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camp, there were exclamations of another
sort. On the shoulders of the first sat
demurely, what Thompson at first took
for a fox, then for a wildcat, with a sharp
face strongly marked with black stripes,
then for a kind of ring-tailed monkey,
but which proved to be, what he had nev
er before seen, a young raccoon. Jones
had espied it perched in the fork of a
small persimmon tree, looking very dis
consolately on the sea of ashes and cin
ders around, some of which still smoked,
and seemed to keep the poor brute in
mortal fear. On being approached, it
made no attempt to escape, and otfered
no resistanco to capture, but seemed to
hail with trustful delight the approach of
deliverance. A few leaves of the bear
grass, (silk grass) were woven, as they
walked, into both collar and cord, by
which it was for the time made secure.
Some of the men thought it was a
shame that Jones did not give to Wild
cat the pet which seemed so much better
suited to a boy than a man. But when
one of them was preparing to express
himself to this effect, there appeared a
mysterious commotion in Wildcat’s
pouch, (occupying a place, like a High
lander’s, over the pit of the stomach,)
which caused him to press his hand has
tily there, saying as he did so :
“ Wy-gus-chay!” (the Muscogee for
“quit that!”)
Then turning to Thompson a face that
seemed to be writhing with pain and
pleading for sympathy, he exclaimed with
a terrible groan, “ Oh! he bite! I feel him
gnaw!”
The Irishman began to be seriously
concerned for his dusky friend, and was
about to call Dr. Gordon, when the art
ful boy, satisfied with this exhibition of
his powers of acting, threw off from his
countenance the mask of pain, and burst
ing into a laugh at the success of his joke,
so well suited to a young savage, he
added :
“He bite! he gnaw! but he don’t
hurt!” then putting his hand into the
pouch, he drew thence a beautiful squir
rell, nearly half grown, which he pro
ceeded to place upon his shoulder, and to
supply with a piece of cracked hickory
nut. The graceful little thing, after one
start of surprise, and a quick dash under
the fold of the buckskin hunting shirt,
to hide itself from the unexpected crowd,
took its place with a perfectly home-like
air upon Wildcat’s shoulder, curled its
tail upon its back, in the shape of the let
ter S, and proceeded composedly to eat
its nut.
While thus engaged, Magruder, who
had been absent, came from the beach
BXJRKE’S WEEKLY.
and joined the company, when there be
gan to be another commotion in the
pouch, another pressing of the hand up
on it, and other exclamations, and writh
ings as before, with the eyes turned now
towards the new comer, but the Scotch
man was too wary to be caught by such
appearances. He merely smiled a grim
acknowledgement of having detected the
snare, and then Wildcat, inserting his
hand into the pouch, drew out another
squirrel, the mate of the first, and placed
it with a piece of nut upon the other
shoulder.
Upon enquiry by some of the admiring
lookers-on, it was ascertained that soon
after the capture of the Coon, the squir
rels were discovered by Wildcat on a
small tree, from which they evidently
wished to escape, but dared not, on ac
count of the terrible-looking bed of ashes.
The two explorers went to the tree, and
standing one on each side, held out their
hands in an inviting way, saying, in soft,
encouraging tones, “ Bunny ! Bunny !
Petty! Petty!” when the little trustful
things, seeming to understand the lan
guage of tone and gesture, actually came
down the tree, smelt of the extended
hands, and allowed themselves to be ta
ken* and placed in Wildcat’s pouch. As
soon as their thirst was relieved, for they
are largo drinkers, and seemed to have
suffered much for the want of water, they
were supplied with a handful of sweet
acorns from the live oak, poured into the
pouch, after eating which at their leisure
each rolled itself into a ball and slept un
til the captors returned to camp.
It may be as well stated here as else
where that both these varieties of pets
became great favorites with the men and
fi iends to each other. The squirrels en
joyed the full freedom of the barge and
would chase each other up and down the
rigging, and from shoulder to shoulder of
the men, and dive into their pockets after
nuts and other eatables. The raccoon,
being naturally of a more staid and dig
nified demeanor, was at first annoyed at
having the little frolicsome squirrels leap
upon its back and clamber on its head,
and showed some signs of displeasure,
bat it also soon became reconciled, like a
good philosopher, to what it could not
help, and finally began to toy with its lit
tle companions in return. It soon learn
ed the way both to the supply of crack
ers and ship bread, and to the water can,
and, according to its peculiar habits’
would always soak its dry food in water
* This is not a mere sketch from fancy. The writer
witnessed a similar scene only a few days before this par
agraph was written.
before eating* Nobody’s pocket, and
no box nor little hole where any thiim
could bo kept, was safe from the sly i n t ril .
sion of its paws.
On leaving their fire-marked and thirs
ty island, the boat’s crew made directly
for the main, and they had not sailed
many hours along its beach before the
now raging thirst of the men was al
layed by a large supply of the sweetest
and coolest water they had found since
leaving Tampa. Ah, how delicious is
good water! We, who live in this land of
fountains and of rivers, can no more ap
preciate it than most people appreciate
the blessed light of the sun and the free
breath of heaven. None but asthmatics
can properly estimate the last, and none
but the temporarily blind the first. Yet
Solomon knew how to value good water.
With all his wisdom and his wealth, he
must, some time or other, have been
thirsty, or he could not have penned the
words : “As cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.”-)-
The man who wrote that must have
drawn his picture from experience. We
almost partake the enjoyment of the roy
al writer as he lifts to his eager lips a jew
elled cup, filled with water from David’s
well at* Bethlehem, and dewy with cold
from the snows of Herman.
Nothing more of special interest oc
curred till late in the day. The key, in
side of which they were then passing,
stretched its low sandy barrier so far
southward, that Dr. Gordon was appre
hensive lest the missing boat might pass
them unobserved upon the Gulf side.
He, therefore, requested that someone
might be sent to the western beach to re
connoitre ; and Wheeler, who was re
garded by all as being peculiarly fitted
for duties of this sort, on account of his
quick parts and keen observation, was
detailed for the purpose. He was gone
much longer than was expected, and
though ho could be occasionally 7 ' seen as
cending some wind-raised hillock of sand,
and directing his spy-glass down the
coast, the only answer he gave to the sig
nal of enquiry made from the barge, was
a wave of the hand, signalling in return
that the barge should pass slowly down
the inside beach.
For a time the hearts of all beat high
with hope that ho had spied the lost
*lt is this peculiarity which caused the raccoon to bo
known by naturalists as Lotor, or washer, Ursus Lotor,
for it was classed by Linneus in the general family o
bears, on account of its carnivorous and frugivorous
habits, and its plantigrade foot, which means its habit o
walking flat-footed.
tProv. 25 : 25.
til. Samuel, 23: 15.