FisJiing for Black Bass on the Maiivice Rapids, Ohio. 



179. 



he could possibly bring back to the vil- 

 lage. He had read of such outing expe- 

 riences, listened to equally as interesting 

 stories, but never caught bass with such 

 bulldog fighting qualities as those he 

 caught to-day. " I felt ashamed of my- 

 self," he concluded, " for buying such 

 fingerlings from the boys, and carefully 

 I gave the fish their freedom. I let 

 them, one by one, swim away. These 

 bass I caught, every one of them." 



During Harry's interesting recital of 

 his angling experiences, quite a number 

 of ladies were present and were equally 

 interested as the men. The old 

 farmer and his sons were defiant, but 

 the better class of the citizens, the older 

 men, were inclined to believe Harry's 

 story. A happy thought came to Harry 

 after a few words with the farmer ; he 

 concluded that a few dollars might have 

 a good effect. So at the first opportu- 

 nity Harry managed to slip a ten dollar 

 bill into the farmer's hand and quietly 

 whispered to him, " Now, you and your 

 boys go home at once." 



Pleased at this handsome sum, the 

 farmer and his two boys hastened to- 

 ward the river. On the bridge he met 

 an old acquaintance, to whom he showed 

 his money and told him how he came 

 of it. The curiosity of the friend was 

 aroused, and he, too, desired to see the 

 bass and the man who said he caught 

 them. In a very short time it was 

 whispered about that Harry had bought 

 off the Wood county farmer, and again 

 opened the case, which soon as.sumed a 

 more serious phase, for the crowd began 

 to divide ; some believed Harry caught 

 the fish, while many others declared he 

 bought them of the boys. 



"Why didn't he own the truth at 

 first?" some said ; "and why make such 

 a fuss over a few darned fish ?" 



Harry listened with a great deal of 

 interest to all the arguments the crowd 



felt like discussing, but when some of 

 the younger men declared he was like 

 all anglers, "the truth was not in him," 

 he concluded it about time to speak 

 more to the point. He was about ap- 

 pealing to the doctor, when the doctor 

 came through the crowd leading a very 

 pretty, modest young lady, and intro- 

 duced her to Mr. Vinton as Miss Alice 

 Van Dyke. The men parted, and all 

 eyes were on Miss Van Dyke. 



There was a peculiar kind of womanly 

 richness in the young lady's manner,, 

 and for a moment Harry felt as if there 

 was a revelation coming, and he looked, 

 with more than ordinary interest in her 

 deep blue eyes as she spoke. 



" I was on the bluff overlooking the 

 Hanford pool this afternoon, and saw 

 the gentleman not only catch the greater 

 number of these bass, but saw him re- 

 lease the others." 



This little . speech, coming from the 

 source it did, had its desired effect, and 

 the men and women were of one mind,, 

 and Harry Vinton, upon motion of 

 Doctor Swandown, was unanimously 

 declared the champion angler of the 

 Maumee for the season of '94. The 

 crowd soon dispersed, and the fish were- 

 divided among the doctor's friends, and 

 half a dozen of the largest were taken 

 to the home of Miss Van Dyke by Harry 

 Vinton. 



In a few days Harry left the village, 

 and many warm hands bade him fare- 

 well at the station. For months there- 

 after there were some scenes and inci- 

 dents of his summer outing that could 

 not be forgotten. The rocky riffles, the 

 deep eddying pools, the bouldered chan- 

 nels, the battle fields of many a grand, 

 and glorious fight. Then there was the 

 Hanford pool, above which the broad,, 

 bright, brimming river, whose swift 

 sweep and whirling eddies awakened 

 memories which filled his soul with joy,. 



