AMONG THE CUT-THROATS 145 



when he does not wish to. We troll with a 

 Dowagiac spinner, and the result, in number of 

 fish, is distinctly satisfactory. As the trolling is 

 done with a steel rod there is a certain amount of 

 sport in the exercise; but at the best it is far 

 below fly-fishing. 



This story, thus far, has been written with care- 

 ful attention to facts in order that it may bear 

 the scrutiny of certain friends who companied 

 with the writer for a short time at the head of 

 the lake. They were good men and true, lovers 

 of God's out-of-doors, delightful comrades. Their 

 company was a joy, but their presence was embar- 

 rassing. Every one knows that witnesses are 

 unnecessary in fishing. To have some one at your 

 elbow who wants to know just how many you 

 have caught and what they weigh, allows no room 

 for that play of the imagination which gives to 

 fish stories their indefinable charm. It was a dark 

 hour for the writer when these good friends turned 

 their faces towards the south and left him desolate, 

 but it was then that the fishing really began. 



Just where the Stehekin makes its final plunges 

 before joining the lake, there is a reach of rippling 

 water bordered on one side by low-growing trees, 

 and on the other by a great bunch of drift-wood. 

 The fly-rod was put in commission, a sinker was 

 used, and a bit of the white throat of a trout took 

 the place of the artificial lure. With the boat 

 lying against the drift-wood a cast was made 



