Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-07-02
Mr.. ToMPkINs QUIET FOURTH.
How He Fled from the Noise and BustIe
Of Town to Dodge q Bull.


How He Fled from the Noise and Bust1e
of Town to Dodge a Bull.
To escape the sweItering heat Of town
on the Fourth Of July last year Mr..
Tompkins gathered up the savings of
several weeks and started for the quiet
Of the mountains In order to be totally
free from noise and excitement Of any
kind, he repaired to the house of a
friend, which was situated in valley
near spur Of the Catskills, and although
he had but one day in which to enjoy
perfect rest and escape the hustle and
turmoil of the town, he consumed a
little over four hours on the afternoon Of
the Sd getting to his retreat
After a hot and firing railway journey,
MIR. Tompkins reached his friends house,
hungry and dusty. and nearly choked
with coal dust
isn't it gloriousl' said he to himself,
as he gazed through his window at sun
rise next morning over the green expanse
Of woodland and meadow. The gleam-
ing silver of Esopus creek ghnted through
the green that fringed its banks Fields
of grain were already turned to rich
gold color
The Catskills rose in purplish blue
background Hastily dressing, Mr..
Tompkins wandered forth on tour of
discovery.
His footsteps led him to brook that
ran through meadow thick with tall,
damp grass. As he pursued his course
nj he h17, In r4-~
trout darted under stones and roots
after the bashful manner of trout Mr.
Tompkins had been thinking of how
much he wished he had rod and flies
along, when terrific roar made him
jump two feet into the air. This was
quickly followed by another and another
Mr.. Tompkins thought some menag-
erie must have lost an animal. The
noise continued. 1t came from clump
Of trees. At loss what to do the
young man did nothing but wait And
then with an astonishing gamut of
roars, bellows and snorts out came a
bull on a dead run, with tail stifened
and pointing toward the blue empyrean.
Down the hill he came, roaring and
snorting at every bound. The only GER
tain way to get clear away was straight
up the hillside, and that pass was held
by the bull. A brisk run across the low
land to another clump Of trees offered
temporary refuge.
Mr.. Tompkins made the best time on
record, and reached the trees not a mo-
ment too soon. for the beast was at his
heels Then the bull lodged the young
man around the trunk Of big hickory
tree and kept up his pleasing diversion
for fllly half an hour
A heap of stones several hundred yards
distant looked more promising to the
young man who had come to the coun-
try for quiet day. The bull was get
ting angrier every moment, and in his
blind rage stumbled and fell over root.
A dash for the stones, and then the
young man thought himself safe.
The bull came right along, and wasn't
many seconds behind. But the heap of
stones was a regular fort, for the bull
could not ascend it, and slipped at every
attempt. although it was only a few feet
high.
They had a time then to reason with
each other and become acquainted. But
they didn't have a chance after all; for
signs Of life began to appear about the
farmhouse on the hillside, and one of'the
farm hands came to look for the cows.
The young man took mean advan-
tage Of the bull. He called for help, al
though the bull couldn't talk. This was
hardly square, but the young man did
not obey the promptings Of his noblest
nature. He just sung out for help as
loudly as he could, and it came, with a
snarl and a bound, in the person of a
bull terrier.
Now, this bull knew that bull terrier,
and the instant he saw the dog he
changed his tactics and started on a run
for the barn. But the dog was too quick
for him, and, with one bound, seized his
tail and held on till they reached the
barn, about 500 yards away
The bull beloved with pain and anger
as he ran, but he couldn't get rid Of that
dog or get him to loosen his grip on his
tail. When the young man reached the
house Of hisfriends he wondered whether
there wasn't little hustle and hurry in
the country at times.-New York san.