The Chickasaw messenger., 1888-03-15

q
and also that he usually carried the in
strument in his pocket
That's 50, Hank, says he, ''hy thun-
der and. producing the mouth organ,
he commenced % play ''Bufaloes a-Com-
ing IN the Spring for al she was worth.
You just ought to have seen those
hearsl When the first strains of the
mouth organ reached them il was the
comicalest sight YOU could imagine.
Their mouths flew open as wide as steel
/ traps. and their little ears commenced a
| twitching like a mules ears in fly time.
/ They didn't seem the least BIT scared or
suspicious, but simply puzzled 70 account
/ for the music. They all stood bolt up
/ right. and looked this way and that, and
began 20 sniff the air; but, seeing moth
ing. they abandoned themselves 10 their
sense Of melody without reserve. They
began twirling around. swaying their
heads and waving their paws with a
/ rhythmical motion, much az the English
man from India said the government
| elephants sway their trunks whenever
they hear the band.
While going through these motions
they were slowly working their way
along in our direction. as though irresis-
tibly drawn toward US by the music,
which, Of course, they were, as by this
time was very evident. Sagebrush quit
/ playing for a few moments nsst 10 sec
what they would do. The bears looked
at one another, much as human beings
do when badly dumb lustered about any
thing and went to roaming about with
heads up, shifting the air and whining.
When he struck up again livelier than
ever the bears seemed beside themselves
with joy. They came numbering and
cavorting toward us, twitching their ears
and opening their mouths. Every nov
and then they stopped to raise up on
their hind legs, twirl around, and gambol
in a manner that showed them 10 be in
an ecstasy Of delight Il seemed a pity.
as Sagebrush had suggested, but we had
to let drive at them as they came on.
We bagged two Of the old timers and a
cub; the other two got away.
The result of this curious experience
was that when we came to talk it over in
camp that evening we decided to try and
round up the bear that was in the habit
Of piping us off at night and soaring the
mules. Having formed our plans, we
fixed Sagebrush up in the skin of a
shaggy brown bear on the following
night, and waiting till along toward II
O'Clock, hoisted him mp into a tree near
where we had before seen the moving
object which we guessed was bear.
About twenty PAGES from Sagebrush's tree
was a little clump Of pitch pines where
the trees stood so thick that. with the
addition of few stout poles, made a
shelter into which a bear would have
right smart trouble to fight his way.
Branches were worked in to form a se-
cure ambuscade, and inside this the three
Englishmen and concealed ourselves.
The waning moon was near the last
quarter, and mad only just risen over the
mountains, but in the transparent atmos-
phere of the Big Horn mountains the
light was almost equal to that Of a full
moon in the states. Winchesters looked
to and everything all ready, the signal
was given, and Sagebrush commenced to
play. We had taken our camp stools in
with us and 50 sat there as comfortable
as il we had been in the tent s-listening
to the music. As matter of fact, we
were but carrying out the usual evening
programme, except - regards position
and less talk
To draw a simile that down casters
viii understand, may be YOU might inn
agine Sagebrish to be that young fellow
H0fmann, who has been playing piano
at the Metropolitan Opera house, New
York, and US four in ambush the audi
ence. Young Hofmann, according to
the papers is a good deal of a corker,
but in his particular line you can bet
your bottom dollar that Sagebrush can
play all around anybody that ever wore
hair. For a while the woods seemed full
Of music-opulent with melody. The
first tune he turned loose was, "Fm a
S0iern As the wild. sweet strains OF
'T'm Soier" SCARED through the silent
moonlit mountain air, the listening pines
J appeared to catch up the notes and pass
them on and on until you could hear, Oh
seem to hear, them floating away in
lingering mellihuousness for miles.
Right there amid the pines the English.
men allowed that the music was affected
much the same as when it is played on
the water. Howsomever that may be-
the mouth organ sounded a heap more
melodious than when played in the tent
and all agreed that when SagebTlisl
liked to tune himself up properly he wa:
J mighty hard to beat.
"Im a Soier had been played twice
''The Arbansaw Traveller" once, and the
joyous strains of 'Mormon Angels wers
making the pine needles quiver in sym
pathy, when we saw something move
across a little open space about 100 yard
away. Sagebrush very evidently saw it
! too, for mormon Angels was nevel
, played before nor since, I reckon, az
pertly as he reeled it off up among th,
branches Of that pine tree for the mex
few minutes.
Pretty soon we saw the object NOV,
again, this time a little nearer Before
: many minutes it showed up still closer, ss
} that we were able to make it out as Bis
brown bear, and that Mormon Angels
was gradually charming it along toward
our position. On it came, nearer and
/ nearer, right up toward Sagebrush's tree
now and then halting to twirl around
, cut up playful didos, just as the CHINA
mons did on the prairie, to rub his head
against a tree and give vent to its feel
} ings, Sagebrush played on, only a littls
more soft and ravishing like, and the
first thing we knew the bear was stand
ing bolt upright underneath his tree