Barbour County index., 1910-01-19


led his men in roistering hunt or in bloody
fray amid the green hills and in dim gens Of
Scotland
That was good blood, and from his mother,
who was a Durham-Eunice Durham-the lit
tie chap that was one day to be a leader on
his own account inherited as clear strain.
The feudal hall in Mississippi however, was
big, old plantation house, built of hewn logs
and riven boards, with woods and cotton fields
on every hand; with cabins for the slaves and
Outbulldings Of every sort. That was in KEN
per county over near the Alabama line, with
De Kalb, the county seat, about 20 miles away
1t was a peculiar childhood that little "Bill
Jess" Mcdonald had. 1t was full of such things
as the homecoming of the hunters with deer
or fox-sometimes (and these were grand
occasions) even with a bear Then there were
wonderful ball games played by the Bogue
Chita and Muckilutia Indians; exciting shoot
ing matches and horse races, long fishing and
swimming days with companions black and
white, and the ever-recurring chase, with the
bloodhounds, of some runaway slave. There
was not much bookschooling in a semibar-
Darfc childhood such as that. There was a
schoolhouse of course, which was used for a
church and gatherings of any Sort and some
times the children had lessons there. But the
kemper county teaching of that day was
mainly to ride we'll, shoot straight and to act
quickly in the face of danger. That was the
proper education for the boy who was one day
to make the Texas Panhandle and No-man's
land his hunting ground, with men for his
quarry.
Presence of mind he had as a gift, and 1t
was early manifested. There was a lake not
far away, where fishing and swimming went
on almost continuously during the summer
days and sometimes the small swimmers
would muddy the water near the shore and
then catch the fish in their hands They were
do T1haD
to announce, exctedy, I've got him, boys,
I've got him! You can't beat mne!" at the
same instant swinging his catch high for them
to see.
That was a correct statement They
couldn't beat his catch and they didn't want
to. What they wanted to do was to get out
of his neighborhood without any unnecessary
delay for the thing he held up to view was an
immense. deadly moccasin. grasped with both
hands by the neck, the rest of it curling in
stantly around the lower arm. His hold was
so tight and so near the head that the snake
could not bite him. but the problem was to
turn it loose. His friends were all ashore and
at safe distance. He did not lose his head
however but wading ashore himself he invited
them one after another to unwind that snake
Nobody cared for the job and he told them in
turn and collectively what he thought of them
Then he offered the honor to little slave boy
on attractive terms
Jim," he said, "ef you-all don't come an
unwind this heah snake, I'll beat you-all to
death an cut off yo' an skin you alive
and give yo' cahcass to the buzzards"
Those were the days when a little slave-
boy could not resist an earnest entreaty of
that sort from the of the household and
Jim came forward, his face gray with graft
tude. and taking hold gingerly he unwound a
yard or so of watermoccasin from Bill Jess.
who, with the last coil, flung his prize to the
ground whore
well-nigh choked to death already.
But even the gift of presence of mind will
sometimes oalk at unfamiliar dangers 1t was
about this time that the civil war broke ont
and Enoch Mcdonald enlisted company to
defend the southern cause. The little boy left
behind was heartbroken. His father was his
hero and when by and by the news came that
the soldiers were encamped at Meridian-a
railway station about so miles dstant-the
lad made up his mind to join them He ar
rived at Meridian one morning and began to
look over the ground and to make few in
Quiries as to his fathers Headquarters He
had never seen a railroad before and he fol-
lowed along the track with increasing interest
till he reached the engine. which he thought
must be the most wonderful and beautiful
thing ever created Then suddenly it let Off
steam, the bell rang and the air was split by
screaming whistle. 1t was too sudden and
too strange for his gift to work The son of
all the McDonaldS and OF gallant soldier set
out for the horizon. never pausing until halted
by the sentry of his fathers camp
He was permitted to enter and was direct
ed to the drill ground, where his father who
had been promoted for bravery to the rank of
major. was experimenting certain maneuvers
The little boy in his eagerness ran directly
into the midst of things and Major Mcdonald
suddenly seeing him, was startled into the
conclusion that some dire calamity had be-
fallen his family and only Bill Jess had
escaped to tell the tale. Half sliding. half
falling. he dropped from his horse to learn the
truth. Then gratefully he lifted the lad nm
behind him and continued the drill Eunice
Mcdonald was only day or two behind Bill
Jess, for her instinct told her where the bow
had gone. They remained few days in camp
and then bade their soldier good-by. They
never saw him again, for he was killed at the
battle of Corinth at the head of his regiment.
his face to the enemy. as soldier should die
The boy of IL was now the head of the
household He had his mother and a sister.
and most of the negroes still remained; but
he was the man of the house and was mature
before his time.
The war ended at last and with it the Nc