Paul's Cow By POLLOUGH POGUE. Old Man Angus is called a "meatbird" by the loggers in the big railway camp where he is employed. Among lumberjacks there is a vague persuasion that the souls of old loggers pass at death into the bodles of Canada jays, or some other bird or small mammal sufficiently daring or sociable make itself, as the whiskeyjack, invariably called by woodsmen, does, a part of their dally lives approaching close their camps lunching places in the woods, seekIng food. have seen two meat-birds the bottom step of the lunch car, called the "mulligan car," by the men, taking meat from the hands of men sitting on In anticipation this, metempsychosis, than aged loggers, two or three every camp, are called "meat-birds." This bellef, or persuasion common among the men of the woods, is now survives from more primitive largely our fantastio and humorous but days. Loggers invariably are pagans spirit, nature worshippers, imA g. Inative and inclined still to superstithe sense of deep reverence. the mysterlous and unknown, as suggested by deep and gloomy mountain forests. Dwellers in lonely fastnesses have not the sense of security that towns and cities give, 88 general rule, or the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and their thoughts • run deep on old things, in the midst of dark forests and overshadowing mountains, that Sunday of intimidate wonderful them. clear sunshine and Old Man Angus and I had begged a lunch from a cookee and had walked up the main line as far steel ran, and followed first the partly constructed grade, then the brushline of location, then mere mountain trail far into the hills. We had eaten luncheon and thrown a slice roast beef to a companionable jay, and drunk coffee from a thermos Jar the cookee had given us. Old Man Angus opened a can of condensed cream and observed that the rich liquid he poured into our coffee mugs resembled the milk that Paul Bunjun milked from his tame whale when he was head boomman that time up on the west coast of Moresby Island. "Paul had a tame whale up there, had he?" I remarked, as if to domesticate a cetacean had been the most commonplace thing in the world. Were 014 Angus to that. Paul Bunjun had taught any Man, mention, other animal, to rig skylines or top spartrees or tend hook I would not express surprise. The old logger drank his coffee and lighted his blackened corncob before began his tale. #Tu see, Paul was head boomman the big operation that was gettin' Sitka spruce up there, logged a million feet of her. They had hundred. an' Paul had a big gang of boommen under him. The boom was a long inlet that had a very narrow entrance, an' one morning Paul was out tug an' A pile driver extendin' boomin' ground an' they had drove with a row o' piles across a little arm o' th' Inlet when they seen a big cow whale come t' th' surface insido th' piles an' the size o' th' cow they niggered that she couldn't git through between piles, which was set pretty clost. "Th' tugboat skipper looked at his tide table an' he told Paul that next day th' big tides start, an' at low WA• ter the whale 'd be on th' bottom. It was gettin' clost t' low tide then, an' slipper said that th' whale couldn't have more than three foot o' water under her. "When they went ashore a Japanese fisherman told Paul that the cow had calf with her when she came up the arm, but that the calf had got through between the piles an' gone down the inlet. "That night the cook told Paul that the tin cow had gone dry. That was his way of saying that the condensed milk had all been used up. Paul told him to send a speeder up the line to Camp Three and get some. The cook said he had already dono that, an' that they were out of milk at Camp Three an' the other camps too. "Paul got an idea. 'Liesen boiler,' he SAyS t' th' cook. 'There's cow down in the West Arm big enough to supply milk for all the camps, if we can only get her used to bein' milked. Right now she's a maverick.' "I don't savvy what yu mean. boss. never heard of any cows round this part 6' th' ¡eland.' 'That cow I'm talkin' about.' says Paul, 'gives five barrels o' milk at a milkin', an' 1' show that she ain't no fament of fancy, I'm tellin' yu right now she weighs seventy-five tons.' 'That cultus bulleook o' mine,' says the staster, 'aavvien how to milk cows: was brought up on dairy farm he down In Wash.' "Tomorrow morning let him come with me then, an' tonight. yu make him wash out some o' them water barrels: 1 3688 we'll need four or five.' "Early In th' mornin' th' tide WAS out an' as the tug captain had told Paul, th' water was so tow in the Arm that thar was the cow whale, stranded high and dry an' Just flappin' a fin an' battin' an eye now and then to show that she was alive. She was lyin' on her aide. and when Paul told that bullcook t' get busy he hopped right to his work because though he was afraid of th' whale, he was more afraid of Paul Bunjun. In about an hour he had milked three barrels o' milk from that cow, an' Paul said that was take for the mornin'8 loggin', Th' milk was just like cream. Paul put a coupla barrels on n speeder an' sent it up to the timber camps. 'Holy Mulligan' he says to Boomhis stick Jack. second boommen. "that cow' gotta be ted. What does whales eat. Jack? " ways Jack, 'eats shrimpa' "Paul sent a man down to the Jap -to THE RAG BAG Losing Weight. MA "She vas a wonderful palmist. Last week she read my palm and told me that I was going to lose 130 pounds." "Did you?" "Yes, my wife left me two days later." Buying with Foresight. A darkey, being the father of twelve chilären, all of whom had been rocked in the same cradle, was putting the arrival to sleep. "Rastus," said his wife, "dat cradio| am 'bout worn out." * 'Tie 'bout gone," replied Rastus. "You all bettah get 'nother, and get a good one--one dat'l last." The Vulgar Fraction. The average size of the British • The family, according to statistics, is 4.13. fraction probably stands for the husband. Easily Identified. Employer--There's a man called Robinson at the foot of the street who owes us $25. You will call and collect the money. New Clerk--But there are about a dozen Robinsong in that part of the town. Which one is it? "I'm not sure; but you'll know our Robinson at once. He's sure to try to kick you down the stairs." fisherman's shack t' tell him to come up t' th' boom camp. #'Tu savvy shrimp, whale-feed?' said Paul when th' Jap arrived. * 'Me savvy plenty. IIlm ebt, a' same ebi.' * 'Yu git me boatload, for feed whale in West Arm.' "That evenin' Hogi unloaded tide by makin' fast about two ton o' shrimp, at high piles an' throwin' th' shrimp through with a big dipnet, That boatload of shrimp was enough t' feed that whale for a week. "Pretty soon Paul Bunjun, who had a way with animals. had put th' comether on that whale an' wheedled her to come into shallow water on the beach an' roll over on her side so that the bulleook could milk her. The milk was fine an' when th' news spread through th' camps up above that Paul Bunjun was milkin' a whale, all th' boys wanted t' see Paul's cow, an' on Sunday th' locies brought the whole crew down on flat cars to see th' milkin' done. A lot of the lumberjacks wanted to try th' milkin themselves, an' that night th' bullcook got nearly all th' milkin' done for him. For a month th' camps all had fresh milk an' more 'n they could use. Then one night a tug that was pickin' up a boom o' logs knocked three o' them piles out, that Paul had set across the West Arm, makin' more boomin' ground an' by accident shuttin' in that cOw whale. That cox. not knowin' that them camps was dependin' on her fur fresh milk every day, jest naturally swam down the Arm an' th' inlet, an' out to sea again. "Say feller, Paul Bundun felt so bad about losin' that whale that he left th' boomcamp an' hired to run one o' them bandsaws in a sawmill down on the mainland. Plant Now! BRAND'S HYACINTHS NAMED VARIETIES Exhibition size for pots and glasses 25c cach $2.50 dozen For Bedding $1.35 dozen $10.00 per 100 Miniatures for Forcing 85c dozen $6.50 per 100 CATALOGUE FREE ON REQUEST hands 723 ROBSON STREET VANCOUVER, B. C. or to can in old to at within an of it of