St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1900-06-23

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swer, an I begins to get kinder mad. /
| was Jest startin' to look over the fence |
/ an see what was the matter when I
heard growl behind me an turned
round quick. Lands % rattlesnakes,
boys, what sight met my eyesl Thar
was a big. ugly y-lookin' cinnamon bar
standisl' under an apple tree an a-look-
in right at me. Wall, I'll bet these
/ beautiful locks of mine stood on ead
like porc'pine quills. They want no
/ use feelin' for gun, sause 1 l1nowed
stlian't have any, not even a jackknifeor
| weapon of no kind. 1t was leetle hot
Ter proposition than wanted to tackle
i lest then, SO I babe Mr.. Bruin q hasty
an made forsshe fence.
s'But now, boys, come the trouble In
!. earnest. It was an easy enough matSef
4 to get over that fence, but Whenit come
! to gettin' back, why that was tssf-
i ferent thing. I seen couldn't do It
j nohow, an SO I jest stood an turned my
back TO the fence an waited. BTuin
i was within shree Peetof me then, an he
i riz up onto his hfrd feet an stood thar
novsn' his head iabout III a threatenln' /
manner an motsonin' at me with his
big, ugly paws. The moon was shinin'
oua bright an clear above us, an as hef
a stood thar between me an it he was ono
4 of the most sskeery -1oek kin sights ever
Il seen. lie fdidN appear to be narvosfs
II or discentented in the least, an made
III ND my mind I wouldn't be narvous
II either, So, 1ool1in' straight into his face
n an reckonin the distance, picked out
81 "a spoS onithe big feller's under jaw an
Il give him such kick with my big eoW-
II hide boot at he yelled with pain.
!. ts1cou can bet 'didn't wait. to sse the.
Fl result, but I jest took it across that
+ o'ckard as If the devil was at smy'heels.=
y Lordy, how my feet did visit the
i ground! At Inst I seen a hole'i in the
II feyace wElar a board was gone and at 1T.
4 L I'werlt:f reached tail right, an was.
I, lest aboiit half. way Hthrough when q
u heard q, shufHin' an pantin' behind me.
II sat made my Blood freeze upin knottyI
Iltleetle Jumps Boys, did you ever know
Il "a bsart could bunt? Well, I have had the
i fact drilled into me in a purity forcibRes
way; for. what knocked me through tine
;. fence at such a lively gait that night
,# was ,nothim more pnor less than ahs6
!, BARS head Twas knocked into a: heap
III on the outside ofothea fence, an thar
| laid. fiugg1n' the ground san shiyer3a
) an expectln' every second TO find BFsin
j on topeof me.
J, ss'Wall, Z was purty, sore when got
!. back to tine camp, but dfdn t say roth
:. in7 bout that an the gals put up a nice
) saw the bar they was go skeert they
scod1dnst stssaynoshin an jest ran baca1 to
TIA, house. Ittook in every thing they
Z said. an, the next nightswhen they.ast
me If I wanted to go Tong down'Syith
, | sem an explore the old mine, 7 was jest.
4tickled=to death. to getE chance. We
II took an old syninin' lamp with US, an !
when we got thar started in aheads
carryin' the light. The old drift hsadn' t
been worked FOR years, an dirty water
!, was drippin' from the roof anscoye rln.
nv best, coat as / CROPPED my way in,
tInever ~doubtin' at the gals would fol-
Ter. T had only got a9ozens feet or so,
1 an was Jest $urnin' round to see II the
n damse1s was gettin' oza, all right when
i I stumbled over somefhin' an went
sprawfir' The light went cut IN the.
Il furry an the fust. thing [ knowed they.
: was a deepagrow 'atsechoed through
the ,nfIne an sonaetflifi7 had hold of me.
4 by the bootleg.
eft Hxas pitch dark ia the hole, but a
flood eof moonlight togone, side told, me
W1lar the openin' was. With an awful
effort Z. ierled my leg free an scraIn-
Il fnrf
Il maxim a dash towards that food .fof
81 moonlight Wal, I hadtonly jestlniceiy
/ got onto my feet an turned around
i when I felt somethin' shoot between:
my legs an tip me back tciutehed
wildly IN front of me- an got my both
hands imbedded in the shaggy hair.of
Bruin-for I knowed right well by this
Sirne what it was. The afar shot out
ef that drift at an almighty rapid gait,
an I didn't dare drop off for fear OF
Esztfin' my brains oui againstthe sides.
so I Jest laid flat an 'hugged tight,
watcEip' for a good chance to make a
leap.
@Wal, I fin sit here now an laugh
with the rest of you, when ] look back
at 1T; but you kin bet they want no
fun in it fer me jest then.
fright outside the mouth OF the drift
/ was q little decline, an art the bottom
of it a9as pool of waiter that was made
by the Feetle stream GoWin' out aof the
mine. was all ready, an as SOON as
seen sat was outin the open air again
I Jest slid off, easy as you please, from
the bars back am struck right in that
pool of water. Wow! Bat did get
nice duckin' am mo- mistake.
''The first thing / done was to cuss
myself for bein' such a blamed fool as
to drop in that water. an then I pulled
myself up onto my feet an proceeded
to look myself over. Never lettin' up
on my cussirl' for minute.I I mean
dered back to the camp an jest sneaked
in an went to bed without sayin moth
in to nobody. It was little late when
I got around the next t.mornin', an jedge
/ my surprise. fe1lers, when T went be-
hind the fence an seen one of them
blamed gals feedin' an old bar outen
tin pan!
81 seen how the whole thing was In a
second Them gals had been maxim
game of me all the time, an the bar at
had been maxim me so much trouble
was nothin' but a tame one at wouldn't
hurt nobody. Fust I had notion to go
/ l.