The Washington herald., 1914-12-20

"One mawnin' at the breakfast table, :"
said the old 'possum hunter as l asked
him for a yarn, me an the old woman
il that ali coons orter hev bin bobtailed,
an she contended that the Lawd made
en- as he wanted 'em an. did good
job. We wasn't mad at fust, but the
mo- We talked the meaner we felt, and
bimeby we got downright ugly. II was
Sunday mawnin, and We was goin' on
to prenchin' that day, but when I got
| " AS long as I'm for bobtailcd coons
an the Lawd didn't make EN- that way
Il amt no use fur me to hear preachin
I'll stay home. an yo' kin 90 alone.
a bit. but it didn't. She chawed away
at her bacon fur awhile an then said:
- 'Zeb White, thaT's bound to be a
calamity around this cabin. Can't no
sunthin' happenin'. I'm soin' right along
to preachin'. an II yo' want to fly IN
the face Of Providence yO' must take the
I'm contendin' fur bobtaiIed coons.'
said ]. If all coons was bobtailed.
they'd look a heap purifier an git along
a heap better
Dunno, but I'm contendin''
Then yo' keep on contendin' an see
how yo'll come out! Thar's bObtailed
varInits in the mountinSs. an meb6e
yo'n git nun Of them befo' yo' git
through abusin' Providence
IF she'd coaXEd me abit. I'd hey gone
with her." explained Zeb. but she'd said
all she meant to. When she got ready.
she started of through the woods an
never even looked at me. My rife was
out Of order, and my old dawg had run
away, and so ! couldn't go strollin'
through the woods. ] sOt down on the
doahstep an smoked a pipe or two, an
as II was a warm day l begun to feel
sleepy. / went over and tumbled on top
4 T. A. ~
was sound asleep. The doah was left
wide open. an bout the last thing ]
heard befo' / drapped on was the old
mewl brayin' in the stable. I'd bin
me over ag'in the wall. an l woke up.
opened my eyes to find a big bar on
the bed with me. He'd found the doah
open an walked in. an, seein me asleep.
he sot out to hev some fun. He didn't
see me open my eyes. an took keer TO
Hhet 'em ag'in arter one look. BefO' the
Lawd, hut ] was skeered! ] felt the
cold chills Creepin' up and down my
back an the sweat busted out on me
as II ] was chopin at a big tree. /
wasn't much better than a dead man.
The mewl 'sInelt the bar and kept up
tremendous brayin', an the old woman
heard tho noise when she was yit a mile
away. Bimeby.. when the varmint had
had a show with the price of admission,
he settled down fur rest l was then
lyin' with my face to the wall, as he
planted all four feet ag'in NV back an
kept up a sort of purrin'. He had me
crowded ag'in the cabin logs till could
hardly breathe, an l had made up my
mind that I'd never tree another coon
when the old woman got back from
preaChin. The old mewI was kickin' an
br8yin', an she seen the tracks OF the
bar leadin' into the cabin. She stood in
the doah an got sight of the yarmint
on the bed an she did thing which
no man on these yere Cumberland mount
ingS would hsv attempted. Thar was
W NJ hand In shoot with m hpr
only show was to take that bar by sur
prise. That's what she did. She tip
toed up 10 the bed and fastened her
fingers in his fur. an though he was a
hefty load. she carried him to the doah
an dumped him out. l never knew she
was home till she pulled the bar away.