The times., 1899-12-03
KIPLING A-FIsHING.
How the Novelist Caught Some Very
Big Game
From the Boston Journal, }

(FrOm the Boston Journal,)
There has been resurrected from the files
of the past years issue of the Fishing Ga
zette." of London story of unique ang-
ling experience of Rudyard Kipling 1t is
written by himself and is entitled The
Dry Cow Fishing as Fine Art and here
is his exposition of this branch of sport;
The mtnnow and l and rod went down
to a brook to attend to a small jack who
lived between two clumps of flags in the
most cramped swim that he could select
AS proof that my intentions were strictly
honorable. l may mention that l was us
ing light split-cane rodI-very dangerous
if the line runs through weeds, but very
satisfactory in clear water inasmuch as
1t keeps a steady strain on the fish and
prevents him from taking liberties. l had
an old score against the jack. He owed
me two live bats already, and I had reason
to suspect him of coming upstream and in
terfering with a little bleak pool under a
horse bridge which lay entirely beyond his
sphere of legitimate influence. Observe,
therefore. that my tackle and my motives
pointed clearly to jack, and to jack alone
though ! knew that there were monstrous
big perch in the brook.
The minnow was thrown as a fly several
times, and, owing to my peculiar and hith-
erto unpublished methods OF fly throwing
nearly six pennyworth of the triangles
came off either in my coat collar or my
thumb or the back of my hand. Fly fishing
is very CORY amusement.
The Jack was not interested in the min
now, but toward twilight a boy opened a
gate of the field and let in some twenty or
thirty cows and half a dozen cart horses,
and they were all very much interested.
/ The hoTes galloped up and down the field
and shook the banks but the COWS walked
solidly and breathed heavily, as people
breathe who appreciate the fine arts.
BY this time I had given up all hope
of catching my jack fairly. but l wanted
the live bait and bleak account settled up
before I went away, even if / had torn up
the bottom of the brook. Just before l had
quite made up my mind to borrow a tin OF
/ chloride Of lime from the farmhouse-an-
! other triangle had fixed itself in my fing-
! ers-I made a cast which for pure skill,
! exact judgment of distance, and perfect
/ coincidence of hand and eye and brain
! would have taken every prize al a bait
! cast tournament. That was the first half
/ of the cast The second was postponed be-
! cause the quill minnow would not return
/ TO its proper place. which was under The
/ lobe of my left ear. 1t had done thus be-
/ fore, and l supposed 1t was in collision
with a grass tuft till l turned round and
! saw large red and white bald-faced COW
trying to rub what would be withers in a
/ horse with her nose She looked at me
reproachfully, and her look said as plainly
as words: The season is too far advanced
| for CAD flies? What is this strange dis
! ease?"
Il replied Madam, I must apologize
for an unwarrantable liberty on the part
of my minnow, but if you will have the
/ goodness to keep still until I can reel in
We will adjust this little difficulty
| Il reeled in very swiftly and cautiously.
but she would not wait She put her tail
in the air and ran away. 1t was a purely
/ involuntary motion on my part; | struck.
| Other anglers may contradict me- but
! firmly believe that if man had foul
hooked his best friend through the nose
and that friend ran, the man would strike
| by instinct. l struck, therefore, and the
| reel began to sing just as merrily as
though | had caught my jack, but had il
been a Jack the minnow would have come
away. l told the maker this much
1 afterward, and he laughed and made allu-
sions to the guarantee about holding q
horse
Because it was a fat. innocent she COW
that had done me no harm, the minnow
held-heId like an anchor fiuke in coral
! moorings-and / was forced 10 dance UP
and down an intermnable field very large
ly used by cattle. 1t was like salmon fish
| ing in nightmare. | took gigantic strides
and every stride found me up to my knees
in marsh. But fhe COW seemed to skate
along the squashy green by the brook. to
skim over the miry black waters and tc
float like a mist through the patches ol
rush that squirted black filth over my face
Sometimes she whrled through a mob o.
her friends-there were no friends 10 heII
me-and they looked scandalized; and
sometimes young and frivolous car
horse would join in the chase for few
miles, and kick solid pieces of mud into
my eyes; and, through all the mud. the
milky smell of kline the rush and the
smother ] was aware of my own voice cry
ing: Pussy, pussy, pussy Pretty pussy!
Come along. then puss cat,' You see, i
is so hard to speak to a COW properly and
she would not listen-no, she would moi
listen"