The Bessemer indicator., 1894-01-06


Ono night lately. accompanied by
young colored man named John
Mckinney and four OF his best dogs,
Kit Howard, q Rrsy-whiskered. but
hale old farmer Of Kentucky, started
ss usual coon hunting.
Howard and his companion pro-
seeded up the bottom about mile
from Howard's to the corn-aeld near
the edge Of the woods. Scattered
about over the ,..clearing" stood sew
oral tall dead trees. on which the
young moon oast Q wan and feeble
i,eat @ lnev nesr" ~. ~. sHw ~ zouning
| that betokensd the appearance OF var
mints until they reached the far end
Of the corn pstoh, where short dis
tance from an old. tumble-down. un-
occupied log cabin. stood three per-
simmon trees, on the swaying limb
Of one OF which the sharp eyes q the
darkey dieeovered . big Tat coon.
The dogs, too. .snihed his coonship
and set ub provoking whine. akys
! the Cincinnati Enquirer. The colored
man, accustomed to the sport. doffed
his shoes In trlce, and was soon
| going up the tree toward the animal,
while Howard remained below.
A few strong strokes sent the var
mint to the ground; but, recovering
from its fall, 1t made dash for the
log cabin near. and. before tho dogs
could seize 1t. passed safely through
an opening under the closet into the
cabin. Batled Of their proy. the
dogs set up vociferous howl With
out moments delay Howard com
manded his companion to stand ut
the door, while he himself, with q
club and lighted match, climbed into
an open window at the end of the
hut to drive the coon from his dark
retreat But In getting into the
window the match went out,
and before tho adventurous
hunter could light another he
felt teeth and claws trying at his
legs At once he began to use his
club, at the same time lighting a
match, SO as to see His situation bet
ter and determine the whereabouts
OF his sharp-toothed assailant
By the pickering light, to his
amazement, he behel1 the whole end
OF the cabin full of coons, which.
| now maddened by the flame, began
to close around him with glaring
eyes and grinning teeth. ready to
| spring upon him. He hallooed to
the darkey to come to his rescue.
endeavoring at the same time to
fight off the emboldencd varmints
with his club But his blows only
seemed to make them fiercer, and
their peculiar bark added to his tor
ror as well as to the excitement of
the dogs, now bowling and scratch
ing on the outside.
The colored man, informed OF the
Jeopardy OF Howard by the struggle
within. procured fence rail and
proceeded to batter in the door, Yet
his blows were nothing in number to
those OF Howard. who. in the dark
ness of tho room, fought with des-
peration to keep the furious animals
from his body. At length the door
was forced but the dogs would not
enter Howard, with true heroism.
was still welding his club. when his
companion came to his rescue. With
both men the fight now became des-
perate and furious. To them it was
deliverance or death. The fury OF
the coons abated not The Dyes oil
the two men were now fixed on the
door, which afforded to them their
only hope Of escape. And still
slowly fought their way backward to
where the friendly moonlight was
shimmering through the door.
The dogs still kept up their terri
fio yells, but did nothing to assist
the almost exhausted hunters. But
once in the doorway Howard and his
companion were safe. They leaped
out. followed by the hungry varlets,
who. now desperate from tho en-
counters, were no moro afraid OF
dogs than men But The outside
struggle continued for only few
minutes The dogs. thirstiny for
their quarry. and fresh as compared
with their masters, played swift
havoc with the coons. seizing and
tearing several OF them to pieces
while the remainder were getting
away.
After the battle Howard was bare
ly recognizable. His clothes were
l tOTA bihioot ohtiLoIy uWhy, WnllC llb
lacerated body and limbs showed how
desperate tho struggle had been.
Mckinney. his dusky companion. also
looked little the worse for wear,
while both men were 80 utterly used
up that they with some difficulty
reached home.
When visited the next morning
the cabin presented q scene which
even an Indian hunter could not
have looked on without a thrill of
professional envy. There was blood
and hair and hide all about the door
and the mutilated carcasses OF thir-
teen coons. Inside the cabin the
bodies OF nineteen OF the pesky ami
mails lay scattered about. where they
had fallen beneath the blows of the
two stalwart hunters.
| Howard has had the whole batch
skinned and will keep their hides as
a souvenir OF his victory and his de-
liverance He says there must have
been 100 Of them and II ho had been
alone he would have undou btedly
boon gnawed into giblets by the
voracious varlets. He will keep his
faithful dogs, but coon-hunting. he
| saya ia n thinp of tho paot With bix,