A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 



PART VII. 



Next morning pa woke me up soon, an 

 as soon as we'd et a snack, an' put a couple 

 of biscuits apiece in our pockets, we lit 

 out fer the traps, an' we was aimin' ter move 

 our line some'rs else, but we had more in 

 'em than we'd ever had at one time. First 

 trap we come to, there was a big ole ring- 

 tail in it, awaitin' fer us, an' he were'nt in 

 no good humor neither, but pa told 'im 

 howdy with a light'ud knot, an' we snatched 

 'is pelt of in a minnit. We decided not to 

 move that trap, seein's it was doin' so well, 

 an' as it was clost ter where we caught our 

 trap bait, I got a handful of worms outen 

 a dead tree an' we went down ter the branch 

 an' got our little poles outen the bushes an' 

 went ter fishin'. I reckon I've said it a 

 dozen times before, but it shore was fun 

 a snatchin' them perch out. I caught a 

 little catfish, an' he were the most wiggle- 

 some thing I ever seen. It tangled my 

 thread line up so bad I had ter throw it 

 away, an' I got worried with 'im an' tried 

 ter mash the stuffin' outen 'im, an' struck 

 one of 'is horns in my thumb, an', doggon 

 my cats, how it hurt. I throwed 'im on the 

 ground and give 'im a stomp that fixed 'is 

 clock, an' by that time we had enougn, for 

 pa'd jest been a slingin' 'em out while me 

 and the catfish was a havin' it. 



The next trap had another big coon in 

 it. 



"By grannies," pa sez, "at this rate we'll 

 soon be loaded down with hides." 



The first 2 otter traps weren't sprung, 

 but the third one had a big, fine one in it. 

 We could hear the chain a rattlin'. an' the 

 water a splashin' soon's we come clost to 

 it, an' I never seen nothin' no fiercer'n that 

 old otter. He'd grab the trap in 'is tushes 

 an' chomp it like he was goin' ter eat it up. 

 Pa said it takes a mighty good dog ter 

 whip one, fer their hides so loose they kin 

 turn plum around in it, an' a dog kaint 

 git no holt. Pa done 'im like he done the 

 coons, an' throwed 'im over 'is shoulder, 

 an' we went on till we come to where we 

 had a trap set in the dry sand on the bank 

 where the otter had been a wallerin'. 



The trap was sprung, and the ground jest 

 natchelly tore up. There was one toe of an 

 otter in the trap, jest fresh gnawed off, an' 

 the water was still roiled up where he'd 

 entered the branch. 



"Dad buzzle it all," sez pa, "if we'd a 

 been 5 minutes sooner we'd a got 'im, but 

 it ain't no use ter cry over lost otters nor 

 spilt milk." 



We pulled up the trap an' set it in another 



place, fer pa said it ud be a long time 'fore 

 they wallered there again. 



We was agoin' acrost from one pond to 

 another, an' we seen something runnin' 

 through the grass an' a shakin' the weeds, 

 an' we took after it, and doggone if it 

 weren't 3 otters. They kaint run so power- 

 ful fast an' pa knocked one in the head with 

 a knot, but the other 2 tore out for the 

 nearest pond, an' you couldn't no more 

 head 'em than nothin'. They was jest sim- 

 ply bound an' determined ter git in that 

 water, but jest as they was a gittin' in a 

 bunch of tall grass in the edge of the pond, 

 I turned my old single barrel loose an' 

 killed one, an' the other got away. We was 

 shore proud, an' I woulden fool yer. We 

 hung the 3 of 'em in a little thick oak out 

 of the sun. an' went ter the balance of the 

 traps quick's we could, an' we got 4 more 

 coons, and 2 'possums, which we turned 

 loose. 



"If this keeps up," sez pa, "we'll be rich 

 as Jews." 



We went back to the otters and pa 

 showed me how to start the hide, an' I cased 

 one while he was a doin' the other 2. It 

 shore is a job, fer every bit of skin has 

 ter be worked off with the knife, an' if 

 you ain't mighty keerful, you'll cut holes in 

 it, an' ruin it. It was one o'clock 'fore we 

 was done, an' I was nearly faint I was so 

 hungry. 



On the way back we went by a little 

 slough, an' there was the biggest bunch of 

 white curlews I ever seen, a feedin' along 

 the edge of it. Pa sez: 



"Slip up to 'em, son, an' see'f you kaint 

 kill us a mess at one shot." 



I crawled on my all fours through the 

 grass, an' got right up on 'em. 1 laid there 

 a minute a watchin' 'em, an' it was a right 

 purty sight. They was a walkin' about in 

 the mud an' water, a drillin' down in it 

 with their bills after crawfish, which they 

 seem ter love bettern anything else. Any- 

 way their craws is always full of 'em when 

 you kill 'em. They was all the time makin' 

 a fuss amongst 'emselves like they was a 

 talkin' ter one 'nother. All of a sudden 

 one old feller seen me through the grass, 

 an' sez "onk, onk," an' the whole hunch riz 

 up together, an' such another hattin' of 

 wings I never seen. I laid flat in the grass. 

 but bein' up in the air they all seen me an' 

 I knowed it was now or never. So T 

 jumped up an aimed inter the thickest of 

 'em, an' shot down five of 'em. but I'm 

 satisfied if I'd a scored into 'em on the 

 ground I'd a got 20. We cut the meat often 



