tretched
the park lagoon calm and dark in the uncertain morning light. Fronting
him rose the stately columns and porticoes of the park museum, once a
member of an exposition whose glories are almost forgotten, which now
veiled its need of repair in the kindly dawn and formed a symphony in
gray with the willow-studded, low-lying lagoon banks. The air throbbed
with the subdued noises of awakening animal life. In a shrub near them,
a catbird cleared his throat in a few harsh notes as a prelude to a
morning of tuneful parody, and on the slope below, a fat autumn-plumaged
robin dug frantically in the sod for fugitive worms.

"My! Isn't it just peachy?" breathed John ecstatically.

"Yes," assented his companion, intent upon the lesser spectacle of the
robin. "Don't you wish you could find worms like he does, Fletch?"

Once more they resumed their journey lakewards, breaking into the
inevitable dogtrot as the long, dark pier came in sight. At the land
end, John stooped to pick up a few sun-dried minnows which lay on a
plank, and a little farther on Silvey grabbed eagerly at an earth-filled
tomato can.

"Nary a worm," he exclaimed in disgust, as he threw the tin into the
lake.

But shortly, their diligent search was rewarded by finding a tobacco-tin
which contained at least a dozen samples of the squirming bait, and the
anxiety regarding that problem was permanently allayed.

But one disciple of Izaak Walton had arrived before the boys, and he sat
crouched in a huddled, lonely heap at the end of the pier, in a manner
which seemed scarcely human. As they drew nearer, John broke into a
sudden exclamation:

"Old hunchback! Been out here all night again. Wonder if he's caught
anything!"

As they passed the first of his multitude of throwlines and poles, John
leaned forward and peered down on the water.

"Look, Sil," he pointed at the long string of perch which floated to and
fro with the sluggish water. "Aren't they peaches?"

He made a motion as if to joint his rod. The cripple drew a sharp,
hissing breath from between thick, distorted lips and waved him away.
Silvey caught his chum's arm warningly.

"No use of fishing beside _him_," he asserted. "Don't you know that,
John? Brings bad luck to everyone 'cept himself, he does. I tried it one
morning. He kept hauling them in, all the time, and I couldn't catch a
thing."

John shook his head skeptically as they moved over to the other side of
the pier.

"He does!" re