Sharp County record., 1903-02-06

squatted on the log jest behind heI
and said nothin'.
There's goin' to be some dom
here, says |. i feel it in my bones
/ says.
And sure enough, It wasn't long
before the doin's begun They start
ed in with the old cat jabhin one
Of her paws down and sna.chln
somethin' out o. the water.
As she riz her paw I sec IT was
fun o somethin' that wiggled ana
sGuirmed like all possessed tryin
% git away. When the cat see what
II was that she had she spread a
smile all over her face. Her paw
was full o. young catfish, and i
there is one thing that creeps or
flies or swims OF runs that cat
likes better than another it's cat
fish.
"The old cat picked out couple
O. the fish and passed EN- back -
her kitten rL the log, and gobbled
the rest O. the handful herself
They ticklcd her palate so that she
dabbcd 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 | looked a little closer and
I seen the old catfish that had
rescued her family from the hol%r
stump. She was layin' by the log
lookin' scared, and l seen that most
of her family o young ones was
missin'
THAT cat says I, 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 cat on the log reached down and
scOoped out. another handful of the
catfsh's family and divide mp with her
kitten, that old catfish actually turned
white around the gills.
''Sbe seen it all at last, and with one
all-wollopin' slash of her tail she
jumped onto that log like britchy
cow goin' over a barnyarJ fence, and
Je-e-e-willitens borax! maybe she
didn't swat that yaller cat! She swept
that yaller cat off o. that log as if she
hadn't been nothin' more than a
feather.
Then the catfish stepped back into
the water and waited to see. The val.
Ter cat scrambled back on to the log,
and her dnnler 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' 'em
to the winds so fast that | see there
wouldn't be one of EN- left to tell the
tale unless the old catfish got her sec
ond wind pretty quick and done some
thin.
And she got her second wind, and
riz up ag'in that yaller cat ag'iu most
exilaratin' for to see. Seems to me
for five minutes there wasn't nOthin'
TO be seen on that log but whrln'
streak o. yaller sort O. mixed up with
a whirlin' streak o black, and cat
cussin'. Merciful man! Jest had to
plug my fingers in my ears, couldn't
bear to hear it sol
when the whirlin' and back-talll
quit, the catfish was back in the water.
There was catfish hide stretched here
and there on the log most enough to
make saddle, and enough yaller had
scattered about to stuff it with. The
yaller cat was sort lickin' herself
here and there, and the catfish was
glarin' at her.
The kittin was standin on the log
with her back way up, and her tail
swelled like a rollin' pin, and she was
spittin' away at that catfish fierce as
wildcats. The last one O. the cat fsh s
family had been swept off TIE face OF
the earth
THE catfish, seein' that the old cats
kitten was still left, made up her mind
that she'd put an end to the cats fam
lily and sort o even things up so she
sprung back on to that log, grabbed
the kitten, and swallowed ii, whole
and alive, right before its mother S
eyes.
"Jumpin' back into the water, the
catfish turned and stuck her big head
out, close by the log, and AS the old cat
was tearin' her hair, as you might say,
or lenstways what little she had Left
and was mournin' and moanin' for her
lost kitten, the fish opened her mouth
from ear to ear, so as the cat could
hear her kitten cryin' way down in
the catfsh's depths. Say! l could
hear that kitten cry myself, way over
on the bank where was settin'!
"Weil, that voice of ler kitten was
more than the bereaved yaller cat
could stand. She pounced square on
top of the catfish and they both went
down together.
81 didn't see nor hear nothin' more
of either of 'em for maybe three min.
utes, and | made up my mind that the
cat had gone TO join her kitten, when