straw in order to get a view of the scene below. Sure enough, the old
rooster gave a long yawn--"Aw-w-w-w-_um!_" flirted off his "kiverlids"
and got up, making a slow move towards the fire-place, reaching which,
he gave an extra "Aw-w-w-_um!_" knocked the ashes out of his
pipe--filled it up with "nigger-head," dipped it in the embers, gave it
a few whiffs, and then said:

"Booh! cold mornin'; boys'll freeze, if I don't start up a good fire."
Then he went to work to cultivate a blaze, with a few chips and light
sticks of dry wood.

"Ah, by George, old feller," says one, "you'll catch a bite, before you
know it!"

"Yes, I'm blamed if you ain't a _goner_, Old Tantabolus!" says another,
in a pig's whisper.

"There! there he's got the fire up--now look out!"

"He's got the stick--"

"Goin' to clap it on!"

"Now it's on!"

"Look out for fun, by George, look out!"

"He'll blow the house up!"

"Godfrey! s'pose he does?"

"What an infernal _wind_ there is this morning!" says the old fellow,
hearing the _buzz_ and indistinct whispering overhead; "guess it's
snowin' like _sin_; I'll jist start up this fire and go out and see."
But, he had scarcely reached and opened the door, when--"_bang-g-g!_"
went the log, with the roar of a twelve pounder; hurling the fire, not
only all over the lower floor, but through the upper loose
flooring--setting the straw beds in a blaze--filling the house with
smoke, ashes and fire! There was a general and indiscriminate _rush_ of
the practical jokers in the loft, to make an escape from the now burning
building; but the step-ladder was knocked down, and it was at the peril
of their lives, that all hands jumped and crawled out of the _ranche!_
The only one who escaped the real danger was Old Tantabolus, the
intended victim, whose remark was, after the flurry was over--"Boys,
arter this, _be careful how you lay your powder round!_"

An Active Settlement.

Gen. Houston lives, when at home, at Huntsville, Texas; the inhabitants
mostly live, says Humboldt, Beeswax, Borax, or some of the other
historians, by hunting. The wolves act as watchmen at night, relieved
now and then by the Ingins, who make the wig business brisk by relieving
straggling citizens of their top-knots. A man engaged in a quiet smoke,
sees a deer or bear sneaking around, and by taking down his rifle, has
steaks for breakfast, and a haunch for next day's dinner, right at his
door. Vegetables and fruit grow natur