Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-03-22
First IngtalIment began March s.

-: his appearance was NO mCFe til
usual than the manner of his coming
there To my mother and me a we
perched above the angry wild pigs He
came through the trees leapinc from
limb to limb and from tree to tree. and
he came swiftly. l can see him now,
in my wake-a-day life. as | write this,
swinging along through the trees, a
four handed. hairy creature, bowling
with rage. pausing now and again to
beat his chest with his clenched fist.
Ieaping ten and fifteen foot gaps, catch
ing a branch with one hand and swing
ing on across another gap to catch
with his other hand and go on. never
hesitating. never at d loss as to how
70 proceed on his arboreal way.
And as ! watched him / felt in my
own being. I'm my very muscles them
selves, the surge and thrill of desire
to 60 leaping from bOugh to bough,
and / felt also the guarantee of the
latent power in that being and in those
muscles of mine. And why not? Lit
tie boys watch their fathers swing
axes and fell trees and feel in them
selves that some day they. too, will
swing axes and fell trees. And SO with
me- The life that was in me was con-
stituted to do what my father did,
and it whispered to me secretly and
ambitiously of aerial paths and forest
flights.
At last my father joined us. He was
extremely angry. l remember the out
thrust Of his protruding underlip as he
glared down at the wild pigs. He
snarled something like a dog. and /
remember that his eyeteeth were large,
like fangs, and that they impressed me
tremendously.
: His conduct served only the more to
infuriate the pigs. He broke off twigs
and small branches and flung them
down upon our enemies. He even
hung by one hand. tantalizingly Just be-
yond reach. and Knocked them as they
gnashed their tusks with impotent
rage. Not content with this. he broke
OF q stout branch and. holding on with
ore hand and foot. jabbed the infuri-
ated beasts in the sides and whacked
them across their noses. Needless to
state, my mother and l enjoyed the
sport.
But one tires OF all good things, and
IN the end my father. chuckling mali
cfOusly the while. lei the way across
the trees. Now it was that my ambi-
lions ebbed away, and became timid,
holding tightly to my mother as she
climbed and swung through space. |
remember when the branch broke with
her weight. She had made a wide
leap. and with the snap of the wood
was overwhelmed with the sickening
consciousness of falling through space,
The pair of us. The forest and the sum
shine on the rustling leaves vanished
from my eyes. had fading glimpse
OF my father abruptly arresting his
progress to look, and then all was
blackness.
The next moment was awake in
my sheeted bed, sweating, trembling.
nauSeated. The window was up, and
q cool air was blowing through the
room. The night lamp was burning
calmly. And because of this take it
that the wild pigs did not get us. that
we never fetched bottom. else | should
not be here now. thousand centuries
after, to remember the event.
And now put yourself in my place
for a moment Walk with me a bit in
my tender childhood bed with me a
night and imagine yourself dreaming
such incOmprehenSible horrors. Re-
member l was an inexperienced child
l had never seen a wild boar in my
life. For that matter had never seen
a domesticated pig. The nearest APP
prOach to one that l had seen was
breakfast bacon sizzling in its fat
And yet here. real as life. wild boars
dashed through my dreams, and l.
with fantastic parents. swung through
the lofty tree spaces.
Do YOU wonder that | was frightened
and oppressed by my nightmare ridden
nights? / was accurSed. And, worst
of all. / was afraid TO tell. | do not
know why. except that | had feeling
Of guilt. though l knew no better of
what / was guilty. So it was through
long years that | suffered in silence
until / came to mans estate and learn
ed the why and wherefore of my
dreams.