The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-23
Bill Apps Coon Hunt, and Some Re.
Elections Thereon, .A't'

to hunt rabbits, so I concluded to 90
along and tote the game. Mrs. Arp she
said she knew we wouldn't kill anything,
and we asked her if she would cook all
we brought home, and she said, ssYes,
and dress it, too" About the time we
got started the two little chaps came up
and begged me so sweetly to let them
go couldn't refuse, and so there were
six of us in all, and two guns and two
dogs, and in about an hour we had
jumped six rabbits and killed five of
them, and they were getting awful heavy
when suddenly one of the boys looked
up an elm tree that was in the middle of
a canebrake and said, 81 thought them
things up there We're squirrels nests,
We all stopped and looked, and sure
enough it did move, and the other one
moved, and we knew they were coons.
| never saw boys get excited so quick.
They called the dogs and made for the
canebrake. The creek was to cross and
nary log in sight, so they just waded
through and surrounded the tree and
held the dogs fast while one of the boys
got ready to fire. By this time l was
getting ready to be a boy again myself,
and hollered to em to wait, and /
pulled the little chaps through the cane
till | found log and got them across
and was soon on the battle ground
Bang went gun and down came
wounded coon, the biggest old fellow l
ever saw, and never saw such fight
in my life. He wasn't hurt much with
the small shot, and he did fight and growl
and screech most amazin. First one dog
and then the other backed out with
q howl and then set in on
him again, until finally old
Zip surrendered and gave up the ghost.
Bang went another gun and the other
coon let 90 and fell into fork, and there
he lay for dead for about fifteen min
utes, when one of the boys said he was
going to have him anyhow. SO he
climbed the tree, and when he had got
about fifty feet up the coon Strengthened
up in the fork and looked savagely at
him and gave a growl. wish you could
have seen that boy slide. He came
down that tree like fireman comes
down scaling ladder. He left his hat
and right smart of his breaches on the
bark and grape vines. Well, of course
they shot him again, and that tumbled
him, and then we had another fight,
and the boys say they never had as much
fun, and they feel sorry for your town
boys who don't have any sport and are
penned up within brick walls, and the
best they can do is to waste few dol
lars on a French actress, and not know
a word she said, and then go home and
say bully for Sara. Well, / shouldered
the biggest coon, and think he weighed
about twenty pounds when we started
and about forty when got home, and
laid him down suddenly in Mrs. Apps
lap and said, 9" Skin him and cook him,
if you please" l oughtent to have done
that. 1t was premature, and not alto
gether calculated to promote our cons
jugal felicity. Mrs. Arp is stately,
delicate woman, but l think she got up
a little quicker than had ever observed
her. She thought it was bear, or
hyena, or a catamount, and she |
screamed accordingly. All that was last
Monday, and think she has about re-
covered from it now, but if were to |
kill thousand coons wouldn't try that
little joke again. 1t didn't pay. |
wonder what makes men and boys SO
cruel My little girl was the only friend
those poor coons had, and can not tell
what made me take pleasure in their
death. Boys begin early TO show their
love of cruelty and destruction. They
rock the birds and the cats and the
chickens, and rob the BIRDS nests, and
then they hunt the rabbits and squirrels,
and shoot all sorts of wild animals Just
for sport. There is an original sin about
them that don't belong to girls. Girls
are tender and kind and sympathetic.
l reckon that is one reason why we love
'em, but why they love US 1 don't know.
| knew a boy once who caught a wild
tomeat in the barn and tied pillow line
round his neck and tied the other end to
ring behind the saddle that was on the
old mare hitched to the fence, and then
turned the old mare loose and pitched
the cat on her back, and she run herself
to death in fifteen minutes, and the bows
all laughed and hollered and enjoyed it
splendid. That was mighty bad, but
that boy married one of the sweetest
girls in the country and made q good
husband and a kind father. 1 reckon
it IS the devil that is in us for while, and
then he quits us and goes into some
body else or into some hogs or mad
dogs or something. They say that every
boy must SOW his wild oats, though
have noticed that it takes some a heap
longer than others to do it. They love
noise and racket. They begin early to
shoot tire-crackers and little pistols, and
beat drums and tin pans and tie things to
the dogs tails and make 'em run and
make 'em fight and set 'em on the cats,
and a negro can't 90 along the road but
what they whisper, " Sic him, Cesar!"
When they get bigger and have few
bumps on, their chin they want to do
something more heroic. They want
some girl to fall in the creek so they can
jump in and save her life, or they want
some wild horses to run away with
carriage SO they can jump to the rescue
of the ladies and seize the furious ami
mails and jerk 'em down just in the nick
of time, or he wants to whip another
boy because he bucked up to his girl,
and what is curious about these BOYS the
girls seemlto like that sort the best. If
| hadent fought a Teller who insulted
me ] don't believe Mrs. Arp would have
surrendered. Idon't. Maybe she would
have took'the other Teller, and then what