238 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. 22, 1913 
awhile, I came to the conclusion that he had 
gotten the idea from "the hair of the dog cures 
tne bite.” 
1 laid low and tried to overhear more of 
the conversation that was going on in the for¬ 
ward part of the boat, but to no avail, as it was 
being carried on in such low tones I could make 
nothing of it, except that I was the subject being- 
discussed. Finally, the parson elevated his voice 
and I heard him saying: "Gentlemen, Fll make 
a book on this case. I’ll fi.x up a slate. I'll bet 
any man ten to one that he loses a finger, seven 
to one that he loses two fingers, five to one that 
he loses a hand, three to one that he loses his 
arm up to the elbow, even money that he loses 
his whole arm, and one to five that he loses his 
life, I will also bet even money that he never 
goes 'er fishin' on er Sunday again.’ 
“Come on, boys, have I any takers? Put up 
or shet up.” 
This was sticking it into me pretty heavy, 
and I could stand no more. I yelled out to him, 
much to the surprise of all as they thought I 
was asleep; "Parson, I'll take the whole d- 
slate for as much as you want, but would like 
to leave out the Sunday bet.” 
This put a quietus on all present, and noth¬ 
ing more of interest happened until we reached 
St. Petersburg. 
I was carried to the hotel and laid out on 
the bed. The parson went for a doctor. The 
doctor came, looked wise and dressed my wound, 
but evaded my anxious questions. When through 
he wrote a prescription and rang for the bell 
boy. When the bell was answered, the little 
slip of paper was given to the boy. In a short 
time the boy came back with a tray on which 
there were six thin glasses filled with what 
looked like iced tea, and there was the tinkling 
ice in the liquid. A sugar bowl and spoon were 
also on the tray. The negro bell boy set the 
waiter down on a little deal table and withdrew 
to the side of the room. There seemed to be 
something lacking, and the darkey was sent back 
with another slip of paper, and soon appeared 
with a nice green bunch of mint. There were 
seven of us in the room including myself, and 
I noted that-there were but six glasses. I un¬ 
derstood, but thought it was the parson who 
would not indulge. The glasses were assigned 
and I was completely ignored. There was none 
for me, and my suspicions were strongly aroused. 
Just before the final tilt I spoke gently to the 
doctor and said: “Doctor, is that the prescrip¬ 
tion you sent out to be filled for inef” 
“'Well—er—rer—^>’es,” he said. 
“But, doctor, where is mine?” 
“Yours—why—you are a sick man, and I 
cannot allow you to have any of this. It would 
excite and do you much harm.” 
My grip was sitting nearby on a chair at 
my left. I reached out with my good left hand 
and grasped it, bringing it to my side. It opened 
from pressing a spring, and I soon had my hand 
inside. I drew out my old .38 revolver, and at 
the flash of its metal trimmings there was a 
scramble for the door. 
“Hold ! gentlemen !” I exclaimed. 
There was a pause in the headlong rush. 
Laying the gun on my right wrist I drew a bead 
squarely between the doctor’s eyes and held it 
as best I could on his batting orbs and ducking 
head, and then addressed him in no uncertain 
words. 
“Doctor, if I don’t get one of those—yours 
won’t do you any good.” 
"Why, really—er-rer—Mr. Webb—^er-rer—I 
think—ahem—I have made a great mistake in 
your case, but mistakes will happen in the best 
regulated families, you know, and I am no ex¬ 
ception to the general rule. Yes, I really think 
now that you should have one, as you have pro¬ 
duced such a good argument. I now recede, re¬ 
treat and retire from my original position, and 
say that you may have one, two or three or as 
many as you like, and they will do you much 
good.” 
I rolled over on the bed and had the best 
laugh I had had in ten years, as the two full 
moons of the bell boy departed on his way for 
the extra. Oh! how good it did feel to have 
my middle “innerds” shake with genuine old- 
fashioned laughter. 
Fame is a dangerous flame. It is as dis¬ 
agreeable to me as dry grins. The next morn¬ 
ing I had it. It always comes like measles or 
whooping cough and I caught it on the fly. 
The joke on the doctor was too good to 
keep, and all of the citizens wanted to know me. 
I stayed with them three days, and when I left 
I felt like a wet blanket inside and out, but I 
knew a majority of the population of that town 
well enough to call them by their first names. 
[the end.] 
Fishing in California. 
Berkeley, Cal., Jan. 27. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Striped bass fishing has been very poor 
o. late in the vicinity of San Francisco, but few 
fish having been taken, and these have been 
small in size. Usually good sport is experi¬ 
enced at this season of the year at San Antonio 
and Wingo, but so far the fish have failed to put 
in an appearance there in numbers. Weather 
conditions are probably largely to blame for 
this, there having been practically no rain this 
season to freshen the water in the sloughs and 
lagoons frequented by this fish. Extremely cold 
weather has visited California since Christmas, 
all records for tb.e past twenty-five years hav¬ 
ing been broken, and but few anglers have 
tried bass fishing. 
A short time ago the indications were for 
some splendid steelhead fishing in the Russian 
River, but iust about the time anglers com¬ 
menced to arrive on that stream a shower oc¬ 
curred in the mountains and muddied the water 
to such an extent that but few were taken. 
Many large fish were to be seen rolling in the 
stream, but only a few were taken. As heavy 
rains are expected now at any time, it would 
seem that winter steelhead fishing would be 
rather limited. A number of local anglers, 
among whom was William Hillegast, have 
visited the Santa Inez River, near Lompoc, of 
late, and have secured fair catches of steel- 
heads. 
Dr. F. B. Alden visited Catalina late in the 
year, and while he landed no large fish on this 
trip, was successful in taking a number of yel- 
lowtail and bolita, which are now running well. 
Winter salmon fishing on Monterey Bay is 
excellent this year, some of the catches being 
phenomenal. Aug. Raht fished there one day 
and landed fifteen fish, the largest weighing 
sixteen pounds. A few salmon are being taken 
off Point Reyes, but the sea is too rough there 
to make fishing popular at this season of the year. 
F. A. Shebley, superintendent of hatcheries 
for the California Fish and Game Commission, 
recently turned over to that body an interest¬ 
ing specimen of fish life in the form of a 
double-headed rainbow trout, caught near 
Truckee. The fish is six inches long, has two 
perfectly formed heads, two bodies back to the 
dorsal fin, two eyes, two stomachs, two hearts, 
and put up a lively fight when landed. It is 
seldom that freak fish of this character live to 
attain the size of,this one. 
The great California Fish and Game Pro¬ 
tective Association ,in which about fifteen thou¬ 
sand residents of California hold membership, 
is expected to exert a great influence over the 
passage of laws affecting fishing in this State 
by the I.egislature now in session and a num¬ 
ber of changes in the present laws are being 
advocated. It is proposed to prohibit the tak¬ 
ing of trout under six inches in length, to pro¬ 
hibit the sale of black bass and to make the 
limit twenty-five per day, and to prohibit the 
use of seines in many fresh water streams. Or¬ 
ganizations are being perfected in the various 
game districts, and these will make recommen¬ 
dations regarding the needs of the different 
sections of the State. 
At the urgent request of the California and 
Nevada Fish and Game Commissions, the 
Federal Government has set aside a sum of 
money for the repair of the Derby dam fishway, 
and in the future fish in the Truckee will have 
no difficulty in reaching the headwaters of that 
stream during the spawning season. 
In the biennial report that will be submitted 
by the Fish and Game Commission to Gov¬ 
ernor Johnson shortly, will be a number of im¬ 
portant reports of investigations of fish life 
made durin.g the past two years, these to be 
incorporated in a special fish bulletin. Among 
these will be a report prepared by Charles Lin¬ 
coln Edwards, of the University of Southern 
California on California abalonies; an account 
of experiments with salmon and steelhead trout, 
entitled “Towing Salmon and Steelhead from 
Sacramento to the Sea.” by N. B. Scofield; the 
“Problem of the Spiny Lobster,” by Bennet 
M. Allen, of the University of Wisconsin; “In¬ 
vestigation of the Clams of California,” by Dr. 
Harold Heath, of Stanford University; the 
“Edible Crab of California,” by E. W. Wey¬ 
mouth, of Stanford University; “Quinnat Sal¬ 
mon Investigation,” by N. B. Scofield, and 
“Trout and Black Bass Planting and Trans¬ 
planting in the San Joaquin and Southern 
Sierra Districts,” by A. D. Eerguson. 
Golden Gate. 
