The Van Buren press., 1893-08-19
NAT LASK'S PARROT.
etory Of . Remarkable Man and .
Remarkable Bird.

aFver hear Of Nat Lask's psrrots'
aalued jim Gordon. Of Little Rock
seEever was such . remarkable parrot
1 doat think. But then. Nat Lask was
acmeWhat Of . remarkable man He
wns n old Arkansas and Mississippi
river boatsman- He used to run BE-
tSoea Iit11s Rock and New Orleans in
the rood old times before the war. BE
owned twsaty niggers once. and they
al 81 thsir freedom just because Nat
- sneh ronAEkable man Thsre
was : god naay niggcrsr running away
nbo1t that tins. and making their run
~ eooA Nat gave il oat that he'd
TN . - any Of his get away. For
esMy one that got away. he said. he'd
- another frea L.ess than . week
af1nr shnt one Of Mats best niggers
tnenea up missing, and he couldn't be
: lDand. Over the border, sure The
tnnawayss wife belonged 70 Nat
q .Guse.' said Nat dye know whar
1ee isr
sYea, massA-'
"sWall then. you jes' 60 long an ,ine
him1e
- be Kept his word and set one
G1ase free becauss another had sue
eeeded In running away, and he showed
what remarkable man he was by set
tine froe the wife Of the fugitive. And
Nat wouldn't take back his offer either.
and his nigges kept running away.
and he kept setting others free to
match 'em. until he hadn't one left.
asDont make NO diHnce. Nat used
to say. Nobody didn' 'bleege me to
1T ny nigKes free.
..Just about the time the war broke
ont Nat was In New Orleans taking ON
earen on ~ lsvee one day he was
paaoinS en old woman who was selling
perrota. when ons Of the birds yelled
uuf:
..Damn fooli''
ssThat fetched Nat up standing, and
ho asked the woman which parrot had
addreased him In such familiar tonea
s.He knows me- said Nat, but swsr
] never knowed him!'
MAT didn't have to wait for the old
woman 70 tell him which parrot it was,
for the bird yelled out its compliments
70 him again ON the spot, and Nat was
% ticklcd with the parrot that he
bought It He was 70 taken up with
his new companion that he paid NO at
fention 10 anything else all the way
bask o. the trip to Little Rock. When
~ arrived there he gave up his boat.
"sGoin' to quit boatin'. b said. It'll
take Ill my time now ON to tend to this
1azToA'
"And Il he didn't quit, right there
and then. l hope TO holler! He tied
hlmsen up to that parrot and had no
tina for anything or anybody. Then
the war began to stir things up, and
one day Nat said:
ssThar's goan' ter be the deuce ter pay
round hyah fore long. an take 70 the
woodsr
'sHs was good ~ his word. He took
hh run and his parrot went way back
Into he wilderness along Big Mann
neles creek and put up . snug log
eahdn- And It was there that ths par.
rot came ont strong. The woods were
fall Of game-wild turkey, deer. bear.
panther. The creek held plenty Of wild
ducln and geese. Nat trained the par
rot 70 hunt The bird got 70 he could
give al 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 lost
laMA q fswn hidden by Its mother,
eouA sammon it mother or some other
sdeee quickly TO where it was BY .
plaintive blesfing. and the parrot got
on 70 that bleat only too quick. He inn
itated the unearthly screech Of the
panther 80 ably that Nat ussd to soy it
was nothing out Of the common for
Bobby-that was the parrots name
- call - many ~ dozen big fellows
arosnd the cabin Of an evening and set
chem I'll to fighting 1t once. Bobby
coaldn't oply do the quack Of duck or
tie gnbbls Of goose to perfection, hut
be could manipulate those cries so that
you would think he WAS whole flock
Of ducks or geese So. Il there were
dnets or geese flying over. it wss no
trick It al for Bobby TO let himself
loose just - II it was . dozen or 90
fowl jabbering together. and . flying
6ock, hearing him going on, would say
20 themselves: These ducks must have
struck good luck down there in the
ArssaE. Let's drop down and get piece
oe st. And when they bad dropped
down near enough Nat, hid in the
bushea. would tumble half dozen or
- bsfors they could get on to the way
they were fooled
Bobby liked to hunt wild turkeys
bea< II there was . turkey within
haaring Of him, II couldn't resist that
seductive call of his. and when it cams
within gunshot and Nat put ball in It,
Bobby became . very hend in. his gloat-
ing over its death struggles. He would
ny around the poor bird and laugh and
yell like . demon. But If Nat hap
peued to miss the turkey after Bobby
had called 1t up, then may be he would
get ftA The parrot would fill the
woods with language that Nat used to
say made him sit down and wait for the
shower of fire and birthstone that he
felt sure must be sent down on them
for that birds wickednes& And he'd
AZ ct Nat and pull his hair ont in
bunches. and make vicious grabs at his
eyes and faca At these unfortunate
tinoeA which, luslrily, were rare. Nat
usod to lie down on his face and let
Bobby peg away and pull 1t him until
~ fgsssy passel over. Nat kssw