Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-05-26
A FISHING TRIP.
John Quill Tells Of Experience
With the Rod.
All the Beauties of Long Journey
Without a Catch.
He Has Graduated as Follower OF
lsaak Walton.

| one VI my uclSnDOTS, IL SOOu, honest
soul as far as appearances go, invited
me to go fishing with him, the other
day, and in momentary distraction of
mind l consented. l am not such
! dcvotee of Isaak Walton that | really
enjoy tramping up and down the wind
| ing brook all lay long, drowning Il
worm and offering myself up as a sac
rifice for the black flies and mosquitoes
to have barbecue from; but my
friend is an enthusiast and said so
much about his skill as an angler and
painted such Il rosy picture of the bab-
| bling brook that all doubt as to his
| ability to supply the home market with
scaly food was overcome ana | con-
scented to go.
Before | retired to my attic boudoir
| for the night | took particular pains
to call on all my friends within Il radius
OF two miles more or less and advise
them in friendly way not to purchase
| anything for dinner, the day following
my trip, as | was sure to be oversup-
| piled with fresh water fruit of the
finny variety and it would be not only
a pleasure to supply them, but l should
| consider it 4 great favor on their
Part to relieve me OF part of the
product of my days slaughter.
| After attending to all the various lit
tie minor details of the trip l retired
| to await the summons of the alarm
| clock at 400 that | might grid on my
| arnOr and beat the record. | was
| sleeping the sleep of the innocent and
| blest ut $3.50 A. NJ. when the alarm
! clock went off. Something had got
| into the clock ana ii went off an hour
| earlier than intended. 1t started in
sort of low and mild but kept gaining
until one could have heard it up on the
| Brook road. 1t would run a little while
| then die way down low, then Whoop her
up again until I had to bury it up in
the bcdclothcs to keep it from striking
| itself to death.
| The morning was darker than an
| African pappouse's check, and colder
than a charity bali. | hustled into all
my own things and some Of the board
| er'S and struck out to arouse the fell
| low who got me into the Scrape. He
| aroused hard. l beat Il tattoo on the
door and played Home, Sweet Home"
with the door bell and after cracking
the panel in the side door / saw some
signs Of life as he poked his head out
Of the window. | think he was the last
( one to wake in the neighborh0od, and
| judging by the remarks that the neigh
| boIS made, they must have had bad
| dreams.
After long distance confab over
| wireless telephone he set me to work
| while waiting for him, digging angle
| worms for bait. Right here is where
| | think l got frost bitten or touched, at
| least. | spadcd over half an acre or so
| r
and an early vegetable patch. it WAS
so dark one couldn't tell IL worm from
| a piece Of garden hose. | am little
| inclined to think my friend let me in
| on the ground floor, and proposed to
| start the perspirltior on my alabaster
brow by getting his garden spadcd the
same as the hobo travels on the rail-
road, without money, without price.
| After laboring in his vineyard for
some time until his unspadcd real es-
| tate got scarce and my hands had
grown quite fat in places, vcntured to
| inquire if he hal forgotten my exist
cnce or had concluded to postpone the
trip to some day in the dim future.
After repeated calls he appeared at the
door and assured me he had no
thoughts of having NE spade up so
|
patch. Then his wife appeared on the
| seen" and thanked me for my labor in
her behalf and said that any time l
| wanted any WORLDS for bait, if l would
| come over She would show me just
where to dig. I thought that possibly
| there might have been some little I'M
Outstanding about that worm patch
| before | arrived.
IN nd aft
| five mile ride in the cool gray morn
we reached the lake. Then came the
| transferring Of our traps to a boat that
was built after the pan Of Noahs ark
| with the top left off only it was several
tons heavier. lily companion was
wholly unselfsh so allowed me to pull
at the oars and prOpel the antique old
gOndola some two miles to the fishing
ground, where we arrived about sun
rise.
was all ready at that time to go
home. But we fished and fished. At
noon we adjourned for refreshments.
Up to that time we had not broken up
any happy fish family by catching any
Of their offspring. We shifted places
several times during the day, which
meant for me more labor on the oars
like a galley slave. I figured up in my
mind that l had rdlled that old gondola
something less than Il miles.
At about ) Z. M, having had such
roaring success all day we concluded to
break camp and start for home. 1t
didn't take us long to count up the
spells. We had one fish about > u
inches long which weighed on its own
scales one-half an ounce. This was a
few less than what | expected when |
started out, but l was thankful to be
alive.
All the way home my companion was
profuse in his apologies and said it
must be an off day and the sign wasn't
right, and that we would try it again
sometime.
That's what he said and this is what
said: THE next time l get up at
$50 a. NJ. to go fishing he will have
WHISPERS two yards long like old Time
with the hour glass. | have graduated
and received my diploma in the fish
business and when the minister who
preached that sermon sometime ago
about how wicked it was to catch fish
on the Sabbath comes my way. I can
look him in the eye and safely say. Il
r., a