The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-11-26
If WE'RE a hoy AGAIN,
A Charming WFItor's Poetic Story of Boy
hood Days With Bow and Gun aud Hooks.

~ GuAFAuluk NFAtoEn AuoAlg htoEy VI EoS
hood Days With Bow and Gun aud Hooks.
ny MAURICE THOMPSON,
Author Of "The WitcheIy Of Archery, +" "sOngs
Fair weather" etc, etc,
copyrighted 1856, by i, s. Mc9lure
II / were a boy again there are SOM
things that should be "attended to-" at al
hszards. What a field boy has, with In
whole Of lie and the whole world befor,
him! II the best could be made Of thu
morning time, when everything Is dew!
and abloom, how fragrant, fresh and zest
inl the aftsrtims would be, Igot a goot
deal out Of boyhood, but l can look bsCl
and see what precious opportunities
pushed aside. One can admit this withou'
being cad, however; for at worst, boyhooC
Is q delightful season OF experience Il
which one turns with a lutter Of retro
spectiye excitement. City boys have
"lots" Of fun and country boys have
"cords" Of II, no matter how the
weather is, | was o country boy
wild IS a deer, running loose in the woodl
OF o Southern mountain region. The old
farm house sd been painted aome time
but the paint was nearly washed of, and
the squat gables CLEANED gray and grim
through riffs In q thick grove OF OLD
gnarled oaks. Near by there was a gush,
ing clear spring that sang q liquid tune
dry and night and sent away q thy brook
let tinkling under Csykin.loaded willows
Scarcely any winter came into the little
dry, Co2y yalley-juBt 8 month or 60 O.
bluster and prelenss o~tirlgIdity and then q
sort OF Indian summer followed by spring;
and such spring aoweTs gushed out Of the
ground, birds dropped out OF the sky, the
woods turned green In q ssnnight and
there was q wide current Of music float.
ing by, The knocking birds came to build
In the pear trees, the swallows swarmed
about the huge chimney Of the kitchen
when tho cooking was transferred to the
summer cookhOuse, and the thnlshes and
cardinal groesbeaks and bluebirds ard
catbirds and orioles, and all the rest, made
the groves and orchards ring with their
songs and rustle with their wingu.
! had q few boy companions who could
BIO with me internationally. They were
lEhs cons OF mountain iaEmer1, sallow,
slender, illiterate fellows, but brave, gen.
erous and good. They were solemn, even
In fun, and very sensitive. They were
great lovers Of the gun, these boys, and |
have seen many a me OF them carrying
on his shoulder a lint,loCk riff more than
8 foot longer than himself. Think OF II, q
boy twelve years old shooting squirrels
with agun six feet long and twelve pounds
in weight, Ono Of my earliest ambitions
was to own the heaviest rife In all the re-
gion aud 10 be able to kill more game than
any boy OF my acquaintance. l had
learned the wsys Of the woods, Gs II by
instinct, Gnd psed 10 dip out Of bed far
in the night to inrtiVely atGsl away aud
Join O party Of coon hunters that often
consisted solely OF negroes. How mellow
and hslkpOlrpiully musical Wa the
mcuthing Of tho hounds IS they followed
the winding trail OF the COCOA, and the
Hoo'ls, h0o.ls'ee boys" Of the old negro
leader Of the hunt, was almost martial in
Its barhaiic vigoT.
An old man by tho name of Williams
lived near my fathers place. He was y
queer, ely, creeping perpon, full OF odd
Conteits and uncommon knowledge, He
taught me archery. This opened u new
lifo 10 mo. AS advanced in proficiency
with the bow and arrows | felt q strange
%fascinAticn beRirping 10 control me. All
that / hNd read in EGott and the life Of
Robin Hood and the history OF tho CRU.
Baders aud ChiYalry took on a nav mean.
ing and drew around 1t a tner Rtmos
pherO, | began to 60 into the woods }
ea!ops OF the picturesque life | was living,
and nov 8 thirst for knowledge burned
isigsly 10 me. turned to the consider.
able library my father and mother had
collected, and Rtadied as had nsver
studied before. Each new thing that
learned gave mo glimpSes OF a hundred
more just beyond my reach. My teach
era were good ones, for the place, but they
often were bewildered In the nasu Of
questions which asked. Nature ap.
poared to me Q vast reservoir OF sccretA
too precious 10 be undiscovered. Icould
not stay In doors, and yet / must study,
so | compromised with ny peronts and
teachers upon the agreement that I was
to study In the woodBwhen liked,
No doubt this method Of getting an edu.
cation was trying on teachers. / wes not
to be wax in their hands, for / would cast
aside my Bourbon Gtany moment 10 watch
q blue.jay crack an acorn or to investigate
the holes In q maple tree pocked by a sap.
sucker. was Away impatient to find cut
how . seed BpTOutel, how O bud blew open,
how the sap circulated In q plant. The
habits Of oil wild things interested me
moro than theorems and demonstrations,
and yet l learned mathematics 10 that In
sf,erlife 1 was a successful civil engineer.
Greek and Latin we're better company
than OalCuluu, and French was fascinating
from the first. As | look back now | won.
der how | ever was Dble to learn any,
thing, my studies were 90 iunbled to.
gether and my application so d%esultory.
Probably the secret Of 1t was that no day
was let pass without some strong glimpse
OF knowledge, % II 10 held III books. There
Ia, | am sure, an indeanable but very real
value In studying ION the t1y,nt TO use a
sportsman phrase. Any way, l look back
with . thrill Of pleasure and Gee my study.
ing days CLEAN brightly through tue riffs
Of green woodB,suh the eternal roaring oil
the pine trees comes along with the Joyous
recollections.
In winter the large kitChen was my
refuge during bad weather. There was
the huge Fireplace where the genial blaae
Of the long hickory logs aud tho glow Of
the Goals underneath itradiated a comfort
not to DO had in these futnaCe.healed
homes Of the North and West. BY the
light OF that kitchen fro / frat read Poe's
weird stories and poems and pored over
: Somnium Scipionis" and Keats "0de 10
q Nightingale" aud the Lyrics Of Anak:
feon." There, too, | read lies Misera.
bleb" and la Nouvelle uelolse' In the
French, Pretty strong food fort noun.
tain boys mind, ! admit. but II did not