Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1889-03-16

AlOnR the sands beyond the dunes
where the Atlantic waters ceaseless.y !
beat AS We drove rapidly, dogs came
out on the road to bark at us, and see-
ing Sam in the wagon their loud barks
Of disapproval or OF anger changed into
joyful barks Of greeting, and |
they wagged their tails as he spoke to
them, saying: Hello, Ned!' What's
the matter. Jim. old boy?" Hi Pete,
what are you barking at?'
''Look at the cootsr' he excla imed,
as he called my attention, with out
arm, to string Of coots that
flew over the ocean. which was heuv-
ing redly in the rays of the rising sun.
We watched the flying coots. and at
short intervals saw puffs of smoke
shoot out OF small boats that were we'll
off shore, and saw coots fall into the
water. The child's eyes kindled as
with fire. His hunting instinct was
aroused, and he was 10th to go after
mummies. He suggested that we seize
a row-boat and row across the half
frozen bay to the seashore. and there
watch the hunters kill coots.
That would never do, so | set up the
fallacious argument that it was piracy
to steal a row-boat and l dangled the
figure of Captain Kidd with a rope
around his neck before Sans eyes.
But he brushed the sophistical
argument away as with broom.
Said he: ut is not piracy to
borrow rowboat. Somebody is eter
nally borrowing mine and leaving it
on the other side of the pond. IT,
makes no difference which side of tn e
pond go to, the boat is always on the
other side. l walked MS much as two
hundred miles after that boat last
summer. If ever catch the person
or persons who take my boat l am
going to be pirate in earnest, and
make them walk the plank-if they
are not too big" and he was lost in
moody wonderment relative to the
identity of the boys who always lest
his boat on the wrong side OF the
pond.
| We tied the horse to a post that
stood near to the bay and walked to
the drain. Arrived there, the close
neshed net was spread across, and !
was directed to cut bush and to go
up the stream for fifty yards and to
thrash it down to frighten the num-
mics and cause them to swim into the
net, where they could be dipped out,
SO cut a bush and with it thrashed
the stream. and as worked watched
the bright-faced boy dip out the
frightened mummies with tiny scoop
net and put them in the pail. He
caught about 100, AID, of course, he
was not satisfied and wanted more,
but l headed him off by care
lessly remarking that broiled beef
steak and bacon and potatoes. hasheG
honey were better hot than cold. In
tsantly the net was Withdrawn from
the drain and we walked briskly to tn,
wagon and clambered in. to sit for {
few minutes to look at the glistenins
ocean and the distant gunners in thei1
little boats, and then enjoy the rid,
home, which was necessarily slow t,
avoid spilling the mummies.
Breakfast eaten, was given bundl,
Of sticks, to which lines and hook
we're attached, and an axe. Samue
had similar bundle of sticks and tn,
pail of mummies. We walked briskl,
to Kelly's pond. Arrived there, | wa
set to chopping holes in the ice, Will,
Sam baited the hooks and set the lines
70 fish for pickerel through ice the
lines are tied to short. thin and lath
like stick. About nine inches from
cne end of the stick hole is boret
through it. A round stick abou
,ighteen inches long and half al
inch thick is thrust through
this hole. The round stick is laid o
the ice and the short end OF the lath t
which the fish line is fastened hang
over the hole that has been chopped i
the ice. A live mummy is fastened t
the hook and the line dropped into tn
water. When a pickerel seizes tn
mummy the short end of the lath dt
scends into the water and the long en-
rises in the air to signal that fish ha
been caught.
The pickerel soon began to bit.
, Here a stick jumped upright, ther
one rose slowly, and yonder one ros
to fall again, then the stocks that fir
rose fell, and presently others woul
rise.
Samuel clamped on his skates an
skated from hole to hole, and wher
: ever there was fish he dragged
l from the water, unlocked it, threw
! on the Ice, and reset the line.
gathered the fish in little pile on II
shore. When fishing was slack Sa
told stories OF fish, ''boss fish"
called them, that he had seen in Il
" pond, and he told of a turtle of gre
size and extreme age, whose head W;
!, as large as mans fist, and who,
d back was moss-grown-a real, oil
: eauatical Bourbon-and the goo
tales would be interrupted
g sticks which signaled him to come.
n he caught fish, together we admire
10 it, If it was large, we agreed tn
4 broiled pickerel, if well basted vii
t. butter, were most excellent eating.
& it was small. why, then sma
ii pickerel, If fried brown, were the be
of fresh-water fish. | unwisely becan
lg so enthusiastic about pickerel tn
| Gh