The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-12-08
The guitix nmIY EagIe gnesdzy 8aue 9eeembsr 1903
indeed. His champion was a big

No. indeed His champion was a big
Swapping turtle.
.sThe bulldog showed all the courage OF
his race. but he was outclassed from the
first. The swapping turtle kept in his shell
until the critical moment, and there was
no way in which the bull could in1ure it.
Then, when his chance came. out shot
the turtles head, it got good grip on
the bulldog, shrunk back part way into
the shell and settled down to the job of
holding its grip in a calm. sedate man
ner Of a swapping turtle that has its
work for several years all laid out A
bulldogs grip is . mighty obstinate thing.
but even it isn't in the same class with
a swapping turtles In the end Captain
Enoch and his broken-hearted pet skunk
home, money, reputation. all but honor
lost.
For the next, three weeks the most
prominent thing in the village of WellAeet
was the gloat of Captain Ike Watson.
Every evening he would walk over to Cap
tain Enoch's house. stand there looking
at Captain Enoch and the defeated limo
cence in a plying manner that would
have exasperated saint, finally shake
his head sorrowful like, and then walk
home without saying a word. Only the
fact that Captain Enocii was good man
and afraid of being arrested prevented
him from battering Captain Ike with
handspike.
But Captain Enoch wasn't the man to
be beaten by any such combination as
Captain Ike and a swapping turtle. After
4. a.
Captain Ike and allowed in a sort of con-
temptuous manner that. while the snap
ping turtle had beaten the bulldog, he,
Captain Enoch. had a little four-footed
fighter that could make the turtle look
like. a Tammany Eheeler at ". c. T. Z.
convention.
IF Captain Ike Watson had possessed
the intelligence Of blind mud cat he
would have fought shy OF Captain Enoch
and his challenges. Captain Ike had all
the honors and al the rnoncy ai; 10 date,
and there was no cal for him to sit in
the game again. But the more he pom
dered the more impossible it seemed to
him that anything not a hundred pounds
overweight could beat Swapping turtle.
Captain Enoch had some money left. 1t
would be crushing blow to defeat him a
second time. SO Captain Ike agreed to
the match.
when the time for the fight came Cap
tain Ike placed his swapping turtle at
the end of the ring where II stood. its
bead half way out of its shell. nonchalant
AMI calm. like a turtle that IS willing and
ready to accommodate any trouble seek
ers. Pretty soon Captain Enoch entered
the ring carrying a bag. He carried it
mighty careful. 100, as if there was
something inside he was anxious not to
lrritate until tho proper time. He put
down the bag in front of the pugilistic
swapping turtle. Then ne stepped back
quite q distance and poked open the top
OF the bag witi, an extra long fishing pole.
Then he gave the bottom Of the bag jab
so that whatever Animal was within would
come out mad. The next instant his
champion emerged from the bag. It
emerged in a mighty vexed state of mind
too and anxious to make its wrath felt
1t was fat. full-growr pollcat.
That was about jail as far as any fight
went. People who ssay a swapping turtle
can't run do that positive minded little
a great injustice. Captain likes former
champion fairly gailoped from the bat;
uefield. And Captain Enoch won honor
revenge for the defeat of his cherished
bulldog. and all the money which Captain
Ike had wagered on the event.
Captain Enoch pocketed the money he
had won with a mighty satisfied express
sion on his honest eountenance. Then he
looked over at Captain Ike contemptuous
IKE, and added insult TO injury by say.
ing:
g While / am glad to have avenged the
defeat of my valued and gentle pet, limo
cence, I am mighty puzzled at one thing
can't understand why a swapping turtle
that associated with Ike Watson as long
as that one has should run from a mere
polecat.' New York Commercial