The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1910-09-23
A Fish Story
By MARTHA MecULL0cH-w WILLIAMS
Copyright, 1909 by Associated Literary

Copyright. 1909 y Associated Literary
The willow tree leaned so far out
over the water that all that happened
In 1t was mirrored in the face of the
stream. There was an eddy at the
tree-foot, with a deepish pool under
Meath. Trout lurked in the pool-so
big and wary, they were the despair Of
Ill neighborhood fishermen.
The Ennis boy, of course, had told
Wilmer all about them. Wilmer, in
deed, had found the lad much like a
local chronicle. In the week since he
lad established himself at the Ennis
farmhouse he had been possessed of at
east half the ms and outs of Brush
Creek neighborhood.
Ostensibly, Wilmer was a vagrant
1acationer; really, he was looking out
or remnant tracts of hardwood tim
Der. A new railway was mooted, not
yet even in the air, but in the minds
If certain men. Before building it,
hey wanted to make certain of sure
md quick returns. Walnut, white oak,
cherry and ash in sufficient amount
would furnish such returns.
Wilmer had been told to spend a
.ortnight looking for timber. Now, at
The middle of the fortnight, he knew
he need look no more, so he was giving
lis whole mind to the enjoyment of
fishing.
Hence to-day's excursion begun. at
sunrise. So far the excursion had been
ruthless. The Ennis boy was dis
:ressed. He had rather Dragged of
The sport they were to have; besides,
Wilmer had promised him a silver dol
ar If they managed to catch even one
Dig trout.
Wilmer had his reasons, aside from
natural liberality. He was on the edge
If falling in love with a girl, dragon
guarded. The dragon was a crusty
lncle, whose sole enthusiasm was for
ish and fishing. If Wilmer could send
off in the nights mail a snapshot of
v a two-pounder, along with a
:hatty. account of the place where such
ish might be caught, he knew he
would come near to establishing him
self in the dragons good graces. He
would also do we'll for his immediate
principals, since the dragon was among
he chiefest of those depended on to
finance the new line.
So he came to the willow tree with
something beyond sportsman eager
less. Approach to it was not directly
ilong the waterside, but across a tiny
>romontory of gravelly turf. He knelt
lmong the taut outstanding roots
stretching back of it, made ready his
look, batting 1t with the choicest min
low in the bucket, then, advancing
:overtly, still in shelter of the trunk,
lung it midstream, a little way up
current, so the eddy might suck it right
over to the depths. Then, watching the
ipples spread and turn the water mir
'or's %picturings to %grotesque carica-
:ure, he became war that the hole
vas preempted-there was a home
made line of black fax thread, with a
.ork likewise homemade, dangling from
he tree, the cork bobbing and dipping
n exactly the middle of the pool.
He dared not speak. The Ennis lad
lad warned him a word was death to
lis chances. The boy, also, had cen
he intruding line. In swift pantomime,
W throwing himself prone and lying at
ease, he counseled Wilmer to stay. 1t
a good counsel, Wilmer decided. He
stood fast, keeping we'll away from the
bank, and SO maneuvering his rod as
% keep his bait properly in motion.
The eddy was big and slow, so slow
t made n sleepy to watch it. The
mounting May sun was warm and
7ital, the drone of bees in the bass
wood tops or over the sparse white
clover blooms, a lulling chant. There
lad been a rufling breeze, but it had
lied to utter stiffness. Wilmer watched
lis float and the homemade one until
lie grew drowsy. And then something
happened that made him wildly awake.
The bungling cork went under with
I rush. The next second there leaped
% view, half his silver length above
water, a monster trout, the most beau
:tful Wilmer had ever seen. He was
dd6I, udt1l6 UOlLOu lnO HUN, UuI ludI
clumsy line would never hold him.
Moreover, it appeared to be but lightly
led to a swaying willow branch. No
loubt some rustic had left it there.
There could be nobody in the tree. =
However, the water mirror had been
shattered, it had had still moments
Turing which Wilmer had studied it
close. yet seen nothing but the gold.
green LEAKAGE, the netted intricacies of
;leAder boughs, the rough and weather.
beaten blackness of the trunk.
What wonder that he scrambled up
he slope of it, made to fling himself
.long it, and reach for the line? That
ish must be landed-it was a prize be-
'ond hope. His fingers were almost
lpon the cord, when he snatched them
Jack as If from fire. Another hand
lad reached for the line-one small