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Show page 181 would have looked upriver. And he would have known that Mr. Bailey was shouting louder than usual. And maybe he would have heard Mr. Bailey's warning about the big channel catfish. Mr. Bailey had seen the cat from his walkway and was warning two fishermen in a skiff. The catfish was as long as t h e i r boat, large enough to upset them into the water. Finally the fishermen saw the big fish and t h e i r eyes turned xtfider in disbelief. They pulled toward shore as the cat glided into rushing water and was swept though the lock,into the river below the dam. If Snook hadn't been yelling about the f o x t a i l , Jerry Weeks believes that he would have been vigilant enough to have seen the big fish in the water below the dam and would have realized the danger. At least he would have realized something xvas going on when the two fishermen hurried onto the r i v e r below the dam with a large motorboat and pointed excitedly toward churning water. A two-pound hickory shad had darted across the c a t f i s h 's path. The c a t f i s h had swallowed the shad with one gulp and s l id on, into calmer water, moving slowly, seemingly a water-soaked log, his piercing eyes searching for more food. The fishermen stopped, to l i s t e n and look, then pushed on i n t o mainstream. Directly ahead of them the huge fish submarined, s t r a i g h t downward. The fishermen cut t h e i r motor, estimating f a i r l y the c a t ' s speed, and d r i f t e d downstream, toward the swimming beach and the bluff. Near the bluff, at a quiet pool, Snook Howington braked |
