“Bill, a leetle feller about a dozen year old, says he, ‘If I’d a known this, I wouldn’t a come;’ and so he sets up the dreadfullest bawlin’ you ever see.
“Hen says, ‘Peter, can you kill that pain’ter?’ ‘Yis,’ says I, ‘I can; but you must let me rest my piece ‘cross your shoulder, so I shan’t goggle, for it’s kind’a stirred my blood to see that feller’s glisseners;’ and he did: so I took sight, as near as I could, right atwixt them ’ere two candles, as I calls ’em, and fired, and the candles was dispersed ’mazin quick. Then we harks, and hears a dreadful rustlin’ up there on the rock, and bim’bye a most dolefullest dyin’ kind of a groan; but we hears nothin’ more, and so we goes under the rock to sleep, glad ’nough to let all kinds of varmints alone, if they’d only keep their proper distance; but mind you, we didn’t sleep any that night. Come daylight, we ventured out, and up we goes on to the rock, and there lay a mortal big pain’ter, as stiff as a poker. I’d hit him right atwixt his candles, and doused his glims for him, in a hurry. Hen, says he, ‘Now, Pete, you’ll have money ’nough to buy gingerbread with for a good while.’ You see there was a big bounty on pain’ters. And I says, ‘Hen, if my master was as clever to me as your dad is to you, I should have money ’nough always.’ Hen says, ‘I shall have my part of the bounty money, and Morehouse ought to let you have your’n.’
“Arter this, he takes his hide off, and stuffs it with leaves and moss; and we gathers up our fish, tackle, and pain’ter, and starts for home, Sunday mornin’.
“Well, when we got home, master and mistress was glad ’nough of the fish, for they had company. Master’s rule was to give me half the fish I got, (I’ll give the devil his due,) but this time I didn’t git any, and I felt rather hard ’bout it, tu. Hen and Tom says, ‘Pete, you call up at our house to-night, and we’ll settle with you for your share of the bounty for the pain’ter.’
“So I goes to master, with my hat under my arm, and asks him, ‘If he’d please to let me go up to Mr. Ludlow’s?’ ‘What do you want to go up to Mr. Ludlow’s for?’ ‘To git my bounty money,’ says I. ‘No, you main’t go up to Ludlow’s; but you may go and bring up my brown mare, and saddle her; and du you du it quick, tu.’
“Well, I goes and does what he says; and he goes up to Mr. Ludlow’s, and gits my part of the bounty money, and pockets it up; and that’s all I got for dousin’ his glims! ☜
“While he was gone, Lecta, my friend, comes, and says, ‘Peter, where’s father gone?’
“‘To git more pain’ter money,’ says I, ‘that I arns for him nights.’
“‘I think dad’s got money ’nough,’ says she, ‘without stealin’ your’n, that you arn nights off on that Oneida Lake.’
“I says, with tears in my eyes, ‘I know it’s hard, Lecta; but as long as master lives, I shan’t git anything but a striped back; and what I arns nights, he puts in his own pockets.’