Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-08

Within the very narrowest room;
Support thyself upon the simplest fare,
Live like very brute the brutss among.
Neither esteem it robbery
The acre thou dost reap, thyself TO dung.
-lfephistopheles in Faust.
Therefore the curtain will rise upon
two'dilettante just sitting down TO square
supper in the castle of woodchopper at
Whisky Diggings One of these dilettante
will be represented by the writer, who
will also officiate as curtain-lifter; the
other by the woodchopper himself.
During the day the woodchopper, whose
name is Ratson, is supposed to labor and
furnish victua s, while the writer rambles
about in search of good appetite and
other desirable specimens. At night, when
our duties are over, l frequently endeavor
to amuse my companion with humorous
accounts of my adventures and discoveries
while in search of prey. Ratson, being
easily amused, will on the slightest provo
cation break forth into a loud, hearty,
''Ahaw, haw, haww though as a general
rule he has very little to say, his favorite
reply to the writer being, You did, did
you ?1 or something similar.
The other evening, Ratson having set
out a sumptuous repast of beans, biscuits,
potatoes and fried rattlesnake, we both fell
to about the same instant, and having
tossed down several biscuits, with beans,
potatoes and fried rattlesnake in proper
| tion, ventured to remark:
"Well, Ratson, put IN a good day to-
, day"
"Ahaw, haw, hawp roared Ratson; ''you
did, did your"
'fWel, l should-pass the biscuits
snort" said l. Early this morning | shot
one of the rarest birds in this section, the
Only living creature that has hair growing
/ in its stomach"
"Ahaw, haw, haw You did, did you?
What was it%
"a cuckoo. I wonder how it assists the
stomach to have wad of hair il it all the
time. 1t was all could do to hold down
one unbleached fiber swallowed by acci-
dent about year ago"
"Ahaw, haw, haw 1t was, was it?
"Well, 1 should-chase the COW down,
! Ratson-stutter. Saw something to-day
never saw before. Ratson-slide the beans
over, please-saw a snake with two tails,
one on each end"
"Ahaw, haw, hawl You did, did your
"Well, l should-pass the potatoes
| calculate: but when touched ii, it began
crawling in opposite directions, until two
/ snakes appeared, one black water snake,
! the other a common chicken snake. l
killed them BOTH"
"Ahaw, haw, haw You did, did you p
"Fact, Ratson; not the snake season
either. Pass the biscuits. Saw some
thing else | never saw before. Saw a coy
ote and badger fighting"
"Ahaw, haw, hawl You did, did you
Which got away with it p
Didn't wait to see shot 'em BOTH"
"Ahaw, haw, haw! You did, did you ~
| "Well, l should-another piece of that
rattlesnake, please-smile. What do you
think found up near the big rocks ~
"Ahaw, haw, haw! l give it up"
"Found the skeletons of an eagle and a
lynx lying close together"
"You did, did you ?"
"Well, should-pass the biscuits-re-
| iterate. Besides, found another skunk in
that trap up there. He had gnawed one
| leg off, but made mistake and gnawed it
off on the wrong side
"Ahaw, haw, haw! You did, did you ?
Coin to stuff imp"
''No. | think FL have enough on hand,
if finish setting up that temperance lee
turer and attend half dozen other speci-
mems which l secured to-day. l also
/ found wildcat, fox, coon, and, a rare
animal for this neighborhood, weasel, in
the other traps. Besides, shot a white
| owl. a kingfsher, roadrunner and wood
duck" =,
well, 1 should-dump few spuds onto
nv plate, will you?-communicate. But
| I havn't begun to tell you where | had
NV fun yet. Pass the rattlesnake. l
| killed sixteen wild pigeons at one shot"
| "Ahaw, haw, hawl You did, did you
Cripple any p
81 killed sixteen wild pigeons at one
shot. Ratson. am not saying how many
1 crippled" -
"Ahaw, haw, haw You did, did you ~
"Well, I should-pass the beans-pre-
varicate. Recollect that open space just
beyond that big tree near the cave, Rat
| son? What do you think | ran across up
| there?"
"Ahaw, haw, hawI Give it up; another
temperance lecturer
"WelI. sir, it was daft Mongolian."
"Ahaw, haw, haw! What do you say it
was?"
"a daft Mongolian-crazy Chinaman, so
to speak"
aAhaw, haw, hawl 1t was, was it?p
"Well. l should-more rattlesnake, Rat
son-shiver. l observed his actions for a
! while from behind the big tree. He be.
haved as though he was being attacked
and surrounded by devils and goblins
/ slashing the air with a bamboo pole in
every direction howling, shrieking and
! charging about in a circle like thing be-
( witched. Seeing that he made no pro-
! gress. however, | drew the shot from one
! barrel of my gun, charged it with salt,
] which | carry for small birds, and taking
deliberate aim at the base of his overalls,
fired. That was the last saw of him, but
| l heard him yelling through the woods for
| half an hour afterwards"
"Ahaw. haw, haw Ahaw, haw, hav
| You did. did YOU? Ahaw, haw, haw !"
aWell, should-just one more biscuit,
| Ratson-expectorate. | thought we had
hoodoos enough up in this neck of the
aAhaw, haw, hawl You did, did you ~
| 'sRecolisct that big log up on Drunk
rayine, Ratson?"
aAhaw, haw, hawl l should say So"
81 was lying down behind that big log
to-day. when I had strange experience
"Ahaw, haw, haw Is that SEP"
81 was lying down there in wait Er
pigeons. when two queer looking hunters
came up from the opposite side, and set
| tied themselves for a rest on top Of tbs
log"
"Ahaw, haw, hawl Is that so?"
As they had not discovered me, coz
cluded that / would take in the converse
tion, during the course Of which I learned
that they were Methodist ministers from
-. T.s.a:-eo ns h;rh stardirn who had