The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-11-13
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Already he had secured his bucket
Of minnows, and had selected his To-
cation for angling, a pool just above
the rifle. bordered on the opposite
side with dropping willows that al
most reached down to dabble the enus
of their overhanging branches IN the
water. If bass were to be found any
where in Walnut Creek, by all indl-
cations it should be right there.
At this particular moment ne was
engaged in putting together his Jointea
bamboo rod. AS he lifted the thlrd
section to screw it into place. ne was
struck with a thought of Such start
ling nature that he paused involun-
tarily and was soon lost in revere. IL
had suddenly come to him that ne
was lost had been lost for many years,
and that he had not realized IL uillii
now.
ont location even to township. range
and section. Nor yet lost in Il phySI-
cal or moral sense. He was very
GOOD man. was the Hon. w. T. Me-
CURE. and held in high esteem by ms
fellow citizens. as sthe last November
vote had testified. But. as ne SAT
there there came to him a sudden
memory from his boyhood days. He
had been so very. very busy these
mast dozen years that he had hardly
given a thought to the old days.
Now he called to mind just how his
name looked i'm the big leather-bound
family Bible. written out in his fatn-
.er's plain. ld-fashioned hand. Will
liam Henry. third son of John and
Mary Mcclure.
He thought of that September morn
ing when he had started for college.
An the boys and girls of his set were
down to the $50 train to see nm OH.
His last memory of their faces WAS
the glimpse he had from the car
window as the train pulled out of the
station The boys had yelled GOOD
by. Billy!" and the girls had shouted
s.Be a good boy, Billy-boy!" and had
waved their handkerchiefs until SHUT
from sight by the curve around GRAY
elback HILL Now the fact daWned on
him that was the last time he had
heard d friendly voice say Billy.
In college he had been plain Nc
CURE. During the time he vas read
ing law in the office in the city he was
young Mcclure" Then, when ad-
mtted to the bar, he had hurried
away to the West to WOO fame and
fortune; had picked out the County
Seat as an eligible place to begin and,
for a time, was w. II. Mcclure, at
torney Later, he became "our lead
ing lawyer, Mcguire" and at last
tour eloquent Young orator and pres
ent Representative from this county.
The Honorable W. II. Mcclure.
AS he felt the breath of the south
wind blowing up creek, and listened
to the whistling of the redbirds. he
thought for the moment, that ne
would gladly give all his honorS for
the sake of hearing the boys say
Billy in the old. careless. affection
ate way.
do you care if 1 fish in this hole.
too?''
Mcclure looked up. A ten-year-old
boy, with a fishing pole across his
shoulder, stood before him. The lad
had a sunburned face beneath his
straw hat, and his deep blue eyes set
Mcclure puzzling as to when and
where he had seen their like before.
Aside from the straw hat the boys
wardrobe consisted of the two essential
garments--a checked shirt and pair
of blue denim overalls. held in place
by a solitary suspender.
do you care if 1 fish in this hole.
too?" repeated the boy, not quite sure
whether or not the gentleman had
heard his first query.
Mr. Mcclure did not care. In fact.
he would be very glad to have his COM
pany He said SO.
'"rhis is my Pas crick.'' volunteer
ed the boy: but he let's anybody fish
in it at wants to-
He unwound the line from his hick-
DRY pole, dug g worm out of the art
in his old tomato can impaled 1T, spat
on the bait and cast it with Swish
into the pool. Mr.. Mcguire went to
his own, bait can. selected a minnow.
hooked it through the back and made
n long cast into the deep water by
the willows.
DO you use minnies for bait?"
Yes. I'm fishing for bass"
'And can you catch 'em that way?"
Sure! Can YOU catch 'em any
other way?"
mo, / can't! I've tried lots o.
times, too. I've seen 'em in the clear
water-great big fellows-and I've
tried time and time again with nice
fat grubworms. They'd ALWAYS swim
around. sort o. lazy-like, and act like
they was smellin the halt. and then
they'd sort o. turn up their noses and
swim off like they was sayin', L amt
much hungry for grubs to-day. !
thought there ought to be some sort
o. bait they liked, but l never could
make out what it was. Oh, look-ee.
You've got bite,'
Mr.. Mcclure was already looking.
His line was cutting through the
water at a tremendous rate. He
crecked the Keeling out of the line
with his thumb for an instant to make
sure of fastening his fish, felt satisfied
with the sharp tug at the line. and
slowly reeled out more line. He play
ed his captive back and forth, keep
ing it just out of the overhanging will
lows and at the end of five minutes
landed his fish. 1t was the first time
the boy had witnessed the scientific
capture of black bass.
isn't he beauty! He's whole
foot long. and I'll bet, he weighs two
pounds if he weighs anything at all.
Why. / didn't know there was fish
that big i'm this cricki"
Mr.. Mcclure laughed an almost
boyish laugh. cts a pretty good
morning for bass. This place hasn't
been fished much anyway, | should
Judge / shouldn't wonder if the whole
creek is full of Them
The boys face was worth seeing. He
hesitated a moment and then asked:
Say mister, what's your name. any
way?"
M" Then Mr.. Mcclure paused.
Then he said. "My name? Oh, Well 7
guess when 1 go fishing with a hoy
it's my boy name-Billy. I think we
will have a first-rate time to-day if
you just call me Billy. At least /
SHALL
The boy pondered a moment.
my names Tommy-Tommy Has
kins. Say-Billy-do you s'pose L