Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1895 — TOO MUCH FOR THE ’CROWD. [ARTICLE]

TOO MUCH FOR THE ’CROWD.

The Western Man’s Yarn Knocked His Auditors Cold, “Speaking of hair restorers,” said the Western member, glancing at the baldheaded man, “puts me in mind of a time when I would have been willing to give a couple of years of luy life for something of that kind. In the winter of ’7O 1 was with a party of prospectors in the Sierras. There were three of us, an English professor, a Harvard graduate and myself. Snow began to fall soon after we got into the foot hills, and we stopped at a log shanty built by some one who had been there before us. As we had provisions for two weeks, we were not alarmed, when it became apparent that we were snowbound, but at the end of that time the situation took on another aspect - . We shot a deer, after great toil and perseverance, but our efforts ta secure other game were unsuccessful, and we were rapidly approaching a starving condition.

“When there was very little left to eat but one piece of apple, we built a figure-four trop to catch a ‘snow shoe.’ A ‘snow shoe’ is a hare with large, flat feet that look like snow shoes. Well, the morning after the trap was set we gathered about it, and were delighted to observe that the snow was covered with foot prints of the animal we desired to capture. Visions of a prospective stew arose in our minds, and we looked on in breathless suspense, while the Harvard graduate knelt by the side of the trap and cautiously peered under its edge. Then he arose. He did not speak, but his face told a tale of terrible disappointment. He gazed at the box a moment, and, with a mighty kick, sent it flying in six different directions. The splinters fell to the ground, but bounding away amid the wreck was a large, fat ‘snow shoe,’ and he didn’t stop. The Harvard man had not seen the white animal in the trap, and our last hope was gone. It had the bait.” “Well?” said the fat man, inquiringly. “Well, what?” “Why. I thought you were going to say something about hair restorers.” “Oh, I was about to add that I w T ould have sacrificed two years of my existence to have had that hare in my possession again.” A heavy silence fell over the crowd. The Western man's tale had rendered them speechless.