River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-04-28

I'VE was settiE' around, three or fom
of us. when this nice lookin' chap was
drove in from Pocono by Sim Davis
He had on bran new huntin' suit, with
yaller leggins. ! never see a pootier
shotgun than he had-shined like new
milk pan, and shot 16 times, so l heerd
Sim Davis he says:
Boys he says, this is Mr.. Petit
grew, of Philydelphy. He's come to git
few pheasants.'
I'VE says, How de do, Mr.. Pettigrew?'
He says, How dc do. gentlemen
THE way he said it, throwed away
my cbaw and got ready-and il was
new chaw, too. Things looked sure, but
thing. is mighty deceivin'. Mr.. Petit
grew didn't seem to care darn whether
he knowed what we gener'ly took or
whether lie didn't. Leastways, he
didn't ask us. l waited awhile, and
then borried a new chaw off o. Sim
Davis, but Joe Maley was so disap-
p'inted he went out and sot on the
stoop.
"'fnl Jest out fer BIRDS says Mr..
Pettigrew, am l don't calc'late to go
fur in the woods he says, so / don't
need nobody to go with me- he says.
"'You better load one barl with
buclshot,' l says. You mowt run up
ag'in a bear I says.
Pooh, pooh!' says Mr.. Pettigrew.
All the bears there is in the patch o.
| scrub oaks he says, wouldn't make
potpie! I'll take care o all the bears
there is in these woods!' says he.
''If it hadn't been for one thing I'd
got up and fit that Teller right there.
But the unfoItnit situation was that he
was in tow o Sim Davis, and Sim was
worse than bears when he tackled a
Teller. Then, ag'in, we was all in the
dumps, and the way things had been
shown up for a week or two it looked
rs if this young whipper-snapper wasn't
fur from right, fer none of us hadn't
been able to scare up or get track or
smell of single durn bear. and we had
hunted from the Shoholy to the Pocono.
Consistently we was a gloomy and
disappointed set, and we jest sot and let
Pettigrew be aggravatin' without hav-
in the heart to git up and bet him all
he could raise that we'd take him out
and run IA bear on him in less'n an hour.
about eight o'clock next mornin'
Pettigrew harnessed hisself an went
out.
Say he says, if put up a bear,
I'll fetch his hide in to YOU he says,
and away he went.
"I'd give ten dollars said Joe Maley,
griffin his teeth, if l Enowed where |
could start bear for certain to-day
says he. I'D go out and surround him,
and drive him plum ag'in that smarty,
and Earn him somethin' about woods!'
says he.
las it was, me and Joe and a couple o
more went out to see if we couldn't find
bear an work it round and git it on
to Pettigrew. We got back in the after
noon furder down in the dumps than
ever. We hadn't seen even a sign that'd
show that there had been a bear in
them woods for 20 years
"'Never seen the like!' says Joe
Maley. / don't care nothin' about get
tin bear, but see how the reputation
o the country is sufferin'' says he.
jest then who should come tearin
in but Jabe. Seemed as if he was goin
to have conniption fit right away.
'Boys!' he hollers. or Twister has
give me the slip! He has cut and run,
as sure as steel traps!' says Jabe.
"Well, now, maybe there want stir
among us. OF Twister was too high
priced critter to be runnin' loose in
the woods, and we all started out to
surround him and fetch him home.
He'd been missin' since mornin', Jabe
said, and here it was slidin' along lords
the end o the afternoon. We hunted
and hunted, but or Twister didn't git
in our way nowheres, and the dogs
couldn't hit his track. Shutdown was
crowdin' us pooty close, and we was
thinkin of givin' up fer the day, when
we heerd a noise that sounded queer.
1t came from up the creek, and was n
l., -.