Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-11-25

perch that were SO small it wa mystery
as to how they had swallowed the extra
small minnow with which he was fishing.
BY three clock in the afternoon it looked
very much as though Tufts was going to
have to dine on fish tails that evening.
Before four o'clock Tufts had caught a
bass that he believed would let him out
on the fish tails. 1t certainly wasn't over
ten inches by very much, but to look at it
it seemed long enough. Not wishing to take
any chances if he could help it, Tufts pulled
tape line from his pocket and measured
his catch. 1t lacked just a quarter of an
inch of being the necessary ten inches, and
he knew that Chrsty would insist on having
his full pound of flesh.
He threw the little bass into the bottom
of the punt and went back to his line. In
few minutes he had landed a small perch,
even smaller than the bass. Those of us who
know Tufts real well imagine that he swore
Just a little when he saw that perch, though
he never said that he did.
Ordinarily he would have thrown both
fish back into the water, but for some unac-
countable reason he kept them both this time,
and afterwards he was glad that he did so.
He fished on until after five oc,ock, but
did not get so much as another nibb,e, and
he realized that he must pull back to the
clubhouse and acknowledge himself beaten,
and eat Christy's fish tails for supper Reel
ing in his line, he laid his rod in the bottom
of the punt and started towards the club
house, but he hadn't gone far when he
stopped to throw the two little fish he had
caught into the water.
As he picked up the bass he pulled out
bic live and ,,,o,S,,raJ - amin Tbop
he compared it with the perch, and then
he smiled.
81 believe I can do it" he said.
Taking out his knife, he carefully cut
the tail from the perch and then as carefully
removed all the meat from the little stub
of tail he had left on it. Then he trimmed
mp the tail of the bass and fitted the tail
of the perch to the bass in such way that
it made the bass a trihe longer than it had
been. Hunting through the small satchel
in which he carried his extra tackle he found
a small bottle of liquid glue, and with this
he glued the tail of the perch to the bass
and carefully smoothed down the edges of
the skin. Then he measured the fish again.
and found to his Joy that it had grown By
the operation fully half an inch.
"Christy is the only man on earth could
1901 WITH SUCH lnlnR aS tndl, ne Salu 10
himself, "but l believe ] can fool him if
let it get little dark before get in
When Tufts reached the landing at the
clubhouse Christy was waiting for him with
the announcement that the fish tails were
all ready to serve"
81 would prefer liver and bacon tonight"
said Tufts. 81 didn't have any luck, but
l did get more than ten-inch fish, even if
it is only trihe longer. Want to meas
ure it?'
Christy looked at the fish which Tufts
produced very carefully. lie wasn't sat
isiied with its length until he had measured
it two or three times, but finally he gave
in that it might measure more than ten
inches if it were stretched a little, ard
Tufts didn't eat his fish tails.
Of course none of the rest of II. knew any.
thing about the trick Tufts had played
on Christy for several days afterwards, but
all of that time Tufts had carefully kept
that fish in ice. Then one day he told the
story and produced the fish as evidence,
and Chrsty was the maddest man in
northern Ontario. He said man who would
play such trick as that didn't deserveAny
luck, and he was glad Tufts didn't have
la2N. WRIGHT A. PATTERSON.