Zeb White.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 85

Zeb White.

HE TELLS OF AN ORNEBY MEWL AXD A CANTANKEROUB BEAK.

"One day, as I was eittin' on my doahstep," began the old 'possum hunter when asked for a story, "a stranger come along the road leading a mewl. It was a No'th Caroleeny mewl, and he looked like a likely beast. I was a-wonderin' why the man waa leadin' the mewl instead of ridin' him, when he stopped and eaid :

" 'I'm on my way to the Tennessee River to jump in and perish, and I'll sell you this mewl powerful cheap if you want him." " 'What do you want to perish for?' I asked.

" 'Bskas© I'm alone in the world, and too good for it. I can't stand the • wickedness around me, and I would go hence and hey a harp and golden wings. This mewl is the last thing Ive -got to get rid of, and if you fancy him he's yo's for 20 dollars.'

"I was in want of a mewl just then," said Zeb, ''and after lookiu' the critter over I put down the money. When the trade had been made the stranger wiped a tear from his eye, embraced the mewl in a lovin' way, and then said to- me:

" Td take him with me to the other shore, but mewls can't go thar. He'll grieve after mo, but if you treat him well he'll git over it in time. Good-bye, Zeb White, and if it be so that angels kin come flyin' arount on. airth one© iv a while, I'll drap in and see how the critter gits along.'

"It didn't take me long," said Zeb, "to diskiver that the mewl was ornery. All mewls are pizeu mean, but this one was a champion. If I tried to put a saddle on him he'd lay down in his tracks, and if I hitched him to a cart uothin' on airth could jnaVe him pull a pound. He'd bite, and hod kick, and he went around lookin' for a fuss. In a week I found he was no airthly good. I clubbed him till I was tired, but I couldn't pound no sense into him One day I got so mad that I was gwine to sLoot him, but the old woman mixed in and fcaid:

"'I was jest a-thinkin', Zeb. Do you remember that cantankerous bar that was around yere last fall i'

" 'O' co'so.' s" 'He'll likely come back ag'iu this fall. Better leave him to the mewl if he comes.'

"As to that bar," explained the old man, "he was the most cantankerous varmint I ever met up with. He'd come sneaVin' around at night and chaw up the- sheets spread on the grass, and sometimes he'd appear by day and skeer the old woman half to death. I set a trap for him, and lie carried it off. I laid out two nights on the watch, but he come like a shadder and almost killed my dawg. He was up to all kinds of tricks, and he bothered mo fur three months befo' ho disappeared. It was likely he would come agin, and if he did thar would be fun uetween an ornery mewl and a cantankerous bar. I give up rryin' io do anything with the mewl, but he Towed meaner and meaner all the time, j'-nd he wasn't happy unless he was kickin' lis heels agin the cabin doah?. It got so ■■\a old woman dasn't stir outdoahs, and

had to carry a club to keep him off. I'd "•rtd him six weeks and had wanted to shoot "m every day, when one night that bar owed up. He come down off the mounin feelin' mo' cantankerous than ever, and at ornery mewl was waitin' fur somethin' ■• oome along and begin a row. They got it in no time. Me and the old woman

o; up and looked out. and them two < -liters was thoroughly enjo3 r in' themselves. <o hf-y was kickin'. bitiu', clawin', growlin', aid squealin', and it was better than a circus to watch 'em. They fit fur an hour, and then they got tuckered out, and the h'ar went back t-o his cave. Tt was the pame thing over the next night, and every right for a week or mo. A bar ought to lick a mewl easy 'nuff, specially when he's si cantankerous bar, hut in this case hod pot hold of a mewl s-o mean and obstinate that he wouldn't licv turned tail for all the bars in Tennessee. He wa> a«> tpry as a cat. and the wav ho bit and kicked warmed up my heart. He got a good uvtny tcratihes in them conflicts, but he wouldn't run away ncr give in. One night after wo had seen him roll that bar over a dozen times without liurtin* him the old woman ;.aid to mo:

" 'Zeb. it ain't exactly a fair fout. The. mewl ain't pot no shoes on, and lu^ kicks don't hurt. Better give him a decent show.' "It struck me that way. and the next day I takes the critter up to the .blacksmith whop at -the Cov-e and has sharp shoe 3 put on his hind feet. Ho seemed to know what they was for, and ho didn't like it 'tall. He was ugly all the way home, and when uiglit come he stood in the yard with his head down and 'pcared to be thinWin'. The bar come down about 8 o'clock. Mebbe he was madder tbun usual, for he pitched sisht in at once. Ale and the old woman

both noticed that he didn't use his heels ' 'tall, but just bit and pawed, and we wondered at it. However, after fightiu' about half an hour the bar cornered him, and he had to turn and let fly, and he killed that varmint as dead as a doahnail with one kick. The sharp calks of one of the shoes pierced the bars skull, and over he ' went and never got up agin. I was mighty tickled over it, and went out to praise the mewl. He was Btandin' clus to the | bar, and he never moved a foot for five irinite; jest stood and looked at me through the darkness in a sort of aecusin.' way, and then fetched a gasp and fell down dead. " 'He's been wounded in his vitahs,' said the old woman, as she come out with a lantern. "But he hadn't. He had some scratches and a bite or two. but nothin' to worry about. No, sah. What ailed that mewl was madness and contrariness. He'd sot out to lick that bar without any hind shoes on, and reckonin' to fight fair and hey somethin' to brag about, and he was mad and ' contrary 'bout my mixin' in. When he found he'd killed the bar, he swelled up till his heart busted, and lie fell over dead, and I jest believe he was glad to go. Thar was nothin' mo' left on airth for him to fight, and why should he tarry longer? As to the bar, I reckon it was the same with him. Leastwise he laid thar with a smile on liis face, and was cantankerous to the end." — Boston Globe. i