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Show A PECULIAR APPETITE. rjie Queer Love for Progs Which Enables an Impecunious Hermit to Make a Living. EATS LIVE f BOGS I0E A DOLLAE. The Chicago Herald Disoovers a Most Surprising Sur-prising Balance for Development of Intellect. Attorney George C. fngnam, who has returned from a trip to the White mountains, moun-tains, tells a strange story of what he eaw while on a "tramp" in that celebrated cele-brated part of New England. Mr. Ingham spent two months in the mountains, and returns with a lasting impression of the beauties of the country coun-try and the simple life of the New Engenders Eng-enders he met Most of the time of course he stopped at the hotels for which the White mountains have become famous; fa-mous; but the monotony of hotel life was broken by frequent pedestrian tours to various points of interest. It was upon one of these excursions that tho lawyer saw a sight that made his hair stand on end with amazement and his face grow pale with horror. He and a small party, this particular day, tramped to the Crawford notch, a distance of perhaps ten miles. The rest of the story is best told in the words of the attorney, as he related it to a party of friends the other day. "Well, we were abont to start on the rotnrn trip," said he, "when somebody suggested that we go to see the hermit. I had never seen a real live hormit, and, being curious, I agreed to go. The old man's hut was a little ontof the ordinary ordi-nary pathway, but I have learned sinco that he receives many visits from tho people at the hotels, and as my story will show, makes a good deal of money out of them, though what he does with his cash I could not for the life of me discover. "We found the old fellow sitting in front of the hnt, and after looking at him for awhile I asked him how he managed man-aged to live up there all alone, and how he earned his daily bread. " 'Eatin' frogs,' was the astonishing reply. "I began to think the old fellow was quite a humorist, when one of the party told me that the hermit spoke the trnth. I asked how much he charged to eat s frog, and he replied: " 'One dollar, sir. "I could hardly believe my ears, but what was my amazement when, after one of the party had produced a silver dollar, the hermit began to fish in a tub ' with a wire covering over it for a frog, finally he got a big fellow, and holding him wiggling and twisting before onr eyes suddenly tossed the slippery thing down his throat. Ugh, what a sight! We talked a little while longer to the hermit, and then gave him another dollar, dol-lar, and another frog went down the straight and narrow lane; and then another an-other and another, until 'six frogs had been disposed of, and the old man said he had enough for one meal. Think of it, swallowing live frogs at (1 a head! ' "This little affair interested me, and I made some inquiry about the queer little old man, whose hair and beard were as white as snow, and who must have seen pretty near seventy summers. 1 found that he was in his youth a sailor. About fifteen years ago he was shipwrecked, and lived for several years on an uninhabited' unin-habited' island, where he had nothing but frogs and berries to eat. He was finally rescued and made his home in the mountains, where he lived for some time unobserved. But he was later discovered, dis-covered, and his frog eating he turned to the entertainment of pleasure seekers and to the art of money making, Chicago Chi-cago News. , . |