Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-01-05
JACK FLEMMING'S FIRST BEAR.


Boys. | amt gwine to town this
mornin''
What, Jack. not eoin' to town?'
Mot sick. are yer?
Hello. not @oin to town."
~ hats the matter, Jack we all
exclaimed in :: breath.
No, nothin the matter: jist l kinder
reckon L II not go to-day
1t was the last SUNDAY of October, in
1Sr2. y beautiful sunny morning. the
ar still, and a slight wind ru>tlcd the
leaves of tn" many tree. sabout our
camp. which was situated on the Co
sumnc> River. in ri Dorafo County,
about ten miles from IIangtown.
Five uf '.us boys were mining here.
said boys ranging from eighteen 10
twcn;v-siN years in age, and hailing
from Missouri, Tennessee. Ohio, South
Carolina and New York.
Jack tlcmming was about six feet
fhrcc inches in height and weighing one
hundred and forty pounds, and was at
this time twenty-five wears of age, of Il
fair complexion. dark brown hair ana
large blue eyes. Owing To his easy
disposition AMI the facility with
which hc turned 4 Joke from himself
upon any o; his companions he was
an especial favoritc i'll camp. although
tn" butt of all our fun. which h. took
"Ood-naturcdly, without any sign of
anger or di~plcastrc. II was wonder
full, too. for loohing back over the long
lapse of ycars can now Sc" that many
rough jokes wee PLAYED on him.
He WAS always calm and collected
and was never known TO get excited
over any event, no matter how excited
others might become. His pcrccptiye
faculties were duh. Tie only thing he
was sharp and Shrewd about was Il
horse trade, in which he ALWAYS sue
crcdcd. He cam" from ROonr County.
Missouri. 1hc name Of the town | do
not remember. although many Il stormy
night have been entertained bv the
tales told by Jack about this town and
the ''circus shows that his dad used
10 take him .-forto see
ia h WAS the trI;cSt hearted and most
Unculturcd of all that umcuItured people.
1 do not believe he ever spoke a correct
sentence in all his life. The only cN-
preston approaching profanity we ever
heard him say WAS: II gawd. boys
which | always supposed to he :; cor
rul ton of what might have been pro-
fame. had he been able to speak it cor
re -tly. On Sundays it was cur custom.
as -; All other camps, to go To town, to
mail and get letters, see the sights. have
:, square meal and hear q. the latest
discoveries in the mines. 1t WAS after
breakfast We were all surprised to
see Jack settle down comfortably in his
chair before the fir. and light his pipe.
instead of making his usual prepara
tionS to 90 TO town, aS the rest of lis
were doing II waS the more surpriS NJ.
for the reason that the rains would soon
set in. and we could not 20 to town
many more times until spring H. had
ALWAYS been the first to start. ami being
the posscsSor of long legs. would arrive
there some time before the rest of us. and
when we got there we had only to see
Jack and from him hear the news. When
Jack told of his dcterm nation to stay
at home this morning We took II as 4
Joke, and thought that after we had
rome he would take Il different trail than
the u-ual one and arrive in town before
IL. and We fully expected to see him on
Getting there: but to oar great disap-
poiatment he was not there We gen
orally started for home in time to be
there by sunset, but this day for some
cause we started home earlier than uSI!-
al On the way Jack was greatly
missed for when he was along there
never WAS Il lack of something 10 keep
all entertained When we came in sight
OF the cabin we saw the door standing
open, and expected and hoped Jack
would have dinner cooking Although
not thinking it would be ready, know
inr that he would not lie looking for us
So soon. we stepped in softly. in order
to give him a surprise; but stopped sud
denly, for to our amazcment Jack was
nowhere TO be seen, and everything in
the cabin was scattered over the floor.
\ few davS before we had laid in our
winter supplies: and the cabin was well
filled with the goods and provisions
found in Il miners cabin in those days.
When we left in the morning quarter
of beef was hanging on the ridgepole.
1t was gone. We looked for the guns
They were gone y barrel of sugar
lay ON its side upon the floor. half
empty y ke@ of syrup, broken open.
and the syrup running over the
cabin Beans living over everything.
In fact. everything was IN confusion.
Tom Staplcton was the first to speak
..Rovs," sa;d he, .'look to your revolv-
crs: the dickens been to pay here. We
will find Jack lying dead somewhere
with pound of lead in him. Hark!
Look sharp, boys! | heard somethin
We had all heard it, and had our re-
voivcrs ready for use. Soon steps were
heard approaching the cabin, and each
DO nted his weapon toward the door.
surprise and joy. Jack walked in with
the guns over his shoulders. He came
in with a whoop: but when he saw four
revolvers pointed at him he said:
Look here, boys. put them ere shoot
in Irons up. There's no danger; he 8
dead as 4 door nail Nv no 5 dead?
we all cried. Why, the grizzly, OF
course: what did YOU think it wasp
He then told us that bear had come
into the cabin and taken all he wanted.
and that he (.Iack) had followed HIM
out and had killed him. and had only
waited our return to help skin ana dress
him. We tried to make him tell us the
particulars, but to all our queStIoningS
we received the response: ''N ait TIL
after dinner, boys.
We brought in the bear. ana soon
everything was in order and dinner
cooking. After dinner every one, eN-
cepting Jack, lighted his pipe and sat
down before the fire to hear Jack
story. Il say, boys drawled Jack
..afore | start inter this 'er business,
you VIII have ter excuse me while L look
up my notes. Taking up WATERFALL
he went to a creek near by and soon re-
turned with a bucket full OF water.
After helping himself to drink OF the
water, which he called ''Adams ale,
2e said: ''Now, BOYS, yer uncle'S got
the floor and for the first time since L