44 OLD BLACK BASS 



sight angered him. He rushed Leaper and 

 by superior strength drove him away. 

 Then he returned to Gloria and she slipped 

 up to him, extending her mouth till it 

 touched his side. He hung in contentment, 

 fanning the water with pectoral and pelvic 

 fins. 



The black bass can accommodate himself 

 to a wide range of water variation. He 

 will live with ice above him, and thrive 

 when the temperature of his medium is 100 

 degrees Fahrenheit. So now: It was not 

 the water so much that troubled the school ; 

 it was hunger. 



Hunger broods irritation ; irritation, con- 

 flict. If Swarthy had been a human, he 

 would have aspired to be a gunman; and 

 doubtless Fusser would have enriched the 

 ranks of the reformers. For while Swarthy 

 was sullen and direct in his disposition and 

 method, Fusser was forever trying to ar- 

 range things. Her advice as to foraging was 

 copious and inaccurate; her "I-told-you- 

 so's" were ceaseless. 



In the hunger and confinement this 

 ubiquitous meddling infuriated Swarthy. 

 A few weeks back he had been either too 



