St. Landry democrat., 1886-01-30
DARK GOBBLERS.
Extraordinary Birds Whose Meat Drove
Number OF Arkansas Dfgnitarfes to De-

T0C UeSt Jul hCje CoiAo AAoiA1 'HS N'o oAA'
He holds the opinion that the Arkansas
turkey is the best in tho world; in fact,
he goes further and declares that no
one but the old-time negro understands
cooking the great bird. Several days
ago, the Judge, meeting old Harkney,
said to him:
"Harkney, am going to give din
ner at my house next Wednesday and L
want your assistance
eyer kin git it. Jedge. Whut yer
want me ter doP'
II want you to get me a couple OF
them nicely and bring them to my
house just before dinner time, say about
twelve o'clock.
'I'll do dat. fur 1 knows whar ter git
de bes' in de country"
"All right. What will you charge
me?'
wall, sab, thinks dat gittin' 'em,
an cookin' 'em an fetchin' EN- ter yer
house oughter be wuf fl dollars. y
That's pretty steep, but go ahead
and be sure to come on time.
''I'll do it.
Harkney, having no money, was puz-
zled to decide upon plan Of action. He
knew that turkeys were IN demand and
that their roosts were closely watched
At length he concluded to take his old
army gun. 60 out into the woods and
kill couple of wild turkeys. He went,
but could find none. He needed five
dollars and he hated to relinquish the
enterprise The next day he took his
gun and went out again. but his i'll luck
OF the day before was repeated. His
spirits were very low as he walked to-
ward home.
OARS no chance fur er homes man
heah," he mused 'sGreat mine ter kill
Ell couple O. dem buzzards. Yander sets
two on de groun'. Use nightly tempt
ed" he continued as he rested his gun
on the fence. ''Da's right up clost ter
gedder. Lemme see how I cour teck
sight
He glanced along the gun-barrel.
The gun fired. The buzzards fell over
and f1uttered. Harkney climbed up on
the fence and looked all round. No
one was in sight. He approached the
dead buzzards. He had to hold his
nose. He took them to bayou and
dressed them as we'll as he could. Then
putting them into a sack he took them
hcme That night he worked on them.
He scalded them, rubbed them with
lime and ashes then proceeded to bake
them. He took down quart bottle of
cheap perfumo-som negro al
ways has on hand-and from time to
time basted the, buzzards with the
liquid. When the buzzards were cook
ed, they were certainly dark, but there
was no scent of their original odor
hanging about them. Just before set
ting out for the Judges residence, he
gave the gobblers another cologne bath.
He took them around to the Judges
kitchen and said to the cook:
''Heahs de dark gobblers | promised
dc Jedge. Whar is de gennerman?"
I'm de house. My, how sweet dem
birds do smell. Whut yer say da is?''
Ozark gobblers-wild ones, honey.
60 tell de Jedge dat Use heah.'
When the Judge came out, he sur
veyed the buzzards and said:
s'Harkney, they are not very large!
.tOh, no, sab, dis sorter turkey doan
grow big. Da's called de dark gobblers,
an aldough dar meat is dark, it's de
sweetes' meat in de Worl'. [ just hap
pened ter git desc. Da's de fust hab
seen in dis country fur twenty yeahs.
Jes' smell o. 'em Jedge. -
'.Ah, hail." said the Judge when he
had shifted the cologne, "they do smell
sweet. Well, here's your money
Thank yer, sab. Say, Jedge, ez [
had SO much trouble gittin' dem dark
gobblers doan yer think yer oughter gin
me jes' er bout er dollar mo-? 1t wuz
hard work er gittin' 'em, an er restunt
man down town said da oughter be wuf
eight dollars in de least"
@''Well, here's another dollar
''Thankee, sah.'
When the company had sat down to
dnner-when the Rev. DR.. Boggleworth
had asked blessing-the Judge said:
Il have the.pleasure of Introducing you
all to kind of meat you doubtless
never saw before. Those birds are dark
gobblers, species of wild turkey now
extremely rare. Dr. Boggleworth, will
you please carve one?'
The doctor took the carving-knife,
drew one of the dark gobblers toward
him, and began to cut into the flesh. A
sitting stencil arose. The doctor put
down his knife, turned away from the
table, and gasped. The Judge, whose
nose had begun to wrinkle, attempted to
say something but could not The odor
grew more pronounced, and, with one
impulse, the company arose from the
table. a
They are buzzards,' the minister
gasped. Let us 60 out and stand in
the lot. -
The Judge was disposed to take a
shotgun and kill Harkney, but he knew
that man occupying his position could
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