Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1916-02-25

They'd fetched along a lot O.
goodies in bag that she also served,
sech as nutcakes, gingerbread, m
rye m injun. n maple sugar cakes.
And beside all this they Toasted on
berries O. all kinds where in the for
est glades and along the margin of
ponds, bountiful natur' had spread
for them her table, with plots O.
bushes jest weighed down with
large ripe berries. There was rasp-
berry, blackberry, huckleberry, blue
berry, mulberry, and clumps o tall,
slender trees O. sugar plums bend
ing down for them to help them
selves to, And trailing the ground
here and there, natur' had spread
for them rich m gorgeous carpets
O. moss, soft and velvety, filled in
m running with checkerberries,
partridge berries, princes pine and
running spruce.
And when eyenin' came they
found where natur' had prepared
for them a cozy, snug bedroom,
shut iii close out O. sight in the
midst O. thick clusters O. small hem
locks and balsam, with a floor O. dry
moss and spray. And while the
thrushes were chantin' their melo-
dies near and far tho the woods to
their delighted ears, he would build
campfire, entrenching it so it
would not spread, and then they'd
pluck the fir bedding so amply pro-
vided and spread deep and lay a
heavy blanket upon it and another
for a cover, maxim it soft and COM
Portable; then he'd draw the boughs
together overhead to protect them
from the dew. One or two nights
there came up terrific thunder
showers but he had guarded against
the down-poor by building a lean-to,
cutting a pole m placing it down
low in between the crotches of the
scrub hemlock or balsam, m leanin
against it layers O hemlock bark
he'd peel off'n old fallen trees, N
over that a lot O. fir boughs. NJ
rain could touch 'em fixed in SNUG
like that; m they felt, as grand
father said, like the children O. ma
tur' bein' Rugged to her bosom
!, One night a big she-bear with he,
cubs poked the boughs aside ant
gazed in upon 'em; he snatched {
fire. brand from the slumberin1
campfire close by N waved at he
m scat her off.
One very dark night when the,
were abed in their lean-to and lis
tening to the distant rumblings of
coming thunder shower they wer
suddenly startled by the scream o
a panther. 1t frightened her blu
i, he told her to not be afraid, m go
up m grabbed his gun; he threw
on to the smouldering fire some dr.,
= boughs handy by. and in the ligh
O. the cracking blaze saw tn
- cleaning eyes of the panthe
. stealthiy approaching, and when i
got jes' close enough he aimed a
the right spot m fired, N that var
mint had quit his roamin's seekin
whom he could devour.
] That next morning when she say
the old panther lay dead before tn
soaked ash-bed of the campfire
where the rain had poured, she pu
her arms round his neck m Leaned
her head, with its tousled, wavy hair
on his shoulder m kissed him n
said, "Oh, my! You are a hero
George!"
3 She was brave, too. n pooty nigl
:. as good a shot, n she carried gun
e only hers was lighter than hisn.
y Another night they had a ruthe
), exciting call from a small pack Q
t, wolves that came bowling up t.
It their campfire. That night the,
n had made their camp on dry
d smooth, rock surface with thicI
d bed of springy moss covered dee
n with pine needles, and right u
\ against a massive boulder, loy