Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-07-30

He Wanted.
One autumn evening as l sat before
the fire in the cabin of Zeb White, the
possum hunter of Tennessee, | asked
him to narrate an adventure, and after
bit of thinking, he said:
"Up to ten y 'ars ago thar used to be
heaps and heaps of painters (panthers)
on this yere mounting and now and
then they would cum skulkin bout the
cabin of nights and cry out in a way to
make yor ha'r stand up One AFTERNOON
I cum home from town to find my ole
woman in the sulks. She used to get
that way now and then, and it allus
ended in arrow. When she began to jaw.
I began to whistle, but arter half an
hour I got mad I'd "a gone out and
slept in the woods, only it was gwine
to be dark and rainy night. She sulk-
ed, and sulked, and when it cum time
| to go to bed 1 sot right yere and never
minded the time She didn't offer to
make up, and SO was sittin yere when
midnight cum. She was asleep, and so
was I, when thar cum cry from out
doahs. 1t was just like the boot of a
woman lost in the woods, and it was
ringin in my ears, when the ole woman
| sits up in bed and calls out
Zeb White, what on airth was
that?'
ga woman hootin fur help, SEE I.
1T can't be. No woman would be
hootin around we're this time of night.
"'Then it may be an OWL
"'Then yo may be fule.'
''Her calm me fule r'iled me up, !"
said Zeb, "and, though | was purity
sartin that it was the scream of paint
er, determined not to gin i'll. Purity
soon we got it again, and it was higher
the house. The beast was prowlin
around, and that scream made chill
creep up my back.
'"It's painter, said the ole woman
as she got out of bed a-lookin purity pale.
Shoot It's one Of them Davis gals
lost in the woods Reckon she was out
arter chestnuts and got turned around.
Then yo' don't know sugar from
sand. Listen to that. Does that sound
like the boot of woman%
"'Jest exactly. I'll bet my ole gun
ag'in a coonskin that it's woman. I'll
open the doah SO she kin see the light
and then call to her Powerful darl,
night for woman to be stompin around
i'll the woods by herself.
'Zeb White, I'm a-tellin yo' it's q
painter, no woman. If yo' wasn't sc
farnashun shuckless and low down, yo't
know it fur yo'rself. If yo' open that
doah, sumbody's gwine to git clawe(
and bit.
"That riled me sum mo-, said the
old man as he hitched back from Tho
fire, "and was bound to open thai
doah Or bust. I could even h'ar thc
painter prowlin around; but, yo' see,
wasnt gwine to let the ole woman bluff
me down. I riz up and was listenin
when she SEE:
. "'This yere painter is arter meat flu
. shore.
THAT yere woman is lookin fur ou
cabin, 70 mean, and yere goes to lie
her in
: "'Zeb, hain't yo' got no sense in yo'
head?'
"'Not arter Twin with yo' fur q
,, Vars
9 "With that I crossed over and opened
; the back doah, and as I did so the oil
: woman made dive fur the bed AM
r kivered up her head. l had jest swun
the doah back and opened my mouth t
i. hoot when sunthin knocked me cleal
across the cabin and uttered an awfu
.. scream 1t was a sure enough painte
= and mighty big one at that. He fus
jumped on the bed and scratched at tn
| clothes, but as 1 got up he turned AM
{ tackled me. Ever hev fout with
} painter?"
"No. l never did"
"Yo' needn't sigh fur one. They'v
got teeth like the biggest kind of a buzz
saw, and thar claws ar like redho
knife blades. I was took so sudden tina
the critter had all the advantage at fust
but bimeby ! got hold of stool ant
sorter held my own. He kept IN
mighty busy, but saw the ole womal
sittin up in bed arter bit and hear
her say:
"'Zeb White, if that's one Of then
Davis gals, then she's powerful
changed about since last Sunday. VIII
don't yo' ask her to take off her bunni
and stay all night? -
elbow did the matter end?" asked
as the old man was long time in re
filling his pipe.
, "Waal, I finally driv the critic
outdoahs and got the doah shet, AM
then fell down and tainted away AM
didn't know nuthin mo- for an hour.
don't rightly remember how many bite
and scratches I got, but I was laid u
for six weeks and had tough time c
it,"
"Mrs. White didn't have anythin
more to say, did she-anything NOR
about your taking the panther's scream
! for the boot of a woman?"
"Sart'inly she did," he replied
0 "'Bout the fust words heard arter
cum to was:
essay, Zeb White, yo'd better loo
out fur that Davis gal arter this. She
= bit and clawed yo' till I've got to max
n poultice as big as barrel to kiver tn
hurts. >"
0 "And what did you say in reply?"
d 'Nuthin-nuthin tall. I'd jest bluff
ed myself and got the worst of it, an
+ SO shet up-yes, shet right up and le
her grin and chuckle and poke fun {
me- Yes, I knowed when l was licked
and lay thar and cried and didn't he
nuthin to say-nuthing tall. "