Mower County transcript., 1907-06-12
a TALE OF TIE OLD WEST
C ~ f1ARRYIEONM WI. SON rnH nyss9s sses6sas SE
CQDkREW 1909 81 Z0i

They picked many blossoms and
talked of many things. There was no
idle moment from early morning until|
high noon; and yet, though they were
very busy, they achieved absolutely
nothing.
In the afternoon Prudence donned
her own sombrero, and they went to
the canyon to fish. From 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
tance 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 gorge that narrowed the
torrent and flung it down in little
cascade. ..s il
Here and there Follett would flicker
his hook over the surface of a shaded
pool, poise it at the foot of a ripple,
skim it across an eddy, cast it under q
shelf of rock or .dangle it in some
promising nook by the willow roots,
shielding himself meanwhile as best
he could; here behind 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. .~@, -. ::
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
tAe> bank. Then perhaps the rod would
saddenly straighten out for few seo-
on4s only to bend again, slowly, gent
", but ,1aercilessly. Or perhaps the
ppint continued to come In until It was
we'll over the bank and the end of the
}iae clesa<by. Then aftef frantic
splashing oh the margin of the stream
tho conquered trout would be gasping
on the bank, thing of shiyering
CLEANS OF b3endeds brown and gold and
pink. At first she pit1ed the fish and
reeretted the cruelty of man, but Fol-
lett h2d ether views.
'tWhy," he said, "a trout is the cruel
Jest beast there is. Leok at it trying
TO swallow this poor little hopper that
It thought tumbled into the water by
accident. 1t just loves to eat its stuff
adive. And it isn't particular. It
fweuld just as lief eat it's own children.
Now you take that one there, and say
he was ten thousand times as big as
he is, and you were coming along
here and Your foot Slipped and Mr..
Trout was lying behind this rock here
hungry. Say! What a mouthf,ll
you'd make, pink dress and ail-he'd
have you swallowed in a second, and
then he'd sneak back behind the rock
there, wiping his mouth, and hoping
your litter sister or somebody would
be along in minute and fall in too"
! "Ush!-Why, what horrible little
monsters! Let me catch one" s
And so she flshed under his .direc-
tion. They lurked together in the.
shadows of recks, while he showed her
hew to flicker the bait in the current,
heTe holding her band op the rod,
A8atn supporting, her white she leaaed
ont to east ayonnd- q boulder, each
feeling the others breethkss caution
and looking deep into each eAher's
eJes. through seconds Of tense silence.
Buch as they xure. these wse the
only results of:the lesson: results that
heat them in easy frdenlliness taUard
eaeh other. For the AsA wepp nat de-
peked BY her. He wduld point out
some pool where very prohatay .: hun
Rff. tront was lying in wait With his
heAdsta The current, and she. would try
TO skim the lure ovef It. More than
onaa. she saw the. fish dart toward 1t,
baak:aeve1 did she quito convince them.
0ftnnes she saw them dlt upstream IN
Rkht, like flashes II gray lightning.
Eet ct length she felt she had learned
ell that could be taught Of the art.
and that further failure would .nean
merely lack OF: appetite or spirit IN
the Ash. SO she went on alone, while
bpalptt, stopped to clean the dozen,
trout he had caught.
While she was IN sight he watched
her, the figure bending 1.-THE as the
Tod she held. moving lightly, now a
Bong, now . shert step, half kneeling
TO, throw the bait into an eddy; then
of again with determined strides to-
fthe next likely. pool, When he. could
mo longer see her, he fell to work on
his fish, securing their slime of In the
dry sand. a HI }5.s5
When she returned, she found him
on his back, lhs hat Oh, ]. his arms flung
out above his head, fast asleep. She
sat near by on q smooth rock at the
waters edge and waited without I'm
patience, for this was the first time
ehe had been free to look at him quite
as she wished to. She studied him.
CLOSELY now. He seemed to her like
s0m4 young power ef that far strange
eastern land. She thought Of some:
thing she had heard him say about
papdy He's game and fearless and
R1uatghty prompt, but he's kind and
faatfE IL.