Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-03-07
DA, BUNCH. AND ONY.
BY HARRIETTE r. sHATTUCK.

round, rosy checked girl, and Ony a
little black pig. They all lived at It
Plum Creek-"way off out west, -
probably named plum Creek" be,
cause there were no plums there, and
no creek either Da and Bunch (whose
real names were David and Blanche,
bat who had been given these easier
names by little Bunch herself before
she could talk plainly lived with
their father and mother in little sod
house in one of the hollows of the
rolling prairie, five miles from any
neighb0r Ony lived with his brothers
and sisters, ten in all, almost any
where. He ran about wherever he
liked all day, and rested beside the
old mother pig when night came. HIS
real name was Ebony, because he was
black all over, while his brothers and
sisters were black and white, spotted.
Ony was always clean, and SO smart
and cunning that sometimes he was
allowed to run about in the kitchen,
cat corn from Bunch's hand, and
drink the buttcrmilk left from the
churning. Bunchie had no other pet.
for she was poor little girl; so she
made a pet Of Ony, who followed her
about everywhere she went-just like
Mary's little lamb, and showed great
deal Of affection for her, considering
he was only little black pig.
The children'S house was a very
pleasant one, if it was built of sods
There were three rooms opening, one
into the other, all Of the same size,
nicely plastered and with wooden
floors.
There was a stove in which hay was
burned IN summer and wood III win
ter, two beds, IA bureau lin the upper
drawer Of which was the Plum Creek
pnstoiliccJ, six chairs, a small table,
and two shelves full of dishes and the
pans for milk. The house was quite
low, it was easy TO throw the farming
tools upon the roof and get them out
of the way Sometimes the sod roof
looked very queer, all stuck over with
hoe handles and rake handles and
other kinds of handles \ little way
from the house was the sod cellar, II
small room made by digging 4 hole in
one of the little hilloch, of the prairie
and shaping it with soiS Here the
milk was set for cream, thc pork was
sailed down, and all the food was kept
except the yellow squashcs, green
melons. and the ripe corn, which were
stored in nice clean wooden sheds.
Then there was the shed matched
withihay, whore tAc three strong farm
horses were kept, the sod stable for
the cows, tie little pond for the ducks
aud the sly FOR the pigs, though on.y
the old mother pig stayed in the sty,
her large family liking better to trot
about all over the farm and visit the
other animals. OF course. there
were hens, too, but they lived any
where.
Three times week came the mail,
brought by tall man ON horseback,
who wore soft, wide brimmed hat,
and always smiled pleasantly at little
Bunch, rs she stood in the doorway
Watching him. He would stay all
night and go away the next morning
to Valloosa, the county seat, carrying
with him the letters and papers the
Plum Crcell folks wanted TO send to
their friends. Sometimes he would
have rs many as seven or eight let
ters, and he always brought good
many papers, for out West the men
aud women want to know all that is
going on Although they saw So few
persons, Land Bunch We're not lone
ly. Di had plenty OF work TO do He
MIXED the cows, harncsSed the ho"-
SEES and took care of them, and helped
his father about the farm. Buuch
aud her mamma stayed at home and
''dld the work, the little girl not do
ing II great deal except to wipe the
dishes, set the table, and feed the
chickens and ducks, because she was
too little To do anything harder.
When her work was done she would
run out ON tho prairie, aud, with Ony
at her heels, would chase the round
tumble weeds and run in the wild
wind until her cheeks were as red as
roses and her gown was covered with
the prlcl>ly sand burrs that grow IN
that tall prairie grass.
The farmer was very set la his
ways. He had just such time for
everything, and then and only then
must ii be done The mother was too
busy all the time to think when she
would like To do this or that. There
was always a next thing that could
not wait. She mad to work very hard,
and often BunCh would see tears IN
her eyes and woRder about it, Once
the mother had lived in Nalloosa, and
her mother lived there now, and she
had not seen her for SO longl That
was why there were tears in the moth
cr'S eyes sometimes.
Tho bright summer had gone and
the fall had come. The prairie roses
and suntloverS were dead, aud the tall
grass was yellow aud dry. In the
night the horizon WAS lit up in many
directions by distant prairie fires, and
the mother had warned her husband
several times that it was time to make
his tircguardS; that is, to plow wide
path all around his house and shed, SO
that If the fire came it would be stop
ped by the plowed ground, as there
would then be nothing more To burn.
Bat the farmer had set apart the 30th
of the month for this job, and it could
not be done sooner The 29th he had
set apart for gong to Na.looSa to sell
corn and buy some things they need
ed at home, and the ;aother was going
w SiNtlN lNN iApolS NtNll uCStI
mother, and carry her some new but
ter and a ii le SqaaSh for PIE. Da
WAS old enough To leave now. He
could take care of Buuch for day, ii
she was such ny-away!
So two of the strong horses were
harneSsed into the big wagon, the
wagon was filled with corn, and away
they drove, leaving the children to
take care of each other and the ami
mails. All went ON beautifully. Da
did mis- chores, while Bunch ran about
with Gay and kept out of mischief
wonderfully well for n fy-away.
Soon came dinncr-time, and the chill
dren sat down To eat a nice cold din,
ner fixed before hand by their mann
ma They sat long time eating and
. playing, FOR they had invited Ony to
dinner, too, just for fun, and were
much delighted at the way he acted.
They put hun into a char and tied a
BIO under his chm Of pigs have
chinsl, and then Da fed HIM with
musA and milk out of spoon, while
Buuch tried to hold his hands" as
she called them, to prevent HIM from
rushing right into the big yellow
bowl OF milk and gobblng it up all at
once.
Suddenly Bunch looked up and