Sharp County record., 1880-03-25
A BACKWOODS ADVENTURE.
An Old Hunters Story of By-gone Days.
from the New York Times.


ton of Pennsylvania were gathered
around the stove in the little tavern
perched up among these hills, the other
day, telling yarns and discussing the
prospects Of the country. Even "Rat-
tlesnake Pete,n some of whose stories
appeared in the Times not long ago,
was induced to leave his hut, near Boy
leaux Rocks, and join the merry crowd.
Every one of the well known characters
of the vicinity had told for the hum
dredth time some favorite episode of his
own or some fictitious persons life, and
the listeners were getting tired and
sleepy, when a stranger, who had hith-
erto been unobserved, in the rear OF the
crowd spoke out. "Friends," he said,
"vou have not asked me to speak, and
I have, so far, been content to listen to
the incidents you have related. But | do
not believe in b61g entertained without
furnishing som,l entertainment in re-
turn, so, with Your permission, l will
give YOU an anetdote out OF my personal
history which l AN vouch for, however
much YOU maybe inclined to doubt its
accuracy. This is my first visit to this
part of the State, most of my days
having been spent in Pike County.
When I was a boy the woods there
abouts were Wild and covered with a
thick underbrusSE and many kinds of
reptiles and anrS!als abounded. The
species known aaojhe catamount existed
in larger numb&P than any other. You
know the catamount is more like the
panther than any thing else, being larger
and more ferocious than wild cat. Our
little village had been built on the edge
of one of t he longest stretches of wood
land in the county, so that it only took
a few minutes to bring you into the
dense thickets. 1t was in the winter Of
1888 that | am. to tell you OF. was
then about thii iteen years old, and as
rucoed and stroAg as most of the young
men m of twenty IRE in these times. All
through the autumn the catamount and
black snake hadp bothered the men cut
ting timber foTohome use. Several OF
the villagers hae)been badly hurt, and
one old man phs killed by the tricky
animal. The Nbys always helped in
hauling the logs and pieces of timber,
driving the buck wagons from the woods
to the houses, where twas to be dumped.
After old Uncle Simeon was killed, the
women became badly scared, and made
the men 90 armed, and wouldn't let us
Youngsters 90 on the teams. No more
trouble occurred, however, until the
winter set in. Every thing was quiet
then, and the fright caused by the
accidents of the fall had passed
away. One day terrible snow-storm
set in. The flakes came down so thick
that we COULDN'T see from our windows
across the road to Sam. Briggs's house.
By dark it had become three feet deep,
aud we 9ylal klatc tt"fayw fa1ywfG fGet t2 the barn to
feed the stock. About seven O'Clock 1t
stopped showing, and began to blow
very hard. 1t grew very cold also. We
heaped great logs on the fire, and had
the blaze roaring up the chimney. The
old man was resting quietly in the cor
ner, smoking his pipe, and seemed not
to care about what was going on, when
suddenly we heard a long, deep growl
coming from the woods. The old man
knew what that meant, and so did some
of my older brothers. The catamounts,
maddened by hunger, and prevented by
the storm from getting any thing to eat,
were coming in a body to the village
In minute all were astir. Two OF the
bows started for the barn to see that the
door was fast, so that the catamounts
could not destroy the cattle. The rest
of us were told to fasten the windows
and hunt up the guns which were about
the house somewhere. | went to close
a window, and then | could see the dark
pack rushing as fast as they could
through the snow. The 81 ky had cleared
and the stars were out, so that | could
see the folks at Briggs's and down
the street were preparing for the
hungry animals. l didn't get
those blinds shut any too
quick either, for the head of the gang
were within few yards of the house.
Just as l was leaving the room the old
man came rushing through the hall say
ING, Jim and Jake have been headed
off between here and the barn by the
pack, and all the wild cats are on 'em.
You bet there was lively movin around
then. The old man and Bill, an older
brother, took the guns and went up
stairs to the bedroom windows looking
out on the yard. We could hear the
boys yelling for help amid the growls of
the delighted animals. l put for an
upper window, and there was fearful
sight. Jim had drawn his jack-knife,
and was keeping the cats at bay, but
poor Jake was helpless. A big fellow
had him down, and Jake had his hands
on the rascal's throat with an awful
grip. Four or five more of the gang
were trying to get show at Jake, too.
He kicked right and left, and fought
like a tiger. Jim had his hands full,