The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-05-17
A YOSEMITE LIAR,
How Daniel Walton Escaped Through
a Knot Hole


to perduion. This is a mistake. They
90 to Yosemite and drive teams there.
One of them said that down the road
a little 'Turder" he would show us a
strange sight 1t was a big hole in a
tree. The tree was one of the Miamo-
sa trifoiatum g'ganticum, if my mem
DRY serves me at all creditably This
tree during a continued rain, which
sometimes occurs in the Yosemite, eX.
pands, the cells filling with water rapid
ly and charging.
Daniel Walton, a low and vulgar
man, was hunting through the valley in
the spring Of 1878 with III success, hav-
ing killed nothing but grizzly bears, all
of which were too large to tote home.
As he came up the valley a heavy rain
set in, and it came on to rain, as it
sometimes does in the ranless region
of California. Seeing that it was grow
ing worse, Walton stepped into this
hole in the tree, and unbuckling a large
thermal belt which he wore and which
contained cartridges, he laid it aside
and soon went to sleep When he
awoke, he was surprised to see that the
hole was almost closed up by the swell
ing of the wood cells of the tree. He
was greatly alarmed, for he had no
means whatever by which to escape
from the tree and did not know when
the storm would cease. He feared that
he would become a part of the tree
possibly and some day be put into a
sjdebOard or the top Of a bar counter
perhaps. He fired his rifle several
times out of the hole, but did not kill
anything. As darkness came on and
he felt the pangs of hunger gnawing at
his vitals he heard footsteps passing by
and rightly judged that the author of
them could not be far away. Looking
out through the aperture, he saw man
and spoke to him in glad tone. The
voice coming out of a knothole not
wholly closed up yet, startled the man,
for he feared it was something super.
natural The mans name was Rodgers
Lou Rogers, they called him. He
ran at first, but Walton begged him SO
piteously that he paused and went
back.
"What is the matter?" he ex-
claimed.
"Matter enough, retorted Walton,
trying to get a piece of bark out of his
eye. The tree is closing in upon me,
man. Can you not see that am lost
unless you aid me, you -- gilly,
your ?"
"Ah, )" said Rodgers, the wood,
being porous, admits the moisture, and
this expands it SO that the aperture by
which you entered is becoming useless
as an exit. Am right ?"
Yes, you are right; but oh, re-
morse, remorse must | perish here
while you prepare an exegesis on capil
larry attraction ard promology? Oh
man, man, in heavens name git q
move on you, l beg !"
Rodgers laid down his dinner pal
and began work at the knothole, bu
between whites he got better view o
Walton and said;
I" Are you not Dan Walton, who
lives down the gorge where The
branch is where we water the team
at?"
81 am, sir, indeed, exclaimed
Walton, now crying piteously, " but dc
not lose all you have gained now by
your acCursed delay and loquacity
Help me, man, oh, help me, or | shall
die here and possibly annoy visitors
who come this way Help me out
kind sir, whoever you may be, and
will put up a petition to heaven eacf
night for your welfare and signed b,
all the property owners in California.
All, but l remember you, " salt
Rodgers; "you are the man who
whipped his wife last Sabbath in sucl
a disgraceful way and made her fee
badly, know whom you are. HI
then began to berate Walton with a
his great command of language, Curse'
him and went away
After he had gone, Walton gave u
all hope and broke down utterly
crying like child and making it yer
wet indeed as one hot tear afte
another chased itself down his bronze,
cheek. Then his past life rose up bt
fore him, and he saw how utterly cor
temptble he was in the sight of hi
fellows. Meaner and meaner, smalle
and smaller in his own estimation h
became until he was able to crawl on
of the knothole, which he then did.
This is the legend of the knotholt
The knothole yet stands connecte
with a large tree, as | have describe,
it, near the entrance to the park, an
on the left hand side going in.
BILL NYE.