40 OLD BLACK BASS 



and social, a good loser as well as a gener- 

 ous victor, he embodied that fine combina- 

 tion of ambition and sociality so admirable 

 in the human realm. To him further had 

 been vouchsafed a mild and subtle sense of 

 humor that played gayly over the whole of 

 life. 



Old Black Bass struck violently at a par- 

 ticle fallen into the water, and came down 

 shaking from his jaws the empty shell of a 

 locust blown from afar on the wind. His 

 mortification at this lack of judgment was so 

 manifest that Leaper could not refrain from 

 opening and closing his mouth in lugubrious 

 imitation. 



A ripple of amusement passed over the 

 school. To check it at the very outset Old 

 Black Bass whirled belligerently, and many 

 subsided quickly. But Leaper knew no 

 fear. With another dolorous opening and 

 closing of his mouth he held his place. Con- 

 flict was imminent when Gloria slipped be- 

 tween them and flashed her shapely body 

 through the air. But though this was diver- 

 sion, the entire school sensed that here was 

 enmity that should never die. 



Old Black Bass knew then that in the 



