The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-07-11

| OIA W IACA HCC 1lC5 VI ~ OOuACCO OA
his ingine an chawed him up, an so
it'd gone on, an the business O. the
road d suffered
"'According to that says l, the
peccary must be pusher.'
| "'Got more vim in him. says the
native, than any other citizen O. Texas
'cept the centipede. You mustn't fur
git to meet the centipede. He'll make
We laugh. The pec'ry's got memory
longer'n thrum h'yer to New. Orleans,
too, an the chances is that you'll meet
them fellers agin that We see to-day.
Mind ye, now! Don't stawp yer in
CINE
Sure as guns, when we went back
next day, there in the very same spot
was the remnant of the drove of pee
carries.
'Waitin fur us. by gravy said my
fireman.
$50 they were. As we tore down
on 'em they braced up and met us face
to face. They sprang at the wheels,
grabbed at the side rods, and fought
every truck in the train as the cars
passed them. A dozen or more of
them were killed. The peccaries didn't
follow us, but when we went back on
the next trip, there, at the same spot,
was posted all that was left of the
drove, evidently waiting to revenge the
death of their companions. The drove
was reduced to twelve. The twelve
planted themselves square on the track,
facing us, and never moved an inch as
we dashed upon 'em and scattered 'em
right and left along the rails. Looking
back after the train had passed the
spot, we saw one solitary peecary left
alive out of the drove. l told the
native, at the end of the run, about the
persistent pluck of the peccaries and
about killing them all but one.
az don't s'pose we'll see him again.
said 1.
"'Oh, he'll be tharr said the native.
'Ye kin bet a bucket O. liquor he'll be
thar! Pec'ries don't know setch a
thing as backin' out of fight. He'll
be thar
"And he was there. We could see
him for mile ahead of us, when we
went back next day, standing plumb in
the middle of the track, or, rather,
squatting on his launches, waiting for
US. 1t seemed pity to run him down.
He rose to his feet as we drew near
him and rushed forward to meet us.
The engine struck him and hurled him
fifty feet out into the woods. We had
finished the drove.
II found out good many things
about the peccary before left Texas.
There was a time when nothing would
kill peccary but the poisoned arrows
of the Central American Indians, but
that was before the DAYS of Winchester
! 1-i6ao A hY,11of n WIS.,, nh 1a
just searching enough to find a pee
cary's vitals, but the range don't want
to be too long. When a man goes out
hunting peccaries he doesn't trip
lightly through the forest, and, stealing
upon the unsuspecting game, bring it
down with his unerring rifle. No, not
when he hunts peccaries. If he did,
nineteen seconds after he fired his first
shot he would be apportioned out
among the drove in two-ounce lets,
buttons, boots and baggage counted in.
No, s-a-a-hr said the native rail-
roader to me once. The poetry hahn t
got no use f fear. An as f. bein'
tough, l never heerd o. nawthin' no.
whar as tough as they be. A hip ota-
mus is only jis' larnin' to be tough,
'longside of pec'ry. If didn't know
noways else that pec'ries wasn't 'feerd
O. nawthin' an was tough, I'd know it
thrum what l see with my own eyes
once. see cycloon a tearin' long
over the perairy one day, an hghtnin'
was jaggin' about in it like fireworks.
, An roarp Great t'rantuly's ghost!
how it did roar! was so 'feerd that /
jis' laid down an shuck. The cloud
l was kim O. cattycornerin' way thrum
l me, an want more'n quarter of q
; mile off. 1t was cuttin' right along the
: grass, an oh! how that hghtnin' did
l jag! had to keep my eyes on it, an
e what did see but a big druv O. pec'ries
e tearin' right along to git in front of il
: an tackle it, Its roarin' had 'sturbed
'em, / s'pect, an they jis' resht out tC
: git a lick at it. WAL, now, it jfg
' swooped Mr.. Pec'ries up inter it,
$ bowels bout as slick as anythin' "
o ever see, an then fire begun to fly il
u chunks out O. that black cloud-piece'
O lightnin', foot long, some of 'em
: That cycloon's grindin' sassige'
out O. them pec'ries, sure, l says, bu
S they're more'n maxim the sparks fl,
out O the mill, says /.
I 'Seddintly the cycloon turned an
!, tore back towards whar / was layin'
'feerd O. my life 1t passed by me S,
nigh that had to dig my fingers an
toes in the dirt an hold on to keel
thrum j'inin' it. As it slid by 1 SCI
n what was maxim the fire fly. I coul
see them pcc'ries in the cloud as plat
as | kin see you this minute, an the
9 was nippin' into them sharp jags G
IL ightnin' tooth an nail, an bitin' o.
L an throwin' out chunks o. the death
dealin' stuff foot long. l follere
d that cycloon with my eye for ten mile
d an could see them chunks O. lightnir
e fallin' all the way. Jis fur curiosity
e walked over the track o. that clou
ss mex day, an never foun' dead pee ry
but come out in sight of flock {
s 'em feedin' jis' whar the cycloon let W
!. an could see that they was singed
leetle, an know'd they wus the one
d that had tackled that big ball o. win
ID an lightnin', an tuckered it out
N "You may think the native drew it
p little strong,n concluded the engineer
st ''but then you've never seen a PEI
m cary. IN Y. Sun.
a