The evening times., 1898-04-04

tho ole woman wouldn't hev IL. / pulls OF
nv shirt to show the claw-marks. ana
axes the Crittter TO gin me a Ie" iilo
days. but he grins and laughs ana sez;
." 4 kin see how 81 ar - Yo'- scratched
yer back agin hickory tree IN order 10
git out of a fout with me. Iney told
mo over in Moth keerleeny that 70 was
a man. but / git yere 10 find yo chich-
on If | had them scratches on my back
IA never know f. fit two men while
I had broken leg. and licked EN-, and
I fit three bars VIXEN l had broken
arm and sold their pelts fur s. apiece.
Zeb White cum out and git smashed,
..Nfebbe vo' don't know how ii feels 10
hev = critter talk TO yo that way sdlu
Zeb. with n mournful shake OF the head.
"I knowed If ! was well / could MAKE
that ornery buffer chaw grass in hNe
,ninits but | wasn't able to fight a coon.
The ole woman tried TO soothe me. but l
was so mad and heartbroke that | cried
lil.a a boy. Birnebyr the critter jumps up
ana down and whOops and yells at me;
.Zeb White. they sez yo' could out
fgbt any man on this yere mounting
befo' yo' went to wah, and that whlle
vo' was in the wah Gineral Lee rech-
oued yo' as good as hundred men, out
I can't done believe IL. 1t was all oloW
and brag. Yo' might hey skeert sum
u-or,,.n or hoy. but yo' never stood up to
a man in vo'r life. I'll go back to the
Co'ners and tell EN- that l made yo
crawl into yo'r butes.
"That was hard lines" l said. as 1
hoard the old man breathing hard over
the memory of II.
.'Rut | had to take wussn n that. san
That reptile offered 10 fight me with one
band-then with both hands tied behind
him-then with nuthin' but his teeth. He
yybooped and he yelled; he roared and he
balIsred. ne bluffed and he clustered He
hung on till | could stand it no longer,
and I was going out to do my best when
the ole woman sez;
"'Zeb the I.awd is on our side! 70
lest wait fur a mint or two and sump-
thin will happen. That cat yo shot az
is right behind the critter, with her back
bumped I'D 70 feet hlSh' Lldu nun "
bust
And did the cat interfere?'' l asked.
"She did. sah Reckon she took him
f,Ir the man who shot at her Leastwise
she didn't like the way he was BLOWN
around. and lust as he had throwed his
hat down agin and was goin TO holler
sum more she lit on his back. I've seen
sum fun in my time. but nothin' to ekal
that. The man just iggered that I'd
sneaked out o. the back doah and got
behind him. and though he was
blowhard he wasn't gOin' to run away
without a fOut. It's biZness, sab, when
a wildcat tackles a man. She haint
got no time to fool away, and she makes
the fur fly right from the start. The
two of 'em went down arter a mint
and begins to roll over and over, and the
ole woman puts her hand on my shoul-
der and seZ:
Don't mix up with it, Zeb. It's critter
again critter. and when they git through
each one will know he's been in a fout.' "
And how long did it last?''
- But ten minits. l reckon, and they
Jest plowed all over the yard. Bimeby
the cat let go to git a better holt and
the man got up and run off. The airth
was a sight to see the next mawnin'.
Thar was blood and ha'r and rags scat
tered all over half the acre and / reckon
the man didn't hev anythin' on but his
butes when he got away. He stopped
at the Co'ners jest long 'nuff to tell sum
of the boys that men the ole woman
and the dawg and landslide had pitch
ed into him all together, and that it
wasn't kentry in which a man could
git a far show, and he borrowed a hoss
blanket and headed home fur Moth
Keerleeny." 20,