A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 



III. 



Nex' mornin' me 'n' Pa got up at day- 

 break an' fried us some steaks from th' 

 doe an' some pertaters, an' took th' traps 

 an' my gun an' pulled out fer th' ponds. 

 Uncle Dick 'n' Mr. Sam sed they'd stay 

 in camp an' take it easy an' make us a 

 shelter outen palmetter fans. Me 'n' Pa 

 took down th' branch, an' purty soon we 

 come ter where I seen otter signs when I 

 wuz fishin'. The bank wtiz 'bout 6 foot 

 high, an' th' otters had er slide there an' 

 up on top th' sand wuz jest natchally tore 

 up where theyd' wallered an' played. It 

 look like they'd been there not 5 minutes 

 before, an' th' water wuz riled up at th' 

 foot uv th' slide. Pa sez, "By grannies, 

 son, we won't find no better place 'en this 

 in er week"; so we stopped an' sot er trap. 



Pa studied wether ter set th' trap in th' 

 waller er in th' water at th' bottom uv 

 th' slide, an' he finally c'ncluded ter set it 

 on th' bank. I took th' hatchet an' cut er 

 stake, an' Pa he scraped er little hole 

 under th' edge uv er bunch uv grass that 

 was jest covered with sign an' put th' trap 

 in it an' put er little fine trash 'round th' 

 pan. Then he took er pine limb an' raked 

 sand over th' place till it looked like it 

 did before. He wouldn't let me step near 

 th' place, an' he wuz mighty keerful his- 

 self. He took th' stake I cut an' drove 

 it through th' ring an' raked sand over th' 

 chain, an' went on ter find another place. 

 We hadn't gone far till up jumped er 

 big ole fox squir'l an' run up er saplin'. 

 I wuz goin' ter shoot 'im, but Pa sed, 

 "Let 'im go; we ain't got no use for 'im"; 

 so I never shot 'im. 



The ole whoopin' Johns wuz walkin' 

 about in th' woods er hollerin' th' loudes' 

 I ever hearn. Up round home they're 

 mighty wild, but down there they wuz 

 plum gentle an' we'd walk up in 50 yards' 

 uv 'em before they'd fly, an' then they'd 

 lope er little piece, an' jump up an' fairly 

 split th' air er hollerin' as they flew. I 

 sed, "Pa, lemme kill one," an' he sed. 

 "What in th' worl' do you want ter kill 

 'im fer? You ain't got no use fer 'im. 

 Don't never kill nothin' you ain't got no 

 use fer"; an' I promised 'im I wouldn't. 



We went on down till we come ter th' 

 first pond. It wuz sorter muddy round 

 it, an' tall grass, an' out in th' pond wuz 

 bunches uv saw grass an' th' most blue 

 peters I ever seen. There wuz shore lots 

 uv varmint sign. The coons had trails 

 through th' grass same as hawg trails, an' 

 there wuz er right smart uv other tracks, 

 an' 'casionally en ole cat's track. I cut 



er gallberry switch as long as I could find 

 an' tied er line ter it, an' we went back er 

 little piece ter er hole in th' creek ter 

 ketch some perch fer bait. I put on er 

 little frog an' throwed in, an' th' ole perch 

 an' brim jest darted at it, an' I pulled out 

 3 or 4 big ones 'fore you could fix. Pa 

 he sez, "Gimme th' pole, son, an' lemme 

 try 'em a round"; an' he got ter ketchin' 

 'em an' wuz jest er throwin' 'em out, an' 

 gittin' more'n we had any use fer, an I 

 sez, "Pa, 'member what you tole me 'bout 

 not killin' what you couldn't use"; an he 

 sez, "Well, I'll be dinged if I knowed how 

 many I wuz er ketchin'." We throwed 

 back some uv th' live ones an' strung th' 

 balance on er palmetter stem. 



Then we went an' set th' traps in little 

 clare places offen th' trails an' scattered 

 er little trash over 'em, an' stuck er fish 

 up over 'em on er stick jest higher'n er 

 coon could sit up an' reach. We went 

 on down ter another pond an' set th' bal- 

 ance uv ar traps. We jumped en ole doe 

 an' er yearlin' by er little bay head, but 

 I never got ter shoot 'em. There wuz 

 blue peters an' di-dabbers th' most I ever 

 seen out in th' pond, an' more pond birds 

 en you could shake er stick at 'round the 

 edge. There wuz flint head gannets, 

 scoggins, cranes, an' curlews, an' er little 

 bunch uv th' purtiest pink curlews I ever 

 seen. Doggone if they weren't as red as 

 fire, some uv 'em. It wuz nearabout noon 

 when we got th' traps sot an' I wuz hun- 

 gry as th' dickins, an' I sez, "Pa, lemme 

 kill er whoopin' John, an' les' brile 'im 

 fer dinner; an' Pa he sed, "We ain't got 

 no salt," but I swore I could eat er raw 

 beet. So Pa sed, "All right, but don't 

 shoot near the traps." 



We pulled out towards camp an' hadn't 

 gone more'n 200 yards till we seen er cou- 

 ple uv whoopin' cranes, an' I slipped up 

 back uv er palmetto bunch ter shoot one 

 uv 'em, an' doggone if they hadn't walked 

 er 100 yards while I'd been crawlin' on 

 'em. Pa jest laffed when he seen how 

 chawed I wuz an' sed, "Le's eat when we 

 get ter camp; tain't more'n 3 mile," so we 

 pulled out. We cut through th' woods 

 an' went between 2 bay heads, an' there 

 wuz er little dreen run from one ter t'other 

 an' made some big water holes, an' Pa 

 he stops all uv er sudden an' sez, "Look 

 er here, son," an' showed me some pow- 

 erful big dog tracks, look like, on'y there 

 didn't no toe nails show like er dog track, 

 an' I sez, "Pa, is them pa'nter tracks?" an' 

 he sez. "Yes, son, an' er tolable big one, 

 too." I didn't say nothin', but I made up 



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