The Washington herald., 1907-04-22

IL had & store. a pOst-0tIlce, a blacksmith
shop, and a ruined old sawmill It had
river and a dam. and there were fsh in
the river. The latter fact was told TO
Bessie Foster, niece of Uncle Joe and
Aunt Mary Warner who had come from
the city for vacation, and who was
looking about for a new diversion.
The girl was rugged out with pole. hook,
line, and bait, and Uncle Joe went with
her TO point out the spot where he once
had a bite from something almost as big
as a whale, and for half an hour she was
so intent on her fishing that she was OBJ
liviOus of her surroundings Then a cough
from human throat startled her, and she
looked up 10 see a young man fishing in
the same waters and not over twenty feet
away.
AT first glance she saw that he was a
stranger to the hamlet. AS she looked up
he raised his cap and bowed. How long
he had been there she could not determine,
but his action in sneakng ID. IN the first
place. and in making the bow in the sec
ond. irrilated her. She at once gave
vicious jerk to her line, intending to quit
the spot at once. but she was naturally
defiant and changed her mind in an in
slant. She would not be driven away.
She had simply stared at him in a naughty
manner when he had lifted his can. and
should he attempt 10 push matters
further he would get a rebuff to freeze his
blood.
For the next quarter Of an hour the two
fished IN silence. Now and then the young
man reeled In his line and made a new
east and hummed or Whistled 10 show
that he had not been snubbed. Now and
then the girl gave her head a toss, just 10
prove that she thought herself alone.
During this interval the suckers IN the
river had remained quiet or had business
elsewhere. All Of a sudden. however, one
of them found the girls hook and gulped
it down. There was a mighty tug from
the captive and a scream from the sirl. IT
was the first time the sucker had ever
been hooked, and the first time the girl
had ever hooked a hsh. The young man
saw the situation and came running up 10
( Cail out.
You've got him! You've got him!
Don't handle him that way, or you'll lose
/ him. Play him, Play him.'
/ Miss Bessie Foster was excited, but she
/ didn't lose her presence Of mind. She
] realized what the situation called for, and
/ she gave the young man one awful look,
and then threw her hshpole into the
water and turned and walked away, In
/ that one awful look she noticed that he
/ was rather good looking and had certain
! hallmarks OF a gentleman. but despite
! that she continued to toss her head. and
/ her cheeks kept getting redder and red
I der, as she left him behind.
For the lands sake. but what has hap
/ pened to yOu?" exclaimed Aunt Mary, as
the girl entered the house on half run
| and pumped down into the rocking chair
Live found an impudent man" was
the reply
Found a what? I've lived in Bakers
vile ever since I was knee-high 10 a
/ grasshopper, and I've never run across an
impudent man Yet. How was he impu-
dent?''
]. He looked at me He raised his cap
/ and bowed. He sang and whistled. When
I had hooked a FISH he came and wanted
| to boss things. And. oh. aunty, it was
such a lovely fish, and such a big one
and he was so willing to be caught
When Aunt Mary had extracted all the
/ information possible she went 10 the
kitchen door and blew the horn for din
ner, though it was half an hour ahead
/ OF time. Uncle Joe came up from the
lot in which he was working. and in
/ answer to the surprised look on his face
Bessie told her story over again When
she had finished, Aunt Mary drew her
self up and added;
"And now, Joseph Warner. YOU will eat
your dinner and then start out and find
! that impudent young man. and give him
a piece of your mind. He has got to be
talked to good and hard. and if you are
not the man TO do it. ! am
An hour later Uncle Joe went down to
the pOst-office TO make inquiries concern
/ ing the strange and cheeky young man.
/ All he could find out was that the new
conner was stopping at Whites, at the
other end of the hamlet and was thought
/ TO be a college student on his vacation
! The old mill was next visited, and there
/ il was found that Bessie's pole and line
! had been recovered and left in a con-
| spicuous position. Uncle Joe carried them
! home, and told his story and Aunt Mary
threw UP her arms and exclaimed:
"Did any one in all this world ever see
such a case Of impudeneei Joseph, II you
were man you'd go UP to Whites and
take that young man by the ear and
make him beg Bessie's pardon. She can't
go fishing again as long as he is hanging
around here"
"But I willr' declared the girl as she
1 fared up and stuck her chin in the air.
/ III show him, whoever he is, that he
/ can't scare me of. I'll be right there to-
morrow morning at . o'clock and If he
dares speak to me again Tll-Tll-well,
after I have given him a look he won t
dare to, that's all
And Miss Bessie Foster was there at
| the hour named. She saw nothing of the
/ impudent young man. but board had
been placed across two logs to make a
seat for her. and she instantly suspected
that il was his work. She refused 20 Sit
down For ten minutes. or while she was
getting real mad, she wouldn't so within
fifteen feet of the seat Then the stranger
/ suddenly made his appearance from be
hind the old mill and 10 show him what
she thought OF him she laid down her pole
and picked up the board and pushed il
into the water. To her chagFin the young
man didn't seem TO be aware Of her pres
ence. He was catching all the fish and
she wasn't getting nibble. He made a
great fuss every time he caught one, and
presently the girl found herself wishing
that he would tumble In. He could have
told her that her line was Ia only two