THE STORY OF PIKE. 



The Story of Pike. 



BY UNCLE NED. 



CHAPTER I. 



Pike's mother was a pickerel, and so, of course, Pike 

 was a pickerel, too. 



One day late in spring, when the water of the lake was 

 getting to be warmer and warmer beneath the bright sun, 

 Pike's mother went a little way up a brook which came 

 down to the lake from the hills beyond. She was very 

 beautiful. Her dress was of the pattern that she wore the 

 year round, but the colors were much brighter. The zig- 

 zag lines on her sides were like black satin ; the yellow 

 bands between the lines were like gold ; the white beneath 

 was like shining silver. Her fins were tinged with red ; 

 her gill-covers, as they opened and closed with her breath- 

 ing, showed the colors of the rainbow ; her eyes shone, and 

 there were bright yellow rings around them. 



She found a patch of sand, which the brook had brought 

 down and spread out where the water was still and shal- 

 low. She made a hollow in the sand, turning round and 

 round upon it. In the hollow she placed many thousands 

 of tiny yellowish-white eggs, and went away and left 

 them. There were not fewer than ten thousand of these 

 eggs ; there may have been twenty thousand. Nearly all 

 were in large, stick}- masses, but a few became separated 

 and rolled apart on the sand. 



By and by, a shoal of minnows came that way, poking 

 the masses of eggs about and eating some of Ihem. But the 

 minnows were small, and could not eat a large quantity ; 

 besides, they were not very hungry, because in the spring- 

 time there is always an abundance of other food in the wa- 

 ter, which fishes can have for the taking. 



