The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-18
MIR. BANKMAN.
The Story OF an Interesting Hunt
or and Tramp.

thing like ingratitude that say it, bu
truth compels me to admit that Mr.
Bankman was q tramp. In the sum
mer he certainly was, and whatever BE
came of him in the winter we boys a
the school never knew. We had vagu,
theories that he sought hollow tire,
and hibe4nated like bears. Some color
was given to this suspicion by the fac
that he had eXflaustless information
concerning every hollow oak aud hicls
Dry that might harbor coon or pos
som. If any of these by chance had es
capped the attention of Mr.. BankmaI
himself, his dog Flip was certain te
know them like book. Why we called
| him MIR" do not know, unless it was
our way of expressing an unbounded
admiration for his fathomless knowl
| edge of birds and beasts and fishes, and
| OF the various ways IN which they
| might be brought to bag. He was ouI
official oracle on these subjects
There was traditional rurnor cur.
| rent in the school that Mr.. Bankman
had once been prosperous blacksmith,
until the course Of love affair had run
in violent fulfllment of the proverb;
that he had then betal.en himself to
bibulous ways and ended up in what
civilization calls a tramp, leading what
we considered the most delightful exist
ence in the world.
However that might be, it was GER
tain that each spring some of US, linger-
ing after dusk to set night-lines along
the creek, would come upon the old rnau
arranging himself to fish for eels, and
the report would go through the sport
ing element of the school that Mr..
Bankman was in the woods. About
that time would begin to make friend
ly advances to the school baker, over
lures received suspiciously enough at
first, but which generally resulted in
the accumulation behind my trunk of a
quantity of bread and salt to be offered
in due time at the shrine of Mr.. Bank
that these particular undressing
commodities should be thought SO high
ly Of by him, who had nightly feasts Of
fish broiled on the Goals, or rabbit,
with roasted ears, and perhaps the
plumber of ''bee-tree.'' But we
brought them to him in the spirit OF
Capt Cook trading glass beads and
such worthless gauds to the South Sea
islanders. If the inside lining Of our
jackets disclosed a goodly quantity of
provisions, and if we had shown any
ability to hold our tongues and to bait
eel-lines, we were, perchance, reward
ed by a nights fishing, ''gigging"
party or coon hunt, while bright
fire blazed in camp, with sweet po-
tatoes in its ashes exuding resinous
sweetness, and glowing Goals waiting
to broil our catch.
1 was particularly favored by Mr..
Bankman because of the large storage
capacity of my jacket, and chiefly, l
think, because l happened to be the
only person whom Flip, his dog, was
willing to admit to any terms of friend
ship. I had even attained the felicity
of spending the night, after much pro-
tracted coon hunts and fishing parties,
with Flip & Co. Several times l occu-
pied corn-shock or hay-rick adjoining
tn, one into which they had crawled
for the night While 1 was not allowed
to tell the particulars of these intro
auctions to Mr.. Bankman's lares, the
envy Of the boys when l limited in gen.
eral terms at my good fortune quite re-
paid me for the very considerable
debts that came on account of my alb
sence from night inspections.
Sometimes MIR. Bankman would move
his camp for weeks or months at
time, and / longed in vain to accompany
him to these new hunting grounds
But the deep woods and swamps on our
great school farm held him the most Of
the time. Then, too, it was dangerous
moving across country except at night;
and, as q matter of fact, Mr.. Bankman
rarely showed himself out of the woods
at all until nightfall, unless he was
driven to it by dearth of supplies.
Not that he was very bad. Indeed.
have seen chickens and ducks from one
of the farmhouses feeding in perfect
safety within absurdly easy range of
MIR. Bankman's club, in place where
there was no possibility of few
being heard. But no man is
perfect. 1t was a firmly grounded
principle of Mr.. Banllman's, and one
that he carefully inculcated on me, that
we should never break the law of meum
and tuum so long as there was chance
to secure suStenance without Of
Tending the sensibilities of the agri-
culturist But there came periods /
nc 1aonnacc
when sometimes for days together |
there was no meat, not even a
on which to apply the salt /
that l furnished. On these uncomfort- !
able occasions it was his custom to |
draw an imaginary line in the woods !
through some point between his place (
If retreat and the nearest farmhouse, /
and make it a rule, as of the ATedes and .
persians, to appropriate as contraba /
any eatables, feathered or otherwise, |
hat came across this deadly bourne /
INTO the thicket. On the day after one I
If these pronunciamentos went into .
effect, II was as like as not that Farmer F,
Pike would straighten up his back from
the corn crib TO say: Darn them /
hawks while a flock of his guineas
came flying and chattering out OF the /
woods to the friendly barnyard. al bit
NE. Or the fox that lived over in the /
,aves would be maligned by Mrs. P. for
he mysterious disappearance of one of
aer young turkeys.
One unlueky day Mr.. Bankman and
had chased gray squirrel to the edge
Of the woods, where he lay on the top
ii very high lateral branch--in the
manner that squirrels
have-entirely protected from the bull
cts ! was shooting out OF nv slim