Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-06-15


he would bet you which one would fly
first, or il there was camp meetin
he would be- there reg lar To bet on Par
son Walker, which he Judged To b. the
best exhortcr about here, and 40 he
was, too, and good man. II he even
seen straddlebug start to 90 any
where's, he would bet you how long IL
would take him 10 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 hc
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, il never made no difference 70
him-he would bet on anything-tho
dangdest feller. Parson Walkers wife
laid very sick once for good while,
and il seemed as If they warn't goin
TO save her, but one mornin ho come III,
and Smiley asked how she WAS, and he
said she was considerable bcttor-thank
the Lord for his mi nit mercy-and
comm OH so smart that, with the bless
in Of Prov 'dence, she'd get well yet,
and Smiley, before he thought, says,
well, I'll risk 81. so that she don {,
anyway"
This yer Smiley had mare. The boys
called her the 10 minute nag, but that
was only i'll fun, you know. because, Of
course, she was faster than that, and
he used 20 win money on that horse, for
all she was so slow and always had the
asthma or the distempcr or the con-
sumption or somethin Of that kind
They used TO give her 200 or 300 yards
start and then pass her under way, but
always at the fag end Of the race she d
get excited and dcspcratelike and come
cayortin and straddlin up and scat
term her legs around timber, some
times in the air and sometimes out 10
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 a neck ahead,
as near as you could cipher 1t down.
And he had little small bull pup
that to look at him you'd think he wan {
worth a cent but to set around and look
ornery and lay for a chance 10 steal
somethin. But ~ soon Us money was
upon him he was different dog. HIS
underjaw'd begin to stick out like the
fo'castle Of 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 eI-
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 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,
II it was 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 a
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 a
krx. TO- fYnnnca1
how the other dog had him in the door,
50 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 shucked out 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 q
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
couianl rest, su1 s." COULDN'T Ietcn
nothin fr him to bet Oh but he'd
match you. He ketched frog one day
and took him home and said he calk'-
lated % edercate him, and so he never
done nothin for three months but set
In his back yard and learn that frog to
Jump. And you bet you he did learn
him too He'd give him little punch
behind, and the next minute you'd see
that frog whirlin In the air like q
doughnut-see him turn one summerset,
or maybe q couple, If he got good
start, and come down fat footed and all
right, like cat. He got him up 30 in
the matter Of catchin flies and kept
him in practice SO constant that he'd
nail fly every time US far as he could
see him. Smiley said all frog wanted
was education and he could do almos,
anything, and I believe him. Why,
I've seen him set Dan'l Webster down
here ON this foor-Dan'l Webster wa
the name Of the frog-and sing out,
''Flies, Dan'l fiiesp' and quicker
you could wink he'd spring straight NJ
and snake q fly off'n the counter there
and 6op down ON the floor again a
solid = . dab Of mud and fall 10 scratch