The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-06-10

years of effort
and travail, sunshine and shadow
And down in the bottoms Jimmie
and Fatty and Stubbie and are crash
ing through the debris that Nature
has heaped upon her marsh land Not
confidently, not gracefully, not lithely
do We progress across this strip OF rep
| lillian waste. With distending eyes.
! with pulses a-thrill. We leap from
mound 10 mound. crashing through the
dead weed stems, stumbling over the
brush heaps! Dangers Turk on every
/ side and hydra headed monsters lie In
walt 10 catch US in their insatiate
| jaws
/ VIII yoa walk a little faster" said a
whiting TO snail,
There's a poTpoise close behind me, and
he's treadng on my tall"
All out OF breath we land keplunk
beside the old stump All, how loved
that old stump, long ago gathered TO
the bosom of earth by disintegration
Once Il was the beacon light OF home
the fort of last resort. the throne on
which | ruled an empire all my own!
Here the monsters that abided In
the rushes and the grasses fell back
disgruntled into their lairs. Here the
sun shone down and painted golden
turrets on the crested waves, Here
the water ebbed and cooed and
splashed a song OF melody that nc lutte
has ever initiated!
H. ~. a,
Fatty from his stump alongside
Come an git it, growis Stubbie.
cxultant In possession and the first
baited hook
"Aw. t'row me IA beefsteak. | amt
a-comin' down frum here" flashes
Fatty. Give a Teller a chanct'"
Spit Spat! Splash! 60 the baited
hooks lAto-lhe Mater
"Ho. no, Look at Jimmies sinker!
Whater ye tryin' L do, Scare 'em all
away? Gimme a cork"
"G'wan, Git a piece o. dried stick"
"Lookee! Lookee! Fats got
bite" in chorus.
Gently at first, as the bull head ex.
plores his find, the cork pulsates on
the waters breast.
"Iet'm have IT," warns Stubbie.
Now! Now. NOW" screeches
Jimmie. as the bobber dances madly
to the tug of the fish.
Fatty jerks his pole. The fish drops
off al the waters edge!
Jaw, didn't | tell ye L let m have
IT." taunts Stubbie.
Suddenly Jimmie grabs his pole In
both hands. With a mighty swing he
swishes IL through the air A bull
head follows. making a dying tangent
ia the air. The line and fish land high
la a tree behind the stump. Jimmie
shucks his coat and climbs the tree
while tn fellers" boot
Hes swallered IT," groAns Jimmie
in disgust. from his perch.
Poke him in the mouth with a
stick" directs Stubbie.
Ouch" from Jimmie. them horns
IL sharp
Two q ca--'" yell in delirlous de.
light, Two I onct'"
Then Stubbie hooks a mud turtle,
What a fight there Is then. o We bald
heads What a fight there IS! The
water IS whipped and the shore line
rolled Finally Fatty wades In behind
the turtle while Stubbie holds taut the |
line with a def movement Fat
catches the turtle by the back OF his |
she'll and dumps him high on the land. |
"Sss'" Kisses the turtle as We gath |
er giugerly about But we are not |
afraid. Hosting him on his back by |
means of a strong stick, we pry the
hook from his mouth and shoe him |
back into the long grass.
Il ketched all OF 'em myself" tell
mother that night "MoTe'n any Of III |
other fel.ers,"
And mother SMILING. puts her hand |
upon my sunburned locks and SAYS:
What a wonderfully big boy you
are-and such a fisherman"
Al. the glory Of IT,
Old bull head hole, | love you still.
In the rosy aurora OF the land Of /
dreams Won are ever the halo of purest |
zest, the ray Of sincerest Joy supreme,