THE BASSES: FRES H-W ATER AND MARINE 



ing the best fishing-grounds for black bass within 

 fifty miles of Philadelphia. From the porch on 

 an opportune day, faintly cloudy, warm, and misty, 

 the fish could, be seen fairly roiling the waters be- 

 low, and it was not an unusual occurrence for one 

 of the trio to slip on his water toggery after sup- 

 per and return at dusk with sufficient black bass 

 to supply for a day the table of the camp and 

 that of a neighboring farmer over the hillside. 



The personnel of the members of the club was 

 indicated by their distinct angling methods and 

 their belief in the Doctor, the president, who was 

 a well-to-do young physician, hearty in health, 

 and stocky in body and spirits, with a jolly " How- 

 are-you? " air about him that went like a sunbeam 

 into your good graces. His angling hobby was 

 expressed in his belief, loudly spoken, that a cer- 

 tain bug was the lure of the season. 



" You might catch them with other feathers, but 

 you always caught them with this one." 



It is a fact, certified to by an open-season an- 

 gler, that the eldest of the club was heard to ex- 

 claim, one August night, during the camp-fire 

 talk: 



" ' A worm at one end and a fool at the other! ' 

 Ah! old Johnson said so, did he? Well, well! it 

 may be so; but just tell the old gentleman for 

 me that rather than not go fishing at all I *m will- 

 ing to be the worm" 



