Tragic Fishing Moments 



each other in their attempts to entertain, with the aid 

 of cocktails and fish tales, a dandified but rather emol- 

 lescent old party. There was no doubt about the emol- 

 lescent old party (whom, for the sake of brevity we 

 will henceforth call E. O. P.) absorbing their drinks, 

 but whether their stories " took " or not is left for the 

 reader to decide. He was polite and listened atten- 

 each other in their attempts to entertain, with the aid 

 tively, thereby satisfactorily playing the part allotted 

 to him by his triumvirate of hosts. After nodding 

 " yes " to the waiter many times and nodding appre- 

 ciatively to his hosts at the culmination of each story, 

 he timidly ventured, with a deprecating air: 



" Gentlemen, I consider it a privilege to have had 

 the honor of being entertained by three such patently 

 experienced fishermen. The value of the information 

 you have given me has been exceeded only by the gra- 

 cious way in which you have taken me to your bosoms, 

 as it were, and admitted me into the secrets of your 

 select fraternity. As a slight compensation for your 

 kindness I will, with your permission, impart to you 

 a rather remarkable experience of my own." 



With scarcely concealed about-to-be-bored expres- 

 sions on their faces, they condescendingly indicated 

 their willingness to listen. E. O. P. impressively con- 

 tinued : 



" A matter of twenty or more years ago I was at- 

 tached to a state fish-hatchery. Among other duties 



263 



