The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-14
THE OLD cRAcKERs YARNS.
Some Marvellous Stories About the Alligators
of Florida.


/ Live Oak Letter In Philadelphia Times.
! Talking about gators" said the old cracker
| as he placed his half-chewed qnd of tobacco in
| mis- vest pocket and lit the cigar I offered him,
| I've seed the time when old Fayett Lake Lalay
ette) was full on EN-. They ulster hiss. and roar
and heller, ontel you couldn't hear yerself take
| er drink. counted ninety six on EN- in that ar
| lake one AFTERNOON an SIGH cussin' an con-
| fusin' never seed, an l don't bleeve anybody
| else ever seed nuther. 1t seems that old Deekin
| Miller's bob-tailed bull-whch his tail had been
| chawed off by a bull gator, kase he wus alters
| swimmin in the lake-hedn't larnt no sense by
| that thar mishap, an he'd gone in agin This
time the caters wus too many fer him, an kilt
| him right thar.
| ''Ez | said afore, thar was ninety-six of the
| gators, an only one of the bull so thar wasn't
enough bull ter go round, though each one of
| them caters was tollably purseverin' likes in
tryin to git his shar. There was one tremenjus
/ bull gator thar. an he was sharp one ferkeeps.
| He cud swim right smart faster nor the luther
ones, an he gathered the Deekin's bull by Their
hlne quarters an swum to little narrer inlet he
| knowed OF. When he got thar he backed IN
wuth hit, an then sorter winked, as il ter say:
This ar the creek live in, and thars bitIn' dogs
| about The uther gators had follered him fas
! ez they c'ud, an when they got ter that pint
/ they c'uGn't get no furder, kase Their wasn't
room enuff ter pass. Howsomever they all
| crowded Ground, but they had ter help them
selves ter the horns an neck, whilst the ole bull
gator got his steak often the round. Don't tell
1 Inc Tile gators can reason. tell you tley air
heap sight pearter than some men l know of.
| Il wuz born an raised ermong the gators, an
| manys the time when little tow-head
| cuss, ony fit ter vase strip an help corn from
| keepin' too long, has laid erlong the banks of
| tibet lake an watched the funny doin's of the
! gators. Gators is jess like Foxes an the ole
nanny gator II take jess s much keer of her
/ children as folkes will of thern. OF cose when
| | say foxes mean niger foxes, for they seem
to sorter understand one another like. an you
never hear of no niger never bein' kilt by no
| gator. Eff you ever travelled much aroun' here
! Sunday you've seed the niger winning take
an comb Their har out ter see if any of them
| polite animiles has er been a g1ttin' inter hit.
| Now, I'm gwineter speak far. / hewitt saw the
| gators do 'zacky that, but I've seed 'em come
pretty clus ter hit, an I'll tell how hit was.
Zone day my old pap was gwine ter TEX
| bresh ter me, kase he said l too keerless in
hoing out taters, an l run away from him,
| thinking I'd lay around the lake until he sorter
forgot all about hit like. lowed wouldn't so
| back to Their house afore night, so | fished
awhile; then took leetle nap, an the balance
| of the time I jess looked around, an dog my skin
| If didn't see an ole nanny gator goin' through
| che dunn funniest purfo nance L ever seed. She
| war sittln agin a tree on her him quarters, an
/ ten leete gators was a sittin' they him quar-
tiers right in front of whar she was sittin on
hern. Then she actilly beckoned ter the fust
one in that thar line, an when hit came up she
| jess TUX hit inter Der arms and 'zamiued hit all
| over ter see if thar war any insecks on hit She
| jess lifted up every scale an looked keerfully
| under hit to see eff any of them lake wums he'd
| got thar. She 'zamined every one on 'em, one
| arter the uther. The last one of 'em in the per-
cession peared to be leetle bit sassy, like I've
| seed some Children in my time, an didn't want
! ter come. She jess reached out with her tail an
| fetched him wipe that [ know helped him
| some [ was so full of laff that / haw- hawed
right out, an then fer the fust time she seed me.
| never seed no gator so ashamed as she was
when she knowed he'd been watchin' of her.
| I'll be dogd eff she didn't fairly blush, an she
| jess TUX fer the water, with all them young uns
| a bilin arter her. an went home an TUX my
whippin'.
1.-The biggest gator ever heard tell OH in all
! my borEed days ulster live in this here lake
The boys called him Ole Nose, an he mus of
been over twenty foot long. That was about
| thirty years ago. or mebbe hit mout be fifty,
anyhow hit was one or luther on EN- Hit don't
make SIGH powerful sight Of difference to er
ole man like Well, Ole Nose, which, as
/ said afore was the name of the gator, hardly
! seldom KEN much in sight but KEEP hissef hid
| in the mud and bushes like. A great many of
the feilers tried to shoot him at odd times but
| Ole Nose was too sharp fer EN-. L low that
| gator mus Of been over a hundred year ole, fer
the Injins ulster say their grandfe'rs knowed him
! long before we was born But Ole Nose got laid
| out one day an hit was boy done hit, too.
| Ole Deekin Miller he sent his boy Jake down ter
| the store one day arter pint of red liquor, fer
| the ole man he'd been out to class meetin' the
night before with some of the boys and felt
sorter unsteady like. 'spect you're been along
| that road sometime other yourself, Colonel,
| you know, when a Teller wakes up in Their morn
in an reaches way out in the ar arter his head.
Well, Jake got the pint OF red liquor-hit was
| only one bit in them days-an' started for home.
! His path led right erlong whar Ole Nose, this
yer big gator, ulster take nap sometimes, an
| Jake, mapping to see russle in the mash grass
nuthin' would suit that fooi boy but he mus go
| thar an look fer what hit was.
while he was a-gapin' over the bank. ole
Nose riz right up an, with his mouth wide open,
| was starin' him In Their face. Hit skeered Jake
SOS he los his balance an fell plum often the
| bank smack inter the gators mouth Jake had
hilt onter the pint of whisky, an hit happened
| to hit agin the critters teeth an bruk. That is
| the only thing AT saved the boy, fer he was way
down in the gators innards The whisky was
such powerful bad stuff at hit made the gator
deathy sick an he puked like buzzard Out
| KEN the boy Jake about ten foot up on the bank,
| an you bet he scooted fer home without sayin'
| goodbye er howdy. Jake was all right, with the
| ception of havin' mark his eye which
was caused by his strikin agin light nd chunk
which was in the creeters belly. l asst Jake
| what ne seed while he was down thar, but he
said he was so skeered ne didn't have time to
| look around. Ole Nose kept shy of the shore
fer erong time, but died from broken back
tryin' ter knock a big stump inter his mouth
| unner the impression that hit was a hog You
see he got sorter blind like in his ole age"
| WAS this Deacon Miller a steady drinking
manY said |. Il should have thought he would
have been expelled from the church for intern
perance."
mo, SIR said he severely, 'he wasn't no
drunkard. He took his teddy like the rest of US,
an mout of taken drop too much once in
while, but as gin'al thing he was stiddy and a
mighty good man, too Sometimes, when he
| went up town, the boys would sorter load him
up, for they liked to hear him talk
"Lemme tell you about the time he went down
| ter Folsom's, an the boys made him kiver more
ticker than he could well git erlong with Fol
som KEEP the store in them days, an hit was the
sociablest place I've seed in erlong time
Zone afternoon we was all a-sittn in thar
when Deekin Miller KEN rdn up on his ole bay
mar, and he lighted, tied his creeter to the rack
an TUX seat with us on the po'ch The boys
had lots of money, an was bent on havin good
| time, and the Deekin he TUX drink every time
| he was asst which was mighty often too You