76 THE COLONEL'S SECRET. 



One day the colonel, who had conceived a great friend- 

 ship for me, meeting me in Chestnut Street, invited me 

 to accompany him on a 'possum-hunt. 



" Willingly," I replied. " But whither will you take 

 me 1 Must we go any distance 1 " 



" Oh no," he answered ; "we shall hunt along the 

 bank of the Delaware, about ten miles from Philadel- 

 phia, and we shall set out this evening." 



I accepted the invitation immediately, for I was curious 

 to see whether Colonel Crockett's skill had been overrated. 



I pass over the details of our journey, which we accom- 

 plished in a light waggon, guided by a mulatto ; the said 

 mulatto never ceasing to whistle from the moment we 

 quitted Philadelphia to the moment of our arrival at 

 Mac-Comb-Dam. * 



Early in the morning, my American Niinrod, myself, 

 and Dolly, our mulatto, began the hunt. A couple of 

 first-rate terriers frolicked in front of us. Suddenly one 

 of them gave tongue, the other replied, and after pushing 

 forward a short distance into the brushwood, they started 

 an opossum, who with one bound jumped upon the 

 branch of a beech-tree, and from thence clambered to its 

 topmost bough. Colonel Crockett took aim; I allowed 

 him to do so, holding myself ready to fire if he should 

 miss ; but, to my utter astonishment, I saw the opossum 

 tumble, though no report reached my ears. 



I was about to interrogate the colonel, but with his hand 

 he signed to me not to speak. The dogs had just roused 

 a second 'possum, who resorted to the same stratagem as 

 his unfortunate predecessor. In my turn I prepared to 

 fire, but my comrade, who had shouldered his gun before 



* So spelt in the original. 



