The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-03

goner. sure. SO I Jest jerked the line loose
from bout my shoulders. and in my hurry
ment tuck a turn round a leetle saplin'
with tho eend what my bag was tied to,
drapped the other eend down in the well,
and slid down into 1t myself quicker'n you
=. could say Jack Robinson.
"When I teched the bottom of that we'll,
thinks I. thank gracious. I'm safe sure. for
them devils will take up the road, or they'll
80 to tho old house. and won't never think
Of lookin' here for me; and If they do come
this way they can't see the old well not
hfv yards, and they'll never think Of my
tytn to hide In the thin growth round
here. what they can ses clear through.
II begun to feel pretty good, and was
Jest wishin' I had another drink Of sperits
after my run, when what should I hear but
old Rather. the oussed old fool maxim u
terrible fuss up at the top Of the well.
Thar, thinks I, the deserters will hear that
dog, and the noise will bring 'em straight
herei I looked up and thar he was, lookin'
right dow at me, and ~bow-wowin' terrible.
cause he couldn't get down to me. 1 didn't
know what on airth to do. 1 dasent holler
at the drafted old fool for fear the de-
serters mought hear me-. So I motioned to
him as hard as I could to drive him away;
but the more I motioned to him the more
he cavorted about and the more Jacket he
made. ! never wanted to kill any Twin
dog SO bad before in all my life. But Their
was no such thing as drivin' him away,
and ell I could do was Jest to lie close and
take the chances.
"Bimeby old Rather, seem as I didn't
take no moro notice Of him. went away
and stopped his everlastin' fuss. I know'd
the old Gus wa gone right straight at my
dinner bag, for he is the oudaciouest thief
I ever seed. But I didn't keer much for
that. II he'd Jest carry It of into the
bushes and keep still while he was eat
Ing It.
Shore enough, pretty soon 1 heard a
noise like he was pullin' at the bag. and
the eend Of the rope what was hangin'
down In the well KEEP a shakin'. My bottle
of sperits was in the bag. and I 'spected
he'd git the corncob stopple out and spill
the whole thing. When I thought Of the
sperits I come monstrous nigh yellin' out
at him: but 1t was more'n I dared to do to
make a noise, though I couldn't help cussin'
q leetle to myself.
"Bimeby I heard old Rather sort O. srowl
a time or twoi and then he gin two or three
ookno dA4 tueu IuESo OG lOUT ySlpS, llk6
something hurt him. Thinks I somebody's
up thar surei I felt my har risin' like
hogs b~ristles, and 1 could hear my heart
thump agin my ribs like a Yankee thrashin'
machine. I listened for a while. ateard to
look up, but I didn't hear nobody say moth
Ing, an old Rather was still agin.
ut was a mighty uneasy place down thar
in that old well, among the dirt and old
rotten sticks and trash. and you may be
sure the longer I staid thar the more I
wanted to git out. But I was afraid the
drafted deserters mought be sneakin' round
huntin' for me; and tween havin' q bullet
put right slap through me. or stayin' Town
thai for a coon's age, I hadn't no difficulty
to make up my mind.
IT spose I'd been down in the well about
two hours. listenin' all the time. and hear
In nothing but old Rather fussin' round
now and then, when I tuck 1t into my head
that I'd Jest climb up the rope till I could
see out n a q look round to see how
the land lay. So I spit on my hands n