CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1898-05-05
Uncle Wash's Escape
BY NED HUTTON.
'<eeEeGeEGeee<eeeeeEe

III ington Burns in front of the big fire
| place in the old mans home up in Calla-
way county the conversation lam
guished, and we dropped into reverie
as the logs burned down to glowing
Goals. \ rat began gnawing in the
easement of the mantel, and the old
man, rousing himself and reaching for
the tobacco jar, said:
''Thnr's Hazel at it again"
asked: els Hazet the rats nameT
at shore is. sonny," replied the old
gentleman with chacklc, .an' the way
he comes by it is all on account of his
liking for hazelnuts as an article ov
grub. I've knowed the little varment
fer long time an fer TO kill time I'll
jest call him out an show you his leedle
pecooliarity with them nuts"
Uncle Wash crossed to the corner of
the room and drew forth handful of
hazeInuts from barrel. After select
ing an iron from a row on the shelf,
be sat down in front of the fireplace,
clasped the iron between his knees and
began cracking them with an old wagon
tongue pin, peering over his glasses at
the hole in the easement after each nut.
When the click of the iron on the nut.
began. the gnawing ceased, and pres
emily the rat appeared at the hole. His
shiny eyes surveyed the room carefully
and finally settled on the old man.
Then he came out on the floor, and ad-
vaneing to the old 'gentleman's side
climbed up his trouser leg and sat on
his knee and waited. watching every
move of Uncle Wash's hands with his
little, beady eyes.
Uncle Wash cracked a nut and gave
the rat the kernel, which the rat quick
ly disposed of. holding it between his
paws while Cnawing it, His capacity
for nuts seem I'd unlimited.
BY accident ! overturned a chair !
had been twiriing. and the rat jumped
from his perch and scampered to his
hole in apparent great terror.
Hazel is mighty pecooliar thata-
way" said Uncle Wash when he had
finished the rnts aad was smoking
again. ''He shore likes hazelnuts, an
will quit eatin' up the house any time
fer mess ov m, but fallin' chairs
makes him nervous, kinder. Jes' the
minute what he hears me crackin' nuts
here in front of the fireplace. that air
rat'H quit the most important piece of
enawin' he's got on hand an come pok-
in in here fer his sheer, but when 6
racket like that happens. the leedle var
rnent gifts in fidget fer to leave an he
does it in hurry"
Il recollect once when he comes rae
in in here loolin' fer nuts like he did
ies' now. an he run up aginst more'n
=
that fetched your Uncle Wash outen a
difficulty that was pinchin' him might
ily. an I reckon the rat recollects it
too 1t was mighty embarrisin' to the
rat. an TO another party who was here
present, but it shore tickles your Uncle
Wash. an that's why / think SO much
oy him"
..as, sir continued the old gentle
man. chuckling 10 himself. "Yaas, sir.
that pore leedle insignificant animal
shore saves your Uncle Wash from gift
tin married to a widder woman onct
on a time, an on that account / kinder
takes pains to look out fer him now. an
sorter comfort him when he gifts
skeered nt chairs or the dogs moyin'
round under the house an growlin' in
their sleep.
This here wilder woman I'm goin'
to tell Won about was called Mis- Sile by
all the neighbors round here. Her
name ! dun fergot now. cause never
was much interested in this female no.
how, but she uster sig n it up at the store
as Mis- Silas Madder. after her husband.
an so everybody knowed her as Mis-
Sile
-.sshe was ies' n widder woman fer
ieedle while. when the rat averts a
catastrophe an saves your Uncle Wash
a-rarryin' her. She lives perty near
over on The county line, an her husband
VAS drowned ono spring trim to cut
ice on the river when they was thaw
coin' on. The ice dun cracked when
he was a-sawin' ov il. an Silas fell in
an was drowned, along with a ice saw
that ole Bill Gaines had bought in ST
Louis an had loaned to him. They
never found Silas. ner the ice saw.
drifted to the mouth of the river that
nir woman was chasin' over the county
leol<in' fer another man.
>'She looks over all the avaylable fel-
lers in this naik ov the woods, an il
looks like she finally decides ter settle
down on your Uncle Wash as a fitten'
victim fer mstrimony; at least knows
that after that she devotes all her at
tentions to that end.
1t was about the time that the wild
der was manooverin' most an was a
weakenin' that l forms the acquaint-
ance of this rat He was kinder like
the wid5er woman: he jes' drapt in, an
findin' the surroundings congenial, ma
tully he stayed here.
Il first notices him one night when
I was a-sitt'n' here like we air now, an
was jes' rassin' the time away crack
in hazelnuts when sees him stick his
head outen the hole down thar in the
casin' an look up at me like he wanted
some hazelnuts, too. l rolls couple
along the floor over to him fer to see.
1t didn't take him two seconds to squat
down on his hind legs an gnaw off
corner of the she'll an reach in with
one paw an git the goody out an sit
thar eatin' it, listenin' between bites to
the dogs movin' round under the house.
"Natuliv | takes up with the critter.
more esrcciallv since / hri h>erd the
widder lsy. The didn't l.,.c rats. an
feeds him hazelnuts till he's so swelled
up he l>aint skaeely git back in his hole.
an the next night ne comes back agin'
an sits thar eatiu' nuts an listenin' to
the dogs.
"Tte v-'.'i>-. --------- ->--,~ -->.,--'
every onct in a while an sit an chatter
an' then so away. At night men the