A FLORIDA KID ON A CAMP HUNT. 



CHARLEY APOPKA. 

 VII. 



The nex' day an' the nex' we didn't do 

 much huntin', occasion uv th' doe pa killed 

 makin' us all the meat we wanted, but me 

 an' Mr. Sam went to set th' traps, an' as we 

 wuz a passin' by a grassy pond we hearn a 

 fuss in hit like a big fat man a-laughin' way 

 down in 'is paunch, an' somethin' wuz a- 

 makin' a kimmotion in th' water, an' a- 

 shakin' th' grass. I sez, "What's that, Mr. 

 Sam?" an he sez, "Ask me an' then guess, 

 but we'll soon find out;" so we slipped 

 down ter th' aidge uv th' pond back uv 

 some grass, an' listened. 'Bout every min- 

 ute th' ole thing, whatever hit wuz, 'ud 

 make that funny fuss, an' rare round in th' 

 grass an' water, but we coulden see nothin'. 

 We got tired uv that direckly, so we dim' 

 a couple uv saplin's that growed clost ter 

 th' pond, an' then we could see somethin' 

 a swimmin' round in th' grass an' a-makin' 

 a fuss. Hit wuz shore a dashin' 'bout fast, 

 an' I didn't know what hit were, but Mr. 

 Sam sez, "Hits otters, by grannies, but I 

 never knowed they made that kind uv fuss 

 before. Le's wade out an' seef we kaint 

 git a shot at th' triflin' cusses." We slid 

 down easy an' rolled our britches up far's 

 they'd go, an' went in th' pond mighty quiet. 

 Th' water weren't much over knee deep — 

 but hit shore felt cold a-creepin' up my 

 laigs. We waded out 'mong th' bunches uv 

 grass, an' every other step we'd go in a 

 hole up ter our middles an' slosh 'round, 

 an' we thought shore th' otter 'ud tear out, 

 but hit kep' a swimmin' 'bout th' fastes' I 

 ever seen. Sometimes it 'ud come 'ithin 20 

 feet uv us, but hit kep' under th' grass an' 

 we never could see hit, 'cept when hit 

 dashed acrost some little open place,. 



Direckly though hit stopped under some 

 grass right at Mr. Sam, an' he got sight uv 

 hits head an' popped to hit with 'is Win- 

 chester. An' when he did we hearn some 

 more tear off in th' pond, but we didn't get 

 ter see 'em. Mr. Sam sez, "Well, by gran- 

 nies, this ole otter beats my fishin'. I never 

 seen one that brave before." But when we 

 got hit ter land we seen hit wuz a big ole 

 she otter, an' looked like she'd been suck- 

 lin' young uns, so we made up our min's hit 

 wuz that what made 'er so spunky. We 

 hung 'er up an' cased 'er an' hit shore is a 

 job an' I woulden fool yer. The hide has 

 ter be took off whole, same as turnin' a 

 sock wrong side out'ards, an hit took us 

 'bout an hour. 



We took off round th' pond, an' at th' far 

 end, where there wuz a lot uv high palmet- 

 ter, we seen a lot uv sign leadin' into hit, 

 an' up in there wuz a sort uv mound 'mong 

 th' roots, an' hit wuz more plum smooth, 



an' lots uv sign 'round hit. So we went on 

 ter where th' traps wuz hid, an' brought 

 back 4 uv 'em, an' set 'em in th' best places. 

 Then, hit bein' 'bout noon, an' us hungry 

 as maggots, we lef th' rest uv th' traps fer 

 next day, an' tore out fer camp. We 

 jumped 3 deer on th' way an' th' biggest 

 bunch uv poterges I ever seen.. I reckon 

 they wuz 40 in th' bunch. 



When we got ter camp, pa 'n Uncle Dick 

 wuz at th' branch a fishin', but they had 

 lef a skillet uv biskets an' a pan uv veni- 

 son steaks by th' fire, an' I set down an' 

 et till I wuz in misery. Pa sez th' ole otter 

 shore had young uns er we never 'ud a 

 seen 'er. He'd hearn 'em make that fuss 

 many a time, but mostly at night. That 

 night we laid round th' fire an' cooked 

 ribs over th' coals, an' they wuz th' best 

 I ever et. 



Nex' mornin' pa 'n me et a stack an' 

 lit out 'fore sun up, ter set th' traps, an' 

 look at th' ones me 'n Mr. Sam had set 

 yistiddy. On th' way we seen th' purtiest 

 kind uv a fox, but we didn't git ter shoot 

 'im. When we got ter th' pond, dinged if 

 we didn't have 2 uv th' purtiest little half 

 grown otters you ever seen. Pa sez he'd 

 a turned 'em loose but one had 'is leg broke, 

 so he give 'em a lick apiece on th' head, 

 an' they never knowed what hit 'em. Their 

 fur wuz th' softest an' finest I ever seen, 

 an' pa sez they'd bring a couple uv dollars 

 apiece. We went on an' set th' traps in 

 likely lookin' places, an' jumped a little 

 buck on th' way. He wuz layin' in a bunch 

 uv palmetter, an' we wuz right on 'im 

 'fore he knowed hit, an' you'd orter seen 

 'im tear out. If I could run 's fas' as a 

 deer I woulden' take nothin' fer hit. 



As we wuz goin' 'long through th' woods 

 we hearn a curious fuss back uv a bunch 

 uv bushes, like goats a buttin' one 'nother, 

 an* we went ter see, an' what do you reckon 

 hit wuz? Two big ole tortoises wuz a 

 fightin', an' th' way they'd do, they'd git off 

 a little piece, an' run tergether, an' try ter 

 butt one 'nother over, which would shore 

 settle it, fer they kaint turn over when 

 they git on their back. We watched 

 'em a while, an' then I parted 'em, an' 

 I had ter kick 'em apart, they was so 

 mad. 



We had lots uv fun ketchin' perch ter 

 bait th' coon traps. They wuz thick ez 

 wiggletails in a rain barrel an' hit took 

 our best ter quit 'em. There wuz 3 ole 

 whoopin' cranes walkin' 'bout in th' woods 

 a lookin' at us, an' a hollerin' th' loudest 

 I ever seen. 



When we got ter camp Uncle Dick an' 



