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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1869, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia
VOL. 111.
FRITZ AHD THE BEAR,
Trans, from the French for Burke’s Weekly,
BY AUNT KATE.
HAVE told you of the beauti-
oa^c tree > so large and
ilswlC’ grand, under the branches of
which tlie people in warm countries
may live as in a house.
I will now tell you a story about a
little boy named Fritz. Ho was travel
ing with his father through one of the
large forests cf North America. In the
midst of this vast wood they came to a
very old oak. Upon its trunk someone
had made little steps. Fritz was curi
ous to know what was to be sem at the
top ; so up he mounted.
The oak was hollow, and Fritz seat
ed himself upon the edge of the open
ing. The bark on which he sat was
rotten, and he fell to the bottom of the
great hollow 1
Imagine, my little readers, if you can,
what was his fright when he found him
self lying between two little bears !
But he was still more frightened when
he thought that their mother might soon
return. Thus, he believed himself quite
lost.
His father, who was neither able to
let down.a cord to him, or to cut into
the tree, for there was no one living
near, ran very fast, with a hope of find
ing someone to aid him.
Meanwhile, the little boy became
calm, and commended himself to God,
who, as you know, never ceases to watch
over little children.
See now v,hat happened: After a
quarter of an hour or so, the old mo
ther-bear came down the hollow, —but
backwards.
When Fritz saw her very near to him
he seized her by the tail, and held on
with all his might. Then the animal
was in her turn frightened, and ascend
ed very, quickly, dragging after her the
little boy, suspended to her tail.
When Fritz was at the opening of the
hollow, he quickly pushed the bear with
MACON, GEORGIA, JULY 31, 1869.
all his strength, so that she fell to the
ground.
The little boy immediately clambered
out upon one of the oranc.hes of the
oak, where he hoped to be beyond the
reach of the bear, when to his great joy
he saw his lather returning with some
huntsmen, who killed the bear as she
sat at the foot of the tree, either crip
pled by her sudden fall, or too much
lightened to return to the dark hollow
of the tree.
Fritz was now able to descend with
out injury, yet well punished for his
hasty wilfulness, for he had climbed the
tree without his father’s permission.
This little story is intended to teach
children that it is not always proper for
them to desire to see and inquire into
everything. Before attempting to do a
thing, they are not quite certain is right,
they ought to consult their parents, who
are older and wiser than they, and will
prevent them from doing anything which
is improper or dangerous.
Elliott Academy , Mobile.
Be just to yourself, then generous.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
THE ADVENTURES OF
BIG-FOOT WALLACE,
The Texas Ranger and Hunter,
By the Author of “ Jack Dobell; or, A Boy's
Adventures in Texas."
CHAPTER V.
BUFFALO —FINE GROVE OF PECAN TREES —
THE FIRST BUFFALO —BIT lIY A RATTLE
SNAKE THE TARANTULA TRAVEL IN G
UNDER DIFFICULTIES —A FREE SERE
NADE.
\HP CTOBER 21st.—We left camp
after breakfast, taking what
was left of our bear meat
along with us, and steered our usual
course, due north, and about 12 o’clock
we struck the Leon river, opposite the
mouth of Armstrong’s creek. The
country passed over to-day was very
broken, and but little land on our route
is fit for cultivation. We saw a small
drove of buffalo, but our hunters did
not get a shot at them, and the country
where we found them was so broken we
could not chase them on horseback.
One of our men, who had stopped be
hind a while for some purpose, when he
came up, reported that he had seen an
Indian following on our trail, but he
w'a.s a “scary” sort of fellow, and we
thought his story very doubtful.
We passed a singular chain of high
bald bills to-day. Looking at them
from a distance, we almost fancied we
were approaching a considerable city,
so much did they resemble houses,
steeples, etc. They were entirely desti
tute of timber.
The Leon river, where we have struck
it, is a small, rapid stream, shut in on
both sides by high, rocky bills. We
crossed over to the northern side, and
“nooned” in a grove of pecans. These
trees are full of the finest nuts we had
ever seen —very large and their hulls so
thin we could easily crack them with
our fingers. Before we left, we gathered
a wallet full of them, and strapped it on
one of our pack mules.
In the evening, we continued our
route up Armstrong’s creek, and struck
camp a little after sundown near one of
its head springs. The valley along the
creek is very beautiful, and the soil rich.
Our hunter to-day killed a fat buffalo
cow on the way, and w r e butchered her,
and packed the meat into camp. That
was the first buffalo meat I ever tasted,
and I thought it better even than bear
meat. The flesh of an old bull, how
ever, I have found oat since, is coarse,
tough and stringy, but the “hump” is
always good, and so are the “ marrow
bones” and tongue.
Just after we had encamped, one of
our men, named Thompson, whilst sta
king out his horse, was bitten on the
hand by a rattle snake. It was a small
one. however, aud he suffered but little
from the effects of the bite. We scari
fied the wound with a pen-knife, and
applied some soda to it, and the next
morning he was well enough to travel.
1 do not think the bite of the rattle
snake is as often fatal as people gener
ally suppose. I have seen several men
No. 5.