The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-11-11
AN AMIABL (
LION
q Proved q Faithful Pot, nut
Not Much at Fighting.

NDAf tual lut hldlt OF LdutOfuF wal
50 fun OF mountin lions you couldni
90 up an arroyo without stepping on
the tail OF at least one OF them"
"Aw. no." interrupted August. the
clerk (Owgust. he was invariably
called. with an incredulous look at
Uncle Billy
i "Aw. yes" was the fierce retort, in
a voice so loud that the windows rat.
tied IN their frames. when I say
yes. It's yes. and when say no. it's
no. Do you understand that. Dutchyl"
"No-er-yes." replied the clerk. ex-
tinguished as quickly as candle
flame when the snuffer IL clipped
down on IT,
Hard times had hit the beasts as
well as humans" the narrator went
on. Them mount'in lions we're plumb
hungry. They were so hungry that
their howls OF distress we're heart.
rending. and after sundown, with your
window open toward the mountains.
you could hear their tails slap de-
spairingly against the cliffs
"0ne night there came to the back
door OF the shack where me and
Niobe Smith we're quartered the rang
lest. boniest mountin lion ever
clapped eyes on. My partner was fry.
Ing bacon and the lion smelled It. He
sat upon his launches IN the yard. the
lion did. and shifted once OF twice
Then he walked forward and scratched
on the door, looking through the mos
quito nettin' with the saddest eyes I
ever see. Standing there, he slowly
rubbed his left paw where his waist
band would have been II he had one
telling US as plain as day that he
would be mighty thankful for little
filling.
Smith was about to pass II some
bacon when held his hand. We didn't
have overmuch bacon in the house:
but we did have some cold oatmeal,
and set this out. That lion went
through that oatmeal like water
through a mill wheel, after which II
sat up and begged for more We had
no more oatmeal handy, but / threw
II a couple OF slices OF cantaloupe and
some Dutch black bread what do you
call It Owgust, pumpernickel?) and
1t was pleased. When It had eaten all
| had to spare It began to purr and
rub Itself against the mosquito netting
In the most friendly way
May I drop this pipe and break
It II that lion left US for minute after
that Il curled right up by the back
door and went to sleep. When morn
ing came, there It was In the same
spot With It's head on its paws. one
eye open and watching the house as
II to see that no harm came to US.
we began to think OF name for
him. smith--his name was really
Schmidt. being OF German descent
objected when / suggested Gustave,
and certainly wouldn't stand for his
calling the animal Kelly, after me.
We nearly had a falling out over It,
bat finally settled that when we were
both present Il should be referred TO
IS Max. When was away Smith
called Il Kelly. and when he was not
around addressed 1t aa Gustave. II
was quick TO answer all three names;
but when the Swedish cook came he
kept continually addressing 1t as 'Du
Yustave' Gustave Max Kelly Du Yus.
tave sounded too complicated; 30 we
finally dropped everything but the
'Du, which was short and simple.
I'VE taught Gustave how to meet
the letter carrier and take the mail
in, to take the milk pail out to the
pasture In its teeth. and how to re
trieye rubber bali. II got to be quite
handy around the house. but 1t was a
long time before visitors grew used
to It. Niobe and ! at last gave up
keeping II in the house any longer
because It was too expensive, SO we
built little coop for it, like chick
en- house. with sliding door to go in
and out Of Then we put few tons
of hay In one end of the yard for II
to roll on and generally tried to make
life comfortable for It.
we might have had Gustave yet
had II not been for a sad accident, We
had It out one day on the end of a
rope when It ran cato the parsons
bulldog, and there was such mixup
as YOU never saw the like Of. AT the
end of 1t Gustave was anything but an
ornament. The picture he presented
was shameful In the extreme, while
the dog was not even scratched
"Gustave was led home and locked |
In the coop. He looked out at US
through the little hole with tears In
his eyes, as If he knew he had been a
great disappointment and as we
turned back toward the house with
heavy hearts, we left him smiling"
Uncle Billy paused to refill his pipe. !
Gentlemen, after that the lion was
never the same He was no longer
but subject to periods of
deep mental and physical depression.
He spent whole days IN his coop pin
ing away and grew thinner than we |
had ever seen him. At last one night
he crawied slowly into his coop, and |
when we came In the morning no was
1.