The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12

HAT, ana, Arier They Had Killed rive,
They Hnd to He Patched Up By n Dostor.
"The time I was fishing on Barley Rum" said
John Gilbert, the travelling groccryman, DOC
Barnes came into the tavern ono day and said
that he had lust been up TO Farmer Ben POM
eroy's and to Jim Cranes. taking some stitchesin
Ben's boy Sam and Jim's boy Joe. Tho OR.
cumstances that led to his being called to that
neighhorhood, as near as l could gather them
from authentic sources, were substantially az
follows: Fourtoen-y ear.old Sam Pomeroy was
industriously planting potatoes in q back field
on his fathers farm that forenoon, when 10
yeRr-old Joe Crane came along.
'Plantin' Eaters, SNmi' said Joe.
Sam said no was.
What do you sit for dom Of III asked Joe.
" Don't git nothin' fer dom of It. replied
Sam. Fer not dom Of It l git licked
Then thorc wns silence for q moment. By
and by Joe said:
" It's too wet TO plant Eaters. They'll rot
Don't seem to strike my pap that way said
Sam, and no planted along. Silence for a spell.
Then Joe Bnid:
There's n wildcat I'M hero n piece, SAM
=" Go 'way! exclaimed Sam. STRENGTHENING
up, and leaning on his hoe. 'where'boutsT
" 'Jist beyond the laurel patch, nigh the edge
o. the Devils Rut,' replied Joe.
Sam pondered in silence for a minute, with
his chin on his hoe handle, and then, sighinR,
resumed his planting. Joe broke tho silence
again.
Can't you sncAk!your pap's gum said he.
i've snuck my pap's.'
YES, l kin sneak It easy enough said Sam,
leaning on his hoe with one hand and scratch,
ing his head with tho other. But pap'l lick
me like tarnation fer knockin' Off ~plantin'.'
"'Thcre's 50 bounty jist fer the Wildcats
ears lnsinunted Joe, an the hides worth %
more
""Thnt's 3d. said Sam, shaking his head dole.
fully. 'Durn tho 'taters.' .
"'There's n circus over to town next week.
said Joe. an faint fur yet till tho Fourth Of
July. l s'pose yer pap'l give you 81, O. course.
to,take EN- In
"'Not by a jugful he WON'T exclaimed Sam,
dropping the hoe. 'Whercn l meet you, JoeV'
And Joe went back to the woods, while
father was ploughing in n field that lay in the
direct way thithcr. In less than a quarter Of
rock spring, and marched for the place where the
wildcat was alleged to be lurking. That there
well known. Some said there were two. One had
S been 81 seen tam sSye rad times osn at Sr any rate and q mum
and poultry yards had been thinne d"G QUIZ in on 4
way that denoted tho methods of the wildcat.
Sothere was no doubt that one, at least, OF there
neighborhood. Men had hunted for it and
trapped for it, but 1. had thus far oluded hunter
and trapper. The day Joe Crane appeared to
San, Pomoroy in the potato field he had been.
looking for a hawks most which he beloved
the DEVILS Rut. when he ran across a big Wild
cat; which ran up a tree, cronched in the fork.
hurried home. 'snuck' his fathers gun. and.
with rare diplomacy. induced Sam Pomeroy to
paign against the Wildcats peit and ears.
Joe; as the arbitor Of the hunt, sent Sam
where he SlrPWlly Suanprtnd thn Caran,nunb
had his refuge. while he himself went round the
patch to be ready for the willy, game II Sam
routed 1t out. Sam started the big cat and got
a shot at it. He broke one of its hind legs, but
the wildcat bounded on out of tho laureis on
heels over head. !" i YER tel, 5 k kSRl %4q and a%p geiiins Z:
Ing kicks carried it over the edge. SO it Tell head.
long to the:bStt9m Of the rpt.,
small scale. 1t is a scam in the rocks, not over
ten foet wide at Its widest part, thirty feeb
sSSpii o @RS 9 ao S~af inao the a be %liT 1 R@f. and 19e so SnS
see the wildcat dead at tho bottom. To climb
S SiiitS, t and i Il looked * dn as OIRfe9 eho hunts wns M %n i% To be 4
frGit !%s! one d Hfter al, .,t, sou ..n.rn
worte of than, nothin', fer all I'll git now viii
But Sam was a pessimist. Joe was optimis-
wildcats bounty and its skin, perhaps. buo
both he and Sam would have returned home
SOY, nothing of clothes.
1T Is a great place for wild grapes around
stretches for nifty feet or more. 1t took joe
Crane no longer than two minutes to think OUT
a plan for securing the wildcat. and all that 10
Implied; He traced out a vine that had thrown
yards from its parent care. He climbed the
trees In succession. cutting the vine loose from
the branch vines and ,tendrils that held it, and
Mt last had 1t free, n long, strong. natural rope,
fully fifty feet in length. The two bows tested
its strength by putting their combined weight
on II nEn HANGING rom II II lnlI Anfa nr1
strong to its native tree. Joe lowered the vine
to the bottom of the DEVILS Rut. and went down
intention was TO fasten the wildcats carcass
to the vine and have Sam haul it up, but while
he heard Joe shouting something else.
" Hello, Sam! Joe shouted from the Rut.
tn pro down hers 1 with the guns! Tha's a hole
sam couldn't drop down with tho guns, SO
them to the bottom. Then he dropped down
Joe's grapevine. and Joined Joe in the rut. -,
Each pair o them balls o fire. said Joe, .s
four is eight: and this feller here that we've
plinkcd already is tootoms two is four. maxim
the two balls O. fire on the nigh side, an III
take the two on tho of side. When say three.
ut seemed a good while to Sam before Joe said
three, but when the word came he let her bim.'
once, and the four balls Of lire disappeared. bus
something, else came in sight. Two Wild
cats bounded out of the hole in the rocks, over
the bodies of the two Joe and sam had shot. and
while the report of the guns was still bowling
alo:.g the narrow passage in booming echoes.
and before the boys had timo 10 DO surprised.
they found thcmselvcs mixed up on the rocky
Rrnpeyines. guns. and stones. in such a way
that the impress of 1t on their minds will be
fresh and vivid long after the Impressions %
made on their bodies have disappeared.
Neither Joe nor Sam could recall Just how
they managed to bring the end about, but the
condition OF tho two Wildcats heads conveyed
the impression that 1t was accomplished prin.
Cipally by the butts OF guns. At any rate.
when the rush and whirl and yelling were ali
over. tho boys found themselves sitting on tho
bottom OF the Rut, without much clothing on to
speak OF. and with scG-cely n spot four Inches
square, from their shoulders down that didn't
have the marks OF a wildcats claw imprinted
on It.. As they sat there wiping tie blood with
such bits of shirt and things as still hung to
them, Joe WAS the first to break the silence.
THAT hole said he, was n lcctle fuller o.
wildcat than calkilatcd on, But them last
ones makes tootcms four Is eight more, SAM
"Saln said he 'knOw'd It, but made the ann