The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-12-07
COUNTRY STORE STOKES.
The Last Vas Too Much ana the Speaker
Was Left Alone.

| tereu with carefully peeieu ohdNAhBS,
and around each man was o circle OF
| dark spots. The red canned goods Ia
bel and patent medicine bottles stared
lown on the group. The man with the
County Clare whiskers shifted his cud
Of tobacco and said, to no one in par
ticular, went fshin' to-day"
Everyone kept on whiting, and the
jaws moved rvthmically, but no one
apparently paid any attention to his
remark What was the use of wasting
words; they knew the story was COM
ing.
"Went fishin'," he repeated. ''Had
purity good luck"
Still no one helped him out.
After minute he said Eyes, l had
what you might call Urinary luck.
Caught forty-seven pick'rel, and they
weighed nigh onto one hundred
pounds"
He shifted his cud back and picked
up a fresh stick with the air of man
who has done his duty.
The tick of the clock was the only
noise heard in the store, except for an
|
came ybetter defined. But EVERYONE
knew Seth Jones was going to speak.
He always prefaced his remarks by
shifting one leg over the other and cut
/ ting the end of his stick short off.
Don't hev t fish t ketch pick'rel,"
he said, slowly.
"How's that, Seth?" asked a new
! conner, who didn't know the customs
! of the place.
Seth looked surprised and panied at
the interruption, but he continued: 81
was fishin' t'other day. and the pick rel
were SO burned thick that one on EN-
jumped plum into the boat"
He looked ut the first speaker pity
ingly and prepared fresh chew.
The man with the gray beard and
child-lilIe gray eyes walked over to the
sugar barrel and helped himself. Then
he said: Never got but one pick're
and speared him."
| He waited until he was sure the new
conner was not going to interrupt him,
and then went on: 81 was spearin
t'other night on the creek, an right
ahead saw bullhcad S longs"
and he measured off foot or two on
| the counter II made a drive at him
| hard, for he was swimmin' fast. / hit
him plum in the middle, but l didn't
get him."
Seth Jones moved uneasily on his
box, and the others involuntarily
stopped whiting.
mo, sir" the speaker went on. But
when l pulled my spear up had the
biggest pick'rel | ever see. He must
hev weighed somethin' less n ton.
Y see," he added, my spea~ was so
sharp it cut that bullhead right in two
an the pick'rel happened to be swim
min under him."
He walked back to his seat on the
counter, and for several minutes no
one said word.
Hi la ailsera SSaassrtAip.sipa rs Hs
Tor him to speak.
did y ever ketch two fish on one
hool?" he asked, finally.
No one answered, and he went on:
81 never did but once. was out with
that city dude as was up here the sum-
mer Seth Jones' gray mare died O.
lockjaw, an we hadn't had any luck to
speak on all day long. But just afore
it was pitch dark he got on big bass
as it turned out t be. l thought he
would bust his whipper-snapper pole
sure, but finally he got him up t the
boat an told me t put the net under
him. felt around in the dark, und
purity soon | see two of the biggest fish
as ever grew in Snaky Lake. lifted
'em into the boat after a bit, an
thought the dude would jump out n it
he was so ticlSled. Fact he had only
one hook an there were the two fish,"
Seth Jones left the store without
waiting for the explanation.
Il reckon that second fish must hev
been swimmin' along side o. t'other
an just scooped him in," the speaker
added, and then he said he must be
going.
A dark-haired man with black eyes
and coat that was new only two
years ago had been sitting in corner
without entering into the conversation.
You fellers hev told some pretty fair
fish yarns" he said AN you're well
come to all the fish you can ketch. But
when it comes to huntin', / know a
thing or two"
No one had ever heard Bill Perkins
tell story, and they listened half in
suspense, partly in doubt.
9TH other fall was down shootin'
on the flats" he said. Three big,
black duck flew by me, an l let 'em
have the right barrel. Two on 'em
dropped, and l pulled t'other trigger
but the cap snapped. threw the gun
down to fix it, when bang! it went off
an burned near knocked me down. I
looked around for the other duck, but
couldn't see him nowhere, but when
l went to pick up the first two found
him in the grass. When that gun went
off it knocked him down as clean as n
whistle"
And they all filed out and left him
alone with his conscience.-Buffal
Courier.
Her Dream Came True.
A 1~oe eel, l. -