Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-06-05

SELVES.
wiped tear from his eye, embrace
the mewl in a lovin' way and then said
to me:
"'Id take him with me to the other
shore, but nevis can't go thar. He'll
grieye after me, but if you treat him
we'll he'll git over it in time. GOodby,
Zeb White. and if it be so that angels
kin come flynn around on airth once in
awhile I'll drap in and see how the
critter gifts along
cit didn't take me long," said Zeb, "to
diskiver that that mewl was Ornery.
All nevis are piZen mean, but this one
was a champion. If I tried to put a
saddle on him, he'd lay down in his
tracks, and if I hitched him to cart
nothin' on airth could make him pull a
pound. He'd bite, and he'd kick, and
he went around lookin' for fuss. In
a week found he was no airthly good
dubbed him till l was tired, but [
couldn't pound no sense into him. One
day got so mad that was gwine to
shoot him, but the old woman mixed in
and said:
"T was jest a-thinkin', Zeb. Do you
remember that cantankerous bar that
was around yere last fall?
"sOf co'se.'
"sHe'll likely come back ag'in this
fall. Better leave him to the meWl if
he comes
GAS to that bar" explained the old
man. she was the most cantankerOus
yarmint ever met up with. He'd come
sneakin' around at night and chaw up
the sheets spread on the grass, and
sometimes he'd appear by day and
skeer the old woman half to death.
set trap for him, and he carried it Off.
I laid out two nights on the watch, but
he come like a shadder and almost kill
ed my dawg. He was up to all kinds OF
tricks, and he bothered me fur three
months befo' he disappeared. 1t was
likely he would come back ag'in, and If
he did thar would be fun between an
ornery mewl and cantankerous bar.
| give up tryin' to do anything with
meaner all the time. and he wasn't
happy unless he was kickin' his heels
ag'in the cabin doahs. 1t got so the old
woman dasn't stir outdoahs, and | had
to carry club to keep him off. I'd had
him six weeks and had wanted to shoot
him every day when one night that
bar showed up. He come down off the
mountain feelin' mo- cantankerous than
ever, and that ornery mewl was waitin'
fur somethin' to come along and begin
a row. They got at it in no time. Me
and the old woman got up and looked
out, and them two critters was thor
oughly enjoyin' themselves. They was
kickin', bitin,' clawin,' growlin' and
squealin' and it was better than a cir
Gus to watch 'em. They fit fur an hour,
and then they got tuckered out, and the
bar went back to his cave. 1t was the
S: me thing over the next night and ev-
cry night for a week or mo-. A bar
ought to lick mewl easy huff. spe-
cially when he's cantankerous bar,
but in this case he'd got hold of a mewl
so mean and obstinate that he wouldn't
hev turned tail for all the bars in Ten
nessee. He was as spry as cat, and
the way he bit and kicked warmed up
my heart. He got good many scratch
es in them conflicts, but he wouldn't
run away nor give in. One night after
we had seen him roll that bar over a
dozen times without hurtin' him the
old woman said to me:
"'Zeb, it amt exactly fair fout.
The mewl hain't got no shoes on, and
his kicks don't hurt. Better give him
decent show
''It struck me that way, and the next
day l takes the critter up to the black
smith shop at the Cove and has sharp
shoes put on his hind feet. He seemed
to know what they was for, and he
didn't like it tall. He was ugly all the