EMERGENCE OF A BULLY 59 



to buffet. His brooding took him almost 

 to the realm of abstract thought. For just 

 as in the human realm a Shakespeare is 

 born who knows more of English than the 

 average man, or an Edison of electricity, or 

 a Faraday of physics in general, so Old 

 Black Bass was a genius of his species and 

 as such capable of more than they. 



He came near to fathoming the secret of 

 the artificial lure. Gap and Grinnie, who 

 had not come back, were forgotten incidents 

 with the others. But to Old Black Bass 

 they gave point to an awful lesson. A craw- 

 fish is capable of learning in forty lessons 

 which is the best way to reach food; but 

 Old Black Bass was already learning that 

 not all that cavorts on the water is safe for 

 food. 



From that day onward he discriminated 

 his food. Before taking it he demanded of 

 himself absolute knowledge of its nature. 

 Was it alive, or only cleverly artificial? 

 Was a slender line connected to it, or did it 

 swim free? 



And this canniness put him in the class of 

 rare bass of which the true angler dreams : 

 the subtly clever fish who are wise beyond 



