The Forrest City times., 1899-07-07
IL sniffed at the bar1 a,d ,he,

| SNP SH thc oar as slick as could Inc hited the head, and took out n nice bia hunk of pork. Of course, Jonas tbcuphi i'o hustle away with that pork on the double-quick, but it didn't. It laid the hunk o pork on the ground, and then headed up the barl ag'in as proper as It was before, after doin' which it shoul. dered the pork and went into the woods as cool and deliberate as if it'd just bought the pork, and paid cash down Tor II. What do you think, Eph? Must have been it that Jonas seen, hey?'
 "Eph he hind O pulled his whiskers and didn't say nothin', but Paupack Steve he lips in and says:
 Course it was! My idea is that it lugged a slammin' big mess O them chubs O Eph's home with it, and want. ed that pork to fry 'em in!'
 Il hadn't said nothin', but begun to think that if it was as interestin' as they was sayin' it was, it behooved me to git on its trail, so l says to Eph:
 Was it much for size?' says. Was 1t as big as any Gil ever killed?' says
 Cause Gil was a tremendous hunt CT, but poor jedge O heft
 Big as any Gil ever killed.' says Eph Why, thunder! It was bigger yit than any Gil ever said he killed,'
 "Gil didn't say nothin', but begun to Steve he snorted right out, and says:
 Eph,' he says, if was you l wouldn't take jug with me no more when l went fishin'; and when I sec Jonas I'll have to warn him to have the size of his snake-cure pocket cut down from quart to pint, cause you fellers IS beginning to see things!' he says.
 But l thinks to myself that where there was so much smoke there must be some fire, and thought it mowt be worth my while gittin' onto its track. So next day l started out. heerd on 1t here and there and most everywhere, and begun to think that maybe Pau pack Steve had been leetle too hard on Erh and Jonas, after all. I heerd on it beiN' at Jake's, where it broke into the milkhouse, lugged out 12-quart crock O cream that Jake's wife was goin' to do her chrnif' with and sot down on the back stoop and swamped the hull 12 quarts, hardly stoppin' to breathe. Then it took the crock and smashed it agin the door, as much as if to give notice to the folks inside that; they'd better be comin' out and look. in after things. Jake told me all about the doin's. He didn't see 'em himself, he said, cause he didn't happen to be home, but his wife seen em, he said. and was so scared that it was all she could do to tell him when he got home
 And that's the way it kept goin' on similar all around the country, 'cordin' to what folksd tell me here and there, but l couldn't strike its trail for cer. tain for more'n six weeks, and then did. Job told me that it had got into one of his traps, and had took the trap along with it. This give me the trail. and it p'inted straight for the big tam. arack swamp. l hadn't gone moren two miles when I come to the trap. It laid under hemlock root, and there was a couple O toes in it with claws on 'em two inches long.
 "It's yanked itself loose, hay?' I says. It won't be so gay and funny now when come up to it as folks has been say in it's been,' I says.
 And before long I come up to it, backed ag'in big hemlock, nussin' it's sore foot. When it see me it just ripped and tore. It sot me down as bein' the one that had got it into trouble, and it rig up and howled and smashed and showed a set O teeth that made me quiver.
 "'Eph was right says l. It's bigger yit than any Gil ever said he killed
 Not wantin' to see such an unpleas. in showin' of temper any longer than I could help, pulled up and whanged away. That must a s'prised it, for it turned and went smashin' away so fast that it got out O sight in the brush fore l could give it another one. I fol. lowed it, though, and it led plump to the laurel patch t'other side O the Knob. hurried round by the cowpath and was standin' there when l see Pets comin' long the path on his way to the Hobdy road, and see that he was goin to leave the path and make a short cut through the patch, jest cause it'd save him mebbe somethin' like an eighth of miled, and I says to him:
 "'You'd better keep the path, Peter. I says, and go round.'
 Pete, bein' stubborn and head strong, 4nd O sniffed at me and says:
 "'What fer?
 "'Well, I says, it'll be considerable further for you, but if you keep the path you'll get there good deal sooner
 "'Cause I lsnow'd it was in there, but Pete gave a sniff and plunged right into the patch and went on. l don't know exactly whether it was on tor or whether Pete was on top when they came out, and l hain't never been able to figure out jist how managed to git ball through it and stiffen of it out for good and all without killin' Pete, they was so kind O mixed up; but l did. Then I got Pete around, and as soon as he could get back some i1ee O what