The Press., 1897-04-22
TWO IN A SINK HOLE.
A KENTUCKY PRINTER NARRATES A
 THRILLING EXPERIENCE.

While Following the Call of His Faithful Dog He Met With a Mishap-In Dark Hole With 8 Fierce Wild Beast-The Escape and Recognition.
 Pretty much everybody in the crowd had told story of the gun or dog or ishpole except a printer wko looked about as much like a hunter or fisher man as he did like an angel.
 "It's your turn now, Muggins," said the reporter.
 "I never hunted anything but board Ing houses over in Brooklyn" he said, with wan and lodging kind of air, as if people threw things at him whenever he tried to tell a story.
 "But before you came here is what we want to know about" put in sev- eral, "and you've either got to tell a story or pay for the drinks every time any body else tells one."
 He moved about uneasily and pushed his chair back from the table, drawing it close up again immediately and final ly resting his hands clasped on the board ip front of him.
 "Well, gents," he said with the wan and lodging look still ill his eyes, ''let me think a minute. Before came here I lived in Chicago, where I was hunted instead of hunting. Before that was in New Orleans, where I only hunted a job. Before that I was in St. Paul, where I was hunting a warm place all the time. Before that lived ill Boston, where it was too frigid to hunt, and be- fore that, quite long time before that, I lived in old Kentucky, and, gents, did hunt there. Nothing but coon, mebbe, or a fox or a possum or as little as squirrel or only dove in the dusty road, but it was finer than anything on earth.
 1T was only boy, and perhaps that had something to do with it, but didn't know any different then, like do now, and it was just the finest on earth and no mistake" And bis wan face lighted up as if he were looking through the open gates of paradise. "I recollect had a dog that was considerable of hunting dog, but he was an unrestless kind of a cuss, and when he treed any thing he would do lot of barking at l mighty quick he would give it up and go moseying along after the next thing in sight. One night was out with him after coons, and about 9 o'clock heard him bark like he was over in a clump of woods about a half mile away. I knew was going to have to get to him pretty quick if found him there at all, and I started across field toward the woods as fast as could go. It was a stubbIe field with sink holes like you find all over Kentucky in the limestone parts, and the place was dark, though the moon was just beginning to show above the woods. I was thinking more about what the dog had than anything else, and as went banging through the field, all at once seemed to drop off of the earth and fall into cellar, and then I knew had tumbled into a sink hole. They are never very deep or dangerous, and I wasn't afraid of being fatally hurt, but it took the sand out of me right quick, and went down through the weeds and stuff, not knowing just what had happened. Of course hadn't much time to think, and when l hit bottom l had still less, for instead of lighting on the ground or stones or thicket, lit on something alive. It was wild animal of some kind, l didn't know what, and was scared till my hair began to feel funny on my head.
 "When went down, went hard, and l kind of knocked the wind out of the varmint at first, but in a second if began to yowl and snap and snarl and tC twist under me and try to get out and to raise the dickens generally. In the meantime was yelling and squawking and trying to scare the blamed thing, because I thought it was a wildcat, and knew a boy of my size didn't have any show with wildcat if the varmint ever took notion to fight, and l knew pretty we'll that a wildcat was about as sure to take D notion to fight as any thing Cn earth. I don't know exactly what I did in that hole or how I did it, but remember it seemed about month of Sundays that was all mussed up in there with some kind of wild animal, and finally the thing got from under me and scooted as fast as it could for the top of the sink hole. followed after il as quick as I could, for I became bravel when saw it run, and when I got uI on the level the moon had come out, and I could see the varmint fairly skin. ming it out for the tall timber. yelled at itwith all my might though l didn't run after it very fast, and began to cal my dog. On the second call the varmint stopped, and began to get ready to skin out myself, when I get better look and, by the great horn spoon, gents, il was my dog. called him then, and ht came back to me, and I could see fol myself that he had holed something down there in the sink, and his barking had been smothered and sounded away off to me, and of course when dropped in on him unexpectedly like that h' didn't know anything about it, and nei ther did I, and there we was In any event, gentlemen, concluded the for mer Corncracker, ''that dog come trot ting back to me, and when we met fact to face ill the moonlight he sorter look ed at me, and I sorter looked at him. and don't know which one of us fel most like apologizing. I do know though, we both knocked off for that oc casion, and OH the way home we tool turn about sheaking along behind eacl other, me and the dog. "-New Yorl