The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-11-10

II Proved a Faithful Pet, But
Not Much at Fighting.

cNe VI hAo pApC oh NhO 9oua SAdNhpi
box. that the state Of Californy was
so fun Of mount'in lions you couldn't
go up an arroyo without stepping on
the tail Of at least one Of them"
"Aw. no." interrupted August. the
clerk (0wgust, he was invariably
called, with an incredulous look ct
Uncle Billy.
"Aw. yesl" was the fierce retort in
voice so loud that the windows rat
tied in their frames. when l say
yes, it's yes, and when l say no, it's
no. DO you understand that, Dutchy7"
"No-er-yes," replied the clerk, ex-
tinguished as quickly as a candle
flame when the snufter is clipped
down on t.
Hard times had hit the beasts as
well as humans" the narrator went
on. Them mount'in lions were plumb
hungry. They we're 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.
"One night there came TO the back
door OF the shack where me and
Niobe Smith were quartered the rang,
Test, boniest mountin lion ever
clapped eyes on. My partner was fry
ing bacon and the lion smelled 1t. He
sat upon his launches in the yard, the
lion did, ard shifted once or twice.
Then he walked forward and scratched
on the door, looking through the mos.
quito nettin' with the saddest eyes |
ever see. Standing there, he slowly
rubbed his left paw where his waist
band would have been If he had one,
telling us as plain as day that he
would be mighty thankful for a little
filling.
Smith was about TO pass 1t some
bacon when / held his hand We didn't
have oyermuch 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 1t
sat up and begged for more. We had
no more oatmeal handy, but I threw
it a couple of slices of cantaloupe and
some Dutch black bread what do you
call 1t, Owgust, pumpernickel) and
it was pleased. When il had eaten all
had to spare it began to purr and
rub itself against the mosquito netting
in the most friendly way.
MAY drop this pipe and break
it if that lion left us for minute after
that. It curled right up by the back
door and went to sleep. When morn
ing came, there it was in the same
spot. with its head on its paws. one
eye open and watching the house as
If to see that no harm came to u.s.
I'VE began to think Of name for
him. Smith-his name was really
Schmidt, being of German descent
objected when l suggested Gustave,
and certainly wouldn't stand for his
calling the animal Kelly, after me.
We nearly had falling out over it.
but finally settled that when we were
both present it should be referred to
as Max When | was away Smith
called it Kelly, and when he was not
around I addressed it as Gustaye II
was quick to answer all three names;
but when the Swedish cook came he
kept continually addressing it as 'Du
Yustave Gustave Max Kelly Du Yus-
tave sounded too complicated; so 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-
trieve a rubber ball 1t got to be quite
handy around the house, but it was
long time before visitors grew used
to it. Niobe and I at last gave up
keeping it in the house any longer,
because ii was too expensive, so we
built a little coop for it, like q chick
en- house, with a sliding door to go in
and out of. Then we put a few tons
Of hay in one end of the yard for it
to roll on, and generally tried to make
life comfortable for It,
We might Rave had Gustave yet
had it not been for a sad accident. We
had it out one day on the end of
rope when it ran onto the parsons
bulldog, and there was such a mixup
as vou never saw the like Of At the
End of it Gustaye 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"
Z. Uncle Billy paused to refill his pipe.
Gentlemen, after that the lion was
never the same He was no longer
lighthearted 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 crawled slowly into his coop, and
when we came in the morning he was
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