The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-24

| UP housekeeping together without fighting
l3for the privilege. Hardly had she fnis lle q
inspecting the nest, and made up her
mind that itEwpuld answer, and that he
| was. on the whole, quite eligible as as g
/ husband. when IA third trout aPpea! req
and attempted to do as the big bully ha nag
4 done the year before This time however,
our young friends blood was Zip, and.
4 though the enemy was considernb bly, lar
ger than lie, he was ready to str for
| his altars and his fires. He made q ,quictK
1usli, like a torpedo boat attacking, q
| mans war, and lit tile Intruder amid
| ships. raTlning hin with all his might.
IThen the enemy 1natle as sudden turn,
and gave our trout a poke IN the ribs,
and for n few minutes they. lodged &.Dac Hk
and forth, and round and round, ana over
and under each other each getting IN q
punch Whenever he had q chance. so fa r r
1t seemed only d trial of strength and
speed and dexterlty, and II o,,t'. trout was q
not quite as large and powerful as the
other, Sct8l1e proved himself the quicker
and the more aglle ind lively. But be-,
fore 1t wa yer he did more than t hi 7,
for. suddenly ranging III, on the enenny.s
starboard ttltarter,s he opened his mouth y
and the sharp teeth Of his lower Jaw tore
d row Of bright scales from his adver-
snry's side and left Il long, deep cash be- .'-s
hind. That settled3it. The big fellow ~
out as fast as he could CO. and our 7 70 ut
was left iiiaundlsputcd poss cssion. st Xxx
One OF the trout's most remnrka bio adj
ventures, and the one which probas ply
taught him moro than any other, came
during the hot weather OF the following
summer The stream had grown ather
too warm for comfort. and lately he had
got I'M the BhHblt&of frrquenting certain
deep, quiet pools where icy springs bub-
blcd out OF the banks aid impaired a
very grateful GOODNESS Ito tho slow cur
rent. t was delightful to spend q long
July Afternoon in the wash below one Of
these fountains, having "a lazy. pleasant
time. and enjoying the touch of the cold
water as 1t went sliding along his body.
from nose tails One sunshiny day, MS
he lay in his favorite spring hole, think
ing about nothing In particular. and Just
working Ills fins enough to keep from
drifting down stream, a fly lit on the
surface Just over his llead-a bright.
Eayly colored fly OF III q species whichaWas
entirely new tor him, but which looked
as If 1t must be very finely favored {s2's
a2 lie made a dash at, the fly and seized
1T. but he had not sooner got 1t between
his lips than he spat It out again. There
was something wrong with 1t. Instead Of
being soft and Juicy and luscious, as al
flies oughtSt to be, 1t was stiff and rynnd
hard, and it, had a long crooked singer
that was different from anything belong
1IlE 10 5tIly OlnerS LIZA = lc Ildu 4SNSi
tasted. It disappeared as suddenly as 1t
had come; and the trout sank to the bot
tom Of the pool. Il
8A But presently three more files came
down together, and lighted IN a row, one
behind another. They were different from
the first, and he decided to try again. II o.
chose the foremost OF tile three, and
found 1t quite as Ill tasting as the other
had been; huta.this8 time he didn't spit IT
4out,.@ for the singer was little too
quick for him. and before he could let
SO 1t was fast in his lip. For the next
few minutes he tore around the pool as
II he was crazy, frig htening some Of the
smaller fishes almost out Of their wits.
and sending them rushing up stream in
a panic. He himself had more than once.
been badly scared Il by seeing other trout
do just what 51le was doing, but he had
never realized what 1T all meant. Now
8he Gunderstood .$ Il M 35
The first thing he did >was TO go shoot
ing along the surface for several feet,
throwing his head from Side to side as
he went. and doing his best to shake
that horrible $ny#out Of his mouth. But
1T wouldn't shake; $50 he tried jumping
out Of the water and striking at the line
with his II tail. That wasnst anyssbetteT,
and next he rushed sof up the stream IS
hard as lie could 60. But the line kept
W
but irresistible force, and before he knew
1t he s ok In the pool again. Wher-s
ever lla went. and whatever he did. 1t was.
always pulling pulling, pulling-not hard
enough to tear the hook away, but just
enough to keep him from getting anincl8
of slack. l f there hads been any chance.
to Jerk he would probably have got
loose i'm short order. III e rushed around
the pool SO hard that ,cgsoon grew weary.
and #presently#he sankSto the bottom hop
ing to lie still FOR a fewimlnutes and rest
and perhaps think Of some new way of
escape But even there that4steady% tug
Eging# never ceased. III Is seemed gsas If sit
would pull his ia " out of his head aftlle3
didn't Yield and before long. he let hlnn-A
self be drawn up again to the surface.
Once he was SO close It o the shore that the
angler made n thrust at him with the
landlng-net. and just grazed his side.
1t frightened him worse t han ever. and
he raced away, again so5fast3 that tile reel
sang and the line swished through the
water like a knife. Il 35
1.-THE other two flies were trailing behind
and fthe short line tina held them was
constantly catching on his fins and
twltclling Itself ound his tail INA way
that annoyed him greatly He almost
thought he could get away II they were
not there to2hindcr him. And yet as q \
finally turned out. it wa $ one Of II hose
lilies that saved his life.f He was coming
slowly back from that last unsuccessful
rush for liberty, lighting for every inch
and only yielding to a strength q thou
sand times greater than his own, when
the trailer caught OIL a sunkan log and 4
held fast. Instantly the strain on his
mouth relaxed. The angler was no ion-8
ger pulling on him, but 3on the log. He
could jerk now, and ha{ilnnediately hes
gan to witch his head this way and that
backward and forward. right and left
tearing the hole in his 8liptta lit tie larger
at every yank, until the hook came away
and he was free. u 81 ii
E$ was a pa lnful experience, and he 4
carried the scar as long as he lived. but
the lesson he learned was worth all IT.
cost. ! won't say that he never touched5
bait again. but he was much moro eau
tious. and no other artificial I fly ever
fstung him as badly as that one. w III III.
THE years went by, and the trout In
creased in size and strength and wisdom.
as q trout should. OneSafter another his
rivals went away to tho happy hunting
grounds. most of them losing their lives
Because they could notsreslst the tempta-ga
ton to taste a. made-up fly. Or to swall oW3