12 OLD BLACK BASS 



the mothers of the world, paying in this 

 watchfulness her travail for the life so soon 

 to be. 



She was a large-mouth. And while 

 slender of form, she was agile and strong. 

 Her speed as she darted at an approaching 

 enemy was as the swiftness of light ; yet as 

 she hung above the nest in the quiet hours 

 with slight movement save the gentle un- 

 dulation of pectoral and pelvic fins, she was 

 a daughter of the Graces, beautifully 

 formed. 



Many times during those days of vigil a 

 great bass slipped from his position as outer 

 guard fifteen feet away and approached her 

 with friendliness and respect. Where she 

 was slender he was mighty; while she was 

 gentle he was pugnacious and aggressive; 

 where she was light of color he was exces- 

 sively dark. But when they came together 

 it was on a plane of equality, for the eggs on 

 the nest she had deposited and he had 

 fertilized ; they should be the parents of the 

 spawn. 



Seeing the two together on the occasions 

 when he hung over the nest with her, one 

 knew that the spawn from this union should 



