The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-06-10
Angling for a Dog.

We were travelling on ground we had NJ
right on. The only excuse was like that o
a military necessity-it was far better fish
ing through the farms, where the trout haC
been preserved, than in the open lots wher'
all could fish.
1t was early in the morning. We haC
risen at three, ridden ten miles and strucl
the creek as the trout were ready for break
/ fast Looking carefully for sheltered
place to hitch our horses, we slyly cIept OF
behind fences, ETC., till we reached the par
of the stream not generally ished. A farm
house stood not quarter of mile away
We saw the morning smoke curling lightly
from a stovepipe; saw man and two boyi
come out to do chores; saw woman busy
about the door, and ferociOus bulldog
wandering about the yard,
Ii ever we fished close it was then. Not
a whisper to disturb the birds or the own.
erS Of the land. We crawled through the
grass and lodged behind clumps of elders,
lifting large speckled beauties out of the
water until our baskets we're full.
This was the time to have gone; but the
trout were so large and bit so readily that
we decided to string and hide what we had
and take another basketful. So at it we
went. No sooner would the hook touch
the water than it had trout. We forget
the house, the man, the boys the dog.
Suddenly there was a rushing through an
oat field as if a mad bull was coming. We
looked toward the house, and saw the
! farmer and his two boys on fence, the
woman in the door, and the dog bounding
! toward u.s. We saw it alive had been
discovered The well trained dog had
been sent to hunt us out, and, as the mat
/ 49,. e f, haEf hot ho c
doing that thing right lively.
To outrun the dog was not to be thought
Of There was no time to lose. He clear
ed a fence and came for US, just as we
reached tree, and by great activity took a
front seat on a limb above his reach. Here
was precious go! A vicious bulldog un-
der the tree, and the farmer and two boys
ready to move down upon our works. II
was fight, foot race, or fangs.
The farmer yelled to his dog, "Watch
him Tige r.
Tige proposed to do that little thing, and
keeping mis- eyes on US, seated himself un'
der the tree.
Then spoke this ugly farmer man: 'Just
hold on thar, stranger, till we get break
fast; then we will come and see you /
you are in hurry, however, you can &c
nowi Watch him, Tiger
We surmised trouble; quite too much, fol
thrice had that bold man of bulldogs and
agriculture elegantly walloped innocent
tourists for being seen on his suburban
premises. His reputation as a peace mar
was not good, and there arose large hear
toward our throat.
Time is the essence of contracts, and the
saving ordinance of those in trouble. We
had sto1t line in our pocket, and large
hook intended for rock bass, if we failed tt
take trout. And as good luck would hav'
it we had got nice sandwich and plec'
of boiled corn beef in our other pocket
We called the dog pet names, but it wa
no gol Then we tried to move down
when he moved up At last we trebled ou
bass line, and fastened the limerick to 1t
baited it with the corn beef, tied the end o
the line to limb, and angled for dog.
Tige was in appetite. He swallowed it
and sat with his ewes on us for more; bu
with no friendly look beaming from hi
countenance. Not anyl
Then he pulled gently on the lne-i
was fast Tige yanked and pulled, bu
twas of no use
We quickly slid down the tree-almos
blistering our back doing it-seized ou
pole, and straightway went thence some
what lively. .rL
We found the string of fish, and reaches
the buggy and commanding spot in tn
road in time to see the sturdy yeomel
move forth.
We saw him and his cohorts. male ant
female, move slowly, as if in no haste. w
saw them look up the tree. We saw al
anxious crowd engaged about the dog. w
came quickly home and kindly left tn
bass line and hook to farmer.