The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-20

Me and my old woman" says Nanny
H lowe l., OF Westmoreland county, Pa,
last summer, when, round about midnight.
should judge, was Weakened by a sound
hKe running sewing machine.
LOOK mere old woman I says being
nan awake and my eyes still glued to-
getner, What you up at this hour sewing
torf Amt they enough working hours in
me Ine d a for you to finish that dress for
Eli, what's the matter, Manny-got
the, nightmare again / hears my wife
SAYING, and wake up all at once and
nnd her sitttn up in bed by my side.
there was that whirring noise ag'in.
Rather! I shouts.
NOW, I've got a bull pup that would
rather fight rattler than chase cats anV
DAY. The pup sleeps outside and 1 hadn't
any thought OF seem him tackle this par
tlc9iar RATHER, because the door was Shut
and locked. But 1 hardly finished shoutin'
Rather! when kersplinters, PUNK! in
through the southwest windows jumps
me pun pup and clean out into the center
ut was dark as pitch-no moon or stars
shlnlng-but from the growls of the pup
ana the rattle of the snake I knoWed thew
was at 1t, tryin' for a hold. And there
me and the old woman was in bed she
scared half to death and 1 not KNOWN
what to do.
Il don't know how long the scuffie on
the e l noor Kept up, but as last I says:
Mary Ann, I'm goin' to get up an
neil neip that bull pup: He's stood by me
through thick and thin and now I'm goin'
With that Mary Ann grabs me bv the
arm. W nc
oh Nanny she cries. don't do that,
WhatH | do if I am a widder-and the
sii q Sem might ~ bite you in the dark
matches?' INC
% The other side of the room. along
SIDE SD the lamp on the wall she says, an
a llG~ H.
There 1 was, not KNOWN what to do.
except that L wanted burned hard to help
that bull pup. l thought and thought for
made up my mind to jump on the floor and
take my chances when all at once recol-
iected that the old woman had been in
town buy1n' things in the afteronon.
Mary Ami l shouts for she was way
under the cover, head and all, by this
time, didn't you buy some stickum to
mend that busted china when you was
in town today?
Yes, Nanny she = whispers, just
Z" Where might it be?' demands.
1.-The old woman dives under the COW
a hand to me.
/" Here, Nanny. here it is she says.
1t cost forty-eight cents, and 1 didn't
want to break it, so I stuffed 1t under
the edge of the bed. What are you going
to do with it, Nanny she says plain
tive like.
II yanked the cork out with my teeth
and poured lot of stickum in my hands
Then / hauled my feet out from under the
covers and smeared the stickum over
EN- good and thick. Next 1 smeared
some on my hands and arms clean up
to the elbows and then threw the empty
bottle In the direction of the scufflin'.
. Now says to the old woman. I'm
goin' to git light
grab me, 1 put my hands on the walls as
far up as 1 could reach. They stuck
beautiful.
Growler, I'm comm, and / planted my
toes on the walls and they stuck. Then
moved my hands further up the wall,
one at time, and advanced my~1eeS the
same way, the Stickum holdin like the
grip O. death all the time.
"'Before / knew it l was up to the
ceilin' and walkin' acrost it, with my back
to the floor, as nice as you please, Just
as 1 reached the wall which held the
lamp the old woman sung out:
:" Where are you, NANNY? Oh, know
I'm going to be a widder!
mo, Mary Ann, says l. I'm not go
in to give you chance to marry Jim
Brown just yit.' And with that L started
down the wall head first, and next second
ran kerplunck into the lamp and knocked
q oh means the old woman when the
crash comes, the rattlers bit him-and
I'm a poor lone wilder woman-oh-oh'
OH"
"Then 1 finds that match box on the off
side of the lamp and strikes one and
lights the lamp.
the side of the wall like a fly, and with
my head raised up and lookin' at her,
".Oh. Lord!' she means. takin' one
look I'm poor lone wilder woman.
there's his sperit goin' up to be an angelH
And with that she dives under the bed
clothes and weeps all to herself
81 looked around for the bull pup and
the rattlel, and there they was, right III
the center of the floor, fighting like all
possessed. The reptiles. tail was goin' as
the dog twict as fast, and the dog dodg-
ing just as fast and all the time trying for
the reptiles back at the neck. 1t was the
prettiest snake fight l ever saw. and was
the bull pup give whine. With that 1
started to jump to the floor; but. by gosh,
I'd been a clingin' in one place SO long
that I stuck FAST and when got loose
I left a lot of skin behind and fell to the
floor in heap.
while T was scrambln' to my feet and
reachin' for chair the old woman pops
her head out from under the covers and
looks over at the lamp.
:" His sperit's gone clean up, she says,
she starts blubberin' agin.
'-WeH, that's about all, except say
that ] had miSjudged that pups whine
He wasn't weakenin at all-had just stuck
a splinter in his hind off foot Fact is.
he was getting warmed up, for before
could raise the chair to hit the reptile he
grabbed the RATHER by the back and it was
all over before you could say Jack Rob
inson.
IAN over, that is, except the measuring
and making the old woman believe was
Nanny Howell instead Of his spirit. And
both was tough jobs. 1 tell you, for the
snake measured feet IL 9-17 inches, and
the old woman was powerful set on being
a poor lone wilder woman
sBut that amt nothin'," says Nanny,
ito a black snake met nnct WAS driv-