Year: 1870




oh, that blessed dayl


What was thatS Fourth of July ?


General training dayS Thanksgiving ?


Christmas ? None of all these Far more
important to our heart was the day when


we tirst went fishing alone


whether we had permission we cannot
at this late period certainly determine


we presume, from the recollection of the
anxiety, and the distinct remembrance of
general EXPLANATION, that we had q dis
pensatlon on that day to roam.


There is vague impression, too, of
digging worms, of putting piece of twine
on TO pole Then went we forth east
ward toward the River Bantam Now the
River Bantam was to our young heart
what the Jordan was to good and patri-
otto jew. 1t wss,the chief stream in our
neighborhood 1t was the chief resort
for swimming purposes. For, though it was
hardly knee'deep, and, in many places,
easily jumped across, yet there wereipools,
and notable one, called Lords Hole I"
doubtless from Litchfeld family of the
name OF Lord, where a small boy could
go in overhead" 1t was one of those
clear brooks--a mere brook, which mostly
brawls over pebble. stones, now and then
widening into quite q sheet, and then, like
men who have been too generous, grow
ing narrow again, and deep. Along its
banks grew alder bushes in abundance,
snd here and there great trees reached
their branches over the stream and
watched themselves in the water below.


Not a great way above Lords Hole was
the "Old sawmill;" not that there was
then mill, or even mill dam, but tradi-
ton said that there had been one, and the
legend was probable, inasmuch as two
steep banks on either side, sloping up
some twenty feet, seemed to have formed
the wings of dam and the water made
fall as il, underneath, there was the re-
mains of some obstruction.


On the blessed day above mentioned,
barefooted boy might have been seen on
June afternoon, with his alder pole on
his shoulder, tripping through the
meadow, where dandelions and wild ee-
raneums were in bloom, and steering for
the old saw-min As soon as the meadow
was crossed, the fence scaled, and de-
scent begun, all familiar objects were
gone, and the overpowering consciousness
of being G,one set ones imagination into
dance of fear. Could we find our way
back? What if big bull should come
out of those bushesp What if great big
man should come along and carry US offg
TO six-year old boy these were very &C.
rious matters. And nothing could have
so well tested the eagerness ofour purpose
as perseverance under these soul-bewil-
dering suggestions. For realities, in after.
life, are seldom so impressive as imagina-
tions are in early life. A child's fears are |
cruel They are to him the signs of abso- !
lutte realities, and he is quite unable to
l. Ill, a..
to endure them. The fears of our own
childhood constitute q chapter of mental
philosophy.


But no sooner did we see the sparkle of
the water than our soul grew calm again,
and happy.


Now, for the first time in our lives, we
put on worm. We threw in the hook
and trembled all over.


The hook and the bait fell upon the
water, went quietly down the !
stream, and swept in near the shore,
where some projecting stone rooted over
a little pool. Out of that pool our little
eyes saw something. dart, and our little |
In an instant, with f telt something pull. !
irew back the line, there was a flash in |
.he air, wiggling flash, and something |
smote the rocky, gravelly bank behind. !
up, we found q sinner, but, |
llas, smashed to pieces Soon another |
and another Jared in the same manner,
and it was long before we could subdue |
our nerve so as not to dash the fish to |
pieces Our courage grew every moment. |
What did toe care ii there was a bull in |
the bushes What if beggar man should |
come along? What if great black dog |
that thought was little too |
serious. Black dogs were terrors not to |
be lightly thought of, even by six-year
old urchin, who had caught fish, alone,
too And so gathering up two |
roach and three sinners, we started |
home Up the sloping hill we ran,
till our fathers house shone out from |
among the trees, and then, with the dig
nifty and nonchdldRce of a conquerOr, We
to make triumphal entrance.
But here, as often happens in the remin
iscences of our childhood, the vision fails. !
We can recollect nothing of our reception, |
Since then we have fshed in many a
stream and lake, and in the deep sea =
but never with half the exhilaration of
that first joyful hour upon the Bantam


Not even there, again, would the fire be |
For, not long after, taking a
younger brother, TO be marvel ng wit
ness of our success, we went again to the
old sawmilL The air was dlsenchanted.
The roads and bushes had no spirit in
them. The brook gurgled and rushed
We caught our fish, few, but without
craze, and came solennly home, wondering
what the reason could be that the first
time could be had but once.


Since then we have seen many grown
mp boys seeking to reproduce the first sen
sations and to make novelties perpetual.
But each day must provide its own first
times. Those of yesterday are shrunk
"a JTasae, i