The Osceola times., 1881-02-19

iu the east. With q few nercy gulf clouds
sailing about like ships 0n q deep blue
sea. ! went Jogging along and enjoying
the fresh morning air. ] made slow
hcalWay. because the prairie was full 81
cracks and my horse Was fclriillly afraid
of getting his foot into them. lie was q
native. and knew how to miss 'cm. An
American horse often gets his leZ broken
Cr di-.oeaied by stepping into these
cracks, and never learns anything about
them until Le has broken two OF three
legs and becomes hip-shotten in the
rest.
All ~ once the sun shot up over the
leyc, prairie. looking red as fire; the next
five minutes be was shining through the
f0s bank that swung white and lazy
over the Garcitas. 7 startled up q few
prairie chickens, and few wolves fed
before me O. / passed cumpoi mesquite
. and wcesItch bushes. Then, a few
| hundred yards farther, deer came tear
ing along right ahead of me. frightened
up bv the wolves. lie was getting away
I for dear life, and didn't seem 20 notice
me. ! felt insu'ted az this slight, and
| popped away az him. He dropped dead,
and didn't kick after the ball struck. lie
was a daisy, ] tell YOU, and 80 Fat his sad
/ de could cook itself got ont and rip
/ ped him open. and found his stomach
[ full Of chile berries. ] knew he wouldn't
/ spoil that day. and that hc was ready
seasoned for the table. j took me some
. little time % do all this, and when | got
[ back into the buggy the sun was an hour
high. The wolves had stopped and were
I watching me. about three hundred yards
off. waiting for what ! had left Of the
/ deer
! could not help it: took deliberate
aim and fired at the bunch Of seven big
| loo1rs IL was funny 10 see the excite
| meut that broke ont in that little group.
/ | heard the short sharp yell Of the one
| that was hit. lie jumped about six feet
/ iu the air and fell a scumb,iug and a
| fiomderiuE The rest Uf them turned
/ slmer,ault- and fed liteh-l had busted
| right in the family. They didn't stop 10
/ help him, but flew over the prairie look
ing back with side jerk Of the head. as
| they always do.
went on without stopping tp pick up
| the wolf and soon reached the head Of
| the point, which YOU know, j. only about
| twenty or thirty wards across the river 10
! the lake. ! stopped my horse here and
| tied him to the rear of the buggy, 80 Is
a. lh l4iAAA Il AA 70 hstAN "a A'l a A'.A AlAH
/ breakfast. ! could not drive any farther
| down the point because it was too mar
| rIw 10 turn around with the buggy
The lake was a. smooth as glass. and
/ faint, hay mist was rising. The river.
too. was ike glass.
oh. il was lovely prospect. The tide
was coming in and the muliet and croak-
ors were jumping mighty risky, ] found
3 "a thor.
OF mullet. | threw me net and drew ont
about one hundred. ] picked on, the
few / wanted and emptei the rest back
into the lake. - proceeded down the
point with my gun, csst-liucs and tackle
aud few nuilct. had 20 walk slowly
with my load. and had gone about half
way down 10 the extreme point when !
found Young alligator lying Just across
my path, which was now not more than
six feet wide. The little baby alligator
was b1sking iu the morning sun and was
a luxurious cu,- lie looked at me, as
much a, TO say. i won't get out of the
way ! couldn't stand such impudence
in The rascal, 80 ! Oct him have it under
the shoulder. He ketled over on
his back and gave il up. ! laid down
my gun and cut out with a knife some
tender pieces for bait. ! len both mc
knife and gun by his side and proCee led
down % the point o. fish
never saw prettier morning in all
my life. for red fish. The tide wa- in and
frcttiuE among the sea weeds. The bright
ruSe-Colnrcd flowers Of the sea c0uyolyu-
Jus were wet with dew and a. bright and
beautiful as anything could be. The yell
low flower %! the cactus cleaned ike
gold on this narrow ledge Of land as |
went down with nothing but my rod and
lines.
saw that the water was all right. with
It's CLASSY surface broken only by the
small tiy when the big ones pursued
them. | planted myself At the last
extreme duup of sOa-weed. baited
my cast-iine and threw it out fifty
yards into the lake. Before | had time
t. take mp my rod, | felt jerk. ! drew
iu. and found had hooked something
/ that pulled like twu-year-uld calf
When got him in, il was a splendid red
fish about three feet long and weighing
about thirty pounds.
Again, east my lines and caught an
other just as large. cut ont their gills
aud tied them so they could not hounce
off the point. This fun lasted about an
hour, and / was getting little tired Of so
much sport because the fish played and
pulled like little bull-calyes My arms
were tired Of using the cast-liue aud J
took mp my irou-poiutJd flashing reed
and prepared 10 bait it and fish for the
smaller fry of sheep-head and croakcr.
! heard a loud blowing snort behind
| me, and thought IL was my horse. !
hearl it again and paid no attention to
10. The third time that | heard H. / Oh
served that the surface Of the river was
| ,priukled with little knotty chips, that
seemed TO be all floating toward me.
! These chiplookiug knots / knew were
alligator eyes, and there were hundreds
Of them. You know that the gator can
/ rise mp t. the surface without disturbing
/ the water. put out one eye % make an
/ observation. aud never show the rest IF
| his body until hc gets ready. ! was look
! iug al all theS, ewes VIXEN | heard big
! splash in the lake Turning around
saw the lin, oi several sharks right at
my feet One Of them hal %pprd up
and caught one Of my fish. whose tail
| was hanging loose in the water. lie was
| a big fellow about six OF seven feet long.
/ perhaps more than that This was an
amusing picture; sharks on one hand
and alligator- ON the other. One gator
came So near that jabhcd him in the
| eve with my long fishing pole. He sunk
| ont of sight without leaving q ripple. |
! was now startled with a harsh blowing
| sort Of an angry below not far from me.
] . I