Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-10-21
Had not he better get his carbipa9

dad not ne better get his carblne2
NO; you get the wafer; I'll attend to
the Indians
| knew that no Indians were likely to
fool around that water hole while this
troop was in sight Of it up on this hill,
and | thought 1 knew what had scared
him.
When we were within a mile OF this
water today had seen an animal put out
across the prairie as though he was going
somewhere and was in a great hurry to
get there. l should have liked to follow
him to see that he met with no mishap
but we were riding in column and ! could
rot leave without permission: I would
have been given it had / asked for It.
ms fellow travels under the name of
the Mexican lion down here: he is some
times only the catamount; it depends
great deal OH whore the man is naming
him comes from. i knew him as the wild
cat He IS not half SO dangerous as he
thinks he is; / had greyhound a few
years after this that could kill him as fast
as could club him down out of tree
to where the dog could get him; he got
ne one out Of the Concho river.
We started now, and as | passed our
sentry, | told him not to be so extremely
ready to fire after this; the moon was up
now, and he could see who came there if
we failed to tell him. l would answer
him the moment he challenged though.
lIc 1cSu lolu NE 10 Go SO, ana L
was supposed TO set an example but a
man half scared to death by Indians
might not hear him, Brown did not
We kept on down to the water without
seeing any Indians. There were no trees
down here, and | did not expect to find
that cat here. He might have been in
here after water, and if he had scared
scared himself, and had left long ago.
The camp kettle and tin cup lay here
where Brown had left them; the Indians
had not got them.
you are lucky, Brown" l told him,
when you come to sign the next pay
roll you won't find due to the United
States one camp kettle You barely es-
Indians must be long on camp kettles,
they did not want yours. 1t is the first
time | ever met Indians who did not
want the earth"
Brown took up his tin cup nov to get
the water, and the moment he struck the
water with it We were saluted with Il
noise that cannot be better described
than as being like the noise a boy makes
by raking a stick quickly along paling
fence. The noise came out of the water.
Brown got up and began TO shake, but
did not run away this time, and the noise
stopped as soon as he took the cup out
of the water.
Handing MIN my gun, I took the cup
and hit the water and the racket began
again.
Keep n good lookout for those In
dams, Brown, and I'll fill your kettle for
YOU | knew now what was making
this noise. l filled the kettle while the
noise continued, then, when l quit, it
stopped.
"Now, do you know what made that
noise?" / asked.
No, he did not
Frogs. Brown, just plain everyday
frogs. That hole must he full of them.
This water is still here and when you
touch it they know it and make that
noise. We won't see any Indians to-
night"
We started now, carrying the camp
kettle between us, and after going on a
while Brown asks, will you do me a
favor, corporal?"
eyes, if ! can. What is it?''
Please don't say anything about this
up IL camp"
II won't. If the men ask you about it
tell them that the cat we saw today
made that noise, and that I could not get
Il shot at it down here, it was too
dark"
Had this story got out in the troop,
Brown would have been favored about
twenty times a day for a week, or until
the joke had been worn threadbare with
more or less accurate imita tons of
frog croaking.-Forest and Stream.