Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-11-13

And sure enough, it wasn't long
before the doin's begun. They start
ed in with the old cat jabbin' one
Of her paws down and snatchin'
somethin' out o. the water.
AS she riz her paw I see IT was
fun o. somethin' that wiggled and
squirmed like all possessed, tryin'
10 git away. When the cat see what
Il was that she had she spread a
smile all over her face. Her paw
was fun o. young catfish, and If
there is one thing that creeps or
flies or swims or runs that a cat
likes better than another it's cat
fish.
"The old eat picked out a couple
O. the fish and passed 'em back to
her kitten on the log, and gobbled
the rest o the handful herself.
They tickled her palate so that she
dabbed both paws down in the wa
ter and brung up a mess o. young
catfish in each one, and her and the
kitten got away with them and |
smacked their lips.
"Then l looked little closer and |
/ seen the old catfish that had |
rescued her family from the holhr
stump. She was layin' by the log,
lookin' scared. and seen that most |
Of her family O. young ones was
missin'.
THAT cat says /, is swoopin'
that catfsh's family off the face O.
the earth, so to speak says I, 'as
sure as wasps astingin'! says I.
"The old catfish hadn't jest got on
TO what was goin' on yit, but when the
yaller eat on the log reached down and
scooped out another handful Of the
catfish's family and divide up with her
kitten, that old catfish actually turned
white around the gills.
"she seen il all at last, and with one
all-wollopin' slash of her tail she
jumped onto that log like a britchy
COW goin' over barnyard fence. and
Je-e-e-wilikens borax! maybe she
didn't swat that yaller catl She swept
that yaller cat off o that log as if she
hadn't been nothin' more than
feather
Then the catfish stepped back into
the water and waited to see. The yal-
Ter cat scrambled back on TO the log,
and her dander was up as high as it
could git. Oh, but she was mad.
"She pranced up and down the log a
minute, and at it ag'in she went, scoop
IN out young catfish and scatterin' EN-
TO the winds so fast that see there .
be one of 'em left to tell the
ale unless the old catfish got her sec
md wind pretty quick and done some ..
him.
"And she got her second wind. and ,
IL up ag'in that yaller cat ag'in most
.xilaratin' for to see. Seems to me
or five minutes there wasn't nothin
o be seen on that log but a whirlin :
freak O. yaller sort O. mixed up with /.
] whirlin' streak o. black, and cat
ussin'. Merciful man! / jest had to /,
lug my fingers in my ears, couldn't
'ear 70 hear il SO!
when the whirlin' and back-talk :.
uit, the catfish was back in the water.
here was catfish hide stretched here
nd there on the log most enough to :,
lake saddle, and enough yaller had :
about to stuff il with. The !.
aller cat was sort o hckin' herself !
ere and there, and the catfish was
larin' at her.
The kittin' was standin' on the log :
18th her back way up, and her tail :,
welled like a rollin' pin, and she was ..
pittin' away at that catfish fierce as :,
ildeats. The last one o. the catfsh's =,
lmily had been swept off the face Of y
le earth. q
"The catfish, SEEM that the old cats =
itten was still left, made up her mind T
lat she'd put an end to the cats fam
y and sort o. even things up, so she n
'rung back ON to that log, grabbed
lie kitten, and swallowed it, whole
Id alive, right before its mothers
-es.
"Jumpin back into the water, the b,
tfsh turned and stuck her big head m
1t, close by the log, and as the old cat Vi
as tearin' her hair, as you might say, I'll
leastways what little she had left, in
i'd was mournin' and moanin' for her VI
st kitten, the fish opened her mouth sn
ON ear to ear, so as the cat could st
ar her kitten cryin' way down in co
e catfish's depths. Say! l could co
ar that kitten cry myself, way over so
the bank where was settin' w
We'll, that voice of her kitten was
ore than the bereaved yaller cat be
uld stand. She pounced square on su
p Of the catfish and they both went tic
wn together. pr
Il didn't see nor hear nothin' more eN
Either of 'em for maybe three min Ia
es, and made up my mind that the lag
t had gone to join her kitten, when av
see ripple on the water, and the To-
xt minute the yaller eat come to the OF
P. ro'
she swan ashore, and she had the fo'
tfsh in tow. The catfish was dead, of
d considerable clawed up. XII
The yaller cat drug it out on ro'
ore. Then she ripped it open with tuI