The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-17
MY BIG FISH.

Three months ago | was a happy
man. had a charming wife, two hand
some children, a comfortable income, a
considerable practice, and (for a solicit
tori clear conscience. All but the
last l still possess, but the loss of that
one item has destroyed my peace of
mind and embttered my whole exist
ence. And yet L cannot but think that
there was great excuse for me. When
a man basely yields to temptation he is
said to fall" but that expression
hardly applies to my case. was reg
ularly pushed over by other'people. But
will tell my painful story and the
reader shall Judge for himself.
My name is Marmaduke Howard
Jones. Dropping the Howard as a trife
too ornate for everyday use, am
known socially and professionally as
Marmaduke H. Jones; and l have felt
some little pride in the name. as being
uncommon, not to say distingue. | do
not mean to suggest that | am by any
means the only Jones, and there are
doubtless other Marmadu1es; but the
tout ensemble, the combination, Marina
duke II. Jones, t0tuS, tcreS atQue r0-
tu121uS, has always struck me as pos
'sessing considerable artistic merit. and
as doing great credit to my godfathers
and my godmothers. | hattered myself
that the combination was at any rate
unique, and certainly never supposed.
until few weeks since, that there
could possible be another individual,
still less another member of nv own
profession, rejoicing in the very same
name. The reader will therefore I'M
derstand that the supposition of mis-
taken identity was the last that was
likely to occur to me when, on opening
my letters one morning q couple of
months ago, found the following from
an old friend resident in Yorkshire
"TIPCAT, Yorks.
"DEAR OLD Boy: Just seen a notice of yOur
splendid success, and hasten to congratulate
you. You must come and try your luck with
us very shortly. know of a whopper not
far from here, that should like you to have
4 Shy at. Kind regards to the wife. Ever
yours sincerely, SAM THOROGOOD."
| stared at the letter in amazement.
| had recently got a verdict in a rather
uphill case of Grumleyvs. Pipkin. but
it was not a matter of much public in
terest, and was scarcely likely to have
made any marked sensation in small
town in Yorkshire. Still, this being the
only available explanation, | adopted
it The allusion to the ''whopper'
whom | was invited to have shy atwas
mysterious: but concluded that it re-
ferred to some Wrong-doer of high de-
gree POSSIBLY the parson orthe squire)
who had been riding roughshod over
his humber ncighbors, and whom
1horogood desired, in country phrase,
to 'have the law Of" put the letter
aside and went on with my other cor
respondence. Presently | came to a
still more mysterious epistle:
"BOUNDERBY, NEAR TIvERTOY.
SIR: Having seen the report of your recent
achievement, trust you will pardon my in
curing what flight You are in the habit of
using feel that / am taking a liberty in adj
dressing total stranger on such a subject
but our mutual interest in the same pursuit
must be nv excuse.
Il inclose stamped envelope for reply,
Il remain your obedient servant,
WILLIAM PODMORE."
"Grumley VS.. Pipkin must have made
more noise than l imagined" | solilo-
quized. ''But what on earth does the
man mean by his flight, and our
mutual interest in the same pursuit.
Does he think | am n member of the
Aerial Navigation Society? As he has
sent stamped envelope for reply,
suppose he must have one, so here
goes:
"30 FURNIvAL's I'M.
DEAR SIR: I am in receipt Of your letter,
but haven't II notion what it means Please
"MARMADUKE H. JONES"
The next letter l came to was from a
brother solicitor on professional bust
ness, but in aP. S. the writer said "Ac-
cept my congratulations on your bic
fish. l had no idea you were such
sportsman"
Big fish, Here's another lunatic.n
calculated; but at that moment was
interrupted by the entrance of client.
After we had disposed of his business,
he remarked, as he stood up to take
his leave:
Everybody is talking about that big
pike of yours. I'm not fisherman my
self, but infer that it was a very swell
achievement. Allow me to congratu-
late you"
what on earth are you referring
to?" | exclaimed.
"Why, that big pike that YOU caught
at-where was it?-Newbury, or some
such place. | saw it mentioned in one
Of the papers. You didn't know you
were so famous, perhaps?'
81 certainly did not. The thing must 4!