Too Great a Temptation 



Here is a short and sweet one from our friend 

 Mr. A. B. Gilbert, of Minneapolis. I can well un- 

 derstand how a kid would want to catch those shiner 

 minnows. Mr. Gilbert closes with some excellent 

 fishing philosophy, and it's plain that to him there 

 is a lot more to fishing than just fish. 



My most tragic moment, the one which pops into 

 my head frequently and which came to mind first when 

 I noticed the announcement of your hard luck sym- 

 posium, takes me back east to Croton Lake, New York, 

 and in years to the age of nine. 



I was then a fisherman of some two years* experi- 

 ence. The twig had been bent permanently, one might 

 say, but I had not reached the stage where all fish are 

 not pretty much alike. A sucker was a wonderful 

 fish with which to surprise the family, but the kind I 

 thought most of privately was the yellow shiner. 



On a Sunday afternoon (my tragedy could have 

 happened only on a Sunday) I was crossing a little 

 bridge over an inlet near our grist mill and by force of 

 habit examined the water beneath for signs. It was 

 all right for a little Quaker to look over the possibili- 

 ties of sin so long as he did not yield to temptation ! 



226 



