Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1885-09-03
GOING A-FISHING.
BY LICE BROWN.

Some people would rather stay at
home and handle money than 60 fish
ing, Lut 1 am not so constructed.
Money, of course, has occasional at
fractions, even to man who lives main
ly on moonshine; but there frequently
comes time when am overcome with
desire to go where pellucid waters
gurgle, and for day or two relapse
into barbarism and eat with my fingers.
As Sam Jones says, am down on pis-
catorial diversions, but, brethren, do
love to fish. never baited hook in
my life, if we rule out the pin-hook
period of existence; but for all
that, / love to lie in the shade ON hot
day, and watch somebody else having
good luck and splendid time.
Any man who has the use OF Q brain
that is always on the go, like young
chicken in quest of bugs, will find that
nothing so lulls it into ths holy calm of
perfect repose, so necessary at OCCASION
al intervals to robust mental health, as
reclining in a hammock i'll the breezy
shade on hot day and watching some
body trying to catch fish. The eyes
may remain open, and The body wide
awake, but the soul will slumber, and
| when aroused to duty afterward it will
spring up refreshed.
One of the ways to get all the enjoy
ment of the circus, without the crowd
and bad breath you are obliged to en-
dure in order to harvest hilarity under
canvas, is to make up little party of
friends, and go forth in picnic style to
spend day killing mosquitoes and eat
ing pickles and Jelly on the bank of
some placid stream, where it meanders
through forest which drapes the earth
in cooling shadows so inteLse that ants
on the biscuit are not observed.
/ have in mind an excursion OF that
kind which occurred this season. A
small party of kindred spirits was made
up, and day appointed for the picnic.
1t was agreed that everybody SHOULD
take something, so 1 took a camp cot
and fan, IN addition to fly lemonade
before starting. Others, more keen
sighted, took substantia,s that came
handy in the course of the day, but no.
body had the foresight to think of bait.
Bait is the allurement placed on the
hook to beguile the fish to its ruin, and
| is a matter of some consequence, If you
expect to have good luck and catch
many fish, though some are foolish
enough to bite at the bare hook, as you
sometimes see people do in real life.
NV wife took freezer of ice cream, O
Jug of milk, and every precaution to
get her refreshments to the rendezvous
in safety. She also took q lady guest
from the city who was afraid OF snakes
and something of gusher on poetry.
| 1t might also be remarked that she had
a good mouth for pie and abhorred q
pig.
We started early. NY costume was
cool but impressive. 1t consisted large
! ly of blue cotton pantaloons, straw hat,
and shirt without a collar. also
wore cigar the greater part of
the time, in addition to the
blue goggles which are my constant
stay and comfort in hot weather. The
women were dressed with scrupulous
care in Mother Hubbards, wide
brimmed hats, and full-grown umbrel-
las. Our coupe for the time was o
numbering spring wagon, drawn by o
horse who resembled myself in one
marked particular. He was fond of
the shade, and narrowly escaped upset
ting the wagon several times IN his
frantic efforts to get to it when we
passed tree by the roadside.
Immediately on leaving home my
wife began to enjoy herself and add to
the pleasure of the company-which
was myself and the woman who alb
horred snakes-by worrying about the
cream and its chance of getting there
in anything short of sloppy condi-
tion. 1t is peculiarity of this good
woman to take an interest in every
thing she has anything to do with.
Her interest in that cream was con-
tinuous and full of solicitude. The
journey was about six miles, and from
notches cut on the wagon-box by way
of memoranda,-for / like to be accu-
rate about such matters for the sake of
argument afterward-I discover that /
was obliged TO stop, alight, and over
haul the tub in which the freezer and
jug OF milk were packed in the frag-
ments of an iceberg of no insignificant
size. fiftY-three consecutive times, in
response to the calls of that woman's
abnormal zeal toward promoting the