ass voice of Squire Jones.

"Too late," said the landlord. "He's taken my money. Come in, Jack.
Come in and get yours, Deacon," and Jack walked on into the Washington
House with six dollars in his hand, just as a boy he knew stuck his
head under Squire Jones's arm and shouted:

"Jack!--Jack! Why didn't yer put 'em up at auction?"

It took but a minute to get rid of the very fine fish he had sold, and
then the uncommonly successful angler made his way out of the
Washington Hotel through the side door.

"I don't intend to answer any more questions," he said to himself; "and
all that crowd is out there yet."

There was another reason that he did not give, for his perch, good as
they were, and the wide-mouthed sucker, and the great, clumsy
bullheads, looked mean and common, now that their elegant companions
were gone. He felt almost ashamed of them until just as he reached the
back yard of his own home.

A tall, grimy man, with his head under the pump, was vigorously
scrubbing charcoal and iron dust from his face and hands and hair.
"Jack," he shouted, "where'd you get that string o' fish? Best I've
seen round here for ever so long."

Another voice came from the kitchen door, and in half a second it
seemed to belong to a chorus of voices.

"Why, Jack Ogden! What a string of fish!"

"I caught 'em 'way down the Cocahutchie, Mother," said Jack. "I caught
'em all under water. Had to go right in after some of 'em."

"I should say you did," growled his father, almost jocosely, and then
he and Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children crowded around to
examine the fish, on the pump platform.

"Jack must do something better'n that," said his father, rubbing his
face hard with the kitchen towel; "but he's had the best kind o' luck
this time."

"He caught a team of runaway horses this morning, too," said Mary,
looking proudly at the fish. "I wish I could do something worth
talking about, but I'm only a girl."

Jack's clothes had not suffered much from their ducking, mainly because
the checked shirt and linen trousers, of which his suit consisted, had
been frequently soaked before. His straw hat was dry, for it had been
lying on the grass when he went into the water, and so were his shoes
and stockings, which had been under the bed in his bedroom, waiting for
Sunday.

It was not until the family was gathered at the table that Jack came
out with the whole tremendous story of his afternoon's sport, and of