The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-02-24
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ssWell, yes; that there is painter
hide, . said old Nose Boddle, pointing
to . ript-looking affair that lay
upon the puncheon floor of his cabin.
Don't look much like it. do it?"
The hide In question was muddy of
{ huessand well 'tfrazzled'' at the edges.
while It had evidently once possessed
much more hair than it did at present.
,.You see.'' continued Nose. '.me an
my wife, Canzady, have raised nine
children, one after another, an they've
all wa1lered over it, lettin' alone usin
twenty years. come next Janooary."
Nose was q grizzled hunter of the
s Blue Ridge mountains, whose long rifle
and coonslsin pouch were better known
in the yvilds of Rabun county. Ga. in
those days, than the personalities of
cabin was shell of haIf-rotten logs.
with q dirt floor and a rough board roof
held down by rocks and poles. instead
OF the less cum bersome but more ex-
speflsive nail. In summer it was airy;
in winter smoky and cold Dried veni-
son and bears meat hung from the
grimy joists; lean hounds slept in the
ashes of the firep1ace; on the outer walls
were stretched the skins of foxes, coons
and groundhogs, as odorous trophies of
the chase.
Canada was y lank. sail ow woman,
claQ In olrty nomeSPun. She sab III
splint-bottom chair, griffin up roast
in ears for the daily supply of grit"
bread. Several ragged, officiating
children squatted about, vacantly si-
lent and staring. The youngest lay
munching u bacon rind upon the
panther skin, while Nose himself was
cutting some creased wads for his rifle.
Painters nowadays is about as slsase
as hens teetb,' he went on But hit
weren't SO in my younger days. That
there hide was off'n my fust one,
though I've knocked over Il many a one
sense.
So Nose repeated the oft-told tale
that hunters everywhere delight to tell
or hear. But, without following his
peculiar idiom, it may be said that his
narrative ran somewhat as follows:
Several years before his marriage he
had lived in the same cabin with his
mother. One bitter winters night, he
and q younger sister were left alone,
their mother having gone down to Let
ter Gap, seven miles below, on a trad
ing expedition to the nearest store.
she would not be back before the next
day. Nose was then lad of sixteen,
and his sister Johanna might have
& been three or four years his junior.
The winter was severe one, and
there being no mast in the woods,
wild animals, as we'll many tame
ones, were furnishing. Bears had been
seen down in the cOves, and the VOLTS
melancholy howl was heard at night
with unusual frequency 1t was said
that large panthcr-the rarest of
wild beasts that provl those mountain
regions-had caught young steer
close by Jabe Writings COW pen, and
many were the injunctions laid on
Nose and Johanna by their mother
not to Stir outside the cabin walls after
dark.
When night came on, they brought
in the yellow cur dog, built up a rous-
ing fire in the fireplace, and felt quite
coy, despite the cold draughts pouring
in through the half-chinl<ed logs; nor
did they heed the winds sad whistle
down the chimney, as Waller creek
moaned in the ravine outside.
They went to bed early to keep warm
as the fire grew low. Nose was drift
ing into a doze when he heard the
house cat mewing outside. Prese entity
a plaintive cry sounded up the ravine,
not unlike that of child in distress
but for its ending in a prolonged snarl.
The cat redoubled its entreaties and
scratched at the door. Nose rose shiv-
ering, and, slipping the bar, let the
poor thing in. The dog now began to
growl, interspersing his plants with
sundry winnings Indicative of fear as