was the name of the pup—Andrew Jackson would
never let on but what
he was satisfied, and
hadn’t expected nothing else—and
the bets being doubled and doubled on the other side
all the time, till the money was all up; and then
all of a sudden he would grab that other dog jest
by the j’int of his hind leg and freeze to it—not
chaw, you understand, but only jest grip and hang
on till they throwed up the sponge, if it was a year.
Smiley always come out winner on that pup, till he
harnessed a dog once that didn’t have no hind
legs, because they’d been saw’d off by
a circular saw, and when the thing had gone along
far enough, and the money was all up, and he come to
make a snatch for his pet holt, he saw in a minute
how he’d been imposed on, and how the other
dog had him in the door, so to speak, and he ’peared
surprised, and then he looked sorter discouraged-like,
and didn’t try no more to win the fight, and
so he got shucked out bad. He gave Smiley a look,
as much as to say his heart was broke, and it was
his
fault, for putting up a dog that hadn’t no hind
legs for him to take holt of, which was his main dependence
in a fight, and then he limped off a piece and laid
down and died. It was a good pup, was that Andrew
Jackson, and would have made a name for hisself if
he’d lived, for the stuff was in him, and he
had genius—I know it, because he hadn’t
had no opportunities to speak of, and it don’t
stand to reason that a dog could make such a fight
as he could under them circumstances, if he hadn’t
no talent. It always makes me feel sorry when
I think of that last fight of his’n, and the
way it turned out.
Well, thish-yer Smiley had rat-tarriers, and chicken-cocks,
and tom-cats, and all them kind of things, till you
couldn’t rest, and you couldn’t fetch
nothing for him to bet on but he’d match you.
He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and
said he cal’klated to edercate him; and so he
never done nothing for three months but set in his
back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you
bet you he did learn him, too? He’d
give him a little punch behind, and the next minute
you’d see that frog whirling in the air like
a doughnut—see him turn one summerset,
or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and came
down flat-footed and all right, like a cat. He
got him up so in the matter of catching flies, and
kept him in practice so constant, that he’d nail
a fly every time as far as he could see him.
Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he
could do most anything—and I believe him.
Why, I’ve seen him set Dan’l Webster down
here on this floor—Dan’l Webster
was the name of the frog—and sing out, “Flies,
Dan’l, flies!” and quicker’n you
could wink, he’d spring straight up, and snake
a fly off’n the counter there, and flop down
on the floor again as solid as a gob of mud, and fall
to scratching the side of his head with his hind foot
as indifferent as if he hadn’t no idea he’d
been doin’ any mor’n any frog might do.