LD Bill Saunders, the "Jedge," was a popular and highly-esteemed man in a certain Adirondack community, where he had lived, as he put it, "nigh onto seventy years, as they run." I call him "Jedge"

well, old Bill was mayor, judge, sheriff and everything else but constable in the small township where he reigned. He held court, swore in deputies to pursue offenders, owned an antiquated volume of "Blackstone" and administered "horse-sense law" in the old school-house. Before settling down as the chief, and, in fact, the only dignitary of the township, the Jedge had put in forty years of solid work in active service, trapping in winter and guiding during the hunting and fishing seasons.

Old Bill was extravagantly fond of telling marvellous stories of his many experiences, and his yarns. were original and interesting, even if he did not always confine himself to bare facts and meager details. These he sometimes embellished, and the actual truth suffered, from time to time, according to the amount of rum-and-water that was mixed with it. Bill claimed that he never broke any of the commandments, but, if not, he certainly bent one of them as far as could be expected at reasonable tension.

It was easy to start the Jedge on his reminiscences, if one knew him, and once started, he would narrate one story after another from his

seemingly endless stock - always, however, providing that no comment was offered as to the improbability of his yarns. It always had a soothing effect on the old fellow to see that his toddy glass was refilled occasionally, and a judicious amount of flattery did not go amiss; but let any listener show doubt or a disposition to crossquestion him, and the Jedge would put his short pipe into his almost toothless mouth, give a few powerful whiffs, throw a scornful and almost pitiful look at the skeptic, and walk away in the most dignified manner his shaky old frame would permit.

One stormy winter day, the usual assembly of idlers was gathered about the stove in the village post-office; old Bill was of the number. After some mild persuasion, and a few glasses of his customary toddy, he began with his favorite the story of the trout and the pipe :

"I wuz up to Chazy Lake last May, 'baout the fourteenth, I reckon - no, 'twan't quite thet airly becuz I hed t' try Jed Atwater fer stealin' a saow daown t' th' corners 'baout then. Reckon it must a bin 'baout th' seventeenth.

Anyway, 'twuz sum'ers 'long then, cuz the skeeters an' black flies an' punkies wuz all tormentation on th' lake, an' y' all know by thet, 't must a bin long 'baout then.

"Waal, I got some shiners fer bait, way up th' inlet, an' paddled daown an' set aout t' fish a spell, off Bar Pint. Things set in a trifle easy fer quite some time, an' I didn't hev' too much t' do, so I jist lit my pipe, an' set t' thinkin'. All of a suddin, I got a tarnation bite thet set my maouth agape sum'et, an' I'm durned 'f I didn't lose thet 'ar pipe plumb aout over th'side o' th' boat. Waal, thet riled me pretty bad. 'Twan't much of a pipe, but 'twuz all I hed with me t' smoke, an' I needed it durn bad.

Th' water's 'baout four hundred fut deep off th' pint, as y' all know, so 't wan't no use my reachin' fer it with th' oar."

Bill eyed his audience over with considerable asperity right here, but seeing no outward sign of disbelief, he borrowed a large chew of tobacco, expectorated copiously and with precision at the sawdust box, and continued :

"Waal, I giv' th' line a terrible jerk, an' sot th' hook putty deep in

story was at an end. Not so, however, for Bill hadn't finished.

"Waal, thet may be sum'at aout o' th' way," he went on, "but 'taint th' most remark'ble part of it, by a durn sight-not by no means. What 'pears t' me t' be th' remark'ble an' onusyl circumstance, is thet thet thar pipe wuz still lit!"

Bill tilted his chair back, expectorated once more with considerable vehemence, and prepared for incredulous looks or remarks right there;

contemplatively awhile, the old man began again:

"Talkin' 'baout tirkey shutes reminds ine of th' last un' I went to. 'Twuz over t' French Baptiste's place, on the line, 'baout ten year ago. Me an' Ira Pegram wuz barred from shutin' 'cuz the durn Canuck, he wuz too mean t' let anyone shute that stud any chance o' gittin' a bird. He tied th' gobblers behind a big log, so's ye could jest see ther heads above it, an' charged a shillin' a shot, at forty rods, off-hand shutin'.

"Waal, a'ter a spell, th' boys got kinder tired shutin', an' bein' middlin' full of Baptiste's wine, they sot t'eggin' on Ira t' dare me t' shute a match with him. Ira an' me allus hed harbored some little feelin's 'baout th' guns we hed, but someway we hedn't hed no reel satisfaction, one agin t'other. Ira, he had a britchluddin' wepin, an' I hed my long bar

r'l gun thet, as ye

know, is muzzle

luddin', an' shutes

durn nigh an inch.

thick, an' hefty

shute ten shots, the highest score t' win, an' draw cuts fer fust shot or choice.

"Gosh, you'd oughter seen Ira's eyes stick aout. He thought I wuz tipsy, I guess. 'Ye' durn eejit,' sez he, 'ye can't see no dip at thet distance.' I made aout t' be riled and sez: 'See here, Ira, I kin easy see a dip at thet distance, an' shute it aout, tew, fer thet matter, but ef you can't, I s'pose I'll hev' t' make it easier." Course he was pesky riled at thet remark, an' said he reckoned he c'd shute ez well, an' see ez fur ez me, any day, so he'd jest take th' bet.

"We went in th' haouse t' git er taller dip, an' I went aout by th' woodshed a spell. Baptiste and Deuteronomy Jackson measured off th' distance, an' put th' lighted dip on er stump way aout in the clearin', an' stood over t' one side. There wan't a speck o' wind ablowin' an' she burned all right, but ye' couldn't reely see 'er good,

'nuff t' batter daown Dannemora jail.

"Th' upshot on't was, thet Ira, he dared me t' shute agin 'im at any distance, any style, an' any mark. I hed bin drinkin' more sperrits 'n what wuz good fer me, but course, when he done thet, I hed t' take 'im up er git aout. I thought quick, I tell ye, an' I told 'im that we'd shute at a mark thet would be wuth th' while o' such ez him an' me-a taller dip, at a hundred yards; an' I'd bet my gun agin his'n. Each wuz t'

'nuff t' sight onto fine.

"Waal, we drawed cuts, an' Ira, he drawed th' short one, an' I tole 'im t' shute fust. He set aout t' shute. Onct, twict, three times he drawed er bead, an' fired, but naterally missed. He wuz beginnin' t' worry, and no mistake. He throwed up 'is sight 'nother notch, an' lay daown on his belly, an' tried her thet way three times, but th' old dip kep' on a-flickerin'. A'ter thet he rubbed his front sight shiny with dirt, an' tried thet an' every other conniption he cud think on,

till his ten shots wuz gone, an' no

score.

"Ira', sez I, 'I dunno what I'm a-goin' t' do with thet gun o' your'n; either 'taint no good or you ain't th' shot you bin braggin' t' be.' Ira, he grinned an' sez, go ahead, durn ye,' go ahead, durn ye,' let's see yo' put it aout.' 'I'm a-goin' tew,' sez I, an' lay daown on my back restin' the barr'l on my butes. I took my time gittin' a sight, an' when I hed jest th' bead I wanted, I pulled. Jimminy Cripps! what a yell th' boys give when they seen Baptiste an' Deut grab th' dip an' cum a-runnin' up from th' stump, wavin' ther caps. 'Put 'er aout without ever bustin' th' dip,' sez Deut. 'Course,' sez I, 'I reckoned tew.' Ira, he looked too durn flabbergasted t' live, but putty soon he cum' over t' me, an' give me his gun 'thout a word. 'Ira,' I sez, 'this gun is mine sure 'nough, but I don' want no sich a gun as thet, an' I'll len' it t' ye' fer life."" "But, Jedge," asked one of his

wet. Course I didn't hev' to shute very close t' th' taller dip, 'cause th' water flew right smart, an' when I shot, th' blamed sponge jest swiped th' glim right aout."

A general silence followed this remarkable yarn, but not one of the Jedge's listeners dared to suggest any possible exaggeration or inaccuracy in the details.

After what appeared to be considerable studied meditation on the old man's part, he vouchsafed the information that if he "wuzn't so durn dry," he could relate another little

Occurrence that might interest us. We wet the Jedge's throat with more toddy, and then he proceeded with this snake story:

"I wuz up back of th' maountin las' year, nigh th' ol' b'ar cave, tryin' to lay sight onto a ol' she-b'ar thet hed lugged off one o' my best traps. She left a putty plain trail, an' 'twan't no use takin' a dorg along, so I let ol' Tige an' th' pups git fer

made you so confident that you

could make such a difficult shot?" "Waal, I tell ye', I'm gettin' most too old t' dew sech a thing naow, an' I would'n hev' then ef I hedn't bin at a disadvantage, so t' speak, but if yo'd a done what I done when I went aout behind th' woodshed, ye' cud a made th' shot ye'self. Ye' see while no one seen me, I bored a hole sideways threw th' bullet, an' jest tied a wet sponge t' it by a string 'baout three fut long. Then I rammed a good tight wad onto th' powder t' keep it dry, an' I got th' sponge inter th' barr'l easy 'nough 'cause 'twas

up th' trail alone. 'Baout then, a b'ar

of decent weight wuz wuth c'nsid❜ble. "Waal, th' tracks led t' th' cave, ez I expected, an' I kinder clim' daown inter it. 'Twuz a sorter big hole like in th' rocks, 'baout a rod square, when ye' got daown. I sat lookin' round a spell, an' didn't seem t' see nothin' fer quite some time. Then, all of a suddin, I heered a noise I knew putty well, right in front of me, tew. 'Jimminy Cripps,' sez I, a rattler, and a dum big one, tew, fer this time o' year.' Waal, I up with my gun, an' wuz a-goin' to slam it t' him, but th' cuss never

moved. He jest sot up on his tail somethin' like a big corkscrew, an' sized me up with a sorrerful look in his eyes, like ye' see in a yearlin' doe. I sez, 'Jedge, this ain't no ornery snake 'tall, an' I'm goin' to examinate a time or tew ontil I kin see what he's up ter anyway.'

Snake

"I jest reckoned I cud talk t' him 'bout th' same ez a dorg, an' I set aout t' dew it. I sez, sez I, 'snake, ye' look hungry, an' ez tho' ye' hed no hum er fambly. In fact, don't 'pear t' me ye' got no visible means o' support,' me feelin' toler'ble facetious-like an' havin' the son-of-agun covered with my wepin. kep' a-lookin' at me kinder humblelike, an' waggin' his tail quiet an' decent, an' b'gosh, I hadn't th' heart t' kill him 'tall; so, sez I, 'here, snake, tell ye' what I'll dew; I never hed no snake of my own, an' ef yew'll kinder nose aout thet 'ar sheb'ar thet's got my trap, an' in gin'ral help me aout t'day with my huntin', I'll take ye' hum', an' giv' ye' bed, board an' lodgin' 's long 's ye' behave yerself.'

So, 'thout no further instructions from this here court, snake, he went into a big hole on th' right of th' cave, an' ez sure ez I hope fer Hevin, gentlemen, I never hear sich growlin' an' snarlin' an' hissin' an' Billy-be-durned racket in gin'ral,

durin' my life afore. Th' snake wuz a-raoustin' th' b'ar aout'n her cave, an' I'm durned ef he didn't dew it. I plugged th' b'ar p'utty consid❜able dead soon ez she came aout, tew.

"Waal, I sot quite some store by thet rattler, an' ye' bet I let him foller me hum, an' I give him a good feed, an' showed him where t' go t' bed thet night. After a spell, we got middlin' fond of each other, an' hunted consid'ble together, an' finally, I got t' likin' th' cuss so well thet bein' t'wuz winter an' all-fired cold, I used t' let him sleep in bed 'long with me.

"Waal, come one night, I wuz abed an' asleep, when all of a suddin, I wuz waked up by th' gol-durndest, most galumptious rattlin' ye' ever hearn tell 'baout. I poked 'raound in th' bed fer my snake, but he wan't there 'tall. A'ter consid'ble spell of rattlin' hed took place, I reckoned t' go daown stairs an' see what in thunder wuz a-goin' on; so I dressed myself a bit an' lit er dip an' went daown. Waal, ef thar wan't thet durn sneakin' Si' Hubbard broke inter my haouse. Snake hed heered him, an' went daown stairs an' waound hisself raound Si's neck, an' wuz holdin' on putty good, same time rattlin' his tail aout th' winder fer th' taown constable, like all hell possessed!