Old Grumble

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 108, 19 March 1887, Page 3

Old Grumble

Explain* "wty lie did not carry out! his Design of Exploring New The proverb,' "_ That men may propose, but .gift igo^&idigpoje," applies generally only to bachelors, for when » man marries :fate generated another factor that impotent? #ci frustrate all his ulterior desi^s^hjs, j^fe 1 Mrs Grumble, his : wife, i# quittf ftbkv to jogget any Uttle.an^ngetnejat »he may *" infenotmaiS§r^itiiflat &$ ofc the, gosa. >r3?ofcift«Lsyj»i.' had.anyr tting to do «itnjihe,m*shap which paused me to give upthe'ttndertafan^ of exploring *.ijhi# counfay.^ I had Btatteaisa^"y<)fi^ imo^rto^trayerge^&e virgfn uniaroid^en!., once by' the tbiguify oi;^at<senteiieei-wiU.y6u,) regardless of barbed-wire and the needle nom&d?gor««y the fallen logs;' or tlie qntanglin^rsu^leja^t- L wheiiliMßt «,' party of pig stalkers. _ I joined %eni, £iid:"*%ipnß pa^^.l^fore' ,me- ofjstat r . boarspfta^- ivyith-pnefhand, !whiie t witb: holds aloffc'lihe:headota boar he has slamr-as his foot rests upon-its headless -tinMiki'.' : I felt f elated lijlihttt^h'^notf a pig waß'yet to be seenr and my spirit inspired my pemwith such eloquence that nature, accusfefedWtheM girrrfi'te'ti^g.fat-, tered, smiled pleasantly at my glow-ißg-djsscription jpfjljer beauty^. I ha^ fiißbCouclucled'iny jpfaise's of her when k heard : tb£. bounds .bark, -, 4.jv#a then, tts I -aXways am) m the van ; but this time.lvwfts iji,tlie,{homaward van, and the resfeLw^re: in the; front; -/.'Suddenly baj?kiiig 1 -tseaded r it -changed > to a yelfi^Bd r ;wh6le pa!%-^b()th fogs S^ sSi^ 1 dashed, past me like afiteh^gaboar;^^he foam of rage dripping from his jaws, 4pd- whetting his sickle-Bhaped,tusks Aeainßt ? his grinders as he champed and snapped .theme together, ; rushe<l AdlHbo^Tine. Had I received thai front it rwoul'd'have been Jataltbut with an "adroitness y whicl] was wonderful^cbasidehftgf my cor . like,, a^screet , wpw who finds himself p'ermatched, J turned tpwaids.ihinii ,^6 least- vita nart a»d«> received a wound which Wtore^wW my%o»r-«pear ? Irneedef it Z snPPPrt me ft n,4 ; l fjmL&jM As I toiled [home.slpwl] SJa^NfttHW- which iiad been s<

cpleaaatft;: showed 'heir Tflckleriess/also, and began to hide her face behind the : crape4ike falD "i cff • bright;! '/I should •have-dbeenj .grateful , I for ; 'this, -as 1 it f shieiaed meifrom . the^ eye of *he curioivs,,tor I had used my sbaTidkerchief to .stanch stlael > blood, as crimson ahd white tare -coa'spicuous coloiirs, especiciallyi when; relieved by the sober grey ; but with night came that uncouth! j bird, the! owl, which . mocked and taunted me with '' more pork.V But what exasperated me more than all was to. see ■ thei remainder of the party coming home and bearing triumphantly > on. i -their shoulders a dead pig— true it was but an infantile; ipbTkerii a -i. very •; baby of a pig —and X-beoaime.- 'desperate with shame when they maliciously reported that this was, thei animal! i wliich had lightened ., me > and that it; . had. not bitten me, and that the cut T got was caused Vby -being /caught in a wire fence as ■ I tried to jump oyer it out of the animal's way. No Mrs G., I have: not given ug the i,dea,of exploring the; country; but sh'alT wait' until I can do, so/ itti^myi buggy and there; are noj other pigs than tame, ones, and those' kept securelyin their styles. Then, like; other-'autnoi^s, who have lalely beenj making themselves famous, I will col-; lect all tiie information I can, and m| the, .seejinjiy and ..seclusion of jmy; sanctum, sanQtoruni, I will, give the; public the Ibienefit of my explorations. I „ . , , , ; <; ©IjD. GBUMBLE. i

I

■