The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-04-29

face as he went over the side of the"
"Seltzer all around" was the sub
dued order. Seeing he had them going,
Mike pressed his advantage too far.
That left only the minister. the sea
serpent and myself in the boat. You
see, l always was a modest man, so !
put myself in the background as much
as possible. The thing started for the
preacher first, and getting hold of his
coat, tore that garment clear up TO
his ecclesiastical collar, and 1 crawled
from the cuddy hole. 1 forgot to tell
you fell into it when the thing first
came over the side. 1t was a small
caDln, you know, but / had a grea
deal Of trouble getting from beneath
the tarpaulins that THAT is, I mean
the snake-piled on me while it had a
heart-to-heart talk with the preacher.
jumped up and grabbed an oar and
gave that snake an awful blow righr
where the preachers torn coat tails
parted, and
What is il now, boys?" asked the
bookworr1 of the party.
knockout drops viii do me-" muir
INJURED the bookmaker.
want something sudden" said the
banker. Mike, weave a rainbow"
"A stretcher." hOarselv whispered the
street car capitalist, and Mike sadly
passed over the counter dripped alb
sinthe. pOusse cafe and a burnt
brandy
That was about as far as Mike ever
could get with his fish story. as the
brand of drinks ordered showed the
limit had been reached. Then he
adopted the subtle methods Of the
crack patent medicine advertiser and
sprang his trap in the midst Of the
most innocuOus remarks.
I know I'm not looking WELL" he
said TO the, unsuspecting banker. but
you oughtfO have seen the sad look
that preacher gave me over his Shout
der as he struck the sobbing sea. The
three men who had been swimming at
safe distance made for him like a
shot. and 1 heard him give a cry and
throw up his hands. His worst fears
were realiZed-the crack / gave him
with the oar had broken the last full
bottle in the party"
Here the bookmaker changed the
subject TO the coming races at Ben
nings and the banker made some re-
mark about form.
Form" eaid Mike, enthusiastically.
Say, you know my brother is Coroner
of the Bronx, and when nc saw the
body Of that fish twas so big, blamed
if he didn't want TO sit on it.
What you need, Mike, is rest. said
the bookwOrm. Il have been watching
your symptoms for some months. and
you must get your mind off that i'm
aginary fish. Of course we are all
friends and we VIII keep this thing
quiet"
The great fisherman had nothing to
say for several days until last night
when by the usual chance the book
maker, the banker. the street railway
man and the bookwOrm, occupied the
same places in front of the bar that
they had six months ago. There was
a gieam in his eye that had been lead
en- once with a lost hope. and his
friends brlced themselves for the
shock
Il pulled the boys aboard. one after
another" said Mike, calmly. "Of
course, they were soaked through, and
pretty we'll exhausted, but they came
around all right"
But what about the sea serpent;
that monster eel?' asked the banker in
surprise.
what eel?" with an elevation of the
eyebrows.
WHY. that one you've been trying
to tell us about for six months"
ssOh, I remember. George!" Ito the
colored boy), bring in that eel"
To The amezemeDt Of the banker the
bOokworm, the traction man ard the
bookmal1er. George heavily lugge5 from
a side room a great panel taller than
he. on which was beautifully mounted
an enormous eel. At least two feet OF
its tail had been cut off and formed q
semi circle at the top Of the big hard
wood panel The bookworm examined
the monster carefully, and declared il
a true eel. the largest ever caught with
line along this coast. It's powerful
jaws, he said, were as strong as bull
Dogs. and the thousands Of muscles in
its sinuous form more than made it q