The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-12-08
The SUPERNA TURAL MINK

| one. L en L puZZed up tn river an wait
ed five hundred yard away f'r tn las
kerloom- Balloon: amt sclaimin' t. be no
shore 'nough skater now, but them times
could move leetle. Polin' boats FIR
felers at cain feesh takes tn ..peed out
N mans laigs .a ~
Ef you could a lissened t. them sticks
a-goin off you'd although they was hell
a-poppin' an not a bucket O. wattuh in
i side O. forty rod. They tell me it were
heerd all ov'r this here part O. tn United
States. One time they was eighty ur nleb-
be ninety duck hunters up firm Chicarger
with lO-gauge guns all shootin' at ono
mud hen on Long lake an it weren't
nothln compare. Mex mornin', ur T
should say Wen tn sun come up tn,
flamoeau looked like some gi'at done
been at it with pickaxe wat yvon,d
reach rom here t tn moon. TIL ice were
chawed an splintered an sawed an.
heaved tremenjus. I says t-m'se'f savsJ.
Here's Were you kill 'nough red-eved
bass t.. make you mos as rich as tn man
wat keeps Henderson's store eff YOU con,d
o'ny git 'em to Chicarger; but Won sbora
got that mink says. An goes to s,een
l peaceful.
"Bout noontime I goes to mi OF ledge
over, thin1in' that !ookin' through a ice
crack I might fin as much as a piece a.
pelt, ur one yeller ring lef'. There he
we're, swimmin long, takin' his time
bout it. quiet as a French graveyard up
in Of Canady. Didn't seem disturbed
ROME You'd a'said firm tn way he
slipped through tn cold water, easier n
any snake wat evr made a ripple, as he
were used t. bein blowed UP an reether
liked it t. keep him firm feelin' lonesome.
I says to m'se'f: You ain human an 1
quit him rig.it there"
"Well?' said the other man.
| II happened t. be long mex summ'r
! an FIR OF frienship's sake I thort III
look him. up. Wen anything,
burd ur beas, gifts tn bes O me / may
git Eighty FIR awhile, but arterward I
wants t. hunt him up an tell him he done
| it fair. So l puts in a day locatin' tn
mink. An fin him in tn same wat.uh
an I lays by JUS to watch him kill feesh.
I see him plain 'nough, tn Wattuh then
bein low, lie benin tn rock I now got
my pole on an jump out at bass wat
went by him an nip EN- back o tn
haid an let 'em drift down. Ev'ry now
an then he'd bite out a chunk, JUS t.
show tn hull tribe they warnt no coll
ness, an begin agin TO murder an t.
slay,' like Pcte Kernigan's song says.
II lay quiet FIR tn bes' part O. three
day an were bcginnin' git tired an sigh
Fl som pm else, wen see a bigger rifle
i 'nushul comm down an thinks t. M SCI
they's big bass un'er it. Wen it got
clost { tn mink see him plain. 1t were
a bass shore nough, an nothin like him
never swum up an down tn Fambeau
FIR one time spoke a piece t. me ont'n a
book, som'p'n bout red-eye bass bein'.
inch FIR inch an poun f'r. poun',, III
games thing wat swins. an I tell you il
ain no lie. says t. mse'f: Brother
Mink, eff you tackle that prop s!shun,
you'll think dynermite ain nothin but
tooth POWDER I says. fr this here feesh
mus weighed eight poun' as he swimIed
ur eight an a 'arf.
"Shore as leetle apples IL float tn
mink made his spring as tn bass passed
him, but fas' as he were he hit a good
two foot benin. TIL rad-eye were fifty
foot down stream in lessn a quarter
O. tn time it'd take a man like you to
think, an there he turned an lay with
his haid upstream. his tail waVin' back
cred an forrerd, his side fins JUS f1utter-
in leetle bit an his red eye shinin'
un'er tn wattuh like coal. Seemed
t. me tn mink felt sorter foolish. ANY,
how, he turned his head down, an bit
hsse'f uner tn lef foreleg t. see eff he
were awake, ur JUS th:nkin he were p
awake. Then he started down. careless
an neglectful like he were talkin' to
I hisse'f an sayin' My! ain you easy.'
Tain ofYn I try = hor m BREATH
but l held 1t then. Three secons later
they was a thing Mapped good man
I orter trave: a thousan' mile to see ur
mebbe twelve hundred. TIL mink jumped
forrerd expectin' tn bass t. turn an
give him tk' tsilhold, but, stead on that.
tn bass met him more'n 'arf way! He
met him go hard an hit him such biff
atween tn forelegs that 1 could hear
it Were I was, an man, want you to
know this was goin on un'er tn wattuh
an tn wattuh ftse'f maxim a lot o.
noise like wat 1t alters makes wen it's
i Smaller on these here rocks. TIL mink
were druv back yard, like seen big
Jog hit straight bank an jump back,
an then he went forrerd, nose t. nose,
like tn thing had t. be ended there an
then.
1T were in a leetle pool, naebbe FIVE
foot deep, an that pool were Jus solid
foam on top Out'n th' foam come, like
a fountain we're ,sproutGn' fur an scales
: an scales an fur an blood an bone
ur two an tremenjus smotheration an
sorter strange cry, like leetle child
were los somew'eres an couldn't fin its
way home Wen turned loose my
} breath my heart wer' goin' Hike one o.
these pile drivin' things tn plugs on tn
) railroads works with an tn pool stopped
swirlin' an got smooth on top agin.
They weren't nothin' lef' FIR me t. do
'cep' t. stay still an think rr awhile.
I an I thinks this: "A man may live in
these woods f'r ten thousan' years, am
Z wen he gifts through he won see It
/ ALL nur arr o. it., nur quarter an
+ he won't know nothin 'cep' he dom know
] northin'.'
/ II walks down stream fr mile an
> see tn feesh ioatin' In a eddy. pulls
him to shore an looks at him. He were
i Scared an tore an cut to tn hoiler In
!, forty places, but his mouth were full o.
j fur. II cut him open an inside o. him
!. were some four po,1n'' o. that mink Some
i o. yelpw stripes was mixed with tn
chawed meat. says to m'serf. says:
or man, you win; cause they is some o.
!. you LEI as everdunce, but shore they aim
nothin' O. him. II SO be as any o. his
!, mile afore TIL red eyes III sWaller It, JUS
i t git even with tn army o. tn tribe
They'll swaller It,. says, w ether they'r
hunghy ur not, an cain blame says
. I, IT, says I. ef 50 bes were red
eye an piece O. that mink come long,
!, says, I'd eat it slow an turn 1t roun.
4 four times In M mouth says
q Il iggered it out thfsaway: TIL red
eyes d been eat tell they got tired They
:. moved thateef they all tried t. jump tn