The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-04-10
mYou mean omnivorous. y

You mean omnivorous."
: The hostler winked his one eye know.
ingly, and replied,-4
"Imean omnicourous," with stiH
stronger accent on the wrong syllable
"I found the word in book, and il
means eatin' or devourin' all sorts
thing and q good deal of it. lie cant
live on suckin' his paws all winter,
neither. That's foolish notior.Y
DO you mean to say bear doesn't
hibernate T' asked.
He hibernates,-yes, believe that's
what they call it," replied the one-eyed
hostler. He lies curled up Kind O
torpid sometimes in winter; but what he
really lives on then is his fat.
Fat is fuel, so ter speak. He lays il
up in the fall, and burns il out in the
winter. He goes into his cold-weathel
quarters plump, and comes out lean but
it's only in very cold weather that he
keeps 50 quiet. In mild. open winters
he's out foragin' around, and when there
comes a warm spell in the toughest
winter, you may see him. He likes to
walk out and see what's goin' on,
anyhow"
The one-eyed hostler leaned against
the pole, stroked Pomp's fur affection.
ately, and continued somewhat in thi:
style: "a
~Bears are partic'larly foud of fat
juicy pigs, and once give 'em a taste OF
human fiesh,-why, I shouldn't want
my children to be playin' in the wood:
within good MANY miles of their den
=" Which reminds me of Old Tw,
Claws, as they used to call him, a bear
that plagued the folks over in Ridge
town, where was brought up,-wal, al
much as. forty.jear ago. .--.l-, -. g.
u 4" He got his name from the peculial
shape OF his foot, and he got that from
trihing with gun-trap. You know
what that is,-a loaded gun set in such
way that bear or any game that's
curious about it, must come up to it tlit
way it p'intsS a bait is hung before the
muzzle, and a string runs from that to
the trigger.
He was a cumming fellow, and he
put out an investigatin' paw at the piece
of pork before trying his jaws on it; &c
instead of gett'n bullet in the head, he
merely had n bit OF his paw shot away
lHtfc HtIt tWO CLAWS lclJ ttl tlidi
foot. as his bloody tracks showed.
He got off; but this experience
seemed to have soured his disposition
He owed spite to the settlement.
J" One night great row was heard in
my uncle's p;g-pen. He and the boys
rushed out with pitchforks, a gun and a
lantern. They knew what the trouble
was, or soon found out.
"a. huge black bear had broken dowr
| the side of the pen he had seized fai
porker, and was actually Juggling him Of
in his armsl The pig was kicking ant
squealipg, but the bear had him fast
He did not seem at all inclined to give
up his prey, even when attacked. H
looked sullen and ugly; but few jab
from q pitchfork, and shot in tn,
shoulder, convinced him that he wa
making mistake,
" he dropped the-pig, and got ava,
before my7suncle could load up fo
another shot. The next morning the,
examined his tracks. 1t was Old Tive
Claws.
"But what split him for being quie
| neighbor was something that happened
about year after that.
T" There was rowing family of Indian
encamped near the settlement, hunting
fishing, and making moccasins and bas
kets, which they traded with the whites
zone afternoon the Red -Sky-of-the
Morning, wife of the Water-Snakc-with
the -Long-Tail, came over to the settle
| meut with some of their truck for sale
She had pappoose on her back strapped
on a board; another squaw Travelled
| with her, carrying an empty jug. s
almost within sight of German
grocery, Red-Sky took off her pappoos,
and hung it on tree. The fellow
around the store had made fun of it wheI
she wasthere once before, so she pre-
ferred to leave,i it in the woods rathel
than expose it to the coarse jokes of til
boys The Little thing was used to suci
treatment. Whether carried or hun,
up, pappoosey never cried.
1.-The squaws traded off this truck
| and bought, with other iuxuries of civil
ization, a gallon of whisky. Thel
drank out Of the jug, and then looked
at more goods. Then they drank again
and from being shy and silent. as a
first, they giggled and chatted like ,
couple of silly white girls. They spen
a good deal more time and money a
Gorman's than they would if it hadn'
been for the whisky, but finally the,
started to go back through the woods.
"T'' They went chattering and giggiin;
to the tree where the pappoose had beer
left. Then suddenly their noise stopped
There was no pappoose there.
This discovery sobered them. The,
i @banoHr Grot tbo follouo orn,,pI Al
store had played them trick by takinI
is away; but by-and-by the Red-Sky-of
the Morning set up a shrek. -
=" She had found the board not far of
but no pappoose strapped to it, onl
something that told the story of wha
had happened. - -
There were bear tracks around tn
spot. One of the prints showed only tw
claws.
lhe MISUNDERSTANDING wen
back to the camp with the news; tn
other squaw followed with the Jug.
"When the Water-Snake-with-th
LongTail heard that his pappoose ha
been eaten by bear, he felt, suppose
very much as any white father woul
have felt under the circumstances. II
vowed vengeance against Old Two Claw
but consoled himself with drink of tn
fire-water before starting on the hunt.
"The braves with him followed hi
example. 1t wasn't in Indian nature t
start until they had emptied the jug, s
it happened that Old Two Claws got O
again. Tipsy braves can't follow ira
worth cent.
"Not very long after that woman
Il neighboring settlement heard he
children scream one day in the wood
near the house. She rushed out, an
saw bear actually Juggling off he