The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1889-09-05
THE ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT
FAMILY.

II THE ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT
. .....r.... FAMILY. .... ID.
: The Hunt family left Connection
many years ago, and went West in pur
p suit of "health, wealth and happiness,
as Mr.. Hunt said. They were lonJ
time going, and made trial of grea
many different localities before they set
tied down to battle with billiards., wolves
and grasshoppers, away up in thu
lake region OF Northern Minnesota
where the Mississippi was easily ford
able in the dry season.
at is hard times for you, away uI
here" said a land agent to Mr.. Hunt one
winter day, "New England people dc
better further South. Cut some timber
make you raft, load your effects upon
it, and as soon as the water is high
enough to float it, in the spring, get your.
selves out of this" .#. ..r Of o..
The Hunt family took his disinterested
ad Twice, and went further South, by easy
stages, or rather easy floats; for they
stopped and settled down repeatedly,
only to pull up stakes and to go on again,
sometimes upon one float, sometimes
upon another, when they got tired of
the place, or the place got tired of them.
After an interval of a half-dozen years,
during which children had been born to
them, and they had gained in expert
ence and health, il not in wealth and
happiness" they found themselves set
tied down once more upon green dot
OF an island in the Gulf of Mexico, not
far from the Texas coast. r. .|..
"Sure enough" said Mother Hunt,
"this is queer place for a woman born
and brought up in the hill country of
Eastern Connecticut. But she did not
fret at all; she was not given to fault
finding, and with her Yankee tact and
thrift, she made the rude little cabin
into real home; roasted the sweet po-
tatoes in the ashes made from the drift
wood fires, and caused every one about
her to be as busy as herself. When
there was nothing else TO do, che set the
family to gathering and piling up drift
wood. .... .......,. r.
All the way from Minnesota to this
place they had brought with them a
mother cat called Dine. Everywhere
along their journey they had been told
that it was bad luck to move a cat, and
Dine had met with scores of hair-breadth
escapes. Her bed was in large basket,
with two uplifting lds, and she slept
just as unconcernedly, whether hes
basket was on ralt OF nat 0oa', assne u.u
II 1t set In tne sun unuer palmetso
Tree, wnere she oou,u "aton Iue "'iu'
tlt in and out among the orancnes'
80 10 This lsiahu eheLe cane WIN tne
hunts, as i've stock, Dine anu ,ouI
young Kittens. lhey hau n0t Deen the'e
long before some men IN skli threw
spS wns asboTs and osme o We
and shivering to their hearth. -w
"Ws will not turn it OUT. poor thing"
said Mother Hunt. s'althougb, what do
we want of SIX cats ia more than l can
tell" Willie. the Oldest son, however, was
fond of cats and the next time he went
TO main land with his father he brought
back three pretty black and white kit
tens r
Then Mother Hunt had to scold little.
Rnt Willie said a woman had asked him
to take them out in his boat and drown
them. and he had taken them to oblige
her Hs had mt them in A bag with
we,ohts in the bottom queer looking
stones, she had handed to him. But"
said Willie, Il Just couldn't do it, and
brought the kittens, stones and all home
with me-"
,'Stones ?" said Mother Hunt, quite
molhfied THE sight of real stone in
| his | nd would be refreshing. Let me
look at them"
"She told me-" went on Willie, "that
tbey were lot her brother had picked
up as curiosities as he went hither and
thither ali over The world, but they were
rubbish any way, and of no account now
:, Voc dead, and might as well use
them to drown ca'U ;;''h 40 thine;
They are lnaeeu a queeI ..rin nTIs ,ho, VI
stones, said Mother hunI' re re the uLaIf
up IN the Dag ana put shele on sue suo ,nnt
yonder. a nan pecH ,, oi SDorv' nor,a of ' ,he
nave oeen satnei.u e. ~ ., oa.t a. ;nIo ,be saa
world ought not to be cast INTO Inc s0s, Tea, d.
Ny Yankee wits serve he w "ei W
allow that 10 De uohei oa
The Hunt family haa 70 Deal go1u
deal OF bantering irom .nelr rule nensn %
bors, who llVeu ON the long saIuy uu,
on account OF their cats anu ,ney oes"n
to call the place "Cat lslahu. a,s
The frolicsome creatures anolueu
plenty OF amusement when'oh .ne oar ,i,I
evenings they laoeu auu -
the children on the sanas, IN the c'eaa
moonlight, or the star-hgn.' vi III .he
bright CLEANS that streamea acrTss tne
waters from the great leVolyine lRutI III
the tall tower on the heauiahuS li''es
away. 49,.
One day the WIND sPrang up m'gusllV
out OF The south, ana the llue rose hikh,
er and higher, until 1t almostly reacneu
their cabin door. .f.
"Ihis will bring us lots OF orilt-"oou
for our fires, said the easy gong pa-
tives to the hunts, fou VIII see wna9
quantities there VIII be all ABOUT you,
and how foolish 1t was tor you all 10
work and work collecting tnat great
pile and you may De tnsnklui II tns
tide doesn't grab II and scatter u OH
nowhere" ........ 49,. ....... -,
Look at that Dig wave coming
said Mr.. Hunt; "how hlgn is IL, ana
what makes 1t look 30 BLACK
High 1t was, indeed, and as IL proK-
only few rods from the caoln, IL uepos'
tied upon the sands myrlads OF niue
black rats, bright and lively ana rate
with shining, tiny beads OF eyes, ,and long |
pointed, file-lIke tails. The next wav,
and the next were burdened In ike
manner. |
1.-THE tide has washed over one OF the
little islands where those miserable YER
minis fairly swarm" SAID and OLD man.
"No one can live there unless some
thing like this comes to drive them
away. Nobody can live here now.
They'll eat everything on top OF the
earth, and under the earth"
Indeed, that was!so. Those rats were
everywhere-in the cabins,on the tables,
In the very beds. Now every body want |
ed n cat but not one OF theirs would the |