1 82 



RECREATION. 



seconds till the joke dawned fully on 

 him. Then he was a wild man. Joe 

 waded part way across the river for 

 safety. I rolled on the sand and howled. 

 It was all over with Elmer in a few min- 

 utes, but it was hot while it lasted. He 

 tired himself out with the violence of his 

 emotions. Then he sat down on the sand 

 and was quiet a while. Finally he cut out 

 the hook, strung the catfish again and, with 

 a sickly grin, remarked, 



"I'll get even with you boys yet;" after 

 which he went to sleep again, but did not 

 put out any bait. 



Shortly after he went to sleep Joe caught 

 a small pike which swallowed the hook. 

 He untied the string, with Elmer's catfish 

 on it, to use the hook extractor, and after 

 putting his pike on a separate string, for- 

 got to tie the other one to the pail. The 

 catfish promptly swam away taking the 

 hook extractor with him on the end of the 

 stringer. I also landed a pike, and when 

 I went to the pail to get bait, I discovered 

 the loss of the cat and the extractor. 

 Thereupon Joe and I agreed to affirm that 

 Elmer had not caught a catfish; that he had 

 not been awake since setting his rod; that 

 he must have dreamed about the catfish; 

 and as we each had a fish to show and he 

 had none, we would make a bluff to throw 

 him into the river, as agreed. 



It was about noon, so to make our bluff 

 good, we shouted at Elmer to wake up and 

 get lunch ready. He stood up, stretching 

 and yawning, and asked, 



"What are you fellows howling about? 

 Have you caught anything yet?" 



We replied that we had, and, as he had 



not, he was due to get the lunch ready, 

 feed the team, etc., and then be thrown 

 into the river. He walked up toward us, 

 laughing, and began to talk about his cat- 

 fish. We expressed great surprise at his 

 story, told him he must have been dream- 

 ing, and insisted that he had not moved 

 after he first went to sleep. 



He looked at us in disgusted amazement, 

 and walked over to the minnow pail to look 

 at. the catfish. Not finding it he began, 



"Where is that cat — -," Joe broke in, 

 "Oh, come now, Elmer, you can't run any 

 bluff on us. You haven't had a bite and 

 you're due for a bath, so get ready. Your 

 pipe dreams don't go." 



Then Elmer raved and hunted for the 

 catfish. Finally he asked Joe for his ex- 

 tractor. Joe said he didn't bring it with 

 him. Then doubt began to grow in 

 Elmer's mind. He fixed the lunch and 

 fed the team, and we ate our lunch with 

 our rods set and listening for the click. 



Elmer said little during lunch, but when 

 we announced our intention of throwing 

 him into the river, he rebelled. After 

 quite a talk, we agreed to let that part of 

 the program go. 



We had a fairly good catch when we 

 started home, about sundown. As we 

 rolled along the smooth road, Elmer began 

 to recover his usual good nature and talka- 

 tiveness, and we soon had the whole story. 

 It was a strain for Joe and me to keep 

 straight faces and laugh at proper times, 

 but we managed it. 



Joe or I never told Elmer the facts, but 

 we told some of the other boys, and Elmer 

 ' must have learned the truth later. 



BOB WHITE. 



IRA SWEET. 



How oft have I listened to you, Mr. Quail, When golden . October's soft, halcyon 

 As you sounded your notes from some days 



mossy old rail, Brought out the gay hunters to roam 

 While your wife on the nest knew that woodland ways, 



nothing was wrong, And the voice of the gun sounded far o'er 

 As she heard your sweet music, that tender the plain, 



love song, I heard you call softly, again and again, 

 Bob White! Bob White! Bob White! Bob White! 



How oft have I heard you, when summer And when you fell dead at the nitro's sharp 



was nigh, crack, 



As the gathering tempest quick darkened I tenderly placed you within the game 



the sky ! sack ; 



While other birds, frightened, all scattered Then blithely sped on, for from over the 



on wing, hill 



You chanted your song and defied the Came the notes of your comrades, who 



storm-king, sang with a will, 



Bob White ! Bob White ! Bob White ! Bob White ! 



