Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-04-06

off his guard and come face tc face
with him. But he didn't. Whet Uncle
Splitter turned and took the back
track, all he could see when he swunf
round the circle was that same ole
bushy tail trailin' along, and jest
roundin' the corner ahead Of him, a
| usual.
Nov, Uncle Splitter had been cir
cleatin' the grit O. that tree fer goin
on to 20 minutes, and, havin' tramped
somethin' like 20 mile over the hills
besides, he begun to feel his wind git
tim leetle skeerce. Consistently, he
wasn't as gentle in his mind as a lamt
on the hillside, and he said that If he
could only got his hands on to that
fox jest at that minute he'd a. treated
him worse than Samson did that little
| flock o foxes he ketched wunst on .
time, as you mowt a. heerd about
Dan'l, and tied blazin' pine knots tc
their tails. While Uncle Splitter stood
there a-cussin' like sojers will, he see
fer the first time big holler place in
the tree, nigh the ground. He got an
ldee in second.
"'Chasin' the fox round the tree two
or three times as fast as he could jump
Uncle Splitter Topped down and crep;
into that boiler place. The fox came
on. and as he was passin' the boiler.
Uncle Splitter showed his gun bar'l out
like flash, ketched the fox under the
belly, and give 1t sweep up that sent
it flynn clean amongst the branches
O. the tree. Uncle Splitter was out on
his feet in a second, and had dead
aim on to the fox before he had time
to turn and drop back lords the
ground.
Gas he drawed bead on the fox in
the air, he sees tremendous big
wildcat scroochin' on the limb of q
tree, right in range of his gun, and
not 20 foot away. The varmint was
all ready to spring on Uncle Splitter.
Uncle Splitter had an idee that his bull
and pink into the wildcat, too, and
he'd git 'em both without putin his.
self out any, and he whanged away.
Down come the fox. deader than
a gate post, but the bullet missed the
wildcat. Before Uncle Splitter could
take his gun down to get another load
into it, the wildcat sprung for him. It
struck the end O. his gun bar'l with It's
jaws wide open, and it was goin' 50
fast that the bar'l slid clean through
it. like stringin' bead on thread.
and Uncle Splitter fetched it in strung
that way, draggin' the fox along by
its big brush. So if anyone ever had
any idee O. sayin' anythin' ag'in Tn.
Gle Splitter wearin' that Britisher sojer
coat O. his'n they never said it after he
fetched in that wildcat and that fox.
Then by and by Uncle Splitter took
to sayin' that there wasn't nothin' in
our woods no more that was worth any
body's while to tackle, and he swore
reg'lar every fall that he'd never be
happy till he could git som'rs where
he could run ag'n lions or tigers or
somethin' O. that sort. So. one fall,
when he didn't come home from goin'
out a-huntin'. pap and all Of 'em
out and gone to seek a country where
he could tackle lions and tigers.
1.-THE next spring, though, pap
knocked over big bear down back o.
Dark swamp. So fur as anything
showed on the outside there wasn't
nothin' about that bear any different
from any other bear just like it, but
no bear that ever was killed in the
Knob country or any other country
never had the somethin' in it's inside
like this bear that pap killed that day
did.
"'When that bear was dressed they
picked II brass buttons out of it's nav.
Twelve brass sojer buttons. Uncle
Splitter hadn't gone away to the lion
and tiger country, after all. He had
tackled this bear, and bit off more than
he could chaw But the bear hadn't.
Uncle Splitter and his sojer coat had
digested all right, but them buttons
hadn't, and there they was. And this
button here is one of them. Here it
is, and if it amt primy fishy evidence
that bears II do 1t, Dan'l. then produce
your evidence that Uncle Splitter went
away to git lions and tigers and wasn't
eat by the bear my pap killed. says
Uncle Jase.
THAT primy fishy evidence looked
for all the world like the buttons that
was on the old blue army overcoat that
I wore wunst. and I says to Uncle
Jase:
why l says. 'How's this. Uncle
Jase? This old Britisher button has
got u S. on to it, in big letters says.
"'Course it hast says Uncle Jase.
1t wouldn't be primy fishy evidence If
it hadn't says he. Uncle Splitter was
a mighty careful man. Everything O.
his'n was marked with his initials,
even to his sojer buttons. There they
be, right before you, Danl. U. S.
Uncle Spitzer.' says he.
Ellis Sam got up so student from
the shoe box that he almost knocked
Uncle Jase often the three legged cheer,
and he says, sort as if he was disap-
p'inted and sort o. as If he was gotn'
to take Uncle Jase BY the neck:
1--WE always believed it, says he,
and I've always stuck to it and argy-
fed the strongest kind that they'd do
it, says he, but I see now that they
won't, and take it all back! says he.
II guess that tough and strong in
situation must a. doubled up on Uncle
Jase's Observation-Disclosures, fer he sot
there half an hour, chawin' on Ellis
Sans sweet terbacker and sort o. grin.
min, and then got up and went home
without rememberin' that he was TAX
In the plug with him. Y. Sun.
RUSSIAN ARMY ODDITIES