H. L. Sayler

“ Mackworth soberly, “it affords me great pleasure to present to you a delicacy that is, I take it, the daintiest edible in the world. It is a dish that must be eaten alone, unprofaned by association with other foods or drinks. Captain Ludington and Lord Pelton, in honor of your first visit to this part of the world, and with the assistance of Chef Robert, I offer you that which even your own venerated Isaac Walton never enjoyed or saw—the glory of Michigan’s woodland brooks—a dish of trout.” ”

“ Mackworth, smiling. “Do as you like.”
“But I wouldn’t shoot to kill unless I could recover the prize,” added Phil. “And I wouldn’t shoot from the airship to leave an animal dying on the rocks where I couldn’t get it.”
“We’ll just reconnoiter this evening,” suggested Frank.
“I agree with the young man,” spoke up Captain Ludington. “Most sport is nothing but the old Anglo-Saxon lust for blood and killing. And, so long as we hunt, I think the hunter may as well resort to the best means to conquer his quarry. I’m willing to shoot from the airship.” ”

“ Next to hunting tigers in India, lions in Africa or moose in Canada, the proper and inviting preparation of food was his chief diversion. In this he had trained Jake Green, a young colored man, until the latter was almost as skilled and fastidious as his master.
“Your uncle,” explained Mr. Graham to Frank, “makes himself as much at home in camp as he does at his club. Like a true sportsman he roughs it uncomplainingly if necessary, but by choice he prefers comfort when it can be had. His camp outfit and shooting and fishing equipment are most elaborate. ”

“ Gathering up the trout outfit the two boys set out across the meadow. A bit of pine woods crowning a rise of rocks lay between them and the stream, but in a few minutes they were on the rocky margin of the Fording. It was a trouty looking piece of water; not wide but too deep for fishing in the stream. The blue-green current rippled over fallen trees and protruding rocks, making foam flecked pools that were natural haunts for fish. ”

“ Almost as large, with great, deep, oxlike eyes; close, short, brownish to black hair; no tail, and heavy sweeping horns that are the envy of every big game hunter. Where you find the sheep you do not find the goat. But we shall find both. As for my own personal hunting experiences you’ll have to excuse me to-day. If we find a dull hour in camp out there in the mountains I may tell a story I heard on the glacier—an Indian tale of a Bighorn sheep—the King of the Glacier. ”

“ In the center of this cliff-like margin a break occurred as if some Cyclopean ax had been sunk sideways [257] in the rock to form an opening leading to the lower heights.
Altogether, the broken top, or Hosmer’s “Baldy’s Bench,” was much larger than might have been expected. For the moment there was no sign of life. Both boys had made an instant survey to discover this. Then both gave all their thoughts to the possibility of landing. It seemed a desperate chance, but Frank and Phil had so long dreamed of reaching this spot in the Loon that the apparent absence of life did not deter them. ”

“ Can any boy, eager for travel and adventure, imagine a more pleasant moment? To Frank [94] especially the possibilities of the near future were already unrolling a panorama of all that he had read and dreamed—the great wonderland of America into which he and Phil were about to plunge. Not all Europe, he explained to Phil, contained more awe inspiring and sublime scenery.
“Uncle said we are going to Fernie, across the line in British Columbia,” explained Frank as he and his chum made themselves comfortable on the grass. “He can go two ways; by the United States or through Canada. ”

“ The Englishmen made the lad a hero in spite of himself. It was doubtful if one man could have carried away any considerable amount of the plunder that had been heaped up near the door of the car. But each of Mr. Mackworth’s guests had a most elaborate and expensive shooting outfit, and each seemed convinced that Frank had saved his own particular property.
As Frank was a member of the party, the tactful Captain Ludington and Lord Pelton recognized that they could not express their gratitude in money. ”

“ Mackworth was up. I got out with him. He saw the conductor. And say,” added Sam, “he went up to the engine and gave the engineer some money. He’s always generous with folks he likes.”
[153]
Frank was thinking hard. At last he said to himself:
“Well, anyway, it wasn’t any business of mine. It would have been foolish for us to have done it. I’m glad we didn’t wake up.”
The moon, now behind a mountain range, left Rexford buried in the shadows of the valley. There was not a light in sight except a feeble glow in the near-by station and a few switch signals. ”

“ There was a wave of Frank’s hand and the silver planes of the airship tilted as the monoplane veered to the west. Long before the birdlike craft had disappeared [217] over the Hog Back range, Phil was trudging stoutly toward the Fording.
Reaching the summit of the big hill, Frank expected to see a valley and some sign of the camp. Instead, he saw only an expanse of lodge-pole pine trees and a second and lower range about four miles distant. He immediately turned north until he was over the river and then followed its course until the stream made its way through a rift in the second range. ”

“ It may be much easier to stop than to start.”
In a half hour the two mountain peaks were below the Loon, which was now nearly two thousand feet in the air. Then, as the ship was headed north again, Phil brought it rapidly down. The smaller mountains that flanked the Elk River now gave way to rougher and loftier ranges in the west. In the far northwest, snow clad peaks were already in sight. No streams cut the region beneath the flying airship, but jumbled hills—like the Hog Back Range—pressed into each other or opened in dark, rocky chasms and passes. ”

“ KOOS-HA-NAX, THE HUNTER
A few minutes after ten o’clock that night the Teton, attached to the Oriental Limited train, began its real westward journey toward the mountains. The occupants of the car were tired, but for awhile all sat on the observation platform. Then, as the suburbs of the city were passed and a cool night breeze began to be felt, there was a general movement toward retiring. ”

“ Mackworth, “Canada is begging people to come.”
“And it wouldn’t cost you anything to get a farm here and have a house over there by Josephine Falls and its trout; where you could see wild goats on the hills and elk and moose and bears and deer in the woods beyond, and where you have a pasture ready made for your cattle?”
“Almost nothing,” replied Mr. Mackworth.
Phil looked at Frank and unseen by the [232] others winked slowly. In boy language this meant: “Do you hear him? I’m on. I’m goin’ to come here and own Meadow Grass Valley.” ”

“ Mackworth produced his packet, opened it and handed each one at the table—except Sam Skinner—a small but formidable looking bit of paper.
“Now be happy, all of you,” he exclaimed. “Here’s a hunting license for each. With it in your possession you may legally kill and take out of the country five mountain goats. Let one of ’em be Neena and may they all be Billies and big ones. You may also slay three mountain sheep one of which, of course, will be Husha the Black Ram. Incidentally you may capture all the grizzlies you see—if you can. Let us hope for one twelve-foot skin at least. ”

“ We’ll be in Michel all day to-morrow. Early the next morning all our provisions and camping paraphernalia will go by wagons to the only ranch in the valley—Charley Smith’s place up near Sulphur Springs—twenty-five miles distant. We’ll follow on horses.”
“On horses?” cried out Frank. “Here’s two of us who won’t be on horses. Phil and I’ll be in the Loon and two more may as well [168] be with us. We can take Captain Ludington and Lord Pelton. Why not?”
“But we’ve got to have horses. We can’t count on your airship for everything.” ”

“ Mackworth nodded his head.
“Lord Pelton has just left the university. The family estates are in Staffordshire. Of course, he is rich; but that is neither here nor there. He loves the outdoor life; is a yachtsman and especially fond of shooting. He was after tigers in India when I met him, both of us guests of Captain Ludington. The captain, as you can guess, is an army man. He is in the India service and just home on leave. He’s really the one that put us up to this trip. He has heads, horns and skins enough to start a taxidermist shop. ”

“ Twenty other goats scrambled after it, but they all stopped and crowded together as the flying animal again sprang into the air, fell on the slope and went rolling like a stone down the face of the hill.
“You’ll find him in the timber,” commented Mr. Mackworth, “and he’s a fine one.”
After breakfast the entire camp proceeded on horseback to the bottom of the hill where the morning adventure had taken place. The bodies of the two goats were recovered after much trouble. Assisted by Phil, Sam Skinner and “Grizzly” Hosmer worked on the heads and skins of the animals until noon. ”

“ Then, when we have guests, we give them their trout first and alone. We don’t even go to the table until that course is served. If you don’t believe me, when you get a chance, watch Mackworth while he’s fishing. He don’t want to catch the trout—unless it’s a whale. He’s fly casting. He’s only thinking about his skill with the rod and the fly. When he can’t help hooking fish he sends them away at once to his friends. ”

“ Mackworth, smiling as usual, after returning. “We have trout, grouse, deer, moose, goats and, undoubtedly, plenty of bear. And we are near enough to get ice from Michel by our aërial express.”
“I think we could get some sheep,” remarked Frank significantly. “We can take you as far into the mountains as you want to go.”
“O, we’ll move along in a day or two,” remarked Mr. Mackworth. “There’s no hurry. We must do a little mountain climbing just for the experience. This sort of camp life is too easy; a pack camp’ll be more like the real thing.” ”

“ So far as Frank and Phil were concerned the “Battle with the Bighorn” was at an end.
Five days later the mountain party reached civilization laden with the trophies of a successful hunt. Mr. Mackworth and Captain Ludington reached Michel at two o’clock in the afternoon. When the heads, horns, pelts and [279] skins brought in by both parties had been laid in the shade of the car, it was a satisfied group of hunters that sat in the Teton’s easy-chairs to gloat over their treasures. ”

“ I think shooting goats from an airship would be ‘pot hunting.’”
“I don’t agree with you,” retorted Phil instantly. [236] “As for only doing what the goats have a right to be looking for, there’s nothing in that or we wouldn’t be able to shoot them at all. Goats don’t know anything about guns. And as for the goats having no reason to be looking for an enemy above them, their animal enemies are always above or below ’em. And Sam Skinner says the golden eagle swoops down on them from above whenever he wants a fresh kid.” ”

“ As he pointed to what seemed an absolutely unscalable point several hundred feet above them, all clearly made out the dark brown, almost black, shape of a statue-like mountain sheep. With head lowered, its horns curved outward and backward and its long wool reaching far down over its short legs, it suggested a musk ox.
“If that ram can get there,” shouted Frank, “he can go all the way. Let’s get up higher. There may be a place on the top where they do their loafin’. ”

“ The windows were dropped and each of the visitors was assisted into the car to acquaint him with the cabin. The instruments were explained and finally, the propellers disconnected, the beautiful sixteen-cylinder engine was put in operation. Without a break or a jar the sound of its opposed, balanced pistons blended into each other until only the whirr of throttled power hummed its one monotonous note through the long shed.
“Hook up the wheels,” exclaimed Mr. Mackworth enthusiastically.
“Not in here,” explained Phil. “They’re made for pushing and they do it. ”

“ Mackworth, his smile unchanged. Then his smile faded and he gave each boy a straight look. “Young men,” he said slowly, “the men before you who are so carefully dressed are not ‘dolls’ and [77] each has considerable ‘else to do.’ They have seen fit to make themselves comfortable in certain clothing as you boys have seen fit to do the same thing in your own way. But you may be sure than neither of them would have commented on that loose button on your shirt, Frank, or that spot on your collar, Phil.” ”

“ If they are fortunate enough to get a glimpse of one, they then begin the real work of trailing it up the mountain sides, stalking the wary beast until on some almost unscalable bench or summit they can get a shot. That is what we used to do. Modern ideas, I have decided, make this method obsolete. You, your chum, [49] my two friends and I are going to carry the Loon into the mountains and hunt the Bighorn with the airship. Prepare to dismount your machine, make cases for its parts and, after my talk with your parents, we’ll be off for the west. ”

“ An’ it’s some goin’ I’ll promise ye,” continued Hosmer. “That’s why we customary turned south at Norboe an’ worked the Herchmer’s.”
“Pretty high mountains, eh?” asked Frank.
“Not so high in the way o’ peaks, but gin’rally high,” went on the hunter inhaling the fragrance of his new tobacco like a perfume and contentedly crossing his legs, one of which he swung back and forth placidly. “It’s all good game country but a lot o’ folks don’t know it. The only deestrict ’at’s at all like the Bench ’at I know of is Old Crow’s Nest Mountain whar the C. P. cuts through the Rockies over on the divide. ”

“ Then they were to follow up the trail of the advance party. This party would camp, if possible, where a landing might be made and would display a white flag if such a place was found. If no such signal was displayed the Loon was to return to Smith’s ranch, and then proceed to Michel and await the return of the mountain party. As this had been the plan in general all along, Frank and Phil had no occasion to feel disappointed. Their one consolation was “Grizzly” Hosmer’s belief that he could find a landing ground for the airship even in the higher mountains. ”

“ Mackworth and Mr. Graham jointly maintained a trout camp on the Little Manistee, and Frank’s uncle or some of his eastern friends were pretty sure to be there in June of each [42] year. Now and then Mr. Mackworth came out in the fall for the partridge shooting.
Frank’s uncle was an unusual man and, as can be surmised from the exclusive club he frequented (most of the members of which are big game hunters in all parts of the world) , he was an assiduous sportsman. A man of extensive means and a seeker of big and rare game, he pursued his hobby in all sections of the globe. ”

“ Mackworth as the yawning boys arose to turn in. “Our scout, Sam Skinner, has been in Winnipeg all winter and he’ll meet us at six o’clock to-morrow evening at Moorhead, North Dakota. Then you can begin to stock up on big game stories.”
“I thought scouts were a thing of the past!” exclaimed Frank.
“So they are,” said Mr. Mackworth, “the kind that used to guard the emigrant trains and early railway surveyors. But Sam is a ‘game [129] scout’ now. We’ll have Sam to smell out the sheep and goats.” ”

“ But, whichever way he goes, we’ll end up in a bunch of scenery that’ll open your eyes.”
“If there are mountain goats and Bighorn sheep there I suppose there’ll be a mountain,” suggested Phil.
“A mountain,” sneered Frank. “There ain’t anything but mountains for hundreds of miles in all directions. We’ll be just west of the continental divide where the big Rockies turn the rivers to the Pacific and Atlantic. To the north of us you’ll see the Purcell range and west of us the Selkirks. ”

“ As he emptied his odorous pipe and refilled it with some of Sam’s tobacco—which, by the way, came from Mr. Mackworth’s private stock—the two boys sank on the floor at Grizzly’s feet.
“They ain’t agoin’ to be no start to it like a book story,” began Hosmer between puffs, “because they wasn’t no special beginnin’ to what I seen Ol’ Baldy do to a couple o’ lions—us only seein’ the end o’ it. So long as ye don’t know the lay o’ the land, it’s hard to tell ye whar the Bench is. Mr. Mackworth ain’t never been to it an’ he’s hunted ’bout as fur as the next one ’round here. ”

“ Mackworth when the excitement over the hunting licenses had subsided, “and to-morrow [167] we’ll leisurely perfect our plans. I suppose the first thing will be to find a suitable ground for assembling the airship.”
“And that don’t look any too easy,” broke in Frank. “This is the narrowest town I’ve ever seen.”
“Then,” continued Mr. Mackworth, “we’ve got to inventory our stuff. You can never be sure you have what you’re going to need. What we’ve missed we’ll have to go back to Fernie and buy.”
“First job for the Loon,” exclaimed Phil. “That’ll be pie. It’s only twenty-three miles away.” ”

“ It’s daylight and they will soon reach some town and a ’phone. I’ll get the automobile out and be ready to go for them.”
[28]
Mr. Graham had just left the house on his way to the garage when his wife called him excitedly.
“They’re at Osceola—they’ve been asleep in that thing all night,” she screamed, bursting into tears; “but they’re all right.”
“Is he on the ’phone?” called back her husband in a peculiar tone.
“No,” she answered, “they’re coming in on the electric car.”
“There’s no car till six o’clock,” exclaimed Mr. Graham. “Osceola is only twelve miles out. ”