Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-05-31

l TO put out I0f I,- auQ leave Tue paubnSE W
continue his voyage without me. E
When first saw the island I observ-
ed something that I took for bushes
But there were no bushes on the mound
that knew of. However, when we got
"a little closer, L discovered that the bush
es were beasts. They were deer; for l
spied a pair of bucks horns between me
and the sky. But there was something
still larger than deer. It might be a
horse, or an opelous,g or an OK but
thought it was horsea o. / was right
about that, for a horse it was, or rather,
1 should say mare. and that was no 9TH
er than my old creature. After parting
company, she had turned with the current;
and, as good luck would have it, had
swan in a bee line for the island, and
there she stood, looking as slick as if she
had been creased. The log had by this
time got nigh enough as l calculated
and with as little rumpus as possible.
slipped over the end and letlny hold go
of it. 1 was not spread in the water be-
fore I heard plump. and looking round
bit, 1 saw the panther had left the log,
and taken to the water, too. at trst l
thought he was after me; drew my
knife with one hand. while 1 swan with
the other. But the panther did not mean
to become quarre lsome that time. He
made but poor swimming himself, and
appeared glad enough to set upon dry
ground without mulesting me; SO we
swan on, side by side, and not a word
passed between US. did not want to
make a race of it, so L let him pass me,
rather than he should fall behind and get
among my legs. Of course, he landed
Erst, and 1 could hear by the staining of
hoofs that his sudden appearance had
kicked up a Jolly stampede among the
creatures upon the island. l could see
both deer and MAZE dancing all over the
ground, rs if Old Nick himself had got
among them. None of them, however,
thought of taking to the water, They had
all enough of that, l guess. kept ra-
ther near, so as not to land nigh the pan
ther, and then touching the bottom, climb.
ing quietly up on the mound. | had
hardly drawn my carcass out of the wa
ter when heard loud squeal which L.
knew to be the whin of my old mare,
and lust at that minute the creature came
running up, and rubbed her nose against
nv shoulder. 1 took the halter in my
hand and siding arouud little, jump
upon her back, for still was in fear of
the panther; and the mares back appeared
to me the safest place about, and that
wasn't very safe, imagine.
''I now looked all around tosee what
new company had got into. The day
was just breaking, and l could distinguish
little better every minute. The top OF
the mound, which was above water. was
not over half an acre in size, and 1t was
as clear Of tim Yer as any other part of
the prairies, so that could see every inch
of it, and everything on it as big as a
tumble-bug. l suppose, stranger, that
you will hardly believe me when L tel!
you the concatenaLion of vermin that was
then and there congregated. could
hardly believe my own eyes, when i be:
held such gathering, and l thought |
had got aboard of Noah's ark. There
wasS-listen. stranger--frst, my old
mare and mysclf-and wished both of
US anywhere else at the time-then there
was the panther, your old acquaintance
then there were four deers, a buck and
three does Then came catamount,
and after him black bear almost as large
as Buffalo, Then there was rackoon.
an opossum. couple Of gray wolves. a
swamp rabbit, and darn the thing-a
sinking skunk. Perhaps the latter was
not the most dangerous varmnt on the
ground, but it certainly was the most Gisa-
greeable of the whole lot, for it smelt on
" as an accursed polecat can smell.
{" said, stranger, that L was nightly
taken by surprise when l first saw this
wonderful 'cIanjamfry' Of creatures ; but
can tell you was still more dumbfound-
ed when saw their behavior to one auo-
ther, knowing their different natures as
| did. There was the panther lying
close up to the deer, its natural prey =
there the wolves too, and the catamountI
standing within three feet of the oPossum
and swamp-ra0bit and there were the
bear and the cunning old coon-there
they all we're, no more mindtng one ano
ther than if they had spent all their days
together in the same pen. 1t was the
oldest sight l ever beheld, and it re-
minded me OF bit of scripture my old
mother had often read about lion that
was SO tame he used to squat down be-
side lamb without laying claw upon
the innocent creature, Well, stranger,
as am saying. the whole party behaved
in this very way. They all appeared to
be down in the mouth and badly scared
about the water, but for all that had my
fears that the panther or the bear-I,
wasn't afraid of any others-might get
over their fright after the food fell, and l
kept as quiet as any one of them during
the whole time was in their company,
and all the time kept close to the mare
But neither bear nor panther showed any
savage propensity the whole of the next
day nor the night following.
Stranger. it would tire You were l to
tell you all the movements that took place