Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-12-23
A Thinks Gratitude.

| tears, said j. &. Mayor, TIE ShDlcCt
of minks having come up during
the course of the evening at "a meet
ing of the Annanias Club, land
III tell you why:"
"A party of us was canped twenty
miles i'm the wilderness few years
ago. Our tent was pitched near a
stream. We went for bass. We'd
had terrible bad luck. although
some of the fellows with me were
about the best sporting ducks in the
country. One day l stayed in camp
while the others went fishing and
hunting. | was stretched out ON
the grass in front of the tent, when
| saw an animal stick its head up
out of the creek. 1t looked around
cautiously. and then crawIcd up
the bank. 1t was Il mink. and a
steel trap was fast to one of it's fore
legs. / raised up, and the mink
dragged itself toward me. 1t
stopped every few seconds. laid it's
head flat on the ground and looked
at me with the most pitiful look l
ever saw. first thought I'd shoot
the animal. but / changed my mind
as wanted to see what its strange
actions meant. The mink crept up
to within two feet OF me, and turn
ing over on it's back held up the
paw that had the trap ON it. There
was no need of its saying word II
it could, for the action said as plain
as words Please. now. take this
trap off. wont you: You can be
that i'm less time than it takes to tell
it | had that mink free from it's
cruel remembrance. Its eye spoke
volumes of thanks. and it limped
back to the creek and disappeared.
THE incident slipped my mind in
short time. The boys came in
late in the afternoon. They had
about dozen little bass and three
woodcOck. There wasn't enough to
make smell in the frying-pan.
We made up our minds that all the
bass we'd have for breakfast next
morning would be a hunk of salt
pork. We turned in that night all
in low spirits. determined to go
home the next day.
II got up early i'll the morning to
get Il piece of sunrise in the noun
tains. There was a big flat rock on
the outside of the tent, near the en-
trance. When | stepped out and
my eyes fell on the rock | was
startled, and no mistake. The fact
of the matter is. we were all afraid
of rattlesnakes. and had with us a
festive demijohn of antidote. which
we had now and then tasted, and
when | saw on that rock, AS plain as
day, pile of the biggest bass l
ever set my eyes on. thought may
be my nerves were little off.
went back and woke up Ed Seaman
who was along, and who will re-
member this little incident. and
asked him to come out and see il
there wasn't bear track along the
edge of the creek. Thinks |. it he
don't see them bass. strikes in for
the clearing and Il doctor. When
he stepped out of the tent the first
thing he saw was the rock. He
jumped about ten feet, and fairly
yelled:
"'Bass. by the Living lingo!
Where did you catch 'em, Naylor:'
81 was saved; but where the bass
came from was the mystery. sug-
gested Providence. but happened to
remember the section of country
we were in, and knew that couldn't
| be. There wasn't one of the bass
that weighed less than a pound.
We didn't let our spcculations as to
the source of their supply interfere
with our appetites, and there was
no salt pork fried that morning.
The episode raised our spirits, and
we concluded to stay another day.
We had good luck cunning that
day, and when we found another
pile of big bass on the rock next
morning we made up our minds
that some bark peelers to whom we
had given supplies day or two be-
fore were repaying us with these
delicious surprises. But made up
my mind that l would find out for
certain. So that night after the rest
had gone to sleep, crawled up to
the door of the hut and peered out.
1t was bright moonlight night,
and could see almost as well as 1t
it was day. About midnight l saw
something black emerge from the
creek. 1t came stealthily toward
the tent. 1t was small animal and
as it came near the tent saw that it
was mink and that it limped. In
it's mouth was large bass, which
it deposited on the rock, and then
limped back to the creek. Every
thing was as plain as double six TO
ME now. The mink l had rescued
from the trap was showing its graft
tude by catching the largest bass
| II corlu find in the creek and DlaC-