| Show copyright by joseph 13 bowles immediately after bibs encounter with chuck mcbarr we started on our long trip to the land 0 graft and era clous nesa and after a long tedious launt caught the homebound home bound steamer labrador and finally sneaked through the strait of belle isle and reached the blessed st lawrence now for sweet rest and the innocent spectacle of a cow chewing her cud in some vermont vale I 1 sighed luxuriously when wed been in mon treal for a day telegram for you sir said the portly crook who mismanaged our hotel the boss says we are to catch the saucy liz sealer at vancouver and take a mild little run north to on the tip of point barrow mused tib eying me furtively not to win several bets I 1 protested indignantly wire him a refusal be declared stoutly inside of two hours he was back genially pay monsieur gar con whang bang and pack up he cried joyously and to abbreviate that night found us 01 the C P booming so far as I 1 was concerned very disconsolate ly westward it seems that my patron s exchange of wires with the chief had revealed an errand so dear to the inclination of mv leader that he had recanted and had tossed in an enthusiastic affirms alve signed by our joint names I 1 was disgruntled of course as we were cot strapped to the ultimate coin yet and I 1 had wanted to enjoy a straw hat nd forget chilblains a bit before al lowing the bleak arctic environment to again encompass our clustered ac was all gaiety gayety playful as fc kitten little realizing we were about to glide from the perpetual embrace of the chilly tomb solely through my lebond hand varsity lore it transpired we were on our way to capture the kanack pennant and dub ourselves the champions of alaska but we had no radical hint of the glory not even after we had berthed aboard the liz the captain of the sealer we quick ly discovered was an old employed of the circus and had often collected odd chunks of arctic life tor the big shows we had been with him once on an iceland trip ills quest now was a mighty one being nothing less than a whole village of tame polar bears needless to eay he was playing sec ond fiddle to my patron when U came to annexing such important brutes and even I 1 began to lose my melan choly frown when I 1 appreciated the fat bonus awaiting a successful out come of the venture so gradually waxing almost human in my deport to tib we sailed away from the realm of the open work sock you should know sir that there Is no better card tor a menagerie than the ursus and despite his natural ferocity and the fact that he la the greatest meat eater among his furry fellows the big beast can be tamed and Is unusually acute of per all the up to date animal shows have apolare that will do all sorts of tricks and never growl but as it costs like aln to get them and as it takes time to make out their nat papers an opportunity to pilfer a whole bevy of the deep coated entertainers la a chance no quadruped king can allow of neglect the four tooted treasure trove was the property of one alfen olfen an aged missionary said the sealer the old man had been deserted by hla charges and had filled in his snaring and domesticating the var mints the saucy liz waa the first boat in two years to obtrude on bis privacy and as he was short of fodder the intrusion was very welcome he had accepted the sealer s proposal that he come to the states and 11 e in corn fort at the expense 0 the circus while bis pets earned his ease by traveling in the menagerie rf jia fc up to the north we climbed the coast growing ever more bleak and desolate past nome and its gold sanded shores stopping at chuck cape just long enough to pick up some native hunters and ultimately round ing the shoulder ot alaska where the full force ot the cold storage zephyrs caused our stanch little craft to growl its way among the ice floes like some aquatic hull dog and such a buffet ing you see the month was august and an off shore wind was frisking the cutglass cut glass out to the open thus giving us our only chance of creeping in to the coast the moment the saucy hz poked her head inside the cape tour native whale boats put out to meet us and the captain sighed his disappointment for he explained it flock has returned he II 11 never leave them and wove had our little jaunt tor nothing but tib slapping his fox skin gloves briskly together refused to en tertale this unwholesome suggestion and intimated that inasmuch as our boss had spent enough money on the trip to buy carpet slippers tor every barefooted owl in the country we must take back something it only an iceberg the desire to trade kept the natives about the sealer and we three tib the captain and I 1 slid in to shore alone then the captain hurried us inland several hundred yards to a low stone house banked high with dirt ad plugged with mosa and called on the missionary to appear and welcome ua but the door remained closed father offen he cried again and then great Scott sir but my heart certainly skipped seven throbs for from around the corner of the hut paraded seven of the biggest colars I 1 ever saw and the whole outfit reared with one accord and eyed us corn at our apparent concern the captain laughed and assured us they were tame as kittens then he boldly advanced and said hello aln alo and stuck out his fist and hang me sir it dlan t return the chaste most amiably tib you know always had a hyp notly way with animals and be too tripped forward and slapped another elt on the flank mr bruin slowly dropped to all fours and rubbed his massive white head lovingly against my patron s sealskin coat but no missionary had appeared and finding the door unfastened we entered the room was deserted but on a rough table was a letter ad dressed to the captain in it olten ex that he was about to leave on a chance sealer then off shore as to remain longer meant death by the date of the note he had been gone about a week A strange tribe has settled here he wrote and while their superstition leads them to avoid the hut as they believe because of my bears that I 1 must be an evil spirit they nevertheless threaten to kill me they cry out I 1 am shaman the bear spirit and it la only a ques alon ot time when they will attack me poor ignorant savages it I 1 were younger I 1 would stay regardless of the risk but I 1 find my last days are suddenly filled with a desire to see the flowers and I 1 cannot wait for you it you come and my pets are still here be kind to them after the captain had slowly spelled this out a scratching at the door caused me to open it and there was a nine toot sixteen hundred pound toy sitting on his haunches and polite ly salaaming sala aming tib said the old boy was hungry and finding a stock of dried fish we led the seven into their rock corral behind the hut and say for endurance in gastronomic stunts those fairies had all the old roman gluttons reduced to lightweight adya dya just as we had cemented the en corrlale cord lale by the simple donation a cloud of snow capered over the hut and the captain gained the open la three jumps an inshore wind ho cried in explanation le got to save alz stay here and beat back at the first let up and his lank form was lost in a swirl of feathers and we w ere left alone V e built a rousing fire for despite the month the ground was covered alth cotton batting and the raw freezes owned the beach we were pleased to note the had disappeared from the map when the storm broke loose boiten s letter was not very reassuring you know after wo biad fixed up the hut we paid another visit to the bears tib s control over hem was something uncanny they seemed to dope out everything he said and on the farst day he taught them to orm pyramids and do several stereotyped tricks what an elegant football squad they d make I 1 carelessly observed on the third morning as he dealt out the fish tib stood transfixed for a minute and then cut a pigeon wing of unadulterated ecstasy an inspiration dally he cried and straightway be gan planning for a polar bear eleven he said he would borrow the tour brutes already with the show to make up the squad adorn them all with big mitts and muzzles so as to reassure the timid spectators and then chal lenge college teams wherever the clr cus went give me some pointers on that deadly pleasantry plea antry and watch me translate it into the bear language he corn banded and nearly all day I 1 fed him toot ball lore and grounded him in the acl ence of the game then as the storm showed no symptoms of weakening he got to work with his pupils he and I 1 playing with them for nine ground gainers we certainly were clever and the bears enjoyed it immensely tib taught them to tote a deer skid ball and go through three simple maneus ers not at all unlike the real article minnie and maude were at right and left ends respectively and huge rudolph in the center to call min nie s name meant for her to lead off with the other six following in close formation and we styled it the burglar proof wedge and maudes name meant a similar play at left end but our waa when ru dolph threw back his flat topped bead and in bru inese invited hla compan ions to fill in tho vacuums created by the moving of his giant form for pure realism in bucking the line his stunt at center had the other two alons plucked to a tawdry finish wo regretted while rejoicing for it required no prophet to eee that only a freight train could cause him and the nth power of energy in hla wake to hesitate even and it would never do to spring the joke on the same college twice but sir for a picturesque effect it was purely supernal it would have placed your heart three palpitations to the good just to study them as they caught on to the varsity spirit and crouched in line eagerly awaiting the signals and after they got so they could perform each hurricane dash without a flaw tim and I 1 tell on each others necks and shed tears of distilled joy they are BO blessed human billy he sobbed in apology for his emotion and be gave each champion a fish then came a dampener to our spirits that caused us to forget the gridiron for the none I 1 had gone to the beach at the first intimation of clearing weather but instead of sight ing the sealer I 1 beheld four big acs well filled with jovial murderers it required no second glance to see that they were our late neighbors and in the bows of each ferry stood a spear A large bottle affectionately clasped by the chief or harpoon brandishing midget anti inti mating with easy grace that I 1 was next these simple gesticulations alone evinced that they were in rare fettle tor acting roguish and paule re vere would have been distanced at the first quarter had he endeavored to keep tabs on my flitting footsteps tib stood in the doorway aa I 1 blew within his ken and he had already detected the menace he dragged me inside and closed the portal just as the amiable rattlesnakes beached their boats and set up a song of rancor then they did a little greencorn green corn dance and set our football stars to growling with a cloud of spears and arrows I 1 was puzzled to know what had surfeit ed them with courado until tib andl bated a large bottle affectionately clasped to the bosom of the chief then we detected in the middle distance a eln lster looking keg it was obvious they had procured the fire water from the sealer while the captain was ashore with us of course we searched the hut for trappings of var but could find noth dh t m ing more offensive than some stout cluba im atrid its all up it they rush us I 1 soliloquized sullenly they number at least two score tib sighed in a minor but made no reply until be had scanned tha ice freckled waveless wavelets wave lets with an ancient glass then he observed it my old eyes dont deceive me there s a thread of smoke out yon 1 I gave a hoot 0 joy it mas the sealer to the rescue hurrah for the saucy alz only lizzie knows naught ot our embarrassment dis heartened tib and Is taking her time the query Is can we hold out till she arrives speaking ot maidens I 1 trembled we have minnie and maude id forgotten em mused tib it they can lend a helping band we might gain the beach and keep the toe guessing tor an hour and then win out an hour I 1 cried just time tor two halves he grabbed me by my shoulders sir and gazed lovingly into my spark ling arbs orbs then he lisped my child well start the first halt now and its our kickoff kick off Ne nook Ne nook howled the rabble now garbed in a delirium cremens tremens ot bravado the smoke Is thicker I 1 joyously reminded my companion as be became absorbed in studying the dancing and advancing enemy they cant be the regular article he murmured they must be some halt caste people the simon pure any more temerity than a sage hen except when tackling a bear bunching tor a I 1 yelled and the clamor tor was now so uproarious that I 1 had to use my hands as a trumpet in order to reach bibs dull ear bring out the squad directed he have rudolph play center and with our seven players in line with tib and me at quarter and halt back we trailed around the corner and on to the arctic gridiron and faced the would be champions they bad ex pecked the bears and being used to that kind of trouble were loaded with an antidote in the shape ot bone tipped spears and yet the shaggy orderly array puzzled them and warned that we were there tor no parlor paline seeing us come to a halt they foolishly assumed a massed formation like a revolving wedge and brusquely advanced to try us out minnie cried tib and that blithe some lass began to make a detour to the right with the others ambling joyfully along behind well sir it simply adept the gang off its feet it was all done so quickly and neatly that wed flanked them before they saw a light then minnie halted and waited for us to form the line then the chief took a sip from bis flagon and coughed out a signal and ahe beggars speedily presented a new front and again prepared to rush you see we had an elegant chance to cut for the beach after the first end play but our players had been trained la the corral where they were forced to halt after making 30 feet so the benight ed romps had absorbed the imbres slon that ten yards was their limit on any one play and of course tib and I 1 did not care to wander about on the beach alone while waiting tor the sealer to arrive what are we tarrying tor now I 1 cried as the other line again approached pro ached this time more rapidly and seemingly oblivious to tear minnie wont work twice in sue cession yelled tib maude must come next or they wont play we taught em to alternate and we austn t try the left end until the crowd gets nearer As the last word was barked kin acks prides were upon us trying to buck the line but when it came to plunging they were rotten too light you know and say sir they ought to have been penalized 30 yards tor treading on our centers boea and thrusting at the guards with their ticklers tic klers all ready howled tib reaching between the centers feet to kick a study in oils on the nose maude and away they gambolled gam to the left in search of ten yards more of leeway and maude carried with her sir the bunch of deerskin you see we had to fetch it along to give the bruins their cue bless their alq hearts it was all a game to them but this play was attended by a beautiful melee as we d waited a few seconds too long and as our guards had never lined up against even a scrub eleven before and consequently were a bit dazed and rather punk on the defensive however they man aged to break up thab interference after a fashion and finally somewhat wind ed we were one family again hut the captain of the Kl absorbed a pint of stimulus and I 1 could see we were in for livelier doings the first two plays had em a trifle but now they were up and ready and very wise so far they had suffered DO injury thanks to our teaching the bears to use bi little strength in anticipation of the college games to come ergo they waxed con fluent |
