in, and Tookhees was gone with his prize. + +I placed more crumbs from my pocket in the same place, and presently +three or four mice were nibbling them. One sat up close by the dead +brake, holding a bit of bread in his forepaws like a squirrel. The brake +stirred suddenly; before he could jump my hand closed over him, and +slipping the other hand beneath him I held him up to my face to watch +him between my fingers. He made no movement to escape, but only trembled +violently. His legs seemed too weak to support his weight now; he lay +down; his eyes closed. One convulsive twitch and he was dead--dead of +fright in a hand which had not harmed him. + +It was at this colony, whose members were all strangers to me, that I +learned in a peculiar way of the visiting habits of wood mice, and at +the same time another lesson that I shall not soon forget. For several +days I had been trying every legitimate way in vain to catch a big +trout, a monster of his kind, that lived in an eddy behind a rock up at +the inlet. Trout were scarce in that lake, and in summer the big fish +are always lazy and hard to catch. I was trout hungry most of the time, +for the fish that I caught were small, and few and far between. Several +times, however, when casting from the shore at the inlet for small fish, +I had seen swirls in a great eddy near the farther shore, which told me +plainly of big fish beneath; and one day, when a huge trout rolled half +his length out of water behind my fly, small fry lost all their interest +and I promised myself the joy of feeling my rod bend and tingle beneath +the rush of that big trout if it took all summer. + +Flies were no use. I offered him a bookful, every variety of shape and +color, at dawn and dusk, without tempting him. I tried grubs, which bass +like, and a frog's leg, which no pickerel can resist, and little frogs, +such as big trout hunt among the lily pads in the twilight,--all without +pleasing him. And then waterbeetles, and a red squirrel's tail-tip, +which makes the best hackle in the world, and kicking grasshoppers, and +a silver spoon with a wicked "gang" of hooks, which I detest and which, +I am thankful to remember, the trout detested also. They lay there in +their big cool eddy, lazily taking what food the stream brought down to +them, giving no heed to frauds of any kind. + +Then I caught a red-fin in the stream above, hooked it securely, laid it +on a big chip, coiled my line upon it, and set it floating down stream, +the line uncoiling gently behind it as it went. When it reached the +eddy I raised my rod tip; the line straightened; the red-fin plunged +overboard, and a two-pound trout, thinking, no doubt, that the little +fellow had been hiding under the chip, rose for him and took him in. +That was the only one I caught. His struggle disturbed the pool, and the +other trout gave no heed to more red-fins. + +Then, one morning at daybreak, as I sat on a big rock pondering new +baits and devices, a stir on an alder bush across the stream caught my +eye. Tookhees the wood mouse was there, running over the bush, evidently +for the black catkins which still clung to the tips. As I watched him +he fell, or jumped from his branch into the quiet water below and, after +circling about for a moment, headed bravely across the current. I could +just see his nose as he swam, a rippling wedge against the black water +with a widening letter V trailing out behind him. The current swept +him downward; he touched the edge of the big eddy; there was a swirl, +a mighty plunge beneath, and Tookhees was gone, leaving no trace but a +swift circle of ripples that were swallowed up in the rings and dimples +behind the rock.--I had found what bait the big trout wanted. + +Hurrying back to camp, I loaded a cartridge lightly with a pinch of dust +shot, spread some crumbs near the big log behind my tent, squeaked the +call a few times, and sat down to wait. "These mice are strangers to +me," I told Conscience, who was protesting a little, "and the woods are +full of them, and I want that trout." + +In a moment there was a rustle in the mossy doorway and Tookhees +appeared. He darted across the open, seized a crumb in his mouth, sat +up on his hind legs, took the crumb in his paws, and began to eat. I had +raised the gun, thinking he would dodge back a few times before giving +me a shot; his boldness surprised me, but I did not recognize him. Still +my eye followed along the barrels and over the sight to where Tookhees +sat eating his crumb. My finger was pressing the trigger--"O you big +butcher," said Conscience, "think how little he is, and what a big roar +your gun will make! Aren't you ashamed?" + +"But I want the trout," I protested. + +"Catch him then, without killing this little harmless thing," said +Conscience sternly. + +"But he is a stranger to me; I never--" + +"He is eating your bread and salt," said Conscience. That settled it; +but even as I looked at him over the gun sight, Tookhees finished his +crumb, came to my foot, ran along my leg into my lap, and looked into my +face expectantly. The grizzled coat and the split ear showed the welcome +guest at my table for a week past. He was visiting the stranger colony, +as wood mice are fond of doing, and persuading them by his example that +they might trust me, as he did. More ashamed than if I had been caught +potting quail, I threw away the hateful shell that had almost slain my +friend and went back to camp. + +There I made a mouse of a bit of muskrat fur, with a piece of my leather +shoestring sewed on for a tail. It served the purpose perfectly, for +within the hour I was gloating over the size and beauty of the big trout +as he stretched his length on the rock beside me. But I lost the fraud +at the next cast, leaving it, with a foot of my leader, in the mouth +of a second trout that rolled up at it the instant it touched his eddy +behind the rock. + +After that the wood mice were safe so far as I was concerned. Not a +trout, though he were big as a salmon, would ever taste them, unless +they chose to go swimming of their own accord; and I kept their table +better supplied than before. I saw much of their visiting back and +forth, and have understood better what those tunnels mean that one finds +in the spring when the last snows are melting. In a corner of the woods, +where the drifts lay, you will often find a score of tunnels coming +in from all directions to a central chamber. They speak of Tookhees' +sociable nature, of his long visits with his fellows, undisturbed by +swoop or snap, when the packed snow above has swept the summer fear away +and made him safe from hawk and owl and fox and wildcat, and when no +open water tempts him to go swimming where Skooktum the big trout lies +waiting, mouse hungry, under his eddy. + + +The weeks passed all too quickly, as wilderness weeks do, and the sad +task of breaking camp lay just before us. But one thing troubled me--the +little Tookhees, who knew no fear, but tried to make a nest in the +sleeve of my flannel shirt. His simple confidence touched me more than +the curious ways of all the other mice. Every day he came and took his +crumbs, not from the common table, but from my, hand, evidently enjoying +its warmth while he ate, and always getting the choicest morsels. But I +knew that he would be the first one caught by the owl after I left; +for it is fear only that saves the wild things. Occasionally one finds +animals of various kinds in which the instinct of fear is lacking--a +frog, a young partridge, a moose calf--and wonders what golden age that +knew no fear, or what glorious vision of Isaiah in which lion and lamb +lie down together, is here set forth. I have even seen a young black +duck, whose natural disposition is wild as the wilderness itself, that +had profited nothing by his mother's alarms and her constant lessons in +hiding, but came bobbing up to my canoe among the sedges of a wilderness +lake, while his brethren crouched invisible in their coverts of bending +rushes, and his mother flapped wildly off, splashing and quacking and +trailing a wing to draw me away from the little ones. + +Such an one is generally abandoned by its mother, or else is the +first to fall in the battle with the strong before she gives him up as +hopeless. Little Tookhees evidently belonged to this class, so before +leaving I undertook the task of teaching him fear, which had evidently +been too much for Nature and his own mother. I pinched him a few times, +hooting like an owl as I did so,--a startling process, which sent the +other mice diving like brown streaks to cover. Then I waved a branch +over him, like a hawk's wing, at the same time flipping him end over +end, shaking him up terribly. Then again, when he appeared with a new +light dawning in his eyes, the light of fear, I would set a stick to +wiggling like a creeping fox among the ferns and switch him sharply with +a hemlock tip. It was a hard lesson, but he learned it after a few days. +And before I finished the teaching, not a mouse would come to my table, +no matter how persuasively I squeaked. They would dart about in the +twilight as of yore, but the first whish of my stick sent them all back +to cover on the instant. + +That was their stern yet, practical preparation for the robber horde +that would soon be prowling over my camping ground. Then a stealthy +movement among the ferns or the sweep of a shadow among the twilight +shadows would mean a very different thing from wriggling stick and +waving hemlock tip. Snap and swoop, and teeth and claws,--jump for your +life and find out afterwards. That is the rule for a wise wood mouse. +So I said good-by, and left them to take care of themselves in the +wilderness. + + + + +A WILDERNESS BYWAY + +One day in the wilderness, as my canoe was sweeping down a beautiful +stretch of river, I noticed a little path leading through the water +grass, at right angles to the stream's course. Swinging my canoe up to +it, I found what seemed to be a landing place for the wood folk on their +river journeyings. The sedges, which stood thickly all about, were here +bent inward, making a shiny green channel from the river. + +On the muddy shore were many tracks of mink and muskrat and otter. Here +a big moose had stood drinking; and there a beaver had cut the grass and +made a little mud pie, in the middle of which was a bit of musk scenting +the whole neighborhood. It was done last night, for the marks of his +fore paws still showed plainly where he had patted his pie smooth ere he +went away. + +But the spot was more than a landing place; a path went up the bank into +the woods, as faint as the green waterway among the sedges. Tall ferns +bent over to hide it; rank grasses that had been softly brushed aside +tried their best to look natural; the alders waved their branches +thickly, saying: There is no way here. But there it was, a path for +the wood folk. And when I followed it into the shade and silence of the +woods, the first mossy log that lay across it was worn smooth by the +passage of many little feet. + +As I came back, Simmo's canoe glided into sight and I waved him to +shore. The light birch swung up beside mine, a deep water-dimple just +under the curl of its bow, and a musical ripple like the gurgle of water +by a mossy stone--that was the only sound. + +"What means this path, Simmo?" + +His keen eyes took in everything at a glance, the wavy waterway, the +tracks, the faint path to the alders. There was a look of surprise in +his face that I had blundered onto a discovery which he had looked for +many times in vain, his traps on his back. + +"Das a portash," he said simply. + +"A portage! But who made a portage here?" + +"Well, Musquash he prob'ly make-um first. Den beaver, den h'otter, +den everybody in hurry he make-um. You see, river make big bend here. +Portash go 'cross; save time, jus' same Indian portash." + +That was the first of a dozen such paths that I have since found cutting +across the bends of wilderness rivers,--the wood folk's way of saving +time on a journey. I left Simmo to go on down the river, while I +followed the little byway curiously. There is nothing more fascinating +in the woods than to go on the track of the wild things and see what +they have been doing. + +But alas! mine were not the first human feet that had taken the journey. +Halfway across, at a point where the path ran over a little brook, +I found a deadfall set squarely in the way of unwary feet. It was +different from any I had ever seen, and was made like this: {drawing +omitted} + +That tiny stick (trigger, the trappers call it) with its end resting +in air three inches above the bed log, just the right height so that a +beaver or an otter would naturally put his foot on it in crossing, looks +innocent enough. But if you look sharply you will see that if it were +pressed down ever so little it would instantly release the bent stick +that holds the fall-log, and bring the deadly thing down with crushing +force across the back of any animal beneath. + +Such are the pitfalls that lie athwart the way of Keeonekh the otter, +when he goes a-courting and uses Musquash's portage to shorten his +journey. + +At the other end of the portage I waited for Simmo to come round the +bend, and took him back to see the work, denouncing the heartless +carelessness of the trapper who had gone away in the spring and left an +unsprung deadfall as a menace to the wild things. At the first glance +he pronounced it an otter trap. Then the fear and wonder swept into his +face, and the questions into mine. + +"Das Noel Waby's trap. Nobody else make-um tukpeel stick like dat," he +said at last. + +Then I understood. Noel Waby had gone up river trapping in the spring, +and had never come back; nor any word to tell how death met him. + +I stooped down to examine the trap with greater interest. On the +underside of the fall-log I found some long hairs still clinging in the +crevices of the rough bark. They belonged to the outer waterproof coat +with which Keeonekh keeps his fur dry. One otter at least had been +caught here, and the trap reset. But some sense of danger, some old +scent of blood or subtle warning clung to the spot, and no other +creature had crossed the bed log, though hundreds must have passed that +way since the old Indian reset his trap, and strode away with the dead +otter across his shoulders. + +What was it in the air? What sense of fear brooded here and whispered in +the alder leaves and tinkled in the brook? Simmo grew uneasy and hurried +away. He was like the wood folk. But I sat down on a great log that the +spring floods had driven in through the alders to feel the meaning +of the place, if possible, and to have the vast sweet solitude all to +myself for a little while. + +A faint stir on my left, and another! Then up the path, twisting and +gliding, came Keeonekh, the first otter that I had ever seen in the +wilderness. Where the sun flickered in through the alder leaves it +glinted brightly on the shiny puter hairs of his rough coat. As he went +his nose worked constantly, going far ahead of his bright little eyes to +tell him what was in the path. + +I was sitting very still, some distance to one side, and he did not see +me. Near old Noel's deadfall he paused an instant with raised head, in +the curious snake-like attitude that all the weasels take when watching. +Then he glided round the end of the trap, and disappeared down the +portage. + +When he was gone I stole out to examine his tracks. Then I noticed +for the first time that the old path near the deadfall was getting +moss-grown; a faint new path began to show among the alders. Some +warning was there in the trap, and with cunning instinct all the +wood dwellers turned aside, giving a wide berth to what they felt was +dangerous but could not understand. The new path joined the old again, +beyond the brook, and followed it straight to the river. + +Again I examined the deadfall carefully, but of course I found nothing. +That is a matter of instinct, not of eyes and ears, and it is past +finding out. Then I went away for good, after driving a ring of stout +stakes all about the trap to keep heedless little feet out of it. But +I left it unsprung, just as it was, a rude tribute of remembrance to +Keeonekh and the lost Indian. + + + + +KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN + +Wherever you find Keeonekh the otter you find three other things: +wildness, beauty, and running water that no winter can freeze. There is +also good fishing, but that will profit you little; for after Keeonekh +has harried a pool it is useless to cast your fly or minnow there. The +largest fish has disappeared--you will find his bones and a fin or two +on the ice or the nearest bank--and the little fish are still in hiding +after their fright. + +Conversely, wherever you find the three elements mentioned you will also +find Keeonekh, if your eyes know how to read the signs aright. Even in +places near the towns, where no otter has been seen for generations, +they are still to be found leading their shy wild life, so familiar with +every sight and sound of danger that no eye of the many that pass by +ever sees them. No animal has been more persistently trapped and hunted +for the valuable fur that he bears; but Keeonekh is hard to catch and +quick to learn. When a family have all been caught or driven away from +a favorite stream, another otter speedily finds the spot in some of his +winter wanderings after better fishing, and, knowing well from the signs +that others of his race have paid the sad penalty for heedlessness, he +settles down there with greater watchfulness, and enjoys his fisherman's +luck. + +In the spring he brings a mate to share his rich living. Soon a family +of young otters go a-fishing in the best pools and explore the stream +for miles up and down. But so shy and wild and quick to hide are they +that the trout fishermen who follow the river, and the ice fishermen +who set their tilt-ups in the pond below, and the children who gather +cowslips in the spring have no suspicion that the original proprietors +of the stream are still on the spot, jealously watching and resenting +every intrusion. + +Occasionally the wood choppers cross an unknown trail in the snow, a +heavy trail, with long, sliding, down-hill plunges which look as if a +log had been dragged along. But they too go their way, wondering a bit +at the queer things that live in the woods, but not understanding the +plain records that the queer things leave behind them. Did they but +follow far enough they would find the end of the trail in open water, +and on the ice beyond the signs of Keeonekh's fishing. + +I remember one otter family whose den I found, when a boy, on a stream +between two ponds within three miles of the town house. Yet the oldest +hunter could barely remember the time when the last otter had been +caught or seen in the county. + +I was sitting very still in the bushes on the bank, one day in spring, +watching for a wood duck. Wood duck lived there, but the cover was so +thick that I could never surprise them. They always heard me coming and +were off, giving me only vanishing glimpses among the trees, or else +quietly hiding until I went by. So the only way to see them--a beautiful +sight they were--was to sit still in hiding, for hours if need be, until +they came gliding by, all unconscious of the watcher. + +As I waited a large animal came swiftly up stream, just his head +visible, with a long tail trailing behind. He was swimming powerfully, +steadily, straight as a string; but, as I noted with wonder, he made no +ripple whatever, sliding through the water as if greased from nose to +tail. Just above me he dived, and I did not see him again, though I +watched up and down stream breathlessly for him to reappear. + +I had never seen such an animal before, but I knew somehow that it was +an otter, and I drew back into better hiding with the hope of seeing the +rare creature again. Presently another otter appeared, coming up stream +and disappearing in exactly the same way as the first. But though I +stayed all the afternoon I saw nothing more. + +After that I haunted the spot every time I could get away, creeping +down to the river bank and lying in hiding hours long at a stretch; for +I knew now that the otters lived there, and they gave me many glimpses +of a life I had never seen before. + +Soon I found their den. It was in a bank opposite my hiding place, and +the entrance was among the roots of a great tree, under water, where no +one could have possibly found it if the otters had not themselves shown +the way. In their approach they always dived while yet well out in the +stream, and so entered their door unseen. When they came out they were +quite as careful, always swimming some distance under water before +coming to the surface. It was several days before my eye could trace +surely the faint undulation of the water above them, and so follow their +course to their doorway. Had not the water been shallow I should never +have found it; for they are the most wonderful of swimmers, making no +ripple on the surface, and not half the disturbance below it that a fish +of the same weight makes. + +Those were among the happiest watching hours that I have ever spent in +the woods. The game was so large, so utterly unexpected; and I had the +wonderful discovery all to myself. Not one of the half dozen boys and +men who occasionally, when the fever seized them, trapped muskrat in +the big meadow, a mile below, or the rare mink that hunted frogs in the +brook, had any suspicion that such splendid fur was to be had for the +hunting. + +Sometimes a whole afternoon would go slowly by, filled with the sounds +and sweet smells of the woods, and not a ripple would break the dimples +of the stream before me. But when, one late afternoon, just as the pines +across the stream began to darken against the western light, a string +of silver bubbles shot across the stream and a big otter rose to the +surface with a pickerel in his mouth, all the watching that had not well +repaid itself was swept out of the reckoning. He came swiftly towards +me, put his fore paws against the bank, gave a wriggling jump,--and +there he was, not twenty feet away, holding the pickerel down with his +fore paws, his back arched like a frightened cat, and a tiny stream of +water trickling down from the tip of his heavy pointed tail, as he ate +his fish with immense relish. + +Years afterward, hundreds of miles away on the Dungarvon, in the heart +of the wilderness, every detail of the scene came back to me again. +I was standing on snowshoes, looking out over the frozen river, when +Keeonekh appeared in an open pool with a trout in his mouth. He broke +his way, with a clattering tinkle of winter bells, through the thin edge +of ice, put his paws against the heavy snow ice, threw himself out with +the same wriggling jump, and ate with his back arched--just as I had +seen him years before. + +This curious way of eating is, I think, characteristic of all otters; +certainly of those that I have been fortunate enough to see. Why they +do it is more than I know; but it must be uncomfortable for every +mouthful--full of fish bones, too--to slide uphill to one's stomach. +Perhaps it is mere habit, which shows in the arched backs of all the +weasel family. Perhaps it is to frighten any enemy that may approach +unawares while Keeonekh is eating, just as an owl, when feeding on the +ground, bristles up all his feathers so as to look as big as possible. + +But my first otter was too keen-scented to remain long so near a +concealed enemy. Suddenly he stopped eating and turned his head in my +direction. I could see his nostrils twitching as the wind gave him its +message. Then he left his fish, glided into the stream as noiselessly as +the brook entered it below him, and disappeared without leaving a single +wavelet to show where he had gone down. + +When the young otters appeared, there was one of the most interesting +lessons to be seen in the woods. Though Keeonekh loves the water and +lives in it more than half the time, his little ones are afraid of it as +so many kittens. If left to themselves they would undoubtedly go off +for a hunting life, following the old family instinct; for fishing is an +acquired habit of the otters, and so the fishing instinct cannot yet +be transmitted to the little ones. That will take many generations. +Meanwhile the little Keeonekhs must be taught to swim. + +One day the mother-otter appeared on the bank among the roots of the +great tree under which was their secret doorway. That was surprising, +for up to this time both otters had always approached it from the river, +and were never seen on the bank near their den. She appeared to be +digging, but was immensely cautious about it, looking, listening, +sniffing continually. I had never gone near the place for fear of +frightening them away; and it was months afterward, when the den was +deserted, before I examined it to understand just what she was doing. +Then I found that she had made another doorway from her den leading out +to the bank. She had selected the spot with wonderful cunning,--a +hollow under a great root that would never be noticed,--and she dug +from inside, carrying the earth down to the river bottom, so that there +should be nothing about the tree to indicate the haunt of an animal. + +Long afterwards, when I had grown better acquainted with Keeonekh's ways +from much watching, I understood the meaning of all this. She was simply +making a safe way out and in for the little ones, who were afraid of the +water. Had she taken or driven them out of her own entrance under the +river, they might easily have drowned ere they reached the surface. + +When the entrance was all ready she disappeared, but I have no doubt +she was just inside, watching to be sure the coast was clear. Slowly her +head and neck appeared till they showed clear of the black roots. She +turned her nose up stream--nothing in the wind. Eyes and ears searched +below--nothing harmful there. Then she came out, and after her toddled +two little otters, full of wonder at the big bright world, full of fear +at the river. + +There was no play at first, only wonder and investigation. Caution was +born in them; they put their little feet down as if treading on eggs, +and they sniffed every bush before going behind it. And the old mother +noted their cunning with satisfaction while her own nose and ears +watched far away. + +The outing was all too short; some uneasiness was in the air down +stream. Suddenly she rose from where she was lying, and the little ones, +as if commanded, tumbled back into the den. In a moment she had glided +after them, and the bank was deserted. It was fully ten minutes before +my untrained cars caught faint sounds, which were not of the woods, +coming up stream; and longer than that before two men with fish poles +appeared, making their slow way to the pond above. They passed almost +over the den and disappeared, all unconscious of beast or man that +wished them elsewhere, resenting their noisy passage through the +solitudes. But the otters did not come out again, though I watched till +nearly dark. + +It was a week before I saw them again, and some good teaching had +evidently been done in the meantime; for all fear of the river was gone. +They toddled out as before, at the same hour in the afternoon, and went +straight to the bank. There the mother lay down, and the little ones, +as if enjoying the frolic, clambered up to her back. Whereupon she slid +into the stream and swam slowly about with the little Keeonekhs clinging +to her desperately, as if humpty-dumpty had been played on them before, +and might be repeated any moment. + +I understood their air of anxious expectation a moment later, when +Mother Otter dived like a flash from under them, leaving them to make +their own way in the water. They began to swim naturally enough, but the +fear of the new element was still upon them. The moment old Mother Otter +appeared they made for her whimpering, but she dived again and again, or +moved slowly away, and so kept them swimming. After a little they seemed +to tire and lose courage. Her eyes saw it quicker than mine, and she +glided between them. Both little ones turned in at the same instant and +found a resting place on her back. So she brought them carefully to +land again, and in a few moments they were all rolling about in the dry +leaves like so many puppies. + +I must confess here that, besides the boy's wonder in watching the +wild things, another interest brought me to the river bank and kept me +studying Keeonekh's ways. Father Otter was a big fellow,--enormous he +seemed to me, thinking of my mink skins,--and occasionally, when his +rich coat glinted in the sunshine, I was thinking what a famous cap it +would make for the winter woods, or for coasting on moonshiny nights. +More often I was thinking what famous things a boy could buy for the +fourteen dollars, at least, which his pelt would bring in the open +market. + +The first Saturday after I saw him I prepared a board, ten times bigger +than a mink-stretcher, and tapered one end to a round point, and split +it, and made a wedge, and smoothed it all down, and hid it away--to +stretch the big otter's skin upon when I should catch him. + +When November came, and fur was prime, I carried down a half-bushel +basket of heads and stuff from the fish market, and piled them up +temptingly on the bank, above a little water path, in a lonely spot by +the river. At the lower end of the path, where it came out of the +water, I set a trap, my biggest one, with a famous grip for skunks and +woodchucks. But the fish rotted away, as did also another basketful in +another place. Whatever was eaten went to the crows and mink. Keeonekh +disdained it. + +Then I set the trap in some water (to kill the smell of it) on a game +path among some swamp alders, at a bend of the river where nobody ever +came and where I had found Keeonekh's tracks. The next night he walked +into it. But the trap that was sure grip for woodchucks was a plaything +for Keeonekh's strength. He wrenched his foot out of it, leaving me only +a few glistening hairs--which was all I ever caught of him. + +Years afterward, when I found old Noel's trap on Keeonekh's portage, I +asked Simmo why no bait had been used. + +"No good use-um bait," he said, "Keeonekh like-um fresh fish, an' +catch-um self all he want." And that is true. Except in starvation +times, when even the pools are frozen, or the fish die from one of their +mysterious epidemics, Keeonekh turns up his nose at any bait. If a bit +of castor is put in a split stick, he will turn aside, like all the +fur-bearers, to see what this strange smell is. But if you would toll +him with a bait, you must fasten a fish in the water in such a way that +it seems alive as the current wiggles it, else Keeonekh will never think +it worthy of his catching. + +The den in the river bank was never disturbed, and the following year +another litter was raised there. With characteristic cunning--a cunning +which grows keener and keener in the neighborhood of civilization--the +mother-otter filled up the land entrance among the roots with earth and +driftweed, using only the doorway under water until it was time for the +cubs to come out into the world again. + +Of all the creatures of the wilderness Keeonekh is the most richly +gifted, and his ways, could we but search them out, would furnish a most +interesting chapter. Every journey he takes, whether by land or water, +is full of unknown traits and tricks; but unfortunately no one ever sees +him doing things, and most of his ways are yet to be found out. You see +a head holding swiftly across a wilderness lake, or coming to meet your +canoe on the streams; then, as you follow eagerly, a swirl and he is +gone. When he comes up again he will watch you so much more keenly than +you can possibly watch him that you learn little about him, except how +shy he is. Even the trappers who make a business of catching him, and +with whom I have often talked, know almost nothing of Keeonekh, except +where to set their traps for him living and how to care for his skin +when he is dead. Once I saw him fishing in a curious way. It was winter, +on a wilderness stream flowing into the Dugarvon. There had been a fall +of dry snow that still lay deep and powdery over all the woods, too +light to settle or crust. At every step one had to lift a shovelful of +the stuff on the point of his snowshoe; and I was tired out, following +some caribou that wandered like plover in the rain. + +Just below me was a deep open pool surrounded by double fringes of ice. +Early in the winter, while the stream was higher, the white ice had +formed thickly on the river wherever the current was not too swift for +freezing. Then the stream fell, and a shelf of new black ice formed at +the water's level, eighteen inches or more below the first ice, some of +which still clung to the banks, reaching out in places two or three feet +and forming dark caverns with the ice below. Both shelves dipped towards +the water, forming a gentle incline all about the edges of the open +places. + +A string of silver bubbles shooting across the black pool at my feet +roused me out of a drowsy weariness. There it was again, a rippling wave +across the pool, which rose to the surface a moment later in a hundred +bubbles, tinkling like tiny bells as they broke in the keen air. Two or +three times I saw it with growing wonder. Then something stirred under +the shelf of ice across the pool. An otter slid into the water; the +rippling wave shot across again; the bubbles broke at the surface; and +I knew that he was sitting under the white ice below me, not twenty feet +away. + +A whole family of otters, three or four of them, were fishing there at +my feet in utter unconsciousness. The discovery took my breath away. +Every little while the bubbles would shoot across from my side, and +watching sharply I would see Keeonekh slide out upon the lower shelf of +ice on the other side and crouch there in the gloom, with back humped +against the ice above him, eating his catch. The fish they caught were +all small evidently, for after a few minutes he would throw himself flat +on the ice, slide down the incline into the water, making no splash or +disturbance as he entered, and the string of bubbles would shoot across +to my side again. + +For a full hour I watched them breathlessly, marveling at their skill. A +small fish is nimble game to follow and catch in his own element. But at +every slide Keeonekh did it. Sometimes the rippling wave would shoot all +over the pool, and the bubbles break in a wild tangle as the fish darted +and doubled below, with the otter after him. But it always ended the +same way. Keeonekh would slide out upon the ice shelf, and hump his +back, and begin to eat almost before the last bubble had tinkled behind +him. + +Curiously enough, the rule of the salmon fishermen prevailed here in +the wilderness: no two rods shall whip the same pool at the same time. +I would see an otter lying ready on the ice, evidently waiting for the +chase to end. Then, as another otter slid out beside him with his fish, +in he would go like a flash and take his turn. For a while the pool was +a lively place; the bubbles had no rest. Then the plunges grew fewer and +fewer, and the otters all disappeared into the ice caverns. + +What became of them I could not make out; and I was too chilled to watch +longer. Above and below the pool the stream was frozen for a distance; +then there was more open water and more fishing. Whether they followed +along the bank under cover of the ice to other pools, or simply slept +where they were till hungry again, I never found out. Certainly they had +taken up their abode in an ideal spot, and would not leave it willingly. +The open pools gave excellent fishing, and the upper ice shelf protected +them perfectly from all enemies. + +Once, a week later, I left the caribou and came back to the spot to +watch awhile; but the place was deserted. The black water gurgled and +dimpled across the pool, and slipped away silently under the lower edge +of ice undisturbed by strings of silver bubbles. The ice caverns were +all dark and silent. The mink had stolen the fish heads, and there was +no trace anywhere to show that it was Keeonekh's banquet hall. + +The swimming power of an otter, which was so evident there in the winter +pool, is one of the most remarkable things in nature. All other animals +and birds, and even the best modeled of modern boats, leave more or less +wake behind them when moving through the water. But Keeonekh leaves no +more trail than a fish. This is partly because he keeps his body well +submerged when swimming, partly because of the strong, deep, even stroke +that drives him forward. Sometimes I have wondered if the outer hairs of +his coat--the waterproof covering that keeps his fur dry, no matter how +long he swims--are not better oiled than in other animals, which might +account for the lack of ripple. I have seen him go down suddenly and +leave absolutely no break in the surface to show where he was. When +sliding also, plunging down a twenty-foot clay bank, he enters the water +with an astonishing lack of noise or disturbance of any kind. + +In swimming at the surface he seems to use all four feet, like other +animals. But below the surface, when chasing fish, he uses only the +fore-paws. The hind legs then stretch straight out behind and are used, +with the heavy tail, for a great rudder. By this means he turns and +doubles like a flash, following surely the swift dartings of frightened +trout, and beating them by sheer speed and nimbleness. + +When fishing a pool he always hunts outward from the center, driving the +fish towards the bank, keeping himself within their circlings, and so +having the immense advantage of the shorter line in heading off +his game. The fish are seized as they crouch against the bank for +protection, or try to dart out past him. Large fish are frequently +caught from behind as they lie resting in their spring-holes. So swift +and noiseless is his approach that they are seized before they become +aware of danger. + +This swimming power of Keeonekh is all the more astonishing when one +remembers that he is distinctively a land animal, with none of the +special endowments of the seal, who is his only rival as a fisherman. +Nature undoubtedly intended him to get his living, as the other members +of his large family do, by hunting in the woods, and endowed him +accordingly. He is a strong runner, a good climber, a patient tireless +hunter, and his nose is keen as a brier. With a little practice he could +again get his living by hunting, as his ancestors did. If squirrels and +rats and rabbits were too nimble at first, there are plenty of musquash +to be caught, and he need not stop at a fawn or a sheep, for he is +enormously strong, and the grip of his jaws is not to be loosened. + +In severe winters, when fish are scarce or his pools frozen over, he +takes to the woods boldly and shows himself a master at hunting craft. +But he likes fish, and likes the water, and for many generations now +has been simply a fisherman, with many of the quiet lovable traits that +belong to fishermen in general. + +That is one thing to give you instant sympathy for Keeonekh--he is +so different, so far above all other members of his tribe. He is very +gentle by nature, with no trace of the fisher's ferocity or the weasel's +bloodthirstiness. He tames easily, and makes the most docile and +affectionate pet of all the wood folk. He never kills for the sake of +killing, but lives peaceably, so far as he can, with all creatures. And +he stops fishing when he has caught his dinner. He is also most cleanly +in his habits, with no suggestion whatever of the evil odors that cling +to the mink and defile the whole neighborhood of a skunk. One cannot +help wondering whether just going fishing has not wrought all this +wonder in Keeonekh's disposition. If so, 't is a pity that all his tribe +do not turn fishermen. + +His one enemy among the wood folk, so far as I have observed, is the +beaver. As the latter is also a peaceable animal, it is difficult to +account for the hostility. I have heard or read somewhere that Keeonekh +is fond of young beaver and hunts them occasionally to vary his diet +of fish; but I have never found any evidence in the wilderness to show +this. Instead, I think it is simply a matter of the beaver's dam and +pond that causes the trouble. + +When the dam is built the beavers often dig a channel around either end +to carry off the surplus water, and so prevent their handiwork being +washed away in a freshet. Then the beavers guard their preserve +jealously, driving away the wood folk that dare to cross their dam or +enter their ponds, especially the musquash, who is apt to burrow and +cause them no end of trouble. But Keeonekh, secure in his strength, +holds straight through the pond, minding his own business and even +taking a fish or two in the deep places near the dam. He delights also +in running water, especially in winter when lakes and streams are mostly +frozen, and in his journeyings he makes use of the open channels that +guard the beavers' work. But the moment the beavers hear a splashing +there, or note a disturbance in the pond where Keeonekh is chasing fish, +down they come full of wrath. And there is generally a desperate fight +before the affair is settled. + +Once, on a little pond, I saw a fierce battle going on out in the +middle, and paddled hastily to find out about it. Two beavers and a +big otter were locked in a death struggle, diving, plunging, throwing +themselves out of water, and snapping at each other's throats. + +As my canoe halted the otter gripped one of his antagonists and went +under with him. There was a terrible commotion below the surface for a +few moments. When it ended the beaver rolled up dead, and Keeonekh shot +up under the second beaver to repeat the attack. They gripped on the +instant, but the second beaver, an enormous fellow, refused to go under +where he would be at a disadvantage. In my eagerness I let the canoe +drift almost upon them, driving them wildly apart before the common +danger. The otter held on his way up the lake; the beaver turned towards +the shore, where I noticed for the first time a couple of beaver houses. + +In this case there was no chance for intrusion on Keeonekh's part. +He had probably been attacked when going peaceably about his business +through the lake. + +It is barely possible, however, that there was an old grievance on the +beavers' part, which they sought to square when they caught Keeonekh on +the lake. When beavers build their houses on the lake shore, without the +necessity for making a dam, they generally build a tunnel slanting up +from the lake's bed to their den or house on the bank. Now Keeonekh +fishes under the ice in winter more than is generally supposed. As he +must breathe after every chase he must needs know all the air-holes and +dens in the whole lake. No matter how much he turns and doubles in +the chase after a trout, he never loses his sense of direction, never +forgets where the breathing places are. When his fish is seized he makes +a bee line under the ice for the nearest place where he can breathe and +eat. Sometimes this lands him, out of breath, in the beaver's tunnel; +and the beaver must sit upstairs in his own house, nursing his wrath, +while Keeonekh eats fish in his hallway; for there is not room for both +at once in the tunnel, and a fight there or under the ice is out of +the question. As the beaver eats only bark--the white inner layer of +"popple" bark is his chief dainty--he cannot understand and cannot +tolerate this barbarian, who eats raw fish and leaves the bones and fins +and the smell of slime in his doorway. The beaver is exemplary in his +neatness, detesting all smells and filth; and this may possibly account +for some of his enmity and his savage attacks upon Keeonekh when he +catches him in a good place. + +Not the least interesting of Keeonekh's queer ways is his habit of +sliding down hill, which makes a bond of sympathy and brings him close +to the boyhood memories of those who know him. + +I remember one pair of otters that I watched for the better part of a +sunny afternoon sliding down a clay bank with endless delight. The slide +had been made, with much care evidently, on the steep side of a little +promontory that jutted into the river. It was very steep, about twenty +feet high, and had been made perfectly smooth by much sliding and +wetting-down. An otter would appear at the top of the bank, throw +himself forward on his belly and shoot downward like a flash, diving +deep under water and reappearing some distance out from the foot of the +slide. And all this with marvelous stillness, as if the very woods had +ears and were listening to betray the shy creatures at their fun. For it +was fun, pure and simple, and fun with no end of tingle and excitement +in it, especially when one tried to catch the other and shot into the +water at his very heels. + +This slide was in perfect condition, and the otters were careful not to +roughen it. They never scrambled up over it, but went round the point +and climbed from the other side, or else went up parallel to the slide, +some distance away, where the ascent was easier and where there was no +danger of rolling stones or sticks upon the coasting ground to spoil its +smoothness. + +In winter the snow makes better coasting than the clay. Moreover it soon +grows hard and icy from the freezing of the water left by the otter's +body, and after a few days the slide is as smooth as glass. Then +coasting is perfect, and every otter, old and young, has his favorite +slide and spends part of every pleasant day enjoying the fun. + +When traveling through the woods in deep snow, Keeonekh makes use of his +sliding habit to help him along, especially on down grades. He runs a +little way and throws himself forward on his belly, sliding through the +snow for several feet before he runs again. So his progress is a series +of slides, much as one hurries along in slippery weather. + +I have spoken of the silver bubbles that first drew my attention to +the fishing otters one day in the wilderness. From the few rare +opportunities that I have had to watch them, I think that the bubbles +are seen only after Keeonekh slides swiftly into the stream. The air +clings to the hairs of his rough outer coat and is brushed from them as +he passes through the water. One who watches him thus, shooting down +the long slide belly-bump into the black winter pool, with a string +of silver bubbles breaking and tinkling above him, is apt to know the +hunter's change of heart from the touch of Nature which makes us all +kin. Thereafter he eschews trapping--at least you will not find his +number-three trap at the foot of Keeonekh's slide any more, to turn the +shy creature's happiness into tragedy--and he sends a hearty good-luck +after his fellow-fisherman, whether he meet him on the wilderness lakes +or in the quiet places on the home streams where nobody ever comes. + + + + +KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST + +Koskomenos the kingfisher is a kind of outcast among the birds. I think +they regard him as a half reptile, who has not yet climbed high enough +in the bird scale to deserve recognition; so they let him severely +alone. Even the goshawk hesitates before taking a swoop at him, not +knowing quite whether the gaudy creature is dangerous or only uncanny. +I saw a great hawk once drop like a bolt upon a kingfisher that hung on +quivering wings, rattling softly, before his hole in the bank. But the +robber lost his nerve at the instant when he should have dropped his +claws to strike. He swerved aside and shot upward in a great slant to a +dead spruce top, where he stood watching intently till the dark beak of +a brooding kingfisher reached out of the hole to receive the fish +that her mate had brought her. Whereupon Koskomenos swept away to his +watchtower above the minnow pool, and the hawk set his wings toward +the outlet, where a brood of young sheldrakes were taking their first +lessons in the open water. + +No wonder the birds look askance at Kingfisher. His head is ridiculously +large; his feet ridiculously small. He is a poem of grace in the air; +but he creeps like a lizard, or waddles so that a duck would be ashamed +of him, in the rare moments when he is afoot. His mouth is big enough +to take in a minnow whole; his tongue so small that he has no voice, but +only a harsh klr-rr-r-ik-ik-ik, like a watchman's rattle. He builds no +nest, but rather a den in the bank, in which he lives most filthily +half the day; yet the other half he is a clean, beautiful creature, with +never a suggestion of earth, but only of the blue heavens above and the +color-steeped water below, in his bright garments. Water will not wet +him, though he plunge a dozen times out of sight beneath the surface. +His clatter is harsh, noisy, diabolical; yet his plunge into the stream, +with its flash of color, its silver spray, and its tinkle of smitten +water, is the most musical thing in the wilderness. + +As a fisherman he has no equal. His fishy, expressionless eye is yet the +keenest that sweeps the water, and his swoop puts even the fish-hawk to +shame for its certainty and its lightning quickness. + +Besides all these contradictions, he is solitary, unknown, +inapproachable. He has no youth, no play, no joy except to eat; he +associates with nobody, not even with his own kind; and when he catches +a fish, and beats its head against a limb till it is dead, and sits with +head back-tilted, swallowing his prey, with a clattering chuckle +deep down in his throat, he affects you as a parrot does that swears +diabolically under his breath as he scratches his head, and that you +would gladly shy a stone at, if the owner's back were turned for a +sufficient moment. + +It is this unknown, this uncanny mixture of bird and reptile that has +made the kingfisher an object of superstition among all savage peoples. +The legends about him are legion; his crested head is prized by savages +above all others as a charm or fetish; and even among civilized peoples +his dried body may still sometimes be seen hanging to a pole, in the +hope that his bill will point out the quarter from which the next wind +will blow. + +But Koskomenos has another side, though the world as yet has found +out little about it. One day in the wilderness I cheered him quite +involuntarily. It was late afternoon; the fishing was over, and I sat +in my canoe watching by a grassy point to see what would happen next. +Across the stream was a clay bank, near the top of which a hole as +wide as a tea-cup showed where a pair of kingfishers had dug their long +tunnel. "There is nothing for them to stand on there; how did they begin +that hole?" I wondered lazily; "and how can they ever raise a brood, +with an open door like that for mink and weasel to enter?" Here were two +new problems to add to the many unsolved ones which meet you at every +turn on the woodland byways. + +A movement under the shore stopped my wondering, and the long lithe form +of a hunting mink shot swiftly up stream. Under the hole he stopped, +raised himself with his fore paws against the bank, twisting his head +from side to side and sniffing nervously. "Something good up there," he +thought, and began to climb. But the bank was sheer and soft; he slipped +back half a dozen times without rising two feet. Then he went down +stream to a point where some roots gave him a foothold, and ran lightly +up till under the dark eaves that threw their shadowy roots over the +clay bank. There he crept cautiously along till his nose found the nest, +and slipped down till his fore paws rested on the threshold. A long +hungry sniff of the rank fishy odor that pours out of a kingfisher's +den, a keen look all around to be sure the old birds were not returning, +and he vanished like a shadow. + +"There is one brood of kingfishers the less," I thought, with my glasses +focused on the hole. But scarcely was the thought formed, when a fierce +rumbling clatter sounded in the bank. The mink shot out, a streak of +red showing plainly across his brown face. After him came a kingfisher +clattering out a storm of invective and aiding his progress by vicious +jabs at his rear. He had made a miscalculation that time; the old mother +bird was at home waiting for him, and drove her powerful beak at his +evil eye the moment it appeared at the inner end of the tunnel. That +took the longing for young kingfisher all out of Cheokhes. He plunged +headlong down the bank, the bird swooping after him with a rattling +alarm that brought another kingfisher in a twinkling. The mink dived, +but it was useless to attempt escape in that way; the keen eyes above +followed his flight perfectly. When he came to the surface, twenty feet +away, both birds were over him and dropped like plummets on his head. So +they drove him down stream and out of sight. + +Years afterward I solved the second problem suggested by the +kingfisher's den, when I had the good fortune, one day, to watch a pair +beginning their tunneling. All who have ever watched the bird have, no +doubt, noticed his wonderful ability to stop short in swift flight and +hold himself poised in midair for an indefinite time, while watching +the movements of a minnow beneath. They make use of this ability in +beginning their nest on a bank so steep as to afford no foothold. + +As I watched the pair referred to, first one then the other would hover +before the point selected, as a hummingbird balances for a moment at the +door of a trumpet flower to be sure that no one is watching ere he goes +in, then drive his beak with rapid plunges into the bank, sending down a +continuous shower of clay to the river below. When tired he rested on a +watch-stub, while his mate made a battering-ram of herself and kept up +the work. In a remarkably short time they had a foothold and proceeded +to dig themselves in out of sight. + +Kingfisher's tunnel is so narrow that he cannot turn around in it. His +straight, strong bill loosens the earth; his tiny feet throw it +out behind. I would see a shower of dirt, and perchance the tail of +Koskomenos for a brief instant, then a period of waiting, and another +shower. This kept up till the tunnel was bored perhaps two feet, when +they undoubtedly made a sharp turn, as is their custom. After that they +brought most of the earth out in their beaks. While one worked, the +other watched or fished at the minnow pool, so that there was steady +progress as long as I observed them. + +For years I had regarded Koskomenos, as the birds and the rest of the +world regard him, as a noisy, half-diabolical creature, between bird and +lizard, whom one must pass by with suspicion. But that affair with the +mink changed my feelings a bit. Koskomenos' mate might lay her eggs like +a reptile, but she could defend them like any bird hero. So I took to +watching more carefully; which is the only way to get acquainted. + +The first thing I noticed about the birds--an observation confirmed +later on many waters--was that each pair of kingfishers have their own +particular pools, over which they exercise unquestioned lordship. There +may be a dozen pairs of birds on a single stream; but, so far as I have +been able to observe, each family has a certain stretch of water on +which no other kingfishers are allowed to fish. They may pass up and +down freely, but they never stop at the minnow pools; they are caught +watching near them, they are promptly driven out by the rightful owners. + +The same thing is true on the lake shores. Whether there is some secret +understanding and partition among them, or whether (which is more +likely) their right consists in discovery or first arrival, there is no +means of knowing. + +A curious thing, in this connection, is that while a kingfisher will +allow none of his kind to poach on his preserves, he lives at peace with +the brood of sheldrakes that occupy the same stretch of river. And the +sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one. The same thing is noticeable +among the sheldrakes also, namely, that each pair, or rather each mother +and her brood, have their own piece of lake or river on which no others +are allowed to fish. The male sheldrakes meanwhile are far away, fishing +on their own waters. + +I had not half settled this matter of the division of trout streams when +another observation came, which was utterly unexpected. Koskomenos, half +reptile though he seem, not only recognizes riparian rights, but he is +also capable of friendship--and that, too, for a moody prowler of the +wilderness whom no one else cares anything about. Here is the proof. + +I was out in my canoe alone looking for a loon's nest, one midsummer +day, when the fresh trail of a bull caribou drew me to shore. The trail +led straight from the water to a broad alder belt, beyond which, on the +hillside, I might find the big brute loafing his time away till evening +should come, and watch him to see what he would do with himself. + +As I turned shoreward a kingfisher sounded his rattle and came darting +across the mouth of the bay where Hukweem the loon had hidden her two +eggs. I watched him, admiring the rippling sweep of his flight, like the +run of a cat's-paw breeze across a sleeping lake, and the clear blue +of his crest against the deeper blue of summer sky. Under him his +reflection rippled along, like the rush of a gorgeous fish through the +glassy water. Opposite my canoe he checked himself, poised an instant in +mid-air, watching the minnows that my paddle had disturbed, and dropped +bill first--plash! with a silvery tinkle in the sound, as if hidden +bells down among the green water weeds had been set to ringing by this +sprite of the air. A shower of spray caught the rainbow for a brief +instant; the ripples gathered and began to dance over the spot where +Koskomenos had gone down, when they were scattered rudely again as he +burst out among them with his fish. He swept back to the stub whence he +had come, chuckling on the way. There he whacked his fish soundly on +the wood, threw his head back, and through the glass I saw the tail of a +minnow wriggling slowly down the road that has for him no turning. Then +I took up the caribou trail. + +I had gone nearly through the alders, following the course of a little +brook and stealing along without a sound, when behind me I heard the +kingfisher coming above the alders, rattling as if possessed, klrrr, +klrrr, klrrr-ik-ik-ik! On the instant there was a heavy plunge and +splash just ahead, and the swift rush of some large animal up the +hillside. Over me poised the kingfisher, looking down first at me, then +ahead at the unknown beast, till the crashing ceased in a faint rustle +far away, when he swept back to his fishing-stub, clacking and chuckling +immoderately. + +I pushed cautiously ahead and came presently to a beautiful pool below +a rock, where the hillside shelved gently towards the alders. From the +numerous tracks and the look of the place, I knew instantly that I had +stumbled upon a bear's bathing pool. The water was still troubled and +muddy; huge tracks, all soppy and broken, led up the hillside in big +jumps; the moss was torn, the underbrush spattered with shining water +drops. "No room for doubt here," I thought; "Mooween was asleep in +this pool, and the kingfisher woke him up--but why? and did he do it on +purpose?" + +I remembered suddenly a record in an old notebook, which reads: +"Sugarloaf Lake, 26 July.--Tried to stalk a bear this noon. No luck. +He was nosing alongshore and I had a perfect chance; but a kingfisher +scared him." I began to wonder how the rattle of a kingfisher, which is +one of the commonest sounds on wilderness waters, could scare a bear, +who knows all the sounds of the wilderness perfectly. Perhaps Koskomenos +has an alarm note and uses it for a friend in time of need, as gulls +go out of their way to alarm a flock of sleeping ducks when danger is +approaching. + +Here was a new trait, a touch of the human in this unknown, clattering +suspect of the fishing streams. I resolved to watch him with keener +interest. + +Somewhere above me, deep in the tangle of the summer wilderness, Mooween +stood watching his back track, eyes, ears, and nose alert to discover +what the creature was who dared frighten him out of his noonday bath. +It would be senseless to attempt to surprise him now; besides, I had +no weapon of any kind.--"To-morrow, about this time, I shall be coming +back; then look out, Mooween," I thought as I marked the place and stole +away to my canoe. + +But the next day when I came to the place, creeping along the upper edge +of the alders so as to make no noise, the pool was clear and quiet, as +if nothing but the little trout that hid under the foam bubbles had ever +disturbed its peace. Koskomenos was clattering about the bay below as +usual. Spite of my precaution he had seen me enter the alders; but he +gave me no attention whatever. He went on with his fishing as if he knew +perfectly that the bear had deserted his bathing pool. + +It was nearly a month before I again camped on the beautiful lake. +Summer was gone. All her warmth and more than her fragrant beauty still +lingered on forest and river; but the drowsiness had gone from the +atmosphere, and the haze had crept into it. Here and there birches and +maples flung out their gorgeous banners of autumn over the silent water. +A tingle came into the evening air; the lake's breath lay heavy and +white in the twilight stillness; birds and beasts became suddenly +changed as they entered the brief period of sport and of full feeding. + +I was drifting about a reedy bay (the same bay in which the almost +forgotten kingfisher had cheated me out of my bear, after eating a +minnow that my paddle had routed out for him) shooting frogs for my +table with a pocket rifle. How different it was here, I reflected, from +the woods about home. There the game was already harried; the report of +a gun set every living creature skulking. Here the crack of my little +rifle was no more heeded than the plunge of a fish-hawk, or the groaning +of a burdened elm bough. A score of fat woodcock lay unheeding in that +bit of alder tangle yonder, the ground bored like a colander after their +night's feeding. Up on the burned hillside the partridges said, quit, +quit! when I appeared, and jumped to a tree and craned their necks +to see what I was. The black ducks skulked in the reeds. They were +full-grown now and strong of wing, but the early hiding habit was not +yet broken up by shooting. They would glide through the sedges, and +double the bogs, and crouch in a tangle till the canoe was almost upon +them, when with a rush and a frightened hark-ark! they shot into the air +and away to the river. The mink, changing from brown to black, gave up +his nest-robbing for honest hunting, undismayed by trap or deadfall; +and up in the inlet I could see grassy domes rising above the bronze and +gold of the marsh, where Musquash was building thick and high for winter +cold and spring floods. Truly it was good to be here, and to enter for a +brief hour into the shy, wild but unharried life of the wood folk. + +A big bullfrog showed his head among the lily pads, and the little +rifle, unmindful of the joys of an unharried existence, rose slowly to +its place. My eye was glancing along the sights when a sudden movement +in the alders on the shore, above and beyond the unconscious head of +Chigwooltz the frog, spared him for a little season to his lily pads and +his minnow hunting. At the same moment a kingfisher went rattling by +to his old perch over the minnow pool. The alders swayed again as +if struck; a huge bear lumbered out of them to the shore, with a +disgruntled woof! at some twig that had switched his ear too sharply. + +I slid lower in the canoe till only my head and shoulders were visible. +Mooween went nosing along-shore till something--a dead fish or a mussel +bed--touched his appetite, when he stopped and began feeding, scarcely +two hundred yards away. I reached first for my heavy rifle, then for +the paddle, and cautiously "fanned" the canoe towards shore till an +old stump on the point covered my approach. Then the little bark jumped +forward as if alive. But I had scarcely started when--klrrrr! klrrr! +ik-ik--ik! Over my head swept Koskomenos with a rush of wings and an +alarm cry that spoke only of haste and danger. I had a glimpse of +the bear as he shot into the alders, as if thrown by a catapult; the +kingfisher wheeled in a great rattling circle about the canoe before +he pitched upon the old stump, jerking his tail and clattering in great +excitement. + +I swung noiselessly out into the lake, where I could watch the alders. +They were all still for a space of ten minutes; but Mooween was there, I +knew, sniffing and listening. Then a great snake seemed to be wriggling +through the bushes, making no sound, but showing a wavy line of +quivering tops as he went. + +Down the shore a little way was a higher point, with a fallen tree that +commanded a view of half the lake. I had stood there a few days before, +while watching to determine the air paths and lines of flight that +sheldrakes use in passing up and down the lake,--for birds have runways, +or rather flyways, just as foxes do. Mooween evidently knew the spot; +the alders showed that he was heading straight for it, to look out on +the lake and see what the alarm was about. As yet he had no idea what +peril had threatened him; though, like all wild creatures, he had obeyed +the first clang of a danger note on the instant. Not a creature in the +woods, from Mooween down to Tookhees the wood mouse, but has learned +from experience that, in matters of this kind, it is well to jump to +cover first and investigate afterwards. + +I paddled swiftly to the point, landed and crept to a rock from which I +could just see the fallen tree. Mooween was coming. "My bear this time," +I thought, as a twig snapped faintly. Then Koskomenos swept into the +woods, hovering over the brush near the butt of the old tree, looking +down and rattling--klrrrik, clear out! klrrr-ik, clear out! There was a +heavy rush, such as a bear always makes when alarmed; Koskomenos swept +back to his perch; and I sought the shore, half inclined to make my next +hunting more even-chanced by disposing of one meddlesome factor. "You +wretched, noisy, clattering meddler!" I muttered, the front sight of my +rifle resting fair on the blue back of Koskomenos, "that is the third +time you have spoiled my shot, and you won't have another chance.--But +wait; who is the meddler here?" + +Slowly the bent finger relaxed on the trigger. A loon went floating by +the point, all unconscious of danger, with a rippling wake that sent +silver reflections glinting across the lake's deep blue. Far overhead +soared an eagle, breeze-borne in wide circles, looking down on his +own wide domain, unheeding the man's intrusion. Nearer, a red squirrel +barked down his resentment from a giant spruce trunk. Down on my left +a heavy splash and a wild, free tumult of quacking told where the black +ducks were coming in, as they had done, undisturbed, for generations. +Behind me a long roll echoed through the woods--some young cock +partridge, whom the warm sun had beguiled into drumming his spring +love-call. From the mountain side a cow moose rolled back a startling +answer. Close at hand, yet seeming miles away, a chipmunk was chunking +sleepily in the sunshine, while a nest of young wood mice were calling +their mother in the grass at my feet. And every wild sound did but +deepen the vast, wondrous silence of the wilderness. + +"After all, what place has the roar of a rifle or the smell of +sulphurous powder in the midst of all this blessed peace?" I asked half +sadly. As if in answer, the kingfisher dropped with his musical plash, +and swept back with exultant rattle to his watchtower.--"Go on with your +clatter and your fishing. The wilderness and the solitary place shall +still be glad, for you and Mooween, and the trout pools would be lonely +without you. But I wish you knew that your life lay a moment ago in the +bend of my finger, and that some one, besides the bear, appreciates your +brave warning." + +Then I went back to the point to measure the tracks, and to estimate how +big the bear was, and to console myself with the thought of how I would +certainly have had him, if something had not interfered--which is the +philosophy of all hunters since Esau. + +It was a few days later that the chance came of repaying Koskomenos with +coals of fire. The lake surface was still warm; no storms nor frosts had +cooled it. The big trout had risen from the deep places, but were not +yet quickened enough to take my flies; so, trout hungry, I had gone +trolling for them with a minnow. I had taken two good fish, and was +moving slowly by the mouth of the bay, Simmo at the paddle, when a +suspicious movement on the shore attracted my attention. I passed the +line to Simmo, the better to use my glasses, and was scanning the alders +sharply, when a cry of wonder came from the Indian. "O bah cosh, see! +das second time I catchum, Koskomenos." And there, twenty feet above +the lake, a young kingfisher--one of Koskomenos' frowzy-headed, +wild-eyed-youngsters--was whirling wildly at the end of my line. He had +seen the minnow trailing a hundred feet astern and, with more hunger +than discretion, had swooped for it promptly. Simmo, feeling the tug but +seeing nothing behind him, had struck promptly, and the hook went home. + +I seized the line and began to pull in gently. The young kingfisher came +most unwillingly, with a continuous clatter of protest that speedily +brought Koskomenos and his mate, and two or three of the captive's +brethren, in a wild, clamoring about the canoe. They showed no lack of +courage, but swooped again and again at the line, and even at the +man who held it. In a moment I had the youngster in my hand, and had +disengaged the hook. He was not hurt at all, but terribly frightened; so +I held him a little while, enjoying the excitement of the others, whom +the captive's alarm rattle kept circling wildly about the canoe. It was +noteworthy that not another bird heeded the cry or came near. Even in +distress they refused to recognize the outcast. Then, as Koskomenos +hovered on quivering wings just over my head, I tossed the captive close +up beside him. "There, Koskomenos, take your young chuckle-head, and +teach him better wisdom. Next time you see me stalking a bear, please go +on with your fishing." + +But there was no note of gratitude in the noisy babel that swept up the +bay after the kingfishers. When I saw them again, they were sitting on +a dead branch, five of them in a row, chuckling and clattering all at +once, unmindful of the minnows that played beneath them. I have no doubt +that, in their own way, they were telling each other all about it. + + + + +MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER + +There is a curious Indian legend about Meeko the red squirrel--the +Mischief-Maker, as the Milicetes call him--which is also an excellent +commentary upon his character. Simmo told it to me, one day, when we had +caught Meeko coming out of a woodpecker's hole with the last of a brood +of fledgelings in his mouth, chuckling to himself over his hunting. + +Long ago, in the days when Clote Scarpe ruled the animals, Meeko was +much larger than he is now, large as Mooween the bear. But his temper +was so fierce, and his disposition so altogether bad that all the wood +folk were threatened with destruction. Meeko killed right and left with +the temper of a weasel, who kills from pure lust of blood. So Clote +Scarpe, to save the little woods-people, made Meeko smaller--small as +he is now. Unfortunately, Clote Scarpe forgot Meeko's disposition; that +remained as big and as bad as before. So now Meeko goes about the woods +with a small body and a big temper, barking, scolding, quarreling and, +since he cannot destroy in his rage as before, setting other animals by +the ears to destroy each other. + +When you have listened to Meeko's scolding for a season, and have seen +him going from nest to nest after innocent fledgelings; or creeping +into the den of his big cousin, the beautiful gray squirrel, to kill +the young; or driving away his little cousin, the chipmunk, to steal his +hoarded nuts; or watching every fight that goes on in the woods, jeering +and chuckling above it,--then you begin to understand the Indian legend. + +Spite of his evil ways, however, he is interesting and always +unexpected. When you have watched the red squirrel that lives near your +camp all summer, and think you know all about him, he does the queerest +thing, good or bad, to upset all your theories and even the Indian +legends about him. + +I remember one that greeted me, the first living thing in the great +woods, as I ran my canoe ashore on a wilderness river. Meeko heard me +coming. His bark sounded loudly, in a big spruce, above the dip of the +paddles. As we turned shoreward, he ran down the tree in which he was, +and out on a fallen log to meet us. I grasped a branch of the old log +to steady the canoe and watched him curiously. He had never seen a +man before; he barked, jeered, scolded, jerked his tail, whistled, did +everything within his power to make me show my teeth and my disposition. + +Suddenly he grew excited--and when Meeko grows excited the woods are not +big enough to hold him. He came nearer and nearer to my canoe till +he leaped upon the gunwale and sat there chattering, as if he were +Adjidaumo come back again and I were Hiawatha. All the while he had +poured out a torrent of squirrel talk, but now his note changed; jeering +and scolding and curiosity went out of it; something else crept in. +I began to feel, somehow, that he was trying to make me understand +something, and found me very stupid about it. + +I began to talk quietly, calling him a rattle-head and a disturber +of the peace. At the first sound of my voice he listened with intense +curiosity, then leaped to the log, ran the length of it, jumped down and +began to dig furiously among the moss and dead leaves. Every moment or +two he would stop, and jump to the log to see if I were watching him. + +Presently he ran to my canoe, sprang upon the gunwale, jumped back +again, and ran along the log as before to where he had been digging. He +did it again, looking back at me and saying plainly: "Come here; come +and look." I stepped out of the canoe to the old log, whereupon Meeko +went off into a fit of terrible excitement.--I was bigger than he +expected; I had only two legs; kut-e-k'chuck, kut-e-k'chuck! whit, whit, +whit, kut-e-k'chuck! + +I stood where I was until he got over his excitement. Then he came +towards me, and led me along the log, with much chuckling and jabbering, +to the hole in the leaves where he had been digging. When I bent over +it he sprang to a spruce trunk, on a level with my head, fairly bursting +with excitement, but watching me with intensest interest. In the hole +I found a small lizard, one of the rare kind that lives under logs and +loves the dusk. He had been bitten through the back and disabled. He +could still use legs, tail and head feebly, but could not run away. +When I picked him up and held him in my hand, Meeko came closer with +loud-voiced curiosity, longing to leap to my hand and claim his own, but +held back by fear.--"What is it? He's mine; I found him. What is it?" he +barked, jumping about as if bewitched. Two curiosities, the lizard +and the man, were almost too much for him. I never saw a squirrel more +excited. He had evidently found the lizard by accident, bit him to keep +him still, and then, astonished by the rare find, hid him away where he +could dig him out and watch him at leisure. + +I put the lizard back into the hole and covered him with leaves; then +went to unloading my canoe. Meeko watched me closely. And the moment I +was gone he dug away the leaves, took his treasure out, watched it with +wide bright eyes, bit it once more to keep it still, and covered it up +again carefully. Then he came chuckling along to where I was putting up +my tent. + +In a week he owned the camp, coming and going at his own will, stealing +my provisions when I forgot to feed him, and scolding me roundly at +every irregular occurrence. He was an early riser and insisted on my +conforming to the custom. Every morning he would leap at daylight from +a fir tip to my ridgepole, run it along to the front and sit there, +barking and whistling, until I put my head out of my door, or until +Simmo came along with his axe. Of Simmo and his axe Meeko had a mortal +dread, which I could not understand till one day when I paddled silently +back to camp and, instead of coming up the path, sat idly in my canoe +watching the Indian, who had broken his one pipe and now sat making +another out of a chunk of black alder and a length of nanny bush. Simmo +was as interesting to watch, in his way, as any of the wood folk. + +Presently Meeko came down, chattering his curiosity at seeing the Indian +so still and so occupied. A red squirrel is always unhappy unless he +knows all about everything. He watched from the nearest tree for a +while, but could not make up his mind what was doing. Then he came down +on the ground and advanced a foot at a time, jumping up continually but +coming down in the same spot, barking to make Simmo turn his head and +show his hand. Simmo watched out of the corner of his eye until Meeko +was near a solitary tree which stood in the middle of the camp ground, +when he jumped up suddenly and rushed at the squirrel, who sprang to the +tree and ran to a branch out of reach, snickering and jeering. + +Simmo took his axe deliberately and swung it mightily at the foot of +the tree, as if to chop it down; only he hit the trunk with the head, +not the blade of his weapon. At the first blow, which made his toes +tingle, Meeko stopped jeering and ran higher. Simmo swung again and +Meeko went up another notch. So it went on, Simmo looking up intently +to see the effect and Meeko running higher after each blow, until the +tiptop was reached. Then Simmo gave a mighty whack; the squirrel leaped +far out and came to the ground, sixty feet below; picked himself up, +none the worse for his leap, and rushed scolding away to his nest. Then +Simmo said umpfh! like a bear, and went back to his pipemaking. He had +not smiled nor relaxed the intent expression of his face during the +whole little comedy. + +I found out afterwards that making Meeko jump from a tree top is one of +the few diversions of Indian children. I tried it myself many times +with many squirrels, and found to my astonishment that a jump from any +height, however great, is no concern to a squirrel, red or gray. They +have a way of flattening the body and bushy tail against the air, which +breaks their fall. Their bodies, and especially their bushy tails, have +a curious tremulous motion, like the quiver of wings, as they come down. +The flying squirrel's sailing down from a tree top to another tree, +fifty feet away, is but an exaggeration, due to the membrane connecting +the fore and hind legs, of what all squirrels practice continually. I +have seen a red squirrel land lightly after jumping from an enormous +height, and run away as if nothing unusual had happened. But though I +have watched them often, I have never seen a squirrel do this except +when compelled to do so. When chased by a weasel or a marten, or when +the axe beats against the trunk below--either because the vibration +hurts their feet, or else they fear the tree is being cut down--they +use the strange gift to save their lives. But I fancy it is a breathless +experience, and they never try it for fun, though I have seen them do +all sorts of risky stumps in leaping from branch to branch. + +It is a curious fact that, though a squirrel leaps from a great height +without hesitation, it is practically impossible to make him take a jump +of a few feet to the ground. Probably the upward rush of air, caused by +falling a long distance, is necessary to flatten the body enough to make +him land lightly. + + +It would be interesting to know whether the raccoon also, a large, +heavy animal, has the same way of breaking his fall when he jumps from a +height. One bright moonlight night, when I ran ahead of the dogs, I saw +a big coon leap from a tree to the ground, a distance of some thirty +or forty feet. The dogs had treed him in an evergreen, and he left them +howling below while he stole silently from branch to branch until a good +distance away, when to save time he leaped to the ground. He struck with +a heavy thump, but ran on uninjured as swiftly as before, and gave the +dogs a long run before they treed him again. + +The sole of a coon's foot is padded thick with fat and gristle, so that +it must feel like landing on springs when he jumps; but I suspect that +he also knows the squirrel trick of flattening his body and tail against +the air so as to fall lightly. + +The chipmunk seems to be the only one of the squirrel family in whom +this gift is wanting. Possibly he has it also, if the need ever comes. +I fancy, however, that he would fare badly if compelled to jump from a +spruce top, for his body is heavy and his tail small from long living +on the ground; all of which seems to indicate that the tree-squirrel's +bushy tail is given him, not for ornament, but to aid his passage +from branch to branch, and to break his fall when he comes down from a +height. + +By way of contrast with Meeko, you may try a curious trick on the +chipmunk. It is not easy to get him into a tree; he prefers a log or an +old wall when frightened; and he is seldom more than two or three jumps +from his den. But watch him as he goes from his garner to the grove +where the acorns are, or to the field where his winter corn is ripening. +Put yourself near his path (he always follows the same one to and fro) +where there is no refuge close at hand. Then, as he comes along, rush at +him suddenly and he will take to the nearest tree in his alarm. When +he recovers from his fright--which is soon over; for he is the most +trustful of squirrels and looks down at you with interest, never +questioning your motives--take a stick and begin to tap the tree softly. +The more slow and rhythmical your tattoo the sooner he is charmed. +Presently he comes down closer and closer, his eyes filled with strange +wonder. More than once I have had a chipmunk come to my hand and rest +upon it, looking everywhere for the queer sound that brought him +down, forgetting fright and cornfield and coming winter in his bright +curiosity. + +Meeko is a bird of another color. He never trusts you nor anybody else +fully, and his curiosity is generally of the vulgar, selfish kind. When +the autumn woods are busy places, and wings flutter and little feet go +pattering everywhere after winter supplies, he also begins garnering, +remembering the hungry days of last winter. But he is always more +curious to see what others are doing than to fill his own bins. He +seldom trusts to one storehouse--he is too suspicious for that--but +hides his things in twenty different places; some shagbarks in the old +wall, a handful of acorns in a hollow tree, an ear of corn under the +eaves of the old barn, a pint of chestnuts scattered about in the trees, +some in crevices in the bark, some in a pine crotch covered carefully +with needles, and one or two stuck firmly into the splinters of every +broken branch that is not too conspicuous. But he never gathers much +at a time. The moment he sees anybody else gathering he forgets his own +work and goes spying to see where others are hiding their store. The +little chipmunk, who knows his thieving and his devices, always makes +one turn, at least, in the tunnel to his den too small for Meeko to +follow. + +He sees a blue jay flitting through the woods, and knows by his unusual +silence that he is hiding things. Meeko follows after him, stopping all +his jabber and stealing from tree to tree, watching patiently, for hours +it need be, until he knows that Deedeeaskh is gathering corn from a +certain field. Then he watches the line of flight, like a bee hunter, +and sees Deedeeaskh disappear twice by an oak on the wood's edge, a +hundred yards away. Meeko rushes away at a headlong pace and hides +himself in the oak. There he traces the jay's line of flight a little +farther into the woods; sees the unconscious thief disappear by an old +pine. Meeko hides in the pine, and so traces the jay straight to one of +his storehouses. + +Sometimes Meeko is so elated over the discovery that, with all the +fields laden with food, he cannot wait for winter. When the jay goes +away Meeko falls to eating or to carrying away his store. More often he +marks the spot and goes away silently. When he is hungry he will carry +off Deedeeaskh's corn before touching his own. + +Once I saw the tables turned in a most interesting fashion. Deedeeaskh +is as big a thief in his way as is Meeko, and also as vile a +nest-robber. The red squirrel had found a hoard of chestnuts--small +fruit, but sweet and good--and was hiding it away. Part of it he stored +in a hollow under the stub of a broken branch, twenty feet from the +ground, so near the source of supply that no one would ever think of +looking for it there. I was hidden away in a thicket when I discovered +him at his work quite by accident. He seldom came twice to the same +spot, but went off to his other storehouses in succession. After an +unusually long absence, when I was expecting him every moment, a blue +jay came stealing into the tree, spying and sneaking about, as if a +nest of fresh thrush's eggs were somewhere near. He smelled a mouse +evidently, for after a moment's spying he hid himself away in the tree +top, close up against the trunk. Presently Meeko came back, with his +face bulging as if he had toothache, uncovered his store, emptied in +the half dozen chestnuts from his cheek pockets and covered them all up +again. + +The moment he was gone the blue jay went straight to the spot, seized a +mouthful of nuts and flew swiftly away. He made three trips before +the squirrel came back. Meeko in his hurry never noticed the loss, but +emptied his pockets and was off to the chestnut tree again. When he +returned, the jay in his eagerness had disturbed the leaves which +covered the hidden store. Meeko noticed it and was all suspicion in an +instant. He whipped off the covering and stood staring down intently +into the garner, evidently trying to compute the number he had brought +and the number that were there. Then a terrible scolding began, a +scolding that was broken short off when a distant screaming of jays came +floating through the woods. Meeko covered his store hurriedly, ran along +a limb and leaped to the next tree, where he hid in a knot hole, just +his eyes visible, watching his garner keenly out of the darkness. + +Meeko, has no patience. Three or four times he showed himself nervously. +Fortunately for me, the jay had found some excitement to keep his +rattle-brain busy for a moment. A flash of blue, and he came stealing +back, just as Meeko had settled himself for more watching. After much +pecking and listening the jay flew down to the storehouse, and Meeko, +unable to contain himself a moment longer at sight of the thief, jumped +out of his hiding and came rushing along the limb, hurling threats and +vituperation ahead of him. The jay fluttered off, screaming derision. +Meeko followed, hurling more abuse, but soon gave up the chase and +came back to his chestnuts. It was curious to watch him there, sitting +motionless and intent, his nose close down to his treasure, trying to +compute his loss. Then he stuffed his cheeks full and began carrying his +hoard off to another hiding place. + +The autumn woods are full of such little comedies. Jays, crows, and +squirrels are all hiding away winter's supplies, and no matter how great +the abundance, not one of them can resist the temptation to steal or to +break into another's garner. + +Meeko is a poor provider; he would much rather live on buds and bark +and apple seeds and fir cones, and what he can steal from others in the +winter, than bother himself with laying up supplies of his own. When the +spring comes he goes a-hunting, and is for a season the most villainous +of nest-robbers. Every bird in the woods then hates him, takes a jab at +him, and cries thief, thief! wherever he goes. + +On a trout brook once I had a curious sense of comradeship with Meeko. +It was in the early spring, when all the wild things make holiday, and +man goes a-fishing. Near the brook a red squirrel had tapped a maple +tree with his teeth and was tasting the sweet sap as it came up +scantily. Seeing him and remembering my own boyhood, I cut a little +hollow into the bark of a black birch tree and, when it brimmed full, +drank the sap with immense satisfaction. Meeko stopped his own drinking +to watch, then to scold and denounce me roundly. + +While my cup was filling again I went down to the brook and took a wary +old trout from his den under the end of a log, where the foam bubbles +were dancing merrily. When I went back, thirsting for another sweet +draught from the same spring, Meeko had emptied it to the last drop and +had his nose down in the bottom of my cup, catching the sap as it welled +up with an abundance that must have surprised him. When I went away +quietly he followed me through the wood to the pool at the edge of the +meadow, to see what I would do next. + +Wherever you go in the wilderness you find Meeko ahead of you, and all +the best camping grounds preempted by him. Even on the islands he seems +to own the prettiest spots, and disputes mightily your right to stay +there; though he is generally glad enough of your company to share his +loneliness, and shows it plainly. + +Once I found one living all by himself on an island in the middle of a +wilderness lake, with no company whatever except a family of mink, who +are his enemies. He had probably crossed on the ice in the late spring, +and while he was busy here and there with his explorations the ice broke +up, cutting off his retreat to the mainland, which was too far away for +his swimming. So he was a prisoner for the long summer, and welcomed me +gladly to share his exile. He was the only red squirrel I ever met that +never scolded me roundly at least once a day. His loneliness had made +him quite tame. Most of the time he lived within sight of my tent door. +Not even Simmo's axe, though it made him jump twice from the top of a +spruce, could keep him long away. He had twenty ways of getting up an +excitement, and whenever he barked out in the woods I knew that it was +simply to call me to see his discovery,--a new nest, a loon that swam up +close, a thieving muskrat, a hawk that rested on a dead stub, the mink +family eating my fish heads,--and when I stole out to see what it was, +he would run ahead, barking and chuckling at having some one to share +his interests with him. + +In such places squirrels use the ice for occasional journeys to the +mainland. Sometimes also, when the waters are calm, they swim over. +Hunters have told me that when the breeze is fair they make use of a +floating bit of wood, sitting tip straight with tail curled over +their backs, making a sail of their bodies--just as an Indian, with no +knowledge of sailing whatever, puts a spruce bush in a bow of his canoe +and lets the wind do his work for him. + +That would be the sight of a lifetime, to see Meeko sailing his boat; +but I have no doubt whatever that it is true. The only red squirrel +that I ever saw in the water fell in by accident. He swam rapidly to +a floating board, shook himself, sat up with his tail raised along his +back, and began to dry himself. After a little he saw that the +slight breeze was setting him farther from shore. He began to chatter +excitedly, and changed his position two or three times, evidently trying +to catch the wind right. Finding that it was of no use, he plunged in +again and swam easily to land. + +That he lives and thrives in the wilderness, spite of enemies and hunger +and winter cold, is a tribute to his wits. He never hibernates, except +in severe storms, when for a few days he lies close in his den. Hawks +and owls and weasels and martens hunt him continually; yet he more than +holds his own in the big woods, which would lose some of their charm if +their vast silences were not sometimes broken by his petty scoldings. + +As with most wild creatures, the squirrels that live in touch with +civilization are much keener witted than their wilderness brethren. +The most interesting one I ever knew lived in the trees just outside my +dormitory window, in a New England college town. He was the patriarch of +a large family, and the greatest thief and rascal among them. I speak +of the family, but, so far as I could see, there was very little family +life. Each one shifted for himself the moment he was big enough, and +stole from all the others indiscriminately. + +It was while watching these squirrels that I discovered first that they +have regular paths among the trees, as well defined as our own highways. +Not only has each squirrel his own private paths and ways, but all the +squirrels follow certain courses along the branches in going from one +tree to another. Even the strange squirrels, which ventured at times +into the grove, followed these highways as if they had been used to them +all their lives. + +On a recent visit to the old dormitory I watched the squirrels for a +while, and found that they used exactly the same paths,--up the trunk of +a big oak to a certain boss, along a branch to a certain crook, a jump +to a linden twig and so on, making use of one of the highways that I +had watched them following ten years before. Yet this course was not +the shortest between two points, and there were a hundred other branches +that they might have used. + +I had the good fortune one morning to see Meeko, the patriarch, make a +new path for himself that none of the others ever followed so long as +I was in the dormitory. He had a home den over a hallway, and a hiding +place for acorns in a hollow linden. Between the two was a driveway; but +though the branches arched over it from either side, the jump was too +great for him to take. A hundred times I saw him run out on the farthest +oak twig and look across longingly at the maple that swayed on the other +side. It was perhaps three feet away, with no branches beneath to seize +and break his fall in case he missed his spring, altogether too much for +a red squirrel to attempt. He would rush out as if determined to try it, +time after time, but always his courage failed him; he had to go down +the oak trunk and cross the driveway on the ground, where numberless +straying dogs were always ready to chase him. + +One morning I saw him run twice in succession at the jump, only to turn +back. But the air was keen and bracing, and he felt its inspiration. He +drew farther back, then came rushing along the oak branch and, before he +had time to be afraid, hurled himself across the chasm. He landed fairly +on the maple twig, with several inches to spare, and hung there with +claws and teeth, swaying up and down gloriously. Then, chattering his +delight at himself, he ran down the maple, back across the driveway, and +tried the jump three times in succession to be sure he could do it. + +After that he sprang across frequently. But I noticed that whenever the +branches were wet with rain or sleet he never attempted it; and he never +tried the return jump, which was uphill, and which he seemed to know by +instinct was too much to attempt. + +When I began feeding him, in the cold winter days, he showed me many +curious bits of his life. First I put some nuts near the top of an old +well, among the stones of which he used to hide things in the autumn. +Long after he had eaten all his store he used to come and search the +crannies among the stones to see if perchance he had overlooked any +trifles. When he found a handful of shagbarks, one morning, in a hole +only a foot below the surface, his astonishment knew no bounds. His +first thought was that he had forgotten them all these hungry days, and +he promptly ate the biggest of the store within sight, a thing I never +saw a squirrel do before. His second thought--I could see it in his +changed attitude, his sudden creepings and hidings--was that some +other squirrel had hidden them there since his last visit. Whereupon he +carried them all off and hid them in a broken linden branch. + +Then I tossed him peanuts, throwing them first far away, then nearer and +nearer till he would come to my window-sill. And when I woke one morning +he was sitting there looking in at the window, waiting for me to get up +and bring his breakfast. + +In a week he had showed me all his hiding places. The most interesting +of these was over a roofed piazza in a building near by. He had gnawed a +hole under the eaves, where it would not be noticed, and lived there in +solitary grandeur during stormy days in a den four by eight feet, and +rain-proof. In one corner was a bushel of corncobs, some of them two +or three years old, which he had stolen from a cornfield near by in the +early autumn mornings. With characteristic improvidence he had fallen +to eating the corn while yet there was plenty more to be gathered. In +consequence he was hungry before February was half over, and living by +his wits, like his brother of the wilderness. + +The other squirrels soon noticed his journeys to my window, and +presently they too came for their share. Spite of his fury in driving +them away, they managed in twenty ways to circumvent him. It was most +interesting, while he sat on my window-sill eating peanuts, to see the +nose and eyes of another squirrel peering over the crotch of the nearest +tree, watching the proceedings from his hiding place. Then I would give +Meeko five or six peanuts at once. Instantly the old hiding instinct +would come back; he would start away, taking as much of his store as +he could carry with him. The moment he was gone, out would come a +squirrel--sometimes two or three from their concealment--and carry off +all the peanuts that remained. + +Meeko's wrath when he returned was most comical. The Indian legend +is true as gospel to squirrel nature. If he returned unexpectedly and +caught one of the intruders, there was always a furious chase and a +deal of scolding and squirrel jabber before peace was restored and the +peanuts eaten. + +Once, when he had hidden a dozen or more nuts in the broken linden +branch, a very small squirrel came prowling along and discovered +the store. In an instant he was all alertness, peeking, listening, +exploring, till quite sure that the coast was clear, when he rushed away +headlong with a mouthful. + +He did not return that day; but the next morning early I saw him do the +same thing. An hour later Meeko appeared and, finding nothing on the +window-sill, went to the linden. Half his store of yesterday was gone. +Curiously enough, he did not suspect at first that they were stolen. +Meeko is always quite sure that nobody knows his secrets. He searched +the tree over, went to his other hiding places, came back, counted his +peanuts, then searched the ground beneath, thinking, no doubt, the wind +must have blown them out--all this before he had tasted a peanut of +those that remained. + +Slowly it dawned upon him that he had been robbed and there was an +outburst of wrath. But instead of carrying what were left to another +place, he left them where they were, still without eating, and hid +himself near by to watch. I neglected a lecture in philosophy to see the +proceedings, but nothing happened. Meeko's patience soon gave out, or +else he grew hungry, for he ate two or three of his scanty supply of +peanuts, scolding and threatening to himself. But he left the rest +carefully where they were. + +Two or three times that day I saw him sneaking about, keeping a sharp +eye on the linden; but the little thief was watching too, and kept out +of the way. + +Early next morning a great hubbub rose outside my window, and I jumped +up to see what was going on. Little Thief had come back, and Big Thief +caught him in the act of robbery. Away they went pell-mell, jabbering +like a flock of blackbirds, along a linden branch, through two maples, +across a driveway, and up a big elm where Little Thief whisked out of +sight into a knot hole. + +After him came Big Thief, swearing vengeance. But the knot hole was too +small; he couldn't get in. Twist and turn and push and threaten as he +would, he could not get in; and Little Thief sat just inside jeering +maliciously. + +Meeko gave it up after a while and went off, nursing his wrath. But ten +feet from the tree a thought struck him. He rushed away out of sight, +making a great noise, then came back quietly and hid under an eave where +he could watch the knot hole. + +Presently Little Thief came out, rubbed his eyes, and looked all about. +Through my glass I could see Meeko blinking and twitching under the dark +eave, trying to control his anger. Little Thief ventured to a branch a +few feet away from his refuge, and Big Thief, unable to hold himself a +moment longer, rushed out, firing a volley of direful threats ahead of +him. In a flash Little Thief was back in his knot hole and the comedy +began all over again. + +I never saw how it ended; but for a day or two there was an unusual +amount of chasing and scolding going on outside my windows. + +It was this same big squirrel that first showed me a curious trick +of biding. Whenever he found a handful of nuts on my windowsill and +suspected that other squirrels were watching to share the bounty, he had +a way of hiding them all very rapidly. He would never carry them direct +to his various garners; first, because these were too far away, and the +other squirrels would steal while he was gone; second, because, with +hungry eyes watching somewhere, they might follow and find out where he +habitually kept things. So he used to bide them all on the ground, under +the leaves in autumn, under snow in winter, and all within sight of the +window-sill, where he could watch the store as he hurried to and fro. +Then, at his leisure, he would dig them up and carry them off to his +den, two cheekfuls at a time. + +Each nut was hidden by itself; never so much as two in one spot. For +a long time it puzzled me to know how he remembered so many places. I +noticed first that he would always start from a certain point, a tree or +a stone, with his burden. When it was hidden he would come back by the +shortest route to the windowsill; but with his new mouthful he would +always go first to the tree or stone he had selected, and from there +search out a new hiding place. + +It was many days before I noticed that, starting from one fixed point, +he generally worked toward another tree or stone in the distance. Then +his secret was out; he hid things in a line. Next day he would come +back, start from his fixed point and move slowly towards the distant one +till his nose told him he was over a peanut, which he dug up and ate or +carried away to his den. But he always seemed to distrust himself; for +on hungry days he would go over two or three of his old lines in the +hope of finding a mouthful that he had overlooked. + +This method was used only when he had a large supply to dispose of +hurriedly, and not always then. Meeko is a careless fellow and +soon forgets. When I gave him only a few to dispose of, he hid them +helter-skelter among the leaves, forgetting some of them afterwards +and enjoying the rare delight of stumbling upon them when he was +hungriest--much like a child whom I saw once giving himself a sensation. +He would throw his penny on the ground, go round the house, and saunter +back with his hands in his pockets till he saw the penny, which he +pounced upon with almost the joy of treasure-trove in the highway. + +Meeko made a sad end--a fate which he deserved well enough, but which I +had to pity, spite of myself. When the spring came on, he went back to +evil ways. Sap was sweet and buds were luscious with the first swelling +of tender leaves; spring rains had washed out plenty of acorns in the +crannies under the big oak, and there were fresh-roasted peanuts still +at the corner window-sill within easy jump of a linden twig; but he took +to watching the robins to see where they nested, and when the young were +hatched he came no more to my window. Twice I saw him with fledgelings +in his mouth; and I drove him day after day from a late clutch of +robin's eggs that I could watch from my study. + +He had warnings enough. Once some students, who had been friendly all +winter, stoned him out of a tree where he was nestrobbing; once the +sparrows caught him in their nest under the high eaves, and knocked +him off promptly. A twig upon which he caught in falling saved his life +undoubtedly, for the sparrows were after him and he barely escaped into +a knot hole, leaving the angry horde clamoring outside. But nothing +could reform him. + +One morning at daylight a great crying of robins brought me to the +window. Meeko was running along a limb, the first of the fledgelings in +his mouth. After him were five or six robins whom the parents' danger +cry had brought to the rescue. They were all excited and tremendously in +earnest. They cried thief! thief! and swooped at him like hawks. Their +cries speedily brought a score of other birds, some to watch, others to +join in the punishment. + +Meeko dropped the young bird and ran for his den; but a robin dashed +recklessly in his face and knocked him fair from the tree. That and the +fall of the fledgeling excited the birds more than ever. This thieving +bird-eater was not invulnerable. A dozen rushed at him on the ground +and left the marks of their beaks on his coat before he could reach the +nearest tree. + +Again he rushed for his den, but wherever he turned now angry wings +fluttered over him and beaks jabbed in his face. Raging but frightened, +he sat up to snarl wickedly. Like a flash a robin hurled himself down, +caught the squirrel just under his ear and knocked him again to the +ground. + +Things began to look dark for Meeko. The birds grew bolder and angrier +every minute. When he started to climb a tree he was hurled off twice +ere he reached a crotch and drew himself down into it. He was safe there +with his back against a big limb; they could not get at him from behind. +But the angry clamor in front frightened him, and again he started for +his place of refuge. His footing was unsteady now and his head dizzy +from the blows he had received. Before he had gone half a limb's length +he was again on the ground, with a dozen birds pecking at him as they +swooped over. + +With his last strength he snapped viciously at his foes and rushed to +the linden. My window was open, and he came creeping, hurrying towards +it on the branch over which he had often capered so lightly in the +winter days. Over him clamored the birds, forgetting all fear of me in +their hatred of the nestrobber. + +A dozen times he was struck on the way, but at every blow he clung to +the branch with claws and teeth, then staggered on doggedly, making no +defense. His whole thought now was to reach the window-sill. + +At the place where he always jumped he stopped and began to sway, +gripping the bark with his claws, trying to summon strength for the +effort. He knew it was too much, but it was his last hope. At the +instant of his spring a robin swooped in his face; another caught him +a side blow in mid-air, and he fell heavily to the stones below.--Sic +semper tyrannis! yelled the robins, scattering wildly as I ran down the +steps to save him, if it were not too late. + +He died in my hands a moment later, with curious maliciousness nipping +my finger sharply at the last gasp. He was the only squirrel of the lot +who knew how to hide in a line; and never a one since his day has taken +the jump from oak to maple over the driveway. + + + + +THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE + +Of all the wild birds that still haunt our remaining solitudes, the +ruffed grouse--the pa'tridge of our younger days--is perhaps the +wildest, the most alert, the most suggestive of the primeval wilderness +that we have lost. You enter the woods from the hillside pasture, +lounging a moment on the old gray fence to note the play of light and +shadow on the birch bolls. Your eye lingers restfully on the wonderful +mixture of soft colors that no brush has ever yet imitated, the rich old +gold of autumn tapestries, the glimmering gray-green of the mouldering +stump that the fungi have painted. What a giant that tree must have +been, generations ago, in its days of strength; how puny the birches +that now grow out of its roots! You remember the great canoe birches by +the wilderness river, whiter than the little tent that nestled beneath +them, their wide bark banners waving in the wind, soft as the flutter of +owls' wings that swept among them, shadow-like, in the twilight. A vague +regret steals over you that our own wilderness is gone, and with it most +of the shy folk that loved its solitudes. + +Suddenly there is a rustle in the leaves. Something stirs by the old +stump. A moment ago you thought it was only a brown root; now it runs, +hides, draws itself erect--Kwit, kwit, kwit! and with a whirring rush of +wings and a whirling eddy of dead leaves a grouse bursts up, and +darts away like a blunt arrow, flint-tipped, gray-feathered, among the +startled birch stems. As you follow softly to rout him out again, and to +thrill and be startled by his unexpected rush, something of the +Indian has come unbidden into your cautious tread. All regret for the +wilderness is vanished; you are simply glad that so much wildness still +remains to speak eloquently of the good old days. + +It is this element of unconquerable wildness in the grouse, coupled with +a host of early, half-fearful impressions, that always sets my heart to +beating, as to an old tune, whenever a partridge bursts away at my feet. +I remember well a little child that used to steal away into the still +woods, which drew him by an irresistible attraction while as yet their +dim arches and quiet paths were full of mysteries and haunting terrors. +Step by step the child would advance into the shadows, cautious as a +wood mouse, timid as a rabbit. Suddenly a swift rustle and a thunderous +rush of something from the ground that first set the child's heart to +beating wildly, and then reached his heels in a fearful impulse which +sent him rushing out of the woods, tumbling headlong over the old gray +wall, and scampering halfway across the pasture before he dared halt +from the terror behind. And then, at last, another impulse which always +sent the child stealing back into the woods again, shy, alert, tense as +a watching fox, to find out what the fearful thing was that could make +such a commotion in the quiet woods. + +And when he found out at last--ah, that was a discovery beside which +the panther's kittens are as nothing as I think of them. One day in the +woods, near the spot where the awful thunder used to burst away, the +child heard a cluck and a kwitkwit, and saw a beautiful bird dodging, +gliding, halting, hiding in the underbrush, watching the child's every +motion. And when he ran forward to put his cap over the bird, it burst +away, and then--whirr! whirr! whirr! a whole covey of grouse roared up +all about him. The terror of it weakened his legs so that he fell down +in the eddying leaves and covered his ears. But this time he knew what +it was at last, and in a moment he was up and running, not away, but +fast as his little legs could carry him after the last bird that he saw +hurtling away among the trees, with a birch branch that he had touched +with his wings nodding good-by behind him. + +There is another association with this same bird that always gives an +added thrill to the rush of his wings through the startled woods. It was +in the old school by the cross-roads, one sleepy September afternoon. A +class in spelling, big boys and little girls, toed a crack in front of +the waster's desk. The rest of the school droned away on appointed tasks +in the drowsy interlude. The fat boy slept openly on his arms; even the +mischief-maker was quiet, thinking dreamily of summer days that were +gone. Suddenly there was a terrific crash, a clattering tinkle of broken +glass, a howl from a boy near the window. Twenty knees banged the desks +beneath as twenty boys jumped. Then, before any of us had found his +wits, Jimmy Jenkins, a red-headed boy whom no calamity could throw off +his balance and from whom no opportunity ever got away free, had jumped +over two forms and was down on the floor in the girls' aisle, gripping +something between his knees-- + +"I've got him," he announced, with the air of a general. + +"Got what?" thundered the master. + +"Got a pa'tridge; he's an old buster," said Jimmy. And he straightened +up, holding by the legs a fine cock partridge whose stiffening wings +still beat his sides spasmodically. He had been scared-up in the +neighboring woods, frightened by some hunter out of his native coverts. +When he reached the unknown open places he was more frightened still +and, as a frightened grouse always flies straight, he had driven like a +bolt through the schoolhouse window, killing himself by the impact. + +Rule-of-three and cube root and the unmapped wilderness of partial +payments have left but scant impression on one of those pupils, at +least; but a bird that could wake up a drowsy schoolroom and bring out +a living lesson, full of life and interest and the subtile call of the +woods, from a drowsy teacher who studied law by night, but never his +boys by day,--that was a bird to be respected. I have studied him with +keener interest ever since. + +Yet however much you study the grouse, you learn little except how wild +he is. Occasionally, when you are still in the woods and a grouse walks +up to your hiding place, you get a fair glimpse and an idea or two; but +he soon discovers you, and draws himself up straight as a string and +watches you for five minutes without stirring or even winking. Then, +outdone at his own game, he glides away. A rustle of little feet on +leaves, a faint kwit-kwit with a question in it, and he is gone. Nor +will he come back, like the fox, to watch from the other side and find +out what you are. + +Civilization, in its first advances, is good to the grouse, providing +him with an abundance of food and driving away his enemies. Grouse are +always more numerous about settlements than in the wilderness. Unlike +other birds, however, he grows wilder and wilder by nearness to men's +dwellings. I suppose that is because the presence of man is so often +accompanied by the rush of a dog and the report of a gun, and perhaps by +the rip and sting of shot in his feathers as he darts away. Once, in the +wilderness, when very hungry, I caught two partridges by slipping over +their heads a string noose at the end of a pole. Here one might as well +try to catch a bat in the twilight as to hope to snare one of our upland +partridges by any such invention, or even to get near enough to meditate +the attempt. + +But there was one grouse--and he the very wildest of all that I have +ever met in the woods--who showed me unwittingly many bits of his life, +and with whom I grew to be very well acquainted after a few seasons' +watching. All the hunters of the village knew him well; and a half-dozen +boys, who owned guns and were eager to join the hunters' ranks, had a +shooting acquaintance with him. He was known far and wide as "the ol' +beech pa'tridge." That he was old no one could deny who knew his ways +and his devices; and he was frequently scared-up in a beech wood by a +brook, a couple of miles out of the village. + +Spite of much learned discussion as to different varieties of grouse, +due to marked variations in coloring, I think personally that we have +but one variety, and that differences in color are due largely to the +different surroundings in which they live. Of all birds the grouse is +most invisible when quiet, his coloring blends so perfectly with the +roots and leaves and tree stems among which he hides. This wonderful +invisibility is increased by the fact that he changes color easily. He +is darker in summer, lighter in winter, like the rabbit. When he lives +in dark woods he becomes a glossy red-brown; and when his haunt is among +the birches he is often a decided gray. + +This was certainly true of the old beech partridge. When he spread +his tail wide and darted away among the beeches, his color blended so +perfectly with the gray tree trunks that only a keen eye could separate +him. And he knew every art of the dodger perfectly. When he rose there +was scarcely a second of time before he had put a big tree between you +and him, so as to cover his line of flight. I don't know how many times +he had been shot at on the wing. Every hunter I knew had tried it many +times; and every boy who roamed the woods in autumn had sought to pot +him on the ground. But he never lost a feather; and he would never +stand to a dog long enough for the most cunning of our craft to take his +position. + +When a brood of young partridges hear a dog running in the woods, they +generally flit to the lower branches of a tree and kwit-kwit at him +curiously. They have not yet learned the difference between him and the +fox, who is the ancient enemy of their kind, and whom their ancestors of +the wilderness escaped and tantalized in the same way. But when it is an +old bird that your setter is trailing, his actions are a curious mixture +of cunning and fascination. As old Don draws to a point, the grouse +pulls himself up rigidly by a stump and watches the dog. So both stand +like statues; the dog held by the strange instinct which makes him +point, lost to sight, sound and all things else save the smell in his +nose, the grouse tense as a fiddlestring, every sense alert, watching +the enemy whom he thinks to be fooled by his good hiding. For a few +moments they are motionless; then the grouse skulks and glides to a +better cover. As the strong scent fades from Don's nose, he breaks +his point and follows. The grouse hears him and again hides by drawing +himself up against a stump, where he is invisible; again Don stiffens +into his point, one foot lifted, nose and tail in a straight line, as if +he were frozen and could not move. + +So it goes on, now gliding through the coverts, now still as a stone, +till the grouse discovers that so long as he is still the dog seems +paralyzed, unable to move or feel. Then he draws himself up, braced +against a root or a tree boll; and there they stand, within twenty feet +of each other, never stirring, never winking, till the dog falls from +exhaustion at the strain, or breaks it by leaping forward, or till the +hunter's step on the leaves fills the grouse with a new terror that +sends him rushing away through the October woods to deeper solitudes. + +Once, at noon, I saw Old Ben, a famous dog, draw to a perfect point. +Just ahead, in a tangle of brown brakes, I could see the head and neck +of a grouse watching the dog keenly. Old Ben's master, to test the +splendid training of his dog, proposed lunch on the spot. We withdrew a +little space and ate deliberately, watching the bird and the dog with an +interest that grew keener and keener as the meal progressed, while Old +Ben stood like a rock, and the grouse's eye shone steadily out of the +tangle of brakes. Nor did either move so much as an eyelid while we ate, +and Ben's master smoked his pipe with quiet confidence. At last, after +a full hour, he whacked his pipe on his boot heel and rose to reach for +his gun. That meant death for the grouse; but I owed him too much of +keen enjoyment to see him cut down in swift flight. In the moment that +the master's back was turned I hurled a knot at the tangle of brakes. +The grouse burst away, and Old Ben, shaken out of his trance by the +whirr of wings, dropped obediently to the charge and turned his head to +say reproachfully with his eyes: "What in the world is the matter with +you back there--didn't I hold him long enough?" + +The noble old fellow was trembling like a leaf after the long strain +when I went up to him to pat his head and praise his steadiness, and +share with him the better half of my lunch. But to this day Ben's master +does not know what started the grouse so suddenly; and as he tells you +about the incident will still say regretfully: "I ought to a-started +jest a minute sooner, 'fore he got tired. Then I'd a had 'im." + +The old beech partridge, however, was a bird of a different mind. No dog +ever stood him for more than a second; he had learned too well what the +thing meant. The moment he heard the patter of a dog's feet on leaves +he would run rapidly, and skulk and hide and run again, keeping dog and +hunter on the move till he found the cover he wanted,--thick trees, or +a tangle of wild grapevines,--when he would burst out on, the farther +side. And no eye, however keen, could catch more than a glimpse of a +gray tail before he was gone. Other grouse make short straight flights, +and can be followed and found again; but he always drove away on strong +wings for an incredible distance, and swerved far to right or left; so +that it was a waste of time to follow him up. Before you found him he +had rested his wings and was ready for another flight; and when you did +find him he would shoot away like an arrow out of the top of a pine tree +and give you never a glimpse of himself. + +He lived most of the time on a ridge behind the 'Fales place,' an +abandoned farm on the east of the old post road. This was his middle +range, a place of dense coverts, bullbrier thickets and sunny open spots +among the ledges, where you might, with good-luck, find him on special +days at any season. But he had all the migratory instincts of a +Newfoundland caribou. In winter he moved south, with twenty other +grouse, to the foot of the ridge, which dropped away into a succession +of knolls and ravines and sunny, well-protected little valleys, where +food was plenty. Here, fifty years ago, was the farm pasture; but now it +had grown up everywhere with thickets and berry patches, and wild apple +trees of the birds' planting. All the birds loved it in their season; +quail nested on its edges; and you could kick a brown rabbit out of +almost any of its decaying brush piles or hollow moss-grown logs. + +In the spring he crossed the ridge northward again, moving into the +still dark woods, where he had two or three wives with as many broods of +young partridges; all of whom, by the way, he regarded with astonishing +indifference. + +Across the whole range--stealing silently out of the big woods, brawling +along the foot of the ridge and singing through the old pasture--ran +a brook that the old beech partridge seemed to love. A hundred times +I started him from its banks. You had only to follow it any November +morning before eight o'clock, and you would be sure to find him. But why +he haunted it at this particular time and season I never found out. + +I used to wonder sometimes why I never saw him drink. Other birds had +their regular drinking places and bathing pools there, and I frequently +watched them from my hiding; but though I saw him many times, after I +learned his haunts, he never touched the water. + +One early summer morning a possible explanation suggested itself. I was +sitting quietly by the brook, on the edge of the big woods, waiting for +a pool to grow quiet, out of which I had just taken a trout and in which +I suspected there was a larger one hiding. As I waited a mother-grouse +and her brood--one of the old beech partridge's numerous families for +whom he provided nothing--came gliding along the edge of the woods. They +had come to drink, evidently, but not from the brook. A sweeter draught +than that was waiting for their coming. The dew was still clinging to +the grass blades; here and there a drop hung from a leaf point, flashing +like a diamond in the early light. And the little partridges, cheeping, +gliding, whistling among the drooping stems, would raise their little +bills for each shining dewdrop that attracted them, and drink it down +and run with glad little pipings and gurglings to the next drop that +flashed an invitation from its bending grass blade. The old mother +walked sedately in the midst of them, now fussing over a laggard, now +clucking them all together in an eager, chirping, jumping little crowd, +each one struggling to be first in at the death of a fat slug she had +discovered on the underside of a leaf; and anon reaching herself for a +dewdrop that hung too high for their drinking. So they passed by within +a few yards, a shy, wild, happy little family, and disappeared into the +shadow of the big woods. + +Perhaps that is why I never saw the old beech partridge drink from the +brook. Nature has a fresher draught, of her own distilling, that is more +to his tasting. + +Earlier in the season I found another of his families near the same +spot. I was stealing along a wood road when I ran plump upon them, +scratching away at an ant hill in a sunny open spot. There was a wild +flurry, as if a whirlwind had struck the ant hill; but it was only the +wind of the mother bird's wings, whirling up the dust to blind my eyes +and to hide the scampering retreat of her downy brood. Again her wings +beat the ground, sending up a flurry of dead leaves, in the midst of +which the little partridges jumped and scurried away, so much like the +leaves that no eye could separate them. Then the leaves settled slowly +and the brood was gone, as if the ground had swallowed them up; while +Mother Grouse went fluttering along just out of my reach, trailing a +wing as if broken, falling prone on the ground, clucking and kwitting +and whirling the leaves to draw my attention and bring me away from +where the little ones were hiding. + +I knelt down just within the edge of woods, whither I had seen the last +laggard of the brood vanish like a brown streak, and began to look for +them carefully. After a time I found one. He was crouched flat on a +dead oak leaf, just under my nose, his color hiding him wonderfully. +Something glistened in a tangle of dark roots. It was an eye, and +presently I could make out a little head there. That was all I could +find of the family, though a dozen more were close beside me, under the +leaves mostly. As I backed away I put my hand on another before seeing +him, and barely saved myself from hurting the little sly-boots, who +never stirred a muscle, not even when I took away the leaf that covered +him and put it back again softly. + +Across the pathway was a thick scrub oak, under which I sat down to +watch. Ten long minutes passed, with nothing stirring, before Mother +Grouse came stealing back. She clucked once--"Careful!" it seemed to +say; and not a leaf stirred. She clucked again--did the ground open? +There they were, a dozen or more of them, springing up from nowhere and +scurrying with a thousand cheepings to tell her all about it. So she +gathered them all close about her, and they vanished into the friendly +shadows. + +It was curious how jealously the old beech partridge watched over the +solitudes where these interesting little families roamed. Though he +seemed to care nothing about them, and was never seen near one of his +families, he suffered no other cock partridge to come into his woods, +or even to drum within hearing. In the winter he shared the southern +pasture peaceably with twenty other grouse; and on certain days you +might, by much creeping, surprise a whole company of them on a sunny +southern slope, strutting and gliding, in and out and round about, with +spread tails and drooping wings, going through all the movements of a +grouse minuet. Once, in Indian summer, I crept up to twelve or fifteen +of the splendid birds, who were going through their curious performance +in a little opening among the berry bushes; and in the midst of +them-more vain, more resplendent, strutting more proudly and clucking +more arrogantly than any other--was the old beech partridge. + +But when the spring came, and the long rolling drum-calls began to throb +through the budding woods, he retired to his middle range on the ridge, +and marched from one end to the other, driving every other cock grouse +out of hearing, and drubbing him soundly if he dared resist. Then, after +a triumph, you would hear his loud drum-call rolling through the May +splendor, calling as many wives as possible to share his rich living. + +He had two drumming logs on this range, as I soon discovered; and once, +while he was drumming on one log, I hid near the other and imitated +his call fairly well by beating my hands on a blown bladder that I +had buttoned under my jacket. The roll of a grouse drum is a curiously +muffled sound; it is often hard to determine the spot or even the +direction whence it comes; and it always sounds much farther away than +it really is. This may have deceived the old beech partridge at first +into thinking that he heard some other bird far away, on a ridge across +the valley where he had no concern; for presently he drummed again on +his own log. I answered it promptly, rolling back a defiance, and also +telling any hen grouse on the range that here was another candidate +willing to strut and spread his tail and lift the resplendent ruff about +his neck to win his way into her good graces, if she would but come to +his drumming log and see him. + +Some suspicion that a rival had come to his range must have entered +the old beech partridge's head, for there was a long silence in which +I could fancy him standing up straight and stiff on his drumming log, +listening intently to locate the daring intruder, and holding down his +bubbling wrath with difficulty. + +Without waiting for him to drum again, I beat out a challenge. The roll +had barely ceased when he came darting up the ridge, glancing like a +bolt among the thick branches, and plunged down by his own log, where +he drew himself up with marvelous suddenness to listen and watch for the +intruder. + +He seemed relieved that the log was not occupied, but he was still +full of wrath and suspicion. He glided and dodged all about the place, +looking and listening; then he sprang to his log and, without waiting to +strut and spread his gorgeous feathers as usual, he rolled out the long +call, drawing himself up straight the instant it was done, turning +his head from side to side to catch the first beat of his rival's +answer--"Come out, if you dare; drum, if you dare. Oh, you coward!" +And he hopped, five or six high, excited hops, like a rooster before +a storm, to the other end of the log, and again his quick throbbing +drumcall rolled through the woods. + +Though I was near enough to see him clearly without, my field glasses, +I could not even then, nor at any other time when I have watched grouse +drumming, determine just how the call is given. After a little while +the excitement of a suspected rival's presence wore away, and he grew +exultant, thinking that he had driven the rascal out of his woods. He +strutted back and forth on the log, trailing his wings, spreading wide +his beautiful tail, lifting his crest and his resplendent ruff. Suddenly +he would draw himself up; there would be a flash of his wings up and +down that no eye could follow, and I would hear a single throb of his +drum. Another flash and another throb; then faster and faster, till +he seemed to have two or three pairs of wings, whirring and running +together like the spokes of a swift-moving wheel, and the drumbeats +rolled together into a long call and died away in the woods. + +Generally he stood up on his toes, as a rooster does when he flaps his +wings before crowing; rarely he crouched down close to the log; but I +doubt if he beat the wood with his wings, as is often claimed. Yet the +two logs were different; one was dry and hard, the other mouldy and +moss-grown; and the drumcalls were as different as the two logs. After a +time I could tell by the sound which log he was using at the first beat +of his wings; but that, I think, was a matter of resonance, a kind of +sounding-board effect, and not because the two sounded differently as +he beat them. The call is undoubtedly made either by striking the wings +together over his back or, as I am inclined to believe, by striking them +on the down beat against his own sides. + +Once I heard a wounded bird give three or four beats of his drum-call, +and when I went into the grapevine thicket, where he had fallen, I found +him lying flat on his back, beating his sides with his wings. + +Whenever he drums he first struts, because he knows not how many pairs +of bright eyes are watching him shyly out of the coverts. Once, when I +had watched him strut and drum a few times, the leaves rustled, and two +hen grouse emerged from opposite sides into the little opening where his +log was. Then he strutted with greater vanity than before, while the two +hen grouse went gliding about the place, searching for seeds apparently, +but in reality watching his every movement out of their eye corners, and +admiring him to his heart's content. + +In winter I used to follow his trail through the snow to find what he +had been doing, and what he had found to eat in nature's scarce time. +His worst enemies, the man and his dog, were no longer to be feared, +being restrained by law, and he roamed the woods with greater freedom +than ever. He seemed to know that he was safe at this time, and more +than once I trailed him up to his hiding and saw him whirr away through +the open woods, sending down a shower of snow behind him, as if in that +curious way to hide his line of flight from my eyes. + +There were other enemies, however, whom no law restrained, save the +universal wood-laws of fear and hunger. Often I found the trail of a fox +crossing his in the snow; and once I followed a double trail, fox over +grouse, for nearly half a mile. The fox had struck the trail late the +previous afternoon, and followed it to a bullbrier thicket, in the midst +of which was a great cedar in which the old beech partridge roosted. +The fox went twice around the tree, halting and looking up, then went +straight away to the swamp, as if he knew it was of no use to watch +longer. + +Rarely, when the snow was deep, I found the place where he, or some +other grouse, went to sleep on the ground. He would plunge down from +a tree into the soft snow, driving into it headfirst for three or four +feet, then turn around and settle down in his white warm chamber for the +night. I would find the small hole where he plunged in at evening, and +near it the great hole where he burst out when the light waked him. +Taking my direction from his wing prints in the snow, I would follow to +find where he lit, and then trace him on his morning wanderings. + +One would think that this might be a dangerous proceeding, sleeping +on the ground with no protection but the snow, and a score of hungry +enemies prowling about the woods; but the grouse knows well that when +the storms are out his enemies stay close at home, not being able to +see or smell, and therefore afraid each one of his own enemies. There is +always a truce in the woods during a snowstorm; and that is the reason +why a grouse goes to sleep in the snow only while the flakes are still +falling. When the storm is over and the snow has settled a bit, the fox +will be abroad again; and then the grouse sleeps in the evergreens. + +Once, however, the old beech partridge miscalculated. The storm ceased +early in the evening, and hunger drove the fox out on a night when, +ordinarily, he would have stayed under cover. Sometime about daybreak, +before yet the light had penetrated to where the old beech partridge was +sleeping, the fox found a hole in the snow, which told him that just in +front of his hungry nose a grouse was hidden, all unconscious of danger. +I found the spot, trailing the fox, a few hours later. How cautious he +was! The sly trail was eloquent with hunger and anticipation. A few feet +away from the promising hole he had stopped, looking keenly over the +snow to find some suspicious roundness on the smooth surface. Ah! there +it was, just by the edge of a juniper thicket. He crouched down, stole +forward, pushing a deep trail with his body, settled himself firmly and +sprang. And there, just beside the hole his paws had made in the snow, +was another hole where the grouse had burst out, scattering snow all +over his enemy, who had miscalculated by a foot, and thundered away to +the safety and shelter of the pines. + +There was another enemy, who ought to have known better, following the +old beech partridge all one early spring when snow was deep and food +scarce. One day, in crossing the partridge's southern range, I met +a small boy,--a keen little fellow, with the instincts of a fox for +hunting. He had always something interesting afoot,--minks, or muskrats, +or a skunk, or a big owl,--so I hailed him with joy. + +"Hello, Johnnie! what you after to-day--bears?" + +But he only shook his head--a bit sheepishly, I thought--and talked of +all things except the one that he was thinking about; and presently he +vanished down the old road. One of his jacket pockets bulged more than +the other, and I knew there was a trap in it. + +Late that afternoon I crossed his trail and, having nothing more +interesting to do, followed it. It led straight to the bullbrier thicket +where the old beech partridge roosted. I had searched for it many +times in vain before the fox led me to it; but Johnnie, in some of his +prowlings, had found tracks and a feather or two under a cedar branch, +and knew just what it meant. His trap was there, in the very spot where, +the night before, the old beech partridge had stood when he jumped for +the lowest limb. Corn was scattered liberally about, and a bluejay that +had followed Johnnie was already fast in the trap, caught at the base of +his bill just under the eyes. He had sprung the trap in pecking at some +corn that was fastened cunningly to the pan by fine wire. + +When I took the jay carefully from the trap he played possum, lying limp +in my hand till my grip relaxed, when he flew to a branch over my +head, squalling and upbraiding me for having anything to do with such +abominable inventions. + +I hung the trap to a low limb of the cedar, with a note in its +jaws telling Johnnie to come and see me next day. He came at dusk, +shamefaced, and I read him a lecture on fair play and the difference +between a thieving mink and an honest partridge. But he chuckled over +the bluejay, and I doubted the withholding power of a mere lecture; so, +to even matters, I hinted of an otter slide I had discovered, and of +a Saturday afternoon tramp together. Twenty times, he told me, he had +tried to snare the old beech partridge. When he saw the otter slide he +forswore traps and snares for birds; and I left the place, soon after, +with good hopes for the grouse, knowing that I had spiked the guns of +his most dangerous enemy. + +Years later I crossed the old pasture and went straight to the bullbrier +tangle. There were tracks of a grouse in the snow,--blunt tracks that +rested lightly on the soft whiteness, showing that Nature remembered his +necessity and had caused his new snowshoes to grow famously. I hurried +to the brook, a hundred memories thronging over me of happy days and +rare sights when the wood folk revealed their little secrets. In the +midst of them--kwit! kwit! and with a thunder of wings a grouse whirred +away, wild and gray as the rare bird that lived there years before. And +when I questioned a hunter, he said: "That ol' beech pa'tridge? Oh, yes, +he's there. He'll stay there, too, till he dies of old age; 'cause you +see, Mister, there ain't nobody in these parts spry enough to ketch +'im." + + + + +FOLLOWING THE DEER + +I was camping one summer on a little lake--Deer Pond, the natives called +it--a few miles back from a quiet summer resort on the Maine coast. +Summer hotels and mackerel fishing and noisy excursions had lost their +semblance to a charm; so I made a little tent, hired a canoe, and moved +back into the woods. + +It was better here. The days, were still and long, and the nights full +of peace. The air was good, for nothing but the wild creatures breathed +it, and the firs had touched it with their fragrance. The faraway surge +of the sea came up faintly till the spruces answered it, and both sounds +went gossiping over the hills together. On all sides were the woods, +which, on the north especially, stretched away over a broken country +beyond my farthest explorations. + +Over against my tenting place a colony of herons had their nests in some +dark hemlocks. They were interesting as a camp of gypsies, some going +off in straggling bands to the coast at daybreak, others frogging in +the streams, and a few solitary, patient, philosophical ones joining me +daily in following the gentle art of Izaak Walton. And then, when the +sunset came and the deep red glowed just behind the hemlocks, and the +gypsy bands came home, I would see their sentinels posted here and there +among the hemlock tips--still, dark, graceful silhouettes etched in +sepia against the gorgeous after-glow--and hear the mothers croaking +their ungainly babies to sleep in the tree tops. + +Down at one end of the pond a brood of young black ducks were learning +their daily lessons in hiding; at the other end a noisy kingfisher, an +honest blue heron, and a thieving mink shared the pools and watched each +other as rival fishermen. Hares by night, and squirrels by day, and +wood mice at all seasons played round my tent, or came shyly to taste +my bounty. A pair of big owls lived and hunted in a swamp hard by, who +hooted dismally before the storms came, and sometimes swept within the +circle of my fire at night. Every morning a raccoon stopped at a little +pool in the brook above my tent, to wash his food carefully ere taking +it home. So there was plenty to do and plenty to learn, and the days +passed all too swiftly. + +I had been told by the village hunters that there were no deer; that +they had vanished long since, hounded and crusted and chevied out of +season, till life was not worth the living. So it was with a start of +surprise and a thrill of new interest that I came upon the tracks of +a large buck and two smaller deer on the shore one morning. I was +following them eagerly when I ran plump upon Old Wally, the cunningest +hunter and trapper in the whole region. + +"Sho! Mister, what yer follerin?" + +"Why, these deer tracks," I said simply. + +Wally gave me a look, of great pity. + +"Guess you're green--one o' them city fellers, ain't ye, Mister? Them +ere's sheep tracks--my sheep. Wandered off int' th' woods a spell ago, +and I hain't seen the tarnal critters since. Came up here lookin' for um +this mornin'." + +I glanced at Wally's fish basket, and thought of the nibbled lily pads; +but I said nothing. Wally was a great hunter, albeit jealous; apt to +think of all the game in the woods as being sent by Providence to help +him get a lazy living; and I knew little about deer at that time. So I +took him to camp, fed him, and sent him away. + +"Kinder keep a lookout for my sheep, will ye, Mister, down 't this end +o' the pond?" he said, pointing away from the deer tracks. "If ye see +ary one, send out word, and I'll come and fetch 'im.--Needn't foller +the tracks though; they wander like all possessed this time o' year," he +added earnestly as he went away. + +That afternoon I went over to a little pond, a mile distant from my +camp, and deeper in the woods. The shore was well cut up with numerous +deer tracks, and among the lily pads everywhere were signs of recent +feeding. There was a man's track here too, which came cautiously out +from a thick point of woods, and spied about on the shore, and went +back again more cautiously than before. I took the measure of it back to +camp, and found that it corresponded perfectly with the boot tracks +of Old Wally. There were a few deer here, undoubtedly, which he was +watching jealously for his own benefit in the fall hunting. + +When the next still, misty night came, it found me afloat on the lonely +little pond with a dark lantern fastened to an upright stick just in +front of me in the canoe. In the shadow of the shores all was black as +Egypt; but out in the middle the outlines of the pond could be followed +vaguely by the heavy cloud of woods against the lighter sky. The +stillness was intense; every slightest sound,--the creak of a bough or +the ripple of a passing musquash, the plunk of a water drop into the +lake or the snap of a rotten twig, broken by the weight of clinging +mist,--came to the strained ear with startling suddenness. Then, as I +waited and sifted the night sounds, a dainty plop, plop, plop! sent the +canoe gliding like a shadow toward the shore whence the sounds had come. + +When the lantern opened noiselessly, sending a broad beam of gray, full +of shadows and misty lights, through the even blackness of the night, +the deer stood revealed--a beautiful creature, shrinking back into the +forest's shadow, yet ever drawn forward by the sudden wonder of the +light. + +She turned her head towards me, and her eyes blazed like great colored +lights in the lantern's reflection. They fascinated me; I could see +nothing but those great glowing spots, blazing and scintillating with +a kind of intense fear and wonder out of the darkness. She turned +away, unable to endure the glory any longer; then released from the +fascination of her eyes, I saw her hurrying along the shore, a graceful +living shadow among the shadows, rubbing her head among the bushes as if +to brush away from her eyes the charm that dazzled them. + +I followed a little way, watching every move, till she turned again, and +for a longer time stared steadfastly at the light. It was harder this +time to break away from its power. She came nearer two or three times, +halting between dainty steps to stare and wonder, while her eyes blazed +into mine. Then, as she faltered irresolutely, I reached forward and +closed the lantern, leaving lake and woods in deeper darkness than +before. At the sudden release I heard her plunge out of the water; but +a moment later she was moving nervously among the trees, trying to stamp +herself up to the courage point of coming back to investigate. And +when I flashed my lantern at the spot she threw aside caution and came +hurriedly down the bank again. + +Later that night I heard other footsteps in the pond, and opened my +lantern upon three deer, a doe, a fawn and a large buck, feeding at +short intervals among the lily pads. The buck was wild; after one look +he plunged into the woods, whistling danger to his companions. But the +fawn heeded nothing, knew nothing for the moment save the fascination +of the wonderful glare out there in the darkness. Had I not shut off +the light, I think he would have climbed into the canoe in his intense +wonder. + +I saw the little fellow again, in a curious way, a few nights later. +A wild storm was raging over the woods. Under its lash the great trees +writhed and groaned; and the "voices"--that strange phenomenon of the +forest and rapids--were calling wildly through the roar of the storm and +the rush of rain on innumerable leaves. I had gone out on the old wood +road, to lose myself for a little while in the intense darkness and +uproar, and to feel again the wild thrill of the elements. But the night +was too dark, the storm too fierce. Every few moments I would blunder +against a tree, which told me I was off the road; and to lose the road +meant to wander all night in the storm-swept woods. So I went back for +my lantern, with which I again started down the old cart path, a little +circle of wavering, jumping shadows about me, the one gray spot in the +midst of universal darkness. + +I had gone but a few hundred yards when there was a rush--it was not the +wind or the rain--in a thicket on my right. Something jumped into the +circle of light. Two bright spots burned out of the darkness, then two +more; and with strange bleats a deer came close to me with her fawn. I +stood stockstill, with a thrill in my spine that was not altogether +of the elements, while the deer moved uneasily back and forth. The doe +wavered between fear and fascination; but the fawn knew no fear, or +perhaps he knew only the great fear of the uproar around him; for he +came close beside me, rested his nose an instant against the light, then +thrust his head between my arm and body, so as to shield his eyes, and +pressed close against my side, shivering with cold and fear, pleading +dumbly for my protection against the pitiless storm. + +I refrained from touching the little thing, for no wild creature likes +to be handled, while his mother called in vain from the leafy darkness. +When I turned to go he followed me close, still trying to thrust his +face under my arm; and I had to close the light with a sharp click +before he bounded away down the road, where one who knew better than +I how to take care of a frightened innocent was, no doubt, waiting to +receive him. + +I gave up everything else but fishing after that, and took to watching +the deer; but there was little to be learned in the summer woods. Once +I came upon the big buck lying down in a thicket. I was following his +track, trying to learn the Indian trick of sign-trailing, when he shot +up in front of me like Jack-in-a-box, and was gone before I knew what it +meant. From the impressions in the moss, I concluded that he slept with +all four feet under him, ready to shoot up at an instant's notice, with +power enough in his spring to clear any obstacle near him. And then I +thought of the way a cow gets up, first one end, then the other, rising +from the fore knees at last with puff and grunt and clacking of joints; +and I took my first lesson in wholesome respect for the creature whom I +already considered mine by right of discovery, and whose splendid head +I saw, in anticipation, adorning the hall of my house--to the utter +discomfiture of Old Wally. + +At another time I crept up to an old road beyond the little deer pond, +where three deer, a mother with her fawn, and a young spike-buck, were +playing. They kept running up and down, leaping over the trees that lay +across the road with marvelous ease and grace--that is, the two larger +deer. The little fellow followed awkwardly; but he had the spring in +him, and was learning rapidly to gather himself for the rise, and lift +his hind feet at the top of his jump, and come down with all fours +together, instead of sprawling clumsily, as a horse does. + +I saw the perfection of it a few days later. I was sitting before my +tent door at twilight, watching the herons, when there was a shot and a +sudden crash over on their side. In a moment the big buck plunged out of +the woods and went leaping in swift bounds along the shore, head +high, antlers back, the mighty muscles driving him up and onward as if +invisible wings were bearing him. A dozen great trees were fallen across +his path, one of which, as I afterwards measured, lay a clear eight feet +above the sand. But he never hesitated nor broke his splendid stride. +He would rush at a tree; rise light and swift till above it, where he +turned as if on a pivot, with head thrown back to the wind, actually +resting an instant in air at the very top of his jump; then shoot +downward, not falling but driven still by the impulse of his great +muscles. When he struck, all four feet were close together; and almost +quicker than the eye could follow he was in the air again, sweeping +along the water's edge, or rising like a bird over the next obstacle. + +Just below me was a stream, with muddy shores on both sides. I looked to +see if he would stog himself there or turn aside; but he knew the place +better than I, and that just under the soft mud the sand lay firm and, +sure. He struck the muddy place only twice, once on either side +the fifteen-foot stream, sending out a light shower of mud in all +directions; then, because the banks on my side were steep, he leaped for +the cover of the woods and was gone. + +I thought I had seen the last of him, when I heard him coming, bump! +bump! bump! the swift blows of his hoofs sounding all together on the +forest floor. So he flashed by, between me and my tent door, barely +swerved aside for my fire, and gave me another beautiful run down the +old road, rising and falling light as thistle-down, with the old trees +arching over him and brushing his antlers as he rocketed along. + +The last branch had hardly swished behind him when, across the pond, +the underbrush parted cautiously and Old Wally appeared, trailing a long +gun. He had followed scarcely a dozen of the buck's jumps when he looked +back and saw me watching him from beside a great maple. + +"Just a-follerin one o' my tarnal sheep. Strayed off day 'fore +yesterday. Hain't seen 'im, hev ye?" he bawled across. + +"Just went along; ten or twelve points on his horns. And say, Wally--" + +The old sinner, who was glancing about furtively to see if the white +sand showed any blood stains,--looked up quickly at the changed tone. + +"You let those sheep of yours alone till the first of October; then I'll +help you round 'em up. Just now they're worth forty dollars apiece +to the state. I'll see that the warden collects it, too, if you shoot +another." + +"Sho! Mister, I ain't a-shootin' no deer. Hain't seen a deer round here +in ten year or more. I just took a crack at a pa'tridge 'at kwitted at +me, top o' a stump"-- + +But as he vanished among the hemlocks, trailing his old gun, I knew that +he understood the threat. To make the matter sure I drove the deer +out of the pond that night, giving them the first of a series of rude +lessons in caution, until the falling leaves should make them wild +enough to take care of themselves. + + + + +STILL HUNTING + +October, the superb month for one who loves the forest, found me again +in the same woods, this time not to watch and, learn, but to follow the +big buck to his death. Old Wally was ahead of me; but the falling leaves +had done their work well. The deer had left the pond at his approach. +Here and there on the ridges I found their tracks, and saw them at a +distance, shy, wild, alert, ready to take care of themselves in any +emergency. The big buck led them everywhere. Already his spirit, grown +keen in long battle against his enemies, dominated them all. Even the +fawns had learned fear, and followed it as their salvation. + +Then began the most fascinating experience that comes to one who haunts +the woods--the first, thrilling, glorious days of the still-hunter's +schooling, with the frost-colored October woods for a schoolroom, and +Nature herself for the all-wise teacher. Daylight found me far afield, +while the heavy mists hung low and the night smells still clung to the +first fallen leaves, moving swift and silent through the chill fragrant +mistiness of the lowlands, eye and ear alert for every sign, and face +set to the heights where the deer were waiting. Noon found me miles away +on the hills, munching my crust thankfully in a sunny opening of the +woods, with a brook's music tinkling among the mossy stones at my feet, +and the gorgeous crimson and green and gold of the hillside stretching +down and away, like a vast Oriental rug of a giant's weaving, to the +flash and blue gleam of the distant sea. And everywhere--Nature's last +subtle touches to her picture--the sense of a filmy veil let down ere +the end was reached, a soft haze on the glowing hilltops, a sheen as of +silver mist along the stream in the valley, a fleecy light-shot cloud on +the sea, to suggest more, and more beautiful, beyond the veil. + +Evening found me hurrying homeward through the short twilight, along +silent wood roads from which the birds had departed, breathing deep of +the pure air with its pungent tang of ripened leaves, sniffing the first +night smells, listening now for the yap of a fox, now for the distant +bay of a dog to guide me in a short cut over the hills to where my room +in the old farmhouse was waiting. + +It mattered little that, far behind me (though not so far from where +the trail ended), the big buck began his twilight wandering along +the ridges, sniffing alertly at the vanishing scent of the man on his +feeding ground. The best things that a hunter brings home are in his +heart, not in his game bag; and a free deer meant another long glorious +day following him through the October woods, making the tyro's mistakes, +to be sure, but feeling also the tyro's thrill and the tyro's wonder, +and the consciousness of growing power and skill to read in a new +language the secrets that the moss and leaves hide so innocently. + +There was so much to note and learn and remember in those days! A bit of +moss with that curiously measured angular cut in it, as if the wood folk +had taken to studying Euclid,--how wonderful it was at first! The deer +had been here; his foot drew that sharp triangle; and I must measure and +feel it carefully, and press aside the moss, and study the leaves, +to know whether it were my big buck or no, and how long since he had +passed, and whether he were feeding or running or just nosing about and +watching the valley below. And all that is much to learn from a tiny +triangle in the moss, with imaginary a, b, c's clinging to the dried +moss blossoms. + +How careful one had to be! Every shift of wind, every cloud shadow had +to be noted. The lesson of a dewdrop, splashed from a leaf in the early +morning; the testimony of a crushed flower, or a broken brake, or a +bending grass blade; the counsel of a bit of bark frayed from a birch +tree, with a shred of deer-velvet clinging to it,--all these were vastly +significant and interesting. Every copse and hiding place and cathedral +aisle of the big woods in front must be searched with quiet eyes far +ahead, as one glided silently from tree to tree. That depression in the +gray moss of a fir thicket, with two others near it--three deer lay down +there last night; no, this morning; no, scarcely an hour ago, and the +dim traces along the ridge show no sign of hurry or alarm. So I move on, +following surely the trail that, only a few days since, would have been +invisible as the trail of a fish in the lake to my unschooled eyes, +searching, searching everywhere for dim forms gliding among the trees, +till--a scream, a whistle, a rush away! And I know that the bluejay, +which has been gliding after me curiously the last ten minutes,--has +fathomed my intentions and flown ahead to alarm the deer, which are now +bounding away for denser cover. + +I brush ahead heedlessly, knowing that caution here only wastes time, +and study the fresh trail where the quarry jumped away in alarm. +Straight down the wind it goes. Cunning old buck! He has no idea what +Bluejay's alarm was about, but a warning, whether of crow or jay or +tainted wind or snapping twig, is never lost on the wood folk. Now as he +bounds along, cleaving the woods like a living bolt, yet stopping short +every hundred yards or so to whirl and listen and sort the messages that +the wood wires bring to him, he is perfectly sure of himself and his +little flock, knowing that if danger follow down wind, his own nose will +tell him all about it. I glance at the sun; only another hour of light, +and I am six miles from home. I glance at the jay, flitting about +restlessly in a mixture of mischief and curiosity, whistling his +too-loo-loo loudly as a sign to the fleeing game that I am right here +and that he sees me. Then I take up the back trail, planning another +day. + +So the days went by, one after another; the big buck, aided by his +friends the birds, held his own against my craft and patience. He grew +more wild and alert with every hunt, and kept so far ahead of me that +only once, before the snow blew, did I have even the chance of stalking +him, and then the cunning old fellow foiled me again masterfully. + +Old Wally was afield too; but, so far as I could read from the woods' +record, he fared no better than I on the trail of the buck. Once, when I +knew my game was miles ahead, I heard the longdrawn whang of Wally's old +gun across a little valley. Presently the brush began to crackle, and +a small doe came jumping among the trees straight towards me. Within +thirty feet she saw me, caught herself at the top of her jump, came +straight down, and stood an instant as if turned to stone, with a spruce +branch bending over to hide her from my eyes. Then, when I moved not, +having no desire to kill a doe but only to watch the beautiful creature, +she turned, glided a few steps, and went bounding away along the ridge. + +Old Wally came in a little while, not following the trail,--he had no +skill nor patience for that,--but with a woodsman's instinct following +up the general direction of his game. Not far from where the doe had +first appeared he stopped, looked all around keenly, then rested his +hands on the end of his long gun barrel, and put his chin on his hands. + +"Drat it all! Never tetched 'im again. That paowder o' mine hain't +wuth a cent. You wait till snow blows,"--addressing the silent woods +at large,--"then I'll get me some paowder as is paowder, and foller the +critter, and I'll show ye--" + +Old Wally said never a word, but all this was in his face and attitude +as he leaned moodily on his long gun. And I watched him, chuckling, from +my hiding among the rocks, till with curious instinct he vanished down +the ridge behind the very thicket where I had seen the doe flash out of +sight a moment before. + +When I saw him again he was deep in less creditable business. It was a +perfect autumn day,--the air full of light and color, the fragrant +woods resting under the soft haze like a great bouquet of Nature's own +culling, birds, bees and squirrels frolicking all day long amidst the +trees, yet doing an astonishing amount of work in gathering each one his +harvest for the cold dark days that were coming. + +At daylight, from the top of a hill, I looked down on a little clearing +and saw the first signs of the game I was seeking. There had been what +old people call a duck-frost. In the meadows and along the fringes of +the woods the white rime lay thick and powdery on grass and dead leaves; +every foot that touched it left a black mark, as if seared with a hot +iron, when the sun came up and shone upon it. Across the field three +black trails meandered away from the brook; but alas! under the fringe +of evergreen was another trail, that of a man, which crept and halted +and hid, yet drew nearer and nearer the point where the three deer +trails vanished into the wood. Then I found powder marks, and some brush +that was torn by buck shot, and three trails that bounded away, and a +tiny splash of deeper red on a crimson maple leaf. So I left the deer +to the early hunter and wandered away up the hill for a long, lazy, +satisfying day in the woods alone. + +Presently I came to a low brush fence running zigzag through the woods, +with snares set every few yards in the partridge and rabbit runs. At +the third opening a fine cock partridge swung limp and lifeless from a +twitch-up. The cruel wire had torn his neck under his beautiful ruff; +the broken wing quills showed how terrible had been his struggle. Hung +by the neck till dead!--an atrocious fate to mete out to a noble bird. +I followed the hedge of snares for a couple of hundred yards, finding +three more strangled grouse and a brown rabbit. Then I sat down in a +beautiful spot to watch the life about me, and to catch the snarer at +his abominable work. + +The sun climbed higher and blotted out the four trails in the field +below. Red squirrels came down close to my head to chatter and scold and +drive me out of the solitude. A beautiful gray squirrel went tearing by +among the branches, pursued by one of the savage little reds that nipped +and snarled at his heels. The two cannot live together, and the gray +must always go. Jays stopped spying on the squirrels--to see and +remember where their winter stores were hidden--and lingered near me, +whistling their curiosity at the silent man below. None but jays gave +any heed to the five grim corpses swinging by their necks over the +deadly hedge, and to them it was only a new sensation. + +Then a cruel thing happened,--one of the many tragedies that pass +unnoticed in the woods. There was a scurry in the underbrush, and +strange cries like those of an agonized child, only tiny and distant, +as if heard in a phonograph. Over the sounds a crow hovered and rose and +fell, in his intense absorption seeing nothing but the creature below. +Suddenly he swooped like a hawk into a thicket, and out of the cover +sprang a leveret (young hare), only to crouch shivering in the open +space under a hemlock's drooping branches. There the crow headed him, +struck once, twice, three times, straight hard blows with his powerful +beak; and when I ran to the spot the leveret lay quite dead with his +skull split, while the crow went flapping wildly to the tree tops, +giving the danger cry to the flock that was gossiping in the sunshine on +the ridge across the valley. + +The woods were all still after that; jays and squirrels seemed appalled +at the tragedy, and avoided me as if I were responsible for the still +little body under the hemlock tips. An hour passed; then, a quarter-mile +away, in the direction that the deer had taken in the early morning, +a single jay set up his cry, the cry of something new passing in the +woods. Two or three others joined him; the cry came nearer. A flock +of crossbills went whistling overhead, coming from the same direction. +Then, as I slipped away into an evergreen thicket, a partridge came +whirring up, and darted by me like a brown arrow driven by the bending +branches behind him, flicking the twigs sharply with his wings as he +drove along. And then, on the path of his last forerunner, Old Wally +appeared, his keen eyes searching his murderous gibbetline expectantly. + +Now Old Wally was held in great reputation by the Nimrods of the +village, because he hunted partridges, not with "scatter-gun" and +dog,--such amateurish bungling he disdained and swore against,--but in +the good old-fashioned way of stalking with a rifle. And when he brought +his bunch of birds to market, his admirers pointed with pride to the +marks of his wondrous skill. Here was a bird with the head hanging by a +thread of skin; there one with its neck broken; there a furrow along +the top of the head; and here--perfect work!--a partridge with both eyes +gone, showing the course of his unerring bullet. + +Not ten yards from my hiding place he took down a partridge from its +gallows, fumbled a pointed stick out of his pocket, ran it through the +bird's neck, and stowed the creature that had died miserably, without +a chance for its life, away in one of his big pockets, a self-satisfied +grin on his face as he glanced down the hedge and saw another bird +swinging. So he followed his hangman's hedge, treating each bird to his +pointed stick, carefully resetting the snares after him and clearing +away the fallen leaves from the fatal pathways. When he came to the +rabbit he harled him dexterously, slipped him over his long gun barrel, +took his bearings in a quick look, and struck over the ridge for another +southern hillside. + +Here, at last, was the secret of Wally's boasted skill in partridge +hunting with a rifle. Spite of my indignation at the snare line, the +cruel death which gaped day and night for the game as it ran about +heedlessly in the fancied security of its own coverts, a humorous, half +shame-faced feeling of admiration would creep in as I thought of the old +sinner's cunning, and remembered his look of disdain when he met me one +day, with a "scatter-gun" in my hands and old Don following obediently +at heel. Thinking that in his long life he must have learned many things +in the woods that I would be glad to know, I had invited him cordially +to join me. But he only withered me with the contempt in his hawk eyes, +and wiggled his toe as if holding back a kick from my honest dog with +difficulty. + +"Go hunting with ye? Not much, Mister. Scarin' a pa'tridge to death with +a dum dog, and then turnin' a handful o' shot loose on the critter, an' +call it huntin'! That's the way to kill a pa'tridge, the on'y decent +way"--and he pulled a bird out of his pocket, pointing to a clean hole +through the head where the eyes had been. + +When he had gone I kicked the hedge to pieces quickly, cut the +twitch-ups at the butts and threw them with their wire nooses far into +the thickets, and posted a warning in a cleft stick on the site of the +last gibbet. Then I followed Wally to a second and third line of snares, +which were treated in the same rough way, and watched him with curiously +mingled feelings of detestation and amusement as he sneaked down the +dense hillside with tread light as Leatherstocking, the old gun over his +shoulder, his pockets bulging enormously, and a string of hanged rabbits +swinging to and fro on his gun barrel, as if in death they had caught +the dizzy motion and could not quit it while the woods they had loved +and lived in threw their long sad shadows over them. So they came to the +meadow, into which they had so often come limping down to play or feed +among the twilight shadows, and crossed it for the last time on Wally's +gun barrel, swinging, swinging. + +The leaves were falling thickly now; they formed a dry, hard carpet over +which it was impossible to follow game accurately, and they rustled a +sharp warning underfoot if but a wood mouse ran over them. It was of +little use to still-hunt the wary old buck till the rains should soften +the carpet, or a snowfall make tracking like boys' play. But I tried +it once more; found the quarry on a ridge deep in the woods, and +followed--more by good-luck than by good management--till, late in the +afternoon, I saw the buck with two smaller deer standing far away on a +half-cleared hillside, quietly watching a wide stretch of country below. +Beyond them the ridge narrowed gradually to a long neck, ending in a +high open bluff above the river. + +There I tried my last hunter's dodge--manoeuvered craftily till near the +deer, which were hidden by dense thickets, and rushed straight at them, +thinking they would either break away down the open hillside, and so +give me a running shot, or else rush straightaway at the sudden alarm +and be caught on the bluff beyond. + +Was it simple instinct, I wonder, or did the buck that had grown old in +hunter's wiles feel what was passing in my mind, and like a flash take +the chance that would save, not only his own life, but the lives of +the two that followed him? At the first alarm they separated; the two +smaller deer broke away down the hillside, giving me as pretty a shot +as one could wish. But I scarcely noticed them; my eyes were following +eagerly a swift waving of brush tops, which told me that the big buck +was jumping away, straight into the natural trap ahead. + +I followed on the run till the ridge narrowed so that I could see across +it on either side, then slowly, carefully, steadying my nerves for +the shot. The river was all about him now, too wide to jump, too +steep-banked to climb down; the only way out was past me. I gripped the +rifle hard, holding it at a ready as I moved forward, watching either +side for a slinking form among the scattered coverts. At last, at last! +and how easy, how perfectly I had trapped him! My heart was singing as I +stole along. + +The tracks moved straight on; first an easy run, then a swift, hard rush +as they approached the river. But what was this? The whole end of the +bluff was under my eye, and no buck standing at bay or running wildly +along the bank to escape. The tracks moved straight on to the edge in +great leaps; my heart quickened its beat as if I were nerving myself for +a supreme effort. Would he do it? would he dare? + +A foot this side the brink the lichens were torn away where the sharp +hoofs had cut down to solid earth. Thirty feet away, well over the +farther bank and ten feet below the level where I stood, the fresh earth +showed clearly among the hoof-torn moss. Far below, the river fretted +and roared in a white rush of rapids. He had taken the jump, a jump that +made one's nostrils spread and his breath come hard as he measured +it with his eye. Somewhere, over in the spruces' shadow there, he was +hiding, watching me no doubt to see if I would dare follow. + +That was the last of the autumn woods for me. If I had only seen +him--just one splendid glimpse as he shot over and poised in mid-air, +turning for the down plunge! That was my only regret as I turned slowly +away, the river singing beside me and the shadows lengthening along the +home trail. + + + + +WINTER TRAILS + +The snow had come, and with it a Christmas holiday. For weeks I had +looked longingly out of college windows as the first tracking-snows came +sifting down, my thoughts turning from books and the problems of human +wisdom to the winter woods, with their wide white pages written all over +by the feet of wild things. Then the sun would shine again, and I +knew that the records were washed clean, and the hard-packed leaves as +innocent of footmarks as the beach where plover feed when a great wave +has chased them away. On the twentieth a change came. Outside the snow +fell heavily, two days and a night; inside, books were packed away, +professors said Merry Christmas, and students were scattering, like a +bevy of flushed quail, to all points of the compass for the holidays. +The afternoon of the twenty-first found me again in my room under the +eaves of the old farmhouse. + +Before dark I had taken a wide run over the hills and through the woods +to the place of my summer camp. How wonderful it all was! The great +woods were covered deep with their pure white mantle; not a fleck, not a +track soiled its even whiteness; for the last soft flakes were lingering +in the air, and fox and grouse and hare and lucivee were still keeping +the storm truce, hidden deep in their coverts. Every fir and spruce and +hemlock had gone to building fairy grottoes as the snow packed their +lower branches, under which all sorts of wonders and beauties might +be hidden, to say nothing of the wild things for whom Nature had been +building innumerable tents of white and green as they slept. The silence +was absolute, the forest's unconscious tribute to the Wonder Worker. +Even the trout brook, running black as night among its white-capped +boulders and delicate arches of frost and fern work, between massive +banks of feathery white and green, had stopped its idle chatter and +tinkled a low bell under the ice, as if only the Angelus could express +the wonder of the world. + +As I came back softly in the twilight a movement in an evergreen ahead +caught my eye, and I stopped for one of the rare sights of the woods,--a +partridge going to sleep in a warm room of his own making. He looked all +about among the trees most carefully, listened, kwit-kwitted in a +low voice to himself, then, with a sudden plunge, swooped downward +head-first into the snow. I stole to the spot where he had disappeared, +noted the direction of his tunnel, and fell forward with arms +outstretched, thinking perhaps to catch him under me and examine his +feet to see how his natural snowshoes (Nature's winter gift to every +grouse) were developing, before letting him go again. But the grouse +was an old bird, not to be caught napping, who had thought on the +possibilities of being followed ere he made his plunge. He had ploughed +under the snow for a couple of feet, then swerved sharply to the left +and made a little chamber for himself just under some snow-packed spruce +tips, with a foot of snow for a blanket over him. When I fell forward, +disturbing his rest most rudely ere he had time to wink the snow out of +his eyes, he burst out with a great whirr and sputter between my left +hand and my head, scattering snow all over me, and thundered off through +the startled woods, flicking a branch here and there with his wings, +and shaking down a great white shower as he rushed away for deeper +solitudes. There, no doubt, he went to sleep in the evergreens, +congratulating himself on his escape and preferring to take his chances +with the owl, rather than with some other ground-prowler that might +come nosing into his hole before the light snow had time to fill it up +effectually behind him. + +Next morning I was early afield, heading for a ridge where I thought the +deer of the neighborhood might congregate with the intention of yarding +for the winter. At the foot of a wild little natural meadow, made +centuries ago by the beavers, I found the trail of two deer which had +been helping themselves to some hay that had been cut and stacked there +the previous summer. My big buck was not with them; so I left the trail +in peace to push through a belt of woods and across a pond to an old +road that led for a mile or two towards the ridge I was seeking. + +Early as I was, the wood folk were ahead of me. Their tracks were +everywhere, eager, hungry tracks, that poked their noses into every +possible hiding place of food or game, showing how the two-days' fast +had whetted their appetites and set them to running keenly the moment +the last flakes were down and the storm truce ended. + +A suspicious-looking clump of evergreens, where something had brushed +the snow rudely from the feathery tips, stopped me as I hurried down the +old road. Under the evergreens was a hole in the snow, and at the bottom +of the hole hard inverted cups made by deer's feet. I followed on to +another hole in the snow (it could scarcely be called a trail) and then +to another, and another, some twelve or fifteen feet apart, leading in +swift bounds to some big timber. There the curious track separated into +three deer trails, one of which might well be that of a ten-point buck. +Here was luck,--luck to find my quarry so early on the first day out, +and better luck that, during my long absence, the cunning animal had +kept himself and his consort clear of Old Wally and his devices. + +When I ran to examine the back trail more carefully, I found that the +deer had passed the night in a dense thicket of evergreen, on a hilltop +overlooking the road. They had come down the hill, picking their way +among the stumps of a burned clearing, stepping carefully in each +other's tracks so as to make but a single trail. At the road they had +leaped clear across from one thicket to another, leaving never a trace +on the bare even whiteness. One might have passed along the road a score +of times without noticing that game had crossed. There was no doubt now +that these were deer that had been often hunted, and that had learned +their cunning from long experience. + +I followed them rapidly till they began feeding in a little valley, then +with much caution, stealing from tree to thicket, giving scant attention +to the trail, but searching the woods ahead; for the last "sign" showed +that I was now but a few minutes behind the deer. There they were at +last, two graceful forms gliding like gray shadows among the snow-laden +branches. But in vain I searched for a lordly head with wide rough +antlers sweeping proudly over the brow; my buck was not there. Scarcely +had I made the discovery when there was a whistle and a plunge up on +the hill on my left, and I had one swift glimpse of him, a splendid +creature, as he bounded away. + +By way of general precaution, or else led by some strange sixth sense of +danger, he had left his companions feeding and mounted the hill, where +he could look back on his own track. There he had been watching me for +half an hour, till I approached too near, when he sounded the alarm and +was off. I read it all from the trail a few moments later. + +It was of no use to follow him, for he ran straight down wind. The two +others had gone quartering off at right angles to his course, obeying +his signal promptly, but having as yet no idea of what danger followed +them. When alarmed in this way, deer never run far before halting to +sniff and listen. Then, if not disturbed, they run off again, circling +back and down wind so as to catch from a distance the scent of anything +that follows on their trail. + +I sat still where I was for a good hour, watching the chickadees and +red squirrels that found me speedily, and refusing to move for all the +peekings and whistlings of a jay that would fain satisfy his curiosity +as to whether I meant harm to the deer, or were just benumbed by the +cold and incapable of further mischief. When I went on I left some +scattered bits of meat from my lunch to keep him busy in case the deer +were near; but there was no need of the precaution. The two had learned +the leader's lesson of caution well, and ran for a mile, with many +haltings and circlings, before they began to feed again. Even then they +moved along at a good pace as they fed, till a mile farther on, when, +as I had forelayed, the buck came down from a hill to join them, and all +three moved off toward the big ridge, feeding as they went. + +Then began a long chase, a chase which for the deer meant a straightaway +game, and for me a series of wide circles--never following the trail +directly, but approaching it at intervals from leeward, hoping to circle +ahead of the deer and stalk them at last from an unexpected quarter. + +Once, when I looked down from a bare hilltop into a valley where the +trail ran, I had a most interesting glimpse of the big buck doing the +same thing from a hill farther on too far away for a shot, but near +enough to see plainly through my field glass. The deer were farther +ahead than I supposed. They had made a run for it, intending to rest +after first putting a good space between them and anything that might +follow. Now they were undoubtedly lying down in some far-away thicket, +their minds at rest, but their four feet doubled under them for a jump +at short notice. Trust your nose, but keep your feet under you--that is +deer wisdom on going to sleep. Meanwhile, to take no chances, the wary +old leader had circled back, to wind the trail and watch it awhile from +a distance before joining them in their rest. + +He stood stock-still in his hiding, so still that one might have +passed close by without noticing him. But his head was above the low +evergreens; eyes, ears, and nose were busy giving him perfect report of +everything that passed in the woods. + +I started to stalk him promptly, creeping up the hill behind him, +chuckling to myself at the rare sport of catching a wild thing at his +own game. But before I sighted him again he grew uneasy (the snow tells +everything), trotted down hill to the trail, and put his nose into it +here and there to be sure it was not polluted. Then--another of his +endless devices to make the noonday siesta full of contentment--he +followed the back track a little way, stepping carefully in his own +footprints; branched off on the other side of the trail, and so circled +swiftly back to join his little flock, leaving behind him a sad puzzle +of disputing tracks for any novice that might follow him. + +So the interesting chase went on all day, skill against keener cunning, +instinct against finer instinct, through the white wonder of the winter +woods, till, late in the afternoon, it swung back towards the starting +point. The deer had undoubtedly intended to begin their yard that day +on the ridge I had selected; for at noon I crossed the trail of the +two from the haystack, heading as if by mutual understanding in that +direction. But the big buck, feeling that he was followed, cunningly +led his charge away from the spot, so as to give no hint of the proposed +winter quarters to the enemy that was after him. Just as the long +shadows were stretching across all the valleys from hill to hill, and +the sun vanished into the last gray bank of clouds on the horizon, my +deer recrossed the old road, leaping it, as in the morning, so as to +leave no telltale track, and climbed the hill to the dense thicket where +they had passed the previous night. + +Here was my last chance, and I studied it deliberately. The deer were +there, safe within the evergreens, I had no doubt, using their eyes for +the open hillside in front and their noses for the woods behind. It was +useless to attempt stalking from any direction, for the cover was so +thick that a fox could hardly creep through without alarming ears far +less sensitive than a deer's. Skill had failed; their cunning was too +much for me. I must now try an appeal to curiosity. + +I crept up the hill flat on my face, keeping stump or scrub spruce +always between me and the thicket on the hilltop. The wind was in my +favor; I had only their eyes to consider. Somewhere, just within the +shadow, at least one pair were sweeping the back track keenly; so I +kept well away from it, creeping slowly up till I rested behind a great +burned stump within forty yards of my game. There I fastened a red +bandanna handkerchief to a stick and waved it slowly above the stump. + +Almost instantly there was a snort and a rustle of bushes in the thicket +above me. Peeking out I saw the evergreens moving nervously; a doe's +head appeared, her ears set forward, her eyes glistening. I waved the +handkerchief more erratically. My rifle lay across the stump's roots, +pointing straight at her; but she was not the game I was hunting. +Some more waving and dancing of the bright color, some more nervous +twitchings and rustlings in the evergreens, then a whistle and a rush; +the doe disappeared; the movement ceased; the thicket was silent as the +winter woods behind me. + +"They are just inside," I thought, "pawing the snow to get their courage +up to come and see." So the handkerchief danced on--one, two, five +minutes passed in silence; then something made me turn round. There in +plain sight behind me, just this side the fringe of evergreen that +lined the old road, stood my three deer in a row--the big buck on the +right--like three beautiful statues, their ears all forward, their eyes +fixed with intensest curiosity on the man lying at full length in the +snow with the queer red flag above his head. + +My first motion broke up the pretty tableau. Before I could reach for my +rifle the deer whirled and vanished like three winks, leaving the heavy +evergreen tips nodding and blinking behind them in a shower of snow. + +Tired as I was, I took a last run to see from the trail how it all +happened. The deer had been standing just within the thicket as I +approached. All three had seen the handkerchief; the tracks showed +that they had pawed the snow and moved about nervously. When the leader +whistled they had bounded straightaway down the steep on the other side. +But the farms lay in that direction, so they had skirted the base of +the hill, keeping within the fringe of woods and heading back for their +morning trail, till the red flag caught their eye again, and strong +curiosity had halted them for another look. + +Thus the long hunt ended at twilight within sight of the spot where it +began in the gray morning stillness. With marvelous cunning the deer +circled into their old tracks and followed them till night turned them +aside into a thicket. This I discovered at daylight next morning. + +That day a change came; first a south wind, then in succession a thaw, +a mist, a rain turning to snow, a cold wind and a bitter frost. Next +day when I entered the woods a brittle crust made silent traveling +impossible, and over the rocks and bare places was a sheet of ice +covered thinly with snow. + +I was out all day, less in hope of finding deer than of watching the +wild things; but at noon, as I sat eating my lunch, I heard a rapid +running, crunch, crunch, crunch, on the ridge above me. I stole up, +quietly as I could, to find the fresh trails of my three deer. They +were running from fright evidently, and were very tired, as the short +irregular jumps showed. Once, where the two leaders cleared a fallen +log, the third deer had fallen heavily; and all three trails showed +blood stains where the crust had cut into their legs. + +I waited there on the trail to see what was following--to give right of +way to any hunter, but with a good stout stick handy, for dealing with +dogs, which sometimes ran wild in the woods and harried the deer. For +a long quarter-hour the woods were all still; then the jays, which had +come whistling up on the trail, flew back screaming and scolding, and +a huge yellow mongrel, showing hound's blood in his ears and nose, came +slipping, limping, whining over the crust. I waited behind a tree till +he was up with me, when I jumped out and caught him a resounding thump +on the ribs. As he ran yelping away I fired my rifle over his head, and +sent the good club with a vengeance to knock his heels from under him. A +fresh outburst of howls inspired me with hope. Perhaps he would remember +now to let deer alone for the winter. + +Above the noise of canine lamentation I caught the faint click of +snowshoes, and hid again to catch the cur's owner at his contemptible +work. But the sound stopped far back on the trail at the sudden uproar. + +Through the trees I caught glimpses of a fur cap and a long gun and the +hawk face of Old Wally, peeking, listening, creeping on the trail, and +stepping gingerly at last down the valley, ashamed or afraid of being +caught at his unlawful hunting. "An ill wind, but it blows me good," I +thought, as I took up the trail of the deer, half ashamed myself to take +advantage of them when tired by the dog's chasing. + +There was no need of commiseration, however; now that the dog was out +of the way they could take care of themselves very well. I found them +resting only a short distance ahead; but when I attempted to stalk them +from leeward the noise of my approach on the crust sent them off with a +rush before I caught even a glimpse of them in their thicket. + +I gave up caution then and there. I was fresh and the deer were +tired,--why not run them down and get a fair shot before the sun went +down and left the woods too dark to see a rifle sight? I had heard that +the Indians used sometimes to try running a deer down afoot in the old +days; here was the chance to try a new experience. It was fearfully hard +traveling without snowshoes, to be sure; but that seemed only to even-up +chances fairly with the deer. At the thought I ran on, giving no +heed when the quarry jumped again just ahead of me, but pushing them +steadily, mile after mile, till I realized with a thrill that I was +gaining rapidly, that their pauses grew more and more frequent, and I +had constant glimpses of deer ahead among the trees--never of the big +buck, but of the two does, who were struggling desperately to follow +their leader as he kept well ahead of them breaking the way. Then +realizing, I think, that he was followed by strength rather than by +skill or cunning, the noble old fellow tried a last trick, which came +near being the end of my hunting altogether. + +The trail turned suddenly to a high open ridge with scattered thickets +here and there. As they labored up the slope I had the does in plain +sight. On top the snow was light, and they bounded ahead with fresh +strength. The trail led straight along the edge of a cliff, beyond which +the deer had vanished. They had stopped running here; I noticed with +amazement that they had walked with quick short steps across the open. +Eager for a sight of the buck I saw only the thin powdering of snow; +I forgot the glare ice that covered the rock beneath. The deer's sharp +hoofs had clung to the very edge securely. My heedless feet had barely +struck the rock when they slipped and I shot over the cliff, thirty feet +to the rocks below. Even as I fell and the rifle flew from my grasp, I +heard the buck's loud whistle from the thicket where he was watching me, +and then the heavy plunge of the deer as they jumped away. + +A great drift at the foot of the cliff saved me. I picked myself up, +fearfully bruised but with nothing broken, found my rifle and limped +away four miles through the woods to the road, thinking as I went that +I was well served for having delivered the deer "from the power of the +dog," only to take advantage of their long run to secure a head that my +skill had failed to win. I wondered, with an extra twinge in my limp, +whether I had saved Old Wally by taking the chase out of his hands +unceremoniously. Above all, I wondered--and here I would gladly follow +another trail over the same ground--whether the noble beast, grown weary +with running, his splendid strength failing for the first time, and his +little, long-tended flock ready to give in and have the tragedy over, +knew just what he was doing in mincing along the cliff's edge with his +heedless enemy close behind. What did he think and feel, looking back +from his hiding, and what did his loud whistle mean? But that is always +the despair of studying the wild things. When your problem is almost +solved, night comes and the trail ends. + +When I could walk again easily vacation was over, the law was on, and +the deer were safe. + + + + +SNOW BOUND + +March is a weary month for the wood folk. One who follows them then has +it borne in upon him continually that life is a struggle,--a keen, hard, +hunger-driven struggle to find enough to keep a-going and sleep warm +till the tardy sun comes north again with his rich living. The fall +abundance of stored food has all been eaten, except in out-of-the-way +corners that one stumbles upon in a long day's wandering; the game also +is wary and hard to find from being constantly hunted by eager enemies. + +It is then that the sparrow falleth. You find him on the snow, a +wind-blown feather guiding your eye to the open where he fell in +mid-flight; or under the tree, which shows that he lost his grip in the +night. His empty crop tells the whole pitiful story, and why you find +him there cold and dead, his toes curled up and his body feather-light. +You would find more but for the fact that hunger-pointed eyes are +keener than yours and earlier abroad, and that crow and jay and mink +and wildcat have greater interest than you in finding where the sparrow +fell. + +It is then, also, that the owl, who hunts the sparrow o' nights, grows +so light from scant feeding that he cannot fly against the wind. If he +would go back to his starting point while the March winds are out, +he must needs come down close to the ground and yewyaw towards +his objective, making leeway like an old boat without ballast or +centerboard. + +The grouse have taken to bud-eating from necessity--birch buds mostly, +with occasional trips to the orchards for variety. They live much now +in the trees, which they dislike; but with a score of hungry enemies +prowling for them day and night, what can a poor grouse do? + +When a belated snow falls, you follow their particular enemy, the fox, +where he wanders, wanders, wander's on his night's hunting. Across the +meadow, to dine on the remembrance of field mice--alas! safe now under +the crust; along the brook, where he once caught frogs; through the +thicket, where the grouse were hatched; past the bullbrier tangle, where +the covey of quail once rested nightly; into the farmyard, where the +dog is loose and the chickens are safe under lock and key, instead of +roosting in trees; across the highway, and through the swamp, and into +the big bare empty woods; till in the sad gray morning light he digs +under the wild apple tree and sits down on the snow to eat a frozen +apple, lest his stomach cry too loudly while he sleeps the day away and +tries to forget that he is hungry. + +Everywhere it is the same story: hard times and poor hunting. Even the +chickadees are hard pressed to keep up appearances and have their sweet +love note ready at the first smell of spring in the air. + +This was the lesson that the great woods whispered sadly when a few idle +March days found me gliding on snowshoes over the old familiar ground. +Wild geese had honked an invitation from the South Shore; but one can +never study a wild goose; the only satisfaction is to see him swing in +on broad wings over the decoys--one glorious moment ere the gun speaks +and the dog jumps and everything is spoiled. So I left gun and rifle +behind, and went off to the woods of happy memories to see how my deer +were faring. + +The wonder of the snow was gone; there was left only its cold bitterness +and a vague sense that it ought no longer to cumber the ground, but +would better go away as soon as possible and spare the wood folk any +more suffering. The litter of a score of storms covered its soiled rough +surface; every shred of bark had left its dark stain where the decaying +sap had melted and spread in the midday sun. The hard crust, which made +such excellent running for my snowshoes, seemed bitterly cruel when I +thought of the starving wild things and of the abundance of food on the +brown earth, just four feet below their hungry bills and noses. + +The winter bad been unusually severe. Reports had come to me from the +North Woods of deep snows, and of deer dying of starvation and cold in +their yards. I confess that I was anxious as I hurried along. Now that +the hunt was over and the deer had won, they belonged to me more than +ever more even than if the stuffed head of the buck looked down on +my hall, instead of resting proudly over his own strong shoulders. My +snowshoes clicked a rapid march through the sad gray woods, while the +March wind thrummed an accompaniment high up among the bare branches, +and the ground-spruce nodded briskly, beating time with their green +tips, as if glad of any sound or music that would break the chill +silence until the birds came back. + +Here and there the snow told stories; gay stories, tragic stories, sad, +wandering, patient stories of the little woods-people, which the +frost had hardened into crust, as if Nature would keep their memorials +forever, like the records on the sunhardened bricks of Babylon. But +would the deer live? Would the big buck's cunning provide a yard large +enough for wide wandering, with plenty of browse along the paths to +carry his flock safely through the winter's hunger? That was a story, +waiting somewhere ahead, which made me hurry away from the foot-written +records that otherwise would have kept me busy for hours. + +Crossbills called welcome to me, high overhead. Nothing can starve them +out. A red squirrel rushed headlong out of his hollow tree at the first +click of my snowshoes. Nothing can check his curiosity or his scolding +except his wife, whom he likes, and the weasel, whom he is +mortally afraid of. Chickadees followed me shyly with their +blandishments--tsic-a-deeee? with that gentle up-slide of questioning. +"Is the spring really coming? Are--are you a harbinger?" + +But the snowshoes clicked on, away from the sweet blarney, Leaving +behind the little flatterers who were honestly glad to see me in the +woods again, and who would fain have delayed me. Other questions, +stern ones, were calling ahead. Would the cur dogs find the yard and +exterminate the innocents? Would Old Wally--but no; Wally had the +"rheumatiz," and was out of the running. Ill-wind blew the deer good +that time; else he would long ago have run them down on snowshoes and +cut their throats, as if they were indeed his "tarnal sheep" that had +run wild in the woods. + +At the southern end of a great hardwood ridge I found the first path +of their yard. It was half filled with snow, unused since the last two +storms. A glance on either side, where everything eatable within reach +of a deer's neck had long ago been cropped close, showed plainly why the +path was abandoned. I followed it a short distance before running +into another path, and another, then into a great tangle of deer ways +spreading out crisscross over the eastern and southern slopes of the +ridge. + +In some of the paths were fresh deer tracks and the signs of recent +feeding. My heart jumped at sight of one great hoof mark. I had measured +and studied it too often to fail to recognize its owner. There was +browse here still, to be had for the cropping. I began to be hopeful for +my little flock, and to feel a higher regard for their leader, who +could plan a yard, it seemed, as well as a flight, and who could not be +deceived by early abundance into outlining a small yard, forgetting the +late snows and the spring hunger. + +I was stooping to examine the more recent signs, when a sharp snort +made me raise my head quickly. In the path before me stood a doe, all +a-quiver, her feet still braced from the suddenness with which she had +stopped at sight of an unknown object blocking the path ahead. Behind +her two other deer checked themselves and stood like statues, unable to +see, but obeying their leader promptly. + +All three were frightened and excited, not simply curious, as they would +have been had they found me in their path unexpectedly. The widespread +nostrils and heaving sides showed that they had been running hard. Those +in the rear (I could see them over the top of the scrub spruce, behind +which I crouched in the path) said in every muscle: "Go on! No matter +what it is, the danger behind is worse. Go on, go on!" Insistence was +in the air. The doe felt it and bounded aside. The crust had softened +in the sun, and she plunged through it when she struck, cr-r-runch, +cr-r-runch, up to her sides at every jump. The others followed, just +swinging their heads for a look and a sniff at me, springing from hole +to hole in the snow, and making but a single track. A dozen jumps and +they struck another path and turned into it, running as before down the +ridge. In the swift glimpses they gave me I noticed with satisfaction +that, though thin and a bit ragged in appearance, they were by no means +starved. The veteran leader had provided well for his little family. + +I followed their back track up the ridge for perhaps half a mile, when +another track made me turn aside. Two days before, a single deer had +been driven out of the yard at a point where three paths met. She had +been running down the ridge when something in front met her and drove +her headlong out of her course. The soft edges of the path were cut and +torn by suspicious claw marks. + +I followed her flight anxiously, finding here and there, where the snow +had been softest, dog tracks big and little. The deer was tired from +long running, apparently; the deep holes in the snow, where she had +broken through the crust, were not half the regular distance apart. +A little way from the path I found her, cold and stiff, her throat +horribly torn by the pack which had run her to death. Her hind feet were +still doubled under her, just as she had landed from her last despairing +jump, when the tired muscles could do no more, and she sank down without +a struggle to let the dogs do their cruel work. + +I had barely read all this, and had not yet finished measuring the +largest tracks to see if it were her old enemy that, as dogs frequently +do, had gathered a pirate band about him and led them forth to the +slaughter of the innocents, when a far-away cry came stealing down +through the gray woods. Hark! the eager yelp of curs and the leading +hoot of a hound. I whipped out my knife to cut a club, and was off for +the sounds on a galloping run, which is the swiftest possible gait on +snowshoes. + +There were no deer paths here; for the hardwood browse, upon which deer +depend for food, grew mostly on the other sides of the ridge. That the +chase should turn this way, out of the yard's limits showed the dogs' +cunning, and that they were not new at their evil business. They had +divided their forces again, as they had undoubtedly done when hunting +the poor doe whose body I had just found. Part of the pack hunted down +the ridge in full cry, while the rest lay in wait to spring at the +flying game as it came on and drive it out of the paths into the deep +snow, where it would speedily be at their mercy. At the thought I +gripped the club hard, promising to stop that kind of hunting for good, +if only I could get half a chance. + +Presently, above the scrape of my snowshoes, I heard the deer coming, +cr-r-runch! cr-r-runch! the heavy plunges growing shorter and fainter, +while behind the sounds an eager, whining trail-cry grew into a fierce +howl of canine exultation. Something was telling me to hurry, hurry; +that the big buck I had so often hunted was in my power at last, and +that, if I would square accounts, I must beat the dogs, though they were +nearer to him now than I. The excitement of a new kind of hunt, a hunt +to save, not to kill, was tingling all over me when I circled a dense +thicket of firs with a rush, and there he lay, up to his shoulders in +the snow before me. + +He had taken his last jump. The splendid strength which had carried him +so far was spent now to the last ounce. He lay resting easily in the +snow, his head outstretched on the crust before him, awaiting the +tragedy that had followed him for years, by lake and clearing and winter +yard, and that burst out behind him now with a cry to make one's nerves +shudder. The glory of his antlers was gone; he had dropped them months +before; but the mighty shoulders and sinewy neck and perfect head showed +how well, how grandly he had deserved my hunting. + +He threw up his head as I burst out upon him from an utterly unexpected +quarter--the very thing that I had so often tried to do, in vain, in the +old glorious days. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? Well, here am I." +That is what his eyes, great, sad, accusing eyes, were saying as he laid +his head down on the snow again, quiet as an Indian at the torture, too +proud to struggle where nothing was to be gained but pity or derision. + +A strange, uncanny silence had settled over the woods. Wolves cease +their cry in the last swift burst of speed that will bring the game in +sight. Then the dogs broke out of the cover behind him with a fiercer +howl that was too much for even his nerves to stand. Nothing on earth +could have met such a death unmoved. No ears, however trained, could +hear that fierce cry for blood without turning to meet it face to face. +With a mighty effort the buck whirled in the snow and gathered himself +for the tragedy. + +Far ahead of the pack came a small, swift bulldog that, with no nose +of his own for hunting, had followed the pirate leader for mere love of +killing. As he jumped for the throat, the buck, with his last strength, +reared on his hind legs, so as to get his fore feet clear of the snow, +and plunged down again with a hard, swift sabre-cut of his right hoof. +It caught the dog on the neck as he rose on the spring, and ripped him +from ear to tail. Deer and dog came down together. Then the buck rose +swiftly for his last blow, and the knife-edged hoofs shot down like +lightning; one straight, hard drive with the crushing force of a ten-ton +hammer behind it--and his first enemy was out of the hunt forever. +Before he had time to gather himself again the big yellow brindle, with +the hound's blood showing in nose and ears,--Old Wally's dog,--leaped +into sight. His whining trail-cry changed to a fierce growl as he sprang +for the buck's nose. + +I had waited for just this moment in hiding, and jumped to meet it. The +club came down between the two heads; and there was no reserve this +time in the muscles that swung it. It caught the brute fair on the head, +where the nose begins to come up into the skull,--and he too had harried +his last deer. + +Two other curs had leaped aside with quick instinct the moment they saw +me, and vanished into the thickets, as if conscious of their evil doing +and anxious to avoid detection. But the third, a large collie,--a dog +that, when he does go wrong, becomes the most cunning and vicious +of brutes,--flew straight at my throat with a snarl like a gray wolf +cheated of his killing. I have faced bear and panther and bull moose +when the red danger-light blazed into their eyes; but never before or +since have I seen such awful fury in a brute's face. It swept over me +in an instant that it was his life or mine; there was no question or +alternative. A lucky cut of the club disabled him, and I finished the +job on the spot, for the good of the deer and the community. + +The big buck had not moved, nor tried to, after his last great effort. +Now he only turned his head and lifted it wearily, as if to get away +from the intolerable smell of his dog enemies that lay dying under his +very nose. His great, sorrowful, questioning eyes were turned on me +continually, with a look that only innocence could possibly meet. No +man on earth, I think, could have looked into them for a full moment and +then raised his hand to slay. + +I approached very quietly, and dragged the dogs away from him, one by +one. His eyes followed me always. His nostrils spread, his head came up +with a start when I flung the first cur aside to leeward. But he made no +motion; only his eyes had a wonderful light in them when I dragged his +last enemy, the one he had killed himself, from under his very head and +threw it after the others. Then I sat down quietly in the snow, and we +were face to face at last. + +He feared me--I could hardly expect otherwise, while a deer has +memory--but he lay perfectly still, his head extended on the snow, his +sides heaving. After a little while he made a few bounds forward, at +right angles to the course he had been running, with marvelous instinct +remembering the nearest point in the many paths out of which the pack +had driven him. But he stopped and lay quiet at the first sound of my +snowshoes behind him. "The chase law holds. You have caught me; I am +yours,"--this is what his sad eyes were saying. And sitting down quietly +near him again, I tried to reassure him. "You are safe. Take your own +time. No dog shall harm you now."--That is what I tried to make him feel +by the very power of my own feeling, never more strongly roused than now +for any wild creature. + +I whistled a little tune softly, which always rouses the wood folk's +curiosity; but as he lay quiet, listening, his ears shot back and forth +nervously at a score of sounds that I could not hear, as if above the +music he caught faint echoes of the last fearful chase. Then I brought +out my lunch and, nibbling a bit myself, pushed a slice of black bread +over the crust towards him with a long stick. + +It was curious and intensely interesting to watch the struggle. At first +he pulled away, as if I would poison him. Then a new rich odor began to +steal up into his hungry nostrils. For weeks he had not fed full; he had +been running hard since daylight, and was faint and exhausted. And in +all his life he had never smelled anything so good. He turned his head +to question me with his eyes. Slowly his nose came down, searching for +the bread. "If he would only eat!-that is a truce which I would +never break," I kept thinking over and over, and stopped eating in my +eagerness to have him share with me the hunter's crust. His nose touched +it; then through his hunger came the smell of the man--the danger smell +that had followed him day after day in the beautiful October woods, and +over white winter trails when he fled for his life, and still the man +followed. The remembrance was too much. He raised his head with an +effort and bounded away. + +I followed slowly, keeping well out to one side of his trail, and +sitting quietly within sight whenever he rested in the snow. Wild +animals soon lose their fear in the presence of man if one avoids all +excitement, even of interest, and is quiet in his motions. His fear was +gone now, but the old wild freedom and the intense desire for life--a +life which he had resigned when I appeared suddenly before him, and the +pack broke out behind--were coming back with renewed force. His bounds +grew longer, firmer, his stops less frequent, till he broke at last +into a deer path and shook himself, as if to throw off all memory of the +experience. + +From a thicket of fir a doe, that had been listening in hiding to the +sounds of his coming and to the faint unknown click, which was the voice +of my snowshoes, came out to meet him. Together they trotted down the +path, turning often to look and listen, and vanished at last, like gray +shadows, into the gray stillness of the March woods. + + + + +GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES + + Cheokhes, the mink. + Ch'geegee-lokh, the chickadee. + Cheplahgan, the bald eagle. + Chigwooltz, the bullfrog. + Clote Scarpe, a legendary hero, like Hiawatha, of the Northern + Indians. Pronounced variously, Clote Scarpe, Groscap, Gluscap, + etc. + Deedeeaskh, the blue jay. + Hukweem, the great northern diver, or loon. + Ismaques, the fish-hawk. + Kagax, the weasel. + Kakagos, the raven. + Keeokuskh, the muskrat. + Keeonekh, the otter. + Killooleet, the white-throated sparrow. + Kookooskoos, the great horned owl. + Koskomenos, the kingfisher. + Kupkawis, the barred owl. + Kwaseekho, the sheldrake. + Lhoks, the panther. + Malsun, the wolf. + Meeko,the red squirrel. + Megaleep, the caribou. + Milicete, the name of an Indian tribe; written also Malicete. + Mitches, the birch partridge, or ruffed grouse. + Moktaques, the hare. + Mooween, the black bear. + Musquash, the muskrat. + Nemox, the fisher. + Pekquam, the fisher. + Seksagadagee, the Canada grouse, or spruce partridge. + Skooktum, the trout. + Tookhees, the wood grouse. + Upweekis, the Canada lynx. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Secret of the Woods, by William J. 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LONG + +Wood Folk Series Book Three + +1901 + + +TO CH'GEEGEE-LOKH-SIS, "Little +Friend Ch'geegee," whose +coming makes the winter glad. + + +PREFACE + +This little book is but another chapter in the shy 'wild life of +the fields and woods' of which "Ways of Wood Folk" and +"Wilderness Ways " were the beginning. It is given gladly in +answer to the call for more from those who have read the previous +volumes, and whose letters are full of the spirit of kindness +and appreciation. + +Many questions have come of late with these same letters; +chief of which is this: How shall one discover such things for +himself? how shall we, too, read the secrets of the Wood Folk? +There is no space here to answer, to describe the long +training, even if one could explain perfectly what is more or +less unconscious. I would only suggest that perhaps the real +reason why we see so little in the woods is the way we go through +them--talking, laughing, rustling, smashing twigs, disturbing the +peace of the solitudes by what must seem strange and uncouth +noises to the little wild creatures. They, on the other hand, +slip with noiseless feet through their native coverts, shy, +silent, listening, more concerned to hear than to be heard, +loving the silence, hating noise and fearing it, as they fear and +hate their natural enemies. + +We would not feel comfortable if a big barbarian came into +our quiet home, broke the door down, whacked his war-club on the +furniture, and whooped his battle yell. We could hardly be +natural under the circumstances. Our true dispositions would hide +themselves. We might even vacate the house bodily. Just so Wood +Folk. Only as you copy their ways can you expect to share their +life and their secrets. And it is astonishing how little the +shyest of them fears you, if you but keep silence and avoid all +excitement, even of feeling; for they understand your feeling +quite as much as your action. + +A dog knows when you are afraid of him; when you are hostile; +when friendly. So does a bear. Lose your nerve, and the horse you +are riding goes to pieces instantly. Bubble over with suppressed +excitement, and the deer yonder, stepping daintily down the bank +to your canoe in the water grasses, will stamp and snort and +bound away without ever knowing what startled him. But be quiet, +friendly, peace-possessed in the same place, and the deer, even +after discovering you, will draw near and show his curiosity in +twenty pretty ways ere he trots away, looking back over his +shoulder for your last message. Then be generous--show him the +flash of a looking-glass, the flutter of a bright handkerchief, a +tin whistle, or any other little kickshaw that the remembrance of +a boy's pocket may suggest--and the chances are that he will come +back again, finding curiosity so richly rewarded. + +That is another point to remember: all the Wood Folk are more +curious about you than you are about them. Sit down quietly in +the woods anywhere, and your coming will occasion the same stir +that a stranger makes in a New England hill town. Control your +curiosity, and soon their curiosity gets beyond control; they +must come to find out who you are and what you are doing. Then +you have the advantage; for, while their curiosity is being +satisfied, they forget fear and show you many curious bits of +their life that you will never discover otherwise. + +As to the source of these sketches, it is the same as that of the +others years of quiet observation in the woods and fields, and +some old notebooks which hold the records of summer and winter +camps in the great wilderness. + +My kind publishers announced, some time ago, a table of contents, +which included chapters on jay and fish-hawk, panther, and +musquash, and a certain savage old bull moose that once took up +his abode too near my camp for comfort. My only excuse for their +non-appearance is that my little book was full before their turn +came. They will find their place, I trust, in another volume +presently. + +STAMFORD, CONN., June, 1901. Wm. J. LONG. + + +CONTENTS + +TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE +A WILDERNESS BYWAY +KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN +KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST +MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER +THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE +FOLLOWING THE DEER + SUMMER WOODS + STILL HUNTING + WINTER TRAILS + SNOW BOUND +GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES + + + +SECRETS OF THE WOODS + +TOOKHEES THE 'FRAID ONE + +Little Tookhees the wood mouse, the 'Fraid One, as Simmo calls +him, always makes two appearances when you squeak to bring him +out. First, after much peeking, he runs out of his tunnel; sits +up once on his hind legs; rubs his eyes with his paws; looks up +for the owl, and behind him for the fox, and straight ahead at +the tent where the man lives; then he dives back headlong into +his tunnel with a rustle of leaves and a frightened whistle, as +if Kupkawis the little owl had seen him. That is to reassure +himself. In a moment he comes back softly to see what kind of +crumbs you have given him. + +No wonder Tookhees is so timid, for there is no place in earth or +air or water, outside his own little doorway under the mossy +stone, where he is safe. Above him the owls watch by night and +the hawks by day; around him not a prowler of the wilderness, +from Mooween the bear down through a score of gradations, to +Kagax the bloodthirsty little weasel, but will sniff under every +old log in the hope of finding a wood mouse; and if he takes a +swim, as he is fond of doing, not a big trout in the river but +leaves his eddy to rush at the tiny ripple holding bravely across +the current. So, with all these enemies waiting to catch him the +moment he ventures out, Tookhees must needs make one or two false +starts in order to find out where the coast is clear. + +That is why he always dodges back after his first appearance; why +he gives you two or three swift glimpses of himself, now here, +now there, before coming out into the light. He knows his enemies +are so hungry, so afraid he will get away or that somebody else +will catch him, that they jump for him the moment he shows a +whisker. So eager are they for his flesh, and so sure, after +missing him, that the swoop of wings or the snap of red jaws has +scared him into permanent hiding, that they pass on to other +trails. And when a prowler, watching from behind a stump, sees +Tookhees flash out of sight and hears his startled squeak, he +thinks naturally that the keen little eyes have seen the tail, +which he forgot to curl close enough, and so sneaks away as if +ashamed of himself. Not even the fox, whose patience is without +end, has learned the wisdom of waiting for Tookhees' second +appearance. And that is the salvation of the little 'Fraid One. + +From all these enemies Tookhees has one refuge, the little arched +nest beyond the pretty doorway under the mossy stone. Most of +his enemies can dig, to be sure, but his tunnel winds about in +such a way that they never can tell from the looks of his doorway +where it leads to; and there are no snakes in the wilderness to +follow and find out. Occasionally I have seen where Mooween the +bear has turned the stone over and clawed the earth beneath; but +there is generally a tough root in the way, and Mooween concludes +that he is taking too much trouble for so small a mouthful, and +shuffles off to the log where the red ants live. + +On his journeys through the woods Tookhees never forgets the +dangerous possibilities. His progress is a series of jerks, and +whisks, and jumps, and hidings. He leaves his doorway, after much +watching, and shoots like a minnow across the moss to an +upturned root. There he sits up and listens, rubbing his whiskers +nervously. Then he glides along the root for a couple of feet, +drops to the ground and disappears. He is hiding there under a +dead leaf. A moment of stillness and he jumps like a +jack-in-abox. Now he is sitting on the leaf that covered him, +rubbing his whiskers again, looking back over his trail as if he +heard footsteps behind him. Then another nervous dash, a squeak +which proclaims at once his escape. and his arrival, and he +vanishes under the old moss-grown log where his fellows live, a +whole colony of them. + +All these things, and many more, I discovered the first season +that I began to study the wild things that lived within sight of +my tent. I had been making long excursions after bear and beaver, +following on wild-goose chases after Old Whitehead the eagle and +Kakagos the wild woods raven that always escaped me, only to +find that within the warm circle of my camp-fire little wild folk +were hiding whose lives were more unknown and quite as +interesting as the greater creatures I had been following. + +One day, as I returned quietly to camp, I saw Simmo quite lost in +watching something near my tent. He stood beside a great birch +tree, one hand resting against the bark that he would claim next +winter for his new canoe; the other hand still grasped his axe, +which he had picked up a moment before to quicken the tempo of +the bean kettle's song. His dark face peered behind the tree with +a kind of childlike intensity written all over it. + +I stole nearer without his hearing me; but I could see nothing. +The woods were all still. Killooleet was dozing by his nest; the +chickadees had vanished, knowing that it was not meal time; and +Meeko the red squirrel had been made to jump from the fir top to +the ground so often that now he kept sullenly to his own hemlock +across the island, nursing his sore feet and scolding like a fury +whenever I approached. Still Simmo watched, as if a bear were +approaching his bait, till I whispered, "Quiee, Simmo, what is +it?" + +"Nodwar k'chee Toquis, I see little 'Fraid One'" he said, +unconsciously dropping into his own dialect, which is the softest +speech in the world, so soft that wild things are not disturbed +when they hear it, thinking it only a louder sough of the pines +or a softer tunking of ripples on the rocks.--"O bah cosh, see! +He wash-um face in yo lil cup." And when I tiptoed to his side, +there was Tookhees sitting on the rim of my drinking cup, in +which I had left a new leader to soak for the evening's fishing, +scrubbing his face diligently, like a boy who is watched from +behind to see that he slights not his ears or his neck. + +Remembering my own boyhood on cold mornings, I looked behind him +to see if he also were under compulsion, but there was no other +mouse in sight. He would scoop up a double handful of water in +his paws, rub it rapidly up over nose and eyes, and then behind +his ears, on the spots that wake you up quickest when you are +sleepy. Then another scoop of water, and another vigorous rub, +ending behind his ears as before. + +Simmo was full of wonder, for an Indian notices few things in the +woods beside those that pertain to his trapping and hunting; and +to see a mouse wash his face was as incomprehensible to him as to +see me read a book. But all wood mice are very cleanly; they have +none of the strong odors of our house mice. Afterwards, while +getting acquainted, I saw him wash many times in the plate of +water that I kept filled near his den; but he never washed more +than his face and the sensitive spot behind his ears. Sometimes, +however, when I have seen him swimming in the lake or river, I +have wondered whether he were going on a journey, or just bathing +for the love of it, as he washed his face in my cup. + +I left the cup where it was and spread a feast for the little +guest, cracker crumbs and a bit of candle end. In the morning +they were gone, the signs of several mice telling plainly who had +been called in from the wilderness byways. That was the +introduction of man to beast. Soon they came regularly. I had +only to scatter crumbs and squeak a few times like a mouse, when +little streaks and flashes would appear on the moss or among the +faded gold tapestries of old birch leaves, and the little wild +things would come to my table, their eyes shining like jet, their +tiny paws lifted to rub their whiskers or to shield themselves +from the fear under which they lived continually. + +They were not all alike--quite the contrary. One, the same who +had washed in my cup, was gray and old, and wise from much +dodging of enemies. His left ear was split from a fight, or an +owl's claw, probably, that just missed him as he dodged under a +root. He was at once the shyest and boldest of the lot. For a day +or two he came with marvelous stealth, making use of every dead +leaf and root tangle to hide his approach, and shooting across +the open spaces so quickly that one knew not what had happened- +-just a dun streak which ended in nothing. And the brown leaf +gave no sign of what it sheltered. But once assured of his +ground, he came boldly. This great man-creature, with his face +close to the table, perfectly still but for his eyes, with a +hand that moved gently if it moved at all, was not to be +feared--that Tookhees felt instinctively. And this strange fire +with hungry odors, and the white tent, and the comings and goings +of men who were masters of the woods kept fox and lynx and owl +far away--that he learned after a day or two. Only the mink, who +crept in at night to steal the man's fish, was to be feared. So +Tookhees presently gave up his nocturnal habits and came out +boldly into the sunlight. Ordinarily the little creatures come +out in the dusk, when their quick movements are hidden among the +shadows that creep and quiver. But with fear gone, they are only +too glad to run about in the daylight, especially when good +things to eat are calling them. + +Besides the veteran there was a little mother-mouse, whose tiny +gray jacket was still big enough to cover a wonderful mother +love, as I afterwards found out. She never ate at my table, but +carried her fare away into hiding, not to feed her little +ones-they were, too small as yet--but thinking in some dumb way, +behind the bright little eyes, that they needed her and that her +life must be spared with greater precaution for their sakes. She +would steal timidly to my table, always appearing from under a +gray shred of bark on a fallen birch log, following the same +path, first to a mossy stone, then to a dark hole under a root, +then to a low brake, and along the underside of a billet of wood +to the mouse table. There she would stuff both cheeks hurriedly, +till they bulged as if she had toothache, and steal away by the +same path, disappearing at last under the shred of gray bark. + +For a long time it puzzled me to find her nest, which I knew +could not be far away. It was not in the birch log where she +disappeared--that was hollow the whole length--nor was it +anywhere beneath it. Some distance away was a large stone, half +covered by the green moss which reached up from every side. The +most careful search here had failed to discover any trace of +Tookhees' doorway; so one day when the wind blew half a gale and +I was going out on the lake alone, I picked up this stone to put +in the bow of my canoe. That was to steady the little craft by +bringing her nose down to grip the water. Then the secret was +out, and there it was in a little dome of dried grass among some +spruce roots under the stone. + +The mother was away foraging, but a faint sibilant squeaking +within the dome told me that the little ones were there, and +hungry as usual. As I watched there was a swift movement in a +tunnel among the roots, and the mother-mouse came rushing back. +She paused a moment, lifting her forepaws against a root to sniff +what danger threatened. Then she saw my face bending over the +opening--Et tu Brute! and she darted into the nest. In a moment +she was out again and disappeared into her tunnel, running +swiftly with her little ones hanging to her sides by a grip that +could not be shaken,--all but one, a delicate pink creature that +one could hide in a thimble, and that snuggled down in the +darkest corner of my hand confidently. + +It was ten minutes before the little mother came back, looking +anxiously for the lost baby. When she found him safe in his own +nest, with the man's face still watching, she was half reassured; +but when she threw herself down and the little one began to +drink, she grew fearful again and ran away into the tunnel, the +little one clinging to her side, this time securely. + +I put the stone back and gathered the moss carefully about it. In +a few days Mother Mouse was again at my table. I stole away to +the stone, put my ear close to it, and heard with immense +satisfaction tiny squeaks, which told me that the house was again +occupied. Then I watched to find the path by which Mother Mouse +came to her own. When her cheeks were full, she disappeared under +the shred of bark by her usual route. That led into the hollow +center of the birch log, which she followed to the end, where she +paused a moment, eyes, ears, and nostrils busy; then she jumped +to a tangle of roots and dead leaves, beneath which was a tunnel +that led, deep down under the moss, straight to her nest beneath +the stone. + +Besides these older mice, there were five or six smaller ones, +all shy save one, who from the first showed not the slightest +fear but came straight to my hand, ate his crumbs, and went up my +sleeve, and proceeded to make himself a warm nest there by +nibbling wool from my flannel shirt. + +In strong contrast to this little fellow was another who knew +too well what fear meant. He belonged to another tribe that had +not yet grown accustomed to man's ways. I learned too late how +careful one must be in handling the little creatures that live +continually in the land where fear reigns. + +A little way behind my tent was a great fallen log, mouldy and +moss-grown, with twin-flowers shaking their bells along its +length, under which lived a whole colony of wood mice. They ate +the crumbs that I placed by the log; but they could never be +tolled to my table, whether because they had no split-eared old +veteran to spy out the man's ways, or because my own colony drove +them away, I could never find out. One day I saw Tookhees dive +under the big log as I approached, and having nothing more +important to do, I placed one big crumb near his entrance, +stretched out in the moss, hid my hand in a dead brake near the +tempting morsel, and squeaked the call. In a moment Tookhees' +nose and eyes appeared in his doorway, his whiskers twitching +nervously as he smelled the candle grease. But he was suspicious +of the big object, or perhaps he smelled the man too and was +afraid, for after much dodging in and out he disappeared +altogether. + +I was wondering how long his hunger would battle with his +caution, when I saw the moss near my bait stir from beneath. A +little waving of the moss blossoms, and Tookhees' nose and eyes +appeared out of the ground for an instant, sniffing in all +directions. His little scheme was evident enough now; he was +tunneling for the morsel that he dared not take openly. I watched +with breathless interest as a faint quiver nearer my bait showed +where he was pushing his works. Then the moss stirred cautiously +close beside his objective; a hole opened; the morsel tumbled in, +and Tookhees was gone with his prize. + +I placed more crumbs from my pocket in the same place, and +presently three or four mice were nibbling them. One sat up close +by the dead brake, holding a bit of bread in his forepaws like a +squirrel. The brake stirred suddenly; before he could jump my +hand closed over him, and slipping the other hand beneath him I +held him up to my face to watch him between my fingers. He made +no movement to escape, but only trembled violently. His legs +seemed too weak to support his weight now; he lay down; his eyes +closed. One convulsive twitch and he was dead--dead of fright in +a hand which had not harmed him. + +It was at this colony, whose members were all strangers to me, +that I learned in a peculiar way of the visiting habits of wood +mice, and at the same time another lesson that I shall not soon +forget. For several days I had been trying every legitimate way +in vain to catch a big trout, a monster of his kind, that lived +in an eddy behind a rock up at the inlet. Trout were scarce in +that lake, and in summer the big fish are always lazy and hard to +catch. I was trout hungry most of the time, for the fish that I +caught were small, and few and far between. Several times, +however, when casting from the shore at the inlet for small +fish, I had seen swirls in a great eddy near the farther shore, +which told me plainly of big fish beneath; and one day, when a +huge trout rolled half his length out of water behind my fly, +small fry lost all their interest and I promised myself the joy +of feeling my rod bend and tingle beneath the rush of that big +trout if it took all summer. + +Flies were no use. I offered him a bookful, every variety of +shape and color, at dawn and dusk, without tempting him. I tried +grubs, which bass like, and a frog's leg, which no pickerel can +resist, and little frogs, such as big trout hunt among the lily +pads in the twilight,--all without pleasing him. And then +waterbeetles, and a red squirrel's tail-tip, which makes the best +hackle in the world, and kicking grasshoppers, and a silver spoon +with a wicked "gang" of hooks, which I detest and which, I am +thankful to remember, the trout detested also. They lay there in +their big cool eddy, lazily taking what food the stream brought +down to them, giving no heed to frauds of any kind. + +Then I caught a red-fin in the stream above, hooked it securely, +laid it on a big chip, coiled my line upon it, and set it +floating down stream, the line uncoiling gently behind it as it +went. When it reached the eddy I raised my rod tip; the line +straightened; the red-fin plunged overboard, and a two-pound +trout, thinking, no doubt, that the little fellow had been hiding +under the chip, rose for him and took him in. That was the only +one I caught. His struggle disturbed the pool, and the other +trout gave no heed to more red-fins. + +Then, one morning at daybreak, as I sat on a big rock pondering +new baits and devices, a stir on an alder bush across the stream +caught my eye. Tookhees the wood mouse was there, running over +the bush, evidently for the black catkins which still clung to +the tips. As I watched him he fell, or jumped from his branch +into the quiet water below and, after circling about for a +moment, headed bravely across the current. I could just see his +nose as he swam, a rippling wedge against the black water with a +widening letter V trailing out behind him. The current swept him +downward; he touched the edge of the big eddy; there was a swirl, +a mighty plunge beneath, and Tookhees was gone, leaving no trace +but a swift circle of ripples that were swallowed up in the rings +and dimples behind the rock.--I had found what bait the big trout +wanted. + +Hurrying back to camp, I loaded a cartridge lightly with a pinch +of dust shot, spread some crumbs near the big log behind my tent, +squeaked the call a few times, and sat down to wait. "These mice +are strangers to me," I told Conscience, who was protesting a +little, "and the woods are full of them, and I want that trout." + +In a moment there was a rustle in the mossy doorway and Tookhees +appeared. He darted across the open, seized a crumb in his mouth, +sat up on his hind legs, took the crumb in his paws, and began to +eat. I had raised the gun, thinking he would dodge back a few +times before giving me a shot; his boldness surprised me, but I +did not recognize him. Still my eye followed along the barrels +and over the sight to where Tookhees sat eating his crumb. My +finger was pressing the trigger--"O you big butcher," said +Conscience, "think how little he is, and what a big roar your gun +will make! Aren't you ashamed?" + +"But I want the trout," I protested. + +"Catch him then, without killing this little harmless thing," +said Conscience sternly. + +"But he is a stranger to me; I never--" + +"He is eating your bread and salt," said Conscience. That settled +it; but even as I looked at him over the gun sight, Tookhees +finished his crumb, came to my foot, ran along my leg into my +lap, and looked into my face expectantly. The grizzled coat and +the split ear showed the welcome guest at my table for a week +past. He was visiting the stranger colony, as wood mice are fond +of doing, and persuading them by his example that they might +trust me, as he did. More ashamed than if I had been caught +potting quail, I threw away the hateful shell that had almost +slain my friend. and went back to camp. + +There I made a mouse of a bit of muskrat fur, with a piece of my +leather shoestring sewed on for a tail. It served the purpose +perfectly, for within the hour I was gloating over the size and +beauty of the big trout as he stretched his length on the rock +beside me. But I lost the fraud at the next cast, leaving it, +with a foot of my leader, in the mouth of a second trout that +rolled up at it the instant it touched his eddy behind the rock. + +After that the wood mice were safe so far as I was concerned. Not +a trout, though he were big as a salmon, would ever taste them, +unless they chose to go swimming of their own accord; and I kept +their table better supplied than before. I saw much of their +visiting back and forth, and have understood better what those +tunnels mean that one finds in the spring when the last snows are +melting. In a corner of the woods, where the drifts lay, you will +often find a score of tunnels coming in from all directions to a +central chamber. They speak of Tookhees' sociable nature, of his +long visits with his fellows, undisturbed by swoop or snap, when +the packed snow above has swept the summer fear away and made him +safe from hawk and owl and fox and wildcat, and when no open +water tempts him to go swimming where Skooktum the big trout lies +waiting, mouse hungry, under his eddy. + + +The weeks passed all too quickly, as wilderness weeks do, and the +sad task of breaking camp lay just before us. But one thing +troubled me--the little Tookhees, who knew no fear, but tried to +make a nest in the sleeve of my flannel shirt. His simple +confidence touched me more than the curious ways of all the other +mice. Every day he came and took his crumbs, not from the common +table, but from my, hand, evidently enjoying its warmth while he +ate, and always getting the choicest morsels. But I knew that he +would be the first one caught by the owl after I left; for it is +fear only that saves the wild things. Occasionally one finds +animals of various kinds in which the instinct of fear is +lacking--a frog, a young partridge, a moose calf--and wonders +what golden age that knew no fear, or what glorious vision of +Isaiah in which lion and lamb lie down together, is here set +forth. I have even seen a young black duck, whose natural +disposition is wild as the wilderness itself, that had profited +nothing by his mother's alarms and her constant lessons in +hiding, but came bobbing up to my canoe among the sedges of a +wilderness lake, while his brethren crouched invisible in their +coverts of bending rushes, and his mother flapped wildly off, +splashing and quacking and trailing a wing to draw me away from +the little ones. + +Such an one is generally abandoned by its mother, or else is the +first to fall in the battle with the strong before she gives him +up as hopeless. Little Tookhees evidently belonged to this class, +so before leaving I undertook the task of teaching him fear, +which had evidently been too much for Nature and his own mother. +I pinched him a few times, hooting like an owl as I did so,--a +startling process, which sent the other mice diving like brown +streaks to cover. Then I waved a branch over him, like a hawk's +wing, at the same time flipping him end over end, shaking him up +terribly. Then again, when he appeared with a new light dawning +in his eyes, the light of fear, I would set a stick to wiggling +like a creeping fox among the ferns and switch him sharply with a +hemlock tip. It was a hard lesson, but he learned it after a few +days. And before I finished the teaching, not a mouse would come +to my table, no matter how persuasively I squeaked. They would +dart about in the twilight as of yore, but the first whish of my +stick sent them all back to cover on the instant. + +That was their stern yet, practical preparation for the robber +horde that would soon be prowling over my camping ground. Then a +stealthy movement among the ferns or the sweep of a shadow among +the twilight shadows would mean a very different thing from +wriggling stick and waving hemlock tip. Snap and swoop, and teeth +and claws,--jump for your life and find out afterwards. That is +the rule for a wise wood mouse. So I said good-by, and left them +to take care of themselves in the wilderness. + + + +A WILDERNESS BYWAY + +One day in the wilderness, as my canoe was sweeping down a +beautiful stretch of river, I noticed a little path leading +through the water grass, at right angles to the stream's course. +Swinging my canoe up to it, I found what seemed to be a landing +place for the wood folk on their river journeyings. The sedges, +which stood thickly all about, were here bent inward, making a +shiny green channel from the river. + +On the muddy shore were many tracks of mink and muskrat and +otter. Here a big moose had stood drinking; and there a beaver +had cut the grass and made a little mud pie, in the middle of +which was a bit of musk scenting the whole neighborhood. It was +done last night, for the marks of his fore paws still showed +plainly where he had patted his pie smooth ere he went away. + +But the spot was more than a landing place; a path went up the +bank into the woods, as faint as the green waterway among the +sedges. Tall ferns bent over to hide it; rank grasses that had +been softly brushed aside tried their best to look natural; the +alders waved their branches thickly, saying: There is no way +here. But there it was, a path for the wood folk. And when I +followed it into the shade and silence of the woods, the first +mossy log that lay across it was worn smooth by the passage of +many little feet. + +As I came back, Simmo's canoe glided into sight and I waved him +to shore. The light birch swung up beside mine, a deep +water-dimple just under the curl of its bow, and a musical ripple +like the gurgle of water by a mossy stone--that was the only +sound. + +"What means this path, Simmo?" + +His keen eyes took in everything,at a glance, the wavy waterway, +the tracks, the faint path to the alders. There was a look of +surprise in his face that I had blundered onto a discovery which +he had looked for many times in vain, his traps on his back. + +"Das a portash," he said simply. + +"A portage! But who made a portage here?" + +"Well, Musquash he prob'ly make-um first. Den beaver, den +h'otter, den everybody in hurry he make-um. You see, river make +big bend here. Portash go 'cross; save time, jus' same Indian +portash." + +That was the first of a dozen such paths that I have since found +cutting across the bends of wilderness rivers,--the wood folk's +way of saving time on a journey. I left Simmo to go on down the +river, while I followed the little byway curiously. There is +nothing more fascinating in the woods than to go on the track +of the wild things and see what they have been doing. + +But alas! mine were not the first human feet that had taken the +journey. Halfway across, at a point where the path ran over a +little brook, I found a deadfall set squarely in the way of +unwary feet. It was different from any I had ever seen, and was +made like this: {drawing omitted} + +That tiny stick (trigger, the trappers call it) with its end +resting in air three inches above the bed log, just the right +height so that a beaver or an otter would naturally put his foot +on it in crossing, looks innocent enough. But if you look sharply +you will see that if it were pressed down ever so little it would +instantly release the bent stick that holds the fall-log, and +bring the deadly thing down with crushing force across the back +of any animal beneath. + +Such are the pitfalls that lie athwart the way of Keeonekh the +otter, when he goes a-courting and uses Musquash's portage to +shorten his journey. + +At the other end of the portage I waited for Simmo to come round +the bend, and took him back to see the work, denouncing the +heartless carelessness of the trapper who had gone away in the +spring and left an unsprung deadfall as a menace to the wild +things. At the first glance he pronounced it an otter trap. Then +the fear and wonder swept into his face, and the questions into +mine. + +"Das Noel Waby's trap. Nobody else make-um tukpeel stick like +dat," he said at last. + +Then I understood. Noel Waby had gone up river trapping in the +spring, and had never come back; nor any word to tell how death +met him. + +I stooped down to examine the trap with greater interest. On the +underside of the fall-log I found some long hairs still clinging +in the crevices of the rough bark. They belonged to the outer +waterproof coat with which Keeonekh keeps his fur dry. One otter +at least had been caught here, and the trap reset. But some sense +of danger, some old scent of blood or subtle warning clung to the +spot, and no other creature had crossed the bed log, though +hundreds must have passed that way since the old Indian reset his +trap, and strode away with the dead otter across his shoulders. + +What was it in the air? What sense of fear brooded here and +whispered in the alder leaves and tinkled in the brook? Simmo +grew uneasy and hurried away. He was like the wood folk. But I +sat down on a great log that the spring floods had driven in +through the alders to feel the meaning of the place, if possible, +and to have the vast sweet solitude all to myself for a little +while. + +A faint stir on my left, and another! Then up the path, twisting +and gliding, came Keeonekh, the first otter that I had ever seen +in the wilderness. Where the sun flickered in through the alder +leaves it glinted brightly on the shiny puter hairs of his rough +coat. As he went his nose worked constantly, going far ahead of +his bright little eyes to tell him what was in the path. + +I was sitting very still, some distance to one side, and he did +not see me. Near old Noel's deadfall he paused an instant with +raised head, in the curious snake-like attitude that all the +weasels take when watching. Then he glided round the end of the +trap, and disappeared down the portage. + +When he was gone I stole out to examine his tracks. Then I +noticed for the first time that the old path near the deadfall +was getting moss-grown; a faint new path began to show among the +alders. Some warning was there in the trap, and with cunning +instinct all the wood dwellers turned aside, giving a wide berth +to what they felt was dangerous but could not understand. The new +path joined the old again, beyond the brook, and followed it +straight to the river. + +Again I examined the deadfall carefully, but of course I found +nothing. That is a matter of instinct, not of eyes and ears, and +it is past finding out. Then I went away for good, after driving +a ring of stout stakes all about the trap to keep heedless little +feet out of it. But I left it unsprung, just as it was, a rude +tribute of remembrance to Keeonekh and the lost Indian. + + + +KEEONEKH THE FISHERMAN + +Wherever you find Keeonekh the otter you find three other things: +wildness, beauty, and running water that no winter can freeze. +There is also good fishing, but that will profit you little; for +after Keeonekh has harried a pool it is useless to cast your fly +or minnow there. The largest fish has disappeared--you will find +his bones and a fin or two on the ice or the nearest bank--and +the little fish are still in hiding after their fright. + +Conversely, wherever you find the three elements mentioned you +will also find Keeonekh, if your eyes know how to read the signs +aright. Even in places near the towns, where no otter has been +seen for generations, they are still to be found leading their +shy wild life, so familiar with every sight and sound of +danger that no eye of the many that pass by ever sees them. No +animal has been more persistently trapped and hunted for the +valuable fur that he bears; but Keeonekh is hard to catch and +quick to learn. When a family have all been caught or driven away +from a favorite stream, another otter speedily finds the spot in +some of his winter wanderings after better fishing, and, knowing +well from the signs that others of his race have paid the sad +penalty for heedlessness, he settles down there with greater +watchfulness, and enjoys his fisherman's luck. + +In the spring he brings a mate to share his rich living. Soon a +family of young otters go a-fishing in the best pools and explore +the stream for miles up and down. But so shy and wild and quick +to hide are they that the trout fishermen who follow the river, +and the ice fishermen who set their tilt-ups in the pond below, +and the children who gather cowslips in the spring have no +suspicion that the original proprietors of the stream are still +on the spot, jealously watching and resenting every intrusion. + +Occasionally the wood choppers cross an unknown trail in the +snow, a heavy trail, with long, sliding, down-hill plunges which +look as if a log had been dragged along. But they too go their +way, wondering a bit at the queer things that live in the woods, +but not understanding the plain records that the queer things +leave behind them. Did they but follow far enough they would find +the end of the trail in open water, and on the ice beyond the +signs of Keeonekh's fishing. + +I remember one otter family whose den I found, when a boy, on a +stream between two ponds within three miles of the town house. +Yet the oldest hunter could barely remember the time when the +last otter had been caught or seen in the county. + +I was sitting very still in the bushes on the bank, one day in +spring, watching for a wood duck. Wood duck lived there, but the +cover was so thick that I could never surprise them. They always +heard me coming and were off, giving me only vanishing glimpses +among the trees, or else quietly hiding until I went by. So the +only way to see them--a beautiful sight they were--was to sit +still in hiding, for hours if need be, until they came gliding +by, all unconscious of the watcher. + +As I waited a large animal came swiftly up stream, just his head +visible, with a long tail trailing behind. He was swimming +powerfully, steadily, straight as a string; but, as I noted with +wonder, he made no ripple whatever, sliding through the water as +if greased from nose to tail. Just above me he dived, and I did +not see him again, though I watched up and down stream +breathlessly for him to reappear. + +I had never seen such an animal before, but I knew somehow that +it was an otter, and I drew back into better hiding with the hope +of seeing the rare creature again. Presently another otter +appeared, coming up stream and disappearing in exactly the same +way as the first. But though I stayed all the afternoon I saw +nothing more. + +After that I haunted the spot every time I could get away, +creeping down. to the river bank and lying in hiding hours long +at a stretch; for I knew now that the otters lived there, and +they gave me many glimpses of a life I had never seen before. + +Soon I found their den. It was in a bank opposite my hiding +place, and the entrance was among the roots of a great tree, +under water, where no one could have possibly found it if the +otters had not themselves shown the way. In their approach they +always dived while yet well out in the stream, and so entered +their door unseen. When they came out they were quite as careful, +always swimming some distance under water before coming to the +surface. It was several days before my eye could trace surely the +faint undulation of the water above them, and so follow their +course to their doorway. Had not the water been shallow I should +never have found it; for they are the most wonderful of swimmers, +making no ripple on the surface, and not half the disturbance +below it that a fish of the same weight makes. + +Those were among the happiest watching hours that I have ever +spent in the woods. The game was so large, so utterly unexpected; +and I had the wonderful discovery all to myself. Not one of the +half dozen boys and men who occasionally, when the fever seized +them, trapped muskrat in the big meadow, a mile below, or the +rare mink that hunted frogs in the brook, had any suspicion that +such splendid fur was to be had for the hunting. + +Sometimes a whole afternoon would go slowly by, filled with the +sounds and sweet smells of the woods, and not a ripple would +break the dimples of the stream before me. But when, one late +afternoon, just as the pines across the stream began to darken +against the western light, a string of silver bubbles shot across +the stream and a big otter rose to the surface with a pickerel in +his mouth, all the watching that had not well repaid itself was +swept out of the reckoning. He came swiftly towards me, put his +fore paws against the bank, gave a wriggling jump,--and there he +was, not twenty feet away, holding the pickerel down with his +fore paws, his back arched like a frightened cat, and a +tiny stream of water trickling down from the tip of his heavy +pointed tail, as he ate his fish with immense relish. + +Years afterward, hundreds of miles away on the Dungarvon, in the +heart of the wilderness, every detail of the scene came back to +me again. I was standing on snowshoes, looking out over the +frozen river, when Keeonekh appeared in an open pool with a trout +in his mouth. He broke his way, with a clattering tinkle of +winter bells, through the thin edge of ice, put his paws against +the heavy snow ice, threw himself out with the same wriggling +jump, and ate with his back arched--just as I had seen him years +before. + +This curious way of eating is, I think, characteristic of all +otters; certainly of those that I have been fortunate enough to +see. Why they do it is more than I know; but it must be +uncomfortable for every mouthful--full of fish bones, too--to +slide uphill to one's stomach. Perhaps it is mere habit, which +shows in the arched backs of all the weasel family. Perhaps it is +to frighten any enemy that may approach unawares while Keeonekh +is eating, just as an owl, when feeding on the ground, bristles +up all his feathers so as to look as big as possible. + +But my first otter was too keen-scented to remain long so near a +concealed enemy. Suddenly he stopped eating and turned his head +in my direction. I could see his nostrils twitching as the wind +gave him its message. Then he left his fish, glided into the +stream as noiselessly as the brook entered it below him, and +disappeared without leaving a single wavelet to show where he had +gone down. + +When the young otters appeared, there was one of the most +interesting lessons to be seen in the woods. Though Keeonekh +loves the water and lives in it more than half the time, his +little ones are afraid of it as so many kittens. If left to +themselves they would undoubtedly go off for a hunting life, +following the old family instinct; for fishing is an acquired +habit of the otters, and so the fishing instinct cannot yet be +transmitted to the little ones. That will take many generations. +Meanwhile the little Keeonekhs must be taught to swim. + +One day the mother-otter appeared on the bank among the roots of +the great tree under which was their secret doorway. That was +surprising, for up to this time both otters had always approached +it from the river, and were never seen on the bank near their +den. She appeared to be digging, but was immensely cautious about +it, looking, listening, sniffing continually. I had never gone +near the place for fear of frightening them away; and it was +months afterward, when the den was deserted, before I examined it +to understand just what she was doing. Then I found that she had +made another doorway from her den leading out to the bank. She +had selected the spot with wonderful cunning,--a hollow under a +great root that would never be noticed,--and she dug from inside, +carrying the earth down to the river bottom, so that there should +be nothing about the tree to indicate the haunt of an animal. + +Long afterwards, when I had grown better acquainted with +Keeonekh's ways from much watching, I understood the meaning of +all this. She was simply making a safe way out and in for the +little ones, who were afraid of the water. Had she taken or +driven them out of her own entrance under the river, they might +easily have drowned ere they reached the surface. + +When the entrance was all ready she disappeared, but I have no +doubt she was just inside, watching to be sure the coast was +clear. Slowly her head and neck appeared till they showed clear +of the black roots. She turned her nose up stream--nothing in the +wind. Eyes and ears searched below--nothing harmful there. Then +she came out, and after her toddled two little otters, full of +wonder at the big bright world, full of fear at the river. + +There was no play at first, only wonder and investigation. +Caution was born in them; they put their little feet down as if +treading on eggs, and they sniffed every bush before going behind +it. And the old mother noted their cunning with satisfaction +while her own nose and ears watched far away. + +The outing was all too short; some uneasiness was in the air down +stream. Suddenly she rose from where she was lying, and the +little ones, as if commanded, tumbled back into the den. In a +moment she had glided after them, and the bank was deserted. It +was fully ten minutes before my untrained cars caught faint +sounds, which were not of the woods, coming up stream; and longer +than that before two men with fish poles appeared, making their +slow way to the pond above. They passed almost over the den and +disappeared, all unconscious of beast or man that wished them +elsewhere, resenting their noisy passage through the solitudes. +But the otters did not come out again, though I watched till +nearly dark. + +It was a week before I saw them again, and some good teaching had +evidently been done in the meantime; for all fear of the river +was gone. They toddled out as before, at the same hour in the +afternoon, and went straight to the bank. There the mother lay +down, and the little ones, as if enjoying the frolic, clambered +up to her back. Whereupon she slid into the stream and swam +slowly about with the little Keeonekhs clinging to her +desperately, as if humpty-dumpty had been played on them before, +and might be repeated any moment. + +I understood their air of anxious expectation a moment later, +when Mother Otter dived like a flash from under them, leaving +them to make their own way in the water. They began to swim +naturally enough, but the fear of the new element was still upon +them. The moment old Mother Otter appeared they made for her +whimpering, but she dived again and again, or moved slowly away, +and so kept them swimming. After a little they seemed to tire and +lose courage. Her eyes saw it quicker than mine, and she glided +between them. Both little ones turned in at the same instant and +found a resting place on her back. So she brought them carefully +to land again, and in a few moments they were all rolling about +in the dry leaves like so many puppies. + +I must confess here that, besides the boy's wonder in watching +the wild things, another interest brought me to the river bank +and kept me studying Keeonekh's ways. Father Otter was a big +fellow,--enormous he seemed to me, thinking of my mink +skins,--and occasionally, when his rich coat glinted in the +sunshine, I was thinking what a famous cap it would make for the +winter woods, or for coasting on moonshiny nights. More often I +was thinking what famous things a boy could buy for the fourteen +dollars, at least, which his pelt would bring in the open market. + +The first Saturday after I saw him I prepared a board, ten times +bigger than a mink-stretcher, and tapered one end to a round +point, and split it, and made a wedge, and smoothed it all down, +and hid it away--to stretch the big otter's skin upon when I +should catch him. + +When November came, and fur was prime, I carried down a +half-bushel basket of heads and stuff from the fish market, and +piled them up temptingly on the bank, above a little water path, +in a lonely spot by the river. At the lower end of the path, +where it came out of the water, I set a trap, my biggest one, +with a famous grip for skunks and woodchucks. But the fish rotted +away, as did also another basketful in another place. Whatever +was eaten went to the crows and mink. Keeonekh disdained it. + +Then I set the trap in some water (to kill the smell of it) on a +game path among some swamp alders, at a bend of the river where +nobody ever came and where I had found Keeonekh's tracks. The +next night be walked into it. But the trap that was sure grip for +woodchucks was a plaything for Keeonekh's strength. He wrenched +his foot out of it, leaving me only a few glistening hairs--which +was all I ever caught of him. + +Years afterward, when I found old Noel's trap on Keeonekh's +portage, I asked Simmo why no bait had been used. + +"No good use-um bait," he said, "Keeonekh like-um fresh fish, an' +catch-um self all he want." And that is true. Except in +starvation times, when even the pools are frozen, or the fish die +from one of their mysterious epidemics, Keeonekh turns up his +nose at any bait. If a bit of castor is put in a split stick, he +will turn aside, like all the fur-bearers, to see what this +strange smell is. But if you would toll him with a bait, you must +fasten a fish in the water in such a way that it seems alive as +the current wiggles it, else Keeonekh will never think it worthy +of his catching. + +The den in the river bank was never disturbed, and the following +year another litter was raised there. With characteristic +cunning--a cunning which grows keener and keener in the +neighborhood of civilization--the mother-otter filled up the land +entrance among the roots with earth and driftweed, using only the +doorway under water until it was time for the cubs to come out +into the world again. + +Of all the creatures of the wilderness Keeonekh is the most +richly gifted, and his ways, could we but search them out, would +furnish a most interesting chapter. Every journey he takes, +whether by land or water, is full of unknown traits and tricks; +but unfortunately no one ever sees him doing things, and most of +his ways are yet to be found out. You see a head holding swiftly +across a wilderness lake, or coming to meet your canoe on the +streams; then, as you follow eagerly, a swirl and he is gone. +When he comes up again he will watch you so much more keenly than +you can possibly watch him that you learn little about him, +except how shy he is. Even the trappers who make a business of +catching him, and with whom I have often talked, know almost +nothing of Keeonekh, except where to set their traps for him +living and how to care for his skin when he is dead. +Once I saw him fishing in a curious way. It was winter, on a +wilderness stream flowing into the Dugarvon. There had been a +fall of dry snow that still lay deep and powdery over all the +woods, too light to settle or crust. At every step one had to +lift a shovelful of the stuff on the point of his snowshoe; and I +was tired out, following some caribou that wandered like plover +in the rain. + +Just below me was a deep open pool surrounded by double fringes +of ice. Early in the winter, while the stream was higher, the +white ice had formed thickly on the river wherever the current +was not too swift for freezing. Then the stream fell, and a shelf +of new black ice formed at the water's level, eighteen inches or +more below the first ice, some of which still clung to the banks, +reaching out in places two or three feet and forming dark caverns +with the ice below. Both shelves dipped towards the water, +forming a gentle incline all about the edges of the open places. + +A string of silver bubbles shooting across the black pool at my +feet roused me out of a drowsy weariness. There it was again, a +rippling wave across the pool, which rose to the surface a moment +later in a hundred bubbles, tinkling like tiny bells as they +broke in the keen air. Two or three times I saw it with growing +wonder. Then something stirred under the shelf of ice across the +pool. An otter slid into the water; the rippling wave shot across +again; the bubbles broke at the surface; and I knew that he was +sitting under the white ice below me, not twenty feet away. + +A whole family of otters, three or four of them, were fishing +there at my feet in utter unconsciousness. The discovery took my +breath away. Every little while the bubbles would shoot across +from my side, and watching sharply I would see Keeonekh slide out +upon the lower shelf of ice on the other side and crouch there in +the gloom, with back humped against the ice above him, eating his +catch. The fish they caught were all small evidently, for after a +few minutes he would throw himself flat on the ice, slide down +the incline into the water, making no splash or disturbance as he +entered, and the string of bubbles would shoot across to my side +again. + +For a full hour I watched them breathlessly, marveling at their +skill. A small fish is nimble game to follow and catch in his own +element. But at every slide Keeonekh did it. Sometimes the +rippling wave would shoot all over the pool, and the bubbles +break in a wild tangle as the fish darted and doubled below, with +the otter after him. But it always ended the same way. Keeonekh +would slide out upon the ice shelf, and hump his back, and begin +to eat almost before the last bubble had tinkled behind him. + +Curiously enough, the rule of the salmon fishermen prevailed here +in the wilderness: no two rods shall whip the same pool at the +same time. I would see an otter lying ready on the ice, evidently +waiting for the chase to end. Then, as another otter slid out +beside him with his fish, in he would go like a flash and take +his turn. For a while the pool was a lively place; the bubbles +had no rest. Then the plunges grew fewer and fewer, and the +otters all disappeared into the ice caverns. + +What became of them I could not make out; and I was too chilled +to watch longer. Above and below the pool the stream was frozen +for a distance; then there was more open water and more fishing. +Whether they followed along the bank under cover of the ice to +other pools, or simply slept where they were till hungry again, I +never found out. Certainly they had taken up their abode in an +ideal spot, and would not leave it willingly. The open pools gave +excellent fishing, and the upper ice shelf protected them +perfectly from all enemies. + +Once, a week later, I left the caribou and came back to the spot +to watch awhile; but the place was deserted. The black water +gurgled and dimpled across the pool, and slipped away silently +under the lower edge of ice undisturbed by strings of silver +bubbles. The ice caverns were all dark and silent. The mink had +stolen the fish heads, and there was no trace anywhere to show +that it was Keeonekh's banquet hall. + +The swimming power of an otter, which was so evident there in the +winter pool, is one of the most remarkable things in nature. All +other animals and birds, and even the best modeled of modern +boats, leave more or less wake behind them when moving through +the water. But Keeonekh leaves no more trail than a fish. This is +partly because he keeps his body well submerged when swimming, +partly because of the strong, deep, even stroke that drives him +forward. Sometimes I have wondered if the outer hairs of his +coat--the waterproof covering that keeps his fur dry, no matter +how long he swims--are not better oiled than in other animals, +which might account for the lack of ripple. I have seen him go +down suddenly and leave absolutely no break in the surface to +show where he was. When sliding also, plunging down a twenty-foot +clay bank, he enters the water with an astonishing lack of noise +or disturbance of any kind. + +In swimming at the surface he seems to use all four feet, like +other animals. But below the surface, when chasing fish, he uses +only the fore-paws. The hind legs then stretch straight out +behind and are used, with the heavy tail, for a great rudder. By +this means he turns and doubles like a flash, following surely +the swift dartings of frightened trout, and beating them by sheer +speed and nimbleness. + +When fishing a pool he always hunts outward from the center, +driving the fish towards the bank, keeping himself within their +circlings, and so having the immense advantage of the shorter +line in heading off his game. The fish are seized as they crouch +against the bank for protection, or try to dart out past him. +Large fish are frequently caught from behind as they lie resting +in their spring-holes. So swift and noiseless is his approach +that they are seized before they become aware of danger. + +This swimming power of Keeonekh is all the more astonishing when +one remembers that he is distinctively a land animal, with none +of the special endowments of the seal, who is his only rival as a +fisherman. Nature undoubtedly intended him to get his living, as +the other members of his large family do, by hunting in the +woods, and endowed him accordingly. He is a strong runner, a good +climber, a patient tireless hunter, and his nose is keen as a +brier. With a little practice he could again get his living by +hunting, as his ancestors did. If squirrels and rats and rabbits +were too nimble at first, there are plenty of musquash to be +caught, and he need not stop at a fawn or a sheep, for he is +enormously strong, and the grip of his jaws is not to be +loosened. + +In severe winters, when fish are scarce or his pools frozen over, +he takes to the woods boldly and shows himself a master at +hunting craft. But he likes fish, and likes the water, and for +many generations now has been simply a fisherman, with many of +the quiet lovable traits that belong to fishermen in general. + +That is one thing to give you instant sympathy for Keeonekh--he +is so different, so far above all other members of his tribe. He +is very gentle by nature, with no trace of the fisher's ferocity +or the weasel's bloodthirstiness. He tames easily, and makes the +most docile and affectionate pet of all the wood folk. He never +kills for the sake of killing, but lives peaceably, so far as he +can, with all creatures. And he stops fishing when he has caught +his dinner. He is also most cleanly in his habits, with no +suggestion whatever of the evil odors that cling to the mink and +defile the whole neighborhood of a skunk. One cannot help +wondering whether just going fishing has not wrought all this +wonder in Keeonekh's disposition. If so, 't is a pity that all +his tribe do not turn fishermen. + +His one enemy among the wood folk, so far as I have observed, is +the beaver. As the latter is also a peaceable animal, it is +difficult to account for the hostility. I have heard or read +somewhere that Keeonekh is fond of young beaver and hunts them +occasionally to vary his diet of fish; but I have never found any +evidence in the wilderness to show this. Instead, I think it is +simply a matter of the beaver's dam and pond that causes the +trouble. + +When the dam is built the beavers often dig a channel around +either end to carry off the surplus water, and so prevent their +handiwork being washed away in a freshet. Then the beavers guard +their preserve jealously, driving away the wood folk that dare to +cross their dam or enter their ponds, especially the musquash, +who is apt to burrow and cause them no end of trouble. But +Keeonekh, secure in his strength, holds straight through the +pond, minding his own business and even taking a fish or two in +the deep places near the dam. He delights also in running water, +especially in winter when lakes and streams are mostly frozen, +and in his journeyings he makes use of the open channels that +guard the beavers' work. But the moment the beavers hear a +splashing there, or note a disturbance in the pond where Keeonekh +is chasing fish, down they come full of wrath. And there is +generally a desperate fight before the affair is settled. + +Once, on a little pond, I saw a fierce battle going on out in the +middle, and paddled hastily to find out about it. Two beavers and +a big otter were locked in a death struggle, diving, plunging, +throwing themselves out of water, and snapping at each other's +throats. + +As my canoe halted the otter gripped one of his antagonists and +went under with him. There was a terrible commotion below the +surface for a few moments. When it ended the beaver rolled up +dead, and Keeonekh shot up under the second beaver to repeat the +attack. They gripped on the instant, but the second beaver, an +enormous fellow, refused to go under where he would be at a +disadvantage. In my eagerness I let the canoe drift almost upon +them, driving them wildly apart before the common danger. The +otter held on his way up the lake; the beaver turned towards the +shore, where I noticed for the first time a couple of beaver +houses. + +In this case there was no chance for intrusion on Keeonekh's +part. He had probably been attacked when going peaceably about +his business through the lake. + +It is barely possible, however, that there was an old grievance +on the beavers' part, which they sought to square when they +caught Keeonekh on the lake. When beavers build their houses on +the lake shore, without the necessity for making a dam, they +generally build a tunnel slanting up from the lake's bed to their +den or house on the bank. Now Keeonekh fishes under the ice in +winter more than is generally supposed. As he must breathe after +every chase he must needs know all the air-holes and dens in the +whole lake. No matter how much he turns and doubles in the chase +after a trout, he never loses his sense of direction, never +forgets where the breathing places are. When his fish is seized +he makes a bee line under the ice for the nearest place where he +can breathe and eat. Sometimes this lands him, out of breath, in +the beaver's tunnel; and the beaver must sit upstairs in his own +house, nursing his wrath, while Keeonekh eats fish in his +hallway; for there is not room for both at once in the tunnel, +and a fight there or under the ice is out of the question. As the +beaver eats only bark--the white inner layer of "popple" bark is +his chief dainty--he cannot understand and cannot tolerate this +barbarian, who eats raw fish and leaves the bones and fins and +the smell of slime in his doorway. The beaver is exemplary in his +neatness, detesting all smells and filth; and this may possibly +account for some of his enmity and his savage attacks upon +Keeonekh when he catches him in a good place. + +Not the least interesting of Keeonekh's queer ways is his habit +of sliding down hill, which makes a bond of sympathy and brings +him close to the boyhood memories of those who know him. + +I remember one pair of otters that I watched for the better part +of a sunny afternoon sliding down a clay bank with endless +delight. The slide had been made, with much care evidently, on +the steep side of a little promontory that jutted into the river. +It was very steep, about twenty feet high, and had been made +perfectly smooth by much sliding and wetting-down. An otter would +appear at the top of the bank, throw himself forward on his belly +and shoot downward like a flash, diving deep under water and +reappearing some distance out from the foot of the slide. And all +this with marvelous stillness, as if the very woods had ears and +were listening to betray the shy creatures at their fun. For it +was fun, pure and simple, and fun with no end of tingle and +excitement in it, especially when one tried to catch the other +and shot into the water at his very heels. + +This slide was in perfect condition, and the otters were careful +not to roughen it. They never scrambled up over it, but went +round the point and climbed from the other side, or else went up +parallel to the slide, some distance away, where the ascent was +easier and where there was no danger of rolling stones or sticks +upon the coasting ground to spoil its smoothness. + +In winter the snow makes better coasting than the clay. Moreover +it soon grows hard and icy from the freezing of the water left by +the otter's body, and after a few days the slide is as smooth as +glass. Then coasting is perfect, and every otter, old and young, +has his favorite slide and spends part of every pleasant day +enjoying the fun. + +When traveling through the woods in deep snow, Keeonekh makes use +of his sliding habit to help him along, especially on down +grades. He runs a little way and throws himself forward on his +belly, sliding through the snow for several feet before he runs +again. So his progress is a series of slides, much as one hurries +along in slippery weather. + +I have spoken of the silver bubbles that first drew my attention +to the fishing otters one day in the wilderness. From the few +rare opportunities that I have had to watch them, I think that +the bubbles are seen only after Keeonekh slides swiftly into the +stream. The air clings to the hairs of his rough outer coat and +is brushed from them as he passes through the water. One who +watches him thus, shooting down the long slide belly-bump into +the black winter pool, with a string of silver bubbles breaking +and tinkling above him, is apt to know the hunter's change of +heart from the touch of Nature which makes us all kin. Thereafter +he eschews trapping--at least you will not find his number-three +trap at the foot of Keeonekh's slide any more, to turn the shy +creature's happiness into tragedy--and he sends a hearty +good-luck after his fellow-fisherman, whether he meet him on the +wilderness lakes or in the quiet places on the home streams where +nobody ever comes. + + + +KOSKOMENOS THE OUTCAST + +Koskomenos the kingfisher is a kind of outcast among the birds. I +think they regard him as a half reptile, who has not yet climbed +high enough in the bird scale to deserve recognition; so they let +him severely alone. Even the goshawk hesitates before taking a +swoop at him, not knowing quite whether the gaudy creature is +dangerous or only uncanny. I saw a great hawk once drop like a +bolt upon a kingfisher that hung on quivering wings, rattling +softly, before his hole in the bank. But the robber lost his +nerve at the instant when he should have dropped his claws to +strike. He swerved aside and shot upward in a great slant to a +dead spruce top, where he stood watching intently till the dark +beak of a brooding kingfisher reached out of the hole to receive +the fish that her mate had brought her. Whereupon Koskomenos +swept away to his watchtower above the minnow pool, and the hawk +set his wings toward the outlet, where a brood of young +sheldrakes were taking their first lessons in the open water. + +No wonder the birds look askance at Kingfisher. His head is +ridiculously large; his feet ridiculously small. He is a poem of +grace in the air; but he creeps like a lizard, or waddles so that +a duck would be ashamed of him, in the rare moments when he is +afoot. His mouth is big enough to take in a minnow whole; his +tongue so small that he has no voice, but only a harsh +klr-rr-r-ik-ik-ik, like a watchman's rattle. He builds no nest, +but rather a den in the bank, in which he lives most filthily +half the day; yet the other half he is a clean, beautiful +creature, with never a suggestion of earth, but only of the blue +heavens above and the color-steeped water below, in his bright +garments. Water will not wet him, though he plunge a dozen times +out of sight beneath the surface. His clatter is harsh, noisy, +diabolical; yet his plunge into the stream, with its flash of +color, its silver spray, and its tinkle of smitten water, is the +most musical thing in the wilderness. + +As a fisherman he has no equal. His fishy, expressionless eye is +yet the keenest that sweeps the water, and his swoop puts even +the fish-hawk to shame for its certainty and its lightning +quickness. + +Besides all these contradictions, he is solitary, unknown, +inapproachable. He has no youth, no play, no joy except to eat; +he associates with nobody, not even with his own kind; and when +he catches a fish, and beats its head against a limb till it is +dead, and sits with head back-tilted, swallowing his prey, with a +clattering chuckle deep down in his throat, he affects you as a +parrot does that swears diabolically under his breath as he +scratches his head, and that you would gladly shy a stone at, if +the owner's back were turned for a sufficient moment. + +It is this unknown, this uncanny mixture of bird and reptile that +has made the kingfisher an object of superstition among all +savage peoples. The legends about him are legion; his crested +head is prized by savages above all others as a charm or fetish; +and even among civilized peoples his dried body may still +sometimes be seen hanging to a pole, in the hope that his bill +will point out the quarter from which the next wind will blow. + +But Koskomenos has another side, though the world as yet has +found out little about it. One day in the wilderness I cheered +him quite involuntarily. It was late afternoon; the fishing was +over, and I sat in my canoe watching by a grassy point to see +what would happen next. Across the stream was a clay bank, near +the top of which a hole as wide as a tea-cup showed where a pair +of kingfishers had dug their long tunnel. "There is nothing for +them to stand on there; how did they begin that hole?" I wondered +lazily; "and how can they ever raise a brood, with an open door +like that for mink and weasel to enter?" Here were two new +problems to add to the many unsolved ones which meet you at every +turn on the woodland byways. + +A movement under the shore stopped my wondering, and the long +lithe form of a hunting mink shot swiftly up stream. Under the +hole he stopped, raised himself with his fore paws against the +bank, twisting his head from side to side and sniffing nervously. +"Something good up there," he thought, and began to climb. But +the bank was sheer and soft; he slipped back half a dozen times +without rising two feet. Then he went down stream to a point +where some roots gave him a foothold, and ran lightly up till +under the dark eaves that threw their shadowy roots over the clay +bank. There he crept cautiously along till his nose found the +nest, and slipped down till his fore paws rested on the +threshold. A long hungry sniff of the rank fishy odor that pours +out of a kingfisher's den, a keen look all around to be sure the +old birds were not returning, and he vanished like a shadow. + +"There is one brood of kingfishers the less," I thought, with my +glasses focused on the hole. But scarcely was the thought formed, +when a fierce rumbling clatter sounded in the bank. The mink shot +out, a streak of red showing plainly across his brown face. After +him came a kingfisher clattering out a storm of invective and +aiding his progress by vicious jabs at his rear. He had made a +miscalculation that time; the old mother bird was at home waiting +for him, and drove her powerful beak at his evil eye the moment +it appeared at the inner end of the tunnel. That took the longing +for young kingfisher all out of Cheokhes. He plunged headlong +down the bank, the bird swooping after him with a rattling alarm +that brought another kingfisher in a twinkling. The mink dived, +but it was useless to attempt escape in that way; the keen eyes +above followed his flight perfectly. When he came to the surface, +twenty feet away, both birds were over him and dropped like +plummets on his head. So they drove him down stream and out of +sight. + +Years afterward I solved the second problem suggested by the +kingfisher's den, when I had the good fortune, one day, to watch +a pair beginning their tunneling. All who have ever watched the +bird have, no doubt, noticed his wonderful ability to stop short +in swift flight and hold himself poised in midair for an +indefinite time, while watching the movements of a minnow +beneath. They make use of this ability in beginning their nest +on a bank so steep as to afford no foothold. + +As I watched the pair referred to, first one then the other would +hover before the point selected, as a hummingbird balances for a +moment at the door of a trumpet flower to be sure that no one is +watching ere he goes in, then drive his beak with rapid plunges +into the bank, sending down a continuous shower of clay to the +river below. When tired he rested on a watch-stub, while his mate +made a battering-ram of herself and kept up the work. In a +remarkably short time they had a foothold and proceeded to dig +themselves in out of sight. + +Kingfisher's tunnel is so narrow that he cannot turn around in +it. His straight, strong bill loosens the earth; his tiny feet +throw it out behind. I would see a shower of dirt, and perchance +the tail of Koskomenos for a brief instant, then a period of +waiting, and another shower. This kept up till the tunnel was +bored perhaps two feet, when they undoubtedly made a sharp turn, +as is their custom. After that they brought most of the earth out +in their beaks. While one worked, the other watched or fished at +the minnow pool, so that there was steady progress as long as I +observed them. + +For years I had regarded Koskomenos, as the birds and the rest of +the world regard bim, as a noisy, half-diabolical creature, +between bird and lizard, whom one must pass by with suspicion. +But that affair with the mink changed my feelings a bit. +Koskomenos' mate might lay her eggs like a reptile, but she could +defend them like any bird hero. So I took to watching more +carefully; which is the only way to get acquainted. + +The first thing I noticed about the birds--an observation +confirmed later on many waters--was that each pair of kingfishers +have their own particular pools, over which they exercise +unquestioned lordship. There may be a dozen pairs of birds on a +single stream; but, so far as I have been able to observe, each +family has a certain stretch of water on which no other +kingfishers are allowed to fish. They may pass up and down +freely, but they never stop at the minnow pools; they are caught +watching near them, they are promptly driven out by the rightful +owners. + +The same thing is true on the lake shores. Whether there is some +secret understanding and partition among them, or whether (which +is more likely) their right consists in discovery or first +arrival, there is no means of knowing. + +A curious thing, in this connection, is that while a kingfisher +will allow none of his kind to poach on his preserves, he lives +at peace with the brood of sheldrakes that occupy the same +stretch of river. And the sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one. +The same thing is noticeable among the sheldrakes also, namely, +that each pair, or rather each mother and her brood, have their +own piece of lake or river on. which no others are allowed to +fish. The male sheldrakes meanwhile are far away, fishing on +their own waters. + +I had not half settled this matter of the division of trout +streams when another observation came, which was utterly +unexpected. Koskomenos, half reptile though he seem, not only +recognizes riparian rights, but he is also capable of +friendship--and that, too, for a moody prowler of the wilderness +whom no one else cares anything about. Here is the proof. + +I was out in my canoe alone looking for a loon's nest, one +midsummer day, when the fresh trail of a bull caribou drew me to +shore. The trail led straight from the water to a broad alder +belt, beyond which, on the hillside, I might find the big brute +loafing his time away till evening should come, and watch him to +see what he would do with himself. + +As I turned shoreward a kingfisher sounded his rattle and came +darting across the mouth of the bay where Hukweem the loon had +hidden her two eggs. I watched him, admiring the rippling sweep +of his flight, like the run of a cat's-paw breeze across a +sleeping lake, and the clear blue of his crest against the deeper +blue of summer sky. Under him his reflection rippled along, like +the rush of a gorgeous fish through the glassy water. Opposite my +canoe he checked himself, poised an instant in mid-air, watching +the minnows that my paddle had disturbed, and dropped bill +first--plash! with a silvery tinkle in the sound, as if hidden +bells down among the green water weeds had been set to ringing by +this sprite of the air. A shower of spray caught the rainbow for +a brief instant; the ripples gathered and began to dance over the +spot where Koskomenos had gone down, when they were scattered +rudely again as he burst out among them with his fish. He swept +back to the stub whence he had come, chuckling on the way. There +he whacked his fish soundly on the wood, threw his head back, and +through the glass I saw the tail of a minnow wriggling slowly +down the road that has for him no turning. Then I took up the +caribou trail. + +I had gone nearly through the alders, following the course of a +little brook and stealing along without a sound, when behind me I +heard the kingfisher coming above the alders, rattling as if +possessed, klrrr, klrrr, klrrr-ik-ik-ik! On the instant there was +a heavy plunge and splash just ahead, and the swift rush of some +large animal up the hillside. Over me poised the kingfisher, +looking down first at me, then ahead at the unknown beast, till +the crashing ceased in a faint rustle far away, when he swept +back to his fishing-stub, clacking and chuckling immoderately. + +I pushed cautiously ahead and came presently to a beautiful pool +below a rock, where the hillside shelved gently towards the +alders. From the numerous tracks and the look of the place, I +knew instantly that I had stumbled upon a bear's bathing pool. +The water was still troubled and muddy; huge tracks, all soppy +and broken, led up the hillside in big jumps; the moss was torn, +the underbrush spattered with shining water drops. "No room for +doubt here," I thought; "Mooween was asleep in this pool, and the +kingfisher woke him up--but why? and did he do it on purpose? + +I remembered suddenly a record in an old notebook, which reads: +"Sugarloaf Lake, 26 July.--Tried to stalk a bear this noon. No +luck. He was nosing alongshore and I had a perfect chance; but a +kingfisher scared him." I began to wonder how the rattle of a +kingfisher, which is one of the commonest sounds on wilderness +waters, could scare a bear, who knows all the sounds of the +wilderness perfectly. Perhaps Koskomenos has an alarm note and +uses it for a friend in time of need, as gulls go out of their +way to alarm a flock of sleeping ducks when danger is +approaching. + +Here was a new trait, a touch of the human in this unknown, +clattering suspect of the fishing streams. I resolved to watch +him with keener interest. + +Somewhere above me, deep in the tangle of the summer wilderness, +Mooween stood watching his back track, eyes, ears, and nose alert +to discover what the creature was who dared frighten him out of +his noonday bath. It would be senseless to attempt to surprise +him now; besides, I had no weapon of any kind.--"To-morrow, +about this time, I shall be coming back; then look out, Mooween," +I thought as I marked the place and stole away to my canoe. + +But the next day when I came to the place, creeping along the +upper edge of the alders so as to make no noise, the pool was +clear and quiet, as if nothing but the little trout that hid +under the foam bubbles had ever disturbed its peace. Koskomenos +was clattering about the bay below as usual. Spite of my +precaution he had seen me enter the alders; but he gave me no +attention whatever. He went on with his fishing as if he knew +perfectly that the bear had deserted his bathing pool. + +It was nearly a month before I again camped on the beautiful +lake. Summer was gone. All her warmth and more than her +fragrant beauty still lingered on forest and river; but the +drowsiness had gone from the atmosphere, and the haze had +crept into it. Here and there birches and maples flung out their +gorgeous banners of autumn over the silent water. A tingle came +into the evening air; the lake's breath lay heavy and white in +the twilight stillness; birds and beasts became suddenly changed +as they entered the brief period of sport and of full feeding. + +I was drifting about a reedy bay (the same bay in which the +almost forgotten kingfisher had cheated me out of my bear, after +eating a minnow that my paddle had routed out for him) shooting +frogs for my table with a pocket rifle. How different it was +here, I reflected, from the woods about home. There the game was +already harried; the report of a gun set every living creature +skulking. Here the crack of my little rifle was no more heeded +than the plunge of a fish-hawk, or the groaning of a burdened elm +bough. A score of fat woodcock lay unheeding in that bit of alder +tangle yonder, the ground bored like a colander after their +night's feeding. Up on the burned hillside the partridges said, +quit, quit! when I appeared, and jumped to a tree and craned +their necks to see what I was. The black ducks skulked in the +reeds. They were full-grown now and strong of wing, but the early +hiding habit was not yet broken up by shooting. They would glide +through the sedges, and double the bogs, and crouch in a tangle +till the canoe was almost upon them, when with a rush and a +frightened hark-ark! they shot into the air and away to the +river. The mink, changing from brown to black, gave up his +nest-robbing for honest hunting, undismayed by trap or deadfall; +and up in the inlet I could see grassy domes rising above the +bronze and gold of the marsh, where Musquash was building thick +and high for winter cold and spring floods. Truly it was good to +be here, and to enter for a brief hour into the shy, wild but +unharried life of the wood folk. + +A big bullfrog showed his head among the lily pads, and the +little rifle, unmindful of the joys of an unharried existence, +rose slowly to its place. My eye was glancing along the sights +when a sudden movement in the alders on the shore, above and +beyond the unconscious head of Chigwooltz the frog, spared him +for a little season to his lily pads and his minnow hunting. At +the same moment a kingfisher went rattling by to his old perch +over the minnow pool. The alders swayed again as if struck; a +huge bear lumbered out of them to the shore, with a disgruntled +woof! at some twig that had switched his ear too sharply. + +I slid lower in the canoe till only my head and shoulders were +visible. Mooween went nosing along-shore till something--a +dead fish or a mussel bed--touched his appetite, when he +stopped and began feeding, scarcely two hundred yards +away. I reached first for my heavy rifle, then for the paddle, +and cautiously "fanned" the canoe towards shore till an old +stump on the point covered my approach. Then the little bark +jumped forward as if alive. But I had scarcely started when-- +klrrrr! klrrr! ik-ik--ik! Over my head swept Koskomenos +with a rush of wings and an alarm cry that spoke only of haste +and danger. I had a glimpse of the bear as he shot into the +alders, as if thrown by a catapult; the kingfisher wheeled in a +great rattling circle about the canoe before he pitched upon the +old stump, jerking his tail and clattering in great excitement. + +I swung noiselessly out into the lake, where I could watch the +alders. They were all still for a space of ten minutes; but +Mooween was there, I knew, sniffing and listening. Then a great +snake seemed to be wriggling through the bushes, making no sound, +but showing a wavy line of quivering tops as he went. + +Down the shore a little way was a higher point, with a fallen +tree that commanded a view of half the lake. I had stood there a +few days before, while watching to determine the air paths and +lines of flight that sheldrakes use in passing up and down the +lake,--for birds have runways, or rather flyways, just as foxes +do. Mooween evidently knew the spot; the alders showed that he +was heading straight for it, to look out on the lake and see what +the alarm was about. As yet he had no idea what peril had +threatened him; though, like all wild creatures, he had obeyed +the first clang of a danger note on the instant. Not a creature +in the woods, from Mooween down to Tookhees the wood mouse, but +has learned from experience that, in matters of this kind, it is +well to jump to cover first and investigate afterwards. + +I paddled swiftly to the point, landed and crept to a rock from +which I could just see the fallen tree. Mooween was coming. "My +bear this time," I thought, as a twig snapped faintly. Then +Koskomenos swept into the woods, hovering over the brush near the +butt of the old tree, looking down and rattling--klrrrik, clear +out! klrrr-ik, clear out! There was a heavy rush, such as a bear +always makes when alarmed; Koskomenos swept back to his perch; +and I sought the shore, half inclined to make my next hunting +more even-chanced by disposing of one meddlesome factor. "You +wretched, noisy, clattering meddler!" I muttered, the front sight +of my rifle resting fair on the blue back of Koskomenos, "that is +the third time you have spoiled my shot, and you won't have +another chance.--But wait; who is the meddler here?" + +Slowly the bent finger relaxed on the trigger. A loon went +floating by the point, all unconscious of danger, with a rippling +wake that sent silver reflections glinting across the lake's deep +blue. Far overhead soared an eagle, breeze-borne in wide circles, +looking down on his own wide domain, unheeding the man's +intrusion. Nearer, a red squirrel barked down his resentment from +a giant spruce trunk. Down on my left a heavy splash and a wild, +free tumult of quacking told where the black ducks were coming +in, as they had done, undisturbed, for generations. Behind me a +long roll echoed through the woods--some young cock partridge, +whom the warm sun had beguiled into drumming his spring +love-call. From the mountain side a cow moose rolled back a +startling answer. Close at hand, yet seeming miles away, a +chipmunk was chunking sleepily in the sunshine, while a nest of +young wood mice were calling their mother in the grass at my +feet. And every wild sound did but deepen the vast, wondrous +silence of the wilderness. + +"After all, what place has the roar of a rifle or the smell of +sulphurous powder in the midst of all this blessed peace?" I +asked half sadly. As if in answer, the kingfisher dropped with +his musical plash, and swept back with exultant rattle to his +watchtower.--"Go on with your clatter and your fishing. The +wilderness and the solitary place shall still be glad, for you +and Mooween, and the trout pools would be lonely without you. But +I wish you knew that your life lay a moment ago in the bend of my +finger, and that some one, besides the bear, appreciates your +brave warning." + +Then I went back to the point to measure the tracks, and to +estimate how big the bear was, and to console myself with the +thought of how I would certainly have had him, if something had +not interfered--which is the philosophy of all hunters since +Esau. + +It was a few days later that the chance came of repaying +Koskomenos with coals of fire. The lake surface was still warm; +no storms nor frosts had cooled it. The big trout had risen from +the deep places, but were not yet quickened enough to take my +flies; so, trout hungry, I had gone trolling for them with a +minnow. I had taken two good fish, and was moving slowly by the +mouth of the bay, Simmo at the paddle, when a suspicious movement +on the shore attracted my attention. I passed the line to Simmo, +the better to use my glasses, and was scanning the alders +sharply, when a cry of wonder came from the Indian. "O bah cosh, +see! das second time I catchum, Koskomenos." And there, twenty +feet above the lake, a young kingfisher--one of Koskomenos' +frowzy-headed, wild-eyed-youngsters--was whirling wildly at the +end of my line. He had seen the minnow trailing a hundred feet +astern and, with more hunger than discretion, had swooped for it +promptly. Simmo, feeling the tug but seeing nothing behind him, +had struck promptly, and the hook went home. + +I seized the line and began to pull in gently. The young +kingfisher came most unwillingly, with a continuous clatter of +protest that speedily brought Koskomenos and his mate, and two or +three of the captive's brethren, in a wild, clamoring about the +canoe. They showed no lack of courage, but swooped again and +again at the line, and even at the man who held it. In a moment I +had the youngster in my hand, and had disengaged the hook. He was +not hurt at all, but terribly frightened; so I held him a little +while, enjoying the excitement of the others, whom the captive's +alarm rattle kept circling wildly about the canoe. It was +noteworthy that not another bird heeded the cry or came near. +Even in distress they refused to recognize the outcast. Then, as +Koskomenos hovered on quivering wings just over my head, I tossed +the captive close up beside him. "There, Koskomenos, take your +young chuckle-head, and teach him better wisdom. Next time you +see me stalking a bear, please go on with your fishing." + +But there was no note of gratitude in the noisy babel that swept +up the bay after the kingfishers. When I saw them again, they +were sitting on a dead branch, five of them in a row, chuckling +and clattering all at once, unmindful of the minnows that played +beneath them. I have no doubt that, in their own way, they were +telling each other all about it. + + + +MEEKO THE MISCHIEF-MAKER + +There is a curious Indian legend about Meeko the red +squirrel--the Mischief-Maker, as the Milicetes call him--which is +also an excellent commentary upon his character. Simmo told it to +me, one day, when we had caught Meeko coming out of a +woodpecker's hole with the last of a brood of fledgelings in his +mouth, chuckling to himself over his hunting. + +Long ago, in the days when Clote Scarpe ruled the animals, Meeko +was much larger than he is now, large as Mooween the bear. But +his temper was so fierce, and his disposition so altogether bad +that all the wood folk were threatened with destruction. Meeko +killed right and left with the temper of a weasel, who kills from +pure lust of blood. So Clote Scarpe, to save the little +woods-people, made Meeko smaller--small as he is now. +Unfortunately, Clote Scarpe forgot Meeko's disposition; that +remained as big and as bad as before. So now Meeko goes about the +woods with a small body and a big temper, barking, scolding, +quarreling and, since he cannot destroy in his rage as before, +setting other animals by the ears to destroy each other. + +When you have listened to Meeko's scolding for a season, and have +seen him going from nest to nest after innocent fledgelings; or +creeping into the den of his big cousin, the beautiful gray +squirrel, to kill the young; or driving away his little cousin, +the chipmunk, to steal his hoarded nuts; or watching every fight +that goes on in the woods, jeering and chuckling above it,--then +you begin to understand the Indian legend. + +Spite of his evil ways, however, he is interesting and always +unexpected. When you have watched the red squirrel that lives +near your camp all summer, and think you know all about him, he +does the queerest thing, good or bad, to upset all your theories +and even the Indian legends about him. + +I remember one that greeted me, the first living thing in the +great woods, as I ran my canoe ashore on a wilderness river. +Meeko heard me coming. His bark sounded loudly, in a big spruce, +above the dip of the paddles. As we turned shoreward, he ran down +the tree in which he was, and out on a fallen log to meet us. I +grasped a branch of the old log to steady the canoe and watched +him curiously. He had never seen a man before; he barked, jeered, +scolded, jerked his tail, whistled, did everything within his +power to make me show my teeth and my disposition. + +Suddenly he grew excited--and when Meeko grows excited the woods +are not big enough to hold him. He came nearer and nearer to my +canoe till he leaped upon the gunwale and sat there chattering, +as if he were Adjidaumo come back again and I were Hiawatha. All +the while he had poured out a torrent of squirrel talk, but now +his note changed; jeering and scolding and curiosity went out of +it; something else crept in. I began to feel, somehow, that he +was trying to make me understand something, and found me very +stupid about it. + +I began to talk quietly, calling him a rattle-head and a +disturber of the peace. At the first sound of my voice he +listened with intense curiosity, then leaped to the log, ran the +length of it, jumped down and began to dig furiously among the +moss and dead leaves. Every moment or two he would stop, and jump +to the log to see if I were watching him. + +Presently he ran to my canoe, sprang upon the gunwale, jumped +back again, and ran along the log as before to where he had been +digging. He did it again, looking back at me and saying plainly: +"Come here; come and look." I stepped out of the canoe to the old +log, whereupon Meeko went off into a fit of terrible excitement. +--I was bigger than he expected; I had only two legs; +kut-e-k'chuck, kut-e-k'chuck! whit, whit, whit, kut-e-k'chuck! + +I stood where I was until he got over his excitement. Then he +came towards me, and led me along the log, with much chuckling +and jabbering, to the hole in the leaves where he had been +digging. When I bent over it he sprang to a spruce trunk, on a +level with my head, fairly bursting with excitement, but watching +me with intensest interest. In the hole I found a small lizard, +one of the rare kind that lives under logs and loves the dusk. He +had been bitten through the back and disabled. He could still use +legs, tail and head feebly, but could not run away. When I picked +him up and held him in my hand, Meeko came closer with +loud-voiced curiosity, longing to leap to my hand and claim his +own, but held back by fear.--"What is it? He's mine; I found him. +What is it?" he barked, jumping about as if bewitched. Two +curiosities, the lizard and the man, were almost too much for +him. I never saw a squirrel more excited. He had evidently found +the lizard by accident, bit him to keep him still, and then, +astonished by the rare find, hid him away where he could dig him +out and watch him at leisure. + +I put the lizard back into the hole and covered him with leaves; +then went to unloading my canoe. Meeko watched me closely. And +the moment I was gone he dug away the leaves, took his treasure +out, watched it with wide bright eyes, bit it once more to keep +it still, and covered it up again carefully. Then he came +chuckling along to where I was putting up my tent. + +In a week he owned the camp, coming and going at his own will, +stealing my provisions when I forgot to feed him, and scolding me +roundly at every irregular occurrence. He was an early riser and +insisted on my conforming to the custom. Every morning he would +leap at daylight from a fir tip to my ridgepole, run it along to +the front and sit there, barking and whistling, until I put my +head out of my door, or until Simmo came along with his axe. Of +Simmo and his axe Meeko had a mortal dread, which I could not +understand till one day when I paddled silently back to camp and, +instead of coming up the path, sat idly in my canoe watching the +Indian, who had broken his one pipe and now sat making another +out of a chunk of black alder and a length of nanny bush. +Simmo was as interesting to watch, in his way, as any of the wood +folk. + +Presently Meeko came down, chattering his curiosity at seeing the +Indian so still and so occupied. A red squirrel is always unhappy +unless he knows all about everything. He watched from the nearest +tree for a while, but could not make up his mind what was doing. +Then he came down on the ground and advanced a foot at a time, +jumping up continually but coming down in the same spot, barking +to make Simmo turn his head and show his hand. Simmo watched out +of the corner of his eye until Meeko was near a solitary tree +which stood in the middle of the camp ground, when he jumped up +suddenly and rushed at the squirrel, who sprang to the tree and +ran to a branch out of reach, snickering and jeering. + +Simmo took his axe deliberately and swung it mightily at the foot +of the tree, as if to chop it down; only he hit the trunk with +the head, not,the blade of his weapon. At the first blow, which +made his toes tingle, Meeko stopped jeering and ran higher. Simmo +swung again and Meeko went up another notch. So it went on, Simmo +looking up intently to see the effect and Meeko running higher +after each blow, until the tiptop was reached. Then Simmo gave a +mighty whack; the squirrel leaped far out and came to the +ground, sixty feet below; picked himself up, none the worse for +his leap, and rushed scolding away to his nest. Then Simmo said +umpfh! like a bear, and went back to his pipemaking. He had not +smiled nor relaxed the intent expression of his face during the +whole little comedy. + +I found out afterwards that making Meeko jump from a tree top is +one of the few diversions of Indian children. I tried it myself +many times with many squirrels, and found to my astonishment that +a jump from any height, however great, is no concern to a +squirrel, red or gray. They have a way of flattening the body and +bushy tail against the air, which breaks their fall. Their +bodies, and especially their bushy tails, have a curious +tremulous motion, like the quiver of wings, as they come down. +The flying squirrel's sailing down from a tree top to another +tree, fifty feet away, is but an exaggeration, due to the +membrane connecting the fore and hind legs, of what all squirrels +practice continually. I have seen a red squirrel land lightly +after jumping from an enormous height, and run away as if nothing +unusual had happened. But though I have watched them often, I +have never seen a squirrel do this except when compelled to do +so. When chased by a weasel or a marten, or when the axe beats +against the trunk below --either because the vibration hurts +their feet, or else they fear the tree is being cut down--they +use the strange gift to save their lives. But I fancy it is a +breathless experience, and they never try it for fun, though I +have seen them do all sorts of risky stumps in leaping from +branch to branch. + +It is a curious fact that, though a squirrel leaps from a great +height without hesitation, it is practically impossible to make +him take a jump of a few feet to the ground. Probably the upward +rush of air, caused by falling a long distance, is necessary to +flatten the body enough to make him land lightly. + + +It would be interesting to know whether the raccoon also, a +large, heavy animal, has the same way of breaking his fall when +he jumps from a height. One bright moonlight night, when I ran +ahead of the dogs, I saw a big coon leap from a tree to the +ground, a distance of some thirty or forty feet. The dogs had +treed him in an evergreen, and he left them howling below while +he stole silently from branch to branch until a good distance +away, when to save time he leaped to the ground. He struck with a +heavy thump, but ran on uninjured as swiftly as before, and gave +the dogs a long run before they treed him again. + +The sole of a coon's foot is padded thick with fat and gristle, +so that it must feel like landing on springs when he jumps; but I +suspect that he also knows the squirrel trick of flattening his +body and tail against the air so as to fall lightly. + +The chipmunk seems to be the only one of the squirrel family in +whom this gift is wanting. Possibly he has it also, if the need +ever comes. I fancy, however, that he would fare badly if +compelled to jump from a spruce top, for his body is heavy and +his tail small from long living on the ground; all of which seems +to indicate that the tree-squirrel's bushy tail is given him, not +for ornament, but to aid his passage from branch to branch, and +to break his fall when he comes down from a height. + +By way of contrast with Meeko, you may try a curious trick on the +chipmunk. It is not easy to get him into a tree; he prefers a log +or an old wall when frightened; and he is seldom more than two or +three jumps from his den. But watch him as he goes from his +garner to the grove where the acorns are, or to the field where +his winter corn is ripening. Put yourself near his path (he +always follows the same one to and fro) where there is no refuge +close at hand. Then, as he comes along, rush at him suddenly and +he will take to the nearest tree in his alarm. When he recovers +from his fright--which is soon over; for he is the most trustful +of squirrels and looks down at you with interest, never +questioning your motives--take a stick and begin to tap the tree +softly. The more slow and rhythmical your tattoo the sooner he is +charmed. Presently he comes down closer and closer, his eyes +filled with strange wonder. More than once I have had a chipmunk +come to my hand and rest upon it, looking everywhere for the +queer sound that brought him down, forgetting fright and +cornfield and coming winter in his bright curiosity. + +Meeko is a bird of another color. He never trusts you nor anybody +else fully, and his curiosity is generally of the vulgar, selfish +kind. When the autumn woods are busy places, and wings flutter +and little feet go pattering everywhere after winter supplies, he +also begins garnering, remembering the hungry days of last +winter. But he is always more curious to see what others are +doing than to fill his own bins. He seldom trusts to one +storehouse--he is too suspicious for that--but hides his things +in twenty different places; some shagbarks in the old wall, a +handful of acorns in a hollow tree, an ear of corn under the +eaves of the old barn, a pint of chestnuts scattered about in the +trees, some in crevices in the bark, some in a pine crotch +covered carefully with needles, and one or two stuck firmly into +the splinters of every broken branch that is not too conspicuous. +But he never gathers much at a time. The moment he sees anybody +else gathering he forgets his own work and goes spying to see +where others are hiding their store. The little chipmunk, who +knows his thieving and his devices, always makes one turn, at +least, in the tunnel to his den too small for Meeko to follow. + +He sees a blue jay flitting through the woods, and knows by his +unusual silence that he is hiding things. Meeko follows after +him, stopping all his jabber and stealing from tree to tree, +watching patiently, for hours it need be, until he knows that +Deedeeaskh is gathering corn from a certain field. Then he +watches the line of flight, like a bee hunter, and sees +Deedeeaskh disappear twice by an oak on the wood's edge, a +hundred yards away. Meeko rushes away at a headlong pace and +hides himself in the oak. There he traces the jay's line of +flight a little farther into the woods; sees the unconscious +thief disappear by an old pine. Meeko hides in the pine, and so +traces the jay straight to one of his storehouses. + +Sometimes Meeko is so elated over the discovery that, with all +the fields laden with food, he cannot wait for winter. When the +jay goes away Meeko falls to eating or to carrying away his +store. More often he marks the spot and goes away silently. When +he is hungry he will carry off Deedeeaskh's corn before touching +his own. + +Once I saw the tables turned in a most interesting fashion. +Deedeeaskh is as big a thief in his way as is Meeko, and also as +vile a nest-robber. The red squirrel had found a hoard of +chestnuts--small fruit, but sweet and good--and was hiding it +away. Part of it he stored in a hollow under the stub of a broken +branch, twenty feet from the ground, so near the source of supply +that no one would ever think of looking for it there. I was +hidden away in a thicket when I discovered him at his work quite +by accident. He seldom came twice to the same spot, but went off +to his other storehouses in succession. After an unusually long +absence, when I was expecting him every moment, a blue jay came +stealing into the tree, spying and sneaking about, as if a nest +of fresh thrush's eggs were somewhere near. He smelled a mouse +evidently, for after a moment's spying he hid himself away in the +tree top, close up against the trunk. Presently Meeko came back, +with his face bulging as if he had toothache, uncovered his +store, emptied in the half dozen chestnuts from his cheek pockets +and covered them all up again. + +The moment he was gone the blue jay went straight to the spot, +seized a mouthful of nuts and flew swiftly away. He made three +trips before the squirrel came back. Meeko in his hurry never +noticed the loss, but emptied his pockets and was off to the +chestnut tree again. When he returned, the jay in his eagerness +had disturbed the leaves which covered the hidden store. Meeko +noticed it and was all suspicion in an instant. He whipped off +the covering and stood staring down intently into the garner, +evidently trying to compute the number he had brought and the +number that were there. Then a terrible scolding began, a +scolding that was broken short off when a distant screaming of +jays came floating through the woods. Meeko covered his store +hurriedly, ran along a limb and leaped to the next tree, where he +hid in a knot hole, just his eyes visible, watching his garner +keenly out of the darkness. + +Meeko, has no patience. Three or four times he showed himself +nervously. Fortunately for me, the jay had found some excitement +to keep his rattle-brain busy for a moment. A flash of blue, and +he came stealing back, just as Meeko had settled himself for more +watching. After much pecking and listening the jay flew down to +the storehouse, and Meeko, unable to contain himself a moment +longer at sight of the thief, jumped out of his hiding and came +rushing along the limb, hurling threats and vituperation ahead of +him. The jay fluttered off, screaming derision. Meeko followed, +hurling more abuse, but soon gave up the chase and came back to +his chestnuts. It was curious to watch him there, sitting +motionless and intent, his nose close down to his treasure, +trying to compute his loss. Then he stuffed his cheeks full and +began carrying his hoard off to another hiding place. + +The autumn woods are full of such little comedies. Jays, crows, +and squirrels are all hiding away winter's supplies, and no +matter how great the abundance, not one of them can resist the +temptation to steal or to break into another's garner. + +Meeko is a poor provider; he would much rather live on buds and +bark and apple seeds and fir cones, and what he can steal from +others in the winter, than bother himself with laying up supplies +of his own. When the spring comes he goes a-hunting, and is for a +season the most villainous of nest-robbers. Every bird in the +woods then hates him, takes a jab at him, and cries thief, thief! +wherever he goes. + +On a trout brook once I had a curious sense of comradeship with +Meeko. It was in the early spring, when all the wild things make +holiday, and man goes a-fishing. Near the brook a red squirrel +had tapped a maple tree with his teeth and was tasting the sweet +sap as it came up scantily. Seeing him and remembering my own +boyhood, I cut a little hollow into the bark of a black birch +tree and, when it brimmed full, drank the sap with immense +satisfaction. Meeko stopped his own drinking to watch, then to +scold and denounce me roundly. + +While my cup was filling again I went down to the brook and took +a wary old trout from his den under the end of a log, where the +foam bubbles were dancing merrily. When I went back, thirsting +for another sweet draught from the same spring, Meeko had emptied +it to the last drop and had his nose down in the bottom of my +cup, catching the sap as it welled up with an abundance that must +have surprised him. When I went away quietly he followed me +through the wood to the pool at the edge of the meadow, to see +what I would do next. + +Wherever you go in the wilderness you find Meeko ahead of you, +and all the best camping grounds preempted by him. Even on the +islands he seems to own the prettiest spots, and disputes +mightily your right to stay there; though he is generally glad +enough of your company to share his loneliness, and shows it +plainly. + +Once I found one living all by himself on an island in the middle +of a wilderness lake, with no company whatever except a family of +mink, who are his enemies. He had probably crossed on the ice in +the late spring, and while he was busy here and there with his +explorations the ice broke up, cutting off his retreat to the +mainland, which was too far away for his swimming. So he was a +prisoner for the long summer, and welcomed me gladly to share his +exile. He was the only red squirrel I ever met that never scolded +me roundly at least once a day. His loneliness had made him quite +tame. Most of the time he lived within sight of my tent door. Not +even Simmo's axe, though it made him jump twice from the top of a +spruce, could keep him long away. He had twenty ways of getting +up an excitement, and whenever he barked out in the woods I knew +that it was simply to call me to see his discovery,--a new nest, +a loon that swam up close, a thieving muskrat, a hawk that rested +on a dead stub, the mink family eating my fish heads,--and when I +stole out to see what it was, he would run ahead, barking and +chuckling at having some one to share his interests with him. + +In such places squirrels use the ice for occasional journeys to +the mainland. Sometimes also, when the waters are calm, they swim +over. Hunters have told me that when the breeze is fair they make +use of a floating bit of wood, sitting tip straight with tail +curled over their backs, making a sail of their bodies--just as +an Indian, with no knowledge of sailing whatever, puts a spruce +bush in a bow of his canoe and lets the wind do his work for him. + +That would be the sight of a lifetime, to see Meeko sailing his +boat; but I have no doubt whatever that it is true. The only red +squirrel that I ever saw in the water fell in by accident. He +swam rapidly to a floating board, shook himself, sat up with his +tail raised along his back, and began to dry himself. After a +little he saw that the slight breeze was setting him farther from +shore. He began to chatter excitedly, and changed his position +two or three times, evidently trying to catch the wind right. +Finding that it was of no use, he plunged in again and swam +easily to land. + +That he lives and thrives in the wilderness, spite of enemies and +hunger and winter cold, is a tribute to his wits. He never +hibernates, except in severe storms, when for a few days he lies +close in his den. Hawks and owls and weasels and martens hunt him +continually; yet he more than holds his own in the big woods, +which would lose some of their charm if their vast silences were +not sometimes broken by his petty scoldings. + +As with most wild creatures, the squirrels that live in touch +with civilization are much keener witted than their wilderness +brethren. The most interesting one I ever knew lived in the trees +just outside my dormitory window, in a New England college town. +He was the patriarch of a large family, and the greatest thief +and rascal among them. I speak of the family, but, so far as I +could see, there was very little family life. Each one shifted +for himself the moment he was big enough, and stole from all the +others indiscriminately. + +It was while watching these squirrels that I discovered first +that they have regular paths among the trees, as well defined as +our own highways. Not only has each squirrel his own private +paths and ways, but all the squirrels follow certain courses +along the branches in going from one tree to another. Even the +strange squirrels, which ventured at times into the grove, +followed these highways as if they had been used to them all +their lives. + +On a recent visit to the old dormitory I watched the squirrels +for a while, and found that they used exactly the same paths,--up +the trunk of a big oak to a certain boss, along a branch to a +certain crook, a jump to a linden twig and so on, making use of +one of the highways that I had watched them following ten years +before. Yet this course was not the shortest between two points, +and there were a hundred other branches that they might have +used. + +I had the good fortune one morning to see Meeko, the patriarch, +make a new path for himself that none of the others ever followed +so long as I was in the dormitory. He had a home den over a +hallway, and a hiding place for acorns in a hollow linden. +Between the two was a driveway; but though the branches arched +over it from either side, the jump was too great for him to take. +A hundred times I saw him run out on the farthest oak twig and +look across longingly at the maple that swayed on the other side. +It was perhaps three feet away, with no branches beneath to seize +and break his fall in case he missed his spring, altogether too +much for a red squirrel to attempt. He would rush out as if +determined to try it, time after time, but always his courage +failed him; he had to go down the oak trunk and cross the +driveway on the ground, where numberless straying dogs were +always ready to chase him. + +One morning I saw him run twice in succession at the jump, only +to turn back. But the air was keen and bracing, and he felt its +inspiration. He drew farther back, then came rushing along the +oak branch and, before he had time to be afraid, hurled himself +across the chasm. He landed fairly on the maple twig, with +several inches to spare, and hung there with claws and teeth, +swaying up and down gloriously. Then, chattering his delight at +himself, he ran down the maple, back across the driveway, and +tried the jump three times in succession to be sure he could do +it. + +After that he sprang across frequently. But I noticed that +whenever the branches were wet with rain or sleet he never +attempted it; and he never tried the return jump, which was +uphill, and which he seemed to know by instinct was too much to +attempt. + +When I began feeding him, in the cold winter days, he showed me +many curious bits of his life. First I put some nuts near the top +of an old well, among the stones of which he used to hide things +in the autumn. Long after he had eaten all his store he used to +come and search the crannies among the stones to see if +perchance he had overlooked any trifles. When he found a handful +of shagbarks, one morning, in a hole only a foot below the +surface, his astonishment knew no bounds. His first thought was +that he had forgotten them all these hungry days, and he promptly +ate the biggest of the store within sight, a thing I never saw a +squirrel do before. His second thought--I could see it in his +changed attitude, his sudden creepings and hidings--was that some +other squirrel had hidden them there since his last visit. +Whereupon he carried them all off and hid them in a broken linden +branch. + +Then I tossed him peanuts, throwing them first far away, then +nearer and nearer till he would come to my window-sill. And when +I woke one morning he was sitting there looking in at the window, +waiting for me to get up and bring his breakfast. + +In a week he had showed me all his hiding places. The most +interesting of these was over a roofed piazza in a building near +by. He had gnawed a hole under the eaves, where it would not be +noticed, and lived there in solitary grandeur during stormy days +in a den four by eight feet, and rain-proof. In one corner was a +bushel of corncobs, some of them two or three years old, which he +had stolen from a cornfield near by in the early autumn mornings. +With characteristic improvidence he had fallen to eating the corn +while yet there was plenty more to be gathered. In consequence he +was hungry before February was half over, and living by his wits, +like his brother of the wilderness. + +The other squirrels soon noticed his journeys to my window, and +presently they too came for their share. Spite of his fury in +driving them away, they managed in twenty ways to circumvent him. +It was most interesting, while he sat on my window-sill eating +peanuts, to see the nose and eyes of another squirrel peering +over the crotch of the nearest tree, watching the proceedings +from his hiding place. Then I would give Meeko five or six +peanuts at once. Instantly the old hiding instinct would come +back; he would start away, taking as much of his store as he +could carry with him. The moment he was gone, out would come a +squirrel--sometimes two or three from their concealment--and +carry off all the peanuts that remained. + +Meeko's wrath when he returned was most comical. The Indian +legend is true as gospel to squirrel nature. If he returned +unexpectedly and caught one of the intruders, there was always a +furious chase and a deal of scolding and squirrel jabber before +peace was restored and the peanuts eaten. + +Once, when he had hidden a dozen or more nuts in the broken +linden branch, a very small squirrel came prowling along and +discovered the store. In an instant he was all alertness, +peeking, listening, exploring, till quite sure that the coast was +clear, when he rushed away headlong with a mouthful. + +He did not return that day; but the next morning early I saw him +do the same thing. An hour later Meeko appeared and, finding +nothing on the window-sill, went to the linden. Half his store of +yesterday was gone. Curiously enough, he did not suspect at first +that they were stolen. Meeko is always quite sure that nobody +knows his secrets. He searched the tree over, went to his other +hiding places, came back, counted his peanuts, then searched the +ground beneath, thinking, no doubt, the wind must have blown them +out--all this before he had tasted a peanut of those that +remained. + +Slowly it dawned upon him that he had been robbed and there was +an outburst of wrath. But instead of carrying what were left to +another place, he left them where they were, still without +eating, and hid himself near by to watch. I neglected a lecture +in philosophy to see the proceedings, but nothing happened. +Meeko's patience soon gave out, or else he grew hungry, for he +ate two or three of his scanty supply of peanuts, scolding and +threatening to himself. But he left the rest carefully where they +were. + +Two or three times that day I saw him sneaking about, keeping a +sharp eye on the linden; but the little thief was watching too, +and kept out of the way. + +Early next morning a great hubbub rose outside my window, and I +jumped up to see what was going on. Little Thief had come back, +and Big Thief caught him in the act of robbery. Away they went +pell-mell, jabbering like a flock of blackbirds, along a linden +branch, through two maples, across a driveway, and up a big elm +where Little Thief whisked out of sight into a knot hole. + +After him came Big Thief, swearing vengeance. But the knot hole +was too small; he couldn't get in. Twist and turn and push and +threaten as he would, he could not get in; and Little Thief sat +just inside jeering maliciously. + +Meeko gave it up after a while and went off, nursing his wrath. +But ten feet from the tree a thought struck him. He rushed away +out of sight, making a great noise, then came back quietly and +hid under an eave where he could watch the knot hole. + +Presently Little Thief came out, rubbed his eyes, and looked all +about. Through my glass I could see Meeko blinking and twitching +under the dark eave, trying to control his anger. Little Thief +ventured to a branch a few feet away from his refuge, and Big +Thief, unable to hold himself a moment longer, rushed out, firing +a volley of direful threats ahead of him. In a flash Little Thief +was back in his knot hole and the comedy began all over again. + +I never saw how it ended; but for a day or two there was an +unusual amount of chasing and scolding going on outside my +windows. + +It was this same big squirrel that first showed me a curious +trick of biding. Whenever he found a handful of nuts on my +windowsill and suspected that other squirrels were watching to +share the bounty, he had a way of hiding them all very rapidly. +He would never carry them direct to his various garners; first, +because these were too far away, and the other squirrels would +steal while he was gone; second, because, with hungry eyes +watching somewhere, they might follow and find out where he +habitually kept things. So he used to bide them all on the +ground, under the leaves in autumn, under snow in winter, and all +within sight of the window-sill, where he could watch the store +as he hurried to and fro. Then, at his leisure, he would dig them +up and carry them off to his den, two cheekfuls at a time. + +Each nut was hidden by itself; never so much as two in one spot. +For a long time it puzzled me to know how he remembered so many +places. I noticed first that he would always start from a certain +point, a tree or a stone, with his burden. When it was hidden he +would come back by the shortest route to the windowsill; but with +his new mouthful he would always go first to the tree or stone he +had selected, and from there search out a new hiding place. + +It was many days before I noticed tbat, starting from one fixed +point, he generally worked toward another tree or stone in the +distance. Then his secret was out; he hid things in a line. Next +day he would come back, start from his fixed point and move +slowly towards the distant one till his nose told him he was over +a peanut, which be dug up and ate or carried away to his den. But +he always seemed to distrust himself; for on hungry days he would +go over two or three of his old lines in the hope of finding a +mouthful that he had overlooked. + +This method was used only when he had a large supply to dispose +of hurriedly, and not always then. Meeko is a careless fellow and +soon forgets. When I gave him only a few to dispose of, he hid +them helter-skelter among the leaves, forgetting some of them +afterwards and enjoying the rare delight of stumbling upon them +when he was hungriest--much like a child whom I saw once giving +himself a sensation. He would throw his penny on the ground, go +round the house, and saunter back with his hands in his pockets +till he saw the penny, which he pounced upon with almost the joy +of treasure-trove in the highway. + +Meeko made a sad end--a fate which he deserved well enough, but +which I had to pity, spite of myself. When the spring came on, he +went back to evil ways. Sap was sweet and buds were luscious with +the first swelling of tender leaves; spring rains had washed out +plenty of acorns in the crannies under the big oak, and there +were fresh-roasted peanuts still at the corner window-sill +within easy jump of a linden twig; but he took to watching the +robins to see where they nested, and when the young were hatched +he came no more to my window. Twice I saw him with fledgelings in +his mouth; and I drove him day after day from a late clutch of +robin's eggs that I could watch from my study. + +He had warnings enough. Once some students, who had been friendly +all winter, stoned him out of a tree where he was nestrobbing; +once the sparrows caught him in their nest under the high eaves, +and knocked him off promptly. A twig upon which he caught in +falling saved his life undoubtedly, for the sparrows were after +him and he barely escaped into a knot hole, leaving the angry +horde clamoring outside. But nothing could reform him. + +One morning at daylight a great crying of robins brought me to +the window. Meeko was running along a limb, the first of the +fledgelings in his mouth. After him were five or six robins whom +the parents' danger cry had brought to the rescue. They were all +excited and tremendously in earnest. They cried thief! thief! and +swooped at him like hawks. Their cries speedily brought a score +of other birds, some to watch, others to join in the punishment. + +Meeko dropped the young bird and ran for his den; but a robin +dashed recklessly in his face and knocked him fair from the tree. +That and the fall of the fledgeling excited the birds more than +ever. This thieving bird-eater was not invulnerable. A dozen +rushed at him on the ground and left the marks of their beaks on +his coat before he could reach the nearest tree. + +Again he rushed for his den, but wherever he turned now angry +wings fluttered over him and beaks jabbed in his face. Raging but +frightened, he sat up to snarl wickedly. Like a flash a robin +hurled himself down, caught the squirrel just under his ear and +knocked him again to the ground. + +Things began to look dark for Meeko. The birds grew bolder and +angrier every minute. When he started to climb a tree he was +hurled off twice ere he reached a crotch and drew himself down +into it. He was safe there with his back against a big limb; they +could not get at him from behind. But the angry clamor in front +frightened him, and again he started for his place of refuge. His +footing was unsteady now and his head dizzy from the blows he had +received. Before he had gone half a limb's length he was again on +the ground, with a dozen birds pecking at him as they swooped +over. + +With his last strength he snapped viciously at his foes and +rushed to the linden. My window was open, and he came creeping, +hurrying towards it on the branch over which he had often capered +so lightly in the winter days. Over him clamored the birds, +forgetting all fear of me in their hatred of the nestrobber. + +A dozen times he was struck on the way, but at every blow he +clung to the branch with claws and teeth, then staggered on +doggedly, making no defense. His whole thought now was to reach +the window-sill. + +At the place where he always jumped he stopped and began to sway, +gripping the bark with his claws, trying to summon strength for +the effort. He knew it was too much, but it was his last hope. At +the instant of his spring a robin swooped in his face; another +caught him a side blow in mid-air, and he fell heavily to the +stones below.--Sic semper tyrannis! yelled the robins, scattering +wildly as I ran down the steps to save him, if it were not too +late. + +He died in my hands a moment later, with curious maliciousness +nipping my finger sharply at the last gasp. He was the only +squirrel of the lot who knew how to hide in a line; and never a +one since his day has taken the jump from oak to maple over the +driveway. + + + +THE OL' BEECH PA'TRIDGE + +Of all the wild birds that still haunt our remaining solitudes, +the ruffed grouse--the pa'tridge of our younger days--is perhaps +the wildest, the most alert, the most suggestive of the primeval +wilderness that we have lost. You enter the woods from the +hillside pasture, lounging a moment on the old gray fence to note +the play of light and shadow on the birch bolls. Your eye lingers +restfully on the wonderful mixture of soft colors that no brush +has ever yet imitated, the rich old gold of autumn tapestries, +the glimmering gray-green of the mouldering stump that the fungi +have painted. What a giant that tree must have been, generations +ago, in its days of strength; how puny the birches that now grow +out of its roots! You remember the great canoe birches by the +wilderness river, whiter than the little tent that nestled +beneath them, their wide bark banners waving in the wind, soft as +the flutter of owls' wings that swept among them, shadow-like, in +the twilight. A vague regret steals over you that our own +wilderness is gone, and with it most of the shy folk that loved +its solitudes. + +Suddenly there is a rustle in the leaves. Something stirs by the +old stump. A moment ago you thought it was only a brown root; now +it runs, hides, draws itself erect--Kwit, kwit, kwit! and with a +whirring rush of wings and a whirling eddy of dead leaves a +grouse bursts up, and darts away like a blunt arrow, +flint-tipped, gray-feathered, among the startled birch stems. As +you follow softly to rout him out again, and to thrill and be +startled by his unexpected rush, something of the Indian has come +unbidden into your cautious tread. All regret for the wilderness +is vanished; you are simply glad that so much wildness still +remains to speak eloquently of the good old days. + +It is this element of unconquerable wildness in the grouse, +coupled with a host of early, half-fearful impressions, that +always sets my heart to beating, as to an old tune, whenever a +partridge bursts away at my feet. I remember well a little child +that used to steal away into the still woods, which drew him by +an irresistible attraction while as yet their dim arches and +quiet paths were full of mysteries and haunting terrors. Step by +step the child would advance into the shadows, cautious as a wood +mouse, timid as a rabbit. Suddenly a swift rustle and a +thunderous rush of something from the ground that first set the +child's heart to beating wildly, and then reached his heels in a +fearful impulse which sent him rushing out of the woods, tumbling +headlong over the old gray wall, and scampering halfway across +the pasture before he dared halt from the terror behind. And +then, at last, another impulse which always sent the child +stealing back into the woods again, shy, alert, tense as a +watching fox, to find out what the fearful thing was that could +make such a commotion in the quiet woods. + +And when he found out at last--ah, that was a discovery beside +which the panther's kittens are as nothing as I think of them. +One day in the woods, near the spot where the awful thunder used +to burst away, the child heard a cluck and a kwitkwit, and saw a +beautiful bird dodging, gliding, halting, hiding in the +underbrush, watching the child's every motion. And when he ran +forward to put his cap over the bird, it burst away, and +then--whirr! whirr! whirr! a whole covey of grouse roared up all +about him. The terror of it weakened his legs so that he fell +down in the eddying leaves and covered his ears. But this time he +knew what it was at last, and in a moment he was up and running, +not away, but fast as his little legs could carry him after the +last bird that he saw hurtling away among the trees, with a birch +branch that he had touched with his wings nodding good-by behind +him. + +There is another association with this same bird that always +gives an added thrill to the rush of his wings through the +startled woods. It was in the old school by the cross-roads, one +sleepy September afternoon. A class in spelling, big boys and +little girls, toed a crack in front of the waster's desk. The +rest of the school droned away on appointed tasks in the drowsy +interlude. The fat boy slept openly on his arms; even the +mischief-maker was quiet, thinking dreamily of summer days that +were gone. Suddenly there was a terrific crash, a clattering +tinkle of broken glass, a howl from a boy near the window. Twenty +knees banged the desks beneath as twenty boys jumped. Then, +before any of us had found his wits, Jimmy Jenkins, a red-headed +boy whom no calamity could throw off his balance and from whom no +opportunity ever got away free, had jumped over two forms +and was down on the floor in the girls' aisle, gripping something +between his knees-- + +"I've got him," he announced, with the air of a general. + +"Got what?" thundered the master. + +"Got a pa'tridge; he's an old buster," said Jimmy. And he +straightened up, holding by the legs a fine cock partridge whose +stiffening wings still beat his sides spasmodically. He had been +scared-up in the neighboring woods, frightened by some hunter out +of his native coverts. When he reached the unknown open places he +was more frightened still and, as a frightened grouse always +flies straight, he had driven like a bolt through the schoolhouse +window, killing himself by the impact. + +Rule-of-three and cube root and the unmapped wilderness of +partial payments have left but scant impression on one of those +pupils, at least; but a bird that could wake up a drowsy +schoolroom and bring out a living lesson, full of life and +interest and the subtile call of the woods, from a drowsy teacher +who studied law by night, but never his boys by day,--that was a +bird to be respected. I have studied him with keener interest +ever since. + +Yet however much you study the grouse, you learn little except +how wild he is. Occasionally, when you are still in the woods and +a grouse walks up to your hiding place, you get a fair glimpse +and an idea or two; but he soon discovers you, and draws himself +up straight as a string and watches you for five minutes without +stirring or even winking. Then, outdone at his own game, he +glides away. A rustle of little feet on leaves, a faint kwit-kwit +with a question in it, and he is gone. Nor will he come back, +like the fox, to watch from the other side and find out what you +are. + +Civilization, in its first advances, is good to the grouse, +providing him with an abundance of food and driving away his +enemies. Grouse are always more numerous about settlements than +in the wilderness. Unlike other birds, however, he grows wilder +and wilder by nearness to men's dwellings. I suppose that is +because the presence of man is so often accompanied by the rush +of a dog and the report of a gun, and perhaps by the rip and +sting of shot in his feathers as he darts away. Once, in the +wilderness, when very hungry, I caught two partridges by slipping +over their heads a string noose at the end of a pole. Here one +might as well try to catch a bat in the twilight as to hope to +snare one of our upland partridges by any such invention, or even +to get near enough to meditate the attempt. + +But there was one grouse--and he the very wildest of all that I +have ever met in the woods--who showed me unwittingly many bits +of his life, and with whom I grew to be very well acquainted +after a few seasons' watching. All the hunters of the village +knew him well; and a half-dozen boys, who owned guns and were +eager to join the hunters' ranks, had a shooting acquaintance +with him. He was known far and wide as "the ol' beech pa'tridge." +That he was old no one could deny who knew his ways and his +devices; and he was frequently scared-up in a beech wood by a +brook, a couple of miles out of the village. + +Spite of much learned discussion as to different varieties of +grouse, due to marked variations in coloring, I think personally +that we have but one variety, and that differences in color are +due largely to the different surroundings in which they live. Of +all birds the grouse is most invisible when quiet, his coloring +blends so perfectly with the roots and leaves and tree stems +among which he hides. This wonderful invisibility is increased by +the fact that he changes color easily. He is darker in summer, +lighter in winter, like the rabbit. When he lives in dark woods +he becomes a glossy red-brown; and when his haunt is among the +birches he is often a decided gray. + +This was certainly true of the old beech partridge. When he +spread his tail wide and darted away among the beeches, his color +blended so perfectly with the gray tree trunks that only a keen +eye could separate him. And he knew every art of the dodger +perfectly. When he rose there was scarcely a second of time +before he had put a big tree between you and him, so as to cover +his line of flight. I don't know how many times he had been shot +at on the wing. Every hunter I knew had tried it many times; and +every boy who roamed the woods in autumn had sought to pot him on +the ground. But he never lost a feather; and he would never stand +to a dog long enough for the most cunning of our craft to take +his position. + +When a brood of young partridges hear a dog running in the woods, +they generally flit to the lower branches of a tree and kwit-kwit +at him curiously. They have not yet learned the difference +between him and the fox, who is the ancient enemy of their kind, +and whom their ancestors of the wilderness escaped and tantalized +in the same way. But when it is an old bird that your setter is +trailing, his actions are a curious mixture of cunning and +fascination. As old Don draws to a point, the grouse pulls +himself up rigidly by a stump and watches the dog. So both stand +like statues; the dog held by the strange instinct which makes +him point, lost to sight, sound and all things else save the +smell in his nose, the grouse tense as a fiddlestring, every +sense alert, watching the enemy whom he thinks to be fooled by +his good hiding. For a few moments they are motionless; then the +grouse skulks and glides to a better cover. As the strong scent +fades from Don's nose, he breaks his point and follows. The +grouse hears him and again hides by drawing himself up against a +stump, where he is invisible; again Don stiffens into his point, +one foot lifted, nose and tail in a straight line, as if he were +frozen and could not move. + +So it goes on, now gliding through the coverts, now still as a +stone, till the grouse discovers that so long as he is still the +dog seems paralyzed, unable to move or feel. Then he draws +himself up, braced against a root or a tree boll; and there they +stand, within twenty feet of each other, never stirring, never +winking, till the dog falls from exhaustion at the strain, or +breaks it by leaping forward, or till the hunter's step on the +leaves fills the grouse with a new terror that sends him rushing +away through the October woods to deeper solitudes. + +Once, at noon, I saw Old Ben, a famous dog, draw to a perfect +point. Just ahead, in a tangle of brown brakes, I could see the +head and neck of a grouse watching the dog keenly. Old Ben's +master, to test the splendid training of his dog, proposed lunch +on the spot. We withdrew a little space and ate deliberately, +watching the bird and the dog with an interest that grew keener +and keener as the meal progressed, while Old Ben stood like a +rock, and the grouse's eye shone steadily out of the tangle of +brakes. Nor did either move so much as an eyelid while we ate, +and Ben's master smoked his pipe with quiet confidence. At last, +after a full hour, he whacked his pipe on his boot heel and rose +to reach for his gun. That meant death for the grouse; but I owed +him too much of keen enjoyment to see him cut down in swift +flight. In the moment that the master's back was turned I hurled +a knot at the tangle of brakes. The grouse burst away, and Old +Ben, shaken out of his trance by the whirr of wings, dropped +obediently to the charge and turned his head to say reproachfully +with his eyes: "What in the world is the matter with you back +there--didn't I hold him long enough?" + +The noble old fellow was trembling like a leaf after the long +strain when I went up to him to pat his head and praise his +steadiness, and share with him the better half of my lunch. But +to this day Ben's master does not know what started the grouse so +suddenly; and as he tells you about the incident will still say +regretfully: "I ought to a-started jest a minute sooner, 'fore he +got tired. Then I'd a had 'im." + +The old beech partridge, however, was a bird of a different mind. +No dog ever stood him for more than a second; he had learned too +well what the thing meant. The moment he heard the patter of a +dog's feet on leaves he would run rapidly, and skulk and hide and +run again, keeping dog and hunter on the move till he found the +cover he wanted,--thick trees, or a tangle of wild +grapevines,--when he would burst out on, the farther side. And no +eye, however keen, could catch more than a glimpse of a gray tail +before he was gone. Other grouse make short straight flights, and +can be followed and found again; but he always drove away on +strong wings for an incredible distance, and swerved far to right +or left; so that it was a waste of time to follow him up. Before +you found him he had rested his wings and was ready for another +flight; and when you did find him he would shoot away like an +arrow out of the top of a pine tree and give you never a glimpse +of himself. + +He lived most of the time on a ridge behind the 'Fales place,' an +abandoned farm on the east of the old post road. This was his +middle range, a place of dense coverts, bullbrier thickets and +sunny open spots among the ledges, where you might, with +good-luck, find him on special days at any season. But he had +all the migratory instincts of a Newfoundland caribou. In winter +he moved south, with twenty other grouse, to the foot of the +ridge, which dropped away into a succession of knolls and ravines +and sunny, well-protected little valleys, where food was plenty. +Here, fifty years ago, was the farm pasture; but now it had grown +up everywhere with thickets and berry patches, and wild apple +trees of the birds' planting. All the birds loved it in their +season; quail nested on its edges; and you could kick a brown +rabbit out of almost any of its decaying brush piles or hollow +moss-grown logs. + +In the spring he crossed the ridge northward again, moving into +the still dark woods, where he had two or three wives with as +many broods of young partridges; all of whom, by the way, he +regarded with astonishing indifference. + +Across the whole range--stealing silently out of the big woods, +brawling along the foot of the ridge and singing through the old +pasture--ran a brook that the old beech partridge seemed to love. +A hundred times I started him from its banks. You had only to +follow it any November morning before eight o'clock, and you +would be sure to find him. But why he haunted it at this +particular time and season I never found out. + +I used to wonder sometimes why I never saw him drink. Other birds +had their regular drinking places and bathing pools there, and I +frequently watched them from my hiding; but though I saw him +many times, after I learned his haunts, he never touched the +water. + +One early summer morning a possible explanation suggested itself. +I was sitting quietly by the brook, on the edge of the big woods, +waiting for a pool to grow quiet, out of which I had just taken a +trout and in which I suspected there was a larger one hiding. As +I waited a mother-grouse and her brood--one of the old beech +partridge's numerous families for whom he provided nothing--came +gliding along the edge of the woods. They had come to drink, +evidently, but not from the brook. A sweeter draught than that +was waiting for their coming. The dew was still clinging to the +grass blades; here and there a drop hung from a leaf point, +flashing like a diamond in the early light. And the little +partridges, cheeping, gliding, whistling among the drooping +stems, would raise their little bills for each shining dewdrop +that attracted them, and drink it down and run with glad little +pipings and gurglings to the next drop that flashed an invitation +from its bending grass blade. The old mother walked sedately in +the midst of them, now fussing over a laggard, now clucking them +all together in an eager, chirping, jumping little crowd, each +one struggling to be first in at the death of a fat slug she had +discovered on the underside of a leaf; and anon reaching herself +for a dewdrop that hung too high for their drinking. So they +passed by within a few yards, a shy, wild, happy little family, +and disappeared into the shadow of the big woods. + +Perhaps that is why I never saw the old beech partridge drink +from the brook. Nature has a fresher draught, of her own +distilling, that is more to his tasting. + +Earlier in the season I found another of his families near the +same spot. I was stealing along a wood road when I ran plump upon +them, scratching away at an ant hill in a sunny open spot. There +was a wild flurry, as if a whirlwind had struck the ant hill; but +it was only the wind of the mother bird's wings, whirling up the +dust to blind my eyes and to hide the scampering retreat of her +downy brood. Again her wings beat the ground, sending up a flurry +of dead leaves, in the midst of which the little partridges +jumped and scurried away, so much like the leaves that no eye +could separate them. Then the leaves settled slowly and the brood +was gone, as if the ground had swallowed them up; while Mother +Grouse went fluttering along just out of my reach, trailing a +wing as if broken, falling prone on the ground, clucking and +kwitting and whirling the leaves to draw my attention and bring +me away from where the little ones were hiding. + +I knelt down just within the edge of woods, whither I had seen +the last laggard of the brood vanish like a brown streak, and +began to look for them carefully. After a time I found one. He +was crouched flat on a dead oak leaf, just under my nose, his +color hiding him wonderfully. Something glistened in a tangle of +dark roots. It was an eye, and presently I could make out a +little head there. That was all I could find of the family, +though a dozen more were close beside me, under the leaves +mostly. As I backed away I put my hand on another before seeing +him, and barely saved myself from hurting the little sly-boots, +who never stirred a muscle, not even when I took away the leaf +that covered him and put it back again softly. + +Across the pathway was a thick scrub oak, under which I sat down +to watch. Ten long minutes passed, with nothing stirring, before +Mother Grouse came stealing back. She clucked once--"Careful!" it +seemed to say; and not a leaf stirred. She clucked again--did the +ground open? There they were, a dozen or more of them, springing +up from nowhere and scurrying with a thousand cheepings to tell +her all about it. So she gathered them all close about her, and +they vanished into the friendly shadows. + +It was curious how jealously the old beech partridge watched over +the solitudes where these interesting little families roamed. +Though he seemed to care nothing about them, and was never seen +near one of his families, he suffered no other cock partridge to +come into his woods, or even to drum within hearing. In the +winter he shared the southern pasture peaceably with twenty other +grouse; and on certain days you might, by much creeping, surprise +a whole company of them on a sunny southern slope, strutting and +gliding, in and out and round about, with spread tails and +drooping wings, going through all the movements of a grouse +minuet. Once, in Indian summer, I crept up to twelve or fifteen +of the splendid birds, who were going through their curious +performance in a little opening among the berry bushes; and in +the midst of them-more vain, more resplendent, strutting more +proudly and clucking more arrogantly than any other--was the old +beech partridge. + +But when the spring came, and the long rolling drum-calls began +to throb through the budding woods, he retired to his middle +range on the ridge, and marched from one end to the other, +driving every other cock grouse out of hearing, and drubbing him +soundly if he dared resist. Then, after a triumph, you would hear +his loud drum-call rolling through the May splendor, calling as +many wives as possible to share his rich living. + +He had two drumming logs on this range, as I soon discovered; and +once, while he was drumming on one log, I hid near the other and +imitated his call fairly well by beating my hands on a blown +bladder that I had buttoned under my jacket. The roll of a grouse +drum is a curiously muffled sound; it is often hard to determine +the spot or even the direction whence it comes; and it always +sounds much farther away than it really is. This may have +deceived the old beech partridge at first into thinking that he +heard some other bird far away, on a ridge across the valley +where he had no concern; for presently he drummed again on his +own log. I answered it promptly, rolling back a defiance, and +also telling any hen grouse on the range that here was another +candidate willing to strut and spread his tail and lift the +resplendent ruff about his neck to win his way into her good +graces, if she would but come to his drumming log and see him. + +Some suspicion that a rival had come to his range must have +entered the old beech partridge's head, for there was a long +silence in which I could fancy him standing up straight and stiff +on his drumming log, listening intently to locate the daring +intruder, and holding down his bubbling wrath with difficulty. + +Without waiting for him to drum again, I beat out a challenge. +The roll had barely ceased when he came darting up the ridge, +glancing like a bolt among the thick branches, and plunged down +by his own log, where he drew himself up with marvelous +suddenness to listen and watch for the intruder. + +He seemed relieved that the log was not occupied, but he was +still full of wrath and suspicion. He glided and dodged all about +the place, looking and listening; then he sprang to his log and, +without waiting to strut and spread his gorgeous feathers as +usual, he rolled out the long call, drawing himself up straight +the instant it was done, turning his head from side to side to +catch the first beat of his rival's answer--"Come out, if you +dare; drum, if you dare. Oh, you coward!" And he hopped, five or +six high, excited hops, like a rooster before a storm, to the +other end of the log, and again his quick throbbing drumcall +rolled through the woods. + +Though I was near enough to see him clearly without, my field +glasses, I could not even then, nor at any other time when I have +watched grouse drumming, determine just how the call is given. +After a little while the excitement of a suspected rival's +presence wore away, and he grew exultant, thinking that he had +driven the rascal out of his woods. He strutted back and forth on +the log, trailing his wings, spreading wide his beautiful tail, +lifting his crest and his resplendent ruff. Suddenly he would +draw himself up; there would be a flash of his wings up and down +that no eye could follow, and I would hear a single throb of his +drum. Another flash and another throb; then faster and faster, +till he seemed to have two or three pairs of wings, whirring and +running together like the spokes of a swift-moving wheel, and the +drumbeats rolled together into a long call and died away in the +woods. + +Generally he stood up on his toes, as a rooster does when he +flaps his wings before crowing; rarely he crouched down close to +the log; but I doubt if he beat the wood with his wings, as is +often claimed. Yet the two logs were different; one was dry and +hard, the other mouldy and moss-grown; and the drumcalls were as +different as the two logs. After a time I could tell by the sound +which log he was using at the first beat of his wings; but that, +I think, was a matter of resonance, a kind of sounding-board +effect, and not because the two sounded differently as he beat +them. The call is undoubtedly made either by striking the wings +together over his back or, as I am inclined to believe, by +striking them on the down beat against his own sides. + +Once I heard a wounded bird give three or four beats of his +drum-call, and when I went into the grapevine thicket, where he +had fallen, I found him lying flat on his back, beating his sides +with his wings. + +Whenever he drums he first struts, because he knows not how many +pairs of bright eyes are watching him shyly out of the coverts. +Once, when I had watched him strut and drum a few times, the +leaves rustled, and two hen grouse emerged from opposite sides +into the little opening where his log was. Then he strutted with +greater vanity than before, while the two hen grouse went gliding +about the place, searching for seeds apparently, but in reality +watching his every movement out of their eye corners, and +admiring him to his heart's content. + +In winter I used to follow his trail through the snow to find +what he had been doing, and what he had found to eat in nature's +scarce time. His worst enemies, the man and his dog, were no +longer to be feared, being restrained by law, and he roamed the +woods with greater freedom than ever. He seemed to know that he +was safe at this time, and more than once I trailed him up to his +hiding and saw him whirr away through the open woods, sending +down a shower of snow behind him, as if in that curious way to +hide his line of flight from my eyes. + +There were other enemies, however, whom no law restrained, save +the universal wood-laws of fear and hunger. Often I found the +trail of a fox crossing his in the snow; and once I followed a +double trail, fox over grouse, for nearly half a mile. The fox +had struck the trail late the previous afternoon, and followed it +to a bullbrier thicket, in the midst of which was a great cedar +in which the old beech partridge roosted. The fox went twice +around the tree, halting and looking up, then went straight away +to the swamp, as if he knew it was of no use to watch longer. + +Rarely, when the snow was deep, I found the place where he, or +some other grouse, went to sleep on the ground. He would plunge +down from a tree into the soft snow, driving into it headfirst +for three or four feet, then turn around and settle down in his +white warm chamber for the night. I would find the small hole +where he plunged in at evening, and near it the great hole where +he burst out when the light waked him. Taking my direction from +his wing prints in the snow, I would follow to find where he lit, +and then trace him on his morning wanderings. + +One would think that this might be a dangerous proceeding, +sleeping on the ground with no protection but the snow, and a +score of hungry enemies prowling about the woods; but the grouse +knows well that when the storms are out his enemies stay close at +home, not being able to see or smell, and therefore afraid each +one of his own enemies. There is always a truce in the woods +during a snowstorm; and that is the reason why a grouse goes to +sleep in the snow only while the flakes are still falling. When +the storm is over and the snow has settled a bit, the fox will be +abroad again; and then the grouse sleeps in the evergreens. + +Once, however, the old beech partridge miscalculated. The storm +ceased early in the evening, and hunger drove the fox out on a +night when, ordinarily, he would have stayed under cover. +Sometime about daybreak, before yet the light had penetrated to +where the old beech partridge was sleeping, the fox found a hole +in the snow, which told him that just in front of his hungry nose +a grouse was hidden, all unconscious of danger. I found the spot, +trailing the fox, a few hours later. How cautious he was! The sly +trail was eloquent with hunger and anticipation. A few feet away +from the promising hole he had stopped, looking keenly over the +snow to find some suspicious roundness on the smooth surface. Ah! +there it was, just by the edge of a juniper thicket. He crouched +down, stole forward, pushing a deep trail with his body, settled +himself firmly and sprang. And there, just beside the hole his +paws had made in the snow, was another hole where the grouse had +burst out, scattering snow all over his enemy, who had +miscalculated by a foot, and thundered away to the safety and +shelter of the pines. + +There was another enemy, who ought to have known better, +following the old beech partridge all one early spring when snow +was deep and food scarce. One day, in crossing the partridge's +southern range, I met a small boy,--a keen little fellow, with +the instincts of a fox for hunting. He had always something +interesting afoot,--minks, or muskrats, or a skunk, or a big +owl,--so I hailed him with joy. + +"Hello, Johnnie! what you after to-day--bears?" + +But he only shook his head--a bit sheepishly, I thought--and +talked of all things except the one that he was thinking about; +and presently he vanished down the old road. One of his jacket +pockets bulged more than the other, and I knew there was a trap +in it. + +Late that afternoon I crossed his trail and, having nothing more +interesting to do, followed it. It led straight to the bullbrier +thicket where the old beech partridge roosted. I had searched for +it many times in vain before the fox led me to it; but Johnnie, +in some of his prowlings, had found tracks and a feather or two +under a cedar branch, and knew just what it meant. His trap was +there, in the very spot where, the night before, the old beech +partridge had stood when he jumped for the lowest limb. Corn was +scattered liberally about, and a bluejay that had followed +Johnnie was already fast in the trap, caught at the base of his +bill just under the eyes. He had sprung the trap in pecking at +some corn that was fastened cunningly to the pan by fine wire. + +When I took the jay carefully from the trap he played possum, +lying limp in my hand till my grip relaxed, when he flew to a +branch over my head, squalling and upbraiding me for having +anything to do with such abominable inventions. + +I hung the trap to a low limb of the cedar, with a note in its +jaws telling Johnnie to come and see me next day. He came at +dusk, shamefaced, and I read him a lecture on fair play and the +difference between a thieving mink and an honest partridge. But +he chuckled over the bluejay, and I doubted the withholding power +of a mere lecture; so, to even matters, I hinted of an otter +slide I had discovered, and of a Saturday afternoon tramp +together. Twenty times, he told me, he had tried to snare the old +beech partridge. When he saw the otter slide he forswore traps +and snares for birds; and I left the place, soon after, with good +hopes for the grouse, knowing that I had spiked the guns of his +most dangerous enemy. + +Years later I crossed the old pasture and went straight to the +bullbrier tangle. There were tracks of a grouse in the snow,- +-blunt tracks that rested lightly on the soft whiteness, showing +that Nature remembered his necessity and had caused his new +snowshoes to grow famously. I hurried to the brook, a hundred +memories thronging over me of happy days and rare sights when the +wood folk revealed their little secrets. In the midst of +them--kwit! kwit! and with a thunder of wings a grouse whirred +away, wild and gray as the rare bird that lived there years +before. And when I questioned a hunter, he said: "That ol' beech +pa'tridge? Oh, yes, he's there. He'll stay there, too, till he +dies of old age; 'cause you see, Mister, there ain't nobody in +these parts spry enough to ketch 'im." + + + +FOLLOWING THE DEER + +I was camping one summer on a little lake--Deer Pond, the +natives called it--a few miles back from a quiet summer resort +on the Maine coast. Summer hotels and mackerel fishing and +noisy excursions had lost their semblance to a charm; so I +made a little tent, hired a canoe, and moved back into the +woods. + +It was better here. The days, were still and long, and the nights +full of peace. The air was good, for nothing but the wild +creatures breathed it, and the firs had touched it with their +fragrance. The faraway surge of the sea came up faintly till the +spruces answered it, and both sounds went gossiping over the +hills together. On all sides were the woods, which, on the north +especially, stretched away over a broken country beyond my +farthest explorations. + +Over against my tenting place a colony of herons had their nests +in some dark hemlocks. They were interesting as a camp of +gypsies, some going off in straggling bands to the coast at +daybreak, others frogging in the streams, and a few solitary, +patient, philosophical ones joining me daily in following the +gentle art of Izaak Walton. And then, when the sunset came and +the deep red glowed just behind the hemlocks, and the gypsy bands +came home, I would see their sentinels posted here and there +among the hemlock tips--still, dark, graceful silhouettes etched +in sepia against the gorgeous after-glow--and hear the mothers +croaking their ungainly babies to sleep in the tree tops. + +Down at one end of the pond a brood of young black ducks were +learning their daily lessons in hiding; at the other end a noisy +kingfisher, an honest blue heron, and a thieving mink shared the +pools and watched each other as rival fishermen. Hares by night, +and squirrels by day, and wood mice at all seasons played round +my tent, or came shyly to taste my bounty. A pair of big owls +lived and hunted in a swamp hard by, who hooted dismally before +the storms came, and sometimes swept within the circle of my fire +at night. Every morning a raccoon stopped at a little pool in the +brook above my tent, to wash his food carefully ere taking it +home. So there was plenty to do and plenty to learn, and the days +passed all too swiftly. + +I had been told by the village hunters that there were no deer; +that they had vanished long since, hounded and crusted and +chevied out of season, till life was not worth the living. So it +was with a start of surprise and a thrill of new interest that I +came upon the tracks of a large buck and two smaller deer on the +shore one morning. I was following them eagerly when I ran plump +upon Old Wally, the cunningest hunter and trapper in the whole +region. + +"Sho! Mister, what yer follerin?" + +"Why, these deer tracks," I said simply. + +Wally gave me a look, of great pity. + +"Guess you're green--one o' them city fellers, ain't ye, Mister? +Them ere's sheep tracks--my sheep. Wandered off int' th' woods a +spell ago, and I hain't seen the tarnal critters since. Came up +here lookin' for um this mornin'." + +I glanced at Wally's fish basket, and thought of the nibbled lily +pads; but I said nothing. Wally was a great hunter, albeit +jealous; apt to think of all the game in the woods as being sent +by Providence to help him get a lazy living; and I knew little +about deer at that time. So I took him to camp, fed him, and sent +him away. + +"Kinder keep a lookout for my sheep, will ye, Mister, down 't +this end o' the pond?" he said, pointing away from the deer +tracks. "If ye see ary one, send out word, and I'll come and +fetch 'im.--Needn't foller the tracks though; they wander like +all possessed this time o' year," he added earnestly as he went +away. + +That afternoon I went over to a little pond, a mile distant from +my camp, and deeper in the woods. The shore was well cut up with +numerous deer tracks, and among the lily pads everywhere were +signs of recent feeding. There was a man's track here too, which +came cautiously out from a thick point of woods, and spied about +on the shore, and went back again more cautiously than before. I +took the measure of it back to camp, and found that it +corresponded perfectly with the boot tracks of Old Wally. There +were a few deer here, undoubtedly, which he was watching +jealously for his own benefit in the fall hunting. + +When the next still, misty night came, it found me afloat on the +lonely little pond with a dark lantern fastened to an upright +stick just in front of me in the canoe. In the shadow of the +shores all was black as Egypt; but out in the middle the outlines +of the pond could be followed vaguely by the heavy cloud of woods +against the lighter sky. The stillness was intense; every +slightest sound,--the creak of a bough or the ripple of a passing +musquash, the plunk of a water drop into the lake or the snap of +a rotten twig, broken by the weight of clinging mist,--came to +the strained ear with startling suddenness. Then, as I waited and +sifted the night sounds, a dainty plop, plop, plop! sent the +canoe gliding like a shadow toward the shore whence the sounds +had come. + +When the lantern opened noiselessly, sending a broad beam of +gray, full of shadows and misty lights, through the even +blackness of the night, the deer stood revealed--a beautiful +creature, shrinking back into the forest's shadow, yet ever drawn +forward by the sudden wonder of the light. + +She turned her head towards me, and her eyes blazed like great +colored lights in the lantern's reflection. They fascinated me; I +could see nothing but those great glowing spots, blazing and +scintillating with a kind of intense fear and wonder out of the +darkness. She turned away, unable to endure the glory any longer; +then released from the fascination of her eyes, I saw her +hurrying along the shore, a graceful living shadow among the +shadows, rubbing her head among the bushes as if to brush away +from her eyes the charm that dazzled them. + +I followed a little way, watching every move, till she turned +again, and for a longer time stared steadfastly at the light. It +was harder this time to break away from its power. She came +nearer two or three times, halting between dainty steps to stare +and wonder, while her eyes blazed into mine. Then, as she +faltered irresolutely, I reached forward and closed the lantern, +leaving lake and woods in deeper darkness than before. At the +sudden release I heard her plunge out of the water; but a moment +later she was moving nervously among the trees, trying to stamp +herself up to the courage point of coming back to investigate. +And when I flashed my lantern at the spot she threw aside caution +and came hurriedly down the bank again. + +Later that night I heard other footsteps in the pond, and opened +my lantern upon three deer, a doe, a fawn and a large buck, +feeding at short intervals among the lily pads. The buck was +wild; after one look he plunged into the woods, whistling danger +to his companions. But the fawn heeded nothing, knew nothing for +the moment save the fascination of the wonderful glare out there +in the darkness. Had I not shut off the light, I think he would +have climbed into the canoe in his intense wonder. + +I saw the little fellow again,,in a curious way, a few nights +later. A wild storm was raging over the woods. Under its lash the +great trees writhed and groaned; and the "voices"--that strange +phenomenon of the forest and rapids--were calling wildly through +the roar of the storm and the rush of rain on innumerable leaves. +I had gone out on the old wood road, to lose myself for a little +while in the intense darkness and uproar, and to feel again the +wild thrill of the elements. But the night was too dark, the +storm too fierce. Every few moments I would blunder against a +tree, which told me I was off the road; and to lose the road +meant to wander all night in the storm-swept woods. So I went +back for my lantern, with which I again started down the old cart +path, a little circle of wavering, jumping shadows about me, the +one gray spot in the midst of universal darkness. + +I had gone but a few hundred yards when there was a rush--it was +not the wind or the rain--in a thicket on my right. Something +jumped into the circle of light. Two bright spots burned out of +the darkness, then two more; and with strange bleats a deer came +close to me with her fawn. I stood stockstill, with a thrill in +my spine that was not altogether of the elements, while the deer +moved uneasily back and forth. The doe wavered between fear and +fascination; but the fawn knew no fear, or perhaps he knew only +the great fear of the uproar around him; for he came close beside +me, rested his nose an instant against the light, then thrust his +head between my arm and body, so as to shield his eyes, and +pressed close against my side, shivering with cold and fear, +pleading dumbly for my protection against the pitiless storm. + +I refrained from touching the little thing, for no wild creature +likes to be handled, while his mother called in vain from the +leafy darkness. When I turned to go he followed me close, still +trying to thrust his face under my arm; and I had to close the +light with a sharp click before he bounded away down the road, +where one who knew better than I how to take care of a frightened +innocent was, no doubt, waiting to receive him. + +I gave up everything else but fishing after that, and took to +watching the deer; but there was little to be learned in the +summer woods. Once I came upon the big buck lying down in a +thicket. I was following his track, trying to learn the Indian +trick of sign-trailing, when he shot up in front of me like +Jack-in-a-box, and was gone before I knew what it meant. From the +impressions in the moss, I concluded that he slept with all four +feet under him, ready to shoot up at an instant's notice, with +power enough in his spring to clear any obstacle near him. And +then I thought of the way a cow gets up, first one end, then the +other, rising from the fore knees at last with puff and grunt and +clacking of joints; and I took my first lesson in wholesome +respect for the creature whom I already considered mine by right +of discovery, and whose splendid head I saw, in anticipation, +adorning the hall of my house--to the utter discomfiture of Old +Wally. + +At another time I crept up to an old road beyond the little deer +pond, where three deer, a mother with her fawn, and a young +spike-buck, were playing. They kept running up and down, leaping +over the trees that lay across the road with marvelous ease and +grace--that is, the two larger deer. The little fellow followed +awkwardly; but he had the spring in him, and was learning rapidly +to gather himself for the rise, and lift his hind feet at the top +of his jump, and come down with all fours together, instead of +sprawling clumsily, as a horse does. + +I saw the perfection of it a few days later. I was sitting before +my tent door at twilight, watching the herons, when there was a +shot and a sudden crash over on their side. In a moment the big +buck plunged out of the woods and went leaping in swift bounds +along the shore, head high, antlers back, the mighty muscles +driving him up and onward as if invisible wings were bearing him. +A dozen great trees were fallen across his path, one of which, as +I afterwards measured, lay a clear eight feet above the sand. But +he never hesitated nor broke his splendid stride. He would rush +at a tree; rise light and swift till above it, where he turned as +if on a pivot, with head thrown back to the wind, actually +resting an instant in air at the very top of his jump; then shoot +downward, not falling but driven still by the impulse of his +great muscles. When he struck, all four feet were close together; +and almost quicker than the eye could follow he was in the air +again, sweeping along the water's edge, or rising like a bird +over the next obstacle. + +Just below me was a stream, with muddy shores on both sides. I +looked to see if he would stog himself there or turn aside; but +he knew the place better than I, and that just under the soft mud +the sand lay firm and, sure. He struck the muddy place only +twice, once on either side the fifteen-foot stream, sending out a +light shower of mud in all directions; then, because the banks on +my side were steep, he leaped for the cover of the woods and was +gone. + +I thought I had seen the last of him, when I heard him coming, +bump! bump! bump! the swift blows of his hoofs sounding all +together on the forest floor. So he flashed by, between me and my +tent door, barely swerved aside for my fire, and gave me another +beautiful run down the old road, rising and falling light as +thistle-down, with the old trees arching over him and brushing +his antlers as he rocketed along. + +The last branch had hardly swished behind him when, across the +pond, the underbrush parted cautiously and Old Wally appeared, +trailing a long gun. He had followed scarcely a dozen of the +buck's jumps when he looked back and saw me watching him from +beside a great maple. + +"Just a-follerin one o' my tarnal sheep. Strayed off day 'fore +yesterday. Hain't seen 'im, hev ye?" he bawled across. + +"Just went along; ten or twelve points on his horns. And say, +Wally--" + +The old sinner, who was glancing about furtively to see if the +white sand showed any blood stains,--looked up quickly at the +changed tone. + +"You let those sheep of yours alone till the first of October; +then I'll help you round 'em up. Just now they're worth forty +dollars apiece to the state. I'll see that the warden collects +it, too, if you shoot another." + +"Sho! Mister, I ain't a-shootin' no deer. Hain't seen a deer +round here in ten year or more. I just took a crack at a +pa'tridge 'at kwitted at me, top o' a stump"-- + +But as he vanished among the hemlocks, trailing his old gun, I +knew that he understood the threat. To make the matter sure I +drove the deer out of the pond that night, giving them the first +of a series of rude lessons in caution, until the falling leaves +should make them wild enough to take care of themselves. + + + +STILL HUNTING + +October, the superb month for one who loves the forest, found me +again in the same woods, this time not to watch and, learn, but +to follow the big buck to his death. Old Wally was ahead of me; +but the falling leaves had done their work well. The deer had +left the pond at his approach. Here and there on the ridges I +found their tracks, and saw them at a distance, shy, wild, alert, +ready to take care of themselves in any emergency. The big buck +led them everywhere. Already his spirit, grown keen in long +battle against his enemies, dominated them all. Even the fawns +had learned fear, and followed it as their salvation. + +Then began the most fascinating experience that comes to one who +haunts the woods--the first, thrilling, glorious days of the +still-hunter's schooling, with the frost-colored October woods +for a schoolroom, and Nature herself for the all-wise teacher. +Daylight found me far afield, while the heavy mists hung low and +the night smells still clung to the first fallen leaves, moving +swift and silent through the chill fragrant mistiness of the +lowlands, eye and ear alert for every sign, and face set to the +heights where the deer were waiting. Noon found me miles away on +the hills, munching my crust thankfully in a sunny opening of the +woods, with a brook's music tinkling among the mossy stones at my +feet, and the gorgeous crimson and green and gold of the hillside +stretching down and away, like a vast Oriental rug of a giant's +weaving, to the flash and blue gleam of the distant sea. And +everywhere--Nature's last subtle touches to her picture--the +sense of a filmy veil let down ere the end was reached, a soft +haze on the glowing hilltops, a sheen as of silver mist along the +stream in the valley, a fleecy light-shot cloud on the sea, to +suggest more, and more beautiful, beyond the veil. + +Evening found me hurrying homeward through the short twilight, +along silent wood roads from which the birds had departed, +breathing deep of the pure air with its pungent tang of ripened +leaves, sniffing the first night smells, listening now for the +yap of a fox, now for the distant bay of a dog to guide me in a +short cut over the hills to where my room in the old farmhouse +was waiting. + +It mattered little that, far behind me (though not so far from +where the trail ended), the big buck began his twilight wandering +along the ridges, sniffing alertly at the vanishing scent of the +man on his feeding ground. The best things that a hunter brings +home are in his heart, not in his game bag; and a free deer meant +another long glorious day following him through the October +woods, making the tyro's mistakes, to be sure, but feeling also +the tyro's thrill and the tyro's wonder, and the consciousness of +growing power and skill to read in a new language the secrets +that the moss and leaves hide so innocently. + +There was so much to note and learn and remember in those days! A +bit of moss with that curiously measured angular cut in it, as if +the wood folk had taken to studying Euclid,--how wonderful it was +at first! The deer had been here; his foot drew that sharp +triangle; and I must measure and feel it carefully, and press +aside the moss, and study the leaves, to know whether it were my +big buck or no, and how long since he had passed, and whether he +were feeding or running or just nosing about and watching the +valley below. And all that is much to learn from a tiny triangle +in the moss, with imaginary a, b, c's clinging to the dried moss +blossoms. + +How careful one had to be! Every shift of wind, every cloud +shadow had to be noted. The lesson of a dewdrop, splashed from a +leaf in the early morning; the testimony of a crushed flower, or +a broken brake, or a bending grass blade; the counsel of a bit of +bark frayed from a birch tree, with a shred of deer-velvet +clinging to it,--all these were vastly significant and +interesting. Every copse and hiding place and cathedral aisle of +the big woods in front must be searched with quiet eyes far +ahead, as one glided silently from tree to tree. That depression +in the gray moss of a fir thicket, with two others near it--three +deer lay down there last night; no, this morning; no, scarcely an +hour ago, and the dim traces along the ridge show no sign of +hurry or alarm. So I move on, following surely the trail that, +only a few days since, would have been invisible as the trail of +a fish in the lake to my unschooled eyes, searching, searching +everywhere for dim forms gliding among the trees, till--a scream, +a whistle, a rush away! And I know that the bluejay, which has +been gliding after me curiously the last ten minutes,--has +fathomed my intentions and flown ahead to alarm the deer, which +are now bounding away for denser cover. + +I brush ahead heedlessly, knowing that caution here only wastes +time, and study the fresh trail where the quarry jumped away in +alarm. Straight down the wind it goes. Cunning old buck! He has +no idea what Bluejay's alarm was about, but a warning, whether of +crow or jay or tainted wind or snapping twig, is never lost on +the wood folk. Now as he bounds along, cleaving the woods like a +living bolt, yet stopping short every hundred yards or so to +whirl and listen and sort the messages that the wood wires bring +to him, he is perfectly sure of himself and his little flock, +knowing that if danger follow down wind, his own nose will tell +him all about it. I glance at the sun; only another hour of +light, and I am six miles from home. I glance at the jay, +flitting about restlessly in a mixture of mischief and curiosity, +whistling his too-loo-loo loudly as a sign to the fleeing game +that I am right here and that he sees me. Then I take up the back +trail, planning another day. + +So the days went by, one after another; the big buck, aided by +his friends the birds, held his own against my craft and +patience. He grew more wild and alert with every hunt, and kept +so far ahead of me that only once, before the snow blew, did I +have even the chance of stalking him, and then the cunning old +fellow foiled me again masterfully. + +Old Wally was afield too; but, so far as I could read from the +woods' record, he fared no better than I on the trail of the +buck. Once, when I knew my game was miles ahead, I heard the +longdrawn whang of Wally's old gun across a little valley. +Presently the brush began to crackle, and a small doe came +jumping among the trees straight towards me. Within thirty feet +she saw me, caught herself at the top of her jump, came straight +down, and stood an instant as if turned to stone, with a spruce +branch bending over to hide her from my eyes. Then, when I moved +not, having no desire to kill a doe but only to watch the +beautiful creature, she turned, glided a few steps, and went +bounding away along the ridge. + +Old Wally came in a little while, not following the trail,--he +had no skill nor patience for that,--but with a woodsman's +instinct following up the general direction of his game. Not far +from where the doe had first appeared he stopped, looked all +around keenly, then rested his hands on the end of his long gun +barrel, and put his chin on his hands. + +"Drat it all! Never tetched 'im again. That paowder o' mine +hain't wuth a cent. You wait till snow blows,"--addressing the +silent woods at large,--"then I'll get me some paowder as is +paowder, and foller the critter, and I'll show ye"-- + +Old Wally said never a word, but all this was in his face and +attitude as he leaned moodily on his long gun. And I watched him, +chuckling, from my hiding among the rocks, till with curious +instinct he vanished down the ridge behind the very thicket where +I had seen the doe flash out of sight a moment before. + +When I saw him again he was deep in less creditable business. It +was a perfect autumn day,--the air full of light and color, the +fragrant woods resting under the soft haze like a great bouquet +of Nature's own culling, birds, bees and squirrels frolicking all +day long amidst the trees, yet doing an astonishing amount of +work in gathering each one his harvest for the cold dark days +that were coming. + +At daylight, from the top of a hill, I looked down on a little +clearing and saw the first signs of the game I was seeking. There +had been what old people call a duck-frost. In the meadows and +along the fringes of the woods the white rime lay thick and +powdery on grass and dead leaves; every foot that touched it +left a black mark, as if seared with a hot iron, when the sun +came up and shone upon it. Across the field three black trails +meandered away from the brook; but alas! under the fringe of +evergreen was another trail, that of a man, which crept and +halted and hid, yet drew nearer and nearer the point where the +three deer trails vanished into the wood. Then I found powder +marks, and some brush that was torn by buck shot, and three +trails that bounded away, and a tiny splash of deeper red on a +crimson maple leaf. So I left the deer to the early hunter and +wandered away up the hill for a long, lazy, satisfying day in the +woods alone. + +Presently I came to a low brush fence running zigzag through +the woods, with snares set every few yards in the partridge and +rabbit runs. At the third opening a fine cock partridge swung +limp and lifeless from a twitch-up. The cruel wire had torn his +neck under his beautiful ruff; the broken wing quills showed +how terrible had been his struggle. Hung by the neck till dead!-- +an atrocious fate to mete out to a noble bird. I followed the +hedge of snares for a couple of hundred yards, finding three +more strangled grouse and a brown rabbit. Then I sat down in +a beautiful spot to watch the life about me, and to catch the +snarer at his abominable work. + +The sun climbed higher and blotted out the four trails in the +field below. Red squirrels came down close to my head to chatter +and scold and drive me out of the solitude. A beautiful gray +squirrel went tearing by among the branches, pursued by one of +the savage little reds that nipped and snarled at his heels. The +two cannot live together, and the gray must always go. Jays +stopped spying on the squirrels--to see and remember where their +winter stores were hidden--and lingered near me, whistling their +curiosity at the silent man below. None but jays gave any heed to +the five grim corpses swinging by their necks over the deadly +hedge, and to them it was only a new sensation. + +Then a cruel thing happened,--one of the many tragedies that pass +unnoticed in the woods. There was a scurry in the underbrush, and +strange cries like those of an agonized child, only tiny and +distant, as if heard in a phonograph. Over the sounds a crow +hovered and rose and fell, in his intense absorption seeing +nothing but the creature below. Suddenly he swooped like a hawk +into a thicket, and out of the cover sprang a leveret (young +hare), only to crouch shivering in the open space under a +hemlock's drooping branches. There the crow headed him, struck +once, twice, three times, straight hard blows with his powerful +beak; and when I ran to the spot the leveret lay quite dead with +his skull split, while the crow went flapping wildly to the tree +tops, giving the danger cry to the flock that was gossiping in +the sunshine on the ridge across the valley. + +The woods were all still after that; jays and squirrels seemed +appalled at the tragedy, and avoided me as if I were responsible +for the still little body under the hemlock tips. An hour passed; +then, a quarter-mile away, in the direction that the deer had +taken in the early morning, a single jay set up his cry, the cry +of something new passing in the woods. Two or three others joined +him; the cry came nearer. A flock of crossbills went whistling +overhead, coming from the same direction. Then, as I slipped away +into an evergreen thicket, a partridge came whirring up, and +darted by me like a brown arrow driven by the bending branches +behind him, flicking the twigs sharply with his wings as he drove +along. And then, on the path of his last forerunner, Old Wally +appeared, his keen eyes searching his murderous gibbetline +expectantly. + +Now Old Wally was held in great reputation by the Nimrods of the +village, because he hunted partridges, not with "scatter-gun" and +dog,--such amateurish bungling he disdained and swore +against,--but in the good old-fashioned way of stalking with a +rifle. And when he brought his bunch of birds to market, his +admirers pointed with pride to the marks of his wondrous skill. +Here was a bird with the head hanging by a thread of skin; there +one with its neck broken; there a furrow along the top of the +head; and here--perfect work!--a partridge with both eyes gone, +showing the course of his unerring bullet. + +Not ten yards from my hiding place he took down a partridge from +its gallows, fumbled a pointed stick out of his pocket, ran it +through the bird's neck, and stowed the creature that had died +miserably, without a chance for its life, away in one of his big +pockets, a self-satisfied grin on his face as he glanced down the +hedge and saw another bird swinging. So he followed his hangman's +hedge, treating each bird to his pointed stick, carefully +resetting the snares after him and clearing away the fallen +leaves from the fatal pathways. When he came to the rabbit he +harled him dexterously, slipped him over his long gun barrel, +took his bearings in a quick look, and struck over the ridge for +another southern hillside. + +Here, at last, was the secret of Wally's boasted skill in +partridge hunting with a rifle. Spite of my indignation at the +snare line, the cruel death which gaped day and night for the +game as it ran about heedlessly in the fancied security of its +own coverts, a humorous, half shame-faced feeling of admiration +would creep in as I thought of the old sinner's cunning, and +remembered his look of disdain when he met me one day, with a +"scatter-gun" in my hands and old Don following obediently at +heel. Thinking that in his long life he must have learned many +things in the woods that I would be glad to know, I had invited +him cordially to join me. But he only withered me with the +contempt in his hawk eyes, and wiggled his toe as if holding back +a kick from my honest dog with difficulty. + +"Go hunting with ye? Not much, Mister. Scarin' a pa'tridge to +death with a dum dog, and then turnin' a handful o' shot loose on +the critter, an' call it huntin'! That's the way to kill a +pa'tridge, the on'y decent way"--and he pulled a bird out of his +pocket, pointing to a clean hole through the head where the eyes +had been. + +When he had gone I kicked the hedge to pieces quickly, cut the +twitch-ups at the butts and threw them with their wire nooses far +into the thickets, and posted a warning in a cleft stick on the +site of the last gibbet. Then I followed Wally to a second and +third line of snares, which were treated in the same rough way, +and watched him with curiously mingled feelings of detestation +and amusement as he sneaked down the dense hillside with tread +light as Leatherstocking, the old gun over his shoulder, his +pockets bulging enormously, and a string of hanged rabbits +swinging to and fro on his gun barrel, as if in death they had +caught the dizzy motion and could not quit it while the woods +they had loved and lived in threw their long sad shadows over +them. So they came to the meadow, into which they had so often +come limping down to play or feed among the twilight shadows, +and crossed it for the last time on Wally's gun barrel, +swinging, swinging. + +The leaves were falling thickly now; they formed a dry, hard +carpet over which it was impossible to follow game accurately, +and they rustled a sharp warning underfoot if but a wood mouse +ran over them. It was of little use to still-hunt the wary old +buck till the rains should soften the carpet, or a snowfall make +tracking like boys' play. But I tried it once more; found the +quarry on a ridge deep in the woods, and followed--more by +good-luck than by good management--till, late in the afternoon, I +saw the buck with two smaller deer standing far away on a half- +cleared hillside, quietly watching a wide stretch of country +below. Beyond them the ridge narrowed gradually to a long neck, +ending in a high open bluff above the river. + +There I tried my last hunter's dodge--manoeuvered craftily till +near the deer, which were hidden by dense thickets, and rushed +straight at them, thinking they would either break away down the +open hillside, and so give me a running shot, or else rush +straightaway at the sudden alarm and be caught on the bluff +beyond. + +Was it simple instinct, I wonder, or did the buck that had grown +old in hunter's wiles feel what was passing in my mind, and like +a flash take the chance that would save, not only his own life, +but the lives of the two that followed him? At the first alarm +they separated; the two smaller deer broke away down the +hillside, giving me as pretty a shot as one could wish. But I +scarcely noticed them; my eyes were following eagerly a swift +waving of brush tops, which told me that the big buck was jumping +away, straight into the natural trap ahead. + +I followed on the run till the ridge narrowed so that I could see +across it on either side, then slowly, carefully, steadying my +nerves for the shot. The river was all about him now, too wide to +jump, too steep-banked to climb down; the only way out was past +me. I gripped the rifle hard, holding it at a ready as I moved +forward, watching either side for a slinking form among the +scattered coverts. At last, at last! and how easy, how perfectly +I had trapped him! My heart was singing as I stole along. + +The tracks moved straight on; first an easy run, then a swift, +hard rush as they approached the river. But what was this? The +whole end of the bluff was under my eye, and no buck standing at +bay or running wildly along the bank to escape. The tracks moved +straight on to the edge in great leaps; my heart quickened its +beat as if I were nerving myself for a supreme effort. Would he +do it? would he dare? + +A foot this side the brink the lichens were torn away where the +sharp hoofs had cut down to solid earth. Thirty feet away, well +over the farther bank and ten feet below the level where I stood, +the fresh earth showed clearly among the hoof-torn moss. Far +below, the river fretted and roared in a white rush of rapids. He +had taken the jump, a jump that made one's nostrils spread and +his breath come hard as he measured it with his eye. Somewhere, +over in the spruces' shadow there, he was hiding, watching me no +doubt to see if I would dare follow. + +That was the last of the autumn woods for me. If I had only seen +him--just one splendid glimpse as he shot over and poised in +mid-air, turning for the down plunge! That was my only regret as +I turned slowly away, the river singing beside me and the shadows +lengthening along the home trail. + + + +WINTER TRAILS + +The snow had come, and with it a Christmas holiday. For weeks I +had looked longingly out of college windows as the first +tracking-snows came sifting down, my thoughts turning from books +and the problems of human wisdom to the winter woods, with their +wide white pages written all over by the feet of wild things. +Then the sun would shine again, and I knew that the records were +washed clean, and the hard-packed leaves as innocent of footmarks +as the beach where plover feed when a great wave has chased them +away. On the twentieth a change came. Outside the snow fell +heavily, two days and a night; inside, books were packed away, +professors said Merry Christmas, and students were scattering, +like a bevy of flushed quail, to all points of the compass for +the holidays. The afternoon of the twenty-first found me again in +my room under the eaves of the old farmhouse. + +Before dark I had taken a wide run over the hills and through the +woods to the place of my summer camp. How wonderful it all was! +The great woods were covered deep with their pure white mantle; +not a fleck, not a track soiled its even whiteness; for the last +soft flakes were lingering in the air, and fox and grouse and +hare and lucivee were still keeping the storm truce, hidden deep +in their coverts. Every fir and spruce and hemlock had gone to +building fairy grottoes as the snow packed their lower branches, +under which all sorts of wonders and beauties might be hidden, to +say nothing of the wild things for whom Nature had been building +innumerable tents of white and green as they slept. The silence +was absolute, the forest's unconscious tribute to the Wonder +Worker. Even the trout brook, running black as night among its +white-capped boulders and delicate arches of frost and fern work, +between massive banks of feathery white and green, had stopped +its idle chatter and tinkled a low bell under the ice, as if only +the Angelus could express the wonder of the world. + +As I came back softly in the twilight a movement in an evergreen +ahead caught my eye, and I stopped for one of the rare sights of +the woods,--a partridge going to sleep in a warm room of his own +making. He looked all about among the trees most carefully, +listened, kwit-kwitted in a low voice to himself, then, with a +sudden plunge, swooped downward head-first into the snow. I stole +to the spot where he had disappeared, noted the direction of his +tunnel, and fell forward with arms outstretched, thinking perhaps +to catch him under me and examine his feet to see how his natural +snowshoes (Nature's winter gift to every grouse) were developing, +before letting him go again. But the grouse was an old bird, not +to be caught napping, who had thought on the possibilities of +being followed ere he made his plunge. He had ploughed under the +snow for a couple of feet, then swerved sharply to the left and +made a little chamber for himself just under some snow-packed +spruce tips, with a foot of snow for a blanket over him. When I +fell forward, disturbing his rest most rudely ere he had time to +wink the snow out of his eyes, he burst out with a great whirr +and sputter between my left hand and my head, scattering snow all +over me, and thundered off through the startled woods, flicking a +branch here and there with his wings, and shaking down a great +white shower as he rushed away for deeper solitudes. There, no +doubt, he went to sleep in the evergreens, congratulating himself +on his escape and preferring to take his chances with the owl, +rather than with some other ground-prowler that might come nosing +into his hole before the light snow had time to fill it up +effectually behind him. + +Next morning I was early afield, heading for a ridge where I +thought the deer of the neighborhood might congregate with the +intention of yarding for the winter. At the foot of a wild little +natural meadow, made centuries ago by the beavers, I found the +trail of two deer which had been helping themselves to some hay +that had been cut and stacked there the previous summer. My big +buck was not with them; so I left the trail in peace to push +through a belt of woods and across a pond to an old road that led +for a mile or two towards the ridge I was seeking. + +Early as I was, the wood folk were ahead of me. Their tracks were +everywhere, eager, hungry tracks, that poked their noses into +every possible hiding place of food or game, showing how the +two-days' fast had whetted their appetites and set them to +running keenly the moment the last flakes were down and the storm +truce ended. + +A suspicious-looking clump of evergreens, where something had +brushed the snow rudely from the feathery tips, stopped me as I +hurried down the old road. Under the evergreens was a hole in the +snow, and at the bottom of the hole hard inverted cups made by +deer's feet. I followed on to another hole in the snow (it could +scarcely be called a trail) and then to another, and another, +some twelve or fifteen feet apart, leading in swift bounds to +some big timber. There the curious track separated into three +deer trails, one of which might well be that of a ten-point buck. +Here was luck,--luck to find my quarry so early on the first day +out, and better luck that, during my long absence, the cunning +animal had kept himself and his consort clear of Old Wally and +his devices. + +When I ran to examine the back trail more carefully, I found that +the deer had passed the night in a dense thicket of evergreen, on +a hilltop overlooking the road. They had come down the hill, +picking their way among the stumps of a burned clearing, stepping +carefully in each other's tracks so as to make but a single +trail. At the road they had leaped clear across from one thicket +to another, leaving never a trace on the bare even whiteness. One +might have passed along the road a score of times without +noticing that game had crossed. There was no doubt now that these +were deer that had been often hunted, and that had learned their +cunning from long experience. + +I followed them rapidly till they began feeding in a little +valley, then with much caution, stealing from tree to thicket, +giving scant attention to the trail, but searching the woods +ahead; for the last "sign" showed that I was now but a few +minutes behind the deer. There they were at last, two graceful +forms gliding like gray shadows among the snow-laden branches. +But in vain I searched for a lordly head with wide rough antlers +sweeping proudly over the brow; my buck was not there. Scarcely +had I made the discovery when there was a whistle and a plunge up +on the hill on my left, and I had one swift glimpse of him, a +splendid creature, as he bounded away. + +By way of general precaution, or else led by some strange sixth +sense of danger, he had left his companions feeding and mounted +the hill, where he could look back on his own track. There he had +been watching me for half an hour, till I approached too near, +when he sounded the alarm and was off. I read it all from the +trail a few moments later. + +It was of no use to follow him, for he ran straight down wind. +The two others had gone quartering off at right angles to his +course, obeying his signal promptly, but having as yet no idea of +what danger followed them. When alarmed in this way, deer never +run far before halting to sniff and listen. Then, if not +disturbed, they run off again, circling back and down wind so +as to catch from a distance the scent of anything that follows on +their trail. + +I sat still where I was for a good hour, watching the chickadees +and red squirrels that found me speedily, and refusing to move +for all the peekings and whistlings of a jay that would fain +satisfy his curiosity as to whether I meant harm to the deer, or +were just benumbed by the cold and incapable of further mischief. +When I went on I left some scattered bits of meat from my lunch +to keep him busy in case the deer were near; but there was no +need of the precaution. The two had learned the leader's lesson +of caution well, and ran for a mile, with many haltings and +circlings, before they began to feed again. Even then they moved +along at a good pace as they fed, till a mile farther on, when, +as I had forelayed, the buck came down from a hill to join them, +and all three moved off toward the big ridge, feeding as they +went. + +Then began a long chase, a chase which for the deer meant a +straightaway game, and for me a series of wide circles--never +following the trail directly, but approaching it at intervals +from leeward, hoping to circle ahead of the deer and stalk them +at last from an unexpected quarter. + +Once, when I looked down from a bare hilltop into a valley where +the trail ran, I had a most interesting glimpse of the big buck +doing the same thing from a hill farther on too far away for a +shot, but near enough to see plainly through my field glass. The +deer were farther ahead than I supposed. They had made a run for +it, intending to rest after first putting a good space between +them and anything that might follow. Now they were undoubtedly +lying down in some far-away thicket, their minds at rest, but +their four feet doubled under them for a jump at short notice. +Trust your nose, but keep your feet under you--that is deer +wisdom on going to sleep. Meanwhile, to take no chances, the wary +old leader had circled back, to wind the trail and watch it +awhile from a distance before joining them in their rest. + +He stood stock-still in his hiding, so still that one might have +passed close by without noticing him. But his head was above the +low evergreens; eyes, ears, and nose were busy giving him perfect +report of everything that passed in the woods. + +I started to stalk him promptly, creeping up the hill behind him, +chuckling to myself at the rare sport of catching a wild thing at +his own game. But before I sighted him again he grew uneasy (the +snow tells everything), trotted down hill to the trail, and put +his nose into it here and there to be sure it was not polluted. +Then--another of his endless devices to make the noonday siesta +full of contentment--he followed the back track a little way, +stepping carefully in his own footprints; branched off on the +other side of the trail, and so circled swiftly back to join his +little flock, leaving behind him a sad puzzle of disputing tracks +for any novice that might follow him. + +So the interesting chase went on all day, skill against keener +cunning, instinct against finer instinct, through the white +wonder of the winter woods, till, late in the afternoon, it swung +back towards the starting point. The deer had undoubtedly +intended to begin their yard that day on the ridge I had +selected; for at noon I crossed the trail of the two from the +haystack, heading as if by mutual understanding in that +direction. But the big buck, feeling that he was followed, +cunningly led his charge away from the spot, so as to give no +hint of the proposed winter quarters to the enemy that was after +him. Just as the long shadows were stretching across all the +valleys from hill to hill, and the sun vanished into the last +gray bank of clouds on the horizon, my deer recrossed the old +road, leaping it, as in the morning, so as to leave no telltale +track, and climbed the hill to the dense thicket where they had +passed the previous night. + +Here was my last chance, and I studied it deliberately. The deer +were there, safe within the evergreens, I had no doubt, using +their eyes for the open hillside in front and their noses for the +woods behind. It was useless to attempt stalking from any +direction, for the cover was so thick that a fox could hardly +creep through without alarming ears far less sensitive than a +deer's. Skill had failed; their cunning was too much for me. I +must now try an appeal to curiosity. + +I crept up the hill flat on my face, keeping stump or scrub +spruce always between me and the thicket on the hilltop. The wind +was in my favor; I had only their eyes to consider. Somewhere, +just within the shadow, at least one pair were sweeping the back +track keenly; so I kept well away from it, creeping slowly up +till I rested behind a great burned stump within forty yards of +my game. There I fastened a red bandanna handkerchief to a stick +and waved it slowly above the stump. + +Almost instantly there was a snort and a rustle of bushes in the +thicket above me. Peeking out I saw the evergreens moving +nervously; a doe's head appeared, her ears set forward, her eyes +glistening. I waved the handkerchief more erratically. My rifle +lay across the stump's roots, pointing straight at her; +but she was not the game I was hunting. Some more waving and +dancing of the bright color, some more nervous twitchings and +rustlings in the evergreens, then a whistle and a rush; the doe +disappeared; the movement ceased; the thicket was silent as the +winter woods behind me. + +"They are just inside," I thought, "pawing the snow to get their +courage up to come and see." So the handkerchief danced on--one, +two, five minutes passed in silence; then something made me turn +round. There in plain sight behind me, just this side the fringe +of evergreen that lined the old road, stood my three deer in a +row--the big buck on the right--like three beautiful statues, +their ears all forward, their eyes fixed with intensest curiosity +on the man lying at full length in the snow with the queer red +flag above his head. + +My first motion broke up the pretty tableau. Before I could reach +for my rifle the deer whirled and vanished like three winks, +leaving the heavy evergreen tips nodding and blinking behind them +in a shower of snow. + +Tired as I was, I took a last run to see from the trail how it +all happened. The deer had been standing just within the thicket +as I approached. All three had seen the handkerchief; the tracks +showed that they had pawed the snow and moved about nervously. +When the leader whistled they had bounded straightaway down the +steep on the other side. But the farms lay in that direction, so +they had skirted the base of the hill, keeping within the fringe +of woods and heading back for their morning trail, till the red +flag caught their eye again, and strong curiosity had halted them +for another look. + +Thus the long hunt ended at twilight within sight of the spot +where it began in the gray morning stillness. With marvelous +cunning the deer circled into their old tracks and followed them +till night turned them aside into a thicket. This I discovered at +daylight next morning. + +That day a change came; first a south wind, then in succession a +thaw, a mist, a rain turning to snow, a cold wind and a bitter +frost. Next day when I entered the woods a brittle crust made +silent traveling impossible, and over the rocks and bare places +was a sheet of ice covered thinly with snow. + +I was out all day, less in hope of finding deer than of watching +the wild things; but at noon, as I sat eating my lunch, I heard a +rapid running, crunch, crunch, crunch, on the ridge above me. I +stole up, quietly as I could, to find the fresh trails of my +three deer. They were running from fright evidently, and +were very tired, as the short irregular jumps showed. Once, where +the two leaders cleared a fallen log, the third deer had fallen +heavily; and all three trails showed blood stains where the crust +had cut into their legs. + +I waited there on the trail to see what was following--to give +right of way to any hunter, but with a good stout stick handy, +for dealing with dogs, which sometimes ran wild in the woods and +harried the deer. For a long quarter-hour the woods were all +still; then the jays, which had come whistling up on the trail, +flew back screaming and scolding, and a huge yellow mongrel, +showing hound's blood in his ears and nose, came slipping, +limping, whining over the crust. I waited behind a tree till he +was up with me, when I jumped out and caught him a resounding +thump on the ribs. As he ran yelping away I fired my rifle over +his head, and sent the good club with a vengeance to knock his +heels from under him. A fresh outburst of howls inspired me with +hope. Perhaps he would remember now to let deer alone for the +winter. + +Above the noise of canine lamentation I caught the faint click of +snowshoes, and hid again to catch the cur's owner at his +contemptible work. But the sound stopped far back on the trail at +the sudden uproar. + +Through the trees I caught glimpses of a fur cap and a long gun +and the hawk face of Old Wally, peeking, listening, creeping on +the trail, and stepping gingerly at last down the valley, ashamed +or afraid of being caught at his unlawful hunting. "An ill wind, +but it blows me good," I thought, as I took up the trail of the +deer, half ashamed myself to take advantage of them when tired by +the dog's chasing. + +There was no need of commiseration, however; now that the dog was +out of the way they could take care of themselves very well. I +found them resting only a short distance ahead; but when I +attempted to stalk them from leeward the noise of my approach on +the crust sent them off with a rush before I caught even a +glimpse of them in their thicket. + +I gave up caution then and there. I was fresh and the deer were +tired,--why not run them down and get a fair shot before the sun +went down and left the woods too dark to see a rifle sight? I had +heard that the Indians used sometimes to try running a deer down +afoot in the old days; here was the chance to try a new +experience. It was fearfully hard traveling without snowshoes, to +be sure; but that seemed only to even-up chances fairly with the +deer. At the thought I ran on, giving no heed when the quarry +jumped again just ahead of me, but pushing them steadily, mile +after mile, till I realized with a thrill that I was gaining +rapidly, that their pauses grew more and more frequent, and I had +constant glimpses of deer ahead among the trees--never of the big +buck, but of the two does, who were struggling desperately to +follow their leader as he kept well ahead of them breaking the +way. Then realizing, I think, that he was followed by strength +rather than by skill or cunning, the noble old fellow tried a +last trick, which came near being the end of my hunting +altogether. + +The trail turned suddenly to a high open ridge with scattered +thickets here and there. As they labored up the slope I had the +does in plain sight. On top the snow was light, and they bounded +ahead with fresh strength. The trail led straight along the edge +of a cliff, beyond which the deer had vanished. They had stopped +running here; I noticed with amazement that they had walked with +quick short steps across the open. Eager for a sight of the buck +I saw only the thin powdering of snow; I forgot the glare ice +that covered the rock beneath. The deer's sharp hoofs had clung +to the very edge securely. My heedless feet had barely struck the +rock when they slipped and I shot over the cliff, thirty feet to +the rocks below. Even as I fell and the rifle flew from my grasp, +I heard the buck's loud whistle from the thicket where he was +watching me, and then the heavy plunge of the deer as they jumped +away. + +A great drift at the foot of the cliff saved me. I picked myself +up, fearfully bruised but with nothing broken, found my rifle and +limped away four miles through the woods to the road, thinking as +I went that I was well served for having delivered the deer "from +the power of the dog," only to take advantage of their long run +to secure a head that my skill had failed to win. I wondered, +with an extra twinge in my limp, whether I had saved Old Wally by +taking the chase out of his hands unceremoniously. Above all, I +wondered--and here I would gladly follow another trail over the +same ground--whether the noble beast, grown weary with running, +his splendid strength failing for the first time, and his little, +long-tended flock ready to give in and have the tragedy over, +knew just what he was doing in mincing along the cliff's edge +with his heedless enemy close behind. What did he think and feel, +looking back from his hiding, and what did his loud whistle mean? +But that is always the despair of studying the wild things. When +your problem is almost solved, night comes and the trail ends. + +When I could walk again easily vacation was over, the law was on, +and the deer were safe. + + + +SNOW BOUND + +March is a weary month for the wood folk. One who follows them +then has it borne in upon him continually that life is a +struggle,--a keen, hard, hunger-driven struggle to find enough to +keep a-going and sleep warm till the tardy sun comes north again +with his rich living. The fall abundance of stored food has all +been eaten, except in out-of-the-way corners that one stumbles +upon in a long day's wandering; the game also is wary and hard +to find from being constantly hunted by eager enemies. + +It is then that the sparrow falleth. You find him on the snow, a +wind-blown feather guiding your eye to the open where he fell in +mid-flight; or under the tree, which shows that he lost his grip +in the night. His empty crop tells the whole pitiful story, and +why you find him there cold and dead, his toes curled up and his +body feather-light. You would find more but for the fact that +hunger-pointed eyes are keener than yours and earlier abroad, and +that crow and jay and mink and wildcat have greater interest than +you in finding where the sparrow fell. + +It is then, also, that the owl, who hunts the sparrow o' nights, +grows so light from scant feeding that he cannot fly against the +wind. If he would go back to his starting point while the March +winds are out, he must needs come down close to the ground and +yewyaw towards his objective, making leeway like an old boat +without ballast or centerboard. + +The grouse have taken to bud-eating from necessity--birch buds +mostly, with occasional trips to the orchards for variety. They +live much now in the trees, which they dislike; but with a score +of hungry enemies prowling for them day and night, what can a +poor grouse do? + +When a belated snow falls, you follow their particular enemy, the +fox, where he wanders, wanders, wander's on his night's hunting. +Across the meadow, to dine on the remembrance of field +mice--alas! safe now under the crust; along the brook, where he +once caught frogs; through the thicket, where the grouse were +hatched; past the bullbrier tangle, where the covey of quail once +rested nightly; into the farmyard, where the dog is loose and the +chickens are safe under lock and key, instead of roosting in +trees; across the highway, and through the swamp, and into the +big bare empty woods; till in the sad gray morning light he digs +under the wild apple tree and sits down on the snow to eat a +frozen apple, lest his stomach cry too loudly while he sleeps the +day away and tries to forget that he is hungry. + +Everywhere it is the same story: hard times and poor hunting. +Even the chickadees are hard pressed to keep up appearances and +have their sweet love note ready at the first smell of spring in +the air. + +This was the lesson that the great woods whispered sadly when a +few idle March days found me gliding on snowshoes over the old +familiar ground. Wild geese had honked an invitation from the +South Shore; but one can never study a wild goose; the only +satisfaction is to see him swing in on broad wings over the +decoys--one glorious moment ere the gun speaks and the dog jumps +and everything is spoiled. So I left gun and rifle behind, and +went off to the woods of happy memories to see how my deer were +faring. + +The wonder of the snow was gone; there was left only its cold +bitterness and a vague sense that it ought no longer to cumber +the ground, but would better go away as soon as possible and +spare the wood folk any more suffering. The litter of a score of +storms covered its soiled rough surface; every shred of bark had +left its dark stain where the decaying sap had melted and spread +in the midday sun. The hard crust, which made such excellent +running for my snowshoes, seemed bitterly cruel when I thought of +the starving wild things and of the abundance of food on the +brown earth, just four feet below their hungry bills and noses. + +The winter bad been unusually severe. Reports had come to me from +the North Woods of deep snows, and of deer dying of starvation +and cold in their yards. I confess that I was anxious as I +hurried along. Now that the hunt was over and the deer had won, +they belonged to me more than ever more even than if the stuffed +head of the buck looked down on my hall, instead of resting +proudly over his own strong shoulders. My snowshoes clicked a +rapid march through the sad gray woods, while the March wind +thrummed an accompaniment high up among the bare branches, and +the ground-spruce nodded briskly, beating time with their green +tips, as if glad of any sound or music that would break the chill +silence until the birds came back. + +Here and there the snow told stories; gay stories, tragic +stories, sad, wandering, patient stories of the little +woods-people, which the frost had hardened into crust, as if +Nature would keep their memorials forever, like the records on +the sunhardened bricks of Babylon. But would the deer live? Would +the big buck's cunning provide a yard large enough for wide +wandering, with plenty of browse along the paths to carry his +flock safely through the winter's hunger? That was a story, +waiting somewhere ahead, which made me hurry away from the +foot-written records that otherwise would have kept me busy for +hours. + +Crossbills called welcome to me, high overhead. Nothing can +starve them out. A red squirrel rushed headlong out of his hollow +tree at the first click of my snowshoes. Nothing can check his +curiosity or his scolding except his wife, whom he likes, and the +weasel, whom he is mortally afraid of. Chickadees followed me +shyly with their blandishments--tsic-a-deeee? with that gentle +up-slide of questioning. "Is the spring really coming? Are--are +you a harbinger?" + +But the snowshoes clicked on, away from the sweet blarney, +Leaving behind the little flatterers who were honestly glad to +see me in the woods again, and who would fain have delayed me. +Other questions, stern ones, were calling ahead. Would the cur +dogs find the yard and exterminate the innocents? Would Old +Wally--but no; Wally had the "rheumatiz," and was out of the +running. Ill-wind blew the deer good that time; else he would +long ago have run them down on snowshoes and cut their throats, +as if they were indeed his "tarnal sheep" that had run wild in +the woods. + +At the southern end of a great hardwood ridge I found the first +path of their yard. It was half filled with snow, unused since +the last two storms. A glance on either side, where everything +eatable within reach of a deer's neck had long ago been cropped +close, showed plainly why the path was abandoned. I followed it a +short distance before running into another path, and another, +then into a great tangle of deer ways spreading out crisscross +over the eastern and southern slopes of the ridge. + +In some of the paths were fresh deer tracks and the signs of +recent feeding. My heart jumped at sight of one great hoof mark. +I had measured and studied it too often to fail to recognize its +owner. There was browse here still, to be had for the cropping. I +began to be hopeful for my little flock, and to feel a higher +regard for their leader, who could plan a yard, it seemed, as +well as a flight, and who could not be deceived by early +abundance into outlining a small yard, forgetting the late snows +and the spring hunger. + +I was stooping to examine the more recent signs, when a sharp +snort made me raise my head quickly. In the path before me stood +a doe, all a-quiver, her feet still braced from the suddenness +with which she had stopped at sight of an unknown object blocking +the path ahead. Behind her two other deer checked themselves and +stood like statues, unable to see, but obeying their leader +promptly. + +All three were frightened and excited, not simply curious, as +they would have been had they found me in their path +unexpectedly. The widespread nostrils and heaving sides showed +that they had been running hard. Those in the rear (I could see +them over the top of the scrub spruce, behind which I crouched in +the path) said in every muscle: "Go on! No matter what it is, the +danger behind is worse. Go on, go on!" Insistence was in the air. +The doe felt it and bounded aside. The crust had softened in the +sun, and she plunged through it when she struck, cr-r-runch, +cr-r-runch, up to her sides at every jump. The others followed, +just swinging their heads for a look and a sniff at me, springing +from hole to hole in the snow, and making but a single track. A +dozen jumps and they struck another path and turned into it, +running as before down the ridge. In the swift glimpses they gave +me I noticed with satisfaction that, though thin and a bit ragged +in appearance, they were by no means starved. The veteran leader +had provided well for his little family. + +I followed their back track up the ridge for perhaps half a mile, +when another track made me turn aside. Two days before, a single +deer had been driven out of the yard at a point where three paths +met. She had been running down the ridge when something in front +met her and drove her headlong out of her course. The soft edges +of the path were cut and torn by suspicious claw marks. + +I followed her flight anxiously, finding here and there, where +the snow had been softest, dog tracks big and little. The deer +was tired from long running, apparently; the deep holes in the +snow, where she had broken through the crust, were not half the +regular distance apart. A little way from the path I found her, +cold and stiff, her throat horribly torn by the pack which had +run her to death. Her hind feet were still doubled under her, +just as she had landed from her last despairing jump, when the +tired muscles could do no more, and she sank down without a +struggle to let the dogs do their cruel work. + +I had barely read all this, and had not yet finished measuring +the largest tracks to see if it were her old enemy that, as dogs +frequently do, had gathered a pirate band about him and led them +forth to the slaughter of the innocents, when a far-away cry came +stealing down through the gray woods. Hark! the eager yelp of +curs and the leading hoot of a hound. I whipped out my knife to +cut a club, and was off for the sounds on a galloping run, which +is the swiftest possible gait on snowshoes. + +There were no deer paths here; for the hardwood browse, upon +which deer depend for food, grew mostly on the other sides of the +ridge. That the chase should turn this way, out of the yard's +limits showed the dogs' cunning, and that they were not new at +their evil business. They had divided their forces again, as they +had undoubtedly done when hunting the poor doe whose body I had +just found. Part of the pack hunted down the ridge in full cry, +while the rest lay in wait to spring at the flying game as it +came on and drive it out of the paths into the deep snow, where +it would speedily be at their mercy. At the thought I gripped the +club hard, promising to stop that kind of hunting for good, if +only I could get half a chance. + +Presently, above the scrape of my snowshoes, I heard the deer +coming, cr-r-runch! cr-r-runch! the heavy plunges growing shorter +and fainter, while behind the sounds an eager, whining trail-cry +grew into a fierce howl of canine exultation. Something was +telling me to hurry, hurry; that the big buck I had so often +hunted was in my power at last, and that, if I would square +accounts, I must beat the dogs, though they were nearer to him +now than I. The excitement of a new kind of hunt, a hunt to save, +not to kill, was tingling all over me when I circled a dense +thicket of firs with a rush, and there he lay, up to his +shoulders in the snow before me. + +He had taken his last jump. The splendid strength which had +carried him so far was spent now to the last ounce. He lay +resting easily in the snow, his head outstretched on the crust +before him, awaiting the tragedy that had followed him for years, +by lake and clearing and winter yard, and that burst out behind +him now with a cry to make one's nerves shudder. The glory of his +antlers was gone; he had dropped them months before; but the +mighty shoulders and sinewy neck and perfect head showed how +well, how grandly he had deserved my hunting. + +He threw up his head as I burst out upon him from an utterly +unexpected quarter--the very thing that I had so often tried to +do, in vain, in the old glorious days. "Hast thou found me, O +mine enemy? Well, here am I." That is what his eyes, great, sad, +accusing eyes, were saying as he laid his head down on the snow +again, quiet as an Indian at the torture, too proud to struggle +where nothing was to be gained but pity or derision. + +A strange, uncanny silence had settled over the woods. Wolves +cease their cry in the last swift burst of speed that will bring +the game in sight. Then the dogs broke out of the cover behind +him with a fiercer howl that was too much for even his nerves to +stand. Nothing on earth could have met such a death unmoved. No +ears, however trained, could hear that fierce cry for blood +without turning to meet it face to face. With a mighty effort the +buck. whirled in the snow and gathered himself for the tragedy. + +Far ahead of the pack came a small, swift bulldog that, with no +nose of his own for hunting, had followed the pirate leader for +mere love of killing. As he jumped for the throat, the buck, with +his last strength, reared on his hind legs, so as to get his fore +feet clear of the snow, and plunged down again with a hard, swift +sabre-cut of his right hoof. It caught the dog on the neck as he +rose on the spring, and ripped him from ear to tail. Deer and dog +came down together. Then the buck rose swiftly for his last blow, +and the knife-edged hoofs shot down like lightning; one straight, +hard drive with the crushing force of a ten-ton hammer behind +it--and his first enemy was out of the hunt forever. Before he +had time to gather himself again the big yellow brindle, with the +hound's blood showing in nose and ears,--Old Wally's dog,--leaped +into sight. His whining trail-cry changed to a fierce growl as he +sprang for the buck's nose. + +I had waited for just this moment in hiding, and jumped to meet +it. The club came down between the two heads; and there was no +reserve this time in the muscles that swung it. It caught the +brute fair on the head, where the nose begins to come up into the +skull,--and he too had harried his last deer. + +Two other curs had leaped aside with quick instinct the moment +they saw me, and vanished into the thickets, as if conscious of +their evil doing and anxious to avoid detection. But the third, a +large collie,--a dog that, when he does go wrong, becomes the +most cunning and vicious of brutes,--flew straight at my throat +with a snarl like a gray wolf cheated of his killing. I have +faced bear and panther and bull moose when the red danger-light +blazed into their eyes; but never before or since have I seen +such awful fury in a brute's face. It swept over me in an instant +that it was his life or mine; there was no question or +alternative. A lucky cut of the club disabled him, and I finished +the job on the spot, for the good of the deer and the community. + +The big buck had not moved, nor tried to, after his last great +effort. Now he only turned his head and lifted it wearily, as if +to get away from the intolerable smell of his dog enemies that +lay dying under his very nose. His great, sorrowful, questioning +eyes were turned on me continually, with a look that only +innocence could possibly meet. No man on earth, I think, could +have looked into them for a full moment and then raised his hand +to slay. + +I approached very quietly, and dragged the dogs away from him, +one by one. His eyes followed me always. His nostrils spread, his +head came up with a start when I flung the first cur aside to +leeward. But he made no motion; only his eyes had a wonderful +light in them when I dragged his last enemy, the one he had +killed himself, from under his very head and threw it after the +others. Then I sat down quietly in the snow, and we were face to +face at last. + +He feared me--I could hardly expect otherwise, while a deer has +memory--but he lay perfectly still, his head extended on the +snow, his sides heaving. After a little while he made a few +bounds forward, at right angles to the course he had been +running, with marvelous instinct remembering the nearest point in +the many paths out of which the pack had driven him. But he +stopped and lay quiet at the first sound of my snowshoes behind +him. "The chase law holds. You have caught me; I am yours,"--this +is what his sad eyes were saying. And sitting down quietly near +him again, I tried to reassure him. "You are safe. Take your own +time. No dog shall harm you now."--That is what I tried to make +him feel by the very power of my own feeling, never more strongly +roused than now for any wild creature. + +I whistled a little tune softly, which always rouses the wood +folk's curiosity; but as he lay quiet, listening, his ears shot +back and forth nervously at a score of sounds that I could not +hear, as if above the music he caught faint echoes of the last +fearful chase. Then I brought out my lunch and, nibbling a bit +myself, pushed a slice of black bread over the crust towards him +with a long stick. + +It was curious and intensely interesting to watch the struggle. +At first he pulled away, as if I would poison him. Then a new +rich odor began to steal up into his hungry nostrils. For weeks +he had not fed full; he had been running hard since daylight, and +was faint and exhausted. And in all his life he had never smelled +anything so good. He turned his head to question me with his +eyes. Slowly his nose came down, searching for the bread. "If he +would only eat!-that is a truce which I would never break," I +kept thinking over and over, and stopped eating in my eagerness +to have him share with me the hunter's crust. His nose touched +it; then through his hunger came the smell of the man--the danger +smell that had followed him day after day in the beautiful +October woods, and over white winter trails when he fled for his +life, and still the man followed. The remembrance was too much. +He raised his head with an effort and bounded away. + +I followed slowly, keeping well out to one side of his trail, and +sitting quietly within sight whenever he rested in the snow. Wild +animals soon lose their fear in the presence of man if one avoids +all excitement, even of interest, and is quiet in his motions. +His fear was gone now, but the old wild freedom and the intense +desire for life--a life which he had resigned when I appeared +suddenly before him, and the pack broke out behind--were coming +back with renewed force. His bounds grew longer, firmer, his +stops less frequent, till he broke at last into a deer path and +shook himself, as if to throw off all memory of the experience. + +From a thicket of fir a doe, that had been listening in hiding to +the sounds of his coming and to the faint unknown click, which +was the voice of my snowshoes, came out to meet him. Together +they trotted down the path, turning often to look and listen, and +vanished at last, like gray shadows, into the gray stillness of +the March woods. + + + +GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES + +Cheokhes, the mink. +Ch'geegee-lokh, the chickadee. +Cheplahgan, the bald eagle. +Chigwooltz, the bullfrog. +Clote Scarpe, a legendary hero, like Hiawatha, of the Northern +Indians. Pronounced variously, Clote Scarpe, Groscap, Gluscap, +etc. +Deedeeaskh, the blue jay. +Hukweem, the great northern diver, or loon. +Ismaques, the fish-hawk. +Kagax, the weasel. +Kakagos, the raven. +Keeokuskh, the muskrat. +Keeonekh, the otter. +Killooleet, the white-throated sparrow. +Kookooskoos, the great horned owl. +Koskomenos, the kingfisher. +Kupkawis, the barred owl. +Kwaseekho, the sheldrake. +Lhoks, the panther. +Malsun, the wolf. +Meeko,the red squirrel. +Megaleep, the caribou. +Milicete, the name of an Indian tribe; written also Malicete. +Mitches, the birch partridge, or ruffed grouse. +Moktaques, the hare. +Mooween, the black bear. +Musquash, the muskrat. +Nemox, the fisher. +Pekquam, the fisher. +Seksagadagee, the Canada grouse, or spruce partridge. +Skooktum, the trout. +Tookhees, the wood grouse. +Upweekis, the Canada lynx. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Secret of the Woods, by William J. 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