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and some of the fry ladled out into the river. Instantly 

 a crowd of minnows, killey fish, dace, chubs, shiners 

 and all manner of small fishes swarmed from all direc- 

 tions and proceeded to devour their still smaller brethren. 

 They arrived with astounding swiftness and in incredible 

 numbers. Had a dinner bell been rung it could not 

 have summoned a larger or hungrier congregation. In 

 a minute not a shad remained alive to tell the tale ; they 

 had gone to the realm of the departed ; the_y had entered 

 within the veil ; they had sought the bourne from which 

 no traveler returns. In other words, they were in the 

 rapacious maws of a lot of little worthless fish which 

 could do much harm but no good to any one. From the 

 stomach of a little shiner not over an inch long, which 

 was caught with a dip net, seventeen young shad were 

 taken. 



By this time it had become apparent that something 

 was wrong, so the rest of the hatching was temporarily 

 deposited in a small pond built of sand and pebbles 

 on the shore of the river, while their case was taken un- 

 der serious consideration. Next morning it was at first 

 thought they had all escaped for they were not to be 

 found anywhere in the body of the pond, but were final- 

 ly discovered at its outer edge. A long narrow pond 

 projecting into the river was then built, and pieces of 

 white paper placed on the bottom so that the diminutive 

 creatures could be more easily watched. Next morning 

 they were again found crowded at the outer extremity. 

 The problem was solved. Instinct had taught them to 

 seek the deep water where their insignificance was their 

 protection. Hardly a half inch in length and not more 

 than a pin's thickness in breadth, they would escape un- 

 noticed the monsters of three, four and five pounds 

 weight which roamed about in the main current, while 



