A VALLEY ISLAND. 



in 



chicking 2 little' chirping sparrows the 

 mother, whom we recognize by her more 

 somber coloring, circling nearer and 

 nearer the devastated treasure which held 

 her heart. To her, Neltje Blanchan attrib- 

 utes 'an unusually strong mother love. 

 She says, "In every group of these birds, 

 throughout the summer, we can see young 

 ones hopping around after their parents, 

 that are often no larger or more able bod- 

 ied than they, and teasing to be fed ; droop- 

 ing their wings when the weary little moth- 

 er hops away from them, to excite pity 



for a helplessness they do not possess, and 

 persistently chirping for food until she 

 we'akly relents, returns to them, picks up a 

 seed from the ground and thrusts it down 

 the bill of the sauciest teaser." 



We are only making matters worse by 

 our interference, and we steal quietly 

 away, the plaintive "chick, chick," of the 

 bereft pair following us ; but we gather our 

 roses while we may and forget, after the 

 manner of our kind, hurrying homeward 

 with our floral treasures securely held 

 from dansrer. 



A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 



IV. 



We'd been layin' 'round th' fire er cou- 

 ple uv hours I reckon, an' it must er bin 

 8 er 9 o'clock, an' all ter onct Mr. Sam's 

 dog got up an' run out fer's th' light shone 

 an' growled th' biggest kind an' raised 'is 

 bristles like he seen somethin' bad. Pa 

 sez, "By grannies, fellers, there's er var- 

 mint out there som'ers," an' Uncle Dick 

 sez, "That's no lie, Jim; there's plenty uv 

 'em in these woods," an' Mr. Sam sez, 

 "Le's fix up th' fire pan an' see'f we cain't 

 git er shot at 'im." We had en ele fry 

 pan we'd brung along er purpose, an' Mr. 

 Sam he got it an' went ter lashin' it on er 

 little pole, an' I grab th' axe an' cut some 

 fat splinters, an' Pa he drawed th' loads 

 outen his ole gun an' charged her up with 

 fresh powder an' rammed down 12 blue 

 whistlers in each bar'l. In 5 minutes we 

 wuz ready, fer we didn't have no time ter 

 spare, 'casion uv its bein': most time fer 

 moon up. Pa took 'is gun an' Mr. Sam 

 took th' fire pan. an' Uncle Dick carried 

 some splinters, 'an I led th' dog by er 

 cord. We took off th' way th' dog seen 

 th' thing, an' th' woods ^looked plum 

 scairy by th' fire light.' Th' pine trees 

 lookedTike they wuz 200 feet high, an' th' 

 live oaks looked er heap bigger'n in th' 

 day time. Dreckly Pa sez, "S-s-s-h-h!" 

 an' pinted off ter one side, an' I looked 

 from behind 'im an' there wuz er pair uv 

 eyes shinin' like fire by er palmetter bunch, 

 but they wuz little an' close ter th' groun'. 

 Pa sez, "It's er drotted pole cat," an' we 

 walked towards it, an' shore nuff, there sot 

 one er starin' at th' fire pan like he never 

 seen it before. We went 'round 'im an' 



took down towards th' hummock, an' 

 dreckly Pa sez, "S-s-s-h-h!" agin an' sez, 

 "I seen 'im that time by that bunch uv 

 bushes; he jumped back uv it. I bleeve 

 its er catamount." We slipped along to- 

 wards th' bushes without makin any fuss, 

 an' th' dog begun ter git excited an' give 

 er growl, an' I wouldn't er been out there 

 by myself fer er $100. I fetched th' dog 

 er little bat on th' jaw ter be quiet an' 

 hadn't more'n done it when Mr. Sam 

 stopped an' Pa fetched 'is gun up. I jest 

 caught er glimpse uv somethin's eyes er 

 shinin' through th' palmetter when Pa 

 pulled down on 'im, bang! Th' ole gun 

 fairly thundered, an' somethin' sez "E-e-e- 

 yo-w-w!" an' jest tore up th' bushes goin' 

 fer th' hummock. Mr. Sam sez, "Turn th' 

 dog loose," but Pa sez, "Hole on, fellers; 

 lemme load up," an' we stopped till he 

 loaded up th' em'ty bar'l. Then we went 

 ter where th' thing wuz er standin', an' 

 there wuz blood on th' leaves an' big 

 sign in th' sand where th' thing gathered 

 itself an' jumped. The ole dog jest bris- 

 tled 'is hair an' growled an' took th' trail 

 straight fer th' hummock an' us after 'im. 

 'Round th' outside uv th' hummock wuz er 

 strip uv high palmetter, an' th' dog 

 charged inter it er growlin' mighty fierce. 

 Jest then somethin' give er big jump an' 

 lit on ter th' dog, an' uv al th' squallin' an' 

 barkin' an' yelpin' I ever heern that shore 

 beat it. Mr. Sam hollered ter th' dog, 

 "Come back here, Ring, you durn fool! 

 You'll git clawed inter doll rags," an' 

 'bout that time th' varmint made er couple 

 uv big jumps inter th' hummock, an' we 

 heerd 'is claws er rattlin' on er big live 



