Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-18
Daily Story
THE TALE OF A B0BCAT
BY NJ. Quad.

had A squat over thar by the big Blue
Gum swamp. Thar was forty acres n,
land In the squat. and IL was mighty
pore land. 1t was all could do to ra,sa
huff CON and taters fur me and tho
ole woman. II It hadn't been that ths
Blue Gum was full OF varmints tina, T
| could trap In the winter and sell thar
| furs reckon we should have stsrved
out.
zone winter, for some reason or
other, most Of the varmints lief, ths
swamp, and it was mighty poor tran.
pin. / got Just enough fur to keep us
goin', and as consequence when
spring and summer cum along we was
powerful hard up and like to 20 hun.
CRY In another month.
"One night arter the ole woman hsa
given me three or four hints about
laziness we went to bed feeltn' that
Providence was to blame for II all.
Along about midnight she nodged ma
awake and said:
Joe, have got q bright idea. TIA
fur you to. go In the swamp tomorrer
and set a deadfall to catch a bobcat
II you kin ketch big bobcat mebbe
you kin sell him at Mud Flats or the
Bend to some one fur pet. He ortar
bring at least So
1T was worth thtnkin' about" said
Joe, "and next day reckoned 1t mizht
pay to try It I went out and set a
deadfall, and while I was dom II a
bouncin' big bobcat ran up tree clus
beside me and gin a screech that riz
| my ha'r up.
That night about II o'clock We was
awoke by the durndest screamin' and
screechin' that man ever heard Of.
It come from a bobcat who had med
died with that deadfall
I'VE got her Gagged, and next mawn-
In set out for the town Of Mud
Flats. I went thar kase thar was two
or three rich men in the place who
might buy the cat and kase thar was
to be lecshun thar that day.
Eight miles below Mud Flats was
Walnut Bend, town of about 1900
people, without any mud In front of It.
The Blenders wanted the county seat
moved over thar, and after a lot of
hard feelins about it 1t was agreed to
hold a lecshun. 1t was to be held
in Mud Flats, and that Is what brung
about go Blenders over thar the day
! drove in with the cat. hadn't drtv
inter the town yit when met old Jim
Darby in the road AFTER he had nod
ded to me and took look at the cage
he says:
What We got thar, JoeY
"A big bobcat,' says.
what ye goin' to do with hinr
"'Seu him Il l kim
"Ole Jim steps aroun' to the back Of
the wagon and peeks In and the cat
gives a scream and splits in his face.
With that, old Jim backs up and walks
the road a few feet. When he Gums
back to me he says:
"Joe, these Mud Flatters are tricky
lot. They have formed in line in
front of the polls and are goin' to
vote so slow that US Benders' won't
stand no show to git the county seat.
I wonders
"'What ye wonderin' about, Jimr
says I.
Il think we might make use O. that
cat-I think so. II he was turned
loose down by the votin' place what
would he do?
"'Why, he would bite and claw IN
til you could smell sulphur
I reckon he would, Joe. What I
want of him is to drive these Flatters
away from the poles and gin nv men
a chance to hold the land. Il you
think he kin do this there is $40 in 1t
fur you
so want Jest four times that, JIM
says l, SEEM my advantage.
Jim sticks fur awhile, strokfn' his
red chin whiskers, and he finally Gums
to my terms. He tells me what to do
as he passes up the money and starts
back to the town and gives his men
the wink, and they all draws off to an
old barn farther down the street Then
I drives in and stand up In my wagon
and shouts out that 1 have a big bob
cat for sale. The street was full Of
men. but no one minds me- I shouts
out that l will take S. fur the var
mint. Then lowers the price to 81
and sand 81, and arter about ten
minutes Of this holierin' l gifts the sig
nal from Jim. and 1 pretends TO sit
mighty mad. and l yells out:
IF nobody will buy this bob Of me
then am goin' to turn him loose and
let him find his way back TO his lovin'
home in Blue Gumr'
what 1 did took the crowd by sur
prise. I turned to the cage and tore
Off couple Of Stats, and the cat cum
out like bullet. He clawed my cap
off as he cum and then bit the ole mule
on his way to the ground, and hend
was let loose in Mud Flats.
He broke up that votin' line In
thirty seconds. and he drove men
inter stores and shops and houses.
Lawd. but he was fury! He was as
mad as six bars rolled inter one.
ut was when the cat started fur
home that Old Jim appeared with his
men and formed a solid line beto' the
polls. They kept that line all day IN
spite of many fouts, and when the
closin' hour came they has the county
seat by 100 majority. And when got
home and showed the ole woman the