The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-02

S25 TO $50. according TO the diligence will
which he has set and tended his traps. The
money he wraps up In a piece OF worn oilskin
jams 1t into II cavernous pocket and goes his
way. II is popularity reported that he buries
it In small bits here and there through the
woods aud about his cabin. making banks Of
hollowtrees and snfety'boxes o, disused SWAMP
rabbit burrows. He spends nothing on neigh
borhood girls. rs an unfortunate facial dlsiig-
urement has made him sensitive and he has
never attempted marriage.
lie pays no ground rent. The one-roomed
log cabin in which he lives has been there so
long that every one has forgotten the name OF
the man who built 1t and cleared a little space
OF ground. Large patches OF green moss cling
TO its roof. Its logs are gray with age. It's
heavy door. consisting OF a single plank rivon
with a wedge from an oak log. hangs on raw
hide hinges A wooden bar fastens it on the
inside. II has no window. A dirt chimney
runs up its outside and In It's dirt fireplace
Stonewnll does his cooking on the Goals. His
bread he bakes In a thrce-leRged Dutch oven.
and It is very good bread. The house stands
on a little hill OF firm ground that rises from
the swamp land and "a small spring gushes not
twenty yards from its door. It's tenant Is hap
py. lie enjoys TO tho full the rights Of squat
tor sovereignty. He has not bought a foot OF
tho land and he did not build tho house. but
land and house are his and will remain his so
long as he cares to use them. No taxes are
required OF him. IL is five miles to the near
est farm. and heavy woods and deep water
courses intervene. Here day after day. year
in and year out. he spends a lonely and per-
fectly haupy existence. Like every other ma
tive OF this region. he Is chill proof. He Is
never i'll. If illness should attack him he
would eat some kind OF grass. like other ami
mails. and get well. No one knows where he got
his name Of Stonewall Jackson. He wandered
into this part OF the State whom a boy OF not
more than -. tits said that he came from ore
Of the middle counties. hare-lip makes his
utteronce indistinct. but he managed to make
1t understood that his father and " other were
dead. He had a rifle whose barrel was forty.
four inches long and its broken stock was
bound about with wire. He got credit for
rowder aud lead from a kindly disposed store
keeper. plunged into the woods. found his de-
serted cabin and settled down to earn his
right to live. He is supposed to have more
than 81 900 in cash hidden away In the swamp.
On ten years of incessant practice he has be-
zone singularly expert in his business OF trap
ping an mails. He pursues it on.y when he
feels like 1t. having the natives aversion to
steady work. Much Of his time is spent in All
ing along Otter Creek. and. as he has practi-
cally the entire stream to himself. he enjoys
murn SIOT1. ne mas demonstrated Una aU
certain seasons the Southern black bass will
rise voraciously to the fly. which. owing to the
gloom Of the trees and the fact that sunlight
visits only the centre OF the stream. must be
of'particularly gaudy colcrs. These flies he ties
himself, making them OF the wing feathers OF
the redbird. the breast feathers OF the field
lark. russell from Quails. green from the many
yireos and so forth. He has one fly OF dia-
mond-like brilliancv made from the feathers
OF humining birds which he has captured at
various times by the simple device of throwing
his large cotton hat over them. but he has
never been able to take anything with 1t. He
says that the gorgeous dyes are so blazingly
bright that they scare the fish. The true ex-
PLANTATION is to he found probably in the TACT
that Stonewall's humminR bird lure looks like
nothing that ever swan or walked or lew.
IT 10 more like a je vel in the sunlight than'any-
thing else. He has also devised a hook for tax
ing the large CARS with which the waters of
'tter creek are infested. lie mas tied Six
large steel hooks toRcther IN such space that
thelr points PROJECT pwhrd at equal intervals.
lhese POINTS ne mas hled 70 a needle Keenness
anu mas "iso ueepeneu the paros. Inc inner
wah OF the gar mouth ID pony and the mouth
lslined with two rowslof feetn-in some species
four-Dut the. bunch OF hooks VIII hang to any
thlhc 'hey touch. lhey are fastened 10 a
heavy piece OF copper wire six feet long and to
this Is Joined a grass rope strong enough to
suspend a steer Inc outer Creek gar will
average Tour leet IN length. has n girth OF
twenty-five inches. is particularly muscular. is
as savage as a shark and Will go after any,
thlns u thinks II needs Tor dinner. 1t feeds
on lsh from necessity. but Is particularly fond
oil smaIl BIRDS. and 1t leaps at them with the
speed o' thought when they light on low over
hahginG branches 10 drink or sing, 1t is this
weakness OF the gar which has given Stone
wall MS pian OF hshinC. he IS not troubled by
any thoughts OF cruelty or the right OF other
animals TO i've. his experience has taught
MIN that. so TAR as the animal Kingdom Is
concerned. 1t ls the strongest that lives and
that the weaker nave no right to live. he Is
perfectly content to leaTe an otter three days
Starving IN the trap II he Is too lazy to go after
IL. ana MS sixth sense does not tell him that it
VIII get away II lett alone,
Consequently. in preparing his bait for the
CARS he has no compunctions. He traps a halt
d ozen redbirds. swamp wrens or anything OF