The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-01-16

the party CnleHy interested, dSkeu Xxx
and me to accompany them in theil
pursuit of the bull. In my opinion
the darkening stretch of pasture, Dor
dered by woodland on the left, had
more terror for them than the animal
they were looking for. Ike, however,
pretended to think otherwise.
"What Go after that wild, raven
ing creature without gun and a
meat.ax Well, I guess not. You'd
just enjoy seeing your uncle key
killed dead and chopped up into little
pieces, wouldn't you? No, thank
you kindly"
Ike consumed several minutes in
this banter, the boys stepping around
uneasily, hardly knowing how to take
him. 1t ended by all of US starting
off at brisk pace for the far end of
the pasture, Ike keeping to the rear,
still pretending to be dreadfully afraid
of the bull.
Wont you please bring that little
hickory tree along with you, Davie 2"
he said to the eldest Calder boy, "so's
I'll have someting to climb, if that
brute takes after me. Throw it right
over your shoulder, that's a man."
As the tree was six or seven inches
through at the base of the trunk, it is
needless to say that the modest re-
quest was not complied with. The
lads were beginning to enter into the
spirit of the joking, and made the
fields ring with their shouts and
laughter.
At the brow of the hill, just where
ii broke into a gentle upward slope
toward Squire Newton's line fence,
we came up with the bull. If we had
driven him on quietly all would have
been well, but the youngsters were in
high glee by this time, and rushed
forward with volley of shouts which
would have put an Apache war party
to the blush, turning to point appre-
ciative fingers at Ike, who was going
through series of antics intended to
express the extremes of terror and
distress. The bull started up at
double-quick-who wouldn't ?-but
halted midway on the slope, turning
his great head inquiringly, and emit
ting a low below.
confess that I felt some slight ap-
prehension at this juncture, recalling
Grandfather Holbrook' S recent words
of caution, but I had taken too active
a part in the chatting of the younger
boys to show the white feather now.
They, bending double with laughter
at Ike's caricature of the coward,
dashed in body after the reluctant
animal in front, swinging hats, fling
ing stones, doing almost everything,
in fact, which could enter into the
heads of a pack of crazy urchins at
short notice. You may attribute this
to my growing fears, if you like, but
I prefer to think that my years-six-
teen of them-had given me superior
judgment.
The bull wheeled squarely round
and faced his valorous pursuers.
Frankness forces me to admit that
his appearance was not wholly to my
liking, and that I shifted my position
several steps out of line with those
outstanding aggressive horns. I
shouted warning, too, though how
I worded it I am unable to say. The
boys seemed to take in the situation
slowly. They stood their ground,
but the laughter died out. Ike ap-
peared wholly oblivious, standing
sidewise, hands on hips, in the atti-
tude of one prepared for instant flight.
Suddenly, with a single fierce, sharp
below, the animal charged down the
hillside. Ike's was the one cringing
figure stimulating fear, and he made
it his target, leaving the group of
now thoroughly terrified youngsters
on the right by narrow margin Of
three or four feet. To this day, it
seems to me that Ike never moved a
muscle until the beast was upon him,
but he made up for all delinquencies
afterwards. Had he been shot out of
a catapult, he could hardly have out
distanced that first tremendous leap,
which to my excited eyes seemed tc
put the pursuer at least twenty yards
in the rear. The great wonder was
that he did not lose his footing on the
dry. slippery grass, but he was up
and away again the very instant his
feet touched the ground. was not
in frame of mind to institute COM
parsons then, but as I think of it
now, I can compare his progress to
nothing so aptly as the successive re-
bounds of particularly elastic rub
Der bali. That brought him to the
foot of the slope, and, from that,
along the broken level to the border
ing woods, could see nothing but a
confused dingy spot-Ike's hickory
skirt and brown overalls-forging
ahead at a speed which I never saw
equaled in any race before or since.
If the Olympic games had been re-
vived at the time, and Ike had been
on the ground, with Squire Newton S
black bull at close quarters behind, I
feel sure that no other champion
Greek or barbarian, would have stood
the shadow of a chance. 1 never
suspected before that he could run
indeed, l doubt whether he suspected
it himself, but he did. The waning
light and his rapid movements COM
bined to give him the grotesque ap-
pearance of a body bowling along
without legs, and, under other cir
cumstances, the spectacle would have
been laughable in the extreme.
AS it was nobody felt inclined to
laugh. We followed silently in the
wake of the pursuer and the pursued,
as soon as we had recovered our scat
tered wits sufficiently to do anything
Ike held his distance we'll, until he
disappeared under cover of the trees.
l drew a long breath of relief. A