The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-02-20
HOW BABcoCK's BULL GOT BEAT
Blast that critterl' roared Uncle Jes.


as he espied old Babcock's big red bull
numbering over gates and fences, ant
making bee.line for our COW yard
Blast him, do sayl There goes twt
pannels of the new fence, smash--ant
cuss him, there he goes right over thu
grind-st0he, through the cabbage patel
-sm-m-m-ack into the cow yardi'
why the devil don't you set the dog
on him, Uncle Jess?' I ventured to OBJ
serve, as the whole family, big and lit
tle-Aunt Katy and the whole co-huk'
of the boys and gals thronged to th'
door, to see Babcock's old bull perform
| his customary destruction, to get into
Uncle Jess COW yard.
Dogs, be hangedl They won't touch
him feard of him as deathi'
Shoot the ugly cuss, then, Uncle
Jess 7
Shoot him !-haint tried that?-
Peppered him one morning with my
double barrel gun-pint o. shot; no use
the cussed critter minded it no more
than he does the flies Bn. dod-rotted
if I stand it much longer; I've COM
planned of him to Babcock, nigh on to
forty times, and SO have the neighbors.
Babcock swears be can't keep the bull
in-knocks down everything, and Glars
out Just when he's mind tn Z
Uncle Jess says sI'll floor him, or
put him to his trumps, if you will stand
the damages
DamagesP Lord bless me, hain't 1
stood 'em these twelve monthsp Dam
agesl Eff you'll drive him off, Dick, Til
give you the sorrel colt and pair of
boots, on Christmas-be hanged eff 1
DON'T
I'm try says I, taking up my gun
and loading it with double handful of
buck-shot and powder; and calling the
dogs. started for the cow yard-met
the two gals with empty pals, and cuss-
ing like troopers at old Babcock's wild
bull.
Looking over the fence, espied the
bull, amusing himself with feats of Jug
glery, tossing up Uncle Jess hay-rieks,
unhinging barn doors, tossing them upon
his broad horns as easy and delighted
as boy with a shuttlecock.
Now, old bull, I'll give you merry
pandemonium in the rear, and then set
the dogs on you; while Cousin Jake and
the Dutch boy will charge with pitch
forks and we'll give you fits at once.'
To make shure thing oft, I climbed
over the bars, to get nearer the bull,
who suspicioning something was going
on turned his ugly face towards me and
came at me. Ilss herrip, gave him the
pep bangl Ihad intended it for his rear,
but it went into his shaggy face. ex-
pect of course, I had done his knitting
expected to see him fall down but no
sir, he merely shook his head the shot
rolled off like drops ofsweat; he turned
up his wall-eyes, cooked up his tail, and
giving one roar and a snort he charged
bayouets at the bars with his horns; car
ried them easy: myself, Jake and the
Dutch boy, with the two dogs were
standing behind the fence, and before
you could say 'smear-case' he had u.s.
One dog was knocked into the middle of
next summer, the other scouted-Jake
fell over the Dutch boy, and [ fell very
suddenly over the fence Babcock's
bull was master of the field, and looked
about him with the ludicrous bravado
of drunken prize-fghter in Quaker
meeting, he seemed to say
well, this is deuced fight
And then. to assuagc his irritated
bump of destructiveness, he pitched into
the fence, and threw it pretty much all
over the COW yard and road.
Uncle Jess viewed all these proceed
ings, and in spite of the expense roared
out:-
Come in, come in, he'll kill the whole
cussed team ofyou. Ha, ha, ha! Come
in before the rain browns you, too, you
tarnal fools you
A thunder shower had been coming
up for the previous hour, and now it
burst over US, the rain falling in scat
tering drops as big as hickory-nuts, and
the thunder began to roll long and loud.
One sudden crack, and the roar of Heav-
ems artillery seemed to impress the bull
with the notion that it was popping
away at him again; but seeing nobody
about, he gave valorous roar of def
ance, paved up the litter, and strobe off
among the sookes,' and brindles,' un-
der huge white oak tree; hear the road.
And his bullship must needs have the
tree to himself, so he intimated to his
female friends, in the most pointed man.
ner, with his horns, that they must slide,
and they did, leaving old Babcock's bull |
with his most stalwart side against the
tree. Again the thunder rolled and |
roared, and again the bull looked around
to see if any pop-guns, dogs, Dutchmen
or fence sneaked about, ready to be
knocked into cooked hats; satisfied it
was all gas, he resumed his amusement,
and gave a sudden roar to each humble
of thunder. But now cloud as black
as ink lowered over the head of Bah
cocks bull, and bursting with one of
those awfnl and deafenipg peals cfdouh-