A Practical Joke. 



My first boyhood chum in outdoor sports was Arthur 



G . He was of medium height, heavy set, had dark hair 



and eyes; giving him a predominance of the motive tempera- 

 ment, which, in connection with his large caution, made him 

 slow and careful in acting; while I was impulsive and incau- 

 tious. This was a fortunate combination for me; as his re- 

 straining influence held me in check, and kept me from doing 



many careless and foolish things. Arthur G was slow to 



anger, but had a bad temper when thoroughly aroused. As I 

 was always on the alert to play him practical jokes, I had to 

 be careful not to carry these too far. 



I remember once when I got beyond the limit. It was a 

 hot day in autumn. We had been down the river fishing, and 

 on our way back stopped at a big deep spring hole to drink. 

 Arthur was very careful of his clothes and had a novel way of 

 drinking from a river or spring without soiling them. He 

 would place the palms of his hands on the sand, in the edge of 

 the water, then placing his knees on his kimboed elbows, bal- 

 ance nicely in this position and drink. On this occasion I 

 drank first, and was standing behind him as he leaned for- 

 ward. The position was too tempting for me. I gave him a 

 gentle push with my foot to make him wet his nose. Imagine 

 my surprise to see him lose his balance and go headlong into 

 the drink, like a big bull-frog. The look on his face, as he came 

 sputtering to the surface, warned me to keep out of his way. 

 I did my fishing on the other side of the river on the way home. 



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