OUTDOORS 



But how beautiful is the metamorphosis 

 on this stony, reddened visage when a slight 

 ripple around the " float " betokens a nibble ! 

 The stern lines about the lips begin to relax 

 a little, and the eyes of the watcher soften. 

 The pole is rigidity itself, lest the slightest 

 movement might frighten away the finny 

 denizen below, who is pursuing his investi- 

 gations warily. As the nibble becomes more 

 pronounced, a well-defined gleam of hope 

 comes into the eyes of the fisherman, and a 

 tremulous crease of expectancy dimples his 

 puffy cheeks. And lastly, as the " float " 

 goes under, and with neatness and celerity 

 our corpulent friend whips a fine crappie 

 from the depths, what a smile irradiates his 

 features. A calm grin of contentment bil- 

 lows his countenance with an unctuous hap- 

 piness, as with half-closed eyes he looks out 

 over the water as he rebaits the hook, with 

 an expression as much as to say, " Oh, it's 

 a good world, I think; a good world." 



In still-fishing for all fish the temptation 

 is to keep on catching them as long as the 

 fish will bite. This is a very short-sighted 

 policy. A string of twenty-five or thirty 



