THE "PAINTER" IN THE PIG PEN. 236 



— you know how dogs take on when they 're dreamin' — raise his 

 head quick like and make a straight p'int for the t'other eend of 

 the cabin, whare the logs was a little open like. He stood there 

 for about a minnit and then came back and laid down agin. I 

 knew somethin' was up, and that screech I heerd war true music. 

 The old woman seed the dog, and she broke in with — 



" ' Yes, that 's so ; when my old man, and the dog, both smell 

 painter, I knows there is painter. Two dogs don't both make a 

 false p'int to once.' 



" At this Doctor Smith he walks to the door and unlatches it ; 

 the wind blew it wide open. I saw a pair of long white horns 

 outside, and that minnit the Doctor gave jist one of the biggest 

 yells yer ever heerd a wild Injin make ; one of his pistols went 

 off; I don't know ef he fired it off, or it went off of itself, and the 

 preacher went over backwards as my yoke of young steers came a- 

 rushin' right in the cabin. Lord ! yer could 'a' heerd me larf a mile. 

 "The critters was a-frightened in the storm, and maybe had 

 smelt the painter, and were mighty glad to get in the house where 

 the light was ; but they weren't half as frightened as the Doctor 

 was. He hadn't any more pluck in him than an old hen on a rainy 

 day ; he was right wilted down, though he tried to show how the 

 bullock had hit his arm and that had fired the pistol. 



"We got the critters out again presently, though they didn't 

 want to go and I sot a-thinkin' about it, and wonderin' how it was 

 they were so onusual skeery, and the old woman had fixed the 

 Doctor somethin' warm, and I hadn't heern any more of the painter 

 for an hour or more, when all of a sudden, queek, quee-ee-ee-ak, we 

 heerd the old sow go, and a thumpin' noise, and the cattle bellowed 

 and run around the house. 



' " Thar, I knowed it,' says I, as I grabbed my rifle, upsettin' the 

 teapot, ' cus the painter, he 's got the old sow.' 



" Lord, you should ha' seen that cabin empty itself. Boz and 

 the other dogs first, and then the Doctor and his pistols, and then 

 the old woman, though she was the smartest man of the lot, fur she 

 brought out a big pitch pine knot all-afire, to see what we were 

 goin' after. 



" I put right for the pig pen ; that was about eight rods off from 



