Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1889 — THE OLD SETTLER. [ARTICLE]

THE OLD SETTLER.

He Spina a Fhh Story that ia Prob. ably True. v ; .r : ;r . Ed. Mott ia N. Y. Sun. But mentionin’catfish, I kin tell ye th’t they’m poqty durn smart, too, hht tbeirflifiSifilSSl often shoves 'em inter trouble th’t'they hain't smart enough to wiggle out of. Th’ usetv be some ’stouAdin’ big catfish in the Sugar Swamp millpond, an’tpany a one hev I inveigled to the frvip’ pan. One day I were Cabin 1 ud at the inlet, w’en all of asudd? ut a catfish with a mouth iike the openin’ in the leg of a No. 12 gum boot sprung clean 5 onten the water and grabbed my line jist above whar the cork floated on the water, an’, cuttin’ it off as if he’d done it with a pair o! shears, down he went ag’in with line, cork, an’ all. The thing were so snddent th’t it skeert me at fust, an’ havin’ no more hooks, I turned to go hnm. Then I seen a break in the water, an’ lookin’ back, thar were the catfish with his head an’ half his body stickin’ ’bove the water. The cork were in the catti h’s mouth, an’ ez 1 turned an’ see him he kinder winked one o’ his eyes, give a gulp, an’ down inter his maw wc-i.t iny cork. Then he winked t’other eye an’ duv down to the bottom ag’n. “I’d often heerd my pop say th’t catfish were the consarndest things th’ was for jokin’ a feller w’en they took it into their head, .but this were the fust time I’d ever see it.* I got mad. I hur-ried-hum, got eome more hooks an’ two or three big corks an’ some nice fat pork fer bait, an’ trotted back to the pond with my mind made up to fish for

that off catty tllTlre got tirecf o’ Jbkin’, settled down to serious business, an’ got the hook in his jaw. Wull, sir, ’Squire, I hadn’t scarcely chucked in ’fore that durh catfish snapped the line jist as he had afore, an* went through ihs monkey trick o’swallowin’ the cork. I didn’t say a word, but put on another hook, baite« it, an’ tlirow’d in ag’n. Snap! went the line, and guipy-te-gulp went the cork down the catty’s gullet ag’in, an’ by: this time he actu’ly looked tome ’zifhe were splittin’ his sides a. larfin’ at me. But I kep’ calm ez new butterwilk, an’ baited another hook, put on another cork, and give Mr. Catfish another chance. Jist the same ez afore, an’ then I could see th’t the catty thort he were havin’ fun enough with me to akake all the wa'er outen the pond. “That last dip took all my corks, but I wa’n’t agointer to give it up so, an’ I mosied over hum fer sum more. On my way an idee hit me, an’ I busted right out a larfin’. “ ‘You’ye ben havin’- a heap o’ fun with me, Mr. Catty,’ I says, ‘an* how we’ll see how ye’ll like my havin’ some fun with you, b’gosli!’ “I went hum an’ didn’t say a word to nobody. 1 filled a two-quart pail with big corks an’ jogged back to the pond. J “ ‘Now,’ I says, ‘ye like corks so dnrn well,’ I says, ‘l’ll jis’ set an’ feed ye a few.’ I Bays.

“I sot down an’tossed a cork in the water. The catfish snapped it an’ had his Same ol’ fun with me aswa'lerin’ of it. I ken’ on toastin' corks and he kep’ on gulpin’ of ’em, tili I’d chucked qttart to~BmT I begun to git oneasy, but were kinder braced up ag’in w’en I see th’t thq catfish wa’n’t larfin’ quite as much ez he had ben. Suddently, jist arter gulpin’ down an’ uncommon big un, an’ goin’ back to the bottom, he kim a raisin’ to the top ez if he’d ben a blow’d up pig’s bladder. The minute I see him try to dive, an’ ’stid o’ diviu’ he stood oh his head a secon’ an’ then popped up oaten the water, an tumbiltt an’ floated on the pond ez light sz any feather, I know’d my leetle game had worked. The corks he had swallered had made him so light th’t he couldn’t do anything but jist lay on top o’ the water an’ float an’ wiggle. He laid fer a minute a lookin’ at me kinder mournful like, an’ then turned over on his back an’ floated in to shore fer me to git him, ez much ez to say: “ ‘Yer too many fer me, an* I weaken. I’m your meat!’ “An’ yit folks say, ’Squire, th’t th’ hain’t no fish no more ’cept trout!”