1G8 MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 



with him the first moment possible. His bodily infirm- 

 ities had increased, and he had now but one eye that was 

 of service, and that was very poor. I baited his hooks 

 and threw out his line, and when he pulled in a fish saw 

 that the hooks did not enter his hands. He was quite 

 despondent one day. Said he: "Freddy, my boy, I won- 

 der that the good Lord doesn't take me. Many a time 

 I've asked Him to call me, but for some reason He does 

 not do it. I am only a burden on Billy, and the pains in 

 my head from that railroad accident are more than I can 

 bear. Billy has a severe cold, and has been laid off sev- 

 eral days ; if anything should happen to him I " 



Things were getting uncomfortable, and to turn the 

 tide I ventured to say: "Don't worry about Billy; we all 

 have colds and get over them ; of course, he couldn't sing 

 in his present state, but he'll be all right i,ext week. 

 There! That fish is off and your bait is all right again." 



Billy's cold did not get better, and I was called to sit 

 up with him. Pneumonia developed and the old man 

 had to be removed from his room. Pete had gone to 

 Wisconsin, and the minstrel boys and the church choir 

 sent watchers in such numbers that they could not be 

 , used. 



It was my duty to superintend the watchers and com- 

 fort the father, but the end came in a few days. Rela- 

 tives from Boston came to the funeral, but Mr. Raynor 

 clung to me and insisted on my being with him at the 

 last sad rites. 



The next day, while walking up Market street, I 

 heard a little girl say: "They've found a drowned man in 

 the river; come on, Maggie, let's go down and see him." 

 I followed along in idle curiosity and saw the man. It 

 was the body of an old man, and I gave his name to the 

 coroner. 



