Tragic Fishing Moments 



and have the mysterious color of depth you know 

 what I mean. 



If you go to the Sespe, golden dreams will attend 

 you, and tragic moments may also be experienced. 

 The joy of living, and love of all God's creatures will 

 surely come to you, for this is the quality of all waters 

 wherein trout live and breathe and by Nature's law 

 bring forth the fingerlings. And yes, the bass, we 

 must not forget the gamy bass. In the ultimate this 

 is why we follow in the footsteps of gentle Izaak 

 Walton. Peace be unto his kindly shade. May 

 our children and our children's children revere his 

 name forever and ever and a day. This, my 

 masters brothers of the gentle art comes from 

 my heart. 



Once upon a time I had a tragic moment come 

 to think, more than once. At this time I'll tell but 

 one. Marse Bill Taylor kept the hotel at Williams- 

 port, in bonnie Maryland, situated just there where 

 you ford the Potomac to the Old Dominion. That's 

 the place. There Robert E. Lee crossed the Potomac 

 when he came out of Dixie to invade Pennsylvania 

 and marched back again with decimated legions, 

 after disastrous Gettysburg. 



Bill did keep the hotel in Williamsport by the Poto- 

 mac in days long past, for as I write, it dawns upon 

 me that I am harking back to the days of my care- 

 fully trained young pompadour and my first mustache. 



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