320 
out line, and away went the whole out- 
fit down stream, the large one towing 
the others with him. After waiting 
until I thought the little one completely 
swallowed, I gave the butt and tried to 
hook him. For a few moments he 
seemed fast, but soon the strain ceased, 
and reeling in, I soon had the other 
two. The little fellow was quite badly 
scarred and used up, but still had some 
life left, and I let him go; whether he 
lived or not, I can’t say. 
Pedals had watched the whole oc- 
currence from the bank, and I could 
see that he felt a good bit worried. 
When we were again together in camp, 
he said: 
‘‘Do you suppose there are many 
such ferocious fish as that fellow in the 
river ih” 
“ots of them, Pedals, * replied: 
His look of worry deepened, and I 
knew pretty well what he was thinking 
about. He grew whiter and whiter, 
and finally to relieve his distress, which 
was becoming pitiful, I silently pointed 
to his feet. At first, he failed to under- 
stand, then I saw a look of relief pass 
over his face, and he murmured: 
‘¢Yes—that'’s so—let’s go to bed.” 
We camped in this place two days, 
meeting with fair success, and then 
pushed on. About half a mile below 
our former camp is the Clark bridge. 
A good-natured old gentleman, Mr. 
David Hanshaw, had taken charge of 
our boat, and was following along much 
interested in watching us cast the fly— 
a thing he had never seen—and anxious 
to see us land a fish. Of course we did 
our best, but as always happens when 
one is anxious to show off an accom- 
plishment, entire or partial failure is 
always the result. A few ‘‘rockies” 
and two or three small bass were all 
that we had for him when the bridge 
The Amertcan Angler 
was reached. Here he had to leave 
us, and Pedals and I clambered aboard 
and started on. Just below the bridge, 
on the west side of the river, in quite 
deep water, is a growth of river vegeta- 
tion known to us as pickerel grass. I 
eyed the strip a few moments, and felt 
sure that some good ones were con- 
cealed there. Finally I said: 
‘Here, Pedals, take the oars a mo- 
ment and let me try this place.” 
We accordingly changed places, and 
the very first cast that reached the edge 
of the grass raised two, one of which I 
hooked and soon landed. Back again 
in just a moment a fine double catch, 
both of which I landed. We had now 
reached the end of the pool, and cross- 
ing over to the other side of the river, 
we again came down. This time I 
made another fine double catch larger 
than the first one, and then I urged 
Pedals to try his luck. Three times I 
took him over the course, and every 
time he caught a bass. One he hooked 
foul, justin front of the ventral fin, and 
we had quite a circus in landing him 
After this we could not raise any more, 
and so continued down stream, well 
contented with the nine taken in such 
a short time. 
About 1 o’clock in the afternoon we 
left the river, entering~ Leland’s race, 
and in a short time arrived at his mill. 
Everyone for miles around knows 
Mr. Leland. Without ever having 
served an apprenticeship to any trade, 
his naturalingenuity is so great that he 
is an exceptionally fine worker in both 
steeland wood. Many a jack-knife is 
brought to him for new blades, and the 
ones he puts in are of superlative ex- 
cellence. I have seen him take a piece 
of hard wood thoroughly seasoned, and 
after making the shavings fly at a great 
rate, turn over his hand and shave the 
