The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1893-08-24
NAT LASK'S PARROT.
Story Of a remarkable Man and a
Remarkable Bird.


Remarkable Bird.
"Ever hear of Nat Lask's parrot?''
asked Jim Gordon, of Little Rock.
Never was such remarka BILE parrot,
l don't think But then, Nat Lask was
somewhat of remarkable man. He
was an old Arkansas and Mississippi
river boatsman. He used to run be.
tween Little Rock and New Orleans in
the good old times before the war. He
owned twenty niggers once, and they
all got their freedom just because Nat
was such remarkable man. There
was a good many niggers running away
about that time, and making their run
for good. Nat gave it out that he'd
like to see any of his get away. For
every one that got away, he said, he'd
set another free. Less than a week
after that one Of Mats best niggers
turned up missing, and he couldn't be
found. Over the border, sure. The
runaway's wife belonged to Nat
"'Suse,' said Nat, dye know whar
Joe is?'
eyes, massa.'
"'Wall then, you jes' go long an Jine
him.
80 he kept his word and set one
slave free because another had sue
ceeded in running away, and he showed
what remarkable man he was by set
ting free the wife of the fugitive And
Nat wouldn't take back his offer either,
and his niggcrs kept running away,
and he kept setting others free to
match 'em, until he hadn't one left.
Don't make no diff'nce,' Nat used
to say. Nobody didn' 'bleege me'to
set my niggers free.
Just about the time the war broke
out Nat was in New Orleans taking on
cargo. On the levee one day he was
passing an old woman who was selling
parrots, when one of the birds yelled
out:
damn fool!''
THAT fetched Nat up standing and
he asked the woman which parrot had
addressed him in such familiar tones.
HE knows me- said Nat, but swar
l never llnowed him!'
NAT didn't have to wait for the old
woman to tell him which parrot it was,
for the bird yelled out it's compliments
to him again on the spot, and Nat was
so ticliled with the parrot that he
bought It. He was so taken up with
his new companion that he paid no at
tention to anything else all the way
back on the trip to Little Rock. When
he arrived there he gave up his boat.
"'Goin' to quit boatin', ne said. It'll
take all my time now on to tend to this
parrot
"And if he didn't quit, right there
and then, l hope to holler! He tied
himself up to that parrot and had no
time for anything or anybody. Then
the war began to stir things up, and
one day Nat said:
"Thar's goln' ter be the deuce ter paw
round hyah fore long, an take to the
woodsr
''He was good as his word. He took
his gun and his parrot, went way back
into the wilderness along Big Nam
melee creek and put up a snug log
cabin. And it was there that the par
rot came out strong. The woods were
full of game-wild turkey, deer, bear,
panther. The creek held plenty of wild
ducks and geese. Nat trained the par
rot to hunt. The bird got SO he could
give all the calls and cries of the wild
turkey better than the wild turkey
could itself, and he never missed get.
ting the right call or cry in at just the
right time. He found out that a lost
fawn, or fawn hidden by it's mother,
could summon its mother or some other
deer quickly to where it was by
plaintive bleating, and the parrot got
on to that bleat only too quick. He i'm
itated the unearthly screech of the
panther SO ably that Nat used to say it
was nothing out of the common for
Bobby-that was the parrots name
to call as many as dozen big fellows
around the cabin of an evening and set
them all to fighting at once. Bobby
couldn't only do the quack of duck or
the gabble of goose to perfection, but
he could manipulate those cries SO that
you would think he was a whole flock
of ducks or geese. So, if there were
ducks or geese flying over it was no
trick at all for Bobby to let himself
loose just as if it was a dozen or SO
fowl jabbering together and flying
flock, hearing him going on. would say
to themselves: These ducks must have
struck good luck down there in the
creek. Let's drop down and get piece
of it And when they had dropped
down near enough Nat, hid in the
bushes, would tumble half dozen or
SO before they could get on to the way
they were fooled.
Bobby liked to hunt wild turkeys
best. II there was turkey within
hearing of him, 1t couldn't resist that
seductive call of his, and when it came
within gunshot and Nat put ball in it,
Bobby became very aend In his gloat-
ing over its death struggles. He would
0y around the poor bird and lau9h and