, 1888-03-11

''Never mind 'boutw' u Bill Simmons
tot vel" said the Old Settler, severely.
''We'm dealin' in fac's now, an hain'G
got no time for Bill Simmonses miracles,
b'gosh! Racin' a CREASED pig, Peleg,
hain't 'dzac'ly like a boss race, though it
can't be n durn sight more slippery piece
o business nuther, ez fur ez / kin ledge.
Wall, | hadn't never see a boss race
nuther till las fall, wen l went over to
the fair at the county seat to contribit
my mite to'ards fosterin' an inkerrigin'
aggercultur', an were inveigled by the
Squire inter putin a dollar IN a half on
q gray boss witch war sartin, they said,
to beat t'other uns SO fur th't we wouldn't
be able to see any of 'em wen the gray
kim in. Wall, cz / were sayin' Peleg,
p
'Did the gray horse come in all right,
gran 'popT" inquired Peleg, developing q
sudden interest in the fostering of agri-
culture.
Yes, sonny, replied the Old Settler,
he kim in all right, but sumpin' must ha'
gone wrong with his harness, or the run
min gears o tho wagon or sumpin', fer
he didn't come in till about twenty
minutes arter t'other uns had come in
an gone to their stables. But ez l were
sayin'-oh, come to think on it, Peleg, if
l was you ] wouldn't say nuthin' to yer
gran'mammy bout that gray boss, fer
M'riar's %int'rest in the fosterin' o. agger-
cultur' don't reach out quite fur enough
to grab a boss trot.
But ez l were sayin', that boss race
were the fust un th't I'd ever see, an it
carried me back, like n bird flynn, to
sumpin' l see wen 1 were a boy in the
Sugar Swamp deestric', an it's sumpin'
th't'n give ye an idee., o. wat nat'ral
hist'ry mowt ha' ben if it had only ben
writ right. l were out rabbit huntin' one
day, my eddication not havin' got along
ez fur ez bar yit, an all of a student /
heerd a great hissin' n n rattlin' not
far ahead o. me. I were in the brush,
witch were poorly thick, a n 1 couldn't
see wat the rumpus were all about. 1
creep along through the snow, and a rod
or so ahead l kim to the edge of an
openin'. The openin' were an acre or
more round, an not a thing on it but
snow. Round the edge OF it, though,
| see a beaten track runnin' in q
circle, takin' in the hull openin'.
Not more thin twenty foot away
from me, wigglin' an twistin' an
scootin about in passels of a dozen or
more, l see snakes of all sorts and sizes.
TIL was r%attlers, N adders, an black
snakes, am milk snakes, IN garter
snakes, IN q lot O. other kind O. snakes
th't | { can't think of the names of now.
They was all talkin' and argy
in together, an 1 see th't tn
were sumpin' uncommon on the carpet.
Vile | were a peekin' out an wonderin'
wat in the name o. the golden mill dam
the gatherin' were thar fer. out o. the
brush to one side kim two blacksnakes a
leadin' a big rabbit betwixt 'em, each
snake havin' a holt of an ear. The rab-
bit naturally pranced around skittish like,
an looked wild n tried to git away.
But the snakes held it tight by the ears,
an led it up to whar the getherin' o.
snakes were the thickest. The r~attlers
an the blacksnakes an all the rest O. the
sarpints crowded round the rabbit an
looked him all over. One big RATHER
went up an pried the rabbits mouth
open an then looked at his teeth, very
clus an p'ticlar like. Th' was q great
time O. hissin' an rattlin' an jawin' to
fro, an then out from t'other side o.
the openin' kim two big rattlesnakes,
leadin' another rabbit, jist the same ez
the blacksnakes had fetched ther'n in.
Ii NdS Ill6 bdlne nu1ldDdIOO mace over
this un th't tn were over t'other UT.
"'Wal, says I to myself, thur gointer
be some fun here, b'gosh, says 1, but
it's to be q barbecue or q raw
boltin' O. rabbit says 1, lis more thin I
kin state at the present writin', says l..
"But, Peleg, it want nuther a barbe-
cue nor q raw bolt. Wen the excitement
over the 'pearance o. the two rabbits in
the ring had settled down, the getherin'
o. snakes scattered a little, an a sassy
lookin' RATHER, young an clipper, kim
for'ard, an a shiny blacksnake, bigger
thin the %rattler, kim to the front at the
same time. Then tn were another big
time, hottern'n t'other uns, over these
two snakes, an two or three fights durin'
the discussion.
"tJeewhizzp 1 says to myself. I guess
them two snakes is gointer bolt them
rabbits on a bet,' 1 says.
"But 1 WANT nowhar nigh the upshot
o. the business yit, Peleg. Bimeby
whatever trouble tn was seemed to be
settled. The getherin' o. snakes scat
tered. Some O. the snakes CHM up in
the highest O. the brush, an all of 'em
got ready for wat were comm. The
two black snakes an the two rattlers
th't had trotted out the rabbits was a
holdin' on to 'em yit, an they backed 'em
around, an stood 'em side by side, heads
even. Suddenly the clipper young rat
tier sprung on the back O. the rabbit his
friends was holdin', an the shiny black
snake jumped ON the rabbit his friends
was holdin'. The two snakes wrapped
their tails around the rabbits, and then q
great big rattler that laid off to one side
on n big rock, with q blacksnake on one
side of him an a BLOWN adder on t'other
side, sprung his rattle three times. The
rattlesnakes and the blacksnakes
th't was holdin' the rabbits dropped
their holt. The air were filled
with a chorus O. hissin' an rattlin'
th't almost made me def, an then
away sprung the rabbits, with the two
snakes fer riders, and licky-te-split they
went IN the dead jump around that
beaten track 1 toll ye bout. / 'spected,
o. course, to see them rabbits tear off in
the brush away from that getherin' O.
snakes, but 1 soon seen that ev'ry little
ways around that circle a big snake were
posted like a p'liceman, an KEEP the rab-
bits in the couse. / want SO consumed
inherent, Peleg, not to know, then,
th't the getherin' o. snakes was a racin'
meetin', IN th't the race were 'twixt a