St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-07-27

said Harry Myers: what has il 70 do
with the 'hoodoo'?'
I'm not through yet, boys Pat
swore that there was in that hole a
freak OF nature. ergo. a wall-eyed trout;
that he was never to he caught, al.
though he might be hooked: that he
was the Britisher under the water
fairy's antiquated hoodoo. and tina,
anyone who persisted in hooking him
went blind or died before the year was
out.
That settled it. did not finish nv
lunch before 1 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 l 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, could
see that one side Of the hole terminated
at the top in a slight overhanging
ledge. l changed my fly for white
one with q golden tail. and deity
dropped it over the apparent ledge.
''Ye gods! with a 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 a telegraph
wire! To right. to left. up and down.
backward and forward. good fighter
and bold one. No subterfugc about
him! 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 a purchase on
which to fret or fray the 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. I
knew that the end was coming, aud
that the beauty was mine by the prow-
ess of my line and rod, as in the olde n
time by the sword aud spear.
"Who said 'hoodoo' to me at that
moment? 1 had forgotten the wall
eyed Britisher. the fairy, Pat. almost
myself and my own existence, in the
glorious battle of skill and finesse
against strength and cunning. At last
1 bore a little harder on the line to
bring him round. With a last gasp he
turned from the butt. headed in a mad
dying dash up the stream, and rs
held firm to the line and reel with my
he cleared the water with n
mighty bound. and-the line snapped
in the air like whip-lssh-I had lost
him! 1t did not seem possible. and
drew my leader up to my
fly, hook and leader were
in tact and whole as when new!
Boys. | was paralyzed. Then a
sound striking my ear / turned. and
there was poor Pat, rocking himself to
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-eyed divil at the last day. Ow,
owr ! 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
Next morning there was
quite levee outside to sec the man
who was going to die or 60 blind be-
cause of the fish, for the tale was
known in all parts, although do not
say that it was entirely believed. l
was told of this man and that man
who had all suffered something for
their temerity, when I wanted to go
fishing Pat refused to take me. 'Ye
can't put yer blud on my hans, boss.
was the way he put it.
80 went by myself. and purposely
fished up toward the wall, being de-
to have another try for that
piece of hoodoo bric-a-brac. Arriving
at the pool fished and fished, but only
caught two small ones. and when about
laying of for lunch l saw a CLEAN of
silver in the weeds at the other side Of
the water. fifty yards or SO down the
stream. The water was about one hum
dred feet across, and to this day do
not know what prompted me to go
casting for dead fish. but took of
my fly and put on fair-sized bass
spoon hook and at the second cast
dropped it over the fish. and gently
towed it across to my feet 1t was my
trout of the day before-dead-as dead
Is imperial Cesar. There was some
thing peculiar about this fish. Look
ing closely could see that the front Of
the jaw. the round bone in which the
hook generally holds, was clean gone.
torn out years ago. The thin men,
brane remaining had a fringe-like ap-
pearance. and one eye was blind and
rune. the socket being practically
empty. This then explained the wild
stories about the fish. He was wall
wed. and he could not be hooked ex-
.ept in the lower jaw. and even then
IN very light tackle he would he very
liable to break away, for he weighed
,hrec pounds and five ounces But for
lis night and half day in the water he
would have made very fine mounted
specimen.
so lifted the h0odOo, caught the
Phantom Trout. and am neither blind
1OT u00Us AIA ho A4OAN A~AN" 'so's
hat gigantic lie ever got around in the
orm of an accepted and current legend
han YOU have. But 'Sunnyside' was
he name of the old Britisher's. place
to Pat, and that was where
,ur hoodoo came in yesterday and to-
lay. The story ought to lift it, and
ve will catch fish tomorrow.
But we didn't 1t was bitterly cold.
md sport was very poor. Our April
was for keeps!-Outing.
Very snare DOg.
"Speakin' of smart dogs" said Mr..
reminds me of q dog
owned t'other year. That ere dog
xnowed when it was Sunday. an went
to church reg'lar. an wouldn't chase
"a bbit to save your life on that day il
one went skippin' by right under his
nose. He was the best rabbit dog in
the country. too. an loved sport amaz,
n'ly. He knowed God Save the Queen
from Rule BRITANNIA an would keep
time with his tail on the foor when l