interloper, I
realize--a trespasser. It's my own fault for fishing so near the golf
course. But I--"

"Excuse me," broke in the other man. "But you are Colonel Ashley, aren't
you?"

"I am."

"My name is Sharwell--Tom Sharwell, and this is Bruce Garrigan. I
thought I had seen you at the club. Pray excuse our interruption of your
sport. We had no idea any one was fishing here."

"It's entirely my fault," declared the colonel, as he removed his cap
and bowed, a courtesy the two golfers, after a moment of hesitation,
returned. "I was taking chances when I threw in here."

"And did we scare the fish?" asked Garrigan. "I suppose so. Never was
much of a fisherman myself. All I know about them is seventeen million,
four hundred and eighty-eight thousand nine hundred and twenty one boxes
of sardines were imported into the United States last year. I read it in
the paper so it must be true. I know I ate the one box."

"Be quiet, Bruce," said Sharwell in a low voice, but the colonel smiled.
There was no affront to his dignity, as the golfer had feared.

"I had on a most beautiful catch," said the colonel, "and then what I
thought, at first, was the embodied spirit of Izaak Walton suddenly came
zipping into the water just as Shag was about to land the beauty, and
knocked it off the hook. Since then I have been informed by my servant
that it was no spirit, but a golf ball."

"It was mine," confessed Garrigan. "I'm all kinds of sorry about it.
Never had the least notion any one was here. Never saw any one fish here
before; did we, Tom?"

"Well, I thought there were fish here, and events proved I was
right," said the colonel. "I hope the water isn't posted?" he inquired
anxiously, for he was a stickler for the rights of others.

"Oh, no, nothing like that!" Garrigan hastened to add. "You're welcome
to fish here as long and as often as you like. Only, as this water
hazard is often played from the fifth hole, it would be advisable to
post a sign just outside the trees, or station your man there to give
notice."

"I'll do it after this," said the colonel, as he reeled in.

"You're not going to quit just because I was so unfortunate as to spoil
your first catch, are you?" asked Garrigan.

"I think I'd better," the colonel said. "I don't believe I could land
anything after what happened. The fish must have thought it was a
thunderbolt, from the way that ball landed."

"I did drive rather hard," admitted Garrigan. "But we c