88 ROUND LAKE. 



dangers thoracic apoplexy; and I am sorely afraid that 

 if the arch enemy of mankind ever finds him in the 

 woods all alone, without the intervening protection of 

 some Christian person capable of averting such a calam- 

 ity by powerful prayer, he would never return alive. 

 "Yours very truly, 



"NOLLY MEEKUM, T. D." 



I wrote back to Mr. Meekum and respectfully de- 

 clined to consider his proposal, at the same time stat- 

 ing that although I sympathized with him I was afraid 

 if the gentleman he referred to was to find his brother 

 and myself alone together in the woods, the said gen- 

 tleman might make a mistake and take the wrong one, 

 and I did not care to take any chances. 



My oldest fishing friend, George Barker, possesses a 

 lean, crafty-looking nondescript dog, and one day this 

 Summer, when we were about to start on a fishing 

 trip together on Round Lake, George pleaded so hard 

 for the dog to come that I weakly consented. The dog's 

 name was Tiddler, and a worse canine abomination I 

 do not believed ever lived. He showed at once by 

 his attitude he considered me an individual antagonistic 

 to his master, and as such to be carefully loked after, 

 and it was only after an amount of pummeling and 

 licking on the part of George sufficient to have laid 

 any respectable dog cold, that he could be persuaded 

 I was neither a bone nor a dog biscuit imported for 

 his special delectation. 



We were on the lake three hours, and they were three 

 of the weariest hours I ever spent in my life. The 

 capture of our first pickerel a fish of about seven 

 pounds in weight caused such a manifestation of in- 

 quisitive interest in Tiddler, that his long, lank noz- 

 zle was well into the pickerel's smiling countenance 

 before we could prevent it, and then the frightful, un- 

 earthly ki-kowing wh^cb followed was only ended by 

 Tiddler in desperation jumping into the lake, carry- 

 ing the pickerel with him. The fish on feeling the 

 water relaxed his hold immediately, and Tiddler all 



