Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-27

yelier vilyen jes wanted ter tear de ole cree
Ter dress OATS jes wot he sed Well,
dog sometime"
was sitting out on the side portico reading,
one afternoon, when l heard a great noise in
the direction of Big Toms cabin. Then. in
few moments, | saw Big Tom, followed by
Little Tom and Wash, come running toward
The house. Big Tom carried some black OBJ
Ject, which he was swinging around in quite
lively manner. Little Tom was dancing,
jumping and whooping like a wild Indian,
while Wash barked and howled
Father, who was in his study, called to me
to know the reason of the sudden tumut.
I'm sure 1 don't know" l said Come
out and see"
The uproar increased as they came on, for
all the dogs about the place, hearing the noise,
and not knowing what it meant, came bark
ing and bowling from all directions and col
lected about them.
"Mass Steptoe-does yer see what pap's got?
Er hawk, les ez .sho' as dis chile's name am
Thomas JEFF son !" cried Little Tom, for he had
run ahead, in order that he might be the first
to tell the news.
''Mass Steptoe," said Big Tom, as he came
up, painting for breath, ''Wash done coch him
dat same Wash dar. Oh dear! rs nose
-.outer-bref," and he laid the hawk down on
the floor at our feet.
Yes, sab" he continued, when he had re-
covered himself somewhate; dat same yeIler
deg am de man wot, did it. Yer see. we wuz
all dar a,settn' in de house not a-thinkin' .er
nuthin, de ole speckled hane wuz out er walk
IN, aroun' wild her half-growed chickens, a
scratchln' up de groun' en- sayin' 'checluckI
checluck! checluck!' we'en long come Mr.
Hawk, en- seed 'em. He sez ter hisse'f, sez he,
low I'll hab some er dem ar young chick
ems.
"Wash, he wuz a-layin onder de house
asleep. Wash, he's smart; he alus sleep wild
one eye open, en- he seed dat ar hawk a-com-
-. Il l. Ii L. I
de same ez ef he wuz er ole 'possqm a-playin'
dead. Pirty soon de hawk light down on de
groun' long side er de chickens, en- de hane
sot up a moughty racket.
"Wash, he nebber say muffin, but lay dar jes
like ez ef he dono muffin uncommon is goin'
on: Den de hawk begin ter git nearer ter de
chickens, en- Wash, he git nearer ter de chick
ems, en- Wash, he got up onter his hans an
knees, SO ter speak-ter dat dog, is mos like
Mr.. Hawk low dat Wash amt noers bout,
en- he powful hungry, so he make dibe at de
hane, en- try ter git one OBJ de chickens. But
de hane ,wuz in fer fight, en- he didn't git no
chicken dat go. All dis time Wash wuz a-cree-
den he glib boun' en- he had Mr.. Hawk. Lawl
de way dat black rascal did squawk, but Wash
had him. sho"
Here Big Tom picked up the hawk and
turned 1t round several times, contemplating
it. with great satisfaction.
~ tell yer" he said, "dat Wash am a mos
uncommon dog"
'Jes wot tor ye all de time" cried Little
Tom, in great delight. "He am all kin's er
en- bes OBJ all, hawk-killin' dog"
In catching the hawk, Wash covered him.
self with glory, and ever afterward was re-
garded as the most wonderful of dogs, not only
by Little Tom, but Big Tom, also. He lived
TO good old age, and in time took his place
at the side Of the house, among the other an
cient dogs and to them, l have no doubt, he
often told, in the dog language, the story of
his adventure with the hawk.