178 



The Aingrican Angler 



Harry's face turned ashy pale and 

 before the farmer's sonorous voice died 

 away one of his boys cried : 



" He's the very fellow that buyed our 

 fish ; aint he, Jimmy ?" and Jimmy as- 

 sented with equal emphasis and enthu- 

 siasm. 



Harry was certainly in an embarrass- 

 ing- position, to say the least. There 

 was no difference, in the eyes of the 

 boys, in the size of the fish before them, 

 in comparison to the small bass they 

 had caught and sold to Harry. In fact, 

 the fighting qualities of a half-poimd 

 rapids', bass are so great, and last upon 

 ones imagination and memory, that they 

 increase in length and weight in a very 

 short time. The boys declared, and in 

 no uncertain language, that the fish 

 they sold to Harry were " great big ones." 



Harry Vinton stood like a statue, the 

 expressions upon his features only 

 changing with the laughter and cruel 

 remarks and insinuations of the crowd, 

 which seemed to get bolder each mo- 

 ment. The good-natured doctor was 

 puzzled. He continually stroked his 

 whiskers and eyed Harry with a pecu- 

 liar twinkle in his eyes, much as to say : 

 "I guess the boys have you." Finally 

 the doctor asked : " How about this, 

 Mr. Vinton?" This was the first op- 

 portunity for Harry to present his side 

 of the question. 



" Well, these fish I caught with hook 

 and line in a pool down the river," he 

 replied, emphasizing "these." Several 

 of the villagers were about to speak 

 when the doctor said slowly, but with 

 decision r 



" Nearly every person in our town is 

 a fisherman, and no one would dare to 

 purchase bass and bring them here and 

 claim them as being caught by him. 

 It is one of the greatest of petty crimes, 

 and the guilty person is looked down 

 iipon with contempt." 



" Yes, doctor," began Harry, speaking 

 seriously. " I certainly would not be 

 guilty of violating any of the laws of 

 the village. I like you all, and your 

 earnestness and genial manner of re- 

 ceiving strangers is worthy of more 

 than mere mention here. I am ready 

 to take the oath of allegiance. I regfet 

 to say that I come among you as a 

 stranger and have no proof at hand that 

 I caught these fish, nothing at all but 

 the sweet remembrance of the greatest 

 time in my life ; but I will say this- 

 much, I will swear on the top of bibles 

 as high as your village church that I 

 caught every fish you see before you. 

 I caught them in Hanfordpool to-day." 



The old farmer elbowed his way 

 through the now increased crowd and 

 was determined to speak. 



" My young man," he said, *' you have 

 been fishing on them rapids fur five 

 days, and nary a fish, not even a little 

 bullhead did you bring to the village. 

 You met m}^ boys on the river and 

 bought these here fish, them fine bass, 

 of them. More 'an that, you all see he 

 cheated the boys, he paid less than they 

 was worth. They is worth a heap more 

 'n you paid fur 'em." Shaking his head, 

 he then backed to the rear. 



Harry admitted that he had fished 

 faithfully for five days, from the Carroll 

 pool to Turkey Foot rock, without 

 success. He also acknowledged that, 

 prompted by a desire to make some 

 kind of a showing at the doctor's home, 

 he did purchase of the boys about forty 

 very small bass, fish that no true angler 

 would dare take home, unless under 

 peculiar circumstances, similar to those- 

 he was placed under to-day. He knew 

 and believed the pools contained plenty 

 of large bass, but they would not strike 

 until to-day, and then, from the moment 

 he made his first cast iintil the hour for 

 leaving, he was catching more fish than- 



