THE BULLY OF THE OSWEGATCHIE 243 



The bullying tendencies waxed strong during 

 this second summer. One dislikes to set it down, 

 but it was about this time that he entered upon 

 those cannibalistic practices in which he persisted 

 for the rest of his life. One dark and chilly day, 

 when all the millers and bugs and flies seemed to 

 have gone into retreat, noon came and found him 

 with a gnawing pain in his stomach which made 

 him almost beside himself. Unfortunately when 

 his hunger was at its height a little trout that was 

 playing tag with some of its fellows happened to 

 jostle him. In his anger the Bully snapped at and 

 swallowed him. For a moment he was conscience- 

 stricken, and then, when he realized what a de- 

 licious morsel he had taken to himself, he turned 

 to and grabbed up fifteen other little members of 

 his family without stopping to take breath. Hence- 

 forth he was looked upon as a social outcast by the 

 best people in troutdom and his only intimacies were 

 among the tough and lawless members of the com- 

 munity. Doubtless he brooded over this ostracism, 

 and grew bitter as he realized the evident contempt 

 in which he was held. At any rate, he waxed more 

 and more cantankerous and disagreeable as he grew 

 bigger and stronger. 



A record of all the experiences through which 

 the Bully passed would fill a volume. Only a few of 

 the many can be set down in this brief biography, 

 and those the more important ones. When he was 

 three years old he was recognized as the boss of the 



