News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1897-05-26

there was two birds settin Oh a fence,
he would bet you which one would fly
first, or if there was camp meetin
he would be there reg lar to bet on Par
son Walker, which he judged to be the
best exhorter about here, and so he
was, too, and good man. If he even
seen straddlebug start to go any
where's, he would bet you how long it
would take him to get wherever he was
goin to, and if you took him up he
would foller that straddlebug to Mexi-
co but what he would find out where he
was bound for and how long he was on
the road Lots of the boys here has seen
that Smiley and can tell you about him.
Why, it never made no difference to
him-he would bet on anything-the
dangdest Teller. Parson Walkers wife
laid very sick once for a good while,
and it seemed as if they warn't goin
to save her, but one mornin he come in,
and Smiley asked how she was, and he
said she was considerable better-thank
the Lord for his inf'nit mercy-and
comm ON so smart that, with the bless
in of Prov dence, she'd get we'll yet,
and Smiley, before he thought, says,
'Well, I'll risk 81 so that she don't,
anyway"
This yer Smiley had mare. The boys
called her the Is minute nag, but that
was only in fun, you know, because of
course, she was faster than that, and
he used to win money on that horse, for
all she was so slow and always had the
asthma or the distemper Or the con-
sumption or somethin of that kind.
They used to give her 200 or 800 yards
start and then pass her under way, but
always at the fag end of the race shed
get excited and desperatelike and come
cayortin and straddlin up and scat
term her legs around timber, some
times in the air and sometimes out to
one side amongst the fences, and kick
in up more dust and raisin more
racket with her coughin and sneezin
and BLOWN her nose, and always fetch
up at the stand just about neck ahead,
as near as you could cipher it down.
And he had a little small bull pup
that to look at him you'd think he want
worth cent but to set around and look
ornery and lay for chance to steal
somethin. But as soon as money was
upon him he was different dog HIS
underjaw'd begin to stick out like the
focastle of a steamboat, and his teeth
would uncover and shine savage like
the furnaces. And dog might tackle
him and bullyrag him and bite him
and throw him over his shoulder two
or three times, and Andrew Jackson
which was the name of the pup-An-
drew jackson would never let on but
what he was satisfied and hadn't ex-
pected nothin else, and the bets bein
doubled and doubled on the other side
all the time till the money was all up
and then all of a sudden he would grab
that other dog jest by the j'int Of his
hind leg and freeze to it-not chaw,
you understand, but only jest grip and
hang on till they throwed up the sponge,
il it was a year. Smiley always come
out winner on that pup till he harness
ed dog once that didn't have no hind
legs, because they'd been sawed off by
circular saw, and when the thing had
gone along far enough and the money
was all up and he come to make a
snatch for his pet holt he saw in
minute how he'd been imposed On and
how the other dog had him i'll the door,
so to speak, and he 'peared surprised,
and then he looked sorter discouraged
like and didn't try no more to win the
fight, and so he got shuckedout bad. He
gave Smiley a look as much as to say
his heart was broke and it was his
FAULT for putin up dog that hadn't
no hind legs for him to take hold of,
which was his main dependence in
fight, and then he limped off piece
and laid down and died.
Well, this yer Smiley had rat ter
riers and chicken cocks and tomcats
and all them kind of things till you