Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-02-03
fixed peephole through which he
might look. Then he waited.

fixed a peephole through which he
might look Then he waited.
And then out came the sun
] brightly! 1t shone' down into the
! clearing, casting long shadows from
the trees. Billy blinked, but kept his
weather eye open for the ground hog
the ground hog, for he emphasized
! "the." r,&
"Well. I don't believe he's coming
and feet were getting numb from cold
and he felt hungry and lonely. He
wished now that he had not come so
far from home. OF sudden he remenl-
bered that his mother had told him he
must be home by o'clock. 1T must be
that hour already, for the sun was
setting over the woods, and it's rays
could no longer be seen in the clear
igg save at one spot about ten feet
square. And pretty soon that would
be shadowy like the rest. All, Billy
had been so excited, SO anxious that
he had allowed himself to forget the
passing of time. 1t would require some
twenty or thirty minutes for him to
reach home, and his mother was
doubtless expecting him that minute,
perhaps was telephoning to his father,
asking il he was there. II must be off
homeward as fast as I can fly, SO T."
but Billy's ears caught a sudden cunch-
ing of snow close at hand and the
sound Of heavy body moving through
the bushes. . He bent forward and
peeped out of his hidden nook and
thArn-r~f h;rfxy , m
was the largest ground hog he had
even heard of. 1t was monster. That
the animal was a ground hog Billy had
not the slightest doubt. He noticed
that 1t resembled in every detail a
huge black bear he had seen at the
circus the summer before And the
pictures of bears in his natural history
also resen bled the beast. Surely, this
was THE ground hog.
The animal shifted the air and
moved slowly as though cautious and
afraid. He made his way to the linger-
ing spot of sunshine and there lifted
his long nose, Yes, he was trying to
make his shadow. but did not succeed,
spot the instant he had stepped into
It,.
Billy was so intently watching the
ground hog that he did not hear the
of another creature. But
over the tracks the ground hog had
made man came. He plunged into the
clearings and cried out, causing Billy
to jump almost out of his clothes,
which would have resulted. seriously,
for the weather was very cold.
Billy peeped out and saw sturdy
man approaching the ground hog.
"You naughty fellow" the man was
saying, approaching the beast. $50
You thought you'd give me the slip,
eh? Well, come along, you rascal.
Come" And the man went right up to
the, beast and hooked a leather strap
about its neck. you've led me a nice !
race-you have!"
Billy was indignant What right had |
any man to come and take into captiv- |
ity THE ground hog? How would peo-
pie in future know whether or not |
they were to have long or short win, |
ter-with no ground hog to make it's
shadow? In his excitement he ratified !
the bushes he was behind and in
stantly the man came to the spot, |
leading the willing ground hog. who's |
there?" asked the man, peering into |
the bushes.
"1'm William Travers Baker, SIR"
And out came Billy, his face ahame
from the cold and the excitement. |
What you going to do with THE |
ground hog?" he asked, pointing a |
cold, soiled finger toward the big black |
animal
Ground hog?" The man roared
with laughter. Then he said, when he
could quit laughing. This amt no
ground hog. This is trained bear
from, the winter quarters in the city. |
Don't you know a bear when you see |
one? What kind O. kid be you, any |
way?"
"A B.E-R-R!" Billy drawled the
word in an emphatic way. He then
stood glaring at the animal, which |
was standing on its hind legs, going |
through we'll known and evidently |
well-loved trick.
"Sure, that's what I said, kid. He
got out of the quarters somehow, an
I've been trailin' him through the
snow since early mornin' But we
LluSl Sll UACh. L uSIc = liz place lOuIlu
these diggins (meaning the town in
which Billy nved) where a man can
get room for bear over night. I'll |
have to git him to the railroad station
an git him inter the baggage car an
take him home. He's a dandy, he is,
to give me all this trub" Then the
man led the bear away, turning to
laugh aqd say, ground hog, Ell! Gosh,
that's a good uni" and then he was
gone.
And Billy, wondering how he could
have been so stupid, ran homeward
as fast as ever he could, and to his
JOY found his grandfather and grand
mother had come to pay them visit,
and in the excitement Of the surprise
his mother had not noticed that he
had overstayed his time. And Billy, T.,
feeling that he would not receive the
he knew he deserved,
led his mother to the pantry and there
told her all about the ground hog, |