Washington sentinel., 1854-02-04

border towns OF Sullivan county, was over
taken by what / at first supposed was young
man, with rifle on his shoulder, and, being
well pleased with the idea of having company
through the woods / turned round and said !:
"Good afternoon, SIR
"Good afternoon" said my new acquaint-
ance, but in tone of voice that sounded to
me rather peculiar. My suspicious were at
once aroused and to satisfy myself | made
some inquiries in regard to hunting, which
were readily answered by the young lady, whom
] had thus encountered. She said she had been
out ever since daylight, had followed buck
nearly all day, got one shot, and wounded him;
but, as there was little snow, she could not get
him, and was going to try him the next day,
hoping that she would get another shot at him,
and she was quite certain that she should kill
him.
Although cannot give very good idea Of
her appearance, l will try to describe her dress.
The only article of female apparel visible was
a close-ftting hood upon her head, such as is
often worn by deer hunters. Next an India
rubber hunting coat her neither limbs were
encased in snug-Gtting pair of corduroy pants,
and pair of Indian moccasins upon her feet
She had good-looking rife upon her shoulder
and brace of double -barrelled pistols in the
side pockets of her coat, while most formi-
dable hunting knife hung suspended by her
side. Wishing to witness her skill with her
hunting instruments. commenced bantering
her with regard to shooting. She smiled and
said that she was as good a shot as was in the
woods and, to convince me, took out her hunt
ing-knife and cut ring about four inches in di-
ameter in tree with q small spot in the centre.
Then, stepping back thirty yards and drawing
up one of her pistols, she put both balls inside
the ring. She then, at thirty-fve rods from the
tree, put ball from the rife in the very centre.
We shortly came to her fathers house, and /
gladly accepted an invitation to stop there over
night. The maiden hunter, instead of sitting
down to rest, as most hunters do when they get
home, remarked that she had got the chores to
do. So out she went; fed, watered, and stabbed
a pair of young horses, q yoke of oxen, and
three COWS. She then went to the saw-mill and
brought slab on her shoulder that shouldn't
like to have carried and, with an axe and saw,
soon worked it into stove-wood.
Her next business was to change her dress
and get tea, which she did in manner that
would have been creditable to more scientific
cook. After tea she finished up the usual
house-work, and then sat down and commenced
plying her needle in the most lady-like man
ner. / ascertained that her mother was quite
with the rheumatism. The whole family were
intelligent, well educated, and communicative.
They had moved from Schoharie county into the
woods about three years before, and the father
was taken lame the first winter after their arri-
val, and had not been able to do anything
since; and LucyAnn, as her mother called her,
has taken charge of, ploughed, planted, and har-
vested the farm learned to chop wood, drive
team, and do all the necessary work. Game
being plenty, she had learned to use her fathers
rife, and spent some Of her leisure time in
hunting.
She had not killed deer yet, but expressed
her determination to kill one, at least, before
New Year. She boasted of having killed any
quantity of partridges, squirrels, and other
small game. After chatting some time, she
brought violin from closet and played fifteen
or twenty tunes, and also sung q few songs
accompanying herself on the violin, in style
that showed she was far from being destitute of
musical skill. After spending pleasant even
ing, we retired. The next morning she was up
at four o'clock, and before sunrise had the
breakfast out of the way, and all her work out
of doors and in the house done; and when left,
a few minutes after sunrise, she had on her
hunting suit, and was loading her rife for an
other chase after the deer.