Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-10-24

man. with DrlStiluS SEus thAh
and 4 twinkling eye that looked out
from under bushy brows. No one
knew how old he was, for he had peen
thu first settler at Pudd's Hollow and
those who had followed him could not
hstnember that he ever looked any
younger. Gene Tompkins, the post
master. said he recokoned Eph was be-
tween 100 and 200 years old, but ne
~wouidn't venture TO say that ne
! wasn't nigh onto 300"
In the face Of all these specuiations
old Eph kept his peace. and when the
hoys asked him solemnly If he remem-
bered seeing Gen. Washington, and
whether or not he was present at
the battle of Bunker Hill, his eyes only
twinkled slyly, and he passed II on as
4 ioEe. For he knew as we'll as any
one that the boys were only In fun,
and that they enjoyed nothing better
than to visit him in mis- little house by
the creek and to look ut the rifles and
shotguns that hung on the rarters, or
hear him tell how he shot the bear or
coon whose hide he was stretching on
the boards at the back Of his wood
shed.
old Eph was famous hunter, fisher
and bee man. He knew the woods as
well as most men know their own sat
ting rooms-where the partridges
squatted, where the ducks fed In the
rfce beds and the pools where the best
bass fishing was 10 be found. And.
besides this, when he was in the mood
he could tell the most wonderful
stories, and this alone was enough TO
endear him to all the boys of Pudds
Hollow.
One sunny afternoon in late Septem-
Der Frank Staples, Con Bigelow and
Fred Horn walked up the grassy
wagon road from Pudd's Hollow TO
the home of old Eph. As they climbed
over the stile that led to the house
they saw the old man working with a
number OF pals. crooks and tubs. In
deed, he seemed to have all the uten-
sils that he owned out in his back
yard near the well house.
wonder what Eph's doin'," said
Con, with the greatest interest.
..P.raps he's trying to keep lot of
6sh alive in the tubs" put in Fred,
who was the youngest of the three.
NO" answered Frank, with some
disgust; "old Eph wouldn't be that
foolish
But they all quickened their steps.
and when old Eph saw them he
stralghtened ND and smiled.
@Hullo, boys" he said, with the
greatest good nature.
And at that moment they peeped into
the tubs.
Honey they all shouted in breath.
And honey it was. tubs and pals and
pans Of Ii, to say nothing Of the gen
erous supply daubed on Eph's mouth
and hands.
"Haye bite?" asked the old hunter
and then without waiting for a reply
he dipped up a generous supply of rich
yellow comb on three shingles and
passed them to the boys. The honey
melted rapidly away, and then the
boys began TO ask questions.
Been finding bee trees, EphT
~Waal, now, whatd you s'pose thi.
come from, anyhow? Think it growet
In my garden?" and the old mar
chuckIed to himself. He was in rar1
good humor over his success
'.When'd you find itT' asked Con.
Last night-an' Molly an me have
been DRAWN in honey ever since"
Where was it, Eph:" asked FREQ
eagerly.
"Waal, now, that's p'inted, isn't It
P'raps you'd like to 90 and find 1t
I've seen whole families in the sam,
fix before. eh:p and old Eph kept tn,
location Of the tree quite to himself.
..Y'see," he said, 'p'raps there's an
other tree around near there. and
may want to get more honey for
many days"
When the boys heard this they wer
much excited, but tease as hard a
they could they were unable to find GU
anything more about it. So they be
gan to joke old Eph about his age. !
was what they fell back upon wheI
ever they couldn't persuade the oil
hunter to do just as they would hay
liked him to do. Close in the corner O
the house they sat in the shade nil
bling away on the honey, and Iaughin
and talking about "Nethusalem," a
Fred called the Biblical patriarch. OIL
Eph worked busily in the sun gettin
his honey ready to take to town. ii
listened to the joking in the creates
good nature, sometimes rallying Fran
about his shooting or Fred about hi
fear of the water. but always heapin
up the shingles with honey as often q
they were passed up.
IoNdru sunuOWu the boys Dltefe
off toward home.
''I'll tell you what" said Con, sue
denly, "Old Eph knows where tina
tree is, and it's probably got 200 Q
300 pounds of honey In It. Why can
we rustic and find it ourselves, an
make some money!
Lets do 1t, Let's do itw excIaime
Frank, much excited by the sugge,
sfion.
Fred was quite as fascinated by til
plan as were the other two boys; br
while they were discussing It his fac
suddenly grew grave.
That would hardly be fair to oil
lEph," he said.
"Never you fear about that" sal
Con. 'Old Eph didn't tell us where
fs, did he? And IL we find 1t, we fin
It ourselves, don't we? Well, then,
guess we've got n right to look for |
haven't we. Frank"
Frank agreed with him heartily, an
Fred, although not fully convince
could not resist the temptation OF tai
ing part In the fascinating adventur
4 Frank had once been out with Ep
when he was hunting wild bee tree
~ 49, 4I.nN 4.