142 MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 



Catskill as the name of a village, a range of mountains 

 and a stream? And then the word creek is used in New 

 York for a bayou or arm of a river which forms an island, 

 like the Popscheny, and also for a brook or even rivers 

 like the East and West Canadas, which form the great 

 Mohawk. All this has nothing whatever to do with 

 Steve Martin, the subject now under the scalpel and 

 microscope. A cog slipped and some ink went astray 

 only this and nothing more. 



The day was quite young when we reached the 

 stream near its mouth and some distance below the first 

 dam. , George Scott was going to try a new bait, and 

 had brought a lot of fresh-water mussels Unio "for," 

 said he, "if these things aren't good for bait, what good 

 are they? What do they have shells on 'em for if it is 

 not to keep the fish from eating 'em?" 



"Lemme smell 'em," said Steve, and he took a sniff 

 and with a look of disgust said: "George, a fish couldn't 

 eat that thing; you can't eat it, and it's my opinion that 

 nothing will eat it. What do you think of it, Fred?" 



"I dunno ; the only way to find out is to try 'em. Old 

 John Chase has used 'em for bait in his eel pots, and he 

 wouldn't fool his time with the things if they are no 

 good. I've seen him pick up a peck on the flats at low 

 tide. Hogs eat them, and Port Tyler said that some 

 kinds of wild ducks eat the little ones. I don't see why 

 they shouldn't be as good as clams or oysters; they live 

 like them." 



"Oysters!" yelled Steve, "I'll bet you daren't taste 

 of one. Nobody eats them, and I believe they're 

 poison."" 



"I'll eat one if you will." 



"That's fair," said George Scott. 



Pete Loeser remarked: "I dink Stefe he vas scart to 



