THE LATE SALMO SALAR, ESQ. 11 



I broke in here upon the old gentleman's 

 narrative. " Why, sir, did you not tell me 

 me just now that your great enjoyment was to 

 devour all the little insects on or beneath the 

 surface of the water that came within your 

 reach ?" 



" What, sir," said he, testily, " has that to 

 do with the matter ? Those miserable animated 

 atoms were, doubtless, created expressly to 

 feed us beings of a nobler order. If you com- 

 pare a wretched gnat, or a miserable " 



I assured the choleric old gentleman I had 

 no such intention, and begged him to proceed 

 with his interesting narrative. 



CHAPTER III. 



Having donned my silvery coat, I go forth into the 

 "wide, wide world." I pass a modest but candid 

 opinion on my own appearance and attributes. 



" Time rolled its ceaseless course ; days melted 

 into weeks, and weeks into months ; upwards 



