UP ROUGH RIVER. 



Jas. Weir, Jr., M. D. 



As I sat in my study overhauling 

 rods and reels, hooks and lines, 

 preparatory to my annual trip 

 after black bass, the door opened, and a 

 fresh, young voice shouted : 



" Hurrah ! I am going, too, uncle." 

 " Joy ! joy ! forever, my task is done, 

 The gate is past, dad's permission won." 



"Kate! is it really you?" I de- 

 manded, in astonishment ; for the boy- 

 ish-looking youngster, with hair close 

 cropped, yachting cap, blue shirt, blue 

 jacket, knickerbockers, and leggings, 

 had the voice and face of my niece ; 

 but there the resemblance ceased. 

 Where were the neat-fitting gown and 

 Tarn O'Shanter, the usual dress of my 

 fun-loving little favorite ? 



" Now, uncle, don't say a word ! You 

 have often said that if I were only a 

 boy, instead of a girl, you would take 

 me with you. Gaze on me ! 1 am a 

 boy, as far as outward appearances go. 

 How do you like my ' bifurcates,' " 

 laughed she, catching hold of her baggy 

 trousers and pulling them out at the 

 sides. " Aren't they swell ? " 



" They are rather balloonish, since I 

 come to look at them. Where did you 

 get them ? " 



" ' Sold aigs and buyed 'em,' nunky. 

 Now, don't say anything about my 

 hair," she continued. " I left mamma 

 at home, all doubled up on the sofa 

 with a bad case of ' highstrikes,' and as 

 I passed grandma on the porch, her 

 mouth opened so wide that her teeth 

 dropped out, all on account of my hair, 

 or rather, absence of hair. I couldn't 

 be a boy with hair on my head a yard 

 long, now, could I, uncle ? So I went 

 to the barber-shop and had myself 

 sheared." 



Kate is an only child and the idol of 

 her father and mother. She is not in 

 the least spoiled, however, and is as 

 natural and unaffected as though she 

 had a dozen sisters and brothers to 

 share the affections of her parents. She 

 is a tall, lissome lass of fifteen, with 

 big, wide-open, dark brown eyes, frank 

 and innocent as a baby's. She uses 

 slang sometimes, to startle her friends 



or shock prudes. She is a dear lover 

 of nature and all out-door sports, but 

 her bitterest enemy, if she has one, 

 would not call her a tomboy, for Kate 

 is essentially womanly and tender. The 

 poor and the miserable find in her a 

 sincere sympathizer. She has even es- 

 tablished in her father's stables a hos- 

 pital for the lame, the blind and the 

 halt of all the brute creatures she can 

 find. She is head nurse of this hospital, 

 and I am chief surgeon. 



" Kate, how did you ever get your 

 father to consent to your going with 

 me?" 



" Well, you know that papa is an 

 ardent Presbyterian, so I just used a 

 few foreordination and predestination 

 arguments with him. This brought him 

 to time in short order. He had to give 

 his consent, or acknowledge that he 

 was no Presbyterian. But I never said 

 anything about the matter to mamma 

 until the last moment. Life is too short, 

 and air too precious, to be spent in 

 vain arguments with mamma. 



"You little rascal ! You have no re- 

 spect whatever for your elders." 



" Well, good bye, nunky. I must 

 see about getting my traps ready for an 

 early start to-morrow. I will have the 

 wagon ready and everything packed by 

 half-past four in the morning, if you 

 will leave your luggage out on the back 

 porch where Mammy Ca'line and I can 

 get it. She's going with us, you know. 

 When you hear me crow, you had best 

 get up, if you don't want a cold bath : 



" Chicken crow at midnight, chicken 

 crow at day, 

 Man in bed, wid sleepy head, 

 Had better be gwine away." 



Singing this Kate ran out of the 

 room, her merry voice echoing down 

 the hall. 



Pursuant to her instructions, before 

 retiring for the night, I placed rods, 

 reels, minnow-bucket, guns and com- 

 missary supplies on the back porch, 

 where she could get them. 



At about 4:30 a.m. I heard something 

 at my window. The slats were softly 



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