innocent as a Madonna. And the family resumed
the meal.

That afternoon, as they were running one of the lines, Cornwall said to
Duffield: "That cat saved your life."

"Heck! That cat scared me to death."

"Oh, I'm on to you; I have heard of your tricks when you were surveying
in Clay and Leslie."

"You mean that time over on Red Bird; that is the greatest fishing
stream in Kentucky, and most appropriately named, as each papaw bush and
hazel and blackberry thicket is the home of a family of red birds.

"From Big to Bear Creek it is a succession of riffles and smooth pools.
These pools are the favored haunts and playgrounds of bass, perch and
soft-shell turtles. A single drag with a minnow seine in one of the
feeding brooks will give you an ample supply of bait. When carefully
keeping behind the overhanging shore brush and exercising caution not to
knock brush or clod into the stream, an hour's mediocre effort is
rewarded by a dozen bass of uniform size, weighing about a pound each.
Should you make an unusual noise, break a twig or cause the sandy bank
to cave and ripple the water, you must pass on to the next pool and use
more caution.

"We were stopping at old man White's. The house had three rooms in the
front. It was in the spring, and at night we sat in the big middle room
around the open fireplace and joined in the family conversation. This
was the bedroom of the old folks. Their grown daughter, who attended
school, sat by the table worrying over her lessons in compound interest,
the practical application of which in after years would be as needful as
a mariner's compass to steer her father's log canoe, tied to the root of
a sycamore. I went over and helped her a bit and she became quite
cordial in manner.

"When I handed back her slate, I wrote upon it: 'By moonlight, when all
is still, I will play Romeo under your window.' I saw that she read it
when, with a half-blush, half-smile, she applied the rag with vigor to
her slate. I knew she understood. All the girls in this broad land,
though they may not know the sum of seven times eight, are familiar with
the story of Romeo and Juliet and the balcony scene in ancient Verona.

"Coleman Reid was with me. You know he is always butting in when there
is a girl around. He came over and began drawing cartoons on the slate
and, satisfied with prospective arrangements, I gave him my seat, taking
his by the fire.

"In a short while the girl and her sister went to