The Salmon of Monterey 203 



acteristic of Bill, though he did not know it,- 

 he was a close observer, which made him a good 

 boatman. 



I sent this salmon down to a friend who lived 

 in a salmonless country, who pronounced it fit 

 for Lucullus, and, as I had imparted to him a 

 secret regarding its cooking in olive oil, with 

 dashes of Burgundy, and a certain vintage of 

 white Chablis to go with it, he was doubtless 

 right ; the shades of Lucullus and Epicurus were 

 doubtless there. 



When Bill had stowed away this record sal- 

 mon, which he declared was truly the record 

 for the Irresistible Arubclla with a rod, he came 

 toward me, put out his hand, and assured me 

 that he had fished with some of the greatest 

 anglers of the world, but in all his experience 

 he had never seen a fish handled so well, so 

 gracefully, so tactfully. I think he even re- 

 ferred to my technique, and interjected something 

 about Herbert Spencer, who was an angler, but 

 of this I am not sure. The point is this: you 

 would hardly believe that I who have lived sev- 

 eral years, and know all about flattery, cajolery, 

 and all the rest of it, would fall so completely 

 into this vortex of adulation and complacency, 

 yet I did, and if you could have looked in upon 

 the Irresistible Arabella a moment later, you 

 would have seen Bill smoking one of my best 

 cigars, after having been given a rod and vari- 



