though, as I had eaten and handled fish for so long that I didn t 
think that I could ever relish them again. After I had filled r lison 
and his friend with fish, flapjacks and black coffee, I washed my 
frying pan and tin cup, “which was a short horse to curry. 
After we had a nice little visit, old Tison picked up his fiddle 
and said, “1 didn’t think I would over see you dance again, but rake 
off a place there in the sand, and let me see if you have forfotten. 
I had not heard any music all summer, as the Reading family seemed 
absolutely void of any musical talent whatever, so, of course, I was 
anxious to hear Tison play. As Tison thumped the strings and drew 
his boAv across the fiddle that old familiar feeling stirred within me. 
Oh! how I enjoyed to dance! Tison played and I danced and danced. 
We kept it up off and on for two hours, when we decided to put in 
the balance of the night telling one another of our experiences, jokes, 
etc. Just about sunup the next morning, as we had just finished our 
breakfast, we heard a hog squeal and tugging at my boat. As we 
looked lo and behold, the farmer’s hogs had climbed in my boat and 
as I had not taken the bait off ’of my fish-hooks, they had greedily 
swallowed hook, bait and all and were running and squealing, drag¬ 
ging the blocks of wood which were used as floats to catch the fish. 
We ran after one of the hogs until we caught it and endeavored to 
release the hook, which was four inches long and strong enough to 
hold a horse. The hook had gone through the roof of the hog’s mouth 
and the point came through just below the hog’s eyes. It was plainly 
seen that the whole bunch of hogs would have to be butchered before 
the hooks could be removed. I stepped down to our camp-fire, picked 
up my frying pan, coffee pot and tin cup and dropped them in my 
boat. 1 bid Tison good-by and told him I would leave it with him, 
then I shoved off my boat and rowed down the river, and I didn’t 
row slow. I knew when the farmer saw what a predicament I had 
gotten his hogs into that in all probability he would be mad and stir 
up trouble. I have always thought that I acted yellow, but we often 
do that when acting on our first impulse, which is something that 
should never be done in a case like that, for in most instances our first 
impulse in anything is to take the easiest way out, follow the lines of 
least resistance as it were, and this way in most cases is the most 
cowardly way. This is the last I ever saw of Tison the Russellville 
fiddler. 
This broke up my fishing, as the hogs had robbed me of 1113 ^ fish¬ 
ing tackle. Day after day I rowed down the Arkansas River and in 
the evenings which were nice I let my boat drift all night, and by so 
doing I would save myself considerable hard roAving. The Avater in 
the river Avas very Ioav and except in places here and there, there 
Avas not much current. The boat w^as plenty large enough to sleep in 
and in the evening I would go ashore, make m 3 T supper, fix 103 - bed, 
hop in and push her off and all night long I Avould drift down the 
Arkansas River. 
One especialty beautiful starlit night I made up my bed about the 
usual time and as the boat rocked so gently and the air Avas so fresh 
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