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The Colvmbiad
Vol. 4 ' Portland, Oregon, January, 1906
No. 4
Where Rolls the Oregon
A panagyric let us sing to thee,
() mighty stream, that from the mountain side
Springs forth. Thou canst not always there abide,
So distant from thy resting place, the sea.
How weak thou art ; thy snow-born infancy
Enraptures us. And yet how strong: thy tide,
Here sweeping by,^. terrific, turbid, wide,
Carves its swift course through valley, hill and lea.
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Or weak or strong, roll ever to thy home;
The boom of breakers on the rock-bound shore
A song of welcome is to thee. The waves
That— dashing 'gainst the cliff— break into foam.
Are but old Ocean's arms outstretched; the more
Inviting union that with thee he craves.
. < V. E. Drissler.
High up in the Sierras lived ,and roam¬
ed with the herd a young buck deer. At
the time of this narrative he was just
turned two years old, and was very proud
of the two-pronged antlers which show¬
ed his age. Indeed, he had good reasop_^—
to be proud of them, for already they
had stood him in good stead. Large for
his age, he had' assumed an air of arro¬
gance that was galling to some, of thte
bucks who were older by a year or two
than he, and in the fights which followed
Jack, as he came to be known in later
years, had not come out second best.
Slowly, but surely, as the season rolled
past, he fought himself toward the lead¬
ership.
Until he was six years old Jack ran
with the herd, growing more arrogant
every^year, listening, nevertheless, to the
counsels of the oldest bucks and learning
wisdom from their experiences. The
winter of that sixth year was the severest
the herd had ever experienced. As the
weeks wore on the herd was forced far¬
ther and farther down toward the foot¬
hills. Farther and farther down the fam¬
ished herd ranged, till they dared go no
lower, for their numbers were becoming
depleted by ones and twos almost daily
as they approached the habitations of
men.
Then, although the Winter was not
yet over, when half their number was
gone, they suddenly fled high into the
mountains, above the timber-line, to the
region of perpetual snow. Here they
were safe from the danger of man and
his. death-dealing rifle-.; yes, but now their
old enemy, hunger, laid a heavy hand
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