EXPERIENCES & REMINISCENCES. 169 



Tieard him say " It pulled like a great bullock." The cherry 

 gentleman meaning you, Mr. Hopper suggested " more like 

 a calf." I immediately came to the conclusion I was going to 

 have some extraordinary companion I heard some further 

 talk about weights and scales being fetched, and the unknown 

 gentleman guessed nibs., and you guessed I2lbs, and I began 

 to think it must be a very small calf to weigh so little. The 

 former gentleman then said it had' knocked some scales off 

 when in his bath, and as I knew that calves had not any scales, 

 and were not usually put in gentlemen's baths, I began to turn 

 over in my mind whether I was not going to have a companion 

 of my own species brought me. I saw a bottle produced, and 

 some liquid poured over where it was said the scales were off, 

 to prevent any fungoid growth, and then to my intense delight 

 I saw my " old flame " Bessy brought out from a number of wet 

 wrappers and carefully placed in the Park lake. 



As luck would have it, she swam right into the weeds where 

 I was in hiding, and immediately recognised me as her former 

 lover. Bessy was very plump and in most perfect condition, 

 and told me she weighed 12 Ibs. when put in the scales, and as 

 I weigh now rather over 13 Ibs., we are a very comely couple. 

 Bessy told me she fell a victim in precisely the same manner 

 as I had done, namely, to a small sweet piece of white paste, 

 and the experience of her capture was nearly identical with my 

 own, the only difference being that in her case the lucky captor 

 was not a wicked lawyer. Bessy and I will wait until the 

 spring before being married, and when we have got over family 

 troubles, and hatched some small carp fry, we shall begin to 

 sport ourselves in the Park lake about July. Bring us lots of 

 cherries then. This is a long story, Mr. Hopper, but I thought 

 you would like to hear a little more about myself and also 

 about my future wife. Yours piscatorially, 



THE CARP IN THE PARK LAKE. 



P.S. It is Bessy who is writing this postscript she is given 

 to understand that in polite society and genteel circles it is one 

 of the privileges conceded to her sex to have the monopoly of 

 adding the most important part of a letter a little bit after the 



