A Warden's Worry

Peace is declared in Korea, and Captain Parnell Peasley resigns his commission in the U.S. Army and boards a train in Bangor, Maine, for Howe Brook Village, a wilderness settlement that grew up along the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in T8-R4 on the shore of the St. Croix Lake. Parnell likes the hermetic lifestyle at the village and decides to remain, even after the buildings are removed and everyone else has left. His best friend, John Corriveau, instructs Parnell in the delicate art of poaching and how to avoid apprehension by the local game warden, Ian Randall. As the outside world begins to creep towards Howe Brook and Parnell’s backyard, a few hunting opportunists see this new wilderness as their own playground. Parnell resents this new intrusion, particularly when someone poaches in his domain. He sets the stage for apprehension by Ian Randall and then absconds with the illegal spoils. Parnell acquires a learned respect and admiration for Ian Randall and agrees that it has –been a Great Game.

Mr. Probert retired from the Maine Warden Service in 1997 and began to write historical novels about the history in the areas where he patrolled as a game warden, with his own experiences as a game warden as those of the wardens in his books. When you work at something that you enjoy, then it never becomes just a job. For Probert, it was more fun than playing baseball. But that doesn't mean that everything was easy because it certainly was not-like having to summons a friend to court or having to pull a friend's daughter's lifeless body into a boat. Mr. Probert now has twenty-five books in print and the "Whiskey Jack" series is his favorite series, but "Ekani's Journey" is the single favorite.