The Osceola times., 1885-08-01

ana ne stopped TO think; "when | was
young, about twenty, Iguess, Icould out.
shoot any man in the valley. We used
10 swing an apple on string, an
mountin' our horses gallop like mad
aud fire at it. could hit It every time.
l tell you them whar glorious days. But
my sights not like it used to be an /
ain I got the nerve power" /" he said, with
a sigh.
"Why," he continued, "Icould knock
On apple off post nine times out of ten
htty yards away, an | could take the
bill off a bird in tree as clear as n
whistle an never disturb feather.
That's fact"
Nv hat do you regard as the most
skillful shot you ever nader" we
asked.
"You mean the best one ever made;
yes an l mought say, for that, the hap.
piest one o. my life."
We nodded In the affirmative.
wei, strangers, he began, "I'll tell
you all about 1t. 1t war wears ago.
though. was twenty-one then an but
lew people lived hereabouts, an what
did war good WAYS apart. Down in
tother end O. the valley lived John An
gieford, who had darter, an loved
her like mad, but some way or Other
she didn't kinder want to hitch to me.
About three miles away lived another
man, who had son, an she TUX TO that
boyi this made me kind o. Jealous like
an Inc an him fit often. But | didp I
give in; I'd made up my mind to get
that gal ef | could. One day in the fall
o the year-I'll never forgit that dav. "
he said, with emphasis, IL shouldered
Old Faithful. that's my musket. an
went up inter the mountains to see what
KIND o game was abroad. Well, !
reckon I'd been trudgln' around in the
thicket for nigh onto three hours with
out seein of thing, when all of sudden
l hearn scream that almost friz my
blood. ! heard it agin and knowed il
whar woman's holler, 50 / ies' cocks
'Old Faithful an starts through the
bushes, but afore | got to the openin'
heard horses hoofs a-clankin' an a-clat.
term over the stones. hurried right
on to theopenin' an thar seed what
1t whar all about. l seed 1t at glance.
| Old Angleford's horse was a-tearin'
along like as If the old boy whar arter
him, an thar whar Sarahy Jane, her
face as white as chalk, a-clingin' to his
back for dear life, an right betwixt her
an the horses head, his claws drive into
the flesh of the horses neck, a.tryin' to
reach the gal, whar the biggest cata-
mount ever seed.
"'Your times come, John, says to
myself. Steady, now; aim right and
you II win the gal Jes' as that ar hoss
with the screamin gal got opposite to
me blazed away for the catamount' s
head. ! knew it war life or death to
one of the three on 'em; but | didn't
miscalculate; / never did. The load
went into that ar catamount's head an
he rolled over dead on the ground; the
hoss stumbled, and as he disappeared
over the precipice | cotched the faintin
gal in my arms and hurried down the
road with her to her home. For long
time she had ragin' fever and kept a
calm: is he Gomez is he Gomez No.
body could tell what it meant. You
see, men them days would 90 off and
stay for days a-huntin', so the absence
o old Struthers' boy didn' make any
body think strange. Wall, one day she
cum to, and the first thing she axed
about war if AL. Struthers had cum
home. Thinks thar's somethin' quar-
somethin' wrong about this. so III see.
/ shouldered old Faithful an started
out. Away up whar the catamount had
jumped on Sarahy James hoss found
him-ugh! what sight seed. Thar
he war. stark dead, a-stickin on an oak
limb that had gone clar through his
body, an his hoss whar dead away
down on the sharp-pointed rocks below.
We gin the poor fellow decent burial.
The only way could account for death
whar that Sarahy James screamin
frightened his hoss, an running in
among the trees he got caught on the
sharp pint o. the low-down limb"
Here he retilled his pipe, and lighting
ii said:
Come in, strangers, an I'll show
you suthin'."
We followed him into the cabin.
"This are old Faithful, y" he said,
taking down an ancient-looking shot.
gun from the rack and patting It aflec-
lionately, 'what done the business for
me. An this" he continued, unrolling a
>musty-looking parcel, "ar the skin O.
the tarnal varmint that brought about
the happy change in Sarahy Jane, an
that" pointing to white-haired old
lady who sat rocking and smiling in a
corner of the room. ''am the old gal
herself. ."-Detroi Post.