Fourty-Four Years, or, the Life of a Hunter. Meshach Browning
the name of McMullen. They had five children, viz., Mary, Hugh, Jane, John, and Thomas. The father's name was James McMullen, and his wife's name was Rachel. One day another boy and myself were in the woods near the old man's farm, and our dog gave chase to something, we knew not what, and ran it into a hole in the ground. I sent the boy to McMullen's for the loan of a mattock to dig out our game. We soon had the fellow out, and he was a very large ground hog. He gave our dog at least fifteen minutes' hard fighting, and when the battle ended we went to the house to return the mattock. I sent the boy with it, as I was a stranger, and too bashful to be seen in a strange place. When the boy told that the ground hog was out with me, the three oldest children came to see the animal. Mary was then in her twelfth year, and I was six months older. She was a beautiful girl, and I was struck with her beauty, and soon got a small acquaintance with the family. I was at all times ready and willing to do anything that would please the old people. But soon there was a school to be made up,
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and my uncle signed me for three months, and, to my great pleasure, Mr. McMullen signed Mary and Hugh. This was just as I wished it to be, for they had to pass by our house on their way to and from school. In a short time they came, and off' we went together, all merry and play- ful. All was as it should be for weeks and weeks, while I done everything I could to get into her favor, until the school broke up, for which I was very sorry.
I had learned finely, and Mary had taken every oppor- tunity to assist me in my lessons, for she had been three months at school before the time we commenced together; and when we left school, I could read and write as well as she could. But never did a boy exert himself with more ambition than I did on that occasion, for I was determined to be as fast as herself at all events, and either Mary or I would be at the head of the class almost every night. This caused an intimacy between us that convinced me that my kind attention to her, as well as towards her brother Hugh, had made a very favorable impression on her young heart. I believe that her father had some idea of our friendship getting stronger than he wished to see it, and he took care to keep us at a distance as much as he could; but her mother and all the children were my friends. Mary and myself were at this time about fifteen years old, and had passed many pleasant hours in social pastime, unknown to her father. I would watch his move- ments closely, and, when I knew he would be from home at nights, I would go to see her and the family generally. But I am free to confess that if Mary had not been there, I should have saved myself the trouble of making those visits to the family. This was kept up until I was very nearly found out by her father.
He had gone from home, as I thought, for all night, and I concluded I would see Mary that night once more, and have a chat Off I went, heart in hand, but being?
24 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF
afraid her father would come home unexpectedly, and as I dreaded to be found in her company (my fears were more for her than myself), as I was apprehensive that he would treat her badly, and that would be worse than any punish- ment he could inflict on me. In order to be sure he was not at home, I went to the back window and peeped in, and saw the mother and family quietly sitting at work, but no old man. Taking it for granted he was not there, I was about to turn the corner to the door, when, to my utter confusion, "Bow I wow! wow!" barked a large dog, and "Catch him, Prince" screamed the old man. "Heaven and earth! thunder and storm!" thought I to myself, "what now?" As quick as thought could come, I determined to keep the house between us, until I could make a safe retreat. Behind the house I flew, and seeing a flock of sheep lying at a short distance from me, and, having light clothes on, I fell on my hands and feet, and began to gallop as fast as I could into the flock of sheep, hoping the old man would take me to be one of the flock Off went the sheep, the old man screaming at his dog to catch what he took to be a prowling wolf—the sheep and myself both galloping for good life, until I was completely out of the old man's sight. When I found I had succeeded so well, I said to myself, "Clear once more, by gracious, and nothing to brag of! This shall be the last time I will go behind any person's house to see what is in it. I had better have gone in boldly, when I could have made some excuse for being so late, and got off" like a man. But if I had been discovered, Mary would never have heard the last of it," These reflections past, I wiped the sweat off my face, and fixed up my shirt, which had been rearly all drawn up towards my head, by my shoulders being so much lower than my hips in the galloping scrape; and in heaving and bounding forward to keep up with the 'sheep my linen was all round the middle of my body.
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After getting my clothes straight again, I started for home. I told the occurrence to no one, with the excep- tion of Mary, it being so mixed with fun I could not keep it from her. This just suited her, for she was fond of having a joke of that kind, and often when I would be a little hard for her in joking, she would say: "You are fit for nothing but to chase sheep," (and this is to this day a by-word), or, "You are more fitted to chase sheep." No person but she and I, however, knew how it came into use.
This familiarity continued without interruption until my brother Joshua and his wife, with a fine little son four or five months old, came in search of me, as they were tra- velling from the west back to Flintstone. They told me that mother had married her second husband; that the newly married couple, with Joshua and his wife, had moved to the West; that they were going to see her friends at Flintstone; that my mother wished me to come to her, for she had no hopes of ever seeing Jeremiah again; and that my sister had died, and left her with only Joshua and my- self. I had not seen my mother then for six years, and I had a strong desire to visit her; but being persuaded by uncle and aunt to continue still with them, I gave up the journey to my mother's home in the West.
I forgot to mention that my aunt, while living in Monongahela, unexpectedly to everybody, had become the mother of a little daughter, after being married about twenty years. This knocked my nose clear out of joint; for I was soon denounced as lazy, and everything but a good boy. But when my brother called on me to go to my mother, my aunt, to keep me with her, promised to make me as good clothes as Mr. McMullen's children had. This was as good as I wanted, and I agreed to stay and try it a while longer. I was then coming close to my sixteenth year, and Mary the same ; but in a short time after my brother left, I heard nothing more of the new
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26 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF
clothes, and aunt got still more and more cross. She had long been in the habit of flogging me very severely, and finding no preparation for my clothes, I hunted coons and wild cats, and sold the fur, which was then in brisk de- mand. I took it into my head to try the deer, and I pro- cured an old rifle that carried an ounce ball. I had been out with other hunters, but they would always do all the shooting.
This time I loaded up my old gun, and set out in great earnest. I travelled about two miles, and found the tracks of a lot of deer. After them I went, and in came another hunter before me, and took the tracks from me. I turned another way, and presently I heard him shoot. "There," said I to myself, "if that rascal had staid at home, that deer would have been mine." But on I went, looking for more deer. By and by, I saw two standing looking at me. I immediately placed my gun against a tree, took aim, and bang went my old gun with deafening sound, till my ears rang; the cause of which was, that having no charger to measure the powder, I had put in enough for at least two loads. As soon as I recovered from the shock, I looked for the deer; and there stood one, looking at the other down and kicking. With the best speed I could make, up I came, with the empty gun in my right hand, and on to the deer I sprang like a panther. But no sooner was I on than I was off again, and sprawled, heels and head, gun and all, in the snow. I drew my knife, left ray gun, and sprang at my game a second time, and succeeded in giving her a fatal cut across the neck, which severed the two large veins, and left her my meat; then looking for the other deer, there it stood, looking at me as if nothing had been going on. I ran for my gun, and found the heat of the barrel had melted the snow all over it; loading was out of the question, until it was well dried, and in the mean- time the deer trotted off.
A HUNTER'S LIFE. 27
I was in high spirits, for all the hunters had often told me that I would miss the first deer I would shoot at. Then to skinning it I went. That done, and the meat se- cured, it was time to start for