The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-11-15
From the St. Louis Reyille.
a CrawG.,s story.

boat men, a merry, happy.hearied mis-.
chievous wag as ever lived, ripe for any
sort of drollery, as ready at any moment
for kind or charitable action, happened
over there the other day, and the fancy
seized him to ill one of The large pockets
Of his coat with these fish out of water.
Returning to the city he at once commen-
ced series of practiclical jokes upon his
acqualntances. He met a friend upon
Front street, by whom he walked for
about three minutes, when the man sud-
denly commenced jumping, stamping and
hallooing in the street, in style which
astonished the neighbors for ten blocks
around.
What's the matter, what's the matter
with him p" enquired the people running
to the spot, with their eyes and mouths at
(ull stretch.
'Oh-oh oh Lord = roared the sufferer,
grasping his stomach, and making fright
iul contortion of visage.
My poor friend, what is the matter ="
said the consummate rogue Of steamboat
man, in most distressed accents.
Il don't know gaspcd the innocent
victim. Something has seized NE
here-here oh--oh don, know
Hes got the cholera-nevcr saw a
palmer case in my life = whispered by
stander to the crowd, hurrying away i'm
medateIy, with his thumb and forefnger
lightly grasped upon his nostrils. Before
night rumor ran that the cholera had bro
ken ont suddenly, with dreadful violence,
thirteen persons having dropped and died
by CONFUSION on the landing; oil suppo-
sed TO be owing TO the flood.
The man continued in great distress,
some Of the crowd forced him into store,
when he pulled his Wristbands open, and
live crawiish, kicking and swapping fu-
rionsly, was turned out of his pockets
Not ten minutes after this, our hero
stood in well known coffee room with
another friend whom he had invited to
join him. The mixtures were prepared,
the glasses touched when, for single
half instant, dexterous and delicate ma
nGuvre on the part of our crawl sh friend
caused the victims eye to glance aside,
and he was done. The glass nearly
touched his lips when his eyes opened
with intense horror upon most appalling.
indlscribabIe, limbo looking, black and
iright(ul, subterranean monster, founder
ing and splashing, with the sigI Of twenty
eyes, for ten seconds. He dropped The
glass. turned pale as winding sheet, rub
bed his eyes, then seemed TO grow misty,
grasped his friends hand, and shook his
head mournfully several times, and then
suddenly darled, like shot out of the
place. Last Sunday he signed the tent
perance pledge.
Tickled half to death with the mischief,
though keeping face on that seemed
chiseled out Of Missouri marble, tie wag
next sat down near another acquaintance,
who was perusing newspaper Taking
one by himself, and pretending to read,
he soon contrived to slip a crawfsh into
his friends vest pocket, just above his
watch. Then, taking out his watch, as if
to set it, he said, with inimlablc inno-
cenco of manner:
Jim, what time have YOU p
jim, without removing his eyes from
the paper, deliberately thrust his hands
into his pocket for the watch, when, with
one sudden bound, an abrupt and tre-
mendous OATH, he sprang from his chair
into the middle of the apartment.
Whack &! with furious snap of the fin
gers, went the fish to the floor, the imp
ish looking thing squirmiug and hopping
about in the sand.
How in the name Of all human nature
did that fresh water devil, the abominable,
ovcrgrown black shrimp, get into my
pocketN exclaimed this victim, with one
eye on the crawtish, and the other squnt-
ing suspiciously at his pocket, as if doubt
full there were not some more of the brood
behind.
1t was too much. Our hero Just natu-
rally dropped his marble mask, and broke
into shrieks laughter. Every body pre-
sent, as well as the astonished victim,
now jumped at the conception of the Joke,
and busy merriment became general
As soon as through absolute exhaustion,
slight pause took place, the joker OBJ
served mildly and with admirable gravity:
Well, gentlemen, | crawfsh! What
will you all take Z
SO delighted were every body with the
fun, that another experiment was unan.
imously insisted upon. Now, it did hap.
pen that in the neighborhood resided
well known and alfectionatelv esteemed