68 OLD BLACK BASS 



had laid ten thousand eggs, and with her go- 

 ing went the hope that any from her spawn 

 should live. Pickerel found the nest and 

 fed upon the eggs; turtles crawled over it 

 and broke them; dirt drifted over the stones 

 and covered them up. 



But the fisherman was clever. Nine bass 

 he caught that day, and five of them were 

 from the nest, caught with the clever spring 

 hook. One of the five was guarding seventy- 

 five thousand eggs, and the other four a total 

 of thirty-seven thousand. All told, he took 

 the protection from one hundred and twelve 

 thousand possible bass: one hundred and 

 twelve thousand possible stock for the 

 waters of the future impoverishing the 

 lake for the fisherman who should come 

 after him making obedience to law a 

 handicap contributing to the death of a 

 species at its source. 



On his way home this man met the angler 

 who the spring before had caused the death 

 of Hump Back by roughly batting the un- 

 offending little fish into the water, angered 

 that it was undersize. 



"No luck, I bet," he growled. "Ain't 

 no fish any more." 



