Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1901-09-05
He Cowed The Lion.

a railroad wreck, said the boss can
vasman. "Now there wus tn Saber-
lee wreck. Six cars was in tn ditch
an half O tn shows dens wus under
EN-. There wus one cage o monkeys
mashed fat that We knoTed of, an
lot O tn other animals had took t tn
woods, little animals, zebras an wolves
an deer an such like. Nothin' t do
any harm exceptin' tn big lion, Mon
arch. His den wus bottom up in a
little puddle O ditch water, with a
hole stove in it big enough t let out a
COW, an Monarch himself wus gone
with the little animals.
"Well, it wus all off with maxim tn
stand that day, SO wePut up tn runs,
got tn cookhouse outfit down on tn
ground, had breakfast an started in t
dig tn stuff out o the ditch. Th
railroad company wreckin crew come
along t help US, an we'd got purity
well under way when a tall, black
buck darky come out o tn woods an
stood round rubberin'.
Nobody paid an attention t him
fer awhile, but by by Mack, tn chan
delier man, spoke t him, kind o kid
ded him about bein' han some, er some
such CUFF. 1t wus Missouri, an he wus
a real black buck. Didn't have any
thing t say back-didn't say any
thing at all, in fact, fer awhile. Jes
shuhled round in his cowhide boots
from one foot t tn other an grinned
bashfullike. By'nby when he saw
we didn't roast him hard he kind o
took courage.
"'Dld any o you gemmen lose
giraffe?' he says.
"'Girafe Z? Mack says. No; we
never DIVIDED no such thing with this
trick. Why?'
We'll, boss, All done foun some
thin up in nah tato patch this mawn-
in an All lowed as may be hit 'longed
t you all.
Mack got interested. 'Wot does
it look like?'
"'Lawdy, boss, hits mos monstrous.
Nevah did see no sech ole thing befOh,
sab. Big cat vahmint, with yaller
eyes, an hit done come a.snahlin an
a-spittin at me Is All got QUITO bald.
"'Where is it P says Mack.
"'Oh, All cawt hit all rightly. Done
put rope roun hits neck and tied hit
t nah cabin.
"'Go an git tan fetch it down here,
says Mack. Then tn wreckin crew
got a tackle roun another den an we
forgot all about tn darky.
Maybe it wus 20 minutes, an may
be it wus half an hour when we heard
a noise over on tn road amongst tn
trees-a noise kinder like a niger
drivin' mule or like somethin bein'
driven. 1t come nearer an louder an
louder an nearer. Everybody stopped
work an listened, an tn ole man him
self come out o his car with his nap
kin hangin' roun his neck.
"What is that P he pipes up in his
snappy way. who is that out there?
Go an see what that racket is, some o
you boys. Hurry up, now.
Nobody paid any attention t him,
an tn noise got nearer an nearer. In
a couple o minutes cloud o dust
sailed out from behind tn trees. When
it got within a hundred yards o tn
track, it cleared up bit, an there
wus that big, black niger with rope
in one fist an a piece o fence rail in
tn other. On tn other end o tn rope
wus Monarch.
"Of all tn mean, sneakin', under
handed cat animals that ever travelled
with circus Monarch wus tn worst,
an powerful fighter when he had
any sort o show. Sometimes we'd
put our hands on tn canvas o his
cage when we had t run over th'
train, an there never wus time, day
or night, that he hadn't slap ready
fer you.
"Well, that dsrky wus a-lammin'
him with his chunk o fence an tslkin
mule talk t him wuss than anything
you ever saw in tn south.
"C'm on long heah, you yaller-
eyed devil, he wus sayin'. An don
know what you is, but you ain goin
snahl ner spit at me, nohow. C'm on
long theh. you big sassy vahmint, an
with that he'd lam him with bis piece
o fence an let drive with his cowhide
boots.
can you kin bet your life Monarch
wus a-comin. / never saw a critter
so cowed as be wus. Why, when that
niger brought him right in amongst
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