A Trapper's Adventure

A Trapper's Adventure By Claude T. Barnes

In a delightful, balsam-embowered glade of the Wasatch mountains there once lived a trapper by the name of Terwill, a rugged, kindly mannered man, who, despite his sixty years and medium build, possessed such physical strength and endurance that his powers in this respect were commented upon generally among those who knew him. A feat he readily accomplished with a quiet pride in the fact that no one else could do it, con- sisted in stretching himself out flat on the floor on his stomach with his arms extended to their limit ahead, and then with a fifty-pound sack of flour on his back, actually raising his body eight inches or more on his fingers and toes. This astonishing strength had resulted from years of the most arduous exercise over the steep hills and in the dense forest that constituted his home. It was a mild and invigorating morning in November when Terwill slung his traps over his shoulders and meandered through the gloomy balsams to a willow-fringed brook, which had long been noted for its many beaver dams. Some of the deciduous trees he passed were stripped, others still covered with gorgeous autumnal foliage; save for the occasional cheeping of newly arrived winter visitors the birds were silent; and there was scarcely a sign of wild life among the oak copses of the lower hillsides. Here and there late flowers beautified the wood- land pathway, but even more pleasing than theee to Terwill's mind was the rustle of the carpet of crisp leaves underfoot. Terwill carried a single shot rifle of .22 calibre, this weapon being light and yet of sufficient power to dispatch any animal that his traps could hold; moreover, Terwill's fearlessness, cou- pled with the increasing shyness of all large wild mammals, com- bined to make his sense of security so complete that he seldom gave a thought to the possibilities of danger. Any man who with a single-barreled shotgun has deliberately stalked a grizzly, met its onrush at a distance of a few feet and almost blown its head off with bird shot, is not inclined thereafter to notice dangers that would intimidate the ordinary woodsman; and far back in the 70's Terwill had, to the wonder of an entire encampment, accomplished just such an exploit. Minks, otters, beavers, martens, kit foxes, red foxes, coyotes, skunks, mu=krats, and wild cats, occupied most of Terwill's time

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and were his chief means of subsistence, his cabin each spring being almost covered with the drying pelts of these creatures. One year he had trapped a black fox which, being merely a color phase of the red fox, sometimes appears in the Wasatch; and the thousand dollars he received for this rarity had meant independence for several seasons. As he meandered the creek this particular morning he care- fully set his traps at several beaver dams, always in such a man- ner that when the victim should be caught its struggles would unfasten a weight which would pull it into the water and drown it, for, be it observed in passing, a trapped beaver is liable to

gnaw its own leg off unless prevented by some foresight of the woodsman. He twisted through labyrinthine growths for mink trails beside the murmuring water, giving but a furtive parting glance at each site to lead him thither on his next visitation. Finally, all of his traps being set, he clambered up through groves of solemn pines bethinking himself that he would make a detour down the canyon slopes and thus perchance happen upon some late service berries or at least some diversion of interest to his lonely life. Two days prior to this he had come upon a dead white-tailed buck mauled into a grove of quaking aspens and so battered, hooked and torn that TerwilFs quick eyes at once de- tected the result of a gruesome battle between two forest rivals the victor of whom had not left his victim until every sign of life had ebbed away. This, too, was the rutting season of the larger mule deer; and he expected almost any time to hear the crashing of horns, the stamping of feet and other sounds that invariably accompanied conflicts between the maddened bucks. As he walked, the only wild things that appeared were a gray ruffled grouse, a golden eagle wheeling the blue above, a Clark nutcracker and a few juncos. As he emerged, however, upon a glade of grassy loveliness, a slight movement on its other side at once halted him; in an instant he discerned the object to be a mule deer buck almost hidden by a handsome blue spruce tree. Hot with the fire of recent battles the animal stared at him as if half expecting an encounter with a new rival. This instant of hesitation, however, proved its undoing, for as it turned to flee, Terwill fired; and to his surprise it dropped as if a stone and lay perfectly still. With a smile of satisfaction, Terwill crossed the green and approached his prize. He casually leaned his gun upon a handy bough and was just in the act of lifting the buck's head by its antlers when to his consternation the animal instantly sprang to itsfeet and with rage in its eyes was upon him determined to gore him with its battle-tried tines. Like a flash the situation dawned upon Terwill; the head shot had merely stunned the deer and now for his own over-confidence a horrid death was

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perilously imminent. Here again the alert woodcraft of the old hunter manifested itself, for the second Terwill felt the animal rise his quick perception told him not to release his hold of the horns. The effort was, nevertheless, a trying one, for, as the buck whirled, the muscles of Terwill's right arm rose in great knots and the cords pressed the skin as if so many wires. Round and round the agonized beast tore, dragging Terwill in a frenzide effort to release its head and jerking his one hundred seventy pounds weight over young quaking aspens as if he were a sack of shavings. After a moment or so of this fierce rearing, twisting and turning, the disconcerted buck stopped, protruded its tongue and breathed heavily. With the slightest movement, however, on the part of Terwill, who could think of no possible escape save by the use of his heavy pocketknife (unfortunately closed and in his pocket), the infuriated deer turned, this time not away from, but towards the trapper at its side. Aghast at his peril, Terwill grasped the other beam with his left hand, his alacrity barely saving him from the vicious thrust of the sharp antlers. There the combatants tussled, Terwill at the buck's right side, holding its right antler firmly with his right hand, the left with his left; but the unfortunate man soon realized that he could not long thus protect himself, as with the new position his wiry antagonist dragged him about at will. The furious buck, however, constantly endeavored to turn for a fatal jab; and Terwill several times had his chin nearly impaled on the tip points. Just at this instant when Terwill felt his strength waning it dawned on him that his only hope lay in twisting his victim's neck after the manner of the cowboys. Perspiration dripped into his eyes and he could hardly see under the terrible strain, yet he pulled with his left arm and pushed with his right with that fighting expression the boys had always noted in his face when he was bending spikes with his bare hands. Slowly the buck's neck twisted, the animal's tongue stuck out further and its breathing became jerky and labored; Terwill applied every atom of strength; and then at last he realized that either the neck must break or his victim fall. Little by little the buck gave way to the pain; and then suddenly began to fall directly upon its relentless enemy. Anticipating this movement, Terwill sprang to the front with the quickness of a cat, never for an in- stant releasing his hold, but on the contrary maintaining the twist as the deer fell. With a spring he pressed the buck's muz- zle with his knee forcing its head against its shoulder; and then while still holding with his left hand he reached quickly into his pocket with his right and withdrew his pocketknife. While the animal struggled he held the knife with his teeth as he opened

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the blade. Then with a few quick slashes over the tensely drawn neck of his victim he severed its jugular vein. He watched the fire slowly dim in the valiant buck's eyes and then as their accus- tomed mildness came over them, this strong man of the woods himself could hardly withhold a tear, for no one with a heart can see the dying eyes of a deer without being touched thereby. When the animal's strength had waned so that Terwill could release his hold he cut the other vein :nd soon thereafter saw the poor thing's sufferings cease. Terwill, now that all danger was past, sank back exhausted on the grass where for some minutes he lay as helpless as a babe. After a time he arose, eviscerated the buck, fastened its sev- ered head to his shoulders, and picking up his gun, trudged on down the canyon. Now as he sits alone in his cabin, when the night winds send the snow moaning through the pines, he occasionally looks at that mounted head, the soft eyes of which truly recall the mild light of the live ones, and pledges himself never again to take the life of a deer except when driven thereto by the pangs of hunger.

British Official Photo. © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.