38 OLD BLACK BASS 



hind them the thirteen rays flared in a 

 graceful arch. Ten rows of glossy scales 

 were on his cheek and sixty-eight adown 

 the smooth lateral line of his body. When 

 he moved through the water it was with 

 the precision of a highly complex but won- 

 derfully efficient machine. 



True he was awkward, for the bass is 

 seldom a graceful fish, but in his very awk- 

 wardness was suggestion of smoldering 

 strength, like the awkward but sleeping 

 muscularity of the untamed lumber- 

 jack. 



And having this body through inherit- 

 ance, more accrued to him as a result of it. 

 The best feeding grounds about the cove he 

 took by right of prowess. While the others 

 were limited in their range, his untiring 

 energy enabled him to forage farther and 

 longer than they, and therefore fare better. 

 His strike at swimming luckless frogs was 

 speedier and more sure; and when many 

 made for the same morsel, his strength let 

 him crowd the others away and gobble it 

 down. 



Consequently, he seldom went hungry. 

 While the youthful appetites of the others 



