The Huge Hunter

bring him to the notice of the reader, had spent something

he red-skins, and who, in addition to the loss of the hair upon the crown of his head,

een the frontier towns and the western wilds. He never went further east than St. Louis,

ropeller was descending the stream. As much from the novelty of the thing, as anything else,

t ten years in California, in a vain hunt for gold, and were now returning to their

is not probable that anything further would have resulted from this a

t and its contents. The hunter, with the others, was thrown into the water, but was so bruised and injured that he foun

ear the trapper, they instantly perceived his helplessness and came to his

contorted with pain, as he vainly struggled in the water, 'a

onished Hopkins; 'it won't do no good,

opposite side, and struck out for the shore. The poor trapper realized

fix; but by the blessin' of Heaven we'll do the fair th

ht the foot of the Irishman, and he was

his fearful moment, but continued their progress tow

so with the grasp of a drowning man; in their struggle both went to the bottom of the river together. Here, by

r his shoulder in search of the poor fellow from whom he had just freed himself; 'but y

me beside his friends again and too

nquired the kind-hearted Irishman, looki

he replied, between his compressed lips,

s me uncle obsarved whin he hauled the big fish a

kins, anxious to give his grain of consolation;

helpless hunter ashore; but the two friends succeeded, and at le

time, carried them a considerable distance downstream, and they landed perhaps an

when the hunter had been laid upon the

that thar war a whack of the biggest ki

ave been naow!'

othin', remember suthin' took me back the head,

catastrophe occurred. Their horses were gone, and they hadn't a gun betwe

n, nearly one-half were killed; they sinking to the bottom almost as su

their starting-point, and here they assembled, to commiserate with each

he third to recover, when the latter raised himself upon his elbow in the attitude

t later

ar In

manded Mickey, starting to his feet

, and tell me ef they ain't pitc

eam. To their horror, they saw fully fifty Indians massacring the survivors of the wreck, whooping,

exclaimed the Irishman. 'Be the sam

hey won't,' added the Yankee, in some trepidation, as he cowered do

course we shall stick by you if we have to lose our he

y of the hunter, as he laid his head back a

thing to get you

ore, so jist leave me yere, and it don't make no difference about me one way or t'o

if we dissart you in this extremity,' was

was consarnedly mean enough to

river, and walking out a short distance,

self, we'll all three git hold of that and float do

he managed to crawl to the river bank, where one arm was placed over the lo

s you kin,' he said, as t

er in the middl

see us, and it'll

ing of prudence,