It Takes a Dog to Raise a Village by Ruth

Author:Ruth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781607556848
Publisher: Willow Creek Press, Inc.

Old Drum

Burden vs. Hornby Becomes

A Community Cause

One cold October evening in 1869, Charles Burden, a Missouri farmer, walked to a nearby farm to visit a friend. He brought along his hunting hounds in case he decided to do some hunting on his way back home later in the evening. After dinner, the two friends sat on porch rockers and chatted. Out in the fields, both men’s dogs bayed at the night animals, the moon and the stars. Some folks say a coonhound’s voice is as sweet and melodious as a bugle call.

The two men listened with pride. They were able to identify the distinctive voice of each of their dogs. Charles Burden especially enjoyed hearing Drum’s voice because it was so clear. Drum was special. He had wandered onto Burden’s farm several years before and stayed, much to the satisfaction of both Burden and Drum who turned out to be a fine coon dog. Old Drum, as he was often called, became Burden’s favorite dog as well as his constant companion. He was also the best hunter Charlie Burden had ever had. That probably meant that Old Drum was an excellent night hunter, treeing only coons and no trash (animals other than coons). To this day, that is the definition of a good hound—one that hunts by scent rather than sight.

Anyone who had ever hunted with Drum agreed that he was the best. In 1869 such animals were badly needed because many people needed to hunt in order to put meat on their tables. This made a good hunting dog very valuable, even necessary.

As the two men talked, a shot rang out from Lon Hornsby’s place which adjoined Burden’s farm. Suddenly the hounds were silent. Fearing the worst, the two friends jumped up, found their hunting horns, and immediately called in their hounds. One by one, they all came running from several directions toward the sound of the horns, except for Drum.

Charles Burden had a sickening hunch that Old Drum was dead. He was stricken. It didn’t take him long to speculate what might have happened. While he had never had any overt trouble with Lon Hornsby, his brother-in-law, he knew he could anger quickly. First, Lon had been losing sheep. He really did not know what animal was killing them, but he blamed it on dogs, and he had sworn he would shoot the first dog he saw on his place. Besides Lon Hornsby’s violent temper, Burden also knew that Lon was bringing up a twelve-year-old boy named Dick Ferguson who did whatever Lon told him to do.

Burden left his friend’s house feeling very sad at the almost certain loss of both his good companion and his good hunter. He waited until dawn the next day to visit Lon who lived next door. As he walked into Lon’s yard, he found Lon working the soil for planting corn. The two men exchanged a quick hello. Burden came straight to the point. He asked if Lon had seen Drum around the previous night.

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