Witb and Jl gainst the Grains 33 



the evening before, though fully two miles from 

 where I had missed him. He must have picked up 

 a comrade while travelling, for on looking again I 

 plainly saw two huge pike and, mirabile dictu, each 

 had a scar near its tail ! I gravely asked Jack to 

 gaze upon this mystery of the waters. He took one 

 look, then exclaimed: " Sufferin' cats! Ram it 

 hie ! to the hull three of 'em ! " 



I sighted carefully at the biggest, yet hoped to 

 spear both, and drove the grains with unnecessary 

 power. My arm felt an unexpected jar, but I 

 whooped out: "Hurra! I've got one anyhow!" 



" Got nuthin' ! There they all go You speared 

 the log, you hie fool you yer full!" politely 

 commented Jack. After I had riddled for some 

 minutes trying to get the grains free of the log, and 

 had calmly stepped into water that came inches 

 above the tops of my rubbers, I realized that Jack 

 had evidently cultivated the power of observation. 

 Hard cider was peculiar stuff surely, so I wet my 

 head and splashed water into my face, then stumbled 

 ashore. The ducking improved matters a bit, but 

 I screamed with laughter when Jack blurted out: 

 " Well, hie you're nice feller to go 

 spearin' ! Let's take after'm they all run up- 

 stream." 



" There was only one fish, Jack," I ventured. 



" Oh, shut up ! " he said. " Bad enough to miss 

 the hull three without trying to lie out of it. I 

 hie hate a feller'll squeal when he makes a 

 fool of hisself!" 



We soon found the fish again. It must have 

 been severely hurt, for by some half-submerged 



