Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-01-06
ATouchina resemblance.

We were camping IN tlle OGtSh1llS tuat
summer surveying the line OF Il contem-
plated railroad, when there strolled into
our camp one evening a rather dllapl-
dated stranger who gave his name as
OZias Perkins. and who claimed to have
been q lifelong boltman on the Great
South Bay. lie had lost his wife, he
said, and existence had grown so awful
" duh 10 bin since that no had come
up into the wilderness TO see If he
couldn't even 1p the tone of bis routine
by AL interview with a bear or sOmo-
thing of the sort.
" Maria. said he, "was what the doc
torsd call slim liant. She KEEP Their
domestic surkel JUS palpertatln', so to
speak an yer never had nary doubts
long cz she was liyln' that the earth war
revOutn' on lts axis. She WIS a sperlt-
ell woman. an no mistake an it'd be-
scur,e TO find lady what were more ca
pacious in the art maxim her presence
felt than Mrs Perkins. In fac, she got
the steam gauge er my life so sot to the
'auirrments OF excitement that now, she
heln gone an We not ralsin 1t IN tho
house any more, I'm bleeSed to 90 round
huntin' II up.
We gave MIR. Perkins a cordial invita-
ton to partake Of the Inequalities of Our
camp. and were convinced by our
guests recitas during tho two hours
preceding qutscence that his late H.
meuted had made home to him what in
fact ne called it" hum.
Shortly after midnight we we're
aroused by the unearthiy yowl Of a Wild
cat It was a blending OF yell and yowl,
trailed out in electric slnuOsities, that
made our ears feel as if they were being
ploughei up with galyanic currycomb
II was blooG-curdling in the extreme,
but to MIR. Perkins 1t seemed an exhili-
ration. With u joyous whoop aud an
exaggerated can-can movement he trans
ported himself from the campfire into
the outer darkness. Scarcely had he
disappeared when a yowl more deadly
than the first beset tho echoes and inn
mediately thereafter came acaterwauhng
that would have made a Zulu chief dizzy
with envy. Then followed the magnl-
fed discordances Of feline alteration,
punctuated 10y some hilarious asldes
from SIR. Perkins, general fracturing
OF all the dead branches in the forest,
sWells, pizzi-cato interludes, Misses,
snoIts and yawps, and at last silence. A
moment after OZias came leisurelY into
camp, and tossing the body OF huge
catamount on the ground he halted Ut
the campfire as If psuslng for breath.
Mr.. PerkiEs's appearance indicated
that the demised had contributed his
share TO the interview what there was
left OF his blouse hung negllgently from
suspender button. his shirt looked as II
it might yet be available for gun wsds
and his countenance seemed that ven
tlated it was difficult 10 tell from just
which aperture his eloquence emanated.
"Gentiemen,' said he, i mas say
as hOW I've got tremendous powerful
sight o respec' for that cretur. | hahn {
met nothin IN natur' thet's minded me
30 tetehIn'y y my dear Maria. The
same speret, gentlemen, the same grit,
the same io'cible manner o agltatln a
argument, the same facilerty o reach,
the same won eriul percizion o right an
let, an the same persistence IA keepin'
the neighborhood stirred up like. Thar's
no mistake, gentlemen : The symbolics
is most remarkable, an nothin' kin be
more fittin' than my hayin' the same
stuffed an parpeturwated as lastin' me-
mentum o that yigilant, sllers-on-han
citerzen tibet Maria hez prove herself TO
be-. and as Mr.. Perkins, husky with
emotion, ceased speaking, he tenderly
picked up ana stroked his furry captive
and then walked meditatively toward the
brook to reetIfy his toilet.