'Coon Huntin'
John and Sophie Keen lived at the head of Little Garden when they first married. You had to travel up the hollow a good ways to reach the farm which was almost at the top of the mountain. It sure was pretty up there, but just a mite too isolated to suit Sophie - especially when Babaw John took his dogs out for a night of 'coon hunting.
My, how Babaw John loved to roam the mountain listening to his coon dogs chase and tree a 'coon. The barking was pure music to his ears. He seldom killed the 'coon, but the hunt was a thrill. A little nip from the bottle in the old tree stump to keep off the chill wasn't a bad thing either. At least, Sophie wouldn't know and fuss about that.
The only problem was listening to Sophie fuss about being alone with the youngins. Neighbors were too far away to hear her call if there was trouble and being home alone with four little ones was just too much. Why, anything could happen. What if robbers came or one of the youngins got sick or hurt.
Now John loved his family and didn't want his enjoyment to cause any problems, so he told Sophie that he would always keep his lantern where she could see it. That way she could always call if she needed him. There was a big tree at the top of the mountain with a limb just right to hang the lantern so Sophie could look out the window and see it. This worked just fine. Sophie could look out and see the light from the lantern and go to sleep knowing all was well. All the problems were solved.
Almost - - what Sophia didn't know was that John would leave the house after dark with his dogs, his lantern full and lit. He would walk to the top of the mountain and hang the lantern high. Then he would walk over the top of the mountain just out of sight and take an extra lantern from the hollow tree, light it and off he would go with his dogs. My goodness the nights he had with those dogs roaming the mountains.
We are all grateful Mamaw Sophie didn't learn of his trick. Our family would have been half the size if that little woman had caught him! Now we know what he meant when he would smile at the grandyoungins with a twinkle in his eye and say - - "Where there's a will - there's a way".
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Copyrite Nancy K. Short - January 22, 2000