Democratic banner., 1850-12-16
THE EHAUNTEDHoUsE
An ARKANSAS SKETCH.

| AN AAAA1uAS SkETCHs
II ~ i-fS si3 z. NO. i,5 5.f' q : %
1 Nick trammel was one winter evening sitting
lbyt the fire fthe only public house in Ecote Fa-
bTe, little excited By the fumes Of numerous re-
feent potations, but in excellent humor, with HIM
sell, his company. and the world in general
There was quite, q crowd present, anxiously
waiting for Nick 10 s.branch oul" into one of his
iunny stories, thing which he seldom failed to
do, when in good spirits. Niek's house, situa-
ted far away in the heart Of the wilderness, had
wids spread notoriety for being the fav6fits re-
sort Of goblins spirits ofthe damned, and Tie
Ineighborhood was as studiously avoided by the
believers in demonology in that wild region, as
certain places in the land of withcraft were in
the OldeD time, when the startling notice Of
"spirits seen here" nailed up against tree, for.
bade the approach Of timorous spirits. '...z
The company had been joking Nick about the
stories IN circulation, concerning strange sounds,
said to have been heard both at MONDAY and al
midnight, in and about his dwelling, which was
situated near the Texan frontier. Nick took all
in good part, and being earnestly solicited, togive
his views upon the subject Of supernatural ap-
appearances in general, after treating all hands
around to ardent spirits, undertook to enlighten
the audience with regard to the spirits supposed
to hold revels in his domicil, and with which it
was thought that he had certain kind of un-
derstanding. ............, -.... =
You see, 'cording TO my 'sperience, speerets
is all fam flum -sorter flash in the pan fol de roll
u never seen emmy speerets but bar room speer-
cts, and them are speerets like to meet with.--
But 'sarning them speerets about my clarin, can
settle your curiosity quicker nor never settled
a bars dander. l can guv you the whols car
cumstance in the twinkle Of q panther's eye
wStchin' deer at tie drink, - ... F., -
You know what sor: oil a shs-cri.ser my wife
IS, she'd out coInt name an owl and oui6eht q
lgrizzie bar-a wild var mint can't look her in the
eye. Well, one afternoon, she and had got
into little bit Of tantrum about sumthin' or
other, and put out 10 the corn patch to see
what the niggers war doin'. Well, as war kin
der santrin' down the path seen two Of the mig
gers away of at q par Of bars, when they orter
bin holm corn. cut big cudgel, inteadin' to
give 'sm Jesse, and toddled on to whar they war
u took soFt6f ;circum-g -go.round- EN- -shute, to
keep the Tascals from seem me till got rite
upon 'em, but afore got thar, seed sumthin'
more than common was the matter. One was
on one side the fence and luther on luther, and
they was wrigglin', and twisiin', and yelling
like wimmen 1t er revival meetin'. I put nv
trottsrs into quick motion, and when arriv, II
found they'd got whoppin' wiI6 cat stretched
scVoss the fence. ! diskivered afterwards that
the wild cat had jumpt On one Of 'em as he was
gettin over the bars, an thatthe other had grab.
bled the animal by the hind .rotters, apd thar
they'd bin holdin' him acrost the fence ever
since mornin'. didn't STAN about askin' par
hkIars then, but ran, up as quick as er fash of
Dupont's powder, to see what they war doin'.-|
Just as came pop upon the fun, one of the mig
gers bawled ont: :'I
Take him Off massa we've got enuff Of i'm,
and with that both LET 60, and sure enuff, did
take i'm of, for the varmint sprung ker-whack
right on my shoulders. o Jimminy how his
finger nails stuck ini put off at dog trot for
the house, ihinkin' that the old 'omsn's face
would make him let 90. made long tracks, ]
tell you, an at last, with the varmint tryin all
the time TO gnaw through my bar.skin csp. Il
bolted plum into the house, whar my wife, not
half over tantrums, was eitlin' ready 10 bake,
and SO was slashing away like all possessed.
Take him OFF, brawled, but instead er that,
she dra~ed herself into a corner and commenc.
ed to laugh like er fiend Of Bedlam. . ei -
THAT made me mad, and the more brawled
the more she laughed, till at last made despe-
y dlo ICSObutiODs 4uo Otu OInk0 na0 lubt ulIc0l
the oven chock full er pine wood, an had or
rOusin' fire in the chimney. turned sorter
whirlef-bout, and fell backwards plum intsr the
fire, lhinkin' that the varmint would have the
worst er the bargain. An SO it turned out, for
the critter fetched one all fred yell, an went
plum into the oven among the pitchwood. got
up mighty. sudden, tell you, all L fire, but /
didn't STAN about that. ! got the old gun, and
just agoin' to Are inter the oven whsr The wild
cat was ;iekin'' himself and snappin' hiseyes
kinder, when the old woman jumped on nae,
and would not let me bang away. suppose be-
cause she felt sortsr friendly towards the var.
mint for givin' me sich gonin'. ..'
very well, old oman, seq I, you may hayel
him all yourself.''-" "''' '-'S'
so 1 'stinguished my. rags-.for I'd been
smokin' like er vocaner all TIE tims-took the
old gun on shoulder, and made tracks. q,
'ATter went of, the cid 'oman got big case
knife and long stick, an tried to get Mr.. Cat,
out, But he eitherliked his new quarter or was
afraid Of; the old 'omau's vinegar phiz, and
wouldn't move no more nor bar in eroch.-l
At last the old oman got her dander up, and
swCre she'd fix the varmint; and so she sot FIRE
to the pitch wood, and blocked up the oven sol
the critter couldn't git out! An, then such al
cracktinH Of pitch wood, saeha spitten an cater
Wahiin, al such h riopiHi an teaYin' you never