The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-01-06


terminator in chief, is preparing to begin
its annual onslaught on things along
Padnlico sound, and Mr.. GriswoId is
busy getting ready to go down and put
himself at the head of his department..
He is trying his guns, training down his
dogs and laying in necessary supplies.
Among these he always includes a
story or two to take along and with it
amaze the natives of Hyde county.
Without any warning he completed his
arrangements in this respect yesterday.
The Fairchild House circle, having had
its weekly dinner, was in session in
formally, enjoying its post-prandial
smoke. Nobody was saying a word.
Nobody was expected to say word.
But Packy Griswold was present for Il
purpose, and suddenly, in a calm voice
and without making even an effort to
open his eyes, he broke the silence.
"My uncle over in the town of Wayne"
said he, "seen bear kill snake once
down in the Rolypoly Run country. and
think the snake must a been the last OF
its race, for / never heerd of anyone
SEEM another snake like it since"
Saying this, Mr.. Griswold opened his
eyes and looked around on his fellows
of the circle, as if TO note the effect of
his opening remarks upon them. He
saw looks of surprise everywhere, which
seemed to satisfy him, and keeping his
eyes open now, he calmly proceeded:
''Of course" said he, "a good many
feller citizens of my uncle's sot the
story goin' that if he had took the
pledge when he was young and had kept
it ever since, he wouldn't a seen that
snake the bear killed, but them Teller
citizens was jealous of my uncle, and he
ignored their 'siniwations, kept his own
counsel, and the same old two-gallon
Jug in his house, and told that snake
story till the day he was called to his
fathers and went, leavin' hole in the
body polite of the town O. Wayne, fig
ger'tively speakin', that no three Of the
best kind O. Teller citizens hain't never
been able to plug up, even to this day.
'One day, good many years ago, my
uncle was settin' on the edge O Roly-
poly Run Holler, skinnin' couple O.
deer he had killed. He wasn't a hunter,
nor he wasn't fisherman, my uncle
wasn't, but a man whose bond would be
took anywheres jest as quick as his
word. He had killed them two deer,
though, and sot there skinnin' EN-. He
skun away at them deer, and he skun
and he skun till at last he had 'em both
peeled. Then he happened to look off
to one side, where there was an openin'
T., Lo ho in'
that made him culver and quaver
"rLivin' jewsharps!' said he. its
one O. them log-fghtin' snakes that
folks in these parts used to remember!
''They called 'em log-fghtin' snakes,
cause they didn't like it when the lum-
bermen took to goin' into the Rolypoly
Run country; so they used to git to-
gether and fight the logs the lumbermen
rolled down the hills to the creek, and
tried to stop 'em from gittin' there.
The rollin' logs used to kill good many
o. the snakes, and that put the men back
with their work when they come to
drive the logs, cause they couldn't tell
which was logs and which was dead
snakes. And it was one O them snakes
my uncle see glarin' at him that day,
and he was gittin ready to hand his two
deer over to it and cut sticks for the
nearest camp when he seen somethin
else, so he changed his mind.
"'This is gettin interestin, said my
uncle. This is, indeed!'
Seems to me that was natural thing
to say, under the circumstances. First,
there was the two deer my uncle had just
skun; then there was the trenenjus
snake layin' off in the bushes glarin'
at him, and shootin' out tongue like
q red-hot poker; and now here come
clammin' big bear pokin' its nose out O
the bushes on t'other side, opposite the