The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-07-14


ed up at him, jist to see how he wur git.
tin on, hut l kalkerlate l peeped down
agin ofel sudden! For hadn't more'n
got my head up wher his horns came
straddle ont and his head hit the stump
like mule. That little incerdent con-
WINGED me that the best thing l could do
as,in the language of Squire Wheeler,
to 'lay low. watch black ducks and chaw
poke root Jist as I'd made up my
mind not to put my head up agin, felt
the effelest pain in the leg ever see, and |
at the same time something commenced |
to whiz, whiz, down in the bottom of
the holler stump. tried to look down
to see what on airth it could be, but the
holler was so narrer that couldn't get
q chance to look, and all at once it 2opt
into my head that there war arattlesnake
in the stump.
"When-I thot of that, / made an offel
plunge to get out of the confounded den,
but the cussed bull weren't moren six
feet off, and the mint he seed my. he'd he
cum at me full chisel. The first knowed
/ had lodged back into the stump agin,
and hadn't more'n touched bottom be-
fore felt another offel keen bite in my
leg. l made arush to git out agin, but
the cussed Internal bull drove at me,and
l was b!eeged to pop back.
AS | squeezed down into the stump
agin, l would er bet gallon of rum
that Sarer would be widder in less'n
two hours. I tried to cipher out which
would be the most beconin' for Chris
tian,to be pizened to death by offel big
snake, or have my in'ards slung to the
| four winds by cussed brindle bull. |
thought of the martyrs, of Amos billed
in lie, Elizer smeared with honey and Jo-
seph tempted by Potifer's wife, and con-
cluded that ort to profit by their exam
pie, and grin and bear it. no matter how
much it went sgin the grain. But | got
jst then an offeI bite or two, land to save
my soul couldn't help stickin' up my
head, ,and the bull bein' on hand let drive
and filled my eyes chuck full of dirt and
bark; so l bobbed down agin for snaix.
| now begin to get bites frequently and
in bad places the whizzen got louder;
l twisted and squirmed, and screamed at
fast rate, and in grabbin' round l
ketched somethin' and got a bite in the
hand.
II held my hold on to it and beholdi
it proved TO be nothin' but ya,ler jack
ct! When 1 found l wasn't snake bit, l
felt sumthin lift off my stummic like a
bag of shot. Glory said /, / may live
to purtect the widow and fatherless yit'
l felt for mint as if didn't care for
all the yaller jackets between the Missis-
sippi and the Missouri-but the blessed
Jerusha! l hadn't seen one there to
where l see thousand here in mint !!
| The whole hnller of the stump got yal
ler with them. / couldn't stand it long
that way. / tried to think Of a prayer
suitable to the 'casion and commenced,
Now lay nee down to sleep;' but by
fJewdas !! coIldn'tpray for enssin. I
jist swore, bull or no bull, l was goin' TO
emigrate from that particular spot; but
every time I put my head above the
stump,the bull pitched at me and hit the
stump jus. like maui; he looked ofel
ferocious with his eyes green and blazin
as fire, and the foam droppin' from his
mouth. C
81 was bobbin' up and down so con-
tiuerally. that l was about half the time
in the stump and half eout, and at last l
felt the stump begin to give way under
the thumps the internal old brindle was
givin' it,and swear my hair riz straight
on end. I made up my mind 20 git eout
of that somehow, pretty quick, but Just
at the mint raised my head to jump
out and run, the old cuss came at me,
with his head down and his tail up, at
locomotive speed, ,and as lodged down
he struck the stump, tore it up at the
roots, and shot me out like hoomshell,
clean over the bank into the creek; and
after me come stump, bull and all. The
forefeet, or one of 'em, of the bull struck
me rite on the back-and l reckon that's
what tore the carpet bag knocking me
clean down to the muddy bottom of.the
creek.
"When ] riz, the first tGing / seed wur
the old feller's tail, and as l couldn't
swim lick, l made a grab fur it, and
made him tow me ashore. When he got
there, 1 let 60 ana run one way,while the
bull run the other, and that's the hull
long and short ont"
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