BASS IN THE BEAVERKILL 



for the lily-pads. Just as I arose to assist her, 

 my rod gave a sudden jerk. There we both were, 

 in deep water, with long and tough lily-stems all 

 around. I said, " Hold tight, and I will land this 

 fellow." I began to reel in, net in hand. I got 

 him up to the boat and saw that it was a good- 

 sized pike. All at once he darted right under the 

 boat and took the rod with him, smashing it into 

 shivers. Laying the remaining butt down, I men- 

 tally resolved that this should happen but once, 

 and began the work of landing the other fish. 

 The rod my wife used was borrowed from a 

 friend, a fact not realized at the time, though that 

 friend, in another boat, was shouting for us to 

 come along home, which helped to make matters 

 worse. Any way the tip split at the ferrule. Still 

 struggling with three parts of a rod, after an 

 awful mess and tangle, we at last netted the prize 

 bass of the day's fishing-party and, merited, if we 

 did not win, a prize as rod-breakers. 



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