Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-08-01
cAIANouHr IN A CABIN.
(Williamsport. Pa, Letter to Philadel-
phia Times.)

Epnra1m Green, an Ola TeSluent VI
the upper Loyalsock region, came to
town the other day with the skin of
a monster catamount that he wanted
to have tanned. He also wanted to
get the 50 bounty on the ''varmint,"
but to do this he would be compelled
to cut off and burn the ears-in order
to fulfill the letter of the law. Eph
hated to lose the ears, for he wanted
the hide complete, as it was his in
tention to LAY 'er on the floor, head
and tail up, like yer see in the pic
lures" and without the ears it would
lose much of its lifelike appearance.
This particular catamount had won a
fayorite place in old Eph's heart, and
during the time it took him to decide
whether or not he'd lose the ears he
related the story that told of the
beasts capture. And it is little Won
der that Eph was attached to the skin
as a keepsake, for the big cat came
within one of chasing the old man ito
the happy hunting grounds
"Ye see, I'd bin hearin' O this here
varmint for nigh on to four years, but
I'd never set eyes on him. TWar only
'casionally thet hunters up the Sock
way u run OIl " IilIll, OH tiCli tIlCS u
make tracks in another direction, fer
he's the biggest cat as has bin seen
up our way fer many year, an he
had all O. the fellers on the lookout.
Fer sev'ral seasons past I've bin go
in up the Sock on a little huntin'
jaunt, most o. times takin' sum Teller
fer pard. This season l jest calker-
lated as how I'd try the thing alone
1 hev a good sound cabin hammered
together near a spring under the hem
locks. an a rousin' fireplace inside
makes the hangout kind O. cheerful o.
nights. Waal. this year I'd been out
most a week an he'd purity fair luck.
considerin' the feet thet thar wus no
snow. l he'd shot two deers and a
good fat cub, so ye see / he'd a purity
good supply O meat on hand to take
care NV. Course on these var huntin'
trips l eats a mighty sight O. meat my
self when l hev it, and ye kin bet yer
life l wusn't skinny this time.
Twas the last night out thet |
run agin this yer gentleman We see
here. 1t must o. bin we'll on to'rd .
o'clock l was sittin' 'longside the
rousin blaZin' fire, smokin an "a
thinkin to myself like, when all of
suddint I heered a long, low growl on
the outside O the cabin. The air thet
night was cold nuff to friz, an the
sound made by the critter | knowed
right off as how twas a catamount as
wuz wailin' an i got to figurin out
I'm what direction the sound wus a.
comm. 1t allus looked to me as
though the varmints had huff of the
Old nick in 'em to be kerryvoints, durn
eff it don't.
WAL, i kinder set my bearins and
listened for the varmint to call again
l hadn't long to wait, fer in a couple O
minutes she gave another yell thet'd
set crOss-cut saw on edge an mex
shvers run down a dead mans spine
l cd tell FIN thet call thet the pesky
critter was close to my shanty, an
jist made up my mind thet I'd play
game o. hide an seek with the thing.
jist fer luck. 1 cd tell by the critters
call thet she was out fer feed an wus
mighty hungry, fer whenever you hear
cat git off yowl like this Teller did
thet night ye kin bet yer life thet
they mean biz. / couldn't tell I'm
the SCUM whether she wus on the
groun' or in a tree, but | rather reck-
'''Nt 90 iiON ~ W uS VA LIe STOull
Now jist thar's whar l made my mis-
take-leastwise she wasn't on the
groun' when she introduced herself to
NE a few minutes later on.
Takin' my rifle | sneaked to the
door. quiet like, an opened it on the
sly. Course when l opened the door
the light from the fire back o. me jist
afforded the darn cat good chance to
see me. but ! never thought o. that at
the time. l was peepin' down long
the ground like, an stepped square
out o the door onto the ground, when
all suddint l heard peculiar growl-
ing Jist over my head. / Strengthened
up, an jist then, kerplunk! down onto
me cum the durn cat. She struck me
sideways like. ketchin' my gun and
hurlin' the thing ten feet away in the
dark. Then. fore l had time to turn
an git into the cabin the beast gev
another spring. this time takin' me
square on the back as I turned
WAL as good luckd hev it. she
didn't get a real good hold O. me an
the next second l stumbled into the
shanty. the durn catamount stickin'
to my back like monkey to a dog. +
felt pain in the shoulder and knoWed
as how | Wus bleedin' long the side
wnar the cats claw'd grazed me like,
but my fightin' blood wus up The
door q the shanty went shut kerbung
an that wus me an the cat for it
But no sooner did the varmnt git in
side nor she skulked away to'rd one
corner. 'Peared to me as how the fire
skeered her. Leastwise, she seemed to
lose all o her fight an looked as
though she'd be mighty glad to git it
out. Her two eyes shone like marbles
o fire an her tail swished back an
forth on the groun'. She set on her
hunkers like, a-keepin' eyes on me-
How l wished fer my rifle then
wouldn't | affixed her right thar an
then? The next best thing to the gun
wus a hickory stick, bout five feet
long an four inches through what I'd
cut to swing my bar'gn the rafters
This stick stood over gin the bunk
Armed with this cudgel l snaked up
to'rd Mr.. Cat. She 'peared to know
what Wus comm for she scrooched
back in the corner as fur as she could
git. but twas no use. When nv stick
cum down it counted, an the next
mint the pesky varmint wus deader'n
a door nail.
After the excitement wus over I list
begun to feel the scratches on nv side