A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 



V. 



It was jest after sun up an' Pa had er 

 skillet uv biskits er bakin', an' quicks we 

 cleaned ar squir'ls; we rolled 'em in batter 

 an' fried 'em, an' if I ever et anythin' any- 

 better I haint ricollect it. 



Pa sed, "Come on, son, le's go ter th' 

 traps an see'f we've caught er varmint, an' 

 Mr. Sam sed he'd found where er bunch 

 uv turkeys used an' he wuz goin' ter git 

 one fer supper, an' Uncle Dick sed he'd 

 stay in camp. There hadn't been nothin' 

 ter th' first trap at th' otter slide, an' Pa 

 sed he reckoned we'd left some scent, but 

 th' dew'd fix it in er couple uv nights. 

 We went on down ter th' pond, an' soon's 

 we got clost ter th' place we seen th' grass 

 er movin, an' there wuz er big ole coon 

 with 'is foot in th' trap er pullin' an' er 

 clawin' like he thought he could bust th' 

 chain. He had th' ground tore up in 

 er circle long's th' chain 'ud let 'im reach. 

 He give up, look like, when we got ter 

 'im, an sot there er watchin' us so pitiful 

 I wuz sorter sorry we'd ketched 'im. Pa 

 said, "Git er chunk, son, an' put 'im 

 out uv 'is misery," an' I got er light'ud 

 chunk and batted 'im one, an' he 

 never knowed what hit 'im. We sot 

 th' trap in er diffunt place an' went 

 on; but I won't bother ter tell 'bout th' 

 rest, 'ceptin' th' otter we ketched. Pa 

 had er trap sot in th' mud an' water where 

 er trail come in from another pond, an' 

 there wuz th' biggest ole otter in it I 

 ever seen, an' he wuz jest ketched by 2 

 toes on 'is fore foot. He cert'ny tore up 

 th' pond when he seen us er comin', an' I 

 never seen nothin' so fierce. He grab th' 

 trap an' gnash 'is tushes savager'n er 

 tiger, an' I'll bet he could whip eny dog 

 what ever howled. Pa got er big, heavy 

 piece uv light'ud an' come down with it 

 back uv 'is ears an' unj'inted 'is neck fer 

 'im. We got 2 more coons, an' er dinged 

 ole 'possum wuz in one uv Pa's traps. I 

 wuz goin' ter knock 'im in th' head, but 

 Pa said, "Let 'im go this time an' if he 

 gits in it again we'll kill 'im. The ole 

 'possum sot there er grinnin' an' er slob- 

 berin', an' I had ter hold 'is head down 

 with er stick till I could spring th' trap 

 an' turn 'im loose, an' he went er sneakin' 

 off fas'n he could put 'is feet down. 



We toted th' varmints up under some 

 little scrub oaks an' snatched th' hides off. 

 It took Pa en hour er more ter case th' 

 otter, an' when we'd done we pulled out 

 fer camp an' got there 'bout 11 o'clock. 

 Mr. Sam had got 2 turkeys, a young gob- 

 bler an' a hen; an' him 'a' Uncle Dick had 



jest got 'em cleaned. We cut up th' least 

 one an' rolled it in batter like we done th' 

 squirr'ls an' fried it, an' doggone if it 

 didn't beat anythin' I ever et. When we 

 wuz layin' 'round after dinner Mr. Sam 

 sez, "Doggone if this don't beat eny place 

 fer poterges I ever witnessed. I jumped 

 6 big bunches this mornin' an' I seen 4 

 deer an' one uv 'em I could er killed 

 'thout stirrin' from my tracks, but I had 

 done killed th' turkeys." Pa sez, "That's 

 right, Sam; -le's not kill nothin' ter waste, 

 whatever we do. I kin remember when 

 we first settled th' place at home; there 

 wuz jest ez much game there ez here, an' 

 if folks hadn't made hawgs of theirselves 

 there'd be plenty there now. There uster 

 be er feller name Joe Yates lived over on 

 th' 4 mile perairer, an' the deer kep' er 

 comin' in 'is pertater patch uv er night, 

 an' he got mad an' swore he'd kill ever 

 one he could see, an' he shot down 9 be- 

 tween sunup an' dark. Th' regulators 

 finally got after 'im fer stealin' hawgs an' 

 run 'im outen th' country; but I always 

 held it more agin 'im fer slaugherin' them 

 deer 'en I did about th' hawgs." 



We laid aroun' till er couple uv 

 hours by sun, an' Pa sed he wuz 

 goin' ter cook that turkey so good 

 it 'ud make er man hit 'is daddy, an' 

 I tole 'im he better keep it outen 

 my reach then. Uncle Dick sez ter me, 

 "Come on, Bud, an' le's ketch 'em er 

 mess uv them big perch." We took th' 

 little poles an' went down ter th' big hole 

 an' Uncle Dick sez, "The one what 

 ketches th' biggest fish th' other'ns got 

 er clean 'em all," an' I sed "All right," an 

 we went at it. We caught er lot uv right 

 sized one, but I wanted ter git th' big- 

 ges' ones, so I eased my hook down back 

 uv en ole log, an' somethin' run at it an' 

 carried it under th' log quicker'n you 

 could bat yer eye, an' I jest had .ter 

 swing to it ter git 'im out, an' it wuz th' 

 bigges' perch I ever seen. Uncle Dick 

 sez, "By jeeminy, Bud. I reckon I've got 

 them fish ter clean," an' 'bout that time he 

 put er little frog on 'is hook an' throwed 

 in an' somethin' struck like er snake an' 

 bent 'is pole nearly double, an blamed 

 if it weren't er right big trout. We had 

 'miff then, an' I pulled out my knife an' 

 went at 'em, but Uncle Dick sed I done 

 so well he'd help me anyhow, an' it didn't 

 take us no time. 



Pa's turkey wuz nearly done when we 



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