The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-04-21

posed, to New Orleans.
Lxr1 ALONE,
at SO tender an nge, in wild, unin-
habited section, the law of necessity
became to him the law Of existence.
The climate being mild made it "a
vorable to him. He selected q mag
nolia, or bay tres, hollow at the base,
which, in that section, grew to great
size. and made himself bed OF
leaves and mesa where he stayed
at night and took shelter when it
rained. For foed. he subsisted on
frogs, tadpoles, such fish as he could
catch, and the Wild fruit that grew
there in Summer, Thus he man
aged to live until the time Of his
capture. The habits Of this rnfor-
tunate being. and the changes which
took place in him from the time his
intellect began 10 develop by COM
ing in contact With civilization, is
interesting to contemplate. At
first, the emotions of shame he knew
nothing OF, and it was difficult to
make him wear clothing when the
weather was warm. Whenever hun.
ger pinched hin end be could OBJ
tain nothing else TO satisfy his als.
petite, he would return to his origt.
nal diet of frogs, raw fish. etc. An
amusing instance of this kind oc-
Cured on one occasion. 1t was the
fortune of the writer of this to live
in the family who had "Wlld Bilr'
in charge. On one Saturday he,
with Bill, each on horse, with a
bag of corn, were sent to mill some
miles in the country, Being de-
tanned by the miller until evening,
Bill became hungry. Returning
home, he heard
A FROG CRoAKING IN A LAGOON
by the wayside. Instantly he
sprang from his horse and cautious
" waded into the water, STOPPING
until it reached his chm, so as not
to alarm the frog. Guided by its
croaking on the opposite bank, he
moved slowly until he came within
reach of it, and darting forth his
hand, he seized the frog, and taking
it by the legs, tore them asunder
and ate it with relish. For a long
time he was irresponsible, and re-
quired to be in charge of some one
to keep him out of mischief and
trouble. On one notable occasion
Mrs. Hammett, his guardian, wished
to pay visit to some of her lady
friends in the town of Woodville,
ana her son, who was generally
charged with the task of look
ing after Bill, being absent, she
locked him up inside the house.
Her return being delayed until
evening, Bill found the atmos-
phere of the room oppressive, and
denuded himself of his clothing
Being hungry, he concluded to dc
his own cooking, and endeavoring
to do what he had seen others do in
this line, he put into skillet a lit
tie of every kind of food he could
find in the house-hog's lard and
ground coffee mixed in-and put
ting it OF the fire stirred it until he
thought it was sufficiently cooked.
When Mrs. Hammett returned, ac-
companied by some of her lady
snefgtibors, and unlocked the door,
she found Bill seated on the floor
near the hearth with the skillet be.
tore him, lifting its contents with
both hands to his mouth; and ex.
pecting chastisement, he backed in
to a corner. licking his lips with his
tongue. He was exceedingly
FOND OF SWEET THINGS,
and particularly of strong drinks il
they were sweetened. For drink
of swectened whisky he would at
tempt anything. At one time he
was promised a glass of whisky and
sugar if he would whip General
door, who, in full feather, was mus
terlng the county militia according
to the old manner Of doing such
things annually. To obtain the
promised glass, Bill stealthily came
up behind him, took him by the
hair of the head and bore him into
the dust on the street. Finding
himself thus assailed, General Joor
drew his sword and pierced Bill
through the thigh. From this wound
he never fairly recovered. He was
very agile and fast OF foot. He
could climb tree with surprising
quickness, swim and manage a
horse with dexteriiy. 1t was with
him as with a child From the
time of his capture he knew not
right from wrong actions until he
was taught, and until his intellect
expanded and lie began to compre-
hend his true position in society, he
sorrowed over the reflection. He
sickened and died in New Orleans
IN the year 1929, while in charge OF
gentleman who undertook to exhib
| it him for money.-L ?. II. a1
San Francisco Examiner.