Daily camera., 1901-12-27
A HARD WATER YARN.
Keep from TIsating Away
10 ys Said,

Absalon Nailed His Deat 70 Il 70
Keep fron TIaatins Away-
10 ys Said.
II find 1t pretty hard work" said. a.
Istepped out of the efat-bottomed boat,
ITO row this thing along, although it
is not very heavy"
ut amt the boat" replied the own
er, from whom had hired it; ''it IL the
water what makes it. You see. some
waters thicker'n others, So the
thicker 1t il the harder 1t Is to pull
Through it. Now, I've seed water out
onto a certing western lake what was
SO thick an heavy sometimes that wild
ducks what lit onto it broke their legs
tryin' to swim. They couldn't get out
OF 1t to save their lives, an whenever
we seed them in this fix we'd 60 an
grab them by the heads an pry them
out with oar"
THAT must have been pretty thick,
hard water" ventured TO remark
while the old man was clearing his
throat, relates q writer In Judge.
Thick" he said; thick! Well,
should say 1t was thick. Why. you
could pick up handful Of it an throw
it up like a ball an ketch it comm
down. Why, I've seed fishes a-layin'
on top Of it, tryin' to take sun bath,
an just when they was aSunnin' their
selves nice an warm something would
startle them, an they'd have to burrer
like rabbits to get down under it. ]
have often stood at the stern Of the
boat an dug them up while they was
a-tryin' to escape"
what! dig up water Like dirt?"
asked. in dismay.
Yes, dig up water like dirt" he per
sisted. You could dig post holes in
that water, an the holes would stay
there long enough to give you show
TO build dock. remember once
when l was out in my hat-bottomed
boat hard wind came up. an it was
SO hard that it began to make the boat
move along, an | wanted her to stand
still. l hadn't no anchor with me, so
what do you think did?"
II can't imagine" replied.
"Of course you can't, SO III tell you.
I took big nail out Of my pocket an
drove il down through the bottom of
the boat right about the middle. Yes,
sir; l nailed that boat right down to
the water, an the first thing l knew
the wind began ablowin' her around
fer she was on pivot. Round an
round l went. an never moved inch
forward or backward, until ! got 81
tired of il that l had to pull up tn,
nail an go ahead. While l was a-rat.
Tin around, a fish that ! had pulled
out of the water with pair Of tongs
jumped out of the boat and landed on
his tail. an stood in that there position
a-gaspin' fer wind. By most awfu.
effort he flopped his tail out an turned
a somersault, and landed right onto
his tail again. Then, somehow or 9th
er, instead OF gettin' out OF breath,
he got his second wind. which is mighty
uncommon fer a fish, fer l never
knowed one to ge; il bt fore; an he ran
somersaultin' away until the wind sor,
OF topped wave over onto him, so's
he could swim. Then the wind 20,
a-blowin' higher an higher an harder
an harder. an all that blamed thick
tough water was blowed up into high
waves. Just before it got a-bIowin'
SO hard a flock Of wild ducks lit on tn,
water wha. was bein' blowed into
waves of all sizes. The next mornin'
when l went out, there wasn't no wind
anywhereS around; but what do you
think? The waves was al there, jus,
as solid as If the lake had been plowed
up an WAS all full of furrers; an right
along on top Of the highes, one them
Wild ducks was asittin' like a lot OF
elo,hespins, laughin' fit to kill their,
selves. but stationary an unable TO
get of, an just sent my water spaniel
out after them"
How in the world could he swim
when the water was SO thick and
solid?" I asked.
Swim. swim?" repeated the o,d
man. contemptuousiy. "He didn',
swim at aiI-he ran along on the water,
an he had to stick his claws In to keep
hissef from slippin', an just then"
"Absalom!" shrieked feminine
voice from within the shanty. won't
you never get through talkin' an split
them kindlin's?"
And Absalom excused himself, and
l wandered back to the hotel to mar
vel at the wonders Of the hard, thick
water on which Ab.alom had also told
me people used to spread the weekl,
wssh to dry.