The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-01-25
A CHRISTMAS TROUT.
From the Lomlon Field. !

TIE SEVERE. FROST of the previous
week had somewhat moderated on
thr Christmas Eve which | spent with
=. i'm Herefordshire. a heavy snow
storm set in with intense darkness at
nirhttall, and we drew our easy chairs
close To the log fire in the snuggery,
Nhcn the ladies had left ms, and chat
ted over the bag we had made i'll the
morning. If not large, itIYaS, at all
events, varied, as it contained hares
and rabbits, UhcasIntS and patridges,
a WOOdcOck, and amallard, snipe, anda
brace of teal. That glorious north
e.,St. which Kingsley loved so well;
Is tie wind for spOrtsmen at Christ
mas, however hunting men may
abuse IL. had come over to the old
country from my farm up in
the northwest of Canada, and we
talked over many Il bag of heavier
game we had made together by the
lonely lakes and everlasting pine
woods of the Dominion in old days;
lud of all times for such a chat, COM
mend De To Christmas Eve.
"Bv the way, s., - | suddenly said,
fwhat a lovely brooch your wife was
wearing this evening. 1t flashed and
s"intillated like Il thing of life, repre-
sen ,'iug a. it did, if / amnot mistaken,
, from | have seldom seen finer
Workmanship. That never came out
OF Boud-streetH IN
ann aIwaVS+lmuZed at the niue cholce
!, man pct- iu bracelets and brooches
i'm London. The jewellers seem to
have no idea in designing beyond
L0rsr-hooS and SerpentS, clrelets anu
twisted bands. That trout brooch
c,n,e from sETi-cO,D
expressed my surprise, ana headd-
eel, "Thore is 4 story connected WIN
that brooch. If you are not for bed yet,
will tell il YOU, as it is quitea winters
;aJo. uav. an actual Christmas Eve
ialc.u
AN right; wait till l light a fresh
Manila. Now for it."
"When YOU were i'll Canada dld you
ever stay with Norris, on the Du
NIoiuc river? No? Well, | must de
scribe the place. lie had run up a
very good house about three miles
from Lake Calumct, one fthat lengthy
,.n.,,n ,,t lakes ON tie Du Moine river,
which YOU remember runs from the
north into the Ottawa. His place
was some sixty miles from the Otta-
wa. SO Won can fancy the location as
the Yankees say. We were very
merry Christmas party there in 1856;
sIeirhing, skating and shooting going
ON i'm fIli force. Several ladies, for u
wonder. were in the house; amongst
Them a niece of Mrs. Norris, Mildred
PAYNE, upon whom two or three of us
were very sweet, and none more so
sEan your humble servant. On
Christmas Eve we men had been out
hunting, and on our return each maze
nm Offering To the coy beauty. Young
a OIL llG
I,,tniupl gave her n squirrels skip,
,yiiL n inilk-white tip to its tail;
.,rucs tgBilliard Barnes brought her
q, ,.,uplo OF snow buntings, and OBJ
t.,iuci = flir amount of smiles; while
| having been unlucky enough to oshoOt
nothing but a skunk, which you could
scarcely present to a lady, bad To oftel
brr an Indian purse, worked III beads
and berries. With something very
like a puut | was told, aS her two 9th
cr familjars had brought flesh and fowl,
ought to have caught her "A fish; ana,
like a W-ilful Girl aS she was, Mildred
turned away, and took Barnes.S arm
10 90 into dinner. i was considerably
annoyed, and with any other girl
should have whiStled her OIL, as Othel-
10 said The case was different win
Mildred, and every moment, a.
and LONG silky eyclashes (she was
enrIrug from the French settlers n
NTnntrcaD / only drank in fresl
GroIIrhts of love. Fish must he oh
tanned for my charmer, and, II posi-
bic. that very evening. What was t'
be done? / hld heard in the morning
how the Indians took the Saim'
fUutaualis, our American brook trout
and resolved To try my luck at once
They aboUuded in Lake Calumet
Which-Nye had seen during our hunt
ing i'm the morning, and il was tn,
most brilliant moonlight night. Th,
ouIy adverse circumstance seemed tC
bp That the Indians of the Little Dos
sr;be. whose Wigwams We're at tn,
head of the lake, though friendly
enough I'm other ways, could no
brooll any fishing in their waters. In
nart;cular, a certain old chief, Spotte,
t(cov.r. was said to have fired on Nor
Iis before now when fishing for TIN
white fish lCOUrcgonus ulhusl. How
over.t $50 long aS could secure MildTet
- br1oI5 trout, | did not mind snap
pnu my fingers at spotted Beaver ant
all his kith and kin.
"Watchiug my opportunity there
fore. after dinner | stole of 10 IN
room. dressed i'm furs, took rifle an
hooks OB long INES, ana ueScelled l
The kitchen. There ! carefully bate
my hooks with raw meat lit woul
have been impossible 10 have done :
i'm the intense iro7tpreyailing outside.
and borrowed a small Jenny q
,rnvrI,r. Then / stalkCd OF on snow
si,,.- over the illimitablc white plain,
.,i,frfeJ bv dark lines of pine tree,
=, fbp direction of the lake, havin
Grst taken the bearings 10y my con
80 Eathinr could exceed the low,
inp-s me-. Of that night as | sped onward
M snow had lost that delicate blu
witch it catches during the day frol
~ sjsie.. and was now Of the pure
li.e uno,nv nv whiteness. The group
,,i~ts C under which ] passed we