A SLIPPERY FISH. 45 



" ' That,' said he, ' is a species of ling ; we call it in these 

 parts a LAWYER.' 



" ' A lawyer I' said I ; ' why, pray ?' 



" ' I don't know,' he replied, ' unless it's because he ain't 

 of much use, and is the slipriest fish that swims.' 



" Mark," continued the doctor, turning to Spalding ; " I 

 mean no personality. I am simply giving the old fisher- 

 man's words, not my own." 



" Proceed with the case," said Spalding, as he sent a 

 column of smoke curling upward from his lips, and with a 

 gravity that was refreshing. 



" Well," resumed the doctor, " the LAWYERS were thrown 

 by themselves, and one old fat fellow, weighing, perhaps, 

 five or six pounds, fixed his great, round, glassy eyes upon 

 me, and opened his ugly mouth, and I thought I heard him 

 say, interrogatively, ' Well,' as if demanding that the case 

 should proceed at once. 



" ' Well,' said I, in reply, ' what's out ?' 



" ' What's out I' he answered ; ' I'm out I'm out of my 

 element out of water out of court and in this hot, dry 

 atmosphere, almost out of breath. But what have I been 

 summoned here for ? I demand a copy of the complaint.' 



" ' My dear sir,' said I, ' I'm not a member of the court. 

 I don't belong to the bar I'm not the plaintiff I'm not in 

 the profession, nor on the bench. I'm neither sheriff, con- 

 stable, nor juror. I'm only a spectator. In the Eackett 

 Woods, among the lakes and streams of that wild region, 

 with a rod and fly, I'm at home' with the trout, but ' 



