252 SPORTING SKETCHES. 



His boat, as usual with such men, never leaked a drop, 

 would ride over any waves that the wind could blow. Then for 

 fish stories, oh, what a stock this disciple of Isaac had at his 

 tongue's end ! His hair was very white, so, no doubt, he was a 

 truthful raconteur. In order the better to double the length of 

 each fish taken during previous trips, he would stop rowing, 

 and mark off with his left hand the length on his right arm, 

 looking up at you all the time to see if you believed him when 

 he said " Longue comme ca." 



The time passed pleasantly enough whilst crossing over to the 

 fishing ground. The day was all that a fisherman could desire. 

 Our tackle was in perfect order, for had we not frequently during 

 the winter overhauled it in anticipation of this time ? It was then 

 with joyful and expectant hearts that we committed our artificial 

 minnows, Maltby's celebrated horn killers, to the water. First, 

 a pike, never very welcome to us, then a dore, then another pike, 

 a perch, afterwards at a favorite " Chenai " a lot of the gamiest 

 black bass we ever killed, and we have killed a good many I can 

 assure you. Then we neared a lovely island, on which we landed 

 for a few minutes to give our guide his breakfast and a few 

 mosquitoes a bite or two. All this time we listened to the wild 

 birds singing their morning hymn of praise. Those who have 

 heard them at this hour are not, I am sure, the libellers who say 

 our Canadian birds cannot sing as sweetly as the " Old Country " 

 songsters. 



Afterwards we saw the wood duck and her youngsters. The 

 old bird tried every trick she could think of to make us follow 

 her but we well understood her ways and did not deviate from 

 our course. We will give her and her family a call about 

 September 1. 



The wild roses and the cranberry blossoms made the shores 

 lovely and on the rocks the little pipers were playing their usual 

 game of " tit up." 



To return to the fishing. Well, we fished all that day, except 

 when enjoying a little refreshment at noon under the shade of 

 some lovely trees. Of course we lost our biggest fish, the man 

 said the largest dore he ever saw on a hook. Our landing net 

 was not large enough for such a patriarch ; another time we will 

 go prepared for him. With the stars shining overhead, we 



