68 



WILD SCENES AND WlLD HUNTEES. 



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V"V. 





My W 



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" Yah ! yah ! see dat 'possum laugh ! grin nudder side 

 you's mout 'fore long, ole chicken thief!" 



" Shake he, Josh ! shake hard, nigger ! he hold on good 

 wid he curl-tail !" 



" Ha ! yah ! whoop ! hear he growl ! now dat 'possum laugh ! 

 dar he come !" 



A simultaneous rush, — screams, shrieks, growls, all min» 

 gled for an instant, while we heat off the dogs, and then he is 

 swung in triumph above their heads by the tallest of the party. 

 Now the well known trick of the opossum, in feigning to be 

 dead, affords new amusement ; and he is surrounded by his 

 merry torturers, who, aipidst noisy clamors, tease him in a 

 thousand ingenious ways to make him show signs of life, 



