The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1854-07-06

! 1919 "N'S , ""H 2"oI0 III DcE-IiBe lyi
/ the island, and there she stood booking as
slick as if she had been creased. The
/ log had by This time got nigh enough, as
| calculated; and with as lilllc rnmpus a.
! possible, | slipped over ihe end, end let
go my hold Of it, was not fighl spread
IN the water before | heard plump. and
locking round d Lil, ! saw the pautbcr
had leIt the log, and taken the - Ter, too!
Al first thought he was ailor nc; drew
my knife with one hand, while swan
with the other, But the pagher did not
mean to be quarreIsome that time. lie
made but poor swimming himself and
appeared glad enough to get u2oa dry
ground Without moioslDg me- We were
side by side, and not word passed be-
tween US. did not want 10 make d race
Iol il; so left him pass me, rather than
he should fall behind. and getamoDg nv
legs OF course, he iauded first; and !
could hear by the stamping of hoots. thai
his sudden appearance had kicked up
Jolly stampede among the creatures Upon
the island. ! could see 10th deer aud
mare dancing all over the ground, as il
old Nick himself had got among them.
None oil them, however, thought of ,u.
king to the water. They had all had
enough Of that, guess. ! kept rather
near, SO as to land nigh the panther; and
then, touching bottom, climbed quietly
upon the mound. had hardly drawn
my dripping carcass out Of The water,
when ! heard loud squeal, which |
knew to he the whim Of my old mare; and
just at that minute the creature came
running up, and rubbed her nose agsiusl
my shoulder. took the halter il my
hand, aud slipping round illle, jump.
ed upon her back, ior | still was in fear
OF the panther; and the mares back sp.
peared to me the safest place about; and
that was not very safe, Imagine.
81 now looked all around to see what
new company | had Ct into. The Jay
was just breaking, and could distin-
gush little better every minute. The
top Of the mound, which was above water,
was not over half all acre in size, and il
was as clear Of timber as any other part
of the prairie; so that could see every
inch OF it, and everything on it as big "a
a tumble bug. suppose, stranger, thai
you will hardly believe when | tell you
the concatonation cf vermin that was
there congreated together. could hardly
believe my own eyes when | behed SUCH
a gathering, and thought had got
aboard OF Noak's Ark. There was
listen stranger-frst, my old mare and
myself, and | wished both of Us any
where else at the iime--then there was
the panther, your old Acquaintance
then there were four deer, buck and
three does Then came q catamouat;
and after him a black bear, almost as
large as a buHAlo. Then there was
raccoon, an opossum, and a couple Of
grey wolves, and a swamp, rabbit, and
darn the thing!-a sinking skunk. PR
maps the latter WASH the most dangerous
vermin on the ground, but it certainly
was the most disagreeable Of the whole
lot, for it Smelt only as accursed Pole.eat
can smell.
81 have said, stranger, that was
nightly taken by surprise when | first
saw this curious clan ofcreaures,
but can tell you was still more dum-
touudeEed when | saw their behavior 10
one another knowing their different ma.
lures as | did. There was the panther
lying close to the deer-ils natural prey;
and there was the wolves too; and there
was the calamount standing within three
feet of the opossum and the swamp raJ.
bit; and there were the bear and the Gun
ming old coon; and there they all were,
no more minding one another than if they
had spent all their days together in the
same pen. was the oldest sight ever
beheld; and ii reminded me OF a bit OF
Scripture my old mother had often read
rom a book called the Bible, or some
such name--about lion that was so tame
he used to squat down beside lamb.
without laying Claw upon the innocent
creature. Well, stranger, as am say.
ing, the whole party behaved in this very
way. They all appeared down in the
mouth, and badly scared about Inc water,
but for all that, had my fears that the
panther or the bear-I wasn't afraid O
any oil the olhers--migII get over their
fright after the flood fell; and therefore |
kept as quiet as any of them during the
whole time ! was in their company, and
staying all the time close by the mare =
But neither the bear nor the panther
showed any savage propensity the whole
Of the next day, or tie night that follow.
ed it. ....
Stranger, it would tire you were to
tell you all the movements that took place
among these creatures during the day
and night. Never a one of them laied
tooth or claw on the other. was hun.
cry enough myself and wound have
liked 10 have taken steak from the but.
tockS OF one OF the deer but | dare not
do it. was afraid to break the peace.
winch might have led to general "shin-
dy." When day broke next morning
after, saw that the food was falling; and
as soon as it was shallow enough led
my mare quietly into the water, and
climbing upon her back, took silent
leave of my companions. The water
still took my mare up to TANKS, so that |