The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-02-04
A DANGEROUS COMPANION.

A DANGEROUS COMPANION.
The oak fire burned briskly in the pol
ished stove, and puffs of delicious air
came in with the opening of the door,
making the lamps burn bright, while we
girls pared and clipped the golden pump
kin rind, and Mother Forrest told us
story of her own childhood.
None 50 ready for new country as
an old pioneer; and this woman with
the bright black eyes and hair, contented
with her children and grandchildren on
the new prairie farm, was brought up on
the mountain-sides of West Pennsylva-
mia when it was the home of panthers
and bears, who were very socially fire.
quent and familiar. Her father moved
from Delaware County, New York, when
she was little girl, and she grew up as
much at home in the wilderness as the
catamounts. All summer long she
roamed the woods with her brothers and
sisters after berries and flowers and fun;
the woods their Fairgrounds from the
| time sap flowed in sugar-making till
hazel-nuts were hidden by the snow
The mountains were free, breezy, sun
4 ny home for them; and though there
! were plenty of creatures, that is, wild
ones, the children were wild and fear
less, and brought up to take care of
| themselves. .. ..............
" a. want mite afraid of animals
said the smsyt, comely woman, who
never wolilce grow old. "Only one
| thing skeered me, and that was men. If
| l saw or heerd of a man outen the
woods, / would cut and run like a deer.
1t was rough, hard set gotloose among
! the mountains in those times. But |
had the queerest comp'ny home one
time ever YOU heerd of, or anyb' dy else
so far as heard from. The fall | was
| fourteen, my neXtyoungest brother, and
sister and me, father took us down to
the island, bout eight miles from our
place, to pick apples on shares. Our
trees hedn't got to bearin' yet and we
was mighty glad to get 'em this way,
! pickin' two baskets for the farm-folks
and keepin' the third for our own. We
went Wednesday, and were goin' to
stay three days, and father was coming
with team for us and the apples we
gathered. We slept at the farmhouse.
and had plenty of provision along, and
the folks gave us all the bread and milk
and cheese we wanted, and we had a
real larkin' time. By Saturday we
were good ready to 90 home and see
mother We waited till near shutdown,
when my next oldest brother came foI
us and said father couldn't take the
team off that day and we were to walk
home, and he would send for the apples
next week. We had between seven and
eight barrels picked, enough to do us
all winter How them Pennsylvania
orchards did bear those times! Bill had
been started after us early in the fore
noon, but he played along the way and
took swim, and hunted woodchuck,
and picked berries, till, instid of gettin
there bout two O. clock and givin' us
plenty of time to get home in, it was
most night. The folks told us wee
better stay over night, but we was sc
anxious to see mother and get home, i
seemed we couldn't stay over Sunday
nohow. So we took some apples in {
basket and started just little while be
fore shutdown.
"The road went along the mountain
: with the steep bank like a wall ON on'
/ hand, goin' down just as steep 70 thu
| bed of the river on the other, and it wa
7 woods nearly all the way. We was 81
5 glad at the thought of gettin' home anC
Q seem mother by ten o'clock that W.
f was just as full as we could be, W.
5 sang, and ran, and whooped, and joke
5 about wolves and bears, and those frs
G two miles didn't take very long to &c
i; over But then it was fairly dusk, an,
/, the woods darker than apocket, SO darl
), you couldn't make out anything, AM
: we was glad to hear something com
: along pit-pat, and find the old dog iron
G the farm had come after us. We coul'
Q just see his form and each other-spot
|; darker than the dark. We couldn't los
c the road, for it was the only one, an
e cut among the thick trees, and all W
t had to do was to follow our noses owe
:, the mountain straight home. By wa
Q of keepin' our spirits up, we began
e train. uiT- HaH fri
n We Knocked every creature we knew
Z We hooted like owls, and screeched lik
cats, N howled like wolves, and san