26 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[January, 
stop to describe this now, but the light which enables 
you to see the fish is bent in coming out of the water, 
and if the spear were thrust at the fish just where it ap¬ 
pears to be, you would miss it ; those who spear have to 
learn by practice how to allow for this refraction. Eels 
arc caught in large quantities by spearing through the 
ice; but it is not necessary to see these; indeed, they 
are quite hidden in the mud, where they stay in winter. 
The fishermen cut holes in the ice and thrust the spear 
down into the mud in different places, until they feel that 
they have an eel between the long elastic prongs, and 
they often get several at once in this way... In the third 
engraving is shown the method of catching small fish 
with a net; this is a moderately fine net attached to a 
hoop, and is let down through a hole in the ice ; when a 
number of small fishes are directly over it, the net is 
but the mud-cakes, while the children ran toward the 
house, little Bob White behind, and doing his best to 
keep up. 
Pay son West stood on the kitchen-stoop, with some¬ 
thing in his arms ; a small, black, fat, wriggling thing, a 
thing with blinking purple eyes, a white nose, and a 
short, convulsively wagging tail. 
“ Oh, the darling little thing.” 
“How old is he?” 
“ Let me have him! ” cried the children, throwing 
themselves on their elder brother in a body. 
“ No ! no! he mustn’t be handled, it spoils him. Keep 
off no w—all of you—and I'll put him down,” said Payson. 
Everybody retreated a little, as Payson set the puppy 
down on the gravelled road. Puppy was fat, very fat, 
and his legs were short, and not very steady. So, after a 
milk, and was old enough to know the meaning of fun. 
Such chasing and hiding as there was in the garden, such 
barking and screaming, laughing and growling 1 And 
oh 1 such mysterious holes in the backs of little boys’ 
stockings, and torn places in little girls’ skirts, as Mrs. 
West found. General’s teeth were small, but they were 
sharp, and he had yet to learn that they were only to be 
used on rats, and bones, and robbers. 
About this time three dear little kittens arrived at 
Maple Hill. Janie named them—the light gray one 
Friskus Stumps, the black and white one Nelly Briggs, 
and the small, dark gray one Annie Payson. General 
was on very good terms with Friskus and Nelly, but An¬ 
nie Payson was his bosom friend. They ate together, 
slept together, and almost talked together. When the 
cook gave them a dish of food, General waited most po- 
No. 447.—Geographical Rebus.-Here is a grand chance for those who like to make out rebuses—for there are no less than 20 in this one. In fact, it is 20 different 
rebuses, and if you look sharp, you will find the names of that number of countries, states, cities, and other geographical localities. 
lifted ; these small fry are caught to use as bait for the 
next — “Tip-up,” or “ tilt-up” fishing, as it is called in 
different places, has more sport about it than either of the 
others, and one person can attend to several lines. The 
tip-ups have to be got ready first; they are made of thin 
board, about two inches wide and 20 inches long, with a 
hole bored two or three inches from one end; to the 
short end, or that nearest the hole, a line is fastened of 
the proper length for the depth of the water, or kind of 
fish, and at the other end of the line is one or several 
baited hooks. Holes are cut in the ice, and a stick long 
enough to reach across there is put through the hole in 
each tip-up ; the line is dropped into the water, the stick 
resting across the hole. When a fish takes the bait, the 
long end of the tip-up will bo tilted up, and the fisherman 
knows that he must attend to that line; when there are 
several tip-ups, and the fish bile freely, it makes pretty 
lively work if one has many to look out for. 
- — - 
The Story of 64 General.” 
It was a warm day in May, and the West children were 
all making mud-cakes in the old quarry back of the 
house, with shingles for bread-boards, and blacking-box 
covers for “cutters.” There were Alice and Janie, 
Frank and Joe, and little Bob White, their cousin. What 
works of art were achieved, and how dirty certain little 
hands grew in the process, nobody knew but them¬ 
selves and the wash-basin. The first batch of cakes had 
been laid on the rocks to dry, and the children were all 
standing around to admire, when Horace White came 
rushing up the hill, waving his hat, and calling at the 
top of his voice : “ The dog’s come! the dog’s come!” 
In less than a minute the quarry was deserted by all 
few tottering steps, he sat down suddenly, sniffed at the 
road, and then raised his head, and gave a pitiful little 
howl, which said, as plainly as Bob himself could have 
said it, “ I want my mother 1 ” 
“ He’s hungry,” said Alice, “ let’s get him some milk.” 
At which the children all rushed into the kitchen. 
Now I never before knew that a pint of milk was too 
heavy for one person to carry, yet this particular pint- 
bowlful required the united efforts of four boys and two 
girls, to bear it to the object of their care. In truth, not 
all of that milk reached Mr. Pup, for some of it was 
afterward found by the cook ornamenting the kitchen 
floor, and some more of it might have been seen giving 
a variety in color to the trousers of certain small boys. 
Puppy, if he knew nothing else, evidently knew how to 
drink milk, and the children watched his successful ef¬ 
forts with delight. 
“ He’s a cross between a Newfoundland and a Shepherd 
dog,” remarked Payson, “ that's what makes his hair so 
curly, being part Shepherd. But you can’t play with 
him, until ho is older, it will spoil him. I’m going to 
keep him in the little room over the carriage house.” 
When the small dog had finished his meal, Payson took 
him up, and walked toward the carriage-house, followed 
by the procession, Bob, as usual, bringing up the rear. 
“What’s his name going to be ? ” asked Alice. 
“ Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant 1 ” said Payson, 
who was very patriotic. 
“ But that will be so long! ” exclaimed Horace. 
“We'll call him General for short,” was the answer. 
So General was Puppy’s name from that time. 
For two or three months General was kept in strict 
seclusion, but toward the last of July, Payson began to 
allow him more liberty. By this time he was almost 
treble the size he was when he drank the first bowl of 
iitely, until Annie had made her selection, and took what 
remained himself. Mrs. West told the children, they 
might learn a lesson in kindness even from a dog. 
Wherever the children went, there followed little An¬ 
nie and big General, for General, though still a puppy, 
was little no longer. Often, on hot, sultry days, the 
whole party emigrated to the “backwoods ” on the east 
side of the farm. There it was always cool and fresh, 
there were strange rocks and countless trees, and a wild 
swamp, in which were snakes, lizards, and turtles, where 
even Horace did not care to go alone. Horace and Frank 
tramped about, looking for sapling hickories for canes, 
and sassafras to put away to season for bows. Alice 
discovered beautiful ferns and mosses. Janie and Joe 
found new rocks and caves, while Bob got in every 
one's way, and always thought a bear was coming. 
As for General and Annie, I do believe they had the 
best time of all, for they had no clothes to tear, no shoes 
to cut, nobody to scold if they came home late. General 
was never quiet, he raced from one place to another, al¬ 
ways finding some new excitement. He thought there 
was a woodchuck under every rock, a squirrel up eyery 
tall tree, and he got so hot and tired digging and scratch¬ 
ing at mysterious holes, that he was forced to lie down- 
in the brook to cool himself. 
On rainy days the children resorted to the great barn, 
a perfect paradise for dogs and children. On either side 
of its great floor were the mows, piled high with hay, and 
over them the straw-loft, mainly occupied by pigeons, 
and visited at times by daring boys, at the risk of a dan¬ 
gerous tumble.- General was capital at playing “ I spy.” 
No corner was deep enough and dark enough to hide the 
occupant from his keen eyes, no boy so covered with 
hay, but that General could dig down to him in a minute 
—he went from one hiding-place to another, until all 
