Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-09-02
PRIZE FISH STORY
SOMETHING ALTOGETHER OUT OF
TIE ORDINARY.
Finry Specimen Taken with Bare
Hands. Was Double Prize in That
Ne Had s~sile~ed Girls
Engagement Rins.

zen Us the pest lsh stofg Eot
know. said the man sitting opposite.
The man TO whom things happen III
a fresh cigar
Fish stories are 80 common and
easy that they are hardly worth
While. he replied However. | mus
confess that ! have been fishing a feH
tines IN my life
And the hsh never weighed less
than four pounds ariece-
Those that got away never did
But the biggest fish | ever landed
weighed Jus, three pounds and siI
unces That's very moderate. yot
know. and the story would not BE-
worth telling except for the remark
able way In which ! caught rim. Tbs
fact is I landed him without either
net. hook or bait
He Just Jumped into your boa vol
unfairly. suppose
No. reached down into the water
slipped my fingers into his gills snc
hauled him in
That's a good opener
Yet you will agree hat the thinI
vas very simple when | tell yoy
about It You see. I was out roWins
Tor the mere pleasure Of s~tretchins
my muscles and OF being talked 70 BY
tho belle Of the resort. had fshec
the lake for three days without catch
Ing anything worth taking home anc
had given up In the belief that thers
were no fish In those waters. So vher
I invited n belle 10 go for an after
noon row ! did not take the trouble
10 throw In a line. And. Of course. as
Ne were crossing a particularly clear
and shallow spot Ne spied a splendid
pike lying on the bottom. Girl-like
she dangled her fingers in the water
And then she screamed No. the fish
bad not come up and bitten her fingers
Her diamond ring-an engagement
ring. she assured me-had slipped int
the water. You see u had been doins
duty as a summer resort engagement
ring for two seasons and Il was a liz
tie large for this girl.
4 was gallant and told her Id dive
for Il ! thought that would be better
thar to offer TO give her another or
my ovn account But Just as I wa
about to jump in that big fish sidled
lazily Il pto Il. opened his mouth and
swallowed Il Vith the most selfsatis
Ned smile ! ever saw on the face OF a
fish ! told her I Sas glad 10 learr
what kind OF bait the fish in that a 4
wanted and would come back next day
fully prepared But she began to CRY
She said ! was cruel and zhy didn't :
dive and bring up fish and all, I hac
70 set my wits at work then Shs
wore a watch and so did I I too.
out the crystals and by putting their
together made a sun glass With that
/ caught a sun ray and turned II into
the water right above where the -st
was lying He saw IL and began ,r
Investigate Evidently. he thought II
was a larger and better diamond than
the one he had just captured
played IL over him in the most ,an,al
king way ! could and he became 81
Interested tina, he forgot all abou, rs
! brought him close beside the boa,
and while he lay Just below the sur
face. m~otionless. fascinated by the
brilliant sun ray. | reached over xi,h
my free hand. slipped my finger into
bis gilis and yanked him into N.
boat.
And o cot back the diamond
Yes but I noticed next day ~.
not wearing it and asked her vbv
She blushet and answered
Well. IL was an erzax.nan, -,,-
Just as told you. but it vas Suzetta.s
not mine | borrowed It for the o.
casion-
But ! never could get her n ter
me why she wanted to borrow sno,bo,
girls engagement ring when she vas
going for a TOW with ne
And o never suspected thai, abe
lost II on purpose in the expectatfon
that you would offer her ano,hs-
asked the a sitting opposite.
Have another cigar. answered ,se
man to whom things happen. with +,
smile.