The sun., 1897-10-10
BLOT ON THE 'SCUTCHEON.
THE MAN FROM sINNEMAHoNING
WIPES 1T OFF At LAST
The Escutcheon wss Reuben Pettibone's. and
the Bist Got On 1t Because, Remarkable as
RE was. He Failed TO Rorcsee the Great
Possibilities Of tho Decn hnch GnllA.


| Possibilities OF tho Deep Rock GuIiS.
ROULETTE Pa, Oct. o."I am moro than
glad that they have made that strike of natural
| 0as down along tho Deep Rock Gully" said
| tho man from over Sinnemahoning way, refer.
| ring TO the recent tapping of n big gas vein in
! that entirely undcvelOpod district at the head
waters Of the Clarion River 81 am glad more
| than | can tell, although l can't separate my
| gladness from certain regret that fingers with
NO. n regret that is just rs natural as that gas
! is for II my remarkable father, Reuben PGti-
| bone, had but been little more remarkable, 1
would be tho owner to-day Of ali that gas dis
| trict, and rolling barrels OF money into my Gel.
lar, just as roll in 'taters. It's little tough.
must permit myself to say, to know that others
! are having all that wealth blown at them when
/ il might have been minc but l rclinquish it
without n pang Whyi Because now l cnn
| remove from the Pettbonc cscutchc on q spot
| that happened to get on 1t once through my
! remarkable fathers ovcr.conildcncc, and which
! has been IN undisturbcd possession of small
/ cornor of 1t ever since. l can swab that blotCh
Off and make that oscutchcon glistcn like
new milkpnn in the MONDAY sun. The regret
that mingles with my gadncss and will not
separate from 1t is not for the loss of tho money
No. indeed. That regret is there because had
| always believed that my remarkable father
| was just remarkable as 1T was possible for
| him to be- and now SEQ that he wasn't II is
! hard to acknowledge it, for it hurts mo sore
| But such is tho fact, and when l see u fact
hug it to my bosom though it stngs me-"
| "Sinnemahone," began the man in tho red,
blue, pink, yellow. green, and purple Macki-
nav jacket, but the man from over Sinncma-
| honing way waved him aside, and said sternly:
| II am too much absorbed by fllial sentiment
Mackinaw, to indulge in idle pcrsfage. Lis
| a and hp elevated. Note how / TAKE
| calumny by the neck, as it were, and use il rs
n rag to wipe the Pcttibone cscutcheon clean
| Listen to me, Mackinaw.
''The day nor year does not matter, but one
| time Timothy Vandcrlip came from his place
along the hcadwatcrs OF Potato Creek way
over TO my fathers, down on the Sinnemahone,
and said to father, in his picturesque way:
"'Reubcn Pettibonc.' said he, unless you
come over to my place and put end to an
unscrupuous bear that has actually squatted
on part of my farm, won't have pig left to
winter us over on, even If the bear makes up his
mind not to take me and my family along with
him, too. Me and my family would like to stay
there, and we'd like to have u pig or two left.to
kind O. help along till spring. So unless you
come and rescue MS, our chances are slim
is he bear II big one. Timothyf said my
father.
"a rip snortcr! said Timothy.
" And sassyi said my father.
" Sassy! said Timothy. He walked up
t'other night, cuffed my hired man off the milk.
in stool in the barnyard, and carried off my
best calf! Is that sassy enough for you,
Reubenl
my father said that was pretty fair for
sassness. But you know bears are nuts for
me. Timothy. said hc and the bigger and sas
so father went back home with Timothy to
rescue his stock and household from the ruth
melt certainly is not nccessary-,to tell OF the
half dozen or moro lively skirmishes that Reu
and chased one another round and round in those
from tho noighborhood Of the farm the instant
IL discovered that my father had come; how
the bear would hide behind some big tree OF
stump, and. as Reuben Pettibonc went by;
him until he could manage to fling the bear of
how Reuben Pettibone would lay for the bear
somewhat In the same way. and, when the bear
like a mad panther, and pound and clutch and
wrestlc with it until its tongue hung out so fai
ne e0fby again o fs
, / get wind and courage for another round II
isn't necessary for me to say ANY Sanything 6 about
Of the bear was not skirmish. 1t was some
thing that would have, frightened almost any
this that spattered the blcmish on the Pettibont
escuteheon II is this that is - to sGour ;; il or
|
the bear, Just for the fun and recreation of the
thing. Reuben Pettihonc made up his mind that
% %as gsng f Ra as E6ST
whether the bear was going to come back and
finish up the farm or not he would bring III,
matter to II crisis and wind up the bears pre-
, dacious career.
:. I might as well show him now that there
isn't room enough here below for him and mt
both said my remarkable father.
The bear had made up its mind. too il
fooled away. for when Reuben Pettibone RAJ
against II for the last round the bear was stand
On m h%a @ oe nr fs' S
; wide open. My remarkable father took ain
at one Of the bears forelegs, thinking to wins
close proximity TO the dangerous gully before
there was any more possible wrestling and tls
10 tumble over the scanned and fssurcd wall o
old Deep Rock. The bullet struck the forelsf
paws and yelled. The trouble was that il
eW them too far for it IL San
and looked down. There lay the bear on it,
face On he bottom Of the SS Sa fry feet
There 1t lay, unable to rise. and there was II,
: way to get down to it except by tumbling down
Pettibono said afterward, 1t was me as saw
my expected trophy, not les, less than 300 pounSd,
bottom Of that gully and the crows actually
gatherin' to have picnic, with It by and by!
THE longer my remarkable father Gazed dowr
on that bear so far out OF his reach the maddc
he got, and he was just about to scramble dow
the face Of that gully some way rather than 9,
home and have 1t get out. to his everlasting
chagrin that crows had robbed him ont Of
bear, when he noticed a queer change coming
over the boar 1t didn't howl much, and it,
3 kicks were feeble. Then the hind parts of th'
bear began to lift themselves free OF the grounS
. In n startling sort of way, and they swaycd ant
bobbed in the air. They kept rising higher an'
higher until tho bear was actually standing oI
its head and swnying to and fro n! II the wins
was blowing it about and II couldn't help itself
II was such an uncanny sight, Reuben Pet
bono said. that hc-eyen he-fclt that he wonlt
be much more comfortable at home digging hi
q taters SO what would an ordinary person
have donci Dropped dead in his tracks. All
sure he would. So was Reuben PETIT bone. Blu
he gazed right at the bears ccrie circusing q
O the bottom of that gully, and by and by saw tn
a entire big body of the bear begin to rise AM
come sailing cl'wly upward for all the world n
i IL 1t wasn't OF any more account than feather
n The bear came upward, tail foremost, and thc
. Reuben PeLtibonc noticed that tho body wa
3 out OF the depths ii made desperate effort 10 gc
itself back to its natural position on all fonrs bu