Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-11-30
The Pike County Coon Hunters.

and easy going family that lived down
shack O Dingman's." Uncle Billy had
a shrill, piping voice and q most conf
cal way, when he talked of emphasiz-
ing and punctuating his words and SEN
fences. Added to this, he preluded and
interluded his remarks with a high fall
setto hum, which seemed to come clear
from the topof his head. He had a good
wife whom he called mother. and a rum
away horse named Betsey Baker. He
was known from n end of the county
to the other. for he had followedhi side
splitting little rednose into every corner
of it. He had been either q witness q
juryman, or a litigant at every term of
Pike county court for forty years, and
when he died a few months ago, one of
the old landmarks went down.
Il can see him the way he use to
come in here court weeks" continued
the sheriff, .'and l can hear him hum
now. No tuning-fork that ever gave
the pitch in singing-school could get
within four inches of the key Uncle Billy
hummed on. Hum, hum, hum,
h-u-u-u-m, hum,' he'd sing. and WHEEL,
gen-til-men,' he'd say. 'Whill-yum C.
Jaeger, of Dellywar township, is ketch-
ed on the joory. Hum , hum, hum;
h-u-u-m, hum. He is ketched, on the
iooree, gentlemen, an he'll try, a
leetle Boorg'n. Hum. hum, hum;
h-u-u-u-m, hum. A leetle, Boorg'n an
the best you have, sir, Hum, hum, hum,
h-u-u-u-m; hum
Uncle Billy used to say, 'some folks
is partial, to rye, but give me, the good
ole, Boorg'n."
'.If anybody has a lively recollection
of Uncle Billy" said the ex-district at
torney. 81 think I'm the man. You
know why, for I guess you've all heard
how he and l captured the coon down
by the Hyman Westbrook place, a few
years ago. You know l was on my way
to Stroudsburg to meet the judge. and
some of the biggest lawyers there were
in the district, on some law business,
and I was togg6d out in the best suit of
clothes that three years in the district
attorneys Office could produce, includ-
ing a new high hat. l had got down just
this side of Hyman Westbrook's where
q big chestnut tree stands in a field,
near the road, and l saw Uncle Billy G.
standing in under the tree and looking
up among the branches. Betsey Baker
and the lumber box wagon stood in the
road. Now it was popularity of Betsey
Bakers that at one time you might fire
a cannon off in under her, and she'd
never move while at another time if a
rooster should a hundred yards
away she'd string things from Dan to
Beersheba-
.'Well, 1 stopped my horse opposite
Uncle Billy. He never took his eyes
from the tree, and 1 could hear him
humminG.
".HalIot Uncle Billyr said L. What
IS it? What's up the treeP'
".Hum. hum, hum; hu-u-u-m, hum
said Uncle Billy, without looking
around. 'Whell,' said he. it. may be,
a, catty-mount. Hum, hum, hum
h-u-u-u-m, hum. And, maybe it's a,
bear. Hum, hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m,
hum. But my belief, is, sir, that it's a,
coon, sir. A great fine. coon, Hum,
hum, hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m, hum
"'Well, Uncle Billy said I, on my
taps in a minute, for you know if there
is any one thing 1 do like it's hunting a
coon; If there's q coon in the tree
said 1, we must try to get it out So l
jumped from my carriage and stood by
the old mans side. and peered up into
the tree. Sure enough, half way up the
tree, in plain sight on a branch. lay a
big coon looking as fat and sassy as a
niger baby playing with the griddle
greaser. l had a small revolver. and l
whipped it in u minute. Uncle Billy
had never lowered his eyes once, nor
moved his head a half inch. As | took
aim he piped:
"'W-h-o-o-a, Betsey Baker! Hum,
hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m, hum
81 fired, Betsey Baker never moved,
and Uncle Billy never turned round to
see whether she did or not. The coon
climbed higher up the tree. l fired
again. and the coon got up still higher.
Hum, hum, hum; h-u-u-u-n., hum,
sang Uncle Billy. 'Whell," said he.
1T is my impreshing, sir, that your bat
terry does not carry guns enough, sir, to
bring down, the coon, Hum, hum, hum;
h-u-u-u-m. hum. l have heerd, that
climbing the tree, sir, and kicking. on,
the limb. Hum, hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m,
hum. Kicking hard, on, the limb
Il was full of the excitement of the
chase by this time, and Uncle Biliy's
hint was no sooner made than l was
shining up that chestnut like a bear
after a bees nest. / forgot all about the
Stroudsburg judge and lawyers my
g~ood-clothes, and new high hat. l was
reminded of the hat as 1 drew myself
up on the bottom limb of the tree, for it
was caught plumb on top by a branch
above me, as l rose to my feet, and
showed down over my eyes in less time
than a streak of lightning could skin a
catfish. I pulled it off. It looked as if a
yoke of oxen had rolled over it, and l
dropped it to the ground. 1t was a hard
job to crawl up through the branches,
and when l got within reach of the coon
l was sweating like the bottom slapiack
on a platter, and l felt as if l had been
toyed with by a mad bull all over a ten
acre lot. / fired the rest of my cartridges
at the coon, but it just laid there on the
limb and grinned at me. That made
me mad. SO I crawled out, and, at the
risk OF dropping fifty feet to the ground,
/ gave the coon a kick 'longside the Jaw
that lifted it clear of the limb. It lifted
me clear, too. and we both left the
branch together. l flung one arm
around the limb as I went down. and
saved myself. 1 hung suspended in
the air. As the coon went down he
made n grab at me, and set his teeth
deep enough in the calf of my leg to
save himself. And there we hung. l
on the tree and the coon on my leg. As
l kicked and wiggled l could see Uncle
Billy c. standing below, just as i'm
movable, cool, and deliberate as ever.
You should have heard him give direc-
lions.
""Hum. hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m,' said
he, WHEEL, sir, you, have him, now! If
l was, you. sir, I'd raise my other, foot,
and lift a good un. on, the snoot. Hum,
hum, hum; h-u-u-u-m. hum. A stiff I'M.
n the snoot, sirr'
"And l did give him a stiff I'm on the
snoot. The % had to drop, but he
took q mouthful of my leg with him
The fall broke his neck and killed him.
As | struggled to draw myself on the
limb Uncle Billy picked up the o
""Hum, hum. hum; h-u-u-u-m, hum
he sang. WHEEL, sir, he is, a fine one.
Hum, hum. hum; h-u-u-u-m, hum. As
fine q one, sir, as / ever see. He will
weigh, not less than, sixteen pound, sir.
Hum, hum. hum; h-u-u-u-m, hum. Not,
an ounce less, sir
"And Uncle Billy deliberately carried
the coon out to his wagon, c6ucked it
in, climbed up to his ~sheepskin seat,
and drove off without another word.
leaving me sweating. bleeding, and tat
tered in the top of the chestnut tree.
han hn k~l -