3i8 



RECREATION. 



A TAME CENTIPEDE. 



F. STOCKDER. 



Returning from the depot where I had 

 been to see my wife off for Denver, and 

 thinking how desolate home would seem 

 until her return, I reached my house just 

 as a neighbor, Miss Myra H., came hur- 

 riedly through the gate. 



"Oh !" she cried, on seeing me, "I have 

 just been to your house in the hope of find- 

 ing my uncle. Have you seen him this 

 morning?" 



I confessed my ignorance of the gentle- 

 man's whereabouts. 



"Oh, dear, what shall I do? Did you 

 ever see a centipede, Mr. S. ?" 



"Lots of them," I replied. "The boys 

 killed a number on my place last summer." 



"What are they like?" 



"The body is yellowish brown, about the 

 thickness of a small pencil, and consists of 

 numerous joints. Each joint has a liberal 

 supply of legs attached to it, and both head 

 and tail are so lavishly ornamented with 

 horns and things that you can not tell one 

 from the other." 



"Yes," she said, "I was sure of it; there 

 is one in my room now.. Won't you come 

 and kill it or drive it away?" 



"And is that the only cause of your ex- 

 citement?" I asked. "I feared some dread- 

 ful accident had occurred, or that you had 

 seen a mouse." 



"Aren't they awful dangerous?" 



"Mice?" 



"No !" with an indignant snap. "Centi- 

 pedes. Folks say they will jump on you 

 and stick all those legs into your flesh and 

 poison you." 



"Horrible ! Why didn't you take a hat 

 pin and stab the beast?" 



"Oh, I wouldn't go near it for the world. 

 It would surely bite me." 



"How large is it?" I inquired. 



For answer she held her hands about 7 

 inches apart. 



"Phew!" I said. "It must be great- 

 grandpa Centipede. Let's have a look at 

 this monster." 



At Miss Myra's boarding place we found 

 the landlady, armed with a 6 foot length 

 of scantling on guard at the front door. 

 Assured that I was going to beard the ter- 

 ror, she begged me to be careful and offered 

 me her "stick." I declined the formid- 

 able weapon and we entered the house. At 

 either end of the hall were grouped women 

 carrying brooms, pokers, and rolling pins, 

 and casting apprehensive glances up the 

 stairs. Miss Myra and I went up to her 

 room, the door of which stood open. So 

 far my companion had shown admirable 

 courage. Standing in the doorway she 

 pointed a slender finger toward a dark 

 corner and said : 



"There it is, behind the washstand; but 

 don't go near it, please don't." 



The stand had been moved back from the 

 wall and behind it on top of the baseboard 



I saw the cause of all the commotion. It 

 was a little fluffy roll, about 2 inches in 

 length, and was moving in a lifelike way 

 but without making any progress. On 

 closer examination I perceived that the 

 thing was lifeless, its motion being caused 

 by a draught from behind the baseboard. 

 I laid it in the palm of my hand and walked 

 to a window. It was a wad of hair re- 

 moved from a comb. 



When I came out of the room a general 

 stampede followed, accompanied by violent 

 shutting of doors. I called Miss Myra and 

 she approached cautiously. Said I : 



"This centipede is of the blonde shade 

 which I particularly admire, and matches 

 charmingly with your strawberry and va- 

 nilla complexion." 



A flash of recognition came into her blue 

 eyes. She blushed and said, "Oh!" 



Then a door near where we stood was 

 unbolted and Miss Myra's mother appeared. 



"Is it dead?" she asked. 



"Entirely so," I replied. 



Then I discreetly retired, leaving the 

 daughter to make further explanations. 

 It is a strange thing that when I have 

 seen that young lady since, she has not 

 seen me. 



A HOOSIER IN DIXIE. 



In February, '98, I visited Washington 

 county, Florida, which is a beautiful tract 

 of woodland extending from the Alabama 

 line to the gulf. It is inhabited by deer, 

 turkeys and quails, and many kinds of 

 ducks and other water fowl, with an occa- 

 sional bear and wildcat to be found in the 

 swamps. 



Several varieties of fish are found in the 

 streams and lakes, which, with the oysters 

 of the salt water, make it an ideal place 

 for the sportsman. 



It would soon be close season, and owing 

 to the absence of a good rifle for large 

 game I was compelled to hunt such game as 

 would fall to my 12 gauge, namely ducks, 

 quails and rabbits. 



While there I met John W. Chapman, an 

 enthusiastic sportsman from Warsaw, Ind., 

 who, with his 30-30 Winchester, had come 

 to get large game. The poor fellow was 

 doomed to disappointment. 



He saw some beautiful seashells in the 

 shallow water and waded forth to get them. 

 A few minutes' wading in the salt water 

 under the tropical sun developed such an 

 attack of sunburn as to confine him to the 

 hotel for the rest of his sojourn in Dixie. 



A Northern man, in company of friend 

 C, was driving through the pine woods 

 when 3 deer dashed from the bushes and at 

 a short distance stopped to gaze at the in- 

 truders. As they took to their heels again, 

 our tenderfoot exclaimed, "Gee whiz ! what 

 pretty Jersey calves !" 



North Central Florida is an ideal place 

 for sportsmen. 

 Charles W. Potter, East Enterprise, Ind. 



