Huntsville gazette., 1885-01-31

|
by dog.
Johns head now appeared above the
banks of the gulch, but the enraged
heifer dashed at him with vehemence
| that caused him to disappear with the
suddenness Of prairie dog diving into
his hole.
Here was a pleasant state of affairs!
We had the milk-but the ntlkee had US.
To disinterested spectator it would
have been very laughable, no doubt;
the Judges portly form perched
twenty feet from the ground, on two
inch limb, his chubby arms and legs
twined around the body of the tree,
and his mild blue eyes glaring from be-
hind his spectacles ike the lamps on a
doctors gig; Johns head. hatless and
disheveled. his face and hair plastered
with mud, popping up and down be-
hind the bank of the arroyo, like an
animated "Jack-in-t the-box;" myself
peering through the poles of the corral
fence, like trapped wood-chuck
through the bars of his cage; while in
the center of the triangle of which we
were the apices, with eyes of fire, dis
tended nostrils, and FURNISHED horns
raking the ground, lunged and darted
the yindictiye beast who held us in
limbo.
The lariats, which were still attached
to her, flew out like Berenice's hair, as
she flashed hither and thither; and her
angry snorts of rage gave full token
that her bovine gorge was up. She
was bent on doing mischief, and she
attended to it strictly, without allowing
her attention to be distracted by trivial
matters. She had .'treed, '.corraled,
and "holed'' her tormentors; and she
seemed fully resolved to satisfy her
debt of vengeance. The slightest move
on the part of any one OF us brought
her in that direction with the velocity
of hungry hawk.
! Repeated failures, however, at last
made her sullen, and she stopped for
moment, so close to the corral that the
end Of the rope around her foot lay
temptingly near the fence. Dropping
on my knees, | reached an arm through
to secure it. Up to this time the calves
had been huddling together in a corner
of the corral; but now-whether my
position was taken as a challenge, or
whether courage had suddenly returned
to them, | know not-there was q pat
ter of feet in my rear, brave little
bleat, like the crow of bantam rooster,
and "spangr' something struck me
behind, as | groveled on all-fours, and
my head was driven against the fence
with smart thud.
Jumping to my feet, / faced this new
antagonist. There he stood, as game
as tom-tit, his ridiculously thin legs
stiffly outspread, his thread-paper tail
perked up with comical twist at the
tip, his little bullet-head defiantly
cooked to one side, and his twinkling
eyes fixed upon me with look COM
pounded of wonder at his own audacity,
fear of the possible consequence, and
funny determination to ''do or die, ="
in the defense of his prosecuted mother.
Compared to her, he might have been
aptly termed duodecimo edition,
bound in full calf.
l had but time fully to take in the
grotesqueness Of his appearance. when,
with another bleat of defiance, the
doughty little hop-o' -my-thumb
charged me- Catching him by the ear
and tail, ran him ingloriously back
to his corner, bumped his head against
the fence, just hard enough to give
him hint not to interfere in the sport
of his betters, and turned again to watch
the movements of our besieger.
1t had finally dawned upon the brain
of our .cockney cook, Batters, that
something was wrong; and he had
come around in front of the tent,
about forty yards away, to see what was
the matter Our wild-eyed foe caught
sight of him and dincontinently charged.
| Appalled, at the sight of the infuri-
ated animal, Batters tumbled backward
into the tent, trusting thus to elude the
assault -EIt was vain hope. The flap
was up, and the cow dashed straight
at the opening, struck the supporting
pole, and down in one billowy heap
came the white canvass, covering pur-
suer and pursued. We ran to the res
cue. From under the wildly heaving
envelope came dire discord of mingled
sounds s-Batters' voice calling Justify
for '.'Elp. 'elpy' the below of the
frightened COW, the breaking of things
breakable, and the ''r-r-r-ipr' of tear
ing cloth.
At last the exhausted animal became
quiet; and Batters crawled from the
fallen tent, pale and scared, but un-
hurt, save a few slight scratches.
1t took us fully an hour to free our
late antagonist, and when this was
done, she limped off down the valley,
her spirit cowed, for the time being at
least, and her calf apparently wholly
forgotten.
The camp was in as demoraliDed a
condition as if a cyclone had struck it.
! The tent was torn, the cords and stakes
broken, and the ground Uttered with Il
chaos of splintered tent-pins, tangled
cords, bent and broken cooking uten-
sfls and tableware, burst flour-sacks,
torn blankets, dirtied food, and mis-
cellaneous heap of debris.
That evening after the wreck was'put
as nearly ship-shape as possible, the
Judge passed around paper, which !
copy:
| JERUSALEM VALLEY DAIRY COMPANY
FIRST TRIAL BALANCE.
| To days work, 5 men building
corral and catching calves. Us 20O0
catching one COW. LOO