The Van Buren press., 1893-08-19


By simply yelling: Damn foolr Ther
Nat would get up and start for home
Bobby wo uld ny to his usual place os
Mats shoulder. where he would at In
tervals yell in Mats ear: Damn fool!
Nat never jawed back. He said tha he
knew he deservedhsl that Bobby gave
him at such timeA There wasn't any
thing too ba0 for q man who missed his
turkey.
whenever Nat would take his gun
to 90 out hunting. Bobby would coch
his head ON one side and say:
Turkey
..H Nat would ssy: No. Bobby would
say:
"Quack. quacky
.slf Nat replied in the negative, Bob
by would make the peculiar bleating
sound OF the fawn interrogatively. II
Nat said he wasn't going after deer.
Bobby would say. decisively;
"sB'arr
Turkey. ducks or geese. deer and
bear were all the game Nat hunted. and
Bobby knew If II wasn't any OF the
first three he was going out after it
must Of course be bear. But he always
wanted to know what the hunt was to
be before he started He WAS of no
particular use in . bear hunt
".I jes, take him long to do the swar-
in Nat use 70 say.
But Bobby always went out for bear
with the greatest enthusiasm. and once
he Was of actual service Nat had started
Z bear, and 1t went into thick swamp .
short distance, where NO man or dog
could get Whether Bobby saw the
bear or not. or whether he had = stroke
of genius all At once he few from Mats
shoulder into the swamp Such hair
raising collection of yells and exple-
tives Is he tumbled around in that
swamp no living thing had ever heard
before. Bobby was evidently directing
them straight at the bear. for the
frightened animal came tearing out OF
the swamp with . smash and . crash
that . hurricane couldn't have made.
Nat said the bears eyes hung out. its
terror MAS so great Nat downed the
bear with . couple of rife balls. and
out of the swamp came couple of ter.
ror-stricken cubs. with Bobby yelling
and cussing right behind them Nat
captured the two cubs alive and took
them home. against the vehement pro-
tests Of Bobby. who yelled his favorits
opinion Of Nat in the latter's ear all
the way in. Nat showed great fond
mess for the cubs, but they were . per.
petual thorn in Bobby's side. He was
wildly jealous of them. and gave both
them and Nat continual fits Nat kept
the cubs in the cabin, and one night,
after he'd had them about week. he
was awakened by q noise. He heard
Bobby swearing like pirate and the
cuba whining. Nat listened. and by
by he heard the cabin door opened.
That was an easy matter to do. for
nothing fastened 1t, and 1t swung on
leather hinge. When the door opened
and let the moonlight in. Nat saw that
It was Bobby who had pulled it open
with his bill Nat lay still to see what
the parrot would do, and what did he
do but drive both of those cubs out,
nipping them with his bill, and talk.
ing to them worse than any canal mule
driver ever talked to his mules Bobby
not only drove the cubs out of tho
cabin, but he. escorted them some dis
tance into the woods, and they under
stood well enough that they were to
keep on going. Bobby came back to
the cabin chuckling like little hend,
and closed the door and went to sleep.
The whole proceeding had increased
Mats veneration for the parrot so much
that he said he could no more have in
terfered than he could have inter-
rupted preacher in funeral sermon.
A few days after that Nat took down
his gun to 60 out hunting.
"'Turkey?' said Bobby.
".No,' said Nat. We're goin' after
bar
Bobby bristled up, and yelled at the
top Of his voice.
"'No. no! No, not
"He remembered the trials and trib-
ulations that had come 70 him through
his last bear hunt, and he wanted no
more bear In his And he wouldn't GO
bear hunting, and never could be in
duced to go again.
NAT and Bob lived that hermit life
ON the Big Mammelee for more than
twenty years Then one day Nat came
into Little Rock, alone and disconso-
late. Bobby was Enthusiastically
shot by Nat himself. / don't know
what ever became Of Nat, but he was q
remarkable man. And there never was
such remarkable parrot IS Bobby