Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-08-09

The rockies became suddenly SILENT
and Sevenspot continued:
"-Iv tn tonne whin / were sta
toned at Fort Sherman, in Idaho,which
do be mare tn Coor-de-Ellens. Thot
were before the examinin' surgeon
called me eyes twinty-forty, which do
be doctor talk for lopsided. Iwere thin
wearin' me craftsmanship badges on
me blouse instead av hidin' thin in me
chist at barricks for fear av bein' chal-
lenged.
Wan day I wint ont luekin' for bear
up he Niggerhead mountain, which
maybe we've seen in your service.
Afther marchin' for may be twinty mile
an havin' no luck at all at all, l KEN
across a large tree with the bark peeled
Off. About 40 fate above tn ground
there were a large hole in tn tree.
Thin thinks I, lucIin hard at tn tree
an tn hole forninst il, av / can't get a
bear I'm thinllin' there do be a sleepy
coon thot's comm Sevenspot's way.
For, moind We, tn snow lay heavy on
tn ground An l knew that a bear
would take TO a tree like that ownly
as d last resort, for whole a bear can
climb a smooth tree av it's big enough
it can't climb down, but must slide,
takin' chances av broken bones.
"Raysonin' that way an feelin' sure
av a sleepy coon, l putt aside me rife
an climbed tn tree. Whin raiched tn
hole ! putt me hand in an felt for tn
coon. phwat ! were sure were there.
raiched and raiched, but could find no
bottom TO tn hole. Thin, thinks ], sure
there do be more ways than wan av tam
in a redskin. Av l can't get tn coon
wild me fshts, ! may wild me fate So
with that l climbed higher an thin low
cred mcsilf fate foremost into tn hole,
hopin' 10 get tn sleepin' coon between
me. fate an lift mesilf out, coon an all
well, sor, ! let mesilf down little by
little till l were ownly hangin' to tn
edge ay tn hole by me finger nails. An
thin, av a suddint, me hould broke, an
whit rattlin' an crashin' down tn in
soide av that tree for full forthy fate.
Shure, the hollow raiched clane 10 tn
ground. An whin | got there | found
mesilf in tn compiny, not ay a coon, but
av two bear cubs. I've been in some
toight places, bunkie, but shure that
were intoirely too snug a fit. There
were no way TO get out, an tn old she
bear moight be due at amy minute.
"Shure, were just fiXin' me thoughts
TO say a few Hail Marys whin tn hole
up tn tree grew darl-loilse an knew
Mrs. Bear were comm an that it were
tonne to die. Thin castiR' ne eyes w
pard in an attitude av devotion, were
Just beginnin' TO say Hail. whin I OBJ
served that III bear were not comm
into tn hole head first, but hindtore-
most loike meself An with thot me
unspoken prayer were answered wild an
idea. Shure, buukie, that bear let her
self down III insoide av tn tree until
could raich her tail. Thin tallin' a firm
hould av il, drew me penknife and
iabbed her har-r-rd. You should have
seen that bear 60 back up tn hollow av
thot tree. Whin she raiched tn hole
she plunged wildly out av il, an being
clumsy at goin' down a smooth tree fell
tn full 40 feet an broke her neck.
Manewhile she'd pulled me up tn hole
an catchin hould av tn edges Iclimbcd
out an wint back TO tn fort. Tn com
pany had bear steaks III mkt day"
Sevenspot finished his story amid an
awed silence. The old soldiers looked
pensiyely out Of the window. So did
sevenspot. The rockies gazed at each
other with open mouths. Then one
more adventurous than the other pulled
himself together and remarked:
"Aw-rats."
Sevenspot gazed unmoved out of the
window, but the old soldier TO whom he
had addressed the story threw a glance
Of disdain over his shoulder and said TO
! Sevenspot:
There goes the alarm clock, and as
soon as I've told you a little story we'll
20 and have a drink. The alarm clock
that went Off Just now reminds me Off
/ My company was stationed down at
Fort Sam Houston, Tex. There wasn't
much to 90 but chase horse thieves and
rustlers. There was a fresh rookie sent
down from Slocum up here. He hadn't
been there more than a day or two when
be was ordered ont with a squad after
horse thieves. We chased those thieves
allover the Panhandle, sleeping nights
On the ground. OF course we had Iari-
ats 10 run around us at night, so that
therattlesnakesa and tarantulas couldn't
get into our blankets with us.
I've showed the rookie how to fix the
lariat and posted him generally. One
night a RATHER looking for warmth
cooled up just as close TO the rookie as
the lariat would let him. just at day
/ light a bird or something disturbed his
I snakeship, and he cut loose with his
rattles for all he was worth. The rookie
stretched, yawned and iabbed at moth
/ ing with his elbow. Then he yelled:
Damn il, Hannah, don't you hear
the alarm clock? Get up and make the
fire.
That's how It first got out that De
was married and had made a false en-
istmeut, and. Of course. he got a bob
tail discharge and three months hard
labor without pay"
I Then Seyenspot and the other old sol