Little Partner. 



It is a hot, dreamy summer afternoon, with the mercury 

 flirting around the 100 mark too warm for work or any kind 

 of exertion ; so I lean back lazily in the office chair, put my feet 

 on top of the desk, and allow my thoughts to wander retro- 

 spectively over the past. Whenever I do this I always wind up 

 with some pleasant day's shooting or fishing. The little thing 

 that leads me away from the present into the past, this time, 

 is a plain, old, smoke-stained briar pipe that has kept me com- 

 pany on many a camping trip and has furnished me con- 

 solation when the fish would not bite or the shot and birds 

 failed to connect. I found this old reminder in my barnyard 

 coat pocket, where it has lain for many years untouched, un- 

 used, forgotten. Holding the old relic in my hand, I close my 

 eyes, and memory carries me back to many happy experiences 

 in field and wood, on lake and stream, in which the dear little 

 wife and I participated in days gone by. 



Little Partner, like most ladies of those days, knew noth- 

 ing about the use of rod and gun when we were married ; but, 

 as soon as the holidays were over, we set about planning our 

 first vacation, and finally decided to take advantage of the low 

 excursion rates to Clear Lake, Iowa, and spend a few weeks 

 there. This was more than twenty years ago, and the fishing 

 and shooting we enjoyed on that trip were something that the 

 young sportsmen of today will never see. It was our first 

 outing, and I took pains to see that Little Partner should re- 

 alize all she had expected, and not go home disgusted with her 

 first experience. We fished, hunted, and sailed together in that 

 paradise of game and fish for four weeks, and then returned to 

 our home happier and better able to cope with our winter's 

 work. 



And thus it is that the sight of this old pipe brings before 

 me many of these trips. But there are two that are more 

 directly associated with the old briar, and stand out more 



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