Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1861-10-24

| 'Not stlHHese, odio IioFSo"u, io""h6
his fingers through his long. and rather
silky head covering.
Yes, stiffness, Hopgood, genuine
stiffness, real bristle stiffness; but don't
interrupt me, Hopgood Well, you see,
his black stiff hair was his pride, and
when he went courting, he used to bow
at the girls so as to bring his shoe brush
direct in their face, to impress them
with it's beauty.
Pooh p said Hopgood, throwing a big
log on the camp fire, to interrupt the
story teller.
You may pooh as much as you
please said the story teller; you know
your hair was your pride, ard that it
was a sort of mysterious Providence, as
Parson Angle said, that took away its
beauty from you, SO that you could set
your affections on something better.
Hopgood, by this time, was asleep,
| and the story teller continued.
Hopgood is young man, about four
and twenty, and he had the worst scare
that man ever had on first bear hunt.
He never lived in tho woods where the
varmints were to be met with, until he
opened his place npon his pre-empton,
although he was good deer-hunter,
considerable after freeing cat. Well,
you see, Hopgood one day went out,
back of his location, with his double
barrel gun on his shoulder, looking for
trees to split rails from. He took his
gun, naturally, for a deer is often to be
caught mapping. While trailing about,
he came near the decayed stump Of
butternut wood tree, at the foot of which
were playing, in all the innocence of
nine days childhood, two bear cubs.
There they were, as black as charcoal.
biting and hu ging each other, and
rolling about among the dead leaves, as
perfectly unsuspecting of harm as Hop
good himself, who rushed forward and
seized one of the cubs in his hand. -
Such squalling and squealing was
never before heard. Hopgood was de-
lighted-he held on to the varmint, and
rather encouraged its cries. when he
was suddenly impressed with the idea
that an earthquake was coming up in
his rear He turned and looked, and
there was she bear, rushing upon him,
as black as its cub, and to Hopgood
looking like railroad engine with its
furnace door open.
Hopgood dropped his prize, and fairly
flew toward fallen tree, up which he
ran with commendable preclpitancy.-
The bear followed horror met
Hcpgood's vision on the highest part
of the trunk of the fallen tree, sat in
battle array an immense rattle snake -
1t raised its head, and gave the note of
alarrcs, It's skin gllstencd, and changed
color rapidly showing that the muscles
underneath were preparing for spring
Hopgood stopped and turned on the
bear; she was now within ten feet OF him,
her mouth open so wide that Hot good
said he saw room enough down nor
throat to be buried in Taking delibe-
rate aim, he fred his double barrel, one
load after the other. The bear brushed
his leg with her fore paw, and rolled
heavily off the tree, fairly shaking the
earth when sho STRUCK the ground A
moment more, Hopgo.d was out of the
reach of the serpent. He had saved his
life, but his hair had, from very fear, in
the meantime, wilted down, and become
| motley gray.
That is very strange said we, with
unaffected astonishment.
Not at all, said Hopgood. with ami
nation, apparently waking out of Sec
ond sleep; 'it seems to me that was in
the tree one thousand years between
those two varmints, and that is time e.
nough to whiten anybody's head =
There was a general assent, that thou
sand years would whten any body's head,
and our story-teller, after observing that
Hopgood was one thousand and twenty
four years old. soon fell asleep, and left
us to speculate on the strange effects of
a sudden terror, that in an instant i'm |
pressed upon youth all the physical
signs of age. ,...,...
A Beautiful Thought.