Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-11-26
A Pointed Reminder.

A Pointed Reminder.
A party of adventurous lads, myself
among the number, were out for a
glorious holiday. Each had his canvas
bag across his shoulder, and We stole
along the stone wall yonder, and en-
tered the woods beneath that group of
chestnuts. Two of us acted as cut
posts on picket guard, and another,
young Teddy Shoopegg by name, the
best climber in the village, did the
shaking. There were five busy pairs
OF hands beneath these trees, can tell
you, for each one Of us fully realized
the necessity Of making the most of his
time, not knowing how soon the warn
ing cry from our outposts might put us
all to headlong fight, for the alarm,
"Turner's coming!' was enough to lift
the hair of any boy in town.
But luck seemed to favor us on that
day. We cleaned out six big chest
nut.trees, and then turned our attention
to the hickories. There was splendid
tall shagbark close by, with branches
fairly loaded with the white nuts in
their open shucks. They were all ready
to drop, and when the shaking once
commenced, the nuts came down like q
shower of hail, bounding from the
rocks, rafting among the dry leaves,
and keeping up clatter all around.
We scrambled on all tours, and gath.
cred them by quarts and quarts. There
was no need of poking over the leaves
for them, the ground was covered with
their bleached shells, all in plain sight.
While busily engaged, we noticed an
ominous lull among the branches over
head.
"'Sstl 'sstr" whispered Shoopegg
up above; 81 see old Turner on
his white horse daown the road
yonder."
Coming this way ?" also in whis-
per, from below.
az dunno yit, but I jest guess you'd
better be gittin' reddy to leg it, fer he's
hitchin' his old nsg t the side o. the
road. Yis, sir, I bleeve he's a.cum.
min. Shoopegg, you'd better be git
tim aout O. this, and he commenced to
drop hap-hazard from his lofty perch.
In moment. however, he seemed to
change his mind, and paused, once
more upon the watch. =" Say, fellers,"
he again broke in, as we were preparing
for retreat, "he's gone off to'rd the
cedars; he amt cummin' this way at
Gn" So he again assembled into the
tree'top, and finished his shaking in
peace. and We our picking also. There
was still another tree, with elegant
large nuts, that we had all concluded to
:" finish up on" It would not do to
leave it. They were tho largest and
thinnest-shelled nuts in town, and
there were over bushel in. sight on
the branch tips. Shoopegg was up
among them in two minutes, and they
were showered down in torrents as be-
fore. And what splendid, perfect nuts
they were! We bagged them with
eager hands, picked the ground all
clean, and with jolly chuckles at our
luck were Just about thinking of start
ing for home with our well-rounded
sacks, when change came DER the
spirit OF our dreams. There was
suspicious noise in the shrubbery near
by, and in q moment more we heard our
doom.
Jest You look eeah, You boys" ex-
claimed high pitched voice from the
neighboring shrubbery, accompanied
by the form of Deacon Turner, ap-
preaching at brisk pace, hardly thirty
feet away. Don't yen think you've
got Jest abaout enuf o. them nuts?"
Of course . wild panic ensued, in
which We made for the bags and dear
life, but Turner was prepared and
ready for the emergency, and raising q
huge old shot. gun, he leveled it, and
yelled, "Don't any on We stir ner move.
or by Christopher I'll blow the heads
clean off'n the hull pile onye. I'd shoot
ye quicker'n lightnin'."
And We believed him, for his aim
was true, and his whole expression
was mot that OF man who
was trifing. I never shall
forget the uncomfortable sensation that
! experienced as looked into the muz-
xle of that double barrelled shotgun.
and saw both hammers fully raised too.
And / can see now the squirt and the
glaring eye that glanced along those
barrels. There was q wonderful per-
suaaive power lurking in those hori-
Zontal tubes; 80 hastened to inform
the deacon that We were not going to
run"
Waal," he drawled, ait looked q
leetle that ,cay. thort, q spell aga; !"
and he still kept us in the field of his
weapon, till at length I exclaimed, in
desperation,
"Point that gun in some other way,
will you ?"
"Wa'al, no! I'm not fer pintin' it
emmy whar else jest yit-not until you've
sot them ar bags dsown agin, list whar
ye got EN-, every one on ye." The bags
were speedily replaced, and he slowly
lowered his gun.
Wa'al. naow," he continued, as he
came up in our midst, "this is putty
bizniss, amt it? Bin havin' . putty
lively sort O. time ten. I sh'd jedge
from the looks O. these ere bags. One