The Bossier banner., 1882-03-02
QUEER COMPANY HOME.

| '~ H. A''cses" uS, w 1OuhS companion.
QUEER COMPANY HOME. 5,
The oak fire burned briskly in the pol
ished stove, and puffs' of delicious ali
came In with the opening of the door
making the lamps burn bright, while W,
girls pared and clipped the golden pump
kin rind, and Mother Forrest told us ,
story of her own childhood.
None SO ready for a new country, q.
an old pioneer; and this woman with
the bright black eyes and hair, contentee
with her children and grandchildren OF
the new prairie farm, was brought up or
the mountain-sides of West Pennsylva.
mia when it was the home of panthers
and bears, who were very sociably 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 a free, breezy, sun
ny home for them; and though. there
were plenty of 8. creatures, - that is. wild
ones, the children were wild and fear
less, and brought up to take care of
themselves.
II WANT mite afraid of animals, p
said the smart, comely woman, who
never would grow old. ssOnly one
thing skeered me, and that was MEN. If
l saw or heerd of a man outen the
woods, I would cut and run like deer.
1t was rough, hard set got tloose among
the mountains in those times. But i
had the queerest comp'ny home one
time ever you heerd of, or anyb,dy else
So far as heard from. The fall I 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 farrn-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
real larkin' time. By Saturday we
were good ready to go home and see
mother. We waited till near sundown,
when my next oldest brother came for
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 q 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 we'd
better stay ever night, but we was, SO
anxious to see mother and get home, it
seemed we couldn't stay over Sunday
nohoW. 50 we took some apples in a
basket and started just little while be-
fore sundown.
1.-The road went along the mountain,
with the steep bank like wall on one
hand, goin' down just as steep to the
bed OF the river on the other, and il was
woods nearly all the way. We. was so
glad at the thought of gettin' home and
seein mother by ten o'clock that we
was just as full as we could be. We
sang, and ran, and whooped, and ioked
about wolves and bears, and those first
two miles didn't take very long to oct
over. But then it was fairly dusk. and
the woods darker than apocket, SO dark
you couldn't make out anything, and
we was glad to hear something come
along pit-pat, and find the old dog from
The farm had come after u.s. We could
Just see his form and each otfer-spots
darker than the dark. We couldn tiose
The road, for it was the only one. and
cut among the thick trees, and all we
had to do was to follow our noses over
Inc mountain straight home. By way
rain.
We mocked every creature we knew.
we hooted like owls, and screeched like
eats, n howled like wolves, and sang
and holiered at the top of our voices.
ina we wa mt weak lunged either. And
nat sober old dog trotted long side of
ls' never changin' his gait or gettin'
ahead, but alters keepin' up with us. /
vas awful glad of his comm, for I |
iIdnt like the idee of walkin' six miles
through the woods black as darkness i
lad never been skinned. The walk
vas nothin', for we could go six miles
my time after huckleberries, but I |
lidn know what we might meet before |
We got through.
We called to the dog and tried to |
tlr fiim up, but he kept the same trot |
ust behind US, and wouldn't take anv |
'osacs OF our frolics. We called him, |