Tragic Fishing Moments 



feller named DeVane, who lives in Lakeland, an' has 

 a job as pres'dent of a couple o' banks there, as is allus 

 invitin' me down to fish in some lakes in said county. 



Ennyhow I went, too late to git a holt of DeVane, 

 but he was a good scout an' had some fellers come 

 over to Sebring an' tote me down to Lake Stearns in 

 a ottymobeel, The road down from Sebring is hard, 

 tumble hard, I should say. They do say that two 

 fingers o' moonshine taken afore startin' will keep ye 

 tuned up all the way atween the two places, 'count o' 

 the shakin'. Nobody warned me, but I bet I wouldn't 

 take a glass o' milk an' make the trip fer ennything in 

 this worl'. They're a fixin' of these roads an' mebbe 

 somebody else'll soon be able to git down there an' fish 

 like I did. Most folks go by the train now but you 

 betche ye have to walk to my lake now, fer it lies kinda 

 sequestered like. The trip by otto is purty, though, 

 fer it takes you through a lot of fuzzy woods an' some 

 wild, wild country. 



I'm goin' to tell ye now who was in the party, an* 

 they is the same bunch what was with me fishin', 

 ceptin' one feller that didn't go the second day. Albert 

 DeVane, a feller that's been in the navy, was one of 

 'em. Albert is tearin' up trees an' plantin* oranges at 

 Lake Childs. T. U. Jackson, "J ac k" fer short, was an- 

 other, an* he is doin' ditto work at Lake Stearns. Also 

 an' likewise was with us, a feller named Jones. He is 

 a auditor fer the Lake Childs development. Last one 



24 



