Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-02-26

merit Of his imitation. but he had some
scruples at its exercise; but for the
want of fresh meat in camp, and the
relish with which he enjoyed his stew
Of terrapins, he would have been loath
to make an exhibition Of his peculiar
powers. Even at this moment he had
his reflections on his own performance
which were meant to be apologetic
though unheard.
THE Hog" he muttered as he went
has one feature Of the good aristo-
crat He goes where he pleases, and
grumbles as he goes. Still, I am not
satisfied that it is proper for the gen.
tleman to put on the hog, unless on
occasion such as this. The pleasures
of dinner are not to be lost for a
grunt. He must crawl upon his belly
who would feel his way to that Of a
terrapin."
Thus fortifying himself with phil
Csophy. he pressed forward to the great
delight Of Davis who had become quite
interested in the performance, and
grunt after grunt testified to the mar
velous authority which his appetite
exercised over his industry. The ter
rapins showed themselves intelligent.
Alas! the best Of beasts may be taken
in by man. Porgy's grunts were a
sad fraud upon the unsuspecting vic
tins. At the first sound, the largest
of the three terrapins, having the
greatest stake (Qu? steak) Of all. be-
trayed a little uneasiness, and fairly
wheeled himself round upon his post,
prepared to plunge headlong with the
approach Of danger. His uneasiness
was naturally due to the Importance
of the wealth which had been intrusted
to his keeping. His bullet head. his
snaky neck, were thrust out as far as
possible from beneath the covers of
his dwelling. Like an old soldier, he
pricked his ears, and stood on the
alert; but he was soon satisfied. His
eye took In the forms Of the drowsy
companions, and he saw no sign OF
danger in the unbroken surface OF the
stagnant pond. A second grunt from
the supposed porker reassured him.
He had lived in intimate communion
with hogs all his days. The sow had
made her wallow beside his waters,
and reared her brood for a hundred
years along their margins. He knew
that there was no sort Of danger from
such a presence, and he composed
himself at his devotions. and prepared
once more to reknit his half unravelled
slumbers.
Beautiful creature, sleep on" mur-
INJURED Porgy to himself, in tones and
words as tender as made the burden
of his serenade, in the days Of his
youth. to the dark-eyed damsels upon
the waters of the Ashley and Savan-
nah. He made his way forward, noise
lessly-the occasional grunt excepted
until he found himself fairly astride
Victims were reposing on. $780,
You have heard, no doubt, Of that
curious sort of locomotion which, In
the south and west. Is happily styled
''cooning the log?" 1t Is the necessity,
where you have to cross the torrent
on the unsteady footings Of a spear
or rather, where you must needs cross
on a very narrow and very slippery
tree, which affords no safe footing. In
plain terms, our fat friend squatted
fairly upon the log. hands and knees,
and Sided along in style which John
Davis thought infinitely superior 'to
anything he had seen. Telling the sto-
ry long afterwards. John always did
the fullest justice to the wonderful
merits of the lieutenant, in some such
phrase as this
Lord! twas as slick going as down
hill. with the wheels creased up to the
hub"
Creased up to the hub!"
Porgy, you may be sure, was never
suffered to hear Of the villainous COM
parison.
The anxiety Of Davis. at this point
Of the adventure, made him fidgety and
restless. 1t required strong resolution
to keep quiet. But. though himself
anxious enough, the stake was too
great to suffer our epicure to peril Its
loss by any undue precipitation. He
moved along at a snaips pace, and
whenever the huge tree would vibrate
beneath his prodiglous weight, the eau
tious trapper would pause in his jour-
ney, and send forth as good a grunt
as ever echoed in Westphalian forests.
The poor terrapins were completely
taken in by the imitation. and lay
there enjoying those insidious slum-
bers which were now to be their ruin.
higher and higher came the enemy.
few feet only separated the parties,
and. with an extended hand, Porgy
could have easily turned over the one
which was highest. But our epicure
was not to be content with less than
the best His eyes had singled out the
most remote because the largest OF
that sweet company. He had taken In
at q glance it's entire dimensions, and
already. in his mind, estimated, not
only the quantity Of rich reeking soup
which could be made out Of 1t,
but the very number Of eggs 1t
contained. Nothing short, therefore,
of this particular prize would
extravagent in his desires he scarcely
have satisfied him; and, thus
deigned a glance to the others. At
length he sat squat almost alongside
of the two-the third. as they lay close
together. being almost in his grasp, he
had actually put out his hands for its
seizure, when the long neck Of his VIC
tim was again thrust forth. and, with
arms still extended. Porgy remained as
quiet as q mouse. But the moment the
terrapin sheltered his head within the
shell. the hands of the captor closed
upon him with a clutch from which
there was no escaping. One after an
other the victims were turned upon
their backs: and. with a triumphant
chuckle, the captor carried off his prey
to the solid tussock