Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1902-05-22

pork. Prime razOrback is not only blu,
when killed, but will remain So, and cal
be warranted fast color. Inferior ra
zorback, though, will fade and get t.
be rusty yellow.
! After dinner I said to Capt. Dave
that guessed I would go over to the
bayou and bag an alligator or two, but
he said that the razorbacks were div
ing in the bayous at that time of da,
after marsh grass roots, and thai
when the razorbacks were diving the
alligators laid mighty low. 1 hadn't
seen any Caloosahatchee razorbacxs
yet, so gave little thought to this
intelligence about them, and took my
rifle and strolled over to the bayou, a
mile. distant.
Il sat down on a log to watch for an
alligator to come out and sun himself
BY and by I saw something rising tc
the surface, and at last a long upper
jaw appeared. It was of tremendous
length, and I thought I was soon to
capture prize alligator. But greater
exposure of the supposed prize showed
me not an alligator at all, but great,
gaunt beast, and I needed no one to
tell me was Caloosahatchee razor
back. He gave coU21e Of snorts, and
then went down out II right again as
| handy as a turtle.
"He was down at least ten minutes.
Then he came up and swan ashore. He
landed about so yards from where I
sat.
"Thinking that here would be a
trophy better yet than an alligator,
took good aim and fired at him. I
heard my bullet strike the hog like
chucking stone against fence. He
raised his head and looked up as if he
thought he might have felt something,
but wasn't quite sure.
IL banged away again. I heard the
second bullet pink against that razor
back as plain as anything, but he didn't
seem to be a bit more disconnected
than he was before. I was on the
point of sending another bullet against
him. when Capt. Dave came out of the
reeds off to my left.
"'Ef yere~ practicin' for q target,
sah,' said he, 'yo' better pink yore bull
lets ag'in the yon side of the hog, sab,
so they'll shy off into the river, kaze
Pm workin' on this side, sab. and
they're shyin' mighty close to me, sah.'
my bullets had been caroming off
that razorback's hide like billiard balls
off a cushion, and one of them had
SHE'D through the crown of Capt.
Dawes hat.
"'1o' see them creetur's is powerful
stubborn on the outside, sah,' said he,
and yo' waste yore powder tryin' to
kill 'em; yo' must fire squar' in their
head by way of the openin' of their
ear, sab. Then they yield. They don't
argy the pint long after that, sah.'
'Then the captain told me that tho
razorback had been practicing on was
prime, and bound to be fast color and
that he would be at his plantation tho
next morning, 'sho'ly, sab, watchin'
out for eggs and that if I wanted
to could bag him.
"Sure, enough, next morning the
razorback was hanging around the hay
shed watching out so he might get up
into the NOW the first one when a hen
cackled out that she had just done a
successful stunt in egg laying, and
Capt Dave told me to go out and pass
bullet into his head, by way of the
inside of his ear, sah.'
II went out, showed my rifle in tho |
razorback's ear and fired. He lifted !
his head and cooked one eye up as
if he was bordering about something.
Maybe he stood that way a quarter Of !
a minute. Then he sat down on his !
launches, still maintaining his medi-
tative mood.
after thinking the matter over in |
that position awhile he seemed to
make up his mind that something had
happened, and he stretched himself
out on the ground at full length. Just |
then the hen cackled. The razorback's
eye frightened. He rose and started |
for the hay shed to see about that egg.
HE got as far as the door, glanced |
up at the ladder that led to the NOW
and then changed his mind. He
stretched himself out again, gave a
contented grunt or two and died.
This was the razorback that had
fallen through the four-inch crack in
the NOW a few days before while after
eggs. He was the fat hog that weighed
~ pounds and three ounces. His flesh
was as blue as indigo, and Capt. Dave
said he was prime. But the next dav
his flesh was as yellow as the ochre
paint on Capt. Dawes barn.
"'That pig, sah,' said Capt. Dave.
when he got his breath after gazing
at the fading of the razorback, either
went chasin' wildcats yesterday, or he
rastled with bar! He done one or
t'other, sab, and het himself up so
that he unsot his color, sab, and start.
ed it to runnin'!'
~ went out after that quite often
and hunted razorbacks under the wild
orange trees. l had some exciting