$x oy. 2 ee ’ eer Co RM tte ee gages ‘s ; 0 Copyright N° COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: hates When SWEAR yy Lt . . | | ¢ oe Ae? S xh S § ‘ Old Bare Back OLD BARE-BACK AND OTHERS By HENRY ABBOT NEW YORK 1917 « } i ae ve { ’ : a nas xe 2 pe? 7 "4 - f t v ~ et | ' | ; Copyright 1917 ; . HENRY ABBOTT 7 66 TOP HER! stop her!! back up, Bige. I’ve caught the bottom of the lake.” Bige was sitting in the bow of the boat slowly rowing, while I, in the stern seat was holding a trol- ling rod and watching the reel spin and the thin copper wire rapidly pay- ing out as the boat glided forward. Bige dropped both oars in the water and pushing back, promptly stopped the boat, but the reel continued to buzz and it was nearly empty of wire. Then I pressed hard with my thumb checking the rotation of the reel when a violent jerking informed me that something alive was trying to steal my six-inch shiner, which during the last fifteen minutes had been revolving with the hook at the lower end of the copper wire, thirty- _ five feet below the surface. 3 It was a warm morning early in July and we were fishing for lake trout. The water was too warm at this season to get them near the sur- face, so we had to fish deep in the cool water near the bottom where the trout were then living if we hoped to catch any. Copper wire is best for deep trolling because it sinks quick- ly without a heavy weight at the low- er end and it cuts readily through the water without too great a strain on the rod. I had out about fifty yards of wire and began to reel in as fast as pos- sible without endangering the rod, the tip of which was now at a right angle with the butt. At this moment I heard directly overhead a succes- sion of sharp cries ‘‘Kisl! Kiel! Kireel! Hil! Hil! Keil!” Looking up I saw a gull circling directly over the boat, 4 apparently in a great state of excite- ment, uttering her sharp cries every few seconds. She was also rapidly get- ting closer as she flew above us. Even as I looked, she made a guick sweep downward, struck Bige on the head and knocked his hat off into the water. At the same instant a great silver-sided body glistening in the morning sunshine rose above the surface away back of the boat, ap- pearing to stand on its tail and shake its head violentiy; then it fell back with a resounding splash and disap- peared under the water. I raised the tip of the rod, quickly took up the slack with the reel and found the fish still securely hooked, but he now headed for the bottom. “There, Bige, is a regular old Socktamer.” “He's three sizes bigger than that,” 5 said Bige. “He’s a Dodwalloping Sockdolliger.” Again I heard the sharp cries over- head. “Kiel! Kiel!’ and put up my free arm just in time to receive a. blow from the enraged bird and save my own hat. “That gull has got it in for us, Bige. She thinks we want to steal her measly yellow goslings over by that big rock near the shore. Better pull out of this, but go slow and i will try to coax the trout along. I’m too busy now to try to negotiate peace terms with a belligerent gull and I can’t fight a fish and a bird at the same time.” So Bige gathered in his hat and we slowly worked our way out of the bay toward the mid- dle of the lake, while the mother gull alighted on a dead pine stub directly over where her four darlings were 6 playing in the water, and the father gull stood on a rock at the entrance. Later we became well acquainted and very friendly with those gulls, as will appear in another chapter, but now and for the following twenty minutes we were kept occupied with the fish. We towed him about the lake trying to keep him always in motion, though he was inclined to sulk at the bottom. Twice he tried to climb out of the water, but in each case he was tipped over and did not get above the surface. Finally he was tired out, reeled up alongside and with the gaff lifted into the boat. He was a noble fish, a beauty, and we took him into camp. Many of my friends and acquaint- ances fish all day and every day dur- ing their vacation period; when the weather is not too stormy. Starting q The Lake Trout from the hotel early in the morning and returning to the same place late -at night, they industriously, patiently and seriously work, with the obvious purpose of breaking all previous rec- ords both as to size and number of their catch. But Bige and I live in the woods and do not return to the hotel for a week, sometimes for two or three weeks. We cannot, therefore, display our large catch to the admiring gaze of friends and acquaintances. Neither do we have the same opportunity to hang up our string of fish between two trees for the camera fiends to take snap shots at them. Therefore, when we have caught enough fish for food we stop fishing and play some other game. Impossible to tell the length of cur lake-trout or his weight in 9 pounds and ounces, but we dressed him and when his head and tail were cut off we found he just exactly fit- ted the pan of our baker. He was just big enough. If he had been an inch longer we could not have roasted him. So we stuffed him with flap- jacks, covered him above and below with slices of bacon, bound the bacon in place with twine and roasted our fish before the camp fire. After dinner we took a couple of axes and went over to Mud Pond. Found a boat which some days be- fore we had carried across the trail, and in it crossed the pond and start- ed cutting a new trail over the foot hills of Little Blue Mountain. We in- tended to hunt over in that country in the autumn and this trail would be useful in going to and returning from the hunt. I worked ahead, blaz- 10 The Trout Hog’s Exhib ing the trees, keeping the proper course with a compass while Bige fol- lowed, cutting brush and clearing a path. In this manner we worked along for about a half mile when we came upon an open space in the woods where some years before lumbermen had skidded logs. There was about an acre in the clearing now overgrown with briars and bushes. In the mid- dle of this opening, standing upright on his hind legs, was a large black ear. He had his arms (forelegs) around a clump of raspberry bushes which he had squeezed together and was eating berries. Indeed, he bit off — and chewed up together ripe berries, green berries, leaves and young shoots and was apparently enjoying the feast. The bear had not noticed our ap- 12 proach and we were able to get near enough to observe him closely. On his back were large patches of bare skin from which the fur had come out or had been rubbed off. This, it geems, was the molting season for bears, when the old fur is gradually scraped off on the trees and bushes. In late September or early October the new short fur will have grown in again, and the bear will then have a bright shiny coat in strong contrast to his present ragged hobo appear- ance. This fur continues to grow un- til in mid-Winter the hairs of it are from three to four inches long. Pres- ently the bear had finished eating his bunch of bushes and berries and turned, looked us over carefully, dropped on all four feet, growled and walked off into the woods toward Mud Pond while we watched him as 13 long as he remained in view. Then when Bruin was out of sight Bige said softly ‘‘Les set a trap and catch Old Bare-back.” We sat down on a log and discussed ways © and means. Bige had a bear trap, an ugly, murderous-looking steel ma- chine that opened out as large in diameter as a dinner plate. It had saw tooth jaws that fitted together when closed and heavy steel springs that required two screw clamps to close them down for setting the trap. It also was secured to one end of a chain about six feet long, the other end of the chain was to be attached to a log which could be dragged a short dist- ance or until the bear should tire of it and would sit down to await our arrival. | : In discussing the matter we spuke in low tones so that the bear should 14 The Bear Trap | | not overhear us in case he had stop- ped in the edge of the woods to list- en. It was agreed that the skin would be worthless for a rug if taken now, so we decided to defer setting the trap until October, but we would be- gin at once to feed him and get him accustomed to the bear-pen in which we proposed to set the trap. It was important also to keep the bear in this part of the forest until October, and it seemed to be our job to see to it that it was good feeding ground so he would remain there. So we dropped our trail-making for the time being and set to work build- ing a bear pen. We cut a number of _— spruce logs twelve feet long and six inches in diameter, notched the ends for locked corners in the same man- ner as in constructing a log cabin. We selected a spot in the woods near the clearing where a group of spruce 16 trees could be utilized to brace up the sides of the pen, or rather the stall, as it was open on one side so that Old Bare-back could walk di- rectly in and get the food we proposed to bring him twice every week. On our way back to camp we found tracks made by Old Bare-Back in the soft clay on the shore of Mud Pond. On a close inspection we noticed that the middle toe on the left hind foot was missing. Only four toe marks ap- peared in the clay wherever this foot was placed, while all the other tracks showed five toe marks. On the following morning after breakfast had been eaten, the dishes washed and camp put in order, Bige and I went down the lake to Sucker Bay and in about an hour we had caught fifteen suckers ranging in size from one to two pounds each. The sucker is not considered good 17 food for humans in summer time. Indeed he is not counted a game fish at any time, and is generally despised by all sportsmen. But suckers are highly esteemed by the bear family, especially if they have been dead long enough to be a little “high.” suckers have a bad habit of eating the spawn of more valuable fishes. A two-pound sucker will eat about a thousand trout eggs a day when he is feeling well. We had therefore no sentimental feelings of regret that it seemed to be necessary for us to catch a big string of suckers, so we took them over and placed them in > Bare-back’s stall. We took with us a small tin pail and after depositing the bear bait we visited his berry patch and filled our pail with raspberries before return- ing to camp. We considered this an 18 equitable arrangement. Of course the bear was not consulted, but the mess of suckers we left him weighed more than the mess of berries we took away from him. Arrived at camp just as the sun was dropping behind the mountains in the west, we took a fly rod and paddled across the lake to the mouth of Salmon River, where in the fading light we tried fly casting. In less than an hour we had caught six fine “square-tails.”” We ate our evening meal by lantern and firelight that night; but our bill-of-fare in- cluded brook trout and raspberry shortcake, flapjacks supplying the cake of that confection. After a day of such activities in the open, a bed of balsam before a camp- fire is an insurance against insomnia. It is also a cure for many other ills, both real and imaginary. One can 19 always sleep the sleep of an infant. Also, one soon learns to go early to bed, so as to be ready to enjoy the best part of the next day, sunrise. In the warmer days of summer, when the water is often low in the streams, the larger brook trout will run down stream into the lake and collect near the bottom in deep places, at spring holes or at the edge of a reef, so when the fly or the trol- — ling line fails to bring the necessary supply of food to the camp table, re- sort must be had to other methods and the wily trout must be hunted in his lair. Preparing for such an emer- gency, Bige and I set out on the fol-. lowing morning with a piece of rope and a sounding line, selected a stone suitable for an anchor and cut a dry spruce stick for a buoy. We then climbed into our boat and went out to 20 take soundings. After a score or more of trials we found a spot of proper depth and likely bottom, so dropped our anchor stone overboard and made the float fast to the other end of the rope. Then we went back to our landing and lifted the minnow trap which had been baited with a chunk of bread and sunk in the shal- low water. We got a good supply of minnows and proceeded to cut them into pieces about an inch long and seattered the chum around our buoy. While we were busy with this job we heard in a high pitched key a weird, sorrowful, sobbing, distressful ery from the distant side of the lake. ““Alloo-o-o-o Lil-lil-o-o-o.”” Bige im- mediately responded by a perfect im- itation of the cry. Indeed the imita- tion was more perfect than the orig- inal. Again came the loon’s cry of 21 distress, but this time nearer. Again and again was the conversation re- peated while the loon approached. At a distance of about fifty yards she was swimming low with only her head out of water and eyeing our operations with apparent interest. Suddenly the head disappeared and after what seemed several minutes Bige said, ‘I believe the old sub- marine has gone down to steal our chum.’ Then he grabbed a water telescope which we had made of birch bark for examining the bottom of the lake, stuck the large end into the water and with his eyes at the — smaller end plainly saw the loon at the bottom of the lake rapidly gob- bling up the cut bait we had put down there for the trout. When she came to the surface again, she was on the opposite side of the boat and a long 22 way off with her periscope only vis- ible. The loon is poorly equipped for tra- veling on land and rarely goes far from the water except when flying. Her nest is always built close to the water’s edge, but she can swim fast- er, dive quicker and stay under water longer than any other bird or beast. She also has the peculiar faculty of swallowing just enough water for ballast to keep her at the required depth; she also disgorges ballast when she swims on the surface. Gen- erally, in the presence of danger or of suspicious characters like fisher- men, she swims with only her head above water. There can be no doubt that the general principles embodied in the modern submarine were taken from the loon. The loon has a large body 23 but she hides it under water and sticks her periscope above the sur- face to take observations until as- sured that the coast is clear of dan- ger. So also with the submarine. The most wonderful modern inventions of man can generally be shown to have had their origin in the habits of birds, beasts, fishes, or the properiies of some inanimate work of Nature. About the time the loon left us our old friend of two days before, the gull, appeared uttering her peculiar cries of complaint overhead. This time we discussed the matter with the gull and proposed a treaty of peace with her. In order to show our friendly feelings Bige tossed out one of our few remaining minnows which the gull caught the instant it hit the water. The other minnows followed one at a time, and were gobbled up 24 with no fumbling or lost motion. When we made the bird understand that we had given up our last fish she croaked a word of thanks and flew away. After that whenever we went fishing on the lake the gull ap- peared and requested to be fed, and we made it a point of honor to see that she had either some scraps from the camp table or something from the minnow trap. One day a white-headed eagle ap- peared over the lake and sailed around very high in the air. The two parent gulls seemed very much agit- tated. They were evidently anxious for the safety of their young birds, for they immediately started in pur- suit of the eagle. The eagle, though very much larger than the gull, and a fierce fighter, was so much slow- er in his movements that he was al- 25 ways at a disadvantage. The gulls flew above the eagle most of the time and would suddenly dart down- ward, whack him on the head and get away before he could swing in- to position to strike back. Many times around and around the lake the flying fight went on, and on sey- eral occasions the two gulls got in blows on the eagle’s head or back in rapid succession and feathers floated away after each jab, but I failed to see a single blow land on a gull, though the eagle struck at them many times. After about fifteen minutes of this zeppelin and aeroplane fight the — eagle gave up the battle and sailed away over the mountain top, the gulls folowing him out of sight. When the gulls returned some time later, they sat on the limb of the 26 pine stub and polished up their feathers. Bige and I gave them three cheers and they responded ‘‘Kiel, kiel!” Some weeks later we were wit- nesses of the first lesson in flying; saw the mother gull push the young ones off a big rock and compel them to use their wings. Then one day aiter the young birds could fly a lit- tle, they were brought around to where Bige and I were fishing and they were shown how to sail around overhead without a motion of the wings and how to sweep downward and grab a minnow when we threw it out on the water. They were apt pupils in this game and learned it very quickly. Early one morning in mid-Sep- tember we heard a great commotion among the gulls and ran down to 27 the shore of the lake to see what was wrong. There we saw the entire fa- mily of gulls, old and young, circling around the big pine stub and all shouting at each other, “Kiel, kiel, kiel.” As we watched they all began climbing in corkscrew curves higher and higher until they were mere specks directly overhead, then they shot forward in single file toward the southeast. They were headed for the harbor of the big city near the ocean four hundred miles away, where the scavenger is loaded onto big scows, is towed down to the lower bay and is sanitarily (?) dumped just in time © to float back on the incoming tide to furnish food for the gulls and hun- dreds of their fellows who grow fat and live happily together until the fol- lowing spring, when they pair off and go back to the mountains to build 28 other nests. On the third day after we had de- posited food in Old Bare-back’s stall, we went over the trail to Mud Pond with another batch of suckers. Ar- riving at the shore of the pond we discovered that our boat was mis- sing, and though we looked in every improbable place it could not be found. Some days later we learned that a party of law-breaking night hunters from Blue Mountain Lake had “borrowed” the boat and had re- turned it to a spot about two miles away on the other side of the pond near the outlet. Just now it seemed to be necessary, in order that we keep our engagement with the bear, that we should walk along the shore and around the upper end of the pond to reach our destination. It was a long way, there was no trail and the 29 walking was not good. We were not feeling very pleasant about it, and Bige was saying things about what he would do to the fellows who stole our boat. Life in the woods affords few dis- comforts that do not bring compen- sating advantages. In this case, had we not been obliged to walk we should surely have missed an oppor- tunity of witnessing a ‘“Movie” in real life that is seldom shown even to a professional woodsman, and one -well worth the price of admission. We were approaching a point of land that extended several rods out into the pond and terminated in a steep bank about twenty feet high. From the opposite side of this bank came sounds of a plunge and splash of water, followed immediately by two similar but less loud plunges. 30 Then after an interval of a minute _or less the same succession of sounds were repeated. We sneaked quietly and cautiously back into the woods and made a detour so as to approach in view of the opposite side of the high bank. Arrived behind a clump of bushes through which we peered we saw an otter toboggan-slide with an old mother oiter and two half- grown cubs in the act of shooting cown the steep bank and diving into the water at the bottom of the slide, then swimming ashore and scram- bling up the bank uttering faint squeals of pleasure and immediately scooting down again. This was re- peated again and again for several minutes when they became aware of our presence and disappeared un- der water, and we saw them no more. There was a deep round-bottomed 31 furrow worn smooth in the clay on the side of the bank, and it was quite wet and slippery. A quantity of water soaked in the fur on the otter’s body was carried up with each trip and kept the slide well lubricated. We noticed that in sliding the fore-legs of the animals were held close against their sides and these, as well as the hind legs, were pointed straight back. This position made the long slender body of the otter ap- pear to be much longer than it real- ly was. Who shall presume to deny that the inventor of the toboggan- slide stole his game from the otter, who has doutbless practiced it for many thousands of years? The prin- cipal difference being that whereas — the otter slides on his own stomach the human animal must ride on one made of wood. 32 We found fresh bear tracks along the shore of the pond and in each case the imprint of the left hind foot showed but four toes. We also found that Bruin had been digging wild turnips in his garden patch. Arrived at the log cache we saw that the suckers were gone; the ground in- side and around the stall was scratched and torn up, clearly the work of Old Bare-back. He had also put up his notice on a nearby spruce ec. The black bear has a habit of marking trees in places that he fre- quents. Just why he does this we shali learn definitely some day when mind reading is extended from hu- mans to wild animals; until then we shall speculate. A patch of bark of irregular shape but about twelve in- ches across had been torn from this 33 tree trunk about six feet above ground, and there were marks of the bear’s teeth in the wood. He doubt- less stood on his hind legs and stretched himself to his utmost height in making those tooth marks in the wood of the tree. Translated from bear language in- to the United States tongue that notice would read— WARNING [ama big black bear. I can reach up to here. This patch of woods belongs to me. I will lick any bear that trespasses on my preserves. Any suckers that may be left here are mine. I will kill any other animal that touches them. Whoof! Gr-gr-r-grow !! (Signed) BARE-BACK his X mark The black bear has four canine’ tusks, two on the upper and two on the lower jaw. These project usually from an inch to an inch anda half,s ° beyond the face of the other teeth and | ‘i are ugly- looking | weapons that, on oc- casion, might be very | effective. A close ex- amination of the ] notice of warning i showed deep grooves across the fibre of | the wood. Most of.4 3: : these tooth marks‘ eo \ were V-shaped, but bel a few were flat-bot- ye a0 as if made by a carpenter’s chisel about a quarter of an inch wide. Bige said “I thought the old brute had been caught in a trap, now I am sure of it. He broke one of his tusks bit- ing on the steel trap and he lost one toe pulling his foot out of its jaws.” Each time we brought suckers to Bare-back, he ate them and took a fresh bite out of the spruce tree, though we did not meet him. During the summer we destroyed enough suckers to save the lives of many millions of unhatched trout and thus contributed to the conservation of game and food fishes. On a Saturday we returned to Deerland Lodge to prepare for an exploring trip up in the Santononi country, and it became necessary to suspend the feeding operations for a couple of weeks. We expected to 36 make a long hike in a country where traveling was difficult. We had a tent to carry as well as provisions and extra blankets for the cold nights in the higher altitude, so we took George with us. George could not only help in carrying packs but he was an experienced woodsman and was familiar with the Santanoni mountains and foot hills. We made a start on Monday morning. Oaky took us in his motor boat about twelve miles down the lake, towing our guide boat astern. After a row of a mile and a half we took to the woods headed for Round Pond. An hour’s tramp brought us in sight of the pond. Skirting its northern shore, two and a half miles more took us to Deer Pond where we met the New- comb Tote Road which leads to a string of lumber camps distributed 37 over the northern slopes of ranchoion Mountains. Our path now led for about four miles through a section that had been burned over during the previ- ous autumn. A forest fire leaves in its wake a scene of complete desola- tion most depressing to one who is fond of the woods. Thousands of blackened half-burned tree trunks lie criss-crossed in every conceivable position, while here and there still standing, naked, bare of limbs and dead, pointing in mute protest to high heaven, are the charred remains of once noble pine or spruce trees. As far as the eye can reach in every direction no green thing appears to relieve the utter blackness. Not a sound is heard except our own foot- steps. One involuntarily speaks, when speech is necessary, in a 38 ————— i ® ) : The Burned Forest hushed tone of voice, as in the pres- ence of the dead. There are no birds and no other living creature is met in this entire burned district. It has been the writer’s privilege to see three large cities immediately after very destructive and historic fires had occured; viz:- Chicago, Baltimore and San Francisco. In nei- ther case was the sense of depress- ion caused by the vision of ruin com- parable with that produced by walk- ing through a burned forest. The burned cities were rebuilt in a few years more expensively, and were then more beautiful than before. It will take a hundred and fifty years to restore the burned forest. About mid-day we passed out of the burned section and into the cool shade of the big woods. We made a fire, cooked and ate our lunch of 40 bacon, eggs and coffee, on the shore of Moose Creek. An hour after luncheon as we were quietly following the path in Indian file, Bige who was in the lead called out in a hoarse whisper, “Sufferin’ Mike! will you look at that deer?” “Hist, Bige,” said George, ‘“‘the old lady is saying her prayers.” A large yellow birch tree had fallen during a storm afew days before. The splint- ered stump still held its trunk about eighteen inches above the ground. Close to this tree trunk was kneel- ing, with her head under the tree, a large doe. The attitude was that of worshipful devotion and her head was bowed, not only to but under the altar. We stood, rigid and mo- tionless as three statues (a little lop- sided for monuments by reason of our packs) at a respectful distance 41 of about fifty feet and with hats re- moved, awaited the conclusion of the ceremony. Presently the deer gracefully re- sumed an upright position and re- versing her head without turning the body, stood looking back directly over her tail with an expression of complete amazement. In this posi-_ tion the deer also froze into a statue and the tableau was held motionless for an incredible period of time, un- til the ludicrous aspect of the situa- tion so overcame three members of the group that an explosion of laugh- ter broke up the show and the doe bounded away through the trees. An examination proved that the deer had been eating mushrooms which were growing under the trunk of the fallen birch and was obliged to get down on her knees in order to reach them. | 42 In the middle of the afternoon a shower came up quite suddenly. Our ponchos were used to keep the bian- kets and grub dry and we stood un- der a tree to await the passing of the shower. But the storm did not abate, it rather increased and soon the tree was wet through and so were we. Then we resumed our tramp while the rain poured down in bucketfuls; the water running down our legs filled our shoes and we slosh-sloshed for an hour or more, when we ar- rived at an abandoned lumber shanty on the shore of Cold River. This was not a good time to set up a tent so we turned into the shanty. There was a broken-down stove, two of the legs were gone so we got some stones, propped it up, fastened the smoke pipe together and soon had a fire where we could dry our clothes and 43 cook supper. We climbed a ladder to the loft where were rows of bunks filed with hay. These we examined closely and found that although the lumber jacks had not slept in them for several years they were still oc- cupied. So we spread our blankets on the long dining table and soon were sleeping the sleep of the tired. Twice during the night George got down from his perch to use a club on some porcupines that had climbed through a sashless window and were trying to steal our grub. The weather was clear on the fol- lowing morning, and after the sun had dried off the wet bushes we con- tinued our march up the river about five miles when we came to a clear- ing where had stood another log shanty used by the lumbermen but which had been burned a few years 44 before. Here Bige set up the tent while George picked wild strawber- ries and I went fishing. The river was swollen by the rain of yesterday and the water too high for the fish to bite, but in a brook that emptied into the river at this clearing I had good luck and returned in an hour with a fine string of brook trout to find that Bige had camp in perfect order and George had two quarts of strawber- ries. Within a half hour we were sit- ting down to a lunch the like of which cannot be had in any hotel, restau- rant or club of my acquaintance, and I have visited several of each in my wanderings. After an early breakfast on the following morning, with George for guide, we tramped about four miles back into the hills through a very interesting stretch of forest to 45 visit ‘‘The Mud Baths.” We found in a basin in the center of a swamp a circular pool of soft mud about the consistency of thin mortar and about thirty yards in diameter. Approach- ing cautiously we saw in the center of the pool and apparently floating on the surface of the mud the horns, ears and part of the head of a large buck deer. The eyes and nose were visible, but the rest of the head and the entire body of the animal was out of sight. We advanced to the edge of the swamp, close to the mud pool, but there was no movement of the horns. “Do you suppose he is dead, George, or is he just stalled in the mud so he can’t get out? Suppose we get some spruce poles and pry him loose?” For answer, George threw a stone at the head. The mud splashed up in 46 the exposed face but nothing else happened. Then we all took a hanc at throwing stones and sticks. After several failures a stone hit one of the horns, when with a mighty heave the shoulders appeared, then the hind quarters came above the surface. The deer had been lying down but was now standing in mud about three feet deep. He struggled forward with some difficulty toward the opposite shore, urged onward by some more stones, the soft mud streaming down his sides and legs. Stopping on shore, he turned, gave us a sad, reproachful stare, then ambled off into the woods, scraping mud off on the bushes at every step. We had disturbed the old boy in the act of taking the treat- ment which Nature had provided for his bodily ailments, and he was reluct- ant to leave before he had completed 47 the dose. It was a hot morning, the mud was cold (we later learned that there was a spring in the bottom of the pool); doubtiess it felt comfortable and did in reality reduce the temper- ature of his feverish body and would, in time, with repeated applications restore the deer to perfect health. We were sorry now that we had driv- en him out. We examined the place thoroughly, walked entirely around the pool and in the woods at the edge of the swamp. A little brook ran away from it at the lower edge, and the water was cold. There were literally hun- dreds of deer trails leading into the pool from. every direction. They radi- ated from the center like spokes of a wheel, and everywhere the bushes and paths were smeared with drip- 48 ping mud. Judging from appearances this health resort was very popular and had a large clientele. It is pos- sible and quite probable that other animals visit this mud spring on oc- casion, but we saw only deer tracks. We returned now to Strawberry Camp and on succeeding days visited Bradley Pond, Duck Hole, Mountain Pond, Lumber Dam, Natural Dam, The Big Eddy, Latham Pond and Boulder Brook. Our tent was moved several times during the twelve days’ outing. We saw many interesting things, caught as many trout as we could use and enjoyed every minute of the time. When we arrived at Deerland Lodge on a Saturday, we learned that on the previous Wednesday night one of Mr. Brown’s flock of eight sheep which he kept to mow the grass on 49 the glof links had been killed, and several dogs were under suspicion. On the following night another sheep was dead and badly mutilated. On Friday night the fence around the pig-pen up by the woods had been broken down and one of the half- grown pigs had been carried away. Also bear tracks were found near the brook that ran through the field where the hogs were confined. Bige and I hurried up to the hog- pen to examine those tracks. Our Suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was the indisputable evidence. The tracks of one hind foot showed cnly four toe marks. Old Bare-back was surely the guilty party and he must be punished, but, first, we must feed him with more suckers to keep him away from the pigs. | One day at the village store, the 50 proprietor, Judge S., said he had some smoked halibut that was too ancient to be used by the villagers and suggested that Bige and I offer it to our bear; so we loaded the stuff into the boat and took it over to Bare-back. He smelled it from afar and came running, compelling us to hurry away for fear of being treated as trespassers. Early in September a fire started in the Pine Brook section and burned for many days, filling the forest around with dense smoke. Old Bare- back became alarmed, left his reserv- ation and moved over into the next township. He never came back and Bige’s bear trap was never set in the place constructed for it. One day in the following January, Bige and Bill on their snowshoes were following their trapping line to 51 gather in the fur from animals caught in their string of fifty or sixty traps. They had gone up “East Inlet Holler’ had crossed the divide near the peak of Burnt Mountain, followed down Fails Brook Valiey and were headed for Salmon Pond and Tongue Mountain. They had the skins of a fox, a fisher, two marten and three minks, and had completed about one half of their round trip when they came upon bear tracks in the snow. This was strange and most unusual. As a rule the black bear goes into his den with the first snow fall in the autumn and remains there sleeping until the snow has melted in the fol- lowing spring. Both Bige and Bill were curious and in order to learn what had wak- ened and driven the bear out of his bed in mid-winter they followed up 52 his back track and soon found that his hole under the roots of a big pine tree had filled with water during a thaw and rain storm of the day be- fore. Bruin had been literally “drown- ed out.” After some discussion it was agreed that Bige should take the skins, complete the circuit of the trapping line and return home, while Bill hunted bear. This would be easy, as it was only necessary to follow the bear track in the snow to his new den. They both felt certain he would “hole up’ again as soon as he found a suitable place. Bill followed the zig- zag bear trail many miles, giving lit- tle heed to direction. This would in- deed have been difficult ,as the bear had many times stopped to scratch away the snow and examine some spot to find it not suitable, and then 53 start away on a new tack. Late in the afternoon Bill came up to Bruin’s new home. It was under the upturned roots of a big spruce tree. The tree in falling had lodged in the fork of a birch and was held at an angle of about forty five de- grees. The mass of roots and earth torn up thus formed a sloping roof over the spot where the bear had dug a hole about six feet deep. The snow in the woods was deep and the ground under it is rarely ever frozen during the coldest winters, so it was easy for the bear to dig even in Jan- uary. The bear had scraped away the — snow and gathered up an armful of leaves and moss which he was car- rying into his hole when Bill came up. He displayed some very human characteristics and felt ugly and dis- 34 agreeable for having been wakened in the middle of his nap. He showed his teeth and growled savagely as he faced Bill and backed up in the mouth of his den. At a distance of fifty feet Bill put a bullet in the center of his forehead and the bear’s troubles were soon over, but Bill's troubles were just beginning. He was a long way from home and lost in the woods. It was near night and he had a dead bear weighing possibly four hundred pounds on his hands. It would be difficult to skin the bear after the carcass was frozen, and it was now growing very cold so that job must be done before dark. It was hurriedly accomplished, the skin rolled up and put in a safe place and Bill, consulting his compass, _ gtarted toward the west. He had gone about two miles, crossing a ridge, 55 and in the valley beyond on the bank of a brook he came upon a lumber shanty. This he reached with some difficulty as it was now quite dark. Here he built a fire and spent the night. He did not sleep as he had no blankets and it was necessary to keep the fire going while the mercury dropped down far below the zero mark. | Bill reached home by a devious route about noon on the following day. After resting one night, Bige and Bill went back to retrieve the bear skin. They took with them a pocket lunch, expecting to return before © night, but there had been a light fall of snow and Bill’s tracks were oblit- erated so they hunted all day without finding the spot where the bear was killed. They did, however, just at night find the shanty where Bill had 36 spent a night. Here they both re- mained another night, and on the fol- lowing morning reached the scene of the tragedy. They brought out with them not only the skin but about fifty pounds of bear fat. Bear tallow has many and varied uses in an Adirondack household. Its curative properties cover as wide a range of applications as does goose grease in a New Eng- land farmhouse. Besides, it is the best material in the world to make one’s shoes waterproof in the melting sloshy snow of springtime. The bearskin in the course of time found its way to the shop of a Sixth Avenue furrier and it now occupies a position of honor in front of the fireplace in my living room, and on a cold winter’s night my slippered feet rest in its soft fur while I read the 57 SRA AQ evening news and the wood-fire crackles. The head remains a part of the rug and in its lower jaw, on the right side, the canine tooth is brok- en diagonally across and is only half as long as the others. Also, the mid- dle toe on the left hind foot is mis- sing. Old Bare-back’s back is no longer bare. He is now wearing his mid- winter coat and his fur is four inches long. 59 SARS RSIS EG BS eS WES RRR TR oe : SOO a ee SS Ta TRS wees nv ea at RN PE ite tenn ee REN a ee q at me: Rlaadicat BOT Re ERNE ST * nis nearing AX St Lanlocctbioci