The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1921-05-26
Prologue.

p1arT
Long ago. when the great city Of
{sltcheapOlis was rather small, un-
! tids hamlet in the middle of q plain.
! ,tsed to be that pool of water.
.6esibly two hundred feet square.
aishered every spring Immediately
al Of the courthouse. The snow
rms thick and heavy in Gitcheapolis
IL winter; and the pond was nothing
su,ore than snow water that the ineffi-
,tjo,i drainage system Of the city did
81 auite absorb. Besides being the
6espalr Of the plumbers and the city
engineer, 1t was severe strain on
~ beauty-loying instincts OF every
lnhabitant in the town who had any
! such Instincts. It was muddy and
nsrky and generally distasteful.
little boy played at the edge of
he water, this spring day of long ago.
EXCEPT for his interest In the pond. It
xotlh haze been scarcely worth while
- 80 TO the trouble of explaining that
II contained no fish. He, however.
shltierly regretted the fact. In truth.
4 = sometimes liked to believe that It
r contain tisI, very sleepy fish that
/ asser made ripple. and as he had an
uurpnnlon Imagination he was some
lhies able to convince himself that
! ri was so. But he never took hook
ia line and played at fishing. He
~ too much afraid Of the laughter
lis boy friends. His mother prob
III wouldn't object if he fished here,
thought, particularly II he were
Feful not to get his shoes covered
mud. But she wouldn't let him
dewn to Gitcheapolis creek to fish
10 the other boys for mud cat. He
s not very strong, she thought. and
xAs a rough sport anyway. and be-
M she didn't think he wanted to
very badly. As mothers are usual
particu1arly understanding, this
NJ 1 curious thing.
tie truth was that little Dan Fab
X wanted to fish almost as much as
] q wanted to live. He. would dream
6oQt It Of nights. His blood would
NM with the thought Of It IN the
fingtime. Women the world over
~ have q hard time believing what
IN intense, heart-devouring passion
lihe love Of the chase can be, whether
4 for fishing or hunting or merely
m0cking golf balls into little hole
- green. Sometimes they don't
emEer that this instinct is just as
eh part Of most men, and thus
nes. boys, as their hands or their
lps Il was acquired by just as la
bosi0us q process-the HIVES OF nm
] ealnted thousands Of ancestors who
led and hunted for living.
was true that little Dan didn't
ook the part. Even then he showed
isDs OF physical frailty. His eyes
B peked rather large, and his cheeks
we're not the color of fresh sirloin, as
NJ should have been. In fact, one
vould have had to look very hard to
8 ~ any color In them at all. These
& hfla are interesting from the light
~ throw upon the next glimpse Of
en. fully twenty years later.
Except for the fact that It was the
kground for the earliest picture of
lsle Dan, the pool back Of the court
49, has very little importance IN
u sfOry. It did, however, afford nm
stFation to him of one of the real
B Astonishing truths of life. He saw
hastow in the water that he pre-
eed he thought might be a fish. He
Iswsa stone at 1t.
1ae only thing that happened was
plash and then slowly widening
Pc The circumference OF the rip
s new ever larger. extended and
s el,ed, and finally died at the edge
lae shore. II set little Dan to
aking. He wondered il. had the
s. = been larger, the ripple stilI would
So v spsead; and II the pool had been
any whether the ripple would
IS = k0ne on forever. At the time he
not know the laws Of cause and
M Later, when Gitcheapolis was
q sat and prosperous and no Longer
IS dy, he was going to find out tina,
So eause is nothing but rock thrown
.sso : pond Of infinitv. and the ripple
n ITS effect keeps growing and
owing forever.
81 - little incident that Is the rea
lnning of this story was OF ne
s.. Importance than pebble thrown
we snow-water pond; but its eft
# vas TO remove the life Of Dar
Sc % since grown up, far out o.
sealms Of the ordinary. If
111 that brings all matters dows
asaS IN the last days of particu
Sleepy summer. You would hard
ow indianapolis now. The busl
district has increased tenfOld
!. sae place where used to be tn,
mo the playground OF Dan Fail
now laid off in as green AMI
e = city park as one could wisl
q day. when the city become,