When I was in high school there were Hart boys in practically every grade.
They were the sons of three brothers who had a large dairy herd and a large Hereford beef-raising operation. Every one of the Hart boys, like their fathers, had lush blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.
It was rumored that they all moved to Texas from Wisconsin. They were all hard workers and well-mannered.
There were about 10 of the Hart boys and they kind of stuck together. One of their favorite pastimes was varmint hunting. They liked nothing better than taking a few dogs out at night to hunt skunks, opossums, raccoons, armadillos and foxes, and there were plenty varmints to be hunted.
One night the Hart boys were going hunting in Lon Fisher's big woods. As they assembled, young Glen Hart, my age, and one of his cousins were crawling through a barbed wire fence together.
Though they knew better, they were in a hurry and failed to follow the proper procedure for going through a fence with rifles. Glen's rifle discharged and killed his young cousin.
Glen was inconsolable. He blamed himself for Eric's death and swore to never hunt again. He dropped out of school for private counseling for a couple of months.
Eventually, Glen came back to school. His personality had changed; he rarely talked to anyone and seemed focused on his studies.
Glen's cousins were persistent. They constantly sought to get him to start going varmint hunting with them again, but he refused. That is, he refused for a long time. Then, one day, Glen said, "OK. I will go varmint hunting with y'all tonight, but after that, no more!"
Later that night, the boys had encircled a large skunk in an area of large rocks.
"You shoot it, Glen! It's been a long time since you've hunted with us."
Glen raised his rifle shakily and fired. Then he instantly fell. The shot had hit a rock, ricocheted and struck him between the eyes.
Glen's funeral was the saddest I have ever attended.
-- Louis Houston is a resident of Siloam Springs. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 04/16/2014