The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-18

1 4 foolish little fellow reached the choice morsel first So much In hurry was he l that he seized and swallowed the object be- l fore even finding out what It was. Alasl 1 The next instant the swarm Of hungry l jealous sunish saw their brother shoot
 straight for the air hole and disappear
 through it. What had happenedf simpy T new trick of their arch enemies the coun, | try boys. When the frightened goggle-eyes
 recovered their wits there was hasty con sultation. The boys overhead were fishing l through that mir hole, and the young fish
 were so hungry they would listen to no ad- l vice. Something must be done. Tn the midst of these exciting incidents
 stranger appeared. Ills like had never been | seen before by the sunhshes, and ns he slowly
 approached the goggle-eyes drew together
 in a close bunch, their heads pointing out
 ward "I am seeking friendly neighbor-
 hood" said the wa.leyed pike, and there
 seems to be plenty of room here" l As the friendly pike said this long, vel l low shaft of light lit up the water beneath | the airhoe. Then In the water was seen mother small object wrigging downward. | The waleyed fish made bee line for the object, but before taking It he turned one eye downward and-wel. perhaps he did not wink but he came very near 1t. Then that strange fish carefully removed every vestige of mlnrow from the cruel hook and swan away. leaving the bare steel glistenlng but useless. This" said tho older fishes, 'is lesson for us-we must look before we leap"
 But the young goggle-eyes didn't learn tho lesson.
 Meanwhile the Congress of All Nations was having bad scare. An army of strange gaunt. hungry eyed fishes were approa ching ied by the wise wall-eyed pike. These fishes were merely seeking warmer cline, but the Congress of Nations didn't know that.
 The pickere. most savage of the lake | dwellers. and the large mouthed bass pre- | pared. feeble they were, to fight, while the less pugnacious fishes fled across the | lake.
 1 smart sklrmlsh occurred and the aston 1 ished pike attacked on all sides, fled in con | fusion toward the sunfsh beds. They had l not expected such a hostile reception. and l felt deeply hurt. The walleyed pike and l the sunnsh dwell together the rest of the winter. Al one time the cold became in.
 tease ns 10 freeze the lake half way to the l bottom, and all the fish were overcome. The | bottom mud afforded a soft bed In which
 the benumbed fish lay on their sides until
 spring and the breaking up of the icebound | barriers permitted the hot sun of May to
 warm the lake to It's furthermost depths
 And during all that long summer scarcely
 sun1sh was caught on hook and line, fo : | the wall-eyed pike ate all the halt. In this
 way did the lake dweilers pass the winters l and summers.
 When the cold and Ice came again. and | the brooks gave ID their inhabitants as
 usual. into the lake came many fish. but
 there were neither pickerel nor bass among them. This was at first a mystery 10 the
 eoggle-eyes. until their friends. the wall.
 eyed pike. told them the history of the river 1 fish and the strange shiner, which was as 1 follows:
 The river fish are generally in the habit 1 of wlntering in the lake. and when they migrate lt Is in body. rushing over shGl- lows through deep rapids and down falls until they enter the lnke or pond. Now. being of happy nature the pickerel and bass usually become savage and reckless after reaching the ,ake, and for just as long as the winter remains open-that is, as long as no tee has formed-the pickerel and bass made themselves at home In the schools Of lake mlnnows sinners, buffalo. carp and young eels, 10 the terror of the latter fish, Now 1t so happened one winter day after 1 the Ice sheet had covered the lake that l wandering shiner discovered another sinner | acting very queerly. On closer examination ;, this sinner was seen to be made of hard in and attached to three large hooks cleyerly l hidden In red feathers. Moreover, long. l almost invisible line extended upward 10 1 hole in the ice Occasionally this strange
 sinner performed wonderful feats or swim
 ming. dartlng here and there with the raplu- | fly or plckerPl' rush.
 The live sinner was very curious ana yct
 caution made him retire into some deah
 wateucresses that had been cast down rom
 the river month Hardly had he become well
 hidden when a huge piekerel shot from be-
 hind a log, and opening his huge, retrousse
 upper jaw and snout, swallowed the th | shiner.
 Then began fearful struggle The greedy l pickerel whirled round and round In great | circles, shot here and there, turned in his l tracks with sudden twist that would have l snapped a piece of picture wire, but the 1 gut 'leader' and silk fish line resisted all l the efforts of he frantic pickerel He be came exhausted. ceased to struggle. and finally disappeared through the hole over head q victim 10 the innocent looking tin sinner. During that day the little live sinner saw his dead counterpart capture dozens Of bass plckerel and perch, but the sunfsh were glad 10 see this, for they preferred their quiet friends, The wise wall-eyed pike.
 "The struggle for existence by which ws mean the continuous interchange of hostili- ties by the inhabitants of any place who either eat up one another or steal one an. others food and children for pa ssing meal, Is always going on at the bottom of the lake, as well as among the creatures who live upon its shores.
 That was the history of the strange shiner Let all other fishes beware-let them avoid Jumping al conclusions and sure death.