The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-01-12

| none, SIullu Ao lOE SSll, dlu mere
to state now that have lied; Lied as big
as knew how and still make it lie that
might believed, and ! guess you fellows
swallowed it without much question"
Il have not believed a single thing you
have said about fish since you have been
here" said the Pastor.
Nor l., echoed the others.
"The biggest lie that have told since
| have been here was that one about the
number of bass Yorker and l caught in
Healey lake. We were trying to Guido the
Pastor, and did so far as the lie was con-
cerned, and if he did not believe our story,
it was because his own was not true. What
we"
81 shall have to refer this matter to the
congregation when we reach home, Brother
Smith," put in the Pastor.
81 would advise you not to-" replied
Smith, ''but as | was going to say, what
we did catch that day was all in the boat
when we returned, and, as several members
of this club counted them, it will not be dis
puted when | say there were l3S bass of
over the legal length"
at was only l2S, for counted them to-
gether with Husky Bill" said Tice.
What is the matter of ten bass more or
less, anyway" replied Smith. but there,
| gentlemen, in my confession, 1873 bass in
stead of the five or six hundred that told
about, and believe that every one will feel
better if they follow my example"
| ~"I believe that the advice Smith gives us
Is good" said Yorker, land realize now as
| never did before the enormity of the lie
told in reference to the muskellunge / caught
in Crane lake."
"You don't need to make any confession
of that" said the Pastor, for everybody
| knew that it was lie when you told it"
at seems to me that | remember distinct
| ly of your going to Crane lake to fish for
| muskellunge on the strength of that story"
| replied Yorker, land it was not as bad as
| your Crown island bass story at that"
my veracity is not in question at the
present time" replied the Pastor.
"No, we will hear from you later" said
| Yorker, provided, of course, your con-
science is not too elastic. But to return to
my Crane lake story, | simply wish to say
| that ! did catch a muskellunge, and that it
| did upset our boat, but that was due to our
| awkwardness, rather than the size of the
! fish, for when we got it on shore, which we
| finally did, it only weighed AZ pounds"
"You told me the truth of that Crane
lake story the day we were at Healy lake
| together" said Smith, "and you said it only
weighed 81 pounds"
what is matter of five pounds more or
less in the size of muskellunge?" said York
er, and Bill Reeves nudged Husky Bill when
Smith did not reply.
81 have told SO many different tales re-
garding the size and weight of fish that
| have caught in these Ontario lakes and
rivers" said Tice, that l hardly know
| where to begin my confession"
why not straighten out the Moon river
| story of SO muskellunge, 70 bass and l20
trout in ten hours?' asked Husky Bill.
THAT might be good place to begin at,
as that story was exaggerated somewhat.
| The truth is that l only caught IS muskel-
| lunge, go bass and no trout at all, for
| did not fish for them. There are any num-
| Der of trout in that stream and its tribu-
taries, however, and | do not doubt that it
would be quite possible for a man to catch
as many fish as l said l had caught in the
Moon river in the length of time l claimed
tc have fshed. In reality l only fshed nine
hours and quarters. As for the other
stories | have told about fishing in Kah-
pee-Kog and the surrounding lakes, can
cover all of them with the single statement
that never caught more than ITO bass
in any one day in any of these lakes, but
that, | imagine, is better than any of the
rest of you ever did, if the whole truth was
known"
Gentlemen" began the Pastor, when
Brother Smith started this little experience
meeting, | did not realize the good that it
was to accomplish. In fact, was afraid it
would result in more harm than good, and
that the prevarications-I cannot bring my
self to the point of calling them ies-that
have been told by several of you around these
evening fires would only be again exag-
| gerated, and that some of you at least would
return to your homes with an added weight
upon your conscience. 1t has pleased me
greatly to listen to such confessions as have
been made this evening, and | am sure
| that you feel the better for having made
them. There is one thing for which l am
sorry, and that is that Brother Barnes is
not here to retract the story he told Of
catching more fish than caught at Crown is
land several years ago. | am sure that had
Brother Barnes been with us tonight he
would have been moved to tell the real
truth of that story, and so remove load
from his conscience"
What are you going to do about that
stoTy VI yours tudL stdTteu the 'iouUie!
asked lice.
IL wish to say in regard to anything that
l may have told since have been here, that
to now deny the story, and offer so-called
confession would be but farce and lie
in itself. When told of those 500 bass my
self and friend caught in one day"
"You said $50 BEFORE" said Smith.
Possibly l did, but 500 was the correct
number, and l only wished to correct my
former statement"
Il guess those bonds you put up guaran-
teeing the Pastors reputation will be de-
clared forfeited when you get home," said
Husk Bill to Smith, as they walked back to
the clubhouse.
"Well it has taught me a lesson, any
way" replied Smith, land won't be so fool.
ish again very soon. am sorry for his sake
~ well as my own"