Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1900-07-21


but one of the biggest Wildcats l ever
laid eyes on. lie hadn't bin hurt by
the fall. but he was mad huff to eat
nails. | had skccrcely made out what
the varmint was when he lit on me and
got to work. | don't reckon you ever
met up with a 20 pound wildcat with
teeth and claws in good trim, but if
you ever do you'll find that buZZSaws
amt in il with him. The varmint
Knocked me down at the fuSt jump,
and he had torn off half my clothes be-
TO | could git up. Then we went at it
hammer and tougS. | had denied the
children of Israel, and so | had to de-
pend upon the club. 1t wasn't much
of weapon to fight wildcat with.
The crittCr lodged half the blows, and
the other half didn't seem to hurt any.
| yelled fur my dawg, but he didn't
cum. | yelled fur the old woman, and
bout the time | yelled | cotched sight
of her two rods off. loOkin on. She had
my rifle in her hands, and | hOllcred
fur her to cum cluscr and shoot the cat.
"Icb White, seq She it amt fur me
to mix in this fout. You went out in
defiance of the Lawd to cotch a coon,
and if you've cotchcd wildcat in
stead it's proper punishment
Her words made me md and
tcched my pride, and l Determined to
kill that cat without her help or be
clawcd to death a-tryin. | got in two
or three good blows and sortcr evened
up things, but it was nip and tuck.
BimCby, when l begun to weaken, l
says to the old woman:
81 amt akin you to shoot the var
mint, but you might shoot off Il paw or
two and gimme a far show
"'IIow about Sunday she asks,
never movin Il foot.
Its Il purity good day
els it the Lawd's day or a coon's
day.
"'The Lawd's day, l reckon. .Gwine
to stand thar till the meat is clawed
off my bones:
"'Can't tell yit. When the Lawd
brings about a calamitous calamity to
punish a man fur denyin him it's fur
folks to be kecrful how they mix in
Nobody has aXed you to mix in
say /, anu lDtll L Ntlll LUZ llldI cat
like a hawk fur chicken. Fur the
next five minutes | had the advantage
and was bCginnin to feel pcart, but the
loss of blood began to tell. and found
myself CROWN weak. The old woman
noticed it and called out:
"XCb, how about the Bible?
"1'm a-bclicvin in it, says l as
M ftt1 blow ot IN
"'And how about the children of
Israeli
"I'm a-believin in them too
"'Did they cross the Red sea dry
shod|
"I'll bet they did"
"'WaS Phario overwhelmed?
Gle was, and I'll lick any man who
denies it,.
"'Jcst one mo- question, Zeb,' says
the old woman as she Gums forward.
Are thar gWne to be any mo- coon
huntin on Sundays|
"'Not if we never hcv another pint
of 'laSScS in the cabnn says | as the
cat rakcS me across the shoulders
That ended the fight. The old wo-
man mixed in and shot the cat through
the head, and tumbled down and lay
thar fur half an hour befo' she could
help me hObblc home. Bout all the
clothes | had left on me was one boot
and a shirt collar, and it was fo' weeks
bcfo' the bites and scratches let me git
around ag'in. On the fuSt Sunday l
could sit out | saw Il bar up the noun
ting and started fur my gun, but the
old woman held up her hand and said:
"Xcb White, take Il cheer and sot
down. Yes; know it's bar, and we
are powerful short of meat, but we've
got Somcthin else to do. AS soon as
git my hands out of this dshwater III
fill my pipe and SOt down, and you'll
read to me bout them children and the
Red sea. If you read slow and don't
skip anything, mebbe you'll find some.
thin bout wildcats too"