Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-03-04
THE GOOD OLD TIMES
When Hunting Was Good and
Gray Mares Were Wonders.
REAL SPORT IN THOSE DAYS.

Old Jimmy Chambers Tells About One
Haul He Made When He Cot More
Than He Expeeted-The Willing Old
Horse That Cracked Her Skin.
Talk about yer huntln' trips" said
ole Jimmy Chambers. "why, there amt
no huntin' nowadays; no, not none
tall-leastwise none worth mentionin'
1T was different when I wuz
young Teller. Them wuz huntin' daysl
When We went out to hunt We got
sumthin', tell We. An most always
ye got DUN sight more n We expect
ed. remember onct down In ole
PENNSYLVANIA when 1 had a hunt as
wuz hunt. 1 had err ole muzzle
loader rifle that could shoot some, I
tell ye. An i wuz no SLOUGH at shoot
IN In them days myself could shoot
about as well as Their next Teller Well
went down to ther river lookin' fer
er deer. L seen one standin' right in
front or er big tree. 1 pulled up Their
ole muzzle loader an let her go. Jest
as fired big fish jumped out of Their
water, an my shot went plum through
him. seen by Their way he fell I'd
plugged err hole In him. The deer
jest dropped where he stood-neyer
stirred, jest fell stone dead,
Il rushed out into Their river an
grabbed my fish fore 1t could float
away. With Their fish under nv arm
started fer ther deer. An what dive
suppose? s. help me, Jest back of
where that deer stood Their bullet had
knocked er hole In that tree as big
as yer fist, an out of that hole er
regular stream Of honey wuz fiowin'i
That good honey wuz goin' to waste
dun fast, an l hadn't nary err thing
to stop It. Jest then err rabbit iump-
ed out OF err hole / hadn't noticed, an
grabbed him by Their hind legs lest
as he wuz leapln'. 1 wuz goin' to stun
him In Their hole when err flock of Quail
flew up on Their other side of Their
tree. They wuz goin' stralghtaway.
an there wuz more N 10000 of 'em.
Their ole muzzle loader wuzn't loaded.
an them quail wuz gettin' away fast
wanted some Of 'em bad, so 1 lest
let go that ole rabbit right In Their mid
die Of 'em, an the way he kicked
an clawed as he wuz goin' through
Their air wuz q caution. He landed
right on top Of Their whole bunch.
an when L got over there seventeen
of 'em wuz dead on ther ground-yes.
sir, jest seventeen OF 'em! An Their
shock had killed Their rabbit too. He
wuz all smashed up. / stuck his head
In Their hole to stop Their honey till
could go home fer sum barrels.
Il hitched up Their ole gray mare to
Their sled an went back. chopped
that there ole tree down. an there wuz
money enough to fill all my barrels.
Well, slung Their deer an Their fish an
Their rabbit an Their quail on Their sled
an started home. 1t wuz some load
fer Their ole mare, an 1 walked at her
head, kinder coaxin' her along. /
wuzn't payin' any attention toNther
load, an, By gum, when we got up to
Their house there wuz, that there load
way back In Their middle OF Their river.
or course / knowed what wuz Their
matter. That ole grounding harness
had got wet an Jest stretched. wuz
kind OF hungry. so Jest throwed Their
harness over a stump. an went into
dinner. When / cum out again Their
sun had dried Their harness an Their
load wuz just pullin' up to Their stump.
That wuz some hunt Yer don't get
nothin' like that nowadays, / tell We.
Them wuz good old days!
AN, speakin' of Their ole gray mare,
she was Their willin'est mare that ever
wuz. Shed pull anything yer bitched
her TO. 1 tried her. an she pulled ev-
erything. One day I sez to myself, BY
gum, I'll give yer er load yer can't
pull an hitched her to er stone boat
loaded with all Their powders I'm Their
county. She got right down an pulled
an pulled an pulled, but thef load
didn't bulge. l heard er little crack,
but for er minute / didn't suspicion
an before noticed that Their
skin on her face had cracked IL wuz
too late. I yelled at her to stop, but
she wuz so dun mad she kept right on
pullin', an s'help me, before I could
stop her she'd pulled herself clean out
or her skin! didn't want to lose that
there mare, an / got busy an did er
little skin graftin' fer myself. had
some fresh sheep pelts, an / sewed
them on as fast as could sew. Well,
Sir, them pelts took root fine. They
growed on shat there ole mare Jest
Ike they'd always been there, an Their
next season i sheared Jest 375 pounds |
Of wool off'n her. She wuz er good |
ole mare, tell ye, an every year |
got 375 pounds Of wool so long as she |
lived. Yes. sir; 1t wus always jest 375 |
pounds. Yer don't have no such horses !
nowadays. I tell ye."-Outer's Book.