Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-07-04

""'SA. 1hS EHB llSlitndu buIncu n llL-
tie pale, but he kept on playing tho
fish, took another drink with one hand,
and cursed Pats father that he did not
bring the net quick enough, and just
then his feet slipped on the wall, and
In he went, down, down, down, into
that deep hole. They dragged the
water with ralses and hooks, but they
never found the body. The lady shut
up the house, went away, and all the
property went to rack, ruin and
tangled scrub"
well, that's a great ghost storyT'
said Harry Myers; ''what has 1t to do
with the hoodoo'?"
I'm not through yet, boys. Pat
swore that there was in that hole
freak of nature, ergo wall-eyed trout;
that he was never to be caught, al
though he might be hooked; that he
was the Britisher under the water
fairy's antiquated hoodoo, and that
anyone who persisted in hooking him
went blind or died before the year was
out.
THAT settled It'll did not finish my
lunch before was up on the wall try
ing for that acknowledgement trout
with the boss eye, and nothing Pat
could say would shake me. For two
hours worked as never man did.
whipped every inch of the pool that l
could reach from the wall, but without
effect until, the light changing, l could
see that one side of the hole terminated
at the top in slight overhanging
ledge. ! changed my fly for white
one with golden tail, and deftly
dropped it over the apparent ledge.
"Ye gods with mighty rush and
swirl giant fish took my fly, and in a
breath l could feel him hooked safe
enough. How the touch thrilled down
the tapering four-ounce bamboo, every
section of it thrilling like telegraph
wire! To right, to left, up and down,
backward and forward, good fighter
and bold one. No subterfuge about
himl Up to the top he came, and threw
himself out of the water before my
eyes, then down again to the depths,
under the ledge and out again, but no.
where could he find purchase on
which to fret or fray tho line, and still
at his mouth the relentless tension Of
the line was sinking the barb deeper
and deeper until the strain and pain
together began to tell. I could feel
him weaken. BY that mystic intuition
known only to the true fisherman, l
knew that the end was coming, and
that the beauty was mine by the Prov
ess of my line and rod, as in the olden
time by the sword aud spear.
"Who said 'hoodoo' to ME at that
moment? l had forgotten the wall
eyed Britisher, the fairy, Pat, almost
myself and my own existence, In the
glorious battle of skill and fnesse
against strength and cunning. At lass
/ bore little harder on the line to
bring him round. With q last gasp he
turned from the butt, headed in mad
dying dash up the stream, and as
held firm to the line and reel with my
thumb, he cleared the water with a
mighty bound, and-the line snapped
In the air like whip-lash-I had lost
him 1t did not seem possible, and
sorrowfully drew my leader up to my
fngers-the fly, hook and leader were
intact and whole as when newl
"Boys, / was paralyzed. Then o
sound striking my ear l turned, and
there was poor Pat, rocking himself tc
and fro, crying and sobbing after the
manner of his people: 'Ochone, ochone
Aw, the dear MASTER Another av 'em
gone! May the black shadder fall on
the wall-cyed divil at the last day! Ow
owl / could not help laughing, In
spite Of my disgust at losing the fish
and, packing up, we made our way
back to the house, Pat refusing to be
comforted. Next morning there was
quite levee outside to see the mar
who was going to die or go blind be
cause of the fish, for the tale wa'
known in all parts, although do no
say that it was ntirely believed.
was told of this man and that mar
who had all suffered something fol
their temerity, when l wanted to g
fishing Pat refused to take me. W
can't put yer blud on my hans, boss,
was the way he put it.
$50 went by myself, and purposell
fished up toward the wall, being de
termined to have another try for tina
piece of hoodoo bric-a-brac. Arriving
at the pool fished and fished, but onl!
caught two small ones, and when abou
laying off for lunch l saw CLEAN O
silver in the weeds at the other side o
the water, fifty yards or SO down tn
stream. The water was about one hun
bred feet across, and to this day / d.
not know what prompted me to G.
casting for dead fish, but took OF
nv fly and put on fair-sized bas
spoon hook and at tho second cas-
dropped it over the fish, and gentl!
towed it across to my feet. 1t was m
trout of the day before-dead-as dea
as imperial Cesar. There was some
thing peculiar about this fish. Look
ing closely could see that the front
the jaw, the round bone in which tn
hook generally holds, was clean gone
torn out years ago. The thin men
brane remaining had fringe-like az
pearance, and one eye was blind an
gone, the socket being PRACTICAL
empty. This then explained the viii
stories about the fish. He was wal
eyed, and he could not be hooked e.
cept in the lower jaw, and even the
on very light tackle he would be yer
liable to break away, for he weighe
three pounds and five ounces. But fc
his night and half day in the water h
would have made very fine mounte
specimen.
$50 lifted the hoodoo, caught tt
Phantom Trout, and am neither bin
nor dead, and have no more idea no
that gigantic lie ever got around in ii
form of an accepted and current legen
than you have. But 'Sunnyside' WI
tho name of the old Britisher's, pla(