The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-06-24
Old Jerry Groening's Big Bear.

VEN ~~A4 ~AO3sA4A0 . A1AO ASVAAS
Ever heerd bout the scrimmage me
and Case had with . bar over long
Rattlesnake creek?" asked old Jerry
Greening, a. he piled the logs ON tho
fire in his coy little cabin near this vi.
lage.
Jerry is one O. the best hunters in
Pike county, Pa, and his "reminiscences
are peculiarly interesting.
.1n tell ye all bout it fore Case
ye know my son Case, don't welcomes
in. Wall, me an Case an that ere ole
yaller houn' of mine-he's II year old
this comm spring started out arter
9 bee tree. Wall, we was q walkin'
long kinder quiet like, when all to .
student that cussed houn' of mine give
the all-fredest yell ever heerd, an
outen the brush an scrub oaks came .
tremenjus black bar. I'll be hanged
if that bar wasn't ten foot long. Wall.
the bar stood still in the path, an
looked at me an Case, an Case an me
stood still an looked at the bar, an
III be gosh hanged if 'twasn't so com
ical just sot down on the groun' an
LATED. Then Case he got up on his ear
cos we didn't have no gun nor nothin'
with us. 'ceptin' max, an so he yells
to me:
Reckon ye'd better git up q tree,
Mess ye want ter git chawed into mince
meat. seq he.
"Jest about tibet time Mi. Bar made
fur Case, an I Skinned up tree.
"Wall, Case he went fur the bar with
the Ak, an all of q student the ole con-
Germ flew often the handle; so Case he
started fur ter climb tree AZ the bar
| come fur him. Wall, sir, to see Case a
| climbin' that ar tree with that bar after
i'm was more'n I could stan, so I jest
bust out latin agin. Then Case he got
red-hot mad, an the way he slung the
profanity roun' were caution. Jest
about the time he begin calm me all
sort er names, that bar reached one of
his paws up an pulled off one of Cases
butes. He slid down the tree with the
butte, and when he fetched the groun' he
struck that ar butte Jest like that IT,
year-old dog of mine wud a rat. But
the butte didn't seem to satisfy him, so
he elm the tree agin. Case saw him a
comm, SO he yel1s out, I'm a goner,
dad!' I sez, Hold the fort, an give
him t'other bute.' Jest then Case SEE.
IN fix the ole cuss.'
"Wall, sir, that bar elm Almost to
where Case were a-settin'. when all at
once't I see Case maxim some motions
with his fingers. SEE T, BE you a.
fixin' himY SEE he, I BE- Jest then
the ole devil gave q terrible roar an let
60 the tree. 1 s'pose you'll hardly
b'lieve it, but gosh hang me if that bar
didn't turn summerset in the air an
light on his head. Yes, sir, it's solem'
fac tibet tibet bar fell on biz head so
hard tibet he broke hiz neck. The whole
thing were so cussed COM cal tibet I got
a-lat1in' m fell clean off the limb was
straddlin' and nearly broke my neck.
! When Case come down outen the tree,
seq ], What made the bar tumble ?
He looks at me a minnit, an then pulls
out pepper-box. Wall, sir, that ar
boy-I alters calls him boy, though he's
38 year ole comm haydn time had
stole the Gle woman's pepper-box, just
to tant'ize her, an thet's what saved his
life. He sprinkled the pepper in the
bars eyes, an nearly drove him frantic,
so he dropped. But the strangest part
of the story is the dog. When me an
Case went back after tho bar with a
boss an wagon, I'll be blasted if we
didn't fin that ole yaller houn' up
mother tree, yellin' like sin. Truth,
sir, truth. Yes, sir, that ar dog he'd
been so scarf that he just elm that tree
'thout thinkin'. Mebbe you think I'm
lynn when say that bar weighed $50
poun'. But it's the truth, sir. I never
lied yet, an I'm gettin' too ole to learn,
fur I'm nigh 70 years ole."