590 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



fast acts as a reminder of some of the ludicrous mishaps of 

 yesterday, and good-natured repartee and jest give a zest to 

 the meal. Some remember the commandment — " In it thou 

 shalt not do any work," and get ready to go to meeting with 

 the hostess or the girls ; while others take a quiet stroll 

 through the woods, or along the stream, and see sights and 

 hear sounds that come back to them at times, amid the busy 

 hum of the dense city, like "far-off murmurs, gentle whispers." 



But the girls are waiting, dressed in their Sunday gear. 

 You would scarcely know Kate for the naked-ankled lass 

 you saw milking as you came in last evening ; and there is 

 Hans and his dog "Watch," all ready to start. There is no 

 chancelled or steepled church here, so we walk a mile or two 

 down the creek to the township school-house, where sturdy 

 farmers, gaunt raftsmen, staid matrons, and "unco lads and 

 clever hizzies" sit waiting in silence the coming of the circuit 

 preacher. 



All is peace within ; the only thing that betokens discord 

 without, is a disposition of "Watch," and Captain Ellis's dog 

 "Top," to renew an ancient feud, which might involve 

 "Caesar," who stands by with tail erect, bristling in armed 

 neutrality, but ready to take sides with the party that proves 

 strongest : this of course would wake up the pugnacity of a 

 pompous little fellow with his tail curled over his back so 

 stiffly that his hind feet scarcely touch the ground ; even the 

 "bench-legged fice," and the sheep-stealing -looking "yaller 

 dog," with his bushy associate, who has been curtailed of his 

 "fair proportions" so close to his hurdles, that it is difficult 

 to say whether it has been "cut off" or druv in;" the lap- 

 eared hound would also pitch in, and there would be no 

 preventing a free fight. But Hans calls Watch off, and as 

 he slinks under the bench by his side, the casus belli is 

 removed. 



