Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-11-15

guol sinellin stun. when down Tell Q
door and we wur Gagged.
"Yer see. gents. when they wsnte'i 20
ketch mp any NV us wild Missourians.
they made p-n Just like . bar trap,
baitei 10 with corn bread and cot u.
When the wind wur right ons u ths
woods breed could sinell corn dodger
nigh ON 10 three miles.
"waal. when the trap fell ws tore
round like mad. hut couldn't escape.
Long bout sun.lown some soldiers come
and tuck ms out'n the trap. They tuck
Us and put u. inter the upper story Of .
blockbouse 'bout ffty feet high. Thar
they left ne In the dark.
"waal. we soon ses,l that ef we had
rvps we could git away. NJ then We be-
gan pickin onr-elves-pulling out the
long har that covered our bodi-s-to
make rvp~. u wur an awful sors job
After all of us had becn clean picked
W. tri~l the rope and found it bout ten
fe-, too short. Then told my two pards
thai they misht take har enough out'n
the top of my heal 10 finish the rops.
They tuck the har. and In lsss'n tsn
minutes We wur all at liberty.
snow, gents said Duck. ''as some Of
yer may think I'm lyin bout this busi.
ne.-. I'll jist show yes whar my mates
got the har to splice out that ROPE"
Then taking on his sombrcro Buck
showed that the whole top u his bead
Was as smooth a. peeled onion.
"waal." continued Buck. after We
got oui'n that thar blockhouse We cut
And run for bout hve hours Acrost .
stretch of country we knowed nothin
about, for We wur Lost when we struck
inter fields ani fenced ground: besides,
We thought all ths houses we sod wur
blockhous~-.
"i,ein now naked we had 10 keep
movin to keep warm, ~ we Travelled -
fast a. We could all that night. When
the snn got up We sot ON . bluh bank
above the blessed old Mississippi. that
seemed mother tons. Thar weenjoy~i
the sun like ~ many turtles on log.
"As We cot on the bluf We looked
down upon the river and thar on the
side next % us we seed q gooiish sized
catfish laying a-sunnin itself near ~
shore. The cat wur bout twenty-five
feet long-tco big fur 10 snaro--so We
looked about fur some other way Of
ketchin him.
"a few hundred yard above We saw
. big rvre stretched across the rver. u
wur ferry rOp-. but then In our Wild
state we didn't know ~ u belonged to
snybody. We went up thar and tuck
th. rope. no one bcin bout thar. One VI
us hal IN swim the river to cast the rope
loose from u ir,c ON the opIosiie side.
We'd go,'r have the rope bscauss it hal
on |, NJ one eni big iron hook.
next We wanted some kind of good
live halt. While lookin bout Tor bait
Ioug comes a little nigger 10y driyin
cow. W. keichei him. and lashin him Ga
~ the hook fnate,l him down. swimmin
like frog. 10 whar the big catfish wur.
The cat snapped the little mig up like
nash anil swallercd him down.
"Ali hand. of u- tuck Oh. rope over
our shoulders, and maxim dash inland
hanle.i the tig cat high ani dry. We cut
the fish oIsn at once and tuck out the
little nigger all alive and kickin. When
We unlashed and turned him loose he
wen, oif ~ timber ~ an eel. an the fust
thing he did was 10 hunt mp his ole COW
aud drive her along ji-t Ne gentle ~ II
we hadn't had III. loan of him and used
him for few minutes. lie had but ons
little tooth mark on his hack"
"was that the bisge-t catfish you ever
caughtY- aSkci one of our party.
Buck eyed the man for n moment.
end then asked where he was from.
PROM Tenne--ee, Just acrc-s the
river and little below where you got
your big fish. aid our man.
"waal. q. for catfish" !" said Back. "you
can ke,ch 'em In the Massissippi of any
lie YOU want. II depends altogether
on the sire - ,h. hook and the bait.
wi,ha full grown nigg.r-bu'. stranger.
II W ,aldn'i l,-ik well for me 10 take up
ell the time with my own erplitss, %
I'll fust let YOU tell % any catfish yoj
ketched on your side ~ the river
80 that was not your biggest cat
hshy'
I'm no, .ayin bcau,y aforc age, young
man
II b.ing evident tina, Buck was deter.
mined 20 have the closing speech. the
boss II the cuininissary department was
instructed Ia bring out the re,ieye for
another rounl. Ia. fishing rods were
then stuck into the bank and left q
catch or not. as luck went. while oil
hands stretched out upon the blankets
spread la front pf the tent "a hear.