Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-20


come in an driv' de grays out. l know d
de feedin' groun', an de promenade of all
de foxes FUN here ter de rivcr-evc'y one
un UNI. An mo- dan dat, | know whar
one Of red stays right now. Hes ez big
ez a cur dog. Folks tried der level hes
fer ter ketch dat oil fox 10 de war. Dey
brunG dogs here frum away off yam. but
he des played wild UNI. He kin tell houn
fun a house dog by de bark, an time he
hear one after midnight, he done gone-ha
done up an gone, He got a white patch
twixt his eyes. an on count er dat, dey
call i'm Scour- Face."
Scar Face" Buster John corrected.
WHY. he's the fox they are going to
CATCH"
Fountain laughed softly. "Oh. dey er
gwine ter ketch i'm? Well after hes cotch
er Scyar-Face. / wanter see what dat white
mark is 'twiXt his eyes
They are going TO bring Birdsong dogs,
explained Buster John.
We'll dey'll halter sing bird song er
some yuther kinder song fore dey ketch
dat fox
besides all the other dogs. Joe Max
well is TO bring Hodo," remarked Buster
John.
Il hear tell er dat dog" replied Foun-
tain. 'Dey say he sho is a mover. But.
shucks, you kin hear dat kinder talk bout
mos any dog. But dish yer Hoodo got ter
have brains well SIS legs eff he ketCh Of
ScouTFaCe. I'm a-talkin' now. shO."
Where does Old Scar-Facc stay, Uncle
Fountain?H asked Buster John.
You know dat ar hloom-SaGo fiel'. right
up yam. cross de road fun de gin house,
Well, he stay right dar Eff you wuz ter go
out er door dar an holler right loud, hid
hear you. yessn he's prom"nadin' some'rs
else. He been dar dis long time. Dey don't
a week pass but what l sees him slippin
an slidn' long. He moves des like shad-
der: once an awhile he'll stop an lock at
you, but mos CT de time its fwiff, an he
done gone. He got sense same cZ folks"
Buster John asked Fountain a great
many questions about Scar-Face. with the
result that he made w his mind 10 see the
fox himself. His curiosity affected Sweetest
Susan. and she expressed a desire to see
old Scar-Face. As for Drusilla she didn't
care one way or the other. So long aS there
was no bubble and no live nightmares
around. she was satiSiied-at least, she was
not contentious; though she predicted now.
as she had been doing all DAY long. that
the children would keep on foolin' 'roun
an gwine whar dey got no business tel
some kind er Creetur would snap um up
an walk off wild UNI.
It was an easy matter for Buster John
and Sweetest Susan To say they would like
to see old Scar-Face. the red fox. but how
to see him was a very different matter
They might walk through the broom
sage every day for a week, or a month"; OF
a year and never see him: they might sit
in the fence corner and peep between The
rails from sunup till shutdown. and never
catch Il glimpse of him. Old Scar-FaCc
would see them. oh. yes, no doubt about
that. 1t was his business to see without
being seen. He began to learn that trade
v hen he wasn't bigger than Buster Johns
two fists: and by constant practice he had
developed 1t into a fine art The shyeSt
and wariest birds could light within an inch
of his nose and never see him: could fght
there. but they never flew away any more.
Old Molly Cottontail, all eyes and ears,
could sit in her coy home. and never know
that old Scar-Face was In the neiGhbOr-
hood until she felt his cruel teeth And
even the wood rat whose keen eyes fairly
glstened with cunning, hardly dared to
shake q straw in all that field for fear of
being bounced upon.
Well. then. how could the children hope
to catch glimpse of this wild and cum
ming creature? Aaron was the one to solve
the problem for them, and to Aaron they
went. He tanned the White Pig for them,
and had made them familiar with the
black stallon-that fierce creature whose
neigh was sufficient to stampede the whole
plantation. If Aaron could do these
things. he could also bring them to Old
Scar-Face. the red fox. So to Aaron they
went. with many cXplana tons and plead
iugs. Mention of the old fox caused Aaron
to reflect little over the past. He had
known old Scar-Face when a puppy a
statement that caused the children to
laugh.
There is war between the reds and grays,
the Son Of Ben Ali explained. a war that
began many years ago over some family
matter. Fox to fox. the reds can whip the
srays. and this fact has become so well
established that the grays always get out
of the way when they can. 1t happened
one day when Scar-Face was a puppy"
Aaron said, with big legs and a very
wobbly body. he met a big gray in the
woods Some instinct or other caused the
red to rush at the gray, and that was the
cause of the reds scar. The gray would
have run away if he could. but Scar-FaCe
caught him by the flank and held on like
buii-terrier, while the gray, frightened and
hurt, gnawed away on Scar-Face's head
until the top OF it was bare OF hide and
hair.
1t was then that the Son of Ben All
CHANGED to pass, and the gray with a
scream of fear tore away. leaving some of
his pelt between ScarFaCe's teeth. After
some trouble Aaron explained TO The red