A BADLY TWISTED YARN. 
13%, 
Old Man Stice told us boys some fabu- 
lous tales, and sometimes when he was 
in a particularly reminiscent mood the 
stories of his adventures fairly rivaled those 
of Munchausen. 
We had assembled in the usual place, 
under the apple trees, and had been talking 
about deer. ‘‘ Speakin’ of deer,” the old 
man said as he deliberately filled his pipe; 
‘‘ when I first come to these parts the woods 
D. 
was fairly alive with deer an’ it wuz a easy © 
matter to git-a shot ,any time. in’ the 
winter I’ve seed ’em so gentle they'd jump 
the fence to git at the hay ricks in the barn 
yard. Ven’son wuz a common article of our 
diet, an’ thar warn’t many meals we set 
down -to but what it wuz “mongst the vit- 
tles. 
‘“T mind mighty well, a chase I hed arter 
one deer. It wuz durin’ harves’, an’ blazin’ 
hot. It used to git so all-fired hot in them 
days thet the steam risin’ from the sweat of 
our brows would bile the cabbage leaves we 
hed in our hats to prevent us from gitin’ 
over he’t, an’ this wuz one of them days. 
“ All the han’s, which included our folks 
an’ all our neighbors wuz a-eatin’ dinner in 
the field. We used to help each other in 
them days. Help wuz skeers an’ thar warn’t 
no han’s trampin’ round the kentry lookin’ 
fer work an’ not findin’ it. When one man’s 
crap wuz ready all the folks in the neigh- 
borhood would jest turn in an’ help him git 
it in, an’ when thet wuz done, they’d all go 
to the nex’ farm. It wuz a time of great re- 
joicin’ too, an’ we used to do a sight of 
cookin’ in advance an’ carry the vittles to 
the harves’ field an’ eat ’em picnic fashion. 
“ But, I wuz a-speakin’ of deer. We wuz 
all settin’ ’round eatin’ when I see a deer 
stray out of the timber on the other side of 
the field. I wuz a purty rapid eater (an’ 
thar is folks as say thet’s the cause of the 
mis’ry I hev in my side at presen) an’ hevin’ 
hed my fill I calkilated to hev a chanst at 
thet deer. He wuz a young buck an’ I 
C. 
could tell he wuz a game one. I didn’t hev 
nothin’ to shoot with, so I jumped on a 
young filly that wuz in the field an’ lit out 
fer the deer jest like all possessed. 
“The filly wuz the colt of our old gray 
mare an’, notwithstandin’ it wuz a yearlin’, 
it wuz not weaned yit, an’ allus follered ‘its 
maw everywhar ; thet’s how it come to be 
hangin’ ’round the harves’ field. She hed 
never been broke yit. but I jumps on any 
how without saddle or bridle or any thing, 
jest doin’ the guidin’ with my heels. It wuz 
the first time thet any huiman bein’ hed been 
on thet filly’s back, an’ the way she tore up 
es arth fairly blew the hayseed out o’ my 
akehiac’ 
“The deer he see us comin’ but kinder 
stood ’round till we come "bout so clost, an’ 
then he tuk to the timber, keepin’ allus jest 
sO fur ahead. This went on fer quite a spell, 
an’ it set me a-thinkin’ thet onless somethin’ 
or other happened purty quick, we’d all trot 
our durn legs off. 
“Thar hed been a rain the night afore, 
which freezin’ as it fell made a crust on the 
snow which wuz a-layin’ nigh 3 foot deep 
ona level. This crust wuz strong enough to 
bear up the colt, it hevin’ big feet like colts 
do, but the deer’s leetle sharp hoofs went 
pluggin’ through every time he jumped. 
Bime-by I could see from the way the deer 
wuz a flounderin’ thet he couldn’t hold out 
much longer, an’ it warn’t long ontil he gits 
stuck in a big drift. 
“Then I come up to him an’ takin’ one of 
the stirrups off my saddle, I give him one 
swat on the head which everlastin’ put.an. 
end to his sufferin’s. Arter thet I slung the 
animal acrost my saddle an’ made my way 
back with considerable difuculty, it bein’ so 
slippery, to whar the folks wuz an’ finished 
my eatin’. 
“We hed to knock off. work, cut up the 
carcass an’ hang it in the smoke-house, or 
else the orful heat an’ the pesky blow-flies 
would a spiled it in less an’ no time.” 
JULY. : 
This fervid month, of sunstrokes men have 
fear, 
For days are now about as hot as hades. g 
The red-nosed topers guzzle lager beer, 
But ice-cream soda satisfies the ladies. 
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