Poor Hal Had A Fit The Other Day, Something Like Vertigo, After Having
Chased A Rabbit.
Doctor Gordon says that he has fatty degeneration of
the heart, caused by having so little exercise in the South, but that
he will probably get over it if allowed to run every day.
But I do not
like the very idea of the dog having anything the matter with his
heart. It was so pathetic to have him stagger to the tent and drop at
my feet, dumbly confident that I could give him relief.
CAMP NEAR HELENA, MONTANA TERRITORY,
November, 1877.
THE company has been ordered to Camp Baker, a small post nearly sixty
miles farther on. We were turned off from the Helena road and the rest
of the command at the base of the mountains, and are now about ten
miles from Helena on our way to the new station, which, we are told,
is a wretched little two-company post on the other side of the Big
Belt range of mountains. I am awfully disappointed in not seeing
something of Helena, and very, very sorry that we have to go so far
from our friends and to such an isolated place, but it is the
company's turn for detached service, so here we are.
The scenery was grand in many places along the latter part of the
march, and it is grand here, also. We are in a beautiful broad valley
with snow-capped mountains on each side. From all we hear we conclude
there must be exceptionally good hunting and fishing about Camp Baker,
and there is some consolation in that. The fishing was very good at
several of our camps after we reached the mountains, and I can assure
you that the speckled trout of the East and these mountain trout are
not comparable, the latter are so far, far superior. The flesh is
white and very firm, and sometimes they are so cold when brought out
of the water one finds it uncomfortable to hold them. They are good
fighters, too, and even small ones give splendid sport.
One night the camp was by a beautiful little stream with high banks,
and here and there bunches of bushes and rocks - an ideal home for
trout, so I started out, hoping to catch something - with a common
willow pole and ordinary hook, and grasshoppers for bait. Faye tells
everybody that I had only a bent pin for a hook, but of course no one
believes him. Major Stokes joined me and we soon found a deep pool
just at the edge of camp. His fishing tackle was very much like mine,
so when we saw Captain Martin coming toward us with elegant jointed
rod, shining new reel, and a camp stool, we felt rather crestfallen.
Captain Martin passed on and seated himself comfortably on the bank
just below us, but Major Stokes and I went down the bank to the edge
of the pool where we were compelled to stand, of course.
The water was beautifully clear and as soon as everybody and
everything became quiet, we saw down on the bottom one or two trout,
then more appeared, and still more, until there must have been a dozen
or so beautiful fish in between the stones, each one about ten inches
long. But go near the hooks they would not, neither would they rise to
Captain Martin's most tempting flies - for he, too, saw many trout,
from where he sat. We stood there a long time, until our patience was
quite exhausted, trying to catch some of those fish, sometimes letting
the current take the grasshoppers almost to their very noses, when
finally Major Stokes whispered, "There, Mrs. Rae there, try to get
that big fellow!" Now as we had all been most unsuccessful with the
little "fellows," I had no hope whatever of getting the big one,
still I tried, for he certainly was a beauty and looked very large as
he came slowly along, carefully avoiding the stones. Before I had
moved my bait six inches, there was a flash of white down there, and
then with a little jerk I hooked that fish - hooked him safely.
That was very, very nice, but the fish set up a terrible fight that
would have given great sport with a reel, but I did not have a reel,
and the steep bank directly back of me only made matters worse. I saw
that time must not be wasted, that I must not give him a chance to
slacken the line and perhaps shake the hook off, so I faced about, and
putting the pole over my shoulder, proceeded to climb the bank of four
or five feet, dragging the flopping fish after me! Captain Martin
laughed heartily, but instead of laughing at the funny sight, Major
Stokes jumped to my assistance, and between us we landed the fish up
on the bank. It was a lovely trout - by far the largest we had seen,
and Major Stokes insisted that we should take him to the commissary
scales, where he weighed over three and one half pounds!
The jumping about of my big trout ruined the fishing, of course, in
that part of the stream for some time, so, with a look of disgust for
things generally, Captain Martin folded his rod and camp stool and
returned to his tent. I had the trout served for our dinner, and,
having been so recently caught, it was delicious. These mountain trout
are very delicate, and if one wishes to enjoy their very finest
flavor, they should be cooked and served as soon as they are out of
the water. If kept even a few hours this delicacy is lost - a fact we
have discovered for ourselves on the march up.
The camp to-night is near the house of a German family, and I am
writing in their little prim sitting room, and Billie squirrel is with
me and very busy examining' things generally.
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