The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-08-16

n Funniest Nhaeo Man. but the Onxky Cn1
ME . F1oundsr WIN his Spear whsr,
o would SEQ Only AEud-xha Rxpsr
Fisherman Never Misses his rssh.
Did you ever strike 3 Aounder
Probably not unless you have lived d
passed some time on the coast of Tho
southern states
One lovely August evening. inst be-
fore sunset, as ] stood ON the back porch
Of our summer home ON the coast oi
South Carolina. ! noticed that Cur Dor
Bob. . great big black cheerful lookinc
fellow about 10 years old, as lazy o ras.
cal and a. big . thief as his whole race
coald produce, seemed to be- very busy
over q boat at the little wharf only 3
short distance from the house and az
I stood there watching him thu mystery
was explained
Noticing that ] was watching him
with q good deal Of interest he came
up TO the steps, and removing the tat.
tered rim Of what was once d felt hat
said:
Boss man, TIE goin 'strikin' fioun-
der tonight. Like to 60 long? It's easy
NUT. I" he said. Jest put on ole close
that don't matter bout victim, and I'll
call for you after supper"
After having finished supper and en-
joyed o cigar and a stroll ON the beach,
watching the bathers in the surf and
spying q distant sail on the horizon, /
proceeded to dress for the occasion. TAX
ing Bob's advice. ! selected an old pair
OF baseball shoes, an ancient pair of
cadet trousers that had stood the test of
many q dress parade-a relic or my
''rat" year--a cap of the same descrip-
tion and q flannel shirt and O heavy
coat, for it was cool ON the water after
sunset, ever i'm midsummer, not forget
ting to take q good supply Of tobacco
and o pipe to keep of the gnats and
sand flies and q plug of chewing tobac-
co for my companion. Negroes always
claim to be out when o white man is
around.
] joined Bob at the back door, and we
made a way down to the landing.
Here we found q large fiat boetomed
scow, ON mi side Of which was fixed an
old CRATE, in which q fire was burning
fiercely, while at the other end was Q
huge pile of dry oak, with plenty of fat
pine for kindling. Standing In the
boat was . colored boy Of about the same
size and blackness Of my attendant,
whom Bob designated to me as "my
mammy's sister Sally's boy Rufe.."
Greeting the grinning Rufus. who re-
piled by scraping the bottom Of the boat
with one foot, while he touched where
his hat would have been had he worn
any, for no such article encumbered his
woolly crown, we all made ourselves
comfortable, Bob standing at the bow,
Rufus at the stern, with O pole, while /
was invited to take the middle seat near
the fire and requested to keep the boat
clear of water, which as soon as we be-
gan our journey rushed through the
many crevices with astonishing rapid
ity.
The night was very dark. but lighted
by our fire we began TO follow the shore.
and our flat bottom enabled m 30 keep
In very close. And now came 10 me
what was the strangest part Of the pro-
ceeding. Bob. standing, as I have said,
In the bow. armed with Q striking p0Ie,
which Is simply O heavy rod about 8
feet long. with q two pronged fork &C
one end, kept his eyes fixed ON the wa
ten, which was brightly Lie mp for g
eral feet in front OF the boat, while he
held the pole raised in his right hand.
All at once, and without q word. he
suddenly thrust the pole into the water
i'm front Of him, and with q chuckle of
triumph dashed the pole into the bot
of the boat, and struggling and
splashing around was a dark fiat object
about q foot long, with two great gap
ing wounds made by the prongs Of the
fork. The founder was exactly the col
or of the bottom OF the water and very
fat, and how ON earth anybody, ' e d
hungry negro. could distinguish it with
the boat going at q pretty rapid rate
was something ! could not make ont
and have neye been able TO fatho1n.
To be sure, the water was quite shall
low, ranging in depth from l TO ~
feet, and n light from the fire was
very bright, but when you take into
consideration the fact that the soil was
black and very muddy and soft.
and that the fish almost bury them-
selves therein. il viii be seen that IL re-
NO small amount Of skill and
quickness TO detect the aounder with
The boat being rapidly pooled along.
And 7 never saw Bob miss, JIG would
be natural to suppose that the .'striker,s
would occasionally mistake some objecs
Cor o founder in waters that. teemed
with all kinds Of fish. or that sometimes
he would fail to secure the fish, even IL
he struck correctly, for il is q known
fact that ''the biggest fish I ever caught
was the one that got away. but no, !
never knew Bob or any Of the other
many negroes whom I afterward 6aw
ons striking to be guilty Of failure.
Sometimes the founder would be pierced
by only one prong instead Of two. and
the wound would be very
near the side Of the Sab, but secure him
they always did.
That night we were ont about two
M<>x,wa AND rnvnr0a 0ssyhk ~ u0 Nnn Ars~m.