Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-12-13

dere, and bristles all up, and gin a
open on dat track like he wur MAD
and 1 stop hoein' de taters minnit
and lows to him: .Remus, amt yeI
shame err yer ole fool self, lettin dem
puppies tun yer head dat way over q
rabbit track?' But he jiss kup right
] on, and tuck no notice ur whut l say
ter him. He jess keep right on ter dc
fence, he did, and den de yether dogs
Gums up and smells on de fence too,
and trots up an down big log whu1
meks out inter de swamp. and mum
sur, de fust thing old Jim knows,
dem dogs is gone-gone sur!
BLESS yer soul, white folks. dem
dogs spins out a long streak er
music down dat swamp! 1t sounds so
| purity tell l sets down on stump and
| l laffs tell / cries, and den l hollers to
dem dogs, and den l listens to dem
sweet puppies jiss er bout to split dey
little throtes dey is-and den l hollers
| agin, and den l pats Juba, l feel SO
happy. My ole lady say OATS whit
meks she hev to patch SO much. Gaze l
allurs pats Juba when goes huntin'
and gifts happy over dem dogs. But l
listens and hollers tell dem dogs git
furder and furder, tell l can't hear
dem puppies at all. and dey keeps a
gwine on tell l can't hear Zip. and
den, after awhile, l can't 'stinguish
ole Remus, and so / don't hear
nuthin' more tell a long time, and l
gifts up and thanks de Lord fur dem
dogs, and l goes on to holm dem
taters.
II reckons 1 wicked er half en- hour
or more when hear de dogs er comm,
back. Well nun, sur, l gin to git
happy er gin. Fust l hears old Remus,
and knows he is hard down to bizness
FUN de way he is er speakin' out. Den
l listens err gin and hears Zip and
Remus, and den right low, but er git
tin louder. Ihears lem sweet puppies,
and yells to my boy Tom err comm
crost de field. to run back to de house
and fetch my gun and aminish'n, and
all DE time dem dogs is er comm,
comm, comm. Ole Remus and Zip
and de puppies, and de puppies and
ole Remus and Zip! Oats music, boss,
better'n all the piannies and triangles
and fiddles and straws. Dey runs right
up de creek about a quarter of a mile
fun my fence and den dey meks back
across Bill Cages new ground, and I
gifts over de fence and lows to my
self: ''Dey's arter dat berry ole cat
whut stole my pigs, and I'm gwine to
pepper his jacket for him, am, and I
knows in reason dey gwine to como
back down de creek TO- long. so sets
down and ! listens, and listens. berry
happy!
Strange dem dogs nebber losses
dat track but one time, and den wen
dey opens agin hits a new tune!
Blessed be ole Marsester's name, sez
l! SEE Ole Jim! All de ladies up to de
big house can't sing like dat! De pi-
nanny amt no whar to dat music,
done tole yer! Hit jiss wuz er runnin'
up and down all de limbs and de vines
and err singin' soft-like in de leaves,
an sot dere like old fool jiss er
latin and er cryin' and err pattin'
Juba, and one time 1 got up and lib
erately cut de. short dog and de
'pigern wing!' Well, l wuz so happy
tell l won't watching err bit, and all ter
once l heerd sum sticks err breakin'
and den sumthin' growled like, and
den l looked up and dere Is a great
big somethin' walkin' up leanin'
tree, err watchin' me he wuz, and sor-
ter Vaughn his tail, aud thinks l he
wants to play, he do, and so lows,
If you is in fer fun, ole fell, 'scuse
me, but here goes and bang! goes ole
Betsy, and bless yer soul, boss, l cut
OF de leaves about two feet over de
things head, and lows to myself. dis
will nebber do for Ole Jim, nebber in
de worle'
DE thing, l didn't know den whut
he wuz, wuz er kinder settlin' down to
jump when ole Remus and Zip ruined
up and barked and tried they best to
clum up de tree. and so he quits err
watchin' me and crawls up higher.
While he wuz bizzy doin' all dis,
tuns in, l do. and loads up ole Betsy,
but es l didn't have no buckshot er
long wild me put in whole han'ful
er lucky (turkey) shot. Jess es looks
up er fixin' to shoot, l see de thing a
stretchin' his self out on big linn,
dat p'ints to'ards me. wild his fo' legs
pushed way out in frunt uf him, and
his hine quarters all bumped up under
him SO; and his tail a moovin' er
round and err round, and so I lows
to myself eff ole Jim miss dat
thing dis time, he gone niger shore;
and shettin' my eyes 1 aims right
at his head and shoots! Boss I
don't shet my eyes septin' I'm skeered
and skeered bad. Well. soon ez I
pulled de trigger l heered sumthin'
hit de ground-blimM like er bale er
cotton fallin' off de press, and
OPIUM my eyes and dere lays dat thing
right at my feet, mum sur. shore ez