Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer CountryHarris, Joel Chandler
Science
Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country
Harris, Joel Chandler
Animals -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Rabbits -- Juvenile fiction
"Well, one night when he was going back home whooping and yelling, he
saw something dark in the road before him, and he rode his horse at
it full tilt. The horse seemed to have little taste for such sport,
for he snorted and wanted to shy around the dark object. But the man
clapped spurs to the horse and drove him right at it. The black thing
ran, and the man spurred his horse after it. It ran down the road,
then across an old field and back into the road again, the man
pursuing it as hard as he could make his horse go. Finally it ran into
Peggy Pig-Eye's yard and under her house, and the man went clattering
after it. Just as he pulled his horse up (to keep the animal from
running broadside into the house) the door opened, and Peggy Pig-Eye
put her head out.
"'Oh, it's you, is it?' she cried. 'And you are after me, are you?
Very well!' With that she clapped the door to, and the man rode on
home, not feeling as lively as he had felt.
"Now, it happened that this man was a great hunter. He had a pack of
fine dogs, and he was very fond of them. He hunted deer with them by
day, and raccoons and 'possums by night. The first time he went
hunting after riding into Peggy Pig-Eye's yard was at night. He didn't
go very far from his house before his dogs struck a warm trail and
went scurrying towards the big swamp at a great rate. A negro, who
went along to carry the light and cut the tree down, shook his head
and declared the dogs were not barking to suit him. He said there was
more whine than growl to the noise they were making.
"Anyhow, the dogs went scurrying to the big swamp, and the man and the
negro followed as fast as they could. The dogs treed right at the edge
of the swamp, and when the man and the negro got there, they were
barking up a big poplar. The negro held his torch behind him so as to
'shine' in the raccoon's eyes,--if it was a raccoon,--but he could see
nothing.
"'Cut the tree down,' said the man.
"The negro shook his head, but he whacked away at the poplar with his
axe, and cut it so that it would fall away from the swamp. The tree
fell with a tremendous crash, and the dogs rushed into the top limbs,
followed by the man and the negro. But before they could wink their
eyes, something tall and white walked out, and cried:--
"'_You are always after me!_'
"The negro threw down the torch and the axe, and ran home as fast as
he could. The dogs tried hard to catch the white thing, whatever it
was, but as soon as they got near enough to bite it, they tucked their
tails between their legs and ran howling back to their master.
"This happened every time the man went out to hunt raccoons and
'possums. The dogs would strike a warm trail not far from the house,
run to the edge of the swamp, and bay up a tree, and then when the
tree was cut down, something tall and white would walk from the top
limbs, and cry out:
"'_You are always after me!_'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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