Sharp County record., 1903-02-06
THE CATFISH
AND THE CAT
OF POCHUC CK


4 which he was endeavoring TO suppress
q Its news from Pochuck," said he
I dropping into his chair and mopr'ng
4, his face on his sleeve. ITS news from
Pochuck, and it, great. But wouidn
: "a believed it, No sir, ! wouldn't "a
{ believed it."
And I WON'T" said Badly, the land
lord, quickly and positively,
"Bu, I seen it," said the alleged Po-
chuck citizen, repToachfuily
Yet doabt stood revealed on the
landlords ACE palmer than the warts
en- a crool,-neck squash,
"You believe there's holler stumps'
don't you?' asked the mar.
The existence Of hollow stumps
couldn't be denied, even by Balcy, the
landlord.
"And as TO yaller cats" the man
went on. There amt no doubt about
waller cats, is there? And yalier cats
has kittens, don't they?" said the wan
derer from over toward Pochuck.
"Not If their name is Tom, they
don't" said De Witt Green, cf Jolly
Farm. who is bound to have things kept
straight or know the reason why.
The Pochuck citizen having settled
that point to the satisfaction Of all, it
was admitted that there could be no
doubt that yellow cats had kittens.
"And there's catfish, amt there?"
the man asked.
YOU'D think there was said Eatdy,
the landlord, "if you'd be here some
time when I've been fishing for EN-!
Some folks would have wondered why
nobody said anything after that for
quite a spell, and why even the man
from Pochuck grinned; but the land
lord didn't seem to notice this behavior
"And as to- families Of young cat
fish" said the man, after awhile
"Sech things has been heerd OF,
hain't they?"
OF course they had. Certainly.
Catfish and their young lives in
water, don't they?" asked the bearer
of news from PochuCk, intent on set
ting himself strairt
No one had any record Of catfish
living more than a day or SO on
land.
"And nobody that has read about
Noah and the flood has any doubt
that water gifts high, now and then?"
asked the man.
The fact was well known.
"Well. then" said the Pochuck cit
izen, with a look of triumph at
Daldy, the landlord, 81 seen 'em ALL"
"When did you see the water?"
asked Baldy, the landlord, malicious
fy, and Farmer Bill Leonard, who
lives opposite Goose Pond Noun
tain, said: "Shame!" and Farmer
Green said: Tut, tut, Baldy"
The man who stakes his word on
his homes being over toward Po-
chuck cracked the thumb on his
right hand and three fingers on his
left, as if defantly, and said:
Them the news I've brung over
this time, and l wouldn't "a believed
'em. First place, I'd been down to
a Sprout Hill stone frolic. If you've
never been to Sprout Hill stone
frolic it's a leetle hard to give you
all the p'ints a Sprout Hill stone
frolic has.
"When got home from the frolic
in the evenin', Uncle David looked
me over and l see he was kind O.
begrudgin' me.
81 see it was hummer says he.
81 said it was and ! went TO bed
and forgot TO milk the cows. Next
morning l thought I'd walk over to
tae river TO see if the water had fell
much, cause it had been uncom-
promisln' high. ] see that it had fell
considerable, cause big holler
stump that had been all covered with
water was shown above it for more
than two foot, but the holler in the
stump was full o. water yit.
81 sot down to rest 4 spell, and as
I sot there what should see but a
catfish raise up in the water inside
that holler stump and peek down
over the edge o the stump. | never
seen bigger catfish than that one.
and I've seen some all gozzlin' big
ones in them Drownded Lands wa
ters.
when the catfish seen how far
below the top o. that stump the river
had got, II looked scared, tell you,
and st dropped back into the holler.
That catfish has been hatchin'
its young ones In that stump, not
thinlin' about the high water, I'll
bet a hoss,' I says, and II has been
ketched there unbeknownst to it.
1T hadn't more than said 1t. when
up to the top came the catfish
again, and she had her mouth fun
O. young catfish She give flop
and out o. the stump to the water
she went. She released her mouth
.fn' O. young ones, gethered herself
together, and sprung back into that
stump. In less than ten seconds out
she jumped ag'in with another
mouthful o young ones, released EN-
and back into the stump