News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-06-28
THE OLD SETTLER.
His Story of a Marvellous Trout
known as RedtaiI the Ripper.

8 basket of trout that one of them had just
;, brought in, and after the savory fish, in
l the garnishing of ferns, had been suf
u ficiently admired and commented upon,
u and their fragrance, somewhat modified
: by the aroma of several samples of as
t sorted goods, the Old Settler sat down
I and said:
l "The bes' trout fisher I ever know'd
) were Hank Yellrack O. Sugar Swamp.
? An the bigges' trout 1 ever know'd
{ were Of Redtail the Ripper O. the same
deestric. An he want only the big
! ges' trout, but he were the KNOWN est.
He lived to McGonigle's Run, an even
J wen the fust settler in the Sugar Swamp
deestric', witch were Honey McGonigle
hisself, shucked his fust wolf on the
banks O. that runs Redtail the Ripper
want no vearlin', not by ez much ez
thirty years ez nigh ez Honey McGonigle
could figure an he could figure ye up
the age of the older crow to within an
hour O. its hatchin', if I'd only iis' give
him one of its tail feathers to git his
bearin' from; an We, know crows is a
hundred years old fore they've hardly
begun to cut their milk teeth yit.
"Honey McGonigle lived in Sugar
Swamp deestric' nine year fore he were
crowded by neighbors much, the nearest
ones bein' Riar Snortbore's family, ez
lived ten miled FIN Honey's cabin; an
off an on fer them nine years Honey
fished an fished an fshed fer Redtail
the Ripper 'thout ever gittin' ez much
satisfaction outen the sly OF mossback
ez the losin' of o hook in his jaw. The
trout were bout the size of nice fat
baby, even in Honey McGonigle's day,
an the name O Redtail the Ripper were
- l. al 1h<,, 10
color of a robins chist, an cause he
were ripper, nm no mistake. An so
Honey fished an fished till the day he
were gathered to his fathers, an the
Ripper KEEP on a CROWN bigger an
knOwiner, an waxin' fatter an fatter.
Then new carnations O. fishers tried
their hans ON him, an fished high m
low an deep an SMALLER fer him, trailin'
flies an sinkin'b ugs an coaxin' of him
with all sorts o traps an contrivauces !
an snares for the wary an the onwary;
but OF Redtail the Ripper unly laid |
back an larfed in his sleeve, and showed /
hisself here an thar an now an then in
McGonigle's Run, iist to keep the ball
rollin'
FIFTY year after the days O. Honey
McGonigle l fust see the Ripper, an
folks was a-fshin for him yit. Gin IRA
| IIO1S hli1 Dit't BOIts
| b'gosh, an still OF Redtail the Ripper
were on deck, fat an sassy, but show
| in of his years a leetle. Then Hank
1ellrack 'peared on the scene. Hank
could ketch trout wuther the water were
high or wuther it were low, or wuther it
were muddier thin a gutter or clearer
thin a jar o strained honey. But Of
Redtail the Ripper larfed at Hank an
dared him to ketch him, jist the same ez
he had the heaps an heaps O. ordin'ry .
trout fishers, witch had kim up like
flower in the mornin', 81 to speak, an /
ben cut down in the evenin, b'gosh, {
like Unison weed, an had left the j
glidin' waters o McGonigles Run fer {
the rollin' tides O Jordan. The impi- {
dence o the Ripper, an the way he had {
o euchrein' Hank, no matter how cute an '
cunuin' he played bis hand, tore Hank I
all up, but he KEEP follerin' that trout ,
up and down the Run, year in an year S
out, fer fifteen year, cause he'd took a |
oath to captur OF Redtail the Ripper or i
purrish in the tempt. At the end O |
that time Hank were shrunk almost to n t
head SOS they looked like green marbles I
in holes in the ground, an he hadn't no !
more appetite thin dead calf
!
I'm jist savin' O. my appetite fer the .
day th't 1 yank Of Redtail outen his hole, !
SOS 1 kin hev it all in one heap, an iist T
set it to workin' on his contrary carcase, s
billed, fried, an Drilled, an fatten up on {
him Hke-a-Gnase in n cellar crammeI |
with meal. nn' come out sassy an chip 7
per ez fightin' cock.
Am Hank KEEP on q fishin'.
aye mowt naturally spose int dunn
II L L., f1n bod
knocked around in McGOnigle's Run
th't he orter be n gettin' n leetle old his /
self, an ye'd s'pose right. Time th't l
Hank Yellrack fust began to try an
carcumvent OF Redtail, ez [ toP We, the
fish had begun to show his age con-
sid able, an at the end O. Hank fifteen
year fight again him he'd failed most ez '
bad ez Hank he'd. One eye had took to l
lookin' ez if it'd ben changed Ter one t
th't b'lOnged to dead mack rails; his !
shoulder blades begun to hist theirselfs '
up inter onpleasant-lookin' ridges, an /
tn was couple O. hollers behind 'em t
th't you could ha' sot tea cups in. The l
Redtail Ripper's ribs showed up tolable /
plain, too, an his gen'ral build O car {
case were setch th't it didn't hop much c
inducement for Hanks sawed-up APP '
petite, an ruther made folks think tht !
if Hank should happen to hook onter i
the Ripper it'd be bad thing fer him ]
arter all, ez he'd starve to death, sure
vile he were huntin' fer the Ripper's {
meat. Hank nor nobody else couldn't {
understan' wat made the cunnin' oil
fish fall away so an get so lank, till one
day Hank see the Ripper travelin' up
stream to'ards Biler's Dam, an whanged
away at him with load O buckshot '
Redtail stopped an listened, an then
, riz hisself up to the top O. the water,
stuck his head out, an kinder cooked :
his eye round to see W at the disturbance {
were. In doin' of it he throw'd his
mouth open, an Hank see th't tn want
much left in his mouth but gums, an
few OF wuthless snags.
"'That settles it, says Hank. 'OP
Redtail Ripper can't chaw no more. |
s'render fm' now on, says Hank. Il
don't angle for no trout this half blind,
an has to pend on spoon victuals, says
he
81 s'pose my OF nanny, Squire,
were one O the high-steppinest women
th't ever b'longed to s'ciety in Sugar
q neighbor setch ez tn want unly few
like. Our mex door neighbors lived two
miles an a half over to'ards Sprouts
Clearin, On their names was Buzzer.
Betsey Buzzer were a cOrtion fer Dor
rowin' things, an tn want day passed
th't she didn't sen down to our clearin'
fer sumpin', wuther 'twere the quiltin'
frames, or a kittle O. soap, or mans
specs, or side O pork, or W at it mowt
be, an she allus got it. Nam allus
would dress up in style an look pleasin',
an so one day she made up her mind
that she'd get rid o three or four ruther
achey teeth she had left, an she sent for
Banty Bell, the boss doctor, an had him
twist 'em out. Mex time dad went to
the county seat nam went with him, an
sat for some boughten teeth. an fetched
'em hum with her. They was nice and
shiny, an folks kim FIN all round the
Swamp deestric' to see 'era, an one or
two OF women stuck up their noses, an
said th't some folks was gittin' mighty
proud with their store chompers an
SIGH, an th't mebby it were all right,
but b. gosh, tn wa mt nuthin' truer thin
th't pride allus went before fall.
''The day man fetched her boughten
teeth hum she were ca'c'latin' on kinder
splurgin' roun' 'mongst the neighbors
with EN- that night. She were washin'
up the supper dishes wen who sh'd
come in but Betsey BUYERS darter Sally.
Nam know'd, O. course, sumpln' were to
no ia1 on Ohio fO SALLY.