The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-04-28

visitor to do chores, but If you will take
Hector and run across the beechwoods
to the bush pasture and bring the cows
home, l can get the milking done by
the time your uncle and the boys come
to supper"
Hector was a medium sized, black
collie dog, and l stout, well-grown
boy of fifteen years.
Aunt Mary was the wife of Uncle
j Eben Geddes, a thrifty farmer, then
living in Paulding county, on the ex-
treme western edge of Ohio, and had
come from my own distant home to
pay these hitherto almost unknown
relatives and their children, my cousins.
o long midsummer visit
Having been myself born, and SO far
mostly brought up, in the backwoods,
the then wild, or partially wild, state
of this part of the country was entirely
congenial to my tastes and habits, as,
even at that early age, / was quite a
hunter and angler, and had brought
with me the first gun ever owned, an
old flintlock, smoothbore Indian
piece" really an accurate weapon for
almost equally good for ball.
Anyhow, thouhg it cost, to begin
with, only three dollars and half, my
faith in its powers (when it didn't hap
pen to miss1fre) was mistaken, and
with it l had killed great quantities
of small game and not little of larger
kind
So now, when on this evening, the
second of my stay, Aunt Mary asked
me to go for the cows, nothing could
have suited me better, and, whistling
up Hector, l took down my gun, pow
der-horn and shot-pouch and started
off in high glee.
Uncle Eben and his two boys were
busyj a distant wheat field, and my
nunt jokingly called out as left the
house:
''If you don't get lost. Willie, or eat
en- up by something, go round by the
old clearing. on your way back, and
the boys will likely help you to carry
your game home"
''All right, auntie. I'll bring you
enough squirrels and cartridges to
make a Sunday pie, anyway" / re-
piled.
And away went
The pith Of Aunt Mary's joke lay in
the fact that, although the woods
abounded in game of various kinds,
they were supposed to contain nothing
more dangerous than deer, foxes and
raccoons, not single one of the for
merly ubiquitous bears and wolves hav-
ing been seen for a long time
The tract of primeval forest, known
as the beech woods, was one mile
across, and just beyond its further
edge lay the bush pasture, wide ex-
panse of partly burnt.over land, on
which rich crop of grass haa>sprung
up, and which, being a government re-
serve, was open to the use of all the
settlers. e.
In going through the woods, shot a
rabbit, two black squirrels and part
ridge, and having thus made sure of
an ample filling for my good aunt's pie,
hurried along to the pasture, sent Hec-
tor to picLtout from the herd and gath
er in our own cows-a task which the
trained collie performed as intelligent
ly and twice as quickly as I could have
done-and started them, in single file,
on the woodland path, homeward.
Then telling the dog to chic on"
and knowing that he would drive the
cattle safely to the house, / made
half-turn for the purpose of going
lengthwise down the deep woods, and
SO around by the old clearing.
AS two hours of daylight were still
left, ] had plenty of time to reach the
wheat-feld long before shutdown, and
hence strolled leisurely on my way,
keeping o sharp lookout for possible
game.
BY and by a small flock of wild pig
cons fiuttered up from among the un-
derbrush and alighted here and there
In The neighboring tree-tops
1t was quite difficult to see the birds
amid the heavy foliage, but 1 went
patiently to work and picked them off
one by one as they fitted from tree to
tree.
In doing this was of necessity
Obliged to turn around and around to
get favorable shots, and, after had
finally secured seven out of the flock
and driven the others clean away. /
couldn't tell, to save my life, in what
direction to look for the clearing, the
house or apything else-the sun being
now Quit obscured by the dense clouds
81 an approaching thunder-storm as
wen as by the forest itself
Ii short, was lostl But this cir
oumstance did not trouble me at all,
knowine that Il ] did not and him.