A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 



VI. 



Next mornin' I woke up afore sun. Th' 

 day star wuz a shinin' like a new dollar 

 an' it wuz jest a gittin' light in th' East, 

 so I thought I'd be smart an' ketch a 

 mess uv fish fer breakfust, bein's ther 

 wuzn't fresh ter cook, so I -slipped out 

 an' got me a handful uv worms an' went 

 down ter th' big hole in th' branch. Pa's 

 alluz a tellin' me 'bout th' early bird 

 gittin' th' worm, but it wuz so dinged 

 early I coulden' hardly see ter git 'em. 

 Time I got th' pole outen th'bushes an' 

 th' hook baited it wuz mighty near day, 

 an' th' fish wuz makin' circles all over th' 

 top uv th' water, an' I didn't have long 

 ter wait when I drapped in an' I woulden' 

 fool yer. Time she hit th' water somethin' 

 snapped it like a snake, an' foamed aroun' 

 with it. I coulden' pull 'im out fer fear 

 uv breakin' th' line, so I sorter played 

 'im aroun' till he got tired an' led 'im up 

 ter th' bank an' slipped mah fingers in 

 'is gills, an' blame if twuzent a trout what 

 'ould weigh ever' bit uv 6 pounds. In a 

 half hour I had a plenty, so I throwed 

 th' balance uv th' worms ter th' fish an' 

 went ter scalin'. It wuzn't near as much 

 fun cleanin' 'em as it wuz a ketchin' 'em, 

 an' I wuz beginnin' ter wish I hadn't 

 caught so many when I heerd somethin' 

 a blubberin' an' a splashin' 'round th' 

 bend uv th' crick, where th' bushes hung 

 over, an' there come 2 ole otters a swim- 

 min' an' a playin' along. I shore wished 

 I'd brung th' gun, an' 'bout th' time I 

 got through wishin' they seen me, er 

 smelt me, an' they dove under, an' that 

 wuz th' last I see uv 'em. I could hear 

 someone a choppin' at th' camp by then, 

 so I hurried th' fish cleanin' an' tuck 'em 

 ter camp an' they wuz all up an' fixin' ter 

 cook breakfust. They sed I done well, 

 an' Uncle Dick throwed a gob uv grease 

 in th' pan an' went ter fryin' 'em, an' Mr. 

 Sam cooked a lot uv pertaters in th' 

 skillet an' we never et nothin' but fish 

 'n' pertaters fer breakfust, an' it wuz good 

 enough fer anybody. 



"Say, fellers," sez Mr. Sam, "I'm a git- 

 tin' in th' notion fer another bait uv deer 

 meat. Less make a drive through that 

 sand scrub we come by th' other day. 

 It's plum tore up with deer signs." Th' 

 rest uv us wuz in th' notion too, so we 

 tore out fer th' scrub soon's we'd done 

 eatin'. We put buckshot in ar guns, 

 'reptin' Mr. Sam; he had 'is Winchester. 

 Pa sez: 



"Look out fer snakes. I reckon there's 



ole rattlers in there big 'miff ter swallc^ 

 a dawg." 



We got 'bout a hundred yards apart an' 

 went inter th' scrub tergether, Pa ter th' 

 right, me nex', and then Mr. Sam an' Unck' 

 Dick. 



"Bud," sez Uncle Dick, "if yer kill yei 

 a deer afore yer git home I'll buy yer th' 

 purtiest 32 Winchester yer ever see, soon's 

 I sell that bunch uv beef steers." 



I made up mah mine ter git that 

 gun er bust a trace. Th' scrub 

 wuzn't so powerful thick, but it wuz 

 tolerble sorry walkin', an' I kep' thinkin' 

 'bout them big ole snakes an' a 

 lookin' fer 'em, an' first I knowed a rab- 

 bit jumped outen 'is bed right at mah 

 feet, an' scared me so bad I mighty near 

 hollered 'fore I thought. We hadn't gone 

 far when a big ole doe jumped up ahead 

 uv Mr. Sam an' went a sailin' through th' 

 scrub, an' Mr. Sam cracked down on 'er 

 an' never hit 'er, an' it didn't s'prise me 

 much, 'is missin' 'er, fer she wuz jest a 

 hittin' th' high places an' I woulden' fool 

 yer. She never give th' rest uv us a 

 chance, but it wuzn't 10 minutes till one 

 jumped up in front uv Uncle Dick an' 

 run by me, an' I tore loose at 'er an' 

 missed 'er clean, an' 'bout that time Pa 

 told 'er howdy an' rolled 'er over th' 

 purtiest I ever see. 'Fore we could git 

 to 'er she got up an' wuz a makin' off, 

 but Pa wuz ready an' give 'er th' other 

 bar'l, an' that time she hit th' dirt fer 

 good. Pa bled 'er an' we hung 'er up in 

 a spruce pine an' cleaned 'er 'fore you 

 could fix. She wuz as purty an' fat as I 

 ever see, an' look like she wuz own sister 

 ter th' one Mr. Sam shot at. 



The weather wuz tolerble warm an' Pa 

 sed we'd better not kill no more'n we 

 could take care uv, so we pulled out fer 

 camp; Pa'n Mr. Sam a totin' th' doe on 

 a saplin' pole. I reckon I see as many 

 as a dozen fox squir'ls on th' way ter 

 camp, but we never shot none. We hit 

 camp 'bout noon, an' it didn't take long 

 fer us ter bake some biskits an' fry enough 

 steaks look like ter feed a saw mill. It 

 didn't look like 4 humans an' a dawg 

 could eat as much as we did an' live ter 

 tell it, an' I reckon it couldn't be done 

 'ceptin' in camp. 



We stretched out th' deer hide an' driv 

 pegs through it ter keep it in shape an' 

 then we lay down an' rested an' played 

 seven-up ter see who had ter wash th' 

 dishes an' pans. It wuz Pa 'n' Uncle 



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