without first "putting salt on its tail." 

 A brook crossed the road at the foot of 

 the hill and ran down through farmer 

 Barnum's pasture. In this brook, dur- 

 ing the noon recess and after school had 

 closed for the day, with trousers rolled 

 up and with bare feet, we waded and 

 fished. We caught them with our hands, 

 and we kept them alive. Each boy had 

 his "spring hole," scooped out of the 

 sand near the edge of the stream, in 

 which he kept the fish caught. Of 

 course, whenever it rained, and the 

 water rose in the brook, these spring 

 holes were washed away and the fish 

 escaped. But when the waters sub- 

 sided, they had to be caught again. 

 Sometimes, we caught a chub as much 

 as four inches long; and on rare occa- 

 sions, when a "horned dace, a five inch- 

 er" was secured, the boy who got him 

 was a hero. It was the firm conviction 

 of every boy in our gang, that, no matter 

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