The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-06-26
.Re ready 10 move The things to the

BE ready to move the things to the
boat ii the fire comes this way"
.Oh, sure, sor an it's meself that's got
thin all ready For whin Oh seed thin
woods. Oh says ter mesclf. says Oh, Pat,
II that foir should come this way, sorry
won thing would there be left after 1t
got through wild thim.' So they're all
ready. But sure your supper's ready,
too"
Bob took il all in and was 50 scared
that he wanted to move to the other
side OF the lake. claiming that lie
thought it was SO much nicer over
there. lie could scarcely eat any thing,
for going every little while to the boat
to see II the sails, oars. etc, were all
right. After supper We explained 1t to
him. OF course, he knew all the time
we were .'fooling." but he looked very
much relieved. We had fine swim,
and then Pat built smndge to keep
away mosquitoes and told yarn about
crazy man who lived on an island in
the lake. who laughed and hallocd
when he felt particularly bad. Then
we went to bed. / noticed that Bob
was rather shaky as he undressed, but
thought he was shiyering because the
wind was SO cold About eleven o'clock
something woke me. / heard noise
and sat up to listen. The flap Of the
tent was fastened back TO let in the air,
and the moonlight was shining full In
I'ob's face, which was as white as snow.
lie was crying and sobbing as though his
heart would break. went to him and
shook him. whercupon he gave q yell and
began to plead and beg me not to hurt
him. .Oh! I'll go right back home!
Please! Oh, please let me of this once!
wasn't going near your standardized,
wasn't! What. is it you, Uncle Harry?
Oh, you won't let him get me, will you,
dear, good Uncle Harry?' could not
think what was the matter with the
boy when Pat. who had just awakened.
began to grin, then he laughed. rolled
over. roared, rolled over again, and final
~ caught his breath enough to splutter:
.Och, sure, and its that horrid burd un-
tirely Poor bye. no wonder he's scared.
That burd would scare . crazy mon
sensible. There she goes agin, sorr,"
and, sure enough, from way of in
the distance came the most awful
cry, whine, laugh. moan. or cOmbina-
ton Of all four, that mortal man ever
heard. Then it seemed to come nearer,
then it died out only to start again
louder than ever. Suddenly 1t struck
me knew what it was, and l did. 1t
was only that noisy. sly, night-lird-
the Loon or devil bird. 1t seems Bob
had walked up short time before he
awoke me and had lain quietly watch
ing the moon when terrible shape,
with eyes OF fire, crept into the light,
looked al him and laughed. 1T seems
to move without walking" he said. 1t
was wildcat we found out after.
And the next instant he heard the Loon
cry and thought the crazy man and
his last hour had surely come.
lie was Il don't wonder that he was)
terribly frightened and chung to me for
q long time. but we soon convinced
him there was nothing to fer. made
him turn in with me for the remainder
of the night. which passed without any
further disturbance. but his scare
taught him good lesson, for he never
did any more boasting about not being
afraid OF any thing. We stayed several
weeks at the camp, and when we went
back Bob took five ducks, four rabbits,
two squirrels and few birds home with
him, and he killed them all himself,
too.-Uncle Harry in Detroit Free