NATURAL SELECTION 47 



weighed a pound for every year of his 

 age. 



All fish are nearsighted, due to the con- 

 vexity of the lense of the eye ; so Old Black 

 Bass was almost upon the intruder before he 

 got his measure. Even then he kept on, so 

 accustomed had he become to undisputed 

 dominance. 



But the stranger was unafraid. Non- 

 chalantly he turned, and with his thick mus- 

 cular shoulder took the full blow. Like the 

 pugilist who, to show his own invincibility 

 and the other's weakness, turns his unpro- 

 tected face full to his opponent. The blow 

 shook the big bass not at all. He merely 

 squared himself indolently to observe his 

 attacker. For a moment they poised observ- 

 ant. The older fish was gorged with food, 

 else, large as he was, Old Black Bass would 

 have been grist for a voracious mill. 



Then the big bass suppressed what would 

 have amounted to a twinkle in his eye. He 

 simulated a towering rage before which Old 

 Black Bass shrank back. A churning of 

 water, and he felt himself knocked into the 

 air. He fell back, only to find his enemy 

 waiting. He was as a cat playing with a 



