arp report of a rifle.

"Young Boone's own, I declare," exclaimed Finn; "'twas I that gave him
the tool. I should know its crack amidst a thousand. Now mark me,
chief, Boone never misses; he has killed a deer or a bear; if the first,
search for a hole between the fifth and sixth rib; if a bear, look in
the eye. At all events, the young chap is a capital cook, and we arrive
in good time. Did I not say so? By all the alligators in the swamps!
Eh, Boone, my boy, how fares it with ye?"

We had by this time arrived at the spot where the buck lay dead, and
near the body was standing the gaunt form of a man, about forty years
old, dressed in tanned leather, and standing six feet nine in his
mocassins. Though we were within a yard of him, he reloaded his rifle
with imperturbable gravity, and it was only when he had finished that
job that I could perceive his grim features beaming with a smile.

"Welcome, old boy; welcome, stranger; twice welcome to the hunter's
home. I knew somebody was coming, because I saw the pigeons were flying
up from the valley below; and as dried venison won't do after a morning
trip, why, I took the rifle to kill a beast out of my _flock_." The
hunter grinned at his conceit. "You see," he continued, "this place of
mine is a genuine spot for a hunter. Every morning, from my threshold,
can shoot a deer, a bear, or a turkey. I can't abide living in a
country where an honest man must toil a whole day for a mouthful of
meat; it would never do for me. Down Blackey, down Judith, down dogs.
Old boy, take the scalping-knife and skin the beast under the red oak."

This second part of the sentence was addressed to a young lad of
sixteen, an inmate of the hunter's cabin; and the dogs, having come to
the conclusion that we were not robbers, allowed us to dismount our
horses. The cabin was certainly the _ne plus ultra_ of simplicity, and
yet it was comfortable. Four square logs supported a board--it was the
table; many more were used as _fauteuils_; and buffalo and bear hides,
rolled in a corner of the room, were the bedding. A stone jug, two tin
cups, and a large boiler completed the furniture of the cabin. There
was no chimney; all the cooking was done outside. In due time we
feasted upon the hunter's spoil, and, by way of passing the time, Boone
related to us his first grizzly bear expedition.

While a very young man, he had gone to the great mountain; of the West
with a party of trappers. Hi