The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-08-03
A VERY GOOD FISH STORY.
When You Come 20 Inquire Into 1t Its
Good Ghost Story Too.

"A few years ago." said an old gen.
tleman TO writer in Forest and
Stream, Il was a-cutting and piling
driftwood on the lake shore when "a
party from the village came down to
fish through the ice. 1t was cold,
raw day. They told me if I'd let them
use my fishing shanty and they had
any luck they would give me some
fish. Well, at it they went. Just as l
was a-picking up at night to go home
they fetched me pickerel that would
s-pulled down six pounds good and
strong. | brought hIm home and put
him up in the crotch of that apple tree
over there. Then | done my chores,
eat my supper, got the pickerel, and
thought I'd clean him; but he was
froze hard as brick. so | run a string
through his gills and hung him up
back of the stove TO thaw out.
I'D got a good grip on the sleep that
night, and was a-plowing shead on the
gallop, when my wife woke me up and
said there WAS some one at the door
/ listened II bit md heard noise Jest
like some feller was a-knocking on the
door with mittens on his hand. |
were a bit veXed, slid out of bed
pulled on my pants and boots, but did
not strike Il light, grabbed a big cane
which stood ut the head of my bed,
hurried TO the door, opened it and
jumped out ready to knock the stuf1in'
out of anything But, my dear sir,
there weren't anything there to knock.
l run round the house; not living
critter could ! see, nor even any tracks
in the snow.
"Po bed | went ag'in, and was just
dropping off, when the old woman, she
nudged me hard and whispered: Hear
that. jest listen; there it goes ag'In!'
81 sat up in bed, and jest as plain as
day | could hear a dull sort OF a
thump! thump. | begun TO feel ager-
ish like; mOught have rembled bit;
sWer.
81 kinder shiyered for bout half a
minute, when there was the darndcst
racket out in the kitchen you ever
heard; sounded as if some one was
a-kickin' a tin pan all around the room;
and my dog; he came a-yelpin' and
howlin' in the bedroom and crawled
clear under the bed where he kept up
a-whinin' and a-yelpin Ny wife
screamed and crawled down under
the bed clothes. | had not only the
ager, but the chillS-sweating chills
good and strong. | was ratified; bad
" ratified; Jest had sense enough left
to crawl out of bed, grab my gun,
which was loaded, and creep carefully
TO the kitchen door. There was GER
toi,l,- fnllD,,r thnrn
Ell, and he was having hull dancing
school all to hisself l located him AZ
near as | could in the dark, then, with
out making any noise, brought my
gun to my shoulder and let her 90.
The flash of the gun was just long
enough to let me see what the trouble
was. | went back, lit Il candle, and
then went to the kitchen. There. right
in the middle of the floor, was that are
cussed pickerel having the liveliest
kind of a circus all by hisself. He WAS
a-cutting up in great shape with his
fipity-tlop, hipity-hop, jest as lively az
if he had jest been pGlled out of the
water With stick of tirewood
busted that are show quicker'n YOU
could say shoe.
You see, hung him up in a good,
warm place to thaw out, directly over
the old woman's dishpan, right under
the pan being a good, warm, out-of-
the-way place the dog used to sleep.
AS that Internal pickerel began to
thsw out his old cussedne.s crept back
into him. Between the nappings of
his tail and the workings of his jaws
he broke the string, then dropped on
to the dish, and both fell onto tho
dog"