THE BULLY OF THE OSWEGATCHIE 249 



by a horse. When two of the party were ready 

 to start ahead of the others, the guide, Fide Scott, 

 said to one of them, the Preacher, " We'll follow 

 the river for more than half the way, and if you 

 fellows can catch some trout we'll have 'em for 

 dinner." 



The Preacher already had hooks and a line in 

 his pocket, and at once added a supply of fat angle 

 worms from the common stock. They had walked 

 for an hour or more when they came to a point on 

 the river where a tree had fallen across the stream. 

 Just below this natural bridge the water was deep 

 and still, and a great mass of brush seemed to 

 promise an ideal hiding-place for trout. To make 

 conditions exceptionally favourable there was a 

 good-sized open place in the centre of the brush 

 where one might drop his lure without the absolute 

 certainty of getting snagged. The line came out 

 of the Preacher's pocket in a hurry, the hook was 

 tied on and two exceedingly well-developed worms 

 were looped in such a way as to be as enticing as 

 possible. A piece of alder, six feet or so in length, 

 was pressed into service and everything was ready 

 for the piscatorial adventure. But the pole was 

 too short. Doing his best, the fisherman could not 

 stand on the shore and drop his bait into that open 

 spot in the brush. Only one thing remained, and 

 that was to walk out on the log, from which the 

 bark had dropped away, leaving it as slippery as the 

 cellar door down which the Preacher had been wont 



