Trolling. 437 



companions 'had been camping down the lake for a week, 

 "we shot nearly fifty in a week near our camp; they 

 gnawed the axe-handle and chewed up a pair or two of 

 boots, and we started in to clean 'em out ! " 



And these young men had probably time and again re- 

 sponded to the commandment, " Thou shalt not kill," with 

 " Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep 

 this law." 



Now, I do not pose as an example, or as being any better 

 than my fellows, for I am not, but I do hold that the 

 wanton killing of the meanest creature is murder. At the 

 same time, I can kill any animal — mammal, bird or fish — 

 with clean hands and with a clear conscience, when done in 

 a sportsmanlike manner, and -when it can be utilized. 



I assure the reader that the scrap of conversation given 

 above is a mild sample of what I actually heard that even- 

 ing. Some boasted of killing even more bass than the in- 

 dividual mentioned, but I believe they added lying to their 

 other accomplishments. 



Then there were grouse and deer killed out of season — 

 does still in milk, and grouse-hens with half -grown broods 

 — but enough; these men were what they seemed, mere 

 pretenders to the name of angler or sportsman, such as 

 one is apt to meet at any summer hotel where there is 

 fishing or shooting; men who under the guise of innocent 

 sport indulge their thirst for blood and murder ; men who 

 are set and confirmed in their ways, and for whom there is 

 no hope of improvement or reform. 



But there are new hands who do these things thought- 

 lessly, and by the force of bad example, and it is for their 

 benefit that I have written what might otherwise be deemed 

 out of place, here. 



