816 
June 29, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
By Grace of the Red Gods 
By ROBERT PAGE LINCOLN 
A HEART-RENDING screech split the morn¬ 
ing air in twain. 1 was just completing 
and rounding out a wonderful tour of the 
lakes in the midst of my dreams, and it goes 
without saying that luck was favorable when this 
unlordly happening presented itself in the shape 
of a rude, unbalanced human utterance in high 
G, and I sat up on the cot throwing the blankets 
away, with my hair upright. The next moment 
a set of features were thrust into the space of¬ 
fered by the tent flaps, and somewhere in the 
midst of a grin came the words: “'So up you 
are at last!'’ 
I opened my eyes and blinked at the in¬ 
truder. “No, you bonehead,’’ I said in even 
words, hurriedly going through my mind for 
others arose and all took up the refrain, touched 
by the universal tranquilness that lived upon the 
waters, and in those dusky dew-wet nooks. 
Leaping into the boat I slid out into the 
waters—out. out, until I was at about the right 
place, and then slipping in the oars I dove down 
into the depths. How good was the touch of 
the cool water as my body cleaved its way 
through that transparent surface and sent up 
a shower of bubbles to mark the path! How 
wonderfully pure and invigorating to the body 
after a good, refreshing sleep through the hours 
of night time! How clarifying to the vision and 
how perfect to thus begin the day and to make 
for a keen appetite such as is sure to reward 
the man who lived out-of-doors, drinking in the 
Hastily drying myself I slipped into my clothes, 
and without making any noise dipped the oars 
and proceeded to the land. 
“A big one was it?” asked Jack as I told 
him my little story and I nodded. 
“I have half a notion to try for him with the 
bamboo and a fly,” I told him, and he suggested 
that it be done. The breakfast of bacon, fish, 
fried potatoes and an ample supply of coffee 
and bread was soon done away with, and after 
we had washed up the dishes and had put them 
away. I uncased the bamboo, slipped the reel 
into the bands and tightened them, threaded the 
line and took out my fly book for a review of 
the lot. I had carefully selected only the best 
ones for bass, such as I had used in the past 
AT THE BEND. 
THROUGH THE PASTURE. 
some prompt reply at this favorable moment. “I 
am sound asleep in the Waldorf-Astoria, and I 
am dreaming of the days when I squandered my 
millions on wine, women and song. Eurther in¬ 
formation in the rear at the ticket window.” 
1 his tickled Jack not a little, and he went 
into a roar from which he emerged tear-eyed. 
Whether it was at the failure of my reply, or 
the wonderful completeness of it I never knew, 
or was destined to know. 
“Sun’s been up a half hour, and I have the 
fire going, the pot a-boiling, and the frying-pan 
doing duty. Get into your clothes and we will 
take in the point before the sun is too high.” 
With this information to encourage me I 
was soon up and running down the path for a 
plunge in the lake before I donned my apparel. 
As I sped down to the water’s edge I was fol¬ 
lowed closely by a potato, wielded with more or 
less dexterity by Jack, but I escaped unharmed. 
It was truly a fine morning, with the sun one 
great round ball of fire, hanging seemingly sus¬ 
pended over the eastern horizon. The morning 
air was just stirred by a slight breeze that 
ruffled the bosom of the lake, and circled gently 
around one to remind one of the infinite gran¬ 
deur of that awakening day. In the woods, 
which were so silent, and .so wrapped up as yet 
in the dreams of night, came the notes of the 
ri.sen birds. Clear and sweet their notes wafted 
out, and presently, as the moments gathered, 
beauty of the day and exercising his limbs as 
they should be nourished I 
I was just rubbing down when there was a 
splash in the water ahead of me, and—splash! 
Again came the warning, and I stopped 
where I was, with the towel in my hand, and 
with my eyes directed upon the spot ahead of 
me, where innumerable small ripples were re¬ 
ceding from one central spot where I judged 
some fish had risen. The water gradually calmed, 
and owing to that vast transparency offered in 
certain Minnesota lakes, I was able to see out 
ahead of me some twenty feet and able to dis¬ 
cern everything that went on below. There, 
clearly marked with black stripes, idly fanning 
the water, and evidently on the lookout for any¬ 
thing that came his way, lay a huge black bass, 
the size of which" caused me to hold my breath 
in a sort of awe. Further away from him, also 
marked by black stripes so plainly visible through 
the pure and serene water, lay others, all of 
therri feeding, and in a humor to snatch up any¬ 
thing that had the resemblance of food. 
For a moment I stood watching them and 
trying to figure out what the big fellow had 
leaped for, but I was unable to gain by this con¬ 
jecture, and so took it for granted that it was 
a winged insect such as were wont to fall on 
the waters. Glancing inshore I saw that Jack 
was systematically laying out the food and evi¬ 
dently taking much pride in his performance. 
with success. I had much confidence in those 
I had in the book which held the coachman, Hen- 
shall, oriole, royal coachman, silver doctor, Fer¬ 
guson, Montreal, Parmachenee belle, scarlet ibis, 
grizzly king, brown hackle and brown palmer. 
After some deliberation I chose a royal coach¬ 
man for a leader and followed it with a brown 
hackle. 
Everything put in order around the camp, 
with the tent flaps wide open to allow as much 
atmosphere as possible to circulate through, we 
we went down to the shore and slid in the boat. 
So clear, so transparent was the water that one 
could easily make out the swelling tops of the trees 
—an inimitable picture enacted upon an inimitable 
lake, and a memory fit to store away in the 
books of remembrance, and cherish all through 
life. The oars in the hands of Jack soon caused 
the boat to slip out into the lake," leaving the 
shore behind. Now as we neared the feeding 
grounds of the big fellow I had previously noted, 
I kept my eyes upon the water ahead of me, 
while Jack manipulated the oars, taking care to 
make no noise, or unnecessary disturbance that 
would cause the fish to become suspicious of 
our approach. Rising to my feet I could glance 
far out, and there I saw first one, then another, 
and finally a little to one side, and close to two 
spear-like weeds that thrust themselves out of 
the water, down next to them lay the king of 
Placid Lake, with his head pointed toward me 
