The Republican., 1888-12-01

that illustriOus warrior down to pos
terity, indissoIubly connected with a
horse. In color, "Old Put" was
white; in disposition, amiahility
itself. Never in all the outrages and
freaks committed upon him by whole
troops Of children was he ever known
to exhibit the slightest inpatience.
while to the old and inf1rm he was Il
palladium Of safety.
Dignifled, affable and yenerated,
both on account of age and character,
'Oid Put" WIS an institution. There
was nothing frivolous about him,
nothing erratic. In short, he was the
embodiment OF Presbyterian ideas,
in the shape OF horse. One thing
on!y In his personal appearance did
not sustain his general character as it
WAS known to all. In early life,
probably while owned by some IRE.
ligious horse fancier, Puts tail had
been nicketl. and from earliest recol
lection II i,reseslAed the appearance
of CHASTITY weeping willow, being
always carried at an angle OF fortv-
five degrees, the white hair floating
from it like the locks of some vener-
able patriarch.
Now, like all boys worthy the
name, Charley and myself were
mighty hunters, and in the fall when
wild pigeons passed over the woods
of Kentucky in vast dToves, we re,
veled in the sport Of hunting. This
season only lasted for few weeks,
and every Saturday, therefore, was
eagerly expected aud glOriously
spent,
Never can we forget the sacrifices
Of personal property, dear to our
hearts, the trades aud arljhcer and
shifts OF ait sorts to which we re-
sorted in order to obtain ammunition
for these autumnal hunts. Ona Fri
day afternoon, in The midst Of the
! pigeon season. when we could look
| from Tire schpn. house window aud
see drove after droye Of birds dark
ening the SKY, Charley came to ne
with the information that he bad
| secured, by 4 maSier-slroke OF en.er.
prise, large smnUnt Of powder, with
suUt in proportion, for the next day,
aud we proceeded to msp ont vii the
details Of lhe hunt. Tue envy q
every other hoy in the a,'hD0! WAS ex
cited by our boasts of what We pro
posed to- t'e on the morrow, and in
our anticipated success we went back
to past exploits, many OF them i'm
aginary:
Thrice fought our battles o'er again,
| And thrice we slew the slain.
The morrow came. but instead o
"Suu of Austerlitz," the heavens
were shrouded in gloom, and the rair
flooded the earth the long dreary
day. MoodiGy, and desperately
Charley and myself sat gazing
through the dripping windows, ask
ing each other over and over Jht
savage questions "What shall W.
dc 2" and why does it 8lWays rsil
on Saturday 2" We were just il
that condition when Satan make
his appearance, and Ia a bland, re
spectacle, gentlemanly way, AZ G0e
the tells Us, proposes some iuferna
scheme Of ruin. On that eYentfu
day his Satanic majesty, true to hi,
antecebents, iutruded himself and
prompted Charley to suggest that We
slip off and 20 hunting the next day
Sunday.
A first the proposition was receiv
ed with horror. then we discussed il
with "bated BREATH" and finally We
illustrated the truth of that mucl
hackneyed quotation, "Vice is {
monster of such frightful mein." etc.
by arranging all the perlimiuarieS
Charley was to take charge of the
ordnance department and have guns
and ammunition at certain seclud
ed spot very early next morning ,anG
| was to be responsible for the trans
portation, and to meet him with ar
ancient family chaise and "O!d Put.'
That night l crept to bed with a feel
ing of guilt and pretermitted my
usual prayers. A dozen tunes de-
termined TO abandon the uDhOiy EN-
terprise. and even after | fell into (
troubled sleep all sorts of spectra
visions foated around me. A negrt
boy, whom | had suborned for tn
purpose, walked me up at an earl,
hour, and my courage having par
TALLY returned, / managed to secure
the chaise with "Oid Put" and me
Charley at the rendezvous. In safety
with out being seen by a single per
son, we reached the open country
and then flinging to the winds all re
Elections as to consequences, we pro
Ceeded to elevate our feet above the
! nf fhn old nhniao and Z,