92 OLD BLACK BASS 



snake sank its fangs in the fish's side. But 

 a crunching of the great jaws caused it to 

 writhe and loosen. 



It twisted and whipped, its tail out of the 

 water and flailing the surface. But it was 

 done. Fifteen minutes after it had sucked 

 up the first egg its body drifted through the 

 water inert, backbone broken; and Old 

 Black Bass was in his position as outer 

 guard at the nest of Friendly. 



The next day he felt weak. The water 

 he breathed through his gills seemed vapid 

 and unsatisfying. He gulped it, but it 

 passed over his gills like a malarial current. 

 The wounds in his body were not healed by 

 it, but were fretted and aggravated. 



Friendly also was acting queerly, though 

 she had not fought the snake. She wavered 

 over the nest like a minnow in a pail of stale 

 water, gasping, rolling to her side, gulping. 

 A rock bass floated on the surface above, 

 bloated. Perch floated by also, and more 

 rock bass ; a great black bass drifted above 

 them, gulping the air for a time, then died, 

 and its body was washed to the shore where 

 it lay the food of turtles. 



A fever was sweeping the upper lake. 



