sneaking, old Walton never dreamed ° 
of. In half a mile five fish fit for the 
basket were killed, while at least thirty 
were scared to the watery whence. It 
was great sport, for every fish was 
fairly earned, and as I did not care a 
rap about the count the performance 
was thoroughly enjoyed. 
je length I came to a grand pool, 
black, smooth, and mysterious- 
looking, with a rope of creamy foam 
along one rock-bound side, and an 
overhang here and there which sug- 
gested hidden water caves. I knew it 
was the place, and as I noted the pull 
of the water near the lower end I 
calculated just where the boss fish of 
that pool ought to be. He was there, 
too, and apparently he had been await- 
ing me for a long time and had waxed 
savage over the 
delay. 
Strong and lithe 
as the bravest of 
his valiant race, 
after his first sav- 
age tilt he fought 
for all that in him 
lay and did not 
yield till he was 
unable to wag a 
fin. Get him out 
of the pool I could 
not, although I 
well knew that his 
struggles probably 
were ruining my 
chances for an- 
other fish as good. 
So we fought it to 
a finish, and after 
a right merry bout 
he was safely 
landed. 
As he lay upon 
a moss-covered 
bowlder, I thought him the prettiest 
fish I had seen. His coloration was 
extremely rich, and his plump condi- 
tion spoke well for the food supply of 
his native stream. He was about 
fifteen inchs long, and, guessed fairly, 
he must have weighed very nearly one 
and one-quarter pounds. Upon my 
light tackle he had felt like a three- 
pounder. 
After carefully packing him in 
greenstuff I placed him in the basket, 
with an idea that he might do me good 
service in the direction of the Judge’s 
cook later on. Then I sat down to 
have a pull at the pipe while giving 
the pool a rest. 
AVING waited about half an hour, 
I again tried the water and suc- 
ceeded in killing a nice half pounder. 
Failing to tempt anything more, I fol- 
lowed the trail about fifty yards, when 
Page 199 
I came upon two green branches 
crossed, John’s sign to tell where he 
had begun work. In a _ nice-looking 
pool immediately below, I rose and 
missed what looked like a_ three- 
quarter pound fish. Shortly after, to 
my surprise, a really large fish made a 
half-hearted attack, then retired under 
the bank. As there was nothing more 
to be done in this direction, I tramped 
back to the rendezvous. 
Here I found Charles attending to 
the horses and he showed about a 
dozen fish of fair size, and told me 
that the Judge had done even better 
and would probably be late in getting 
down. So we concluded to have a bite 
and lounge about for an hour or so. 
Charles knew of a beautiful spring 
where the water bubbled from under 
a root into a hollow about the size of 



and the mountain, the stream and the 
horses, and the trout, and the whole 
blooming outfit, but we did not—and 
it was pretty good stuff at that! 
As he handed me my dose, Charles 
remarked: “This is a wonderful 
spring, and perhaps, old man, you may 
see your wife here, too,” Charles fan- 
cied I was single. 
ze OD forbid,” I fervently ejaculated, 
“for if I could see her she prob- 
ably could see me as well!” 
Charles’ left eyelid quivered slightly 
as he took his, and he grinned as I 
muttered Kipling’s lines: 
“Ho! you ’oly beggars, 
Cough be’ind your ’and!” 
We became quite sympathetic and 
confidential upon this little episode, 
and when the energetic Judge found 
us, two hours 
later, we were 
sprawled out on 
our backs smoking 
and yarning in the 




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. “Strong and lithe as the bravest of his valiant race, . . 
all that in him lay” 
a peck measure. Never before in my 
life had I tasted better or colder 
natural water. It was hard to believe 
that it had not been carefully iced. 
With this crystal brew of nature’s 
compounding we washed down a most 
palatable lunch, after which Charles 
became reminiscent. 
“T LOVE this little spring,” said he. 
“T’ve been all over these moun- 
tains and there’s no such water to be 
found anyhere else. Just fourteen 
years ago today I saw this spring, and 
right where you are sitting I first saw 
my wife. The Judge and I were fish- 
ing, and the ladies made up a picnic 
and met us here. Let’s,” he continued, 
as he reached for his pocket, “drink to 
this best of all springs.” 
It was a mighty big flask, and some 
fellows, maybe, would have drunk to 
the Judge, and to John, to the wife 



Es Ld [ZZ 
—wW Vea) 7H SS 
Pup), —— 
. he fought for 
laziest of lazy con- 
tentment. He had 
fourteen good fish, 
and when pres- 
ently John ap- 
peared with nine- 
teen more, the 
total made as 
pretty a trout pic- 
ture as man could 
desire to see. 
The _ evening’s 
work yielded near- 
ly a dozen, the 
dear old Judge 
killing one which 
fairly outranked 
my big fellow, and 
which made _ the 
Judge the happiest 
man that ever left 
a brawling brook behind him at even- 
tide. 
The return drive through the grand 
corridors of the woods was a thing to 
be remembered. We were just suffi- 
ciently weary to properly appreciate 
the cushions and the easy springs; we 
were thoroughly satisfied with a long, 
carefree day well spent, and we had 
something worthy of manly prowess 
to lay before the ones at home. 
Through the scented twilight we 
rolled, our nostrils filled with sweet 
woodsy odors, our ears ringing with 
the vesper songs of joyous birds. We 
had been to Nature’s altar, and were 
passing outward through her grand 
cathedral. — 
HE others smoked in silence while 
I listened for the one voice needed 
to perfect that magic scene. 
(Continued on page 242) 
