258 With Rod and Gun in New England 



£ 



chase, but it was cooked in a lawful coffee-pot and in lawful sausage gravy, 

 by our own hands in the wilds of Kinderhook, fully fourteen miles from 

 what we thought to be, not only the centre of civilization, but was actually 

 our centre of the world. And so we go ; only the world somehow does n't 

 grow as fast as we do ; it 's a little affair, after all. 



The open brush-shanty was warm and comfortable, its slanting roof 

 reflected the heat of the fire on us and there was a bed of boughs which had 

 no twigs in them. I sank to sleep without musing upon the philosophy or the 

 poetry of sleep. I simply slept the sleep of a tired boy who had lost a lot 

 of it and had to make up both principal and interest. There were no 

 sticks in the bed, no Arctic temperature, and — morning came. 



We had just breakfasted when the farmer joined us. He had a fine- 

 meshed net and took us to a place where a spring came in and we seined 

 out some minnows. "Don't take more than you need," said he, and we 

 selected fifty from the first haul and kept them in a bucket which he loaned 

 us, and then went on the lake, cut out the holes, rebaited the hooks with 

 live minnows, and the fun began. Tip-up after tip-up bobbed and we ran 

 from hole to hole, pulling up a pickerel or a perch, or rebaiting hooks. 

 Fun was no name for it ! I remember calling out: "John! look at this 

 big one " ! and hearing him reply : "That's nothing, look at this." 



Toward noon the fish ceased biting and our desire to bite began. We 

 counted fourteen pickerel, which, at this late day, seem to have averaged 

 four pounds each, and a lot of perch, perhaps twenty. At least sixty 

 pounds of fish in all. What was to be done ? We could not pack them 

 home on our backs, in addition to our other things, for we had not light- 

 ened our loads much. We went to the farmhouse with half our fish and 

 offered them to the man who had given us the apples and the minnows. 

 " Boys," said he, " I '11 take three fish, an' they '11 do for supper an' break- 

 fast. You will want to take home the rest, an' you '11 vally 'em more 'n I 

 do, so take 'em home." 



"But we can't carry 'em," said I. 



"No," said John, "we had load enough coming down, and couldn't 

 get all these fish home. Take some more, an' we '11 make an attempt to 

 carry the rest, if they break our backs." 



" I '11 tell you, boys, what to do. Bring all your things over here and 

 take supper with us. We have a spare bed for you, and I 'm going to 

 Albany with a light load in the morning and you can ride with me. What 

 do you say "? 



" Mr. Jackson," I had learned his name, "we came down to camp out, 

 and it 's just bully. We thank you for the offer of a bed, but prefer the 

 shanty. While I like camp life, as far as I know it, I have no great liking 

 for packing a load on my back, and a ride back with you will be a pleasure, 

 won't it, John " ? 



