Sucker Days. 85 



hiding sucker, but with a decision that 

 brings results in all things he squeezed 

 the fish in a good double grasp and car- 

 ried it so far out in the meadow grass 

 that it left all hope behind. Was n't it 

 a beauty ! We picked it up and let it 

 flounce out of our hands a dozen times 

 before it became submissive. 



" How will you trade him for mine?" 

 asked Tom Allen. " Oh, but that one of 

 yours ain't anywheres near so big as this 

 one," said the boy. " No," said Tom, 

 "but them big ones is all innards and no 

 meat. Just heft mine onct. There 's 

 twicet as much meat on him." So, always 

 ready to be taken advantage of in a bar- 

 gain for any plausible reason, the boy 

 traded the great big sucker for Tom's 

 smaller one, and we lugged our respective 

 fish almost to school and hid them under 

 the stone wall. It is unnecessary to refer 

 to our experience within the doors, but 

 our aches were tempered with the prospec- 

 tive exultation of carrying the suckers 

 home after school was out. And then 

 an unexpected movement of the boy's 



