Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-12-07


Il dined with an old schoolmate some
wears ago in Philadelphia, who had moved
there early in life from Kentucky. After
desert a very fine watermelon was brought
on the table, and was loud in my praise
of it. On my return, after spending two
or three weeks in New York. | dined with
my friend again. when his wife presented
me with package of seeds which came
from that watermelon. They were called
mountain sweets. She begged me 10
plant them the next summer and think Of
her when ate the melons. | did so, of
course Selecting an acre or so of good
sandy loan, | plowed ii deep, planted
my seeds in hills eight feet apart, and en-
closed it in high strong fence, so that
nv stock could not break in. | watched
nv watermelon patch, and tended it with
care. When the vines blossomed | re-
joiced even as Jonah was exceeding glad
of his gourd' As the melons grew, Mrs.
Nash and the children went to look al
them so often that built stile in order
that they could get over the fence without
climbing When they commenced ripen
ing had such an abundance that l gave
everybody on my plantation free access TO
the patch, marking those, however, which
| wished to retain for the use Of my
family Still ] found, on several occa-
sions. that those ] had marked were gone,
and the vines that bore them roughly used
/ complained to Harry that some Of the
people had treated me badly in pulling my
marked melons. but he laughed and shook
his head knowingly.
"sNo. Mas Tom he said, de Niger
dat steal yo watermillions got har all over
him. Bar, sir, bar. Why, bless you, he
know what YOU mark 'em for. Why, sar-
tin he do. Bar mighty fond o sweet thins,
Mas Tom got great taste for watermil-
lions. see de vines pulled 'boutterrible,
but say to mysef, if tell master he only
laugh case talk bout bars got so much
sense
after moments thought, concluded
that Harry was pretty nearly right So
next morning, rs soon as 1t was light
enough to see along the barrel Of my rife
and bring the sights in range, ] shoudered
the old piece and walked along the path to
my watermelon patch.
CAT the corner Of the field, within thir-
ty yards of the stile, there was rank
growth of cotton, and got over the fence
and concealed myself in it. ! had to wait
but few minutes, when | bcheld one Of
the most striking illustrations Of maternal
affection and provident care | ever wit
messed Up the opposite side Of the stile
out of the watermelon patch, came an old
she-bear, walking on her hind legs and
stepping carefully In her right arm she
held baby Of little black cub, and in
her left was a watermelon of the
largest size. When she got to the
top of the stiIe she looked warily
around. | raised my rifle instinctively-
from habit, as it were-but lowered the
muzZlc Immediately. | would as soon have
shot woman with baby in her arms.
Then | laughed, not loud, for / didn't
want her to drop her watermelon, when
thought how much she really did look like
big Kssiah, Jim's wife, with piggin Of
water on one arm and her black baby in
the other Mother Bear came down
the stile carefully and slowly, and with
her cub and her watermelon made her way
into the swamp, without knowing that a
human eye had rested on her, or that a
rfe-barrcl had been leveled against her
life"
After supper the next evening succeed
ed in getting my host on his old theme,
bears. OF his stories | will give one more,
and then am done.
"When | was little more than Of age,
was fool enough to go to Texas to help
Sam Houston fight the Mexicans. Lucki-
| ly missed the massacre at the Alamo, but
| / helped to capture Santa Anna. After
the Lone Star had gained her independ-
cnce I received a grant of land for my SER
vices Immediately built an adobe house,
established ranch, and commenced rails
| ing cattle and mules. | soon had an OPP
portunity of buying at "A low figure good
number of mustang ponies from an old
Comanche Chief, who had stolen them,
suppose, from the Mexicans away back on
| the Rio Grande My cattle and mustangs
were so wild in the large range around me
| that | could never catch them without a
| lariat, or lasso, as some people call it. So
| became very expert in its use. AS Old
| Harry says when he affects Gumbo
| French, / had great panchank for the
| larat, and used it to take any game that
was not too swift for my pony. Some
men inherit an aptness Of that sort my
| grandfather was a hunter on the Badkin,
and came out with Boone to Kentucky.
| There my father was considered tip-top
shot, and when quite young man he had
killed as many Indians as he had bears.
So don't claim any creditor my shoot
ing or throwing the lariat, for it came to
me as naturally as playing on the fiddle
comes TO some people, One day, how
ever, IA brown bear-they are twice as large
az black bcars--came very near capturing
me with lariat 1t happened in this
wise:
The Indians, from the billy country
to the west, or the Mexicans, would some
times come to our corrals and steal our
horses One night they paid a visit to
one Of my neighbors, four or five miles
from me, and stampeded his mustangs and
some blooded stock he had brought out
from Tennessee. So we collected a party
and went after them. After two days
hard riding we got sight OF them on the
edge of an open grove of pine-oaks. We
came on them SO suddenly that the rascals
fled and left the stolen horses.
As the country had the reputation of
being good hunting grounds, we stayed a
day To look after bears. | was so foolish
as to start out hunting without my rife
and had nothing but my lariat, which |
tied fast TO my saddle-bow, and long
knife in sheath belted around my waist
As was skirting II low hill got sight of
an immense brown bear After short
chase gained on him SO fast that he came
to halt within the length of my lariat,
and stood mp facing me and showed fight.