June 3, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
853 
The Luck of a Child 
By O. W. SMITH 
P hilosophers ten us that there is no 
such thing as luck, that every effect 
presupposes a cause. Now, I do not 
want to be understood as crossing swords with 
those wise men, for I am but an humble fisher¬ 
man, but as a fisherman I must assert my be¬ 
lief in luck or something akin thereto. Why, 
bless you, we all know that some men will catch 
fish when the east wind blows and more scien¬ 
tific and better accoutered anglers fail, because 
well, just because, d hough I believe that 
proper tools and skill in using them will win 
out in the long run, I also know that it is not 
always the most experienced and skillful who 
catches the largest fish. We have all seen that 
fact illustrated again and again. Just why the 
largest trout in the pool, the one for which 
veterans have been angling without avail, 
should suddenly take it into his hard head to 
gobble the earthworm bait of some barefoot 
boy and be yanked out on the bank, is as hard 
for us to determine as it is hard for us to 
endure. 
We all have our favorite trout streams, and 
mine is an unpretentious, slow-moving stream, 
too small to be called a river and yet too large 
to be called a creek; but a stream withal from 
which I have taken many large trout, and which 
still shelters larger ones. Probably because ot 
its sluggish current, lack of rapids, and general¬ 
ly untrouty appearance, fishermen pass it by 
for more prepossessing water, and the stream 
remains the undisputed possession of a few old 
mossbacks like myself. While, as I said, the 
stream is almost currentless, it is as a conse¬ 
quence very erratic in its course, twisting and 
turning as it makes its slow way through low- 
hing cattle pastures and wide-reaching marsh 
meadows. As can readily be imagined such a 
stream would be a fly-fisher's paradise, so it 
has come to be tacitly understood by the elect 
few who whip its placid surface that only arti¬ 
ficial flies shall be used. 
Early in the season I discovered that a large 
trout had taken up its abode in a deep pool 
I he first time I caught a glimpse of the old 
fellow he rose to my fly viciously, but missed. 
Though I cast assiduously and used every trick 
of which I was master, the fish failed to rise 
again. Several times during the day I returned 
to the pool with high hopes, only to have them 
dashed remorselessly to earth; until at last in 
sheer desperation I borrowed a worm from my 
companion and offered it to the trout. That 
stirred the rascal. Gracefully he swept out 
from beneath the sheltering brush, circled the 
worm while I held my breath, turned his tail 
upon it contemptuously and, with an air of in¬ 
jured dignity, it seemed to me, swam sedately 
away. 
All through May I haunted, the stream. I 
fear that I neglected my work; I know that I 
invented excuses, so that I could have a try at 
the fish. Several times I caught sight of him, 
and he seemed to have grown an inch in length 
every time I saw him, for so does imagination 
serve 11s. A few times he condescended to 
notice my flies, and rose to them in a slow. 
half-hearted manner, but I did not succeed in 
hooking him. 
At last I had two full days at my disposal, so 
I took the tent, wife and girl to the stream, 
determined to surprise the fish by nocturnal 
visitation and by offering all sorts of baits and 
lures at unseasonable hours. Time sped by, 
the second noon had come, and I was discour¬ 
aged. After dinner that day I told my com¬ 
panions all about the fish and how faithfully I 
had worked in my attempts to capture it. Girl 
her prize. 
listened with shining eyes. The blood of a long 
line of trout fishers was running hot in her 
veins. 
Could I, and her voice trembled with 
eagerness; ‘‘could I borrow' your fly-rod—it is 
longer than mine—and go down there and try 
just once?” 
“Bless your heart, yes.” I answered, “but 
don’t expect results, for that fish is wiser than 
Solomon.” 
The tent was on a bluff overlooking the little 
creek, so the girl was constantly within my 
range of vision, and I watched her with all the 
interest of a father who delights to find his 
child an apt pupil in his favorite diversion. I 
smiled appreciatively when her crouched form 
stopped well back from the stream that she 
might in nowise disturb the trout in the pool; 
to me that simple act spoke volumes for the 
future. I secured the “bird glasses” in order 
that I might more clearly observe her actions, 
pleased that she was fisherman enough to 
“limber up” before she cast into the pool 
where the big fish was supposed to lie. Focus¬ 
ing the glasses, I sat down to enjoy the show, 
while Wife came and stood behind my camp- 
chair. 
The child’s first cast resulted in an average 
sized trout, which, judging from the expression 
of her face, she interpreted as a good omen. 
The next two or three casts were fruitless, then 
she secured another small fish. The two trout 
evidently steadied her nerve, and gave her cour¬ 
age. Keeping well back from the water’s edge 
so that her light footfalls might not alarm the 
sensitive fish, she sneaked through the grass. 
When she neared the pool which I had 
whipped again and again, she just poked the 
tip of the rod through the grass and lowered 
the bait upon the water, and in a moment she 
was hard and fast to the trout of my dreams. 
When my pet rod went double, I raced down 
that bluff. I was not long in reaching the child, 
but before I did the fish was high and dry on 
the bank. Ihink of it! The fish that had so 
long vexed and tempted me, disdaining my 
fancy flies and lures, had, with an absolute dis¬ 
regard for what we may term as convention¬ 
alities, swallowed the earthworm of a child 
and been dragged out of the water. The child's 
joy and triumph can easily be imagined. I be¬ 
lieve there is such a thing as luck. 
Natural Parks in Europe. 
The American national parks have caused ad¬ 
miration in Europe, and Consul-General Rich¬ 
ard Guenther, of Frankfort, says that there is 
a strong movement in Germany and Austria to 
make similar reservations. He writes: 
“The Kosmos Association of Naturalists in 
Stuttgart, the Duerer League, and the Austrian 
Imperial Association for Ornithology in Vienna 
have united in an address to the public calling 
for subscriptions to create a Natural Protec¬ 
tive Park, which is to be a small copy of the 
great Yellowstone Park. This address was 
published last spring and since then has been 
followed up by a convention in Munish well at¬ 
tended by naturalists and scientists from all 
parts of Germany. An organization was ef¬ 
fected, called the Verein Naturschutzpark, with 
headquarters in Stuttgart. 
“The plan is to create three large parks, one 
in the Alpine Mountain Range, one in the high¬ 
lands of central Germany, and the third in the 
low country of the north. The main object is 
to preserve and increase certain species of ani¬ 
mal and plant life. The parks will become 
centers of attraction and recreation for millions 
of people, natives and foreign visitors. The fee 
for membership to this park association will be 
quite low, to encourage hundreds of thousands 
to join. The German and Austrian people are 
very fond of roaming in nature and take interest 
in this plan.” 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
