178 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



.Sept. 1, 1893. 



THE CONTEST. 



The day is well chosen; this rock-riven stream 



la tilie angler's ideal resort, 

 Tiie waters rain-tinted, nor muddy, nor clear. 

 Not twenty such days in the calendar year 



Are desiKued for the lover of sport 

 Who draws near the brink— true to nature as ever. 

 And matches his own with the flies on the river. 



For he who would master the art must discern 



The shade of each delicate thing; 

 From the creatures that glide o'er the waters' clear face, 

 Interwearing themselves in. their frolicsome chase, 



To the dragon fly's gossamer wing. 

 How the shades of the silk and the wild fowPs feather 

 Are suited to changes of season and weather. 



A cloud has passed over the sunlight, and he 



Who'd remained for an hour so still- 

 Having stretched his gut line to its utmost tense 

 And examined each knot to relieve the suspense— 



Now wields the lithe weapon with skill. 

 Each acgler we meet baf original notion: ; 

 Come let us approach and observe all his motions. 



His flies are cast forth with a sinuous sound 



That resembles the flight of a dove, 

 While each in succession drops into its place, 

 To lure and to baffle the star-ipeckled race, 



'Til again the line whistles above 

 And falls unperceived in the white foaming eddy. 

 A flash— 'Us a rise, now you have him, hold steady. 



And now the rod bends to its shndow below, 



And the pulse of Ihe angler beats quick, 

 While bis fingers are artfully trying to deal 

 With a subtle silk line rolling oat from a reel 



That responds with a musical click. 

 Look out for the rapids and "bear on him" lightlj; 

 When he runs give him rein, when he slackens hold tightly. 



Behold, now the struggle is reaching i1 a height. 



And the brisk trcut, to vary the scene, 

 Lespa upward and quivers one moment in sigh*^, 

 Then pierces the pool with the shafts of his light, 



'Til the angler, though wai-chful and keen. 

 Finds out that his utmost precaution is taxed; 

 The fish has run shoreward- the line ia relaxed. 



Step back a few paces— rely on the reel; 



That fatally musical click 

 From the clock of a life; and ifruns rather low, 

 As the king of the water course soon must know, 



For his movements no longer are quick; 

 Keep his head above water and bear him down streamwise, 

 As a landing, yon shadowy inlet would seem wise. 



Our hero has yielded— his efEorts were vain 



Against science, that dealer in death; 

 Full twenty-flve minutes- the struggle was brave; 

 He floats like a sunbeam aslant on the wave, 



All conquered and gasping for breath. 

 The landing net now does the last stroke of duty 

 And we are "all eyes" for the star-speckled beauty. 



The steelyards bring hither— five pounds to an ounce: 



Such a prize rarely falis to our lot; 

 And lo-night when you meet with the mates of your club, 

 You can give the old anglers an eloquent snub 



When they greet you with "What have you caught?" 

 That infallible question— they're certain to ask it. 



For answer— just raise up the lid of the basket. 



H. F. O'Beibnb. 



El, MoRO, N. M 



VACATION TIME. 



The vacation time is here, and go where we will we 

 meet tellers, bookkeepers and clerks from all branches 

 of business — on wheels, in canoes, in the mountains with 

 rod and reel, with dog and gun; on the seashore; all 

 enjoying their outing — and what a blessing it is. The 

 getting ready and packing up for weeks before, the 

 thinking of every little thing to take — all these are a 

 pleasure in themselves. Oftentimes the outing itself is 

 a disappointment. We don't find the birds. Fish do 

 not bite. Water too rough. And other things that in- 

 terfere, but the large majority have very enjoyable times 

 and come home refreshed and ready for the duties that 

 their positions require. We find work has accumulated 

 in our absence, but we are equal to the task, and as the 

 weeks roll on into months, some day or evening, while 

 poring over a ledger diflierence, there comes the thought 

 how that old partridge did tumble, and then in less time 

 than it takes to tell it here we see all the nooks and cor- 

 ners in the woods, and after that staunch point of Mol- 

 lie, how the old grouse did get up from the other side of 

 that log and like a rocket fly right over toward Doc. 

 And what a shot. "Steady now, old girl, there he lies. 

 Fetch." We sit down and look him over, and as it is 

 lunch time and here is a cool spring we enjoy the spread, 

 and after a smoke then on to that woodcock cover, 

 fest But where is the ledger difference? Oh, that is all 

 right. We'll find that now very soon, and we do. We 

 have had the help of Doc and MoUie and that glorious 

 October day — all have given us a helping hand. 



With me vacation never ends. It comes to me in days 

 of trial and perplexities in business, in the evening hours 

 at home with my family or with friends. How pleas- 

 antly we talk over our outing days of each year, and 

 read over the diary, where we saw our first deer— and 

 so on. 



Vacation to me is not how many birds shot or how 

 many fish caught. These may count for something, but 

 the true and lasting value of every vacation comes from 

 the lifting of mind and body out of the daily ruts of toil 

 and care. The individual who carries his business into 

 his vacation might as well stay home. To such an one 

 the strike of a mosquito will do as well as the strike of a 

 trout, and the pop of a ginger-ale bottle as well as the re- 

 port of a wood powder shell. Fling care to the wind 

 when vacation begins, and every wind will waft back 

 comfort and restful influence. 



One word on half days off and the man at the head r,f 

 the oflace in which I am employed. He isn't a shoot 



fisher— don't know a woodobuok from a woodcock or a 

 sandpiper from a pickerel. He isn't interested in field 

 sports, but he is interested in the help under him, and 

 there ia no occasion to use the old dodge (which they say 

 so many clerks have used), presenting a telegram to the 

 employer that your aunt's grandfather of the mother's 

 side is dead and you wish to go to the funeral. Nothing 

 of the kind. We walk up and say we would like to go 

 away for the afternoon. It is always, "Go, and I hope 

 you will have a pleasant time, and if the boys have too 

 much to do call on me and I will do your work." 



My brother bookkeex)ers, clerks and any and all of you 

 who may read this, my wish is that you all had such an 

 employer, but I know you have not. I know that there 

 are those who only think of you for the good you are to 

 them , and if they give their consent for your going for a 

 half day, do it so reluctantly that it takes from the after- 

 noon all the anticipated pleasure, and you are wishing 

 that you had remained at your post, and not asked for the 

 favor. 



I expect to take my vacation about Oct, 15, when the 

 grouse are all full-grown and the woodcock from the 

 north are with us, and I may tell you about it, H. 



CAMPS OF THE KINGFISHERS.-XI. 



CARP LAKE. MICHIGAN. 



The Carp Lake Camp. 



At breakfaBt next morning while sorting the bones of 

 one of Charley's trout, old Sam said, with a face as 

 solemn as an owl's, -'Jeemes Mackerel, that l8ft. — beg 

 pardon, 18in. mud turtle o' yourn must be getting oneasy 

 at your absence by this time ; better go down this morn- 

 in' an' hive 'im. Take the glass minner trap along with 

 ye an' put two er three shiners in it an' he'il go in after 

 'em, same as the big-bellied perch did, an' then you've 

 got 'im. See?"' And then they all laughed, even the 

 keeper of the fryin' pans had a bro£d grin on liis face as 

 he peered over the boat box at the end of the table, and 

 Kelpie rubbed it in still deeper with, "Hickory, I'll go 

 along^if you like, and take a landing net, and if you suc- 

 ceed in getting the 'what d'ye call il?' out from under the 

 bank I think we'll manage to land him." It needed no 

 hint with a sarcastic twist in it from old Sam to start the 

 expedition, and in half an hour Kelpie and I were on the 

 way across the lake to Alexander's Point, in the ironclad, 

 where we stopped and caught a lot of shiners, for we in- 

 tended to do eome bass fishing on the way down which 

 would only give the boss of the pool a little longer lease 

 of life. 



We stopped and caught three or four medium sized 

 bass near the first log yard, and kept on down to the 

 point at Horton's Bay where we always expected a strike 

 from a maskinonge, for hadn't we been told by not less 

 than a score of people since making camp, that one had 

 been caught on a troUer right there a few weeks before 

 that was six feet and an inch long, and another of 

 five feet — eye measure — lost by the clothes line breaking 

 after a prolonged and desperate fight of two soul-harrow- 

 ing hourf? 



None of the twenty or more who had told us about 

 this monstrous fish — the six-footer plus an inch — would 

 put themselves in a corner by saying they had seen it, but 

 one at last said that George" Fox, living near the head of 

 the lake, had actually helped weigh it (he had forgotten 

 the number of pounds), but knowing George, we never 

 asked him about it, as we didn't care to have a good fish 

 story spoiled by hearing George's version, for we knew 

 he would tell the truth. 



I have no doubt it was the same fish we heard about in 

 1884 — weight B71bs. — that bad only kept pace with the 

 natural growth of country fish stories till now the fish had 

 stretched to Oft. lin. in length, and if the ratio of in- 

 crease holds out, and the natives along the lake don't for- 

 get the combination, that fish (story) will be about 6ft. 

 13in. at the end of July, I89rj, At all events, the story 

 had its effect, and none of us ever neared the point with- 

 out a streak of expectancy running through our frames, 

 hence Kelpie and 1 forgot the big trout for the time and 

 dropped the anchor stone in 10 or 13ft. of water near a 

 patch of big bush weeds to have a try for the five-footer 

 that had got away with the troller and some yards of the 

 clothes line to which it was attached. 



However, we were not loaded for maskinonge, having 

 no trollers or clothes lines along; nothing but ba=s tackle 

 and minnows for bait, but if we should by any mischance 

 strike one, we could do no worse than 'lose him in the 

 bush weeds, with mayhap a few fathoms of line. Besides, 

 we would not have fished with a hand line, for we hold 

 the angler in small respect that uses one to "windlass" in 

 a fish: that is not angling. 



We fished diligently for half an hour or more, making 

 long casts up, and down, and out into the lake, reeling in 

 after each cast by which a bass was brought to grief now 

 and then by Kelpie's rod, but neither the five-footer nor 

 any other footer of his tribe seemed to be around, and the 

 streak of expectancy gradually gave place to a feei ng of 

 mild disappointment, a state of mind that had possessed 

 us more or less ever since we struck Green Lake, till we 

 had come to look on it as one of the natural results of too 

 much anticipation. 



We said nothing (audibly) but fished, 



Kelpie, fishing outside from the stern of the boat was 

 having some sport with the bass, while I, fishing further 

 inshore, had my patience about worn out with goggle- 

 eyes — the pests of Carp Lake — which were returned to 

 the water with what must have seemed to them un- 

 seemly haste and a lack of gentleness that doubtless gave 

 them a crick in their backs for the rest of the day. 



I got little comfort oitt of my share of the fishing ex- 

 cept when Kelpie let me handle a bass on his new Bristol 

 steel rod. I had been anxious for some days to try the 

 temper and "feel" of it in actual service — goggle-eyes 

 barred — and when he struck a fish that gave promise of 

 some weight I asked the favor of trying the rod, which 

 was cheerfully granted, and for a few minutes that little 

 steel tube was in shapes that must have brought Kelpie's 

 heart in bis mouth, for at times the tip was pointing the 

 same way as the butt. I was well pleased with its per- 

 formance, and were it not for a feeling of "top-heaviness" 

 they eeem to possess — I have handled two or three others 

 since — I believe that for a base rod and rod for all work 

 they ar*^ not surpassed. 



"^'•^ Sam, and Charley, and Harry and Gooder have 

 d themselves each with a steel rod, but the 



Colonel and I are sticking to our old friends that have 

 been true to us for years.) 



When the bass was at last led over the landing net and 

 swung over into the boat I handed the rod back to Kelpie, 

 who looked carefully over it from butt to tip to see if it 

 were all there, I fancied, for I had given it a straining, 

 purposely to try its backbone, that few rods would have 

 stood. 



"Three pounds and a half, strong," Kelpie made it out 

 when he had hung the bass on his pocket scale and 

 squinted at it for a good half minute— it seems that fish 

 are always two, three or four pounds, strong, as the 

 case may be, but never two, three or four pounds fcant, 

 unless it may be the "other feller's" fish is on the scale 

 —and then he complacently consigned him to the 

 stringer with the others. The fish was a big-bellied, big- 

 mouthed bass, but he had made a good fight for a big- 

 mouth, and we made no complaint about his girth amid- 

 ships. 



A quarter of an hour after, when the anchor was 

 stowed, we pulled around to the Old log yard in Horton's 

 Bay, and after securing the boat were soon at the bridge 

 crossing McConnell's Creek, talking in subdued tones 

 about the prospect of hiving the big trout, and treading 

 softly the while lest we jar the ground near the stream 

 and remind him of something. Kelpie said he would slip 

 around up the stream a few yards and fish while I was 

 getting ready to "lay the big fellow out," but would be 

 within call if I should happen to need the landing net, 

 which he took along; from which I inferred that he, like 

 the others, did not take much stock in my 18-inch trout. 

 He made his way around the upturned roots of a big tree 

 that lay prostrate across the stream a few yards above the 

 pool, and was at once out of sight in the tangle. I got a 

 lively 2 -inch shiner from the bucket, hooked it care- 

 fnlly through the lips and slipped stealthily around to the 

 head of .the pool, having it in mind not to jar the over- 

 hanging bank as T passed around the bushes, where, 

 without showing anything but the upper half of the rod 

 over the water, I dropped the minnow in below the little 

 sandbar, when the current soon sucked it under the 

 bank. 



It was barely out of sight when I felt a slight twitch 

 of the line which, being interpreted, meant "trouble has 

 set in." I pulled 2 or 3ft, of line from the reel and let 

 it run freely through the guides as it went under the 

 bank, and then I waited till I thought that whatever was 

 tampering with the shiner — trout, dogfish or "mud 

 turkle"— had plenty of time to swallow it and settle 

 down to digest with a mind free of care, unless the line 

 tickling his throat would arouse a suspicion that the 

 harmless looking minnow was loaded. 



I felt a "nudge-nudge" on the line, and not to hurry 

 the prcceedin's, bit off a fresh "chaw t'backer" and 

 waited some more, for I was determined to take no 

 chances on hooking him somewhere in a tender part of 

 the jaw and have the hook tear out and destroy my peace 

 of mind for another week. 



I waited till I got a trifle nervous and then stepped 

 cautiously out from the screen of the bushes where I 

 could see the whole pool, taking up the line at the same 

 time till the rod tip was down near the water. 



When the suspense had reached the unbearable notch 

 I gave the rod a quick, strong side pull — a "Watterson 

 wipe," as they call it in Kentucky — to keep the line clear 

 of the overhanging bank, and at the same time I felt a 

 violent yank that sent a thrill up the old rod, and the fun 

 was started. 



I drew him straight out from under the bank without 

 giving him time to dodge around a hidden root or find 

 out what was "agitatin' his bowels;" he didn't even have 

 time to leave a notice saying when he'd be in his office 

 again, and the next moment a magnificently colored 

 trout was out in the open water making the snray fly, 

 turning over and over, and squirming and twisting at a 

 rate that threatened to turn him inside out. 



I kept a short line on him that prevented him from 

 getting under either bank, and several times in less time 

 than it takes to write it, the rod tip was doubled nearly 

 to the point of breaking; but the trusty old stick had 

 pulled through worse difficulties than that, and I still 

 bad faith in it. 



I shouted to Kelpie, "Bring the landing net, quick; I've 

 got him!" and then waited seemingly an hour before I 

 heard a commotion in the brush above and his answering 

 "All right; I'll be there in a moment." But Kelpie's eye- 

 sight was poor and the tangle bad, and the trouble was 

 increasing in the pool. 



I noticed that the hook was out of sight down his throat 

 and I decided to try and land him "without waiting for 

 Kelpie and the net. 



Raising the point of the rod and letting the line run off 

 the reel under a pressure to keep it taut till I got enough 

 off to get the spring of the whole rod, I dragged him, de- 

 spite his twisting and flopping, out on the little sandbar, 

 and stepping down from the bank, the rod upheld in one 

 hand and the line still taut, I graeppd him and threw him 

 out on the bank with a"Whoop-ee!"thatmu8t have made 

 Kelpie's hair stand on end. 



I stood looking at him as he turned flipflaps on the 

 grass, a good deal disappointed, for he did not look near 

 as large as I thought the big trout ought to look; in fact, 

 I couldn't make up my mind that it was the same trout 

 that had disturbed my nightly rest for near a week in 

 devising schemes for his capture. 



The old warrior wa.s still in the pool, hid under the 

 bank, laughing at me — that was a settled point in my 

 mind— and this greedy imposter had snapped up the 

 shiner before the big fellow got a chance at it. 



Kelpie emerged from the bushes around the upturned 

 root with, "Well, Hickory, I see you've got him, and he's 

 a fine one, too. I came as quickly as I could for the 

 tangle, but I see I'm too late to be of any service with the 

 net. I'm sorry I wasn't here to see the fun," and then he 

 deliberately pulled a rule from some hidden pocket, and 

 after unfolding it with the same deliberation placed it 

 alongside the trout as it lay on the grass. 



After squinting at it deliberately for half a minute or 

 more a smile twitched the corners of his mouth, he 

 said, with the most harrowing deliberation, "Hickory, 

 somebody must have been along here in the last day or 

 two and sawed off about oin. of your 18in. trout, for I 

 find he is only 13ln., strong," and then as the smile broad- 

 ened he folded the rule and returned it to the mysterious 

 pocket with the same calm deliberation that had marked 

 ilia movements and speech while measuring the trout. 



We stood looking silently at one another for the frac- 



