capture, to which Peter listened
with interest and approval.

"If you'd a stood off and made a cast at that feller, you'd either have
caught him at the first flip, which isn't likely, as he didn't seem to
want no feather flies, or else you'd a skeered him away. That's all well
enough in the tumblin' water, where you gen'rally go fur trout, but the
man that's got the true feelin' fur fish will try to suit his idees to
theirs, and if he keeps on doin' that, he's like to learn a thing or two
that may do him good. That's a fine fish, and you ketched him well. I've
got a lot of 'em, but nothin' of that heft."

After luncheon we fished for an hour or two with no result worth
recording, and then we started for home. A couple of partridges ran
across the road some distance ahead of us, and these gave Peter an idea.

"Do you know," said he, "if things go on as they're goin' on now, that
there'll come a time when it won't be considered high-toned sport to
shoot a bird slam-bang dead. The game gunners will pop 'em with little
harpoons, with long threads tied to 'em, and the feller that can tire
out his bird, and haul him in with the longest and thinnest piece of
spool thread, will be the crackest sportsman."

At this point I remarked to my companion that perhaps he was a little
hard on the game fishermen.

"Well," said old Peter, with a smile on his corrugated visage, "I reckon
I'd have to do a lot of talkin' before I'd git even with 'em, fur the
way they give me the butt for my style of fishin'. What I say behind
their backs I say to their faces. I seed one of these fellers once with
a fish on his hook, that he was runnin' up an' down the stream like a
chased chicken. 'Why don't you pull him in?' says I. 'And break my rod
an' line?' says he. 'Why don't you have a stronger line and pole?' says
I. 'There wouldn't be no science in that,' says he. 'If it's your
science you want to show off,' says I, 'you ought to fish for mud eels.
There's more game in 'em than there is in any other fish round here, and
as they're mighty lively out of water you might play one of 'em fur half
an hour after you got him on shore, and it would take all your science
to keep him from reelin' up his end of the line faster than you could
yourn.'"

When we reached the farm the old man went into the barn, and I took the
fish into the house. I found the two pretty daughters in the large room,
where the eating and some of the cooking was done. I opened my