The record-union., 1895-03-07
NEVADA COUNTY FROGS.
The Glorious Choruses on the Banks
of Deer Creek.
Wonderful Music Produced by Billie's
-Eelian Harp, With Toms
Attachment.

STOCKTON, March Al was reading
the true history" of Mark Twain's
famous jumping frog" story the other
day, and the account called to mind a
little incident which happened in the
foothills of Nevada County some years
ago, and in which the noisy songsters of
marsh and puddle were somewhat con-
cerned.
One Of the many little streams that
trickle down from under the white caps
of the Sierras and winds and twists and
spreads and narrows and finally is swal-
lowed by the muddy Yuba, is known to
the swart herdsmen of the Nevadian hills
as Deer Creek. Now Deer Creek is very
ordinary sort of stream and besides the
usual compliment of ''quick-sand' holes,
swags and other things toos numerous to
mention, possesses fine choir of frogs.
OF winters evening for miles around
the edge of the stream, in the back
waters and under the shadows of the
bending willows, may be heard the
melodious "co-ork, co-ork" of thousands
of frogs.
And they are all trained singers, ap-
parently. They have that Tex Xpression''
which only comes of cultivation, and
were given the final touch in Yurrup. O1
course, this is just surmise of my own,
based, l admit, not so much upon the
evidence of my critical sense, as upon
what l overheard solemn, old frog say
one evening when l stole silently down
upon him. He was perked on the end OF
suck, which was a trltte under water,
and he seemed to be deriding the efforts
of the singers around him, for he would
listen to them awhile, and then he would
break in with a diSgusted refrain OF
"IaT-rup, Yur-rup, YUr-rup, Yur-rup,"
as much as to say that their singing was
not so good as it might have been, and it
was all the fault of their training in
Europe. But l must hop back to my frog
story.
On ranch which bordered upon Deer
Creek lived two brothers. Billie was the
elder and was something of dreamer
Tom was a wideawake youth, several
years his junior, and much given to
making practical jokes. Billie was very
fond of sport, too, but it was of different
sort. He had but one eye, but although
he ceased to hunt the willy quail some
years ago, the hill people still tell tales of
his marvellous feats with the gun. He is
reputed to be the original of the ''ram-
rod" story, whereby so many birds were
strung together. and the wild yarns con-
cerning his wonderful kills" would
startle one. Having but one good optic
he at first experienced some difficulty in
locating his bird before its swift, brown
wings had carried it out of range but
after a little practice among the chap
arral thickets he became SO acute of hear
ing that he could shoot by sound. If a
bird whirred away on the side of his good
eye. Billie fired by sight; if it got out on
the other side he shot by ear. 1t made
no difference.
The grizzled yarners of Pleasant Valley
will tell you that Billie killed as many
birds by sound as by sight. And they
are sure oft, too, for most of them at one
time or another saw Billie making his
record.
But one day Billie made something
else. He made an -Eolian harp. The
ranch-house was a two-story building set
on knoll, and the evening breeze COM
ing up Deer Creek blew strongly in at
Billie's window. There was poetry in
Billie's soul, and the wind singing
through the easement pleased and
charmed him. He began to think how
pleasant 1t would be to have harp in his
window, where the light fingers Of the
wind could play a subtle melody to lull
his tired soul into slumber. billie had
been baling hay that day and had work ed
hard, poor fellow.)
He read up on -Eolian harps next day,
and as consequence he began the con-
struction of one the same afternoon. He
used baling wire and broom wire taking
his mothers best broom, too for strings,
and he utilized two empty coal-oil cans
from which the tops had been CUT as
sounding posts.
Billie worked hard, and by night had
the thing finished and all ready for the
light nngers OF the breeze, etc. Then he
went out to give the horses their last feed
OF hay before going to bed, and Tom went
upstalr to look at the harp. When Billie
came back from the barns he retired at
once, as usual. The wind was light and
for some time there was no sound. Billie
lay in bed peacefully and waited in con-
tent tent for the music to begin. Finally it
Degun- IL came spasmodically at first,
but soon 1t grew in volume until the
room was full of it.
Billie sat up in bed and the clothing
fell away from him till he loomed up like g
straight, white tom bstone He could
hardly believe his ears. For from the
direction Of the window there came, not
the sound of soft wind fingers brushing
over silver strands, but the harsh, scratch
Ing unronlantic intouatiOns of a host of
Deer Creek frogs
Billie leaped from his bed and went to
the window. There was dead silence.
The ground below was black, the stars
shone brightly, and far away he saw the
white CLEANS of gravel which indicated
to him the location of Deer Creek. And
toward Deer Creek there were the croak-
lngs OF frogs, but they were so far away
tnat they could hardly be heard. Billie
listened to them awhile and then, con-
Guiding that he had been dreaming, he
got back into bed. But it was no dream.
lie had hardly become still when the
racket was resumed. "Co-ork, co-ork -
until the air tingled and rung with the
horrible sound. Billie suffered for.fully
f1ve minutes, and in that time counted at
least two hundred separate voices pitched
an two hundred separate keys. From the
Vlrulence OF their music, he Judged that
all the "4urrup"-trained singers of Deer
Creek were there. At last he could stand
1t no longer, and he sprung out of bed
and approached the open window, across
which was stretched the wires of his
hoIian harp, and at either side Of which
was kerosene can.
Again all was silent. But a light had
begun to break in upon him by now, and
he uncovered one OF the cans. AS he did
SO there was splash, dozen little black
OBJECTS hooked their toes over the edge OF
The can, and one, hopping out into the
darkness, struck him in the neck and
wet ana Shiny, slid down inside his shirt.
lie gave yell, there were some sudden
but weil-directed kicks, and then Billie's
A1olian harp, with Toms attachments OF
water and frogs, went Gathering and
banging down into the darkness.
ELwYN IRVING HoFFMAS.