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The Stretching Board
There was a market for pelt;
Beaver, 'coon and mink.
Young Dan would go trapping,
Just to hear his pockets clink.
There were times, during haste,
Some skins were not so nice.
It didn’t take him long to learn,
“Better the fur, better the price.”
He had several stretching boards,
To meet a variety of size.
He could choose a proper one,
Just by gauging with his eyes.
He did all right trapping,
His pelts were piling up.
One day he realized,
He was out done by his pup.
Lets go back several months;
Dan heard a yelping dog.
It was chasing a rabbit,
When both entered a hollow log.
At one end was a bunny’s head,
Peeking out from a hole in the tree,
At the other end,
A wagging tail was all Dan could see.
Talking softly to it,
He pulled the young hound clear,
Quickly he was rewarded,
With a licking from ear to ear.
From then on things were different,
Trapping was never the same...
Oh! you wonder about the bun?
It left the same way it came.
Let’s get back to my story,
About trapping and this hound;
It had an eye for measuring size,
There was none other like it around.
Dan got ready to stretch a skin...
On the back porch he set a board,
The pup sniffed and looked,
Took off on his own accord.
Before Dan’s task was over,
The dog came on the run,
With a beaver one size larger,
To show it could be done.
Dan got himself an idea...
He'd put him to the test.
Got the biggest board he had,
On the porch he set it to rest.
Tale wagging, the dog looked it over
This was quite a game.
It was a darn big board,
But he was confident just the same.
Sniffing and looking,
He eyed the size of it,
Gave it another go-around,
He took off... to see what he could get.
Evening came, sun went down;
Dans chores were complete.
Before going inside,
A monstrous 'coon dropped at his feet.
He prided the pup, and fed it well,
“Tomorrow we’ll try some more.”
Not realizing he pushed too far,
The game was to become a chore.
Morning came, Dan asked his Ma...
"Have you seen my hound?
I’ve looked all over the farm...
He’s no where to be found.”
His mother was on the back porch,
Ironing a basket of clothes.
“Not since setting up my board;
He came sniffing with his nose.”
Dan looked at the ironing board,
With a twinkle in his eye.
Pup went looking for a monster 'coon,
He was gonna’ give it a try.
He claimes the dog’s still out there,
I’m pretty hard to convince.
That it would still be looking...
Though nobody’s seen it since.
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