Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-12-26
BULGER'S PARACHUTE.
An Adventure in the Mountains OF
North Carolina.
A Party of Hunters Have Lots of Fun
with Two Worthless Ours Why
BuIger Is His Former Masters
Sworn Enemy.


with Two Worthless Curs-why
Bulger Is His Former Masters
Sworn Enemy.
ssDid you ever hear about the Devils
Courthouse on the head waters of the
Tuckasiege?"
The speaker was a prominent clergy
man living in the interior of this State
and visiting friends in St. Louis. On
being assured that no information of the
courthouse aforesaid had ever reached
the city, the divine unbosomed himself,
fguratively, OF course, and impaired
"reminiscences of the locality to party
of gentlemen recently assembled in a
downtown Office.
IS The Devils Courthouse is not a
building, as might be supposed, but a
mountain in Western North Carolina.
It is huge mass of rock, square on top,
and from distance bears some resem-
blance to a massive castellated build
ing, whence, I suppose, its name, for the
locality is wild and rude in scenery, and
in North Carolina, as elsewhere. re-
markable features of nature are not in
| frequently ascribed by tradition to some
occult infiuence-usually to the devil.
1.-THE mountain is precipitous on
every side, cliffs rising perpendicularly
| from the valley beneath, and not every
| where could an ascent be made. A bold
climber could make route for himself
at any one of a dozen points, but SO
difficult was the task that most of those
| who attempted to reach the top took a
| tolerably wel-known path which led,
| by fairly easy climb, about half way
| up one side, when you came to a narrow
ledge, in some places not more than a
foot in width, which traversed hori-
| zontally or by gentle ascent one of
the bold cliffs constituting side of
| the mountain. After the ledge was
passed the remainder of the road to the
top was comparatively easy, but passing
| the ledge was the point for it was
| nothing but a narrow shelf, and on it
you could see above only the clouds
and overhanging cliffs; below, nothing
broke the vision for five hundred feet,
and so deep was the abyss that yawned
before you that the Tuckasiege seemed
| like silver thread, and the tall pines
growing along it's banks like ornament
al shrubs on the lawn. Particularly
awe-inspiring was the passage of one
| point, where the shelf windened to a
dozen yards and afforded lodgment to a
| was
on an overhanging part of the precipice,
and not even by lying down and peep
ing over could you see the cliff beneath
you. 1t was as though you were sus-
pended between heaven and earth.
| ''Just below this resting-place in the
road was the ledge where Bige Hipsher
met the bear. Rige was good-humored,
happy-go-lucky fellow, who had cabin
and little Enclosure, and patch of
corn for dodgers and wife who des-
| ignated him as her old man, and half
dozen tow-headed brats who called him
daddy a shoat or two and a COW, lot
of dogs and an old mare that he rode to
| town with her colt squealing quarter
| of mile behind, and by hunting and
| setting traps for 'varmints,' by killing
| the old sow's pigs at Christmas, selling
| the calf and working little when he
had to, Bige got comfortably along
| through the world, did as we'll as his
| neighbors, anyhow, and didn't care to do
| any better lest they should think him
| stuck up
'sSome time ago there came party of
gentlemen from Wilmington on hunt
| ing excursion, and. hearing of Bige as a
good hunter, they looked him up and
gentlemen were led by Nimrod always
| addressed as the Major, and were we'll
| provided with guns, dogs and the usual
hunting paraphernalia. Bige was de-
| lighted with the job and asked leave to
take along cousin of his, Rancy Bot
| tom, whose home and surroundings, as
well as personal appearance, closely re-
sembled those of Bige. OF course Ran
/ fnr Shnrt-WoC a oh cd
to go, and when the party started out
they were duly equipped not only with
guides, but with guides dogs, for both
| Bige and Rance were followed by half a
| dozen mongrel ours, which did not agree
| any too we'll with the hounds brought
| by the gentlemen.
| france and Bige, at the earnest solic-
itations of the gentlemen, tried to drive
| the ours back, but the mongrels were
not to be deferred by such trifies as
stones, and after many Intellectual at
tempts and no end of cursing from Bige
and Rance, the effort was given up and
the dogs allowed to continue with the
party, or rather to slkirmish from hun
dred yards to a half mile on every side,
for which way soever the party went the
ours were before and behind, ON the
| right and left, and between their bark
| ing up every tree where q squirrel had
been q week before, and tearing through
the brush like mad after every rabbit
that came in sight, and bawling into
every hollow log they came across in the
suspicion it might shelter 'possum,
they frightened away all the game,
while, by Inadvertently waking up a
polecat or two, they Disguised the hunt
| erS so that the Major proposed to shoot