The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-06-28
Fresh St. Groix fish!
"a Fable-not by AEsop.)

Letter from Miss Finny Pickerel to Miss
Blacky Bass.
Dearest Blacky:-
II If you hadn't "swum" down the
| river with that horrid carp fellow last SUM-
day, you would have had great fun. We
had grand time, tell you! You see, deary,
| that gang from the Irvine shop came down
| to our lake. They nice set of fellows!
Wouldn't hurt the little fishes for the world!
Only, they do get excited-at times-and
then they cuss awful1y. I tell yon, the very
| water was sulphurous, and my sensitive feel
ing was horribly shocked, and had to hold
my cologne bottle under my nose to keep
| from fainting. But let me tell you how it all
| happened:
As soon as Ma and Pa recognized the party
in the boat, they sent my little brothers and
sisters to all the other fish families, bidding
them to come at once, as the neighborhood
of THAT boat would be the only perfectly
safe place for the fishes that afternoon. And
they all came-and we had lovely time-a
perfect picnic.
The party in the boat consisted of the
Supt., Big Bob, Harvey, Billy and a fellow
called George. But this last is only a scab-
halls from the shoe shop-knows nothing at
/ ZedldQQ-anO
nothing but stuff lunch down his throat all
the time. Every man on board had six fish
lines, except Bob, who was sitting at the
helm, busying himself with a big wooden
key and queer-1ooking stems. They used ex-
ira fine bait, which we nipped off the hooks
as soon as they were thrown out. 1t was a
regular treat!
LET out more line, boys" commanded the
~ A.
| today!' And down came $50 feet of Manila,
500 feet of Sisal and 1000 feet of Standard.
That was just what sly Spotty (he's my
Sunday afternoons best fellow, you know
was waiting for. He dexterously twisted
| all the lines into a rope, and fastened the
combined hooks to big rock. Of course,
the famous fishermen all thought they had a
bite, and tried to jerk the lines out of the
I water. But-nix komm 'raus!
i I'VE have got peach, surei" cried the de-
lighted Supt. you Bob, and George, come
forward and help me land the big fellow!
And you, Harvey and Billy, bend to your
oars and pull for the shore, as if the Filipinos
were after you. Now, boys, steady and all
at once! One-two-"
Just then the line broke, throwing the
fishermen on top of the oarsmen, and the
the boat, nearly upsetting the frail craft.
II saw him, saw him. cried Harvey, ex-
citedly, che was fully as big as Bob!'
las big as Bob? 1 should say he WASH
shouted the Supt. "Why, man, 1 saw him,
tool Don't you know that thing you see
in the water has twice the size it looks to
have? He must weigh fully five hundred
pounds! Well, there's no use feeling bad
l ah he fS1x for &c
the sport, boys, the sport! And we have
hooked him all right, haven't we? That's
glory enough for all of us!'
II wonder what Powers and the other
fellows will say, when they hear of our great
success, said Harvey. Powers will be so
envious that he'll look greener and yellower
than garlic and sulphur ever were! Hal ha!''
Powers be blowed!" CALCULATED Billy,
why that fellow couldn't catch a cold, tried
he ever so hard. Didn't have a bite last
Sunday But-I'm feeling dry! Set them up,
Bob, and be quick about it'
But Bob sadly shook his head. There was
not drop left Where had it all gone to?
Everybody looked with suspicion-frst at the
enormous circumference of Bob's waist-and
then at the empty key They thought they
had solved the riddle That was the time
when the tall swearing commenced, that
mentioned before
WELL said the Supt., "if it's empty and
the lines are gone, let's go up to Sculley s
and celebrate! l didn't know there were
such big fish in the river. Next time will be
better prepared, and have Whelan come
down with five carloads of Pure Manila, and
have Binker with the double and single
team to haul our fish to our residences.
Twas glorious day anyway Come, boys,
pull for the shorel And you, Billy, stop tn at
COMPOUNDED rocking! You may have chance
to do more rocking than you'll ike-later
on-at home! Come get move on you'll
Then they dumped the sandwiches and
other eatables overheard, and rowed away.
! tell you, B1acky, had great feast.
And we have washines enough to last us
all lives. The credit of it all belongs to
my fellow Spotty! You can bet your life
that gave him good hug, we
| were alone.
l. I have reliable information that the COM
bination guard forem an timer and little
French Pete will come here fishing next Sun
day. Then we'll have more sport with the
last of the Irvine gang; even if they bring
two pocket pistols apiece Don't fail to be
on hand, dear Blacky! And bring your
| beau along too. Don't be afraid!
Yours devotedly,
Finny Pickerel.
/