Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Next Page
OCR
VOLUME 78. NO.
JULY 14, 1904.
5 CTS. A COPY.
LE DITI and I soon found ourselves ina
very difficult place. = Vast rocks were
BEK@ about us, half-buried under fallen
trees, brush and tangled evergreens, and the
descent was so steep, so full of pitfalls, that I
feared for Edith every moment, to say nothing
of my growing apprehension lest I might never
be able to conduct her back to the railroad.
What if she were to fall into one of these
frightful holes and break a limb or disfigure
herself for life! On our wedding trip, too!
Edith did "~ bravely. She followed pru-
dently, but not too closely, on my steps, and
put-her feet in exactly the right spots. Sud-
denly we dropped into a narrow, well-made
path, the sled road or winter trail where
several years before all the timbers for the
snow-sheds had been drawn up to the line of
the railroad above. “T'he old skids and hand-
spikes lay scattered along the path, and in
many places it was quite paved with chips
and hewings. And here we shouted again,
but failed to get the report of the gun in
response, as before,
““Perhaps we are too far down among these
fir-trees for him to hear us,”” Edith said.
The old timber trail slanted down, and then
led along the bank of a brook for a mile or
more, past several old log camps, long ago
/abandoned by the axmen, and now nearly
overgrown with rank wild-raspberry shrubs,
Gangs of several hundred men must have
worked here, preparing the square timbers
for the miles of snow-shdls, They had for-
merly made openings in the forest and small
clearingg about the groups of log camyps where
they lived ; and all these open places were now
jungles of raspberry bushes, growing nine nml
ten feet in height, showing stalk g
golf-sticks and a profusion of d: k _gveert
leaves. W
In many places where the traif 1éd throuzh
these old openings it presented the aspect of
an embowered, arbored walk, overhung by
stalks so loaded with great berries that either
of us could have gathered nearly a bushel in
an honr. -
Several uum, ‘L'i we hastened along this
trail, Edith stopped and called, anxions to
get another response by gun or hail from our
missing fellow passenger. The roar of the
brook, however, which here became a torrent,
so filled the gorge that there was little or no
use in shouting. But as the last report of
the gun had seemed to come from a considera-
ble distance down the vale, we felt that we
must be going toward the place, and therefore
held on for fifteen or twenty minutes,. till we
had reached the fourth group of log camps.
One of these camps, half-hidden in green-
ery,. stood close beside the old trail; and as
the cleated door hung ajar, I swung myself
up by it to the low roof—to gain a vantage-
point for more shouting. The roof was
unsound and shaky, the cleft fir slabs of
which it was made being nach decayed. It
* was nearly flat, and overlooked the swamp of
thick raspberry shrubs.
“Now listen,” T said, and T shouted long
and loud. And then we heard a Kind of
strangling cough, accompanied by a mighty
scuffling and swaying of the raspberries
close to the other side of the old camp.
““What was that 2’ Edith exclaimed, in low
tones, looking up at me.
of deer, but T could see nothing for the moment
but the commotion of the tall green stalks.
“Then some animal, gray, almost white, in color,
came into view, pushing its way out to the sled
trail. It coughed again, then reared itself up
in the trail, till its head was on a level with
the old roof—a great, misshapen, fiabby animal
in a coat of long. very hair.
Tts expression, as it rolled its eyes about, |
mumbling a mouthful of berries and green
leaves, was foolish rather than fierce, Indeed,
my first impulse was to laugh at the astonish-
ment on its silly age. Yet at first sight 1
felt sure that it must be a bear of some kind,
although T had never met a bear in the woods;
and in truth, this one no more respmbled the
iron - gray grizzlies I had onoy seen at the
Thiladelphia Zoo than it did » J¥;sey cow.
Meanwhile & great swaying of the raspherry
shrubs was going on hard by, -and presently
a second bear struggled out into the trail, a few
yards beyond the first, and also reared up to
lpok at me. A third bear also got up a little
farther off, and all three ogled me with the
most innocent wonder, extending their noses
and snifling earnestly, Nor did scent of me,
if they got it, enrage or disturb them.
T suppose that T stood quite still for a moment,
so sudden, so odd was the spectacle presented.
But Edith, who heard only the rustling where
she stood, was watching my face,
““What is it, Arthur?’’ she whispered.
“*Edith,”” T whispered back, ‘‘make as little
DRAWN B CHASE EMERSON
WE FOUND YOUNG MR. RIB ON THE FLOOR.
MrRIB
IN TWO PARTS.
My first touzht was | noise as you can, but go into the camp and pull | seem bungry.
the door to after you.”
She did so at once. The door closed. |
‘an you fasten i I said, in low tones
> she replied, after a slight pause. |
““There is a wooden bolt. But what is it?"”
““Bears, I think,” said L. “Some sort of
great, odd-looking bears.””
““Are they very near?” asked Edith.
“*One is near the farther corner of this camp,””
said 1. “‘If there are cracks between the logs
you can see it there.”
T heard her go on tiptoe to that side, to peep
out; and the bear, somehow made aware of
her presence, dropped to his forefeet and moved
rdund the corner, but immediately rose again,
roliing his head round and snifting in an
inquiring manner. < There was a little hole in
the old roof, where a stovepipe had once issued
upward.
I heard “Edith moving stealthily about and
climbirg on something below, and soon she
whispered to me through the pipe hole:
““Arthur, it’s a monstrous animal! Do be
areful! Don’t enrage it. Can it see you?”’
““It is looking right at me,”” T replied. *‘That
| one and two more. = The place seems swarming
| with them.””
““Can they reach you on the roof 2”
sily, T should think, if they tried.””
“0 Arthur, can’t you get inside here with
me—and do you suppose they have eaten up |
that poor Mr, Rib?"”
“Goodness kuows!”
T said. “They don’t
| how?»
PART TWO.
But then, they appear to have
been eating raspberries.”
““Couldn’t you get down inside here, some-
?? asked Edith.
““Not unless we could enlarge that pipe hole,””
I replied, moving forward to it on the roof.
When I stirred, the bear at the corner of the
camp dropped to his feet out of sight, and T
saw the shrubs swaying as le drew off a few
steps. The others also dropped to their feet
and moved away a little.
“They do not seem really dangerous, big as
they are,” I said. ‘‘I doubt their attacking
us. I think they would run off.””
“‘Frighten them, then!” exclaimeéd FEdith.
““Shout!””
“But when I shouted a minute ago they
came, instead of going,”” said I, “‘and since
we have begun speaking they have stopped and
raised themselves again to look at me.””
““Tigers, 1 have read, are afraid of umbrellas
—opened suddenly,”” suggested Edith. “‘Open
my sun umbrella at them. Rise up quick and
open it suddenly, you know,”” and Edith thrust
it up through the pipe hole.
It was a good-sized, bright red sunshade,
and when, rising to my feet, I suddenly opened
it at the gazing bears, the effect-certainly justi-
fied 1dith’s expectation. All three dropped to
their feet again, and three diversely wrigaled
trails in the raspberry shrubs showed that they
were taking themselves off at a good rate of
speed. And here I may add that hunters and
others having experience with these bears have
since assured me that it was probably fortunate
for us that T attempted the aggressive with
nothing more deadly than my young wife’s
sun umbrella; and that if I had used a gun
and wounded one or more of them, the appar-
ently pacific animals might even have pulled
the old camp down in their efforts to reach us.
When the wriggling trails of the retiring
beasts gave evidence that they were at a safe
distance and still moving off, Edith ventured
forth, and with my assistance climbed to the
low roof. We then shouted again, still in the
hope of eliciting some response from our lost
fellow passenger; and it was after Edith’s
third effort, I believe, that we were startled
Dy the near report of a gun, accompanied by
several muffled shouts.
““That is he or some one else in trouble!””
Edith cried; and after shouting in reply, we
descended from the camp roof and attempted
to proceed in the direction of the sounds. . The
swamp of raspberry shrubs rendered prog-
ress nearly impossible; but after some futile
effort we came across a branch sled trail
which led that way. Following this for four
or five hundred yards, the weathered roofs of
two other old camps came into view among
the undergrowth ; and on shouting again we
heard a voice, apparently inside one of the
old log camps, although both the camps were
closed, and had slabs nailed across the doors
on t]\e outside.
> you?’” I called. ‘‘And is it
*e from within the nearer of
“Yes. (I have
ed"’ murmured Edith.
“But how did yon get inside?’” I asked
aloud, after a glance round the camp.
““I fell through the old roof and am unable
to get out,”” was the reply. “‘Part of it broke
down under my weight. I heard blacktails
in the brush and climbed on the roof to get
sight of them,””
After an exertion of strength I wrenched
off the slabs across the dupr, and found wong,
Mr. Rib on the floor, looking very pale and
distressed, with his coat off and his left arm
apparently shorter than the other and project-
ing at an upnatural angle from the shoulder.
““Broker:, is it?” T exclaimed.
“Oh, T don’t know. I struck on my hand
someliow when I fell through. It hurts a
good deal,”” and then he went off in a dead
faint.
“Good gracious! "What can we do?’ 1
exclaimed, for the young man lay as if dead.
“*Stay by him, Editu, while I go to the brook
and get water.””
But Edith bethought herself of her sal
volatile bottle in the chatelaine bag at her
belt, and we tried that.
At the gymnasium they tanght us that a
person who has fainted should be extended
on the floor, with the head lower than the
body,” observed th, who in this emer-
gency proved herself admirably calm.
I attempted to carry out the suggestion, but
found that his left arm, projecting backward]
prevented this.
“Only see, it is as stiff as a poker!” 1
exclaimed.
“Then it must be out of joint at the
shoulder,”” said Edith, reflectively. ‘I was
instructed about such things, too. You must
pull hard on the arm downward, and—as you
pull—twist it inward if the arm projects back.
That’s to get the head of the bone back into the
socket. Think you could do it, Arthur? It
pulls back very hard, they said.””
““I don’t know the least thing about it!"” I
exclaimed.
““Bat there is no doctor at any of these way
stations,” said Edith, calmly. “‘Ihave thought
of that ever since we started.””
““Wait till he recovers consciousness,’” said I,
tressed at the situation and at my own
ulpable ignorance of anatomy.
Fven as 1 said this the young man opened
his eyes, and after blinking a little, struggled
up to a sitting posture. **I must have lapsed
off again,” he said, flushing. *‘I have done so
two or three times, it pains me so badly.””
“Your shoulder is out,”” T explained to him,
“and my wife thinks that we ought to try to
pull it back in place—if you agree to it.”
“Why, yes, if you can,” he replied, doubt-
fully. ““There is no doctor to be got, of course.””
““No, Mr. Rib,”” said Edith.. ‘‘We will try,
if you desire it, but it will hurt you, I am
afraid.””
“‘It cannot hurt much worse than it does
now,” groaned the sufferer. ‘‘If you think
you can do it, I will agree to bear it.””
Certainly T never undertook anything with
greater reluctance or uncertainty. But for
Fdith I would not have attempted it. She
SUDMBIL V(T
gyu