The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1907-09-06
CHAPTER XXX.-Continued.

w HdlChtl Tic udIulc VI MI. pOlltIL
business, his confidence in the sound
ness of his attitude toward it was per
feet. He showed no sign Of abstrac
ton or anxiety; no sign of aught but
desire to live agreeably in the pres
ent,-a present that included Pru
dence. When the early breakfast was
over they went out about the place
through the peach orchard and the
vineyard still dewy, lingering in the
shade of a plum tree, finding all mat
ters to be Of interest. For time they
watched and laughed at the two calves
through the bars Of the corral, CavOrt'
ing feebly on stiffened legs while the
bereaved mothers cast languishing
chances at them from outside, con.
sciOus that their milk was being base,
ly diverted from the rightful heirs
They picked many blossoms and
talked Of many things. There was no
idle moment from earl morning until
high noon; and yet, though they were
very busy, they achieved absolutely
nothing.
In the afternoon Prudence donned
her own s0mbrero, and they went to
the canyon to fish. From a clump of
the yellowish green willows that
fringed the stream, Follett cut a
slender wand. To this he fixed a line
and tiny hook that he had carried
in his hat, and for the rest of the dis
lance to the canyons mouth he col
lected such grasshoppers as fingered
too long in his shadow. Entering the
canyon they followed up the stream,
clambering over broken rocks, skirt
ing huge boulders, and turning aside to
go around a gorge that narrowed the
torrent and flung it down in a little
cascade.
Here and there Follett would flicker
his hook over the surface of a shaded
pool, poise it at the foot of ripple,
skim it across an eddy, cast it under a
shelf of rock or dangle it in some
promising nook by the willow roots,
shielding himself meanwhile as best
he could; here behind a boulder, there
bending a willow in front of him, again
lying fiat on the bank, taking care to
keep even his shadow off the stream
and to go silently.
From where she followed, Prudence
would see the surface of the water
break with a curling CLEAN of gold.
which would give way to a bubbling
splash; then she would see the willow
rod bend, see it vibrate and thrill and
tremble, the point working slowly over
the bank. Then perhaps the rod would
straighten out for a few Sec
onds only to bend again, slowly. gent
ly, but mercilessly. Or perhaps the
point continued to come in until it was
we'll over the bank and the end of the
line close by. Then after a frantic
splashing on the margin of the stream
the conquered trout would be gasping
on the bank, a thing of shivering
CLEANS of blended brown and gold and
pink At first she pitied the fish and
regretted the cruelty of man, but Fol-
lett had other views.
why" he said, "a trout is the cruel
est beast there is. Look at it irving
10 swallow this poor little hopper that
t thought tumbled into the water by
accident. It just loves to eat it's stuff
alive. And it isn't particular. It
would just as lief eat its own children.
Now you take that one there, and saw
le was ten thousand times as big as
he is, and you were coming along
lere and your foot Slipped and Mr..
Trout was lying behind this rock here
hungry Say! What mouthful
'oud make, pink dress and all-he'd
ave you swallowed in a second, and
hen he'd sneak back behind the rock
mere, Wiping his mouth, and hoping
our little sister or somebody would
e along IN minute and fall in too"
Ugh!-Why, what horrible little
nonsters! Let me catch one"
And so she fished under his direc-
ion. They lurked together in the
hadoWs OF rocks, while he showed her
oW to flicker the bait in the current.
ere holding her hand on the rod,
gain supporting her while she leaned
ut TO cast around a boulder, each
eehng the others breathless caution
nd looking deep into each others
yes through seconds of tense silence,
ouch as they were, these were the
My results of the lesson; results that
cit them in easy friendliness toward
ach other. For the fish were not de-
elVed by her. He would point out
ONE pool where very probably a hun
ry trout was lying in wait with his
cad 10 the current, and she would try
skim the lure over it. More than
nee she saw the fish dart toward if
ut never did she quite convince them
ftener she saw them fit upstream in
light, like flashes of gray lightning.
ct at length she felt she had learned ,
u that could be taught of the art
nd that further failure would mean
erely lack of appetite or spirit in {
lie nsh. So she went on alone, while
ollett stopped to clean the dozen t
out he had caught.