The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-02-14

u;Ilshoro. and who few weeks shy
anndmctad the Methodist conference III
that civ. relates the narrative. 80 80
Tho comnlption of his conference uu'iee
one day he went out in the county d oaiIos
distance for hunt. was mis-
from the city," he said TO a 81 ~ y
Globe-Democrat man, ana H 1e;n nm
creek which is known to cohtain H aarL
hers of large fish. 1t was growing uarh
os neared the stream, and II was liS
tention to go there, get a drink anu . H.
turn home. When about 2OO teet Vi tne
water | saw what | took to pc nuse
catfish walking on its tail. Inc siTanse
sight so astounded me that l coulu nol
even believe my eyesight. Levellhs NY NY
gun at the fish | pulled the trigger. NY
aim was a good one, and, altnousI' -
struck its mark, the fish continues "
walk at rapid gait on the BANKS Vi aIo
snre that it was a fish. My excitement
at seeing such a strange sight was soon
overcome, and | saw plainly then thaI
the object was what l took it to pea
huge catfish. | again took aim with my
gun and fired again with the same erect
rs at frst-striking the fish each time
hut not retarding it in its rapid walk:
Further and further down the banks OF
the stream it strolled, and, although very
dark, | still pursued it. When about
three miles down the stream met
farmer who Joined me in the pursuit say.
ing that he had seen the strange object
on several occasions past, and although
he had shot and hit it several times, the
effect was mere nothing to the walking
wonder. We pursued the strange ,speci-
men of the fnny tribe fully two hours.
WHY didn't we catch it? We didn't want
tor, at least we didn't think it safe
to do so.
after lapse of about two hours we
finally decided to bring the strange thing
to bay, even at the risk of our lives. So
we again leyeled our Winchesters at 1t
and fired. After having fired five shots
each we finally succeeded in telling the
creature to the ground. Fearing proba-
bly, that its bite might be dangerous, we
concluded to wait until we were sure 1t
was dead before we advanced upon It.
We waited about five minutes, until life
seemed extinct, and we advanced little
nearer. Its mouth was wide open, and
as we advanced life seemed to return.
We stopped short, and to our dismay and
strange feeling, the thing again bounded
to its tail and began walking backward
toward us.
"Of course, we were not afraid, but
anyhow we backed off as the thing backed
toward us. We fired our Winchesters
again and the strange thing fell again.
1T was very dark and we could barely
see the creature, but that it was dying
we could tell from its strange means. we
waited fully 30 minutes and, though dark,
we could see plainly that it was swelling
to enormous proportions. SUDDENLY it as
sumed different shape; seemingly it had
been transformed from mighty cattsh
to young pig. We waited few minutes
longer and through the dim light of the
rising moon we plainly saw that what
was an hour ago, beyond doubt, huge
catfish was now, undoubtedly, a small
pig. To make sure we advanced closer,
and, satisfying ourself that it was pig,
we concluded to take it to town with us
to satisfy those who might doubt our
story. We did 50, and, upon inquiry,
we were satisfied as to the whole history
of the creature.
"One year ago an old farmer who resid-
ed near the creek drove his pigs there
every evening to water. One evening, to
his dismay and establishment, he saw q
huge catfish lift it's head out from the
water and swallow one of the smallest
shoats. 1t lived, and in some unaccount-
able manner not in accord with the laws
of nature, thrived upon the necessities
of the life of fish. 1t grew stronger and
stronger until its strength was greater
than that of the fish, when it began walk
ing. Then the fish was outdone, and
when it began walking it fell prey to
my Winchester and curiosity, as have
stated. We went back to the creek the
next day to see what the remainder OF
the fish resembled, but we were not as
tonished to find that there were no re-
mains left While we were waiting for
the fish to die the pig freed itself, and out
of revenge, ate the fish up"