The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-08-14
Huntinr a Mouse,


5 was doing comfortably in no
o easy chair and dreaming Of th
+ good times which l hope are con
|, ing, when there fell upon my ears
5 most startling scream. 1t was th
! voice of my Mary Ann in agony
' The voice came from the kitchen
r and to the kitchen l rushed. TIL
/ idolized form of my Maria wa
perched on chair, and she wa
hourishing an iron spoon in all di
rections, and shouting "shoo,o in
q general manuer, at everything i,
} the room. To my anxious inquire.
as to what was the matter. sh,
screamed, 80 Joshua! a mouse
shoo--wha--shoo-a great-.va
shoo-horrid mouse, and she-eW
1T ran right out of the cupboard
shoo-go away-O Lord-Joshus
--shoo-kill it, oh, my--shoo."
All that fuss, you see, about one
little harmless mouse. Some VIC
men are so afraid of mice. Maria
is. l got the poker and set myself
to poke that mouse, and my wife
jumped down and ran off into an
other room. 1 found the mouse in n
corner under the sink. The first
time l hit it 1 didn't poke it anyon
account of getting the poker all
tangled up in alot Of dishes in the
sink; and Isdid not hit it any more
because the mouse would not stay
still. 1t ran right toward me, and
naturally jumped, as anybody
would; but am not afraid of mice,
and when the horrid thing ran up
the leg of my pantaloons, I yelled
to Maria because 1 was afraid it
would gnaw a hole in my garment.
There is something real disagreea-
BILE about having mouse inside the
leg OF ones pantaloons, especially
if there is nothing between you and
the mouse. 1t toes are cold, and
its nails are scratehy, and its fur
tickles, and It's tail feels crawlv.
and there is nothing pleasant about
it, and you are all the time afraid
it will try to gnaw out, and begin
on you instead of on the cloth.
That mouse was next 10 me. /
could feel its every motion with
startling and suggestive distinct
ness. For these reasons 1 yelled
to Maria, and as the case seemed
urgent to me 1 may have yelled
with a certain degree of vigor; but
l deny that yelled fire, and if l
catch the boy who thought that
did, shall inhict punishment on
his person.
1 did not lose nay presence of
mind for an instant. / caught the
mouse just as he was clamoring over
my knee, and by pressing firmly on
the outside of the cloth, / kept the
animal a prisoner on the inside. l
kept jumping around with all nv
might to confuse it, so that it
would not think about biting, and
| yelled so that the mice would not
hear its squeaks >and come to It's
assistance. A man can't handle
many mice at once TO advantage.
Maria was white as a sheet when
she came into the kitchen and ask
ed what she should do-as though l
could hold the mouse and plan a
campaign at the same time. ! told
her to think of something, and she
thought she would throw things at
the intruder; but as there was no
earthly chance for her to hit the
mouse, while every shot took effect |
on me, told her to stop, after she !
had tried two fat-irons and the coal
scuttle, She paused for breath ;but
| kept bobbing around. Somehow
felt no inclination to sit down /
80 Joshua" she cried,
Il wish you hadn't killed that cat"
Now / submit that the wish was
bor3 of the weakness of woman's
intellect. How on earth aid she
suppose a cat could get where that
mouse was rather have the mouse
there alone, anyway, than to have a
eat prowling around after it. re
minded Maria Of the fact that she
was a fool. Then she got the tea
kettle and wanted to scald the
mouse. 1 objected to that process,
sxcept as a last resort. Then she
got some cheese to coax the mouse
lown, but did not dare to let go,
for fear it would run up. Matters
we're getting desperate. told her
10 think of something else, and
Kept jumping. just as l was ready
10 faint with exhaustion, / tripped
over an iron, lost my hold and the
mouse fell to the floor, very dead.
I.had no idea q mouse could be
to death so easy.
That was not the end of the
trouble. Before / had recovered
nv breath q fireman broke in one
Of the front windows, and a whole
company followed him through,
and they dragged hose around, and
mussed things around all over the
house, and then the foreman wanted
TO thrash me because the house was
not on fire: and / had hardly got
him pacified before a policeman
came in and arrested me. Some one
lad run down and told him / was
trunk and was killing Maria. 1t
vas all Maria and l Could do, by
our eloquence, to pre-
rent him from marching me off in
disgrace, but we finally got matters
Iuieted and the house clear.
Now when mice run out of the
cupboard 1 go out doors and let
Maria "shoo them" back. j.
Some time ago a gentleman from