St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-24
IT BEATS HAGGARD.
FRUIT THAT MADE 4 MAN VERY
HUNGRY.
a STORY FROM KENTUCKY.
Cant. Henry Found Land OF
Tarne Fish and Birds After
Sliding Into the Earth.

have been play lDS HdNpS "4'
sheep and pigs in the southern part OF
Menifee county, Kentucky, ana at zee
close of the special term of our circuit
court a number of men, noted for skill
in capturing the wary bruin, organ
lied themselves into party to rid the
country of these bears. Early next
morning Can't Henry rallied his men
And. though his ranks were somewhat
Trimmed bv desertiors, he braVely ue-
seconded the Gladly heights, and, alter
deploying his men, went on alone IN
charge of the dogs, and thereby hangs
2 tale which was told to Cincinnati
Enquirer man by Capt. Henry himself
After leaving the men on the stands
(the number being small and, there
fore. not able to command as much ter
ritory as the day before), L set out
alone with the dogs, taking Judge
Cooper'S large rife with me. 1t was
not long before | struck signs OF bear,
and in following them was led over
the toughest country the sun ever
shone on-over cliffs, across raVines,
through canons, over mountains and
in every describable feature of rugged
suhlimity. Finally the trial led to an
unbroken forest, with a thick under
growth of laurel and ivy that rendered
progress very slow. In fact, 1 had to
tie my horse and follow the dogs on
foot. sometimes having to crawl for
300 wards at a time. The baying Of the
dogs up to this time had been loud and
fierce. as though they We're pressing
the bear so closely that they We're COM
PEELED to stand and fight at times. 'i'he
noise had been my guide. But now, to
my astonishment their baying became
fainter and more distant, and reverb
Grating as with thousand echoes. L
pressed my way through the brush Us
hurriedly as possible, and found myself
at the mouth of an opening that Ell
tered the mountain side at a decline of
about % degrees. Keeping my rifle in
front | entered the passage, which was
Just large enough for me to comfort
able crawl through, and pressed on,
hoping to get a shot and carry away
the honors OF the hunt. After 1 had
traversed probably a distance Of $50
yards, ii occurred to me that I would
be at disadvantage should the brute
determine to come out, and | attempted
to turn back, when, to my horror, [
found that | could not turn around. In
sheer desperation l crawled on, hoping
to find place large enough to turn
around, for (what 1 judged by counting
my movements Of the hands, about
one-half mile.
the paSsa geWay was now becoming
sleeper, and. in trying to brace myself
for final effort to turn, I let go the
gun which descended on and on, far
Their and farther, until [ could hear it
20 longer. The thought of the awful
abyss below me must have unnerved
me, fer l soon found myself sliding
slowly down what seemed a gentle
mo
more rapid, but what surprised me
was that I was not bruised or
scratched Cor my terror had vanished
and l was contemplating the situation
as though in q dream. 1 could feel
that the bottom of the passage was
smooth and soft as damp clay. An
age seemed to have passed since l be-
gan the descent, the air became warm
err, the darkness less intense, or my
eyes had become accustomed to it. [
remembered that | wondered as 1 was
speeding down, probably into an abyss
of unreasonable depth, how fast l was
going, and ] instinctiveiy put out my
finger TO touch the side of the passage
way, and the smooth side biiStered me
at the slightest touch. The rapidity
of my descent must have taken away
my senses, as when next [ remem-
bered | vas lying on the solid earth,
considerably shaken up. On getting
up I found that the earth on which
l was standing was almost level, that
above me l could just detect a faint
glimpse of the sky. | sat down and
tried to think where 1 was, Or how I
got there. 1 wondered if I had died,
and this was the second existence, and
if it was, which place I was in. soon,
however, discovered that l was very
hungry, and started out aimlessly to
find q way out. After going on and on
till completely exhausted and almost
famisEed, [ came to q small lake, the
water of which was so clear that by
the faint light from above l could see
it aboUnded in fish of q bright gold
color ana shaped like q sunfish, though
much larger; small animals, somewhat
larger than = rabbit, played about me
without the slightest sign of fear, and
birds Of dark though brilliant p!umage
fitted about regardless OF the presence
of man.
Even the fish would swim up to my
hand when I placed it in the water.
Still hungry, l wandered on. thinking,
like the siipwrecked sailor, food on
every side, yet none to eat After
going on for q while [ found a small
IidIit dbOut o. IGel IlSti. / LIS pant
was leaGess, bat clustered on the stem
We're lunches of something about the
size Of an apple. Plucking one of these
l found that il had Il delicious odor,
and tasted it. The effect was indie
scribable. / became so hungry that I
ate all of the fruit Of that plant, the
taste of which seemed 70 combine all
the flaVors Of every fruit l had ever
seen Vet Hike none of them
by this tine my hunger was some
what appeased, and I could act and
think more nationally. I saw that l
would never starve in the abundance
Of game, fish and fruit. and SO l set
about exploring tie place and trying to
devise q means of escape. | found that
the place I Was III was a nearly circu,
lar opening containing probably 200
acres: that it gradually narrowed
toward the top, so that it could not
have been moro than 100 yards across
the top. Near the lowest edge was the
lake I spoke about. A small brook
feeds this lake, which must have a
subterranean outlet. Besides the fruit
l spoke Of. l found another variety
which grows on vines, and is about the
size OF a email watermelon. This
crows in profusiCn, and tastes Il good
deal like the 'fapjacks' We used to
nave made of -four and cornmeal. The
light seemed to he the refracted
rays of the sun above, and
could scarcely perceive the diff
ference between day and night. When
entered the passage that led me to
his new land Il was put little after g
o'clock in the forenoon. When I came
o myself my watch had run down at
81. whether forenoon or after can
Tot say. How long ! was down there
I can only guess. At last, after what
seemed an endless search, ! found an
opening in the wall that led up. q
,ound many that went down, but did
not care to try therl.l This was
natural stairway, though the steps
1.-at.- l..nre HON . foot in heicht o nd