164 Fish Stories 



his rod on his shoulder, and as he entered the yard he 

 laid it down, walked up to the house and knocked on the 

 door. As he waited se-ze-e-e-e-e-e ! came the buzz of his 

 reel, the first time he had heard it that day, and then fol- 

 lowed a loud and awful squawk. As he turned, he saw a 

 big buff cochin rooster dash into the air ; the bird had swal- 

 lowed the worm, and hooked, had flown into the air like a 

 tarpon, and by the time the angler caught the rod, he had 

 taken fifty feet of line, and was prancing in great bounds 

 and leaps around the yard, uttering squawks and cackling 

 at the top of his voice. There was but one thing to do to 

 save the rooster and the valuable rod, so the angler began 

 to reel in the rooster, giving it the butt in good fashion ; now 

 yanking it down from flights into the empyrean, then slack- 

 ing away, as it bounded over a fence ; reeling, running, put- 

 ting up a game fight and really enjoying the novelty of it, 

 when some one called out, 



" ' What in are you doing with that rooster ? ' 



" ' I'm trying to land him,' cried the angler. ' You don't 

 think I'm fishing for him, do you ? ' 



" ' Wal, it looks like fishin' to me,' answered the farmer. 



" ' Not on your life,' said the angler. ' That line cost ten 

 dollars ; it's a duplex braided salmon line.' 



"'And that rooster's a prize bird,' shouted the farmer, 

 starting after it, ' Rameses IV., out of Nero.' 



" Around the barnyard they ran ; the angler reeling and 

 giving the butt, pumping and lifting, making line when he 

 could; the farmer swearing; pigs, calves and cows bolting 

 at the awful noise. Finally the irate owner fell upon the 

 rooster and found the hook impaled in its throat. 



" ' You'll pay ten dollars for that,' exclaimed the farmer. 



" ' All right,' retorted the angler. ' Give me the rooster,' 

 and he paid the money, threw the bird over his shoulder, and 

 tramped home with the queerest game ever taken with a 

 rod." 



"Good enough for him!" growled old B. "No honest 



