I worry when he goes alone up in these
dense forests, and when an officer goes with him I am so afraid of an
accident, that one may shoot the other. It is impossible to take a
wagon, or even ride a horse among the rocks and big boulders. There
are panthers and wild cats and wolves and all sorts of fearful things
up there. The coyotes often come down to the post at night, and their
terrible, unearthly howls drive the dogs almost crazy--and some of the
people, too.
I worried about Faye the other morning as usual, and thought of all
the dreadful things that could so easily happen. And then I tried to
forget my anxiety by taking a brisk ride on Bettie, but when I
returned I found that Faye had not come, so I worried all the more.
The hours passed and still he was away, and I was becoming really
alarmed. At last there was a shout at a side door, and running out I
found Faye standing up very tall and with a broad smile on his face,
and on the ground at his feet was an immense white-tail deer! He said
that he had walked miles on the mountain but had failed to find one
living thing, and had finally come down and was just starting to cross
the valley on his way home, when he saw the deer, which he fortunately
killed with one shot at very long range. He did not want to leave it
to be devoured by wolves while he came to the corral for a wagon, so
he dragged the heavy thing all the way in.
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