1 1 8 Fish Stories 



mystery. Finally I went in, found the proprietor, and pass- 

 ing the amenities, addressed him : 



" Landlord, this house is haunted, is it not ? " 



I was sure of it, but to my surprise, he resented the impu- 

 tation hotly, while I held my ground, and I believe to this 

 day that had I the time, I could have discovered some dark 

 and secret deed associated with the strange inn, and shown 

 it to be haunted. But the point is, that some landlords are 

 particularly and unduly sensitive, as when I asked the Steel- 

 head host if these trout were trained to leap as guests came 

 in, and were trying to decide whether to stay, he resented it 

 and said the fish were tame and his pets. To prove it, he 

 introduced me to them, as it were, handed me some meat 

 which I held over the tank; the trout sprang out of the 

 water, and took it from my hand, then crowded about the 

 front of the tank and eyed me in friendly fashion. The 

 innkeeper then asked me to indicate a fish to be taken out. 

 I picked out a large fellow, whereupon, thrusting his arm 

 into the tank the fish submitted and allowed him to take it 

 out of the water, and more, reclined in his palm without a 

 struggle; indeed this trout lover, for such he was, said the 

 fish rather liked it, and when he replaced it, the trout rubbed 

 against his fingers, and any fish in the tank would submit to 

 this handling, displaying to me, at least, a remarkable 

 docility. 



The secret was, that the owner had raised them from the 

 eggs, which had mostly been taken from the little streams 

 that came down the deep canons of the Santa Cruz range. 

 Every time I passed through the office these trout crowded 

 to the glass, faced me in long silvery green and spotted lines, 

 and begged for something more substantial than flies for 

 which they leaped and snapped with avidity. 



I was soon in the heart of the great redwood forests 

 which form the environment for some of the most beauti- 

 ful trout streams in California. The Santa Cruz moun- 

 tains are a spur of the Coast Range which reaches 



