The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-12-23
TWO INA SINK HOLE.
A KENTUCKY PRINTER HARRATEs A
THRILLING EXPERIENCE.

THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
Uhns FoIioyzias tsie Call of His Faithful
uo- He act v-ith s.ishap-En Dark
nose Win Fierce wild IA sas;-The
Esospo and I,eonsnitioa-
Pretty much everybody in the crowd
had told a story Of the gun or dog or
hshpole excerpt a printer who looked
about as mach like hunter or fisher
man rs he did liie an argel
"It'8 yoar turn now, Muggins, said
the reporter.
"I never hunted anything bat board
ing houses over in BrooSlyn, be said.
with q wan ard dodging kind of air, as
If people threw things ct him whenever
he tried to tell story.
Bat before you came here is what
we want 10 know about put in sew
cral, land you've either got TO tell a
story or pay for the drinks every time
anybody else tells one.
He moved about uneasily ard pushed
his chair back from the table, drawing
it close mp again Immediately and final
lyrcsting his hands olasped on the board
IL front Of him.
"Well, gents, he said with the wan
and dodging look still III his eyes, ''let
me think minnie. Before came here
/ lived in Chicago, where | was hunted
instead of hunting. Before that was
IN New Orleans, where j only hunted a
Job. Before that | was in st. Paul,
where l was hunting warm place all
the time. Before that lived in Boston,
where it was too frigid TO hunt, and be-
fore that, quite long time before that,
] l:yed n old Kentucky, and, gents, j
did hunt there. Nothing but a coon,
metbe, or q fox or pOssuIn or as little
as q squirrel or only dove in the dusty
road, bet it was finer than anything ON
earth.
Il was only a boy, and perhaps that
had something to do with 1t. but didn't
know any different then, like do now,
and it WIS Just the finest ON earth and
no mistake. " And his wan face lighted
up IS il he were looking through the
oDon gates Cf paradise. 81 recollect l
had deg that was considerable of
hunting dec, bat he was an unrestless
kind of 4 cEss, and when he treed any
thing lie would Go a lot of barking at
Grst. bit II somebody didn't come
mighty quick he would give it mp and
60 moSeying along after the next thing
in sight. Ono night l was out with him
after cOons, and about O'Clock heard
him bark like he was over in a clump
Of weeds about a half mile away. l
knew was going TO have TO get to him
pretty quick if found him there at all,
and I STATED across field toward the
woods IS fast as I could 90. 1t was "a
rtUbble field with sink holes like you
fnd all over Kentucky in the limestone
parts. and the place was dark, though
the neon Wcs Just beginning 10 show
above Ito weeds. I was thinking more
abcu5 what the deg had than anything
else, ard aG 1 went banging through the
field, all ct cnce I seemed 20 drop OF of
the earth end fall into cellar, and then
I knew I had tumbled into a sink hole.
They 40 never very deep or dangerous,
and ! wasn't afraid Of being fatally
hurt, brt st tcok the sand ont of me
right quick, and l went down through
the weeds and stuff, not knowing just
what had happened. OF course l hadn't
much time 70 think, and when l hit
bottom / had sull less, for instead of
lighting on tie ground or stones or
thicket, lit On something alive. 1t was
a wild animal CT some kind, didn't
know what, and was scared till my
hair tegan 20 feel funny on my head.
when l went down, went hard,
ard kind cf Knocked the wind out Of
the vaImi-t 1t first, but IN a second it
began to yoTl a2d snap and snarl and to
twist under me and try to get out and
to raise The dickens generally. In the
meantime l vas yelling and squawking
and trying TO scare the blamed thing,
because 1 thought 1t was wildcat, and
! knew leg Of my size didn't have
any show with 2 wildcat if tine vaTmint
ever tCok q Totion TO fight, and | knew
pretty well that wildcat was about as
sure to take Z notion TO fight as any
thing On earth. l dent know exactly
what l did IL that hole or how did 1t.
but remember 1t seemed about a month
Of Sundays that I was all mUssed up in
there with some kind Of a wild animal
and finally tho thing got from under me
aud scootcd IS fast Gs it could for the
top Of the sink hole. 1 followed after il
rs quick - I could, fer became braver
when i saw il run, and when l got up
en- the level the moon had come out,
ard / cCald see the yarmint fairly skim
nirg it out fer the tail timber. yelled
1t itwith al NY might, though didn't
run after il very fast, and began 10 call
my Gog. On the second call the varmint
stopped, and began TO get ready to skin
ont myself, when l got better look,
and. by the great horn spoon, gents, it
was my dog. l called him then, and he
rame hack 10 ne, and l could see for
myself that lie had holed something
down there IN the sink, and his barking
bad been smothered and sounded away
of TO ne, and OF course when l dropped
II Oh him Unexpectedly like that he
didn know anything atoUt it, and nei-
ther did |, and there We was. III any
event, gentlemen, - concluded the for
mer CCTnCTacler, that oog come trot-
ting back TO re. and when we met face
TO face l. t1e moonlight he sorter look
ed at ne, ard l sorter looked at him,
and don't know which orc CT us felt
most like apologiziBg. l do know,
though, We both knocked OF for that oc-
casion, and ca the way home we took
turn about sneaking along behind each
ether, me and the dog. New York