\V *> * V . V* 7- • " : ^ "% **"* Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/randomcastsOOmill :gg=«2ril*grgg*g- -»--*** gy^ T .r .;. g - „ , iggga»agss»»JCOr RANDOM pi^sTS Odds and Ends From an Angler's Note Book, JIew York ; DERBY BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,, 27 Park Place. 1 8 7 ? ■ § LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, \ Chap. Shelf i UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. RANDOM CASTS; OR ODDS AND ENDS From an Angler's Note Book, BY u E.M.E. JTew Jork: DERBY BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 27 Park Place. 1878. Copyright by Derby Brothees, 1878. TO MY FRIEND, CHARLES M. GRAVES, THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. " Oh ! the sweet contentment, The countryman doth find ! Heigh trolallie, lolle lee, Heigh trolallie, lee. That quiet contemplation Possesseth all my mind. Throw care away, And wend along with me." f Walton. k : dojrviwvg. I.- — Dogs. Catching one. Ride to Morehouseville. At Becrafts. II. — Memory and Hope. A Fairy Story. The Angler's Sabbath. Regular Habits. III. — Guides. Spruce Lake. Solitude. On a Raft. First Day's Fishing. IV.— Early Rising. A Contrary Wind. The True Angler. A Trout Fight. Wilgus. V. — First Things. My First Trout. A Leaky Shanty. Wilgus and the Panther. VI. — In the Woods. Pleasant Companions. A Summer's Nooning. A Pipe of Tobacco. VII. — Jessups River. Wet Feet and Tight Boots. Creek Fishing. Loosing a Trout. Suicide. VIII.— Down the River. Pretty Things. A Quixotic At- tempt. Discharge of Wilgus. IX.— Sunrise. The Old Whisky Bottle. Strategic Angling. Life and the Stream. X. — A Warm Tramp. The Upper Stillwater and High Falls. Our Shanty. A Long Night. XL — No Luck. Black Flies and Musquitoes. A Short Lecture. Pictures in the Fire. " Gluck Auf." XII. — Snoring Sunday Morning. The Haunted Church. Dinner. XIII.— Sabbath Breaking. Night up a Tree. Forest Lessons- Fly Fishing. Good Night. CHAPTER I. Dogs — catching one — Ride to Morehousevillk— at Becraft's. REMARKS our fat friend Senior: " It is a say- ing old as yonder hill that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, but I intend to demon- strate to your entire satisfaction, gentlemen, that they can be taught to dispense with the perfor- mance of some of their old ones.'' Says Grey : " I have no idea, my well fed friend, that your remarks have a personal ap- plication to any gentleman of our party, and although the shoe does not fit me, still, you have aroused a little of my latent curiosity and I will relieve my anxiety by asking what is the mean- ing of your very commonplace affirmation." " Had you ridden or driven over the road we journey to-day as many times as I have, your curiosity would not have been irritated to the extent of dubbing my remarks as commonplace. Still, I forgive you my boy, as I well know your 10 RANDOM CASTS. kindness of heart overbalances many times the infirmities of your temper." ' This, at Ned Williams' well kept hostelry at Forest House, one day in early June. A party of fishermen were on their way to Hamilton Co., for a couple of weeks trout fishing. Senior had just returned from a foraging expedition in the tavern kitchen and disclosed as a successful result of it, a large piece of raw beef. As he explained the disposition he intended to make of it, his eyes plainly said : " Mischief thou art afoot." his nose suddenly attained a scarlet rubicundity, which Bardolph might well have looked upon with envious eyes and his cheeks saw the beacon light and passed its warning up to his forehead, which in its turn signalled the bald spot on his crown. It was not the modest blush of maiden- hood, nor the roguish flushing of harmless devil- try, but the glowing earnestness of impending revenge. The way the red blood flashed up and went its rounds was a living illustration of the beacon lights of the old Anglo-Saxon times. Having reached headquarters and performed its mission, it gradually subsided leaving the full RANDOM CASTS. II moon face of Senior looking as childlike and in- nocent as a South Down. At a farm house on the road leading north from Forest House, was a dog that for many a long day had been the terror of little boys and girls and for excursions innumerable, the annoy- ance of hunters and fishermen, for no party of mirthful disciples of Nimrod or of Walton could drive past the gate where he kept watch, but the ugly brute almost invariably made an attack in the rear, following until he had made himself hoarse, and made the air fairly ring with his deep gruff gutterals. None had dared to shoot him, as the report of a gun would have surely detected the shooter, so every one who chanced to be an object of the dog's dislike, was obliged to grin and bear it; but a day of retribution was coming, a day of sorrow for our noisy, barking enemy. There is no truer more devoted friend to man than a dog; there can be no greater enemy when they have sufficient cause, for their mem- ory of good and bad treatment rarely forsakes them, but for what reason this overgrown shaggy specimen of the canine species should cherish to- 12 RANDOM CASTS. wards us such a warlike feeling was beyond our comprehension, for, as Logan said of the pale faces : " We never did harm to him.** The dog is said to be capable of correction and if he possesses the faculty of reasoning, as is claimed for him, a wholesome lesson imparted to him may be for his good, teaching him that it were better to be a gentlemanly dog in ap- pearance at least, even if " He may smile and be a villain still. Senior had prepared a stout linen line with a No. 9 — o Limerick hook baited with a tempting piece of beef, rich, red and rare enough to tempt an epicure. As we drove past, the old enemy came dashing towards us, giving assurance of the belligerent spirit within him, by a series of deep roaring growls, but a peace maker catches his eye, the voice for a moment is hushed, and with one savage spring the hidden steel is in his jaws. Tige, Fido, or whatever his name was, had evidently fasted. A jerk from Senior, fast- ened the hook, a sting of the whip, from Grey, starts the horses to a keen jump and the way that dog straightened the line was a caution RANDOM CASTS. even to shark fishermen. Away we went like Tarn O'Shanter, with the witches after him. Senior by no manner of means evinced as much patience and forgiveness as Newton did towards his little dog Diamond, when he tumbled Sir Isaac's mathematical papers into the fire, and received as his punishment only a word gently and sorrowfully spoken. Senior's disposition on the present occasion was the other extreme, for he gave utterance to the satisfaction he felt in a manner more emphatic than elegant, and now that he had his ancient enemy in his power, he was going to cancel the debt and have a balance due him. Away we went. How the dust did fly and how that dog did travel and scratch gravel for one good mile, belching forth mean- while a perfect tornado of discordant tortuous sounds. " Revenge is sweet," so saith the poet, but even the spirit of revenge, deep-seated as it was within us, could no longer endure the torturing howls that pierced our ears, so the line was de- vided and the dog returned as fast as did the schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow, when the head- less horseman followed him from his visit to the 14 RANDOM CASTS. fair Katrina. He returned with hook and line sad memorials of his greediness and bad temper, returned we hope a wiser and better dog. If not a better dog, he was assuredly a wiser one, for since our catching him he has not been known to disturb the peace of the harmless, but on the approach of a party he may be seen like the solitary horseman of the novelist, wending his weary way towards the barn or around a corner of the house. There are four of us bowling along in the wagon. First Mr. Senior, the oldest and the fattest of the crowd, as jovial and honest a man as ever broke bread or emptied a glass. Unlike Shakespear's sixth age of man " With spectacles on nose and pouch on side His youthful hose well sewed a world too wide, For his shrunk shank." he was more like Mouter Van Twillen, about five feet six in height and six feet five around his principal organ of digestion, which protruded like the bay window of a house. It was always a surprise to strangers to see so clumsy looking a man tramping through the woods, or wading trout streams. He was jolly as he was fat, and RANDOM CASTS. I 5 pleasant words were continually tumbling over each other as they fell from his mouth. Mr. Grey, a fractional part of Senior, as re- gards age or avoirdupois, for Senior beats him nearly two to one either way — but Grey can dis- tance him casting a fly or playing a trout. Grey is a thoroughly experienced sportsman, who has dropped prairie chickens in the West, duck in the South, fished in the Adirondacks, among the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence and among the mountain streams of West Virginia, Colorado and the Eastern States. A lover of good living, he always makes the best of every- thing and strings dull care and bad luck up by the heels and his example is usually, as it invar- iable should be, contagious. Mr. Gould, yet in his noviciate as an angler, but taking to it as naturally as a duck takes to water. Mr. Storm is an odd sort of fellow, who indul- ges his fondness for fishing whenever he has an opportunity and sometimes oftener, Sundays ex- cepted. He is in just the company he likes and bound to have a good time at the sport he loves best of all. 1 6 RANDOM CASTS. Our horses sped nimbly along as if imbued with our own joyous spirits ; the rattle of the wagon startling the chattering squirrels and away they scamper to the topmost branches of the tall trees and peep down with curious eyes upon the noisy load below. Robins, field-spar- rows, meadow-larks dart out from their nests in the grass or on the trees. A whole season of song and sunshine is before them and they make the air trill and pulsate with volumes of ten- derest melody. Over murmuring streams, past blossoming gardens, rich pastures, fine mead- ows, greenest glades, orchards dropping in silent showers the delicate pinky apple-blossoms and strewing the emerald sod with fragrance, shaded cottages with flower laden vines climb- ing over their sides, now catching momentary glimpses of the distant mountains as we pass from beneath the many shade trees or rise some hillock in the road. Everything on all sides and in the sky above foster the hope that there are days of pleasure in store for us. Twenty miles over a fair country road, brings us to Ohio City. Beyond this there is only one rough bad spot in the road, but that spot ex- RANDOM CASTS. iy tends about sixteen miles, the entire distance to Becrafts. Positively shocking, patent-leathers would say. It is much better that the road is so difficult and fatiguing, else the place would be overrun with so-called anglers who are too indolent and delicate to endure a rough wagon ride. The hills and rocky roads protect many a poor trout : but for a person who loves a little variety in travel, there is a certain charm in this slowly climbing up steep hills, rumbling over rocks, fathoming deep ruts, jolting over cordu- roy roads and dashing peirmell over rickety bridges. Excepting with Senior our avoirdupois had been materially reduced by the perpetual shak- ing we had undergone since leaving Ohio City and before Becraft's was reached. Little matter how tired one may feel at the end of the journey, the hearty welcome and cordial greeting Mrs. Becraft extends is perfect repose. If you arrive immediatedly after breakfast, she will start an- other in almost no time. So with dinner, so with supper. If in the middle of night you arrive, you will find the latch string hanging out- side. Pull and enter. You cannot take her by 1 8 RANDOM CASTS. surprise, and while you remain beneath her roof you are at home. Good landlords and landladies, like poets and anglers are, " born not made," and this one is of Nature's own moulding, born for the business of taking care of wandering humanity. Not one of that numerous class, who give short answers with an air of magnificent importance, but one who receives and listens to you with cordial and unaffected hospitality. It is one of the places where a stranger can enter, sling his hat in a corner and make up his mind that so long as he conducts himself like a true angler, the best in the house is his and welcome. The house itself is a substantial one, built by honest day's work. No contract about it. There is no fragility and gingerbread ornaments de- facing it. It partakes rather of the strength and cohesion of a tough beefsteak. The inter- nal establishment was stamped with the mono- gram of thrift, abundance and neatness, and had one feature peculiarly acceptable to Senior, for he is in stature considerably below the average of mankind, and that was, the chairs were adapted to the length of the legs attached to the bodies RANDOM CASTS. 19 of the visitors. There was not offered to the little man, barely measuring five feet, a chair high enough for the six footer, but every man could find a chair to fit him. " Oh ! that all landlords and landladies," said Senior, " were as considerate ; Oh ! that all chairmakers felt that short men had rights which tall men were bound to respect. Oh ! that all of them had some regard and thought for the poor fellows whom their Maker had af- flicted with short legs, and not oblige them to set sideways on high chairs and swing one leg in the air." CHAPTER II. " The first men that our Saviour dear, Did choose to wait upon him here, Blest fishers were, and fish the last Food was that he on earth did taste ; I therefore strive to follow those, Whom He to follow Him hath chose.' Walton. W*"Q«m " Take my advice and let the trout alone on a Sunday, and become fishers of thought, drawing bright and good things out of the depths of memory. They will rise to your cast with great freedom, and take hold strongly and it is a pleasure to land them, and once secure they become an enjoyable posses- sion." W. C. Prime. 20 RANDOM CASTS. Memory and Hope — A Fairy Story — The Angler's Sabbath — Regular Habits. JJERE we are once more near the old familiar fishing grounds. With what ecstacy of joy does one look forward to a renewal of his ac- quaintance with rod and line. How often when the ermine snow covers the ground, when the long winter evenings are joyless and dreary, do you think and speak of the many days of pleas- ure, passed among the sparkling gems and dancing streams, where the lovely trout disport, building airy castles as you look lovingly forward to the spring sunshine, when the snow begins to melt on the mountain tops and countless streams seek the level of the lakes and large rivers ; when the Ice king, who for months has sealed the babbling brook, the mountain torrents, the placid lake, the wide river has unwillingly re- leased them from his freezing embrace, when all running streams tripping gaily and coquettishly along offer you their bounties of golden glories. Memory when she recalls pleasant scenes, faces and thoughts and Hope, when she points the finger of promise towards the future, sweet- RANDOM CASTS. 2 I en the cup of life. Memory has enshrined no brighter thoughts than of the hours whiled away on the wood girdled lakes, on the shady banks of prattling brooks, by mossy rocks in shy little nooks, where the air we breathe is purest, the sky above the clearest, the water with which we quench our thirst, so clear, cold and sparkling, that one becomes even oblivious of his customary lager; the moss and grass on which we rest our weary limbs, the softest, where through the emerald leaves of the forest trees the gentle wind breathes the saddest, sweetest music, the feathered songsters pour out their un- taught melody ; where you can indulge your thoughts and fancies in a thousand devious wanderings, where the mornings come early and the evenings tarry late, and you look only on the bright sunny side of life, for the while un- conscious that there is such a thing as sin in the world, and all heedless of old Father Time, with his scythe and hour-glass, your surroundings are suggestive only of the pleasantest of pleas- ant thoughts. When far removed from these scenes, hemmed in by the high walls of a city, how often does 22 RANDOM CASTS. memory revert to them, making ypu pant for the wild breath of the mountain air. If you are no lover of winter and are gloomy from impa- tience to live over again the experience of your lake and forest life, there stands Hope, smiling at and saying to you, when the April sun and showers have softened the earth, starting the fresh buds and trees to new life, inviting the birds from their Southern homes — it is then you may promise yourself a speedy realization of your fondest desires. You may promise your eyes, sights beautiful beyond description ; your ears, the welcome sounds and voices of the forest — bird-music, murmuring waters, sighing breezes ; your lungs, the wild mountain air ; your cheeks, a ruddy glow ; and above all these, the gentle art of Walton, you may practice from dewy morn till rosy eve. This is Sunday, and Monday morning seems a long way in the future, and the question up- permost in some of our minds, is whether we would be doing wrong by fishing on Sunday. Grey thinks we have no possible excuse for so doing. Gould does not believe fishing on that day is any more productive of evil than dawdling RANDOM CASTS. 23 the time about the house reading old papers and novels, putting fishing tackle in order, smoking and yearning for Monday morning. Storm would not as a general thing fish on Sunday, nor remonstrate with one who did, and Senior told the following story : Once upon a time — as the fairy stories begin — four fishermen were sitting on the banks of a trout stream. The day was such an one as this, which cheers and gladdens the angler's heart ; but it was Sunday, and these four young men, being law abiding and Sabbath keeping, could not find it in their hearts to cast the fly nor drop the bait among the well stored ripples. After a long and animated discussion, the chief speaker drew from beneath his coat a rod and jointing it, held it over the water at the same time asking if there was any law prohibiting his holding that rod in such a position on Sunday. " No ! no ! certainly not ; '' the others replied. The second man drew form his pocket a line and fastening it to the end of the rod asked if there was anything detrimental to strict moral- ity in his so doing, " To be certainly not ; " was the answer. 24 RANDOM CASTS. The third man drew forth a hook, inquiring ii his attaching- it to the end of the line was a pun- ishable offence. " No ! no ! no! v was the chorus and on went the hook. Young man, the fourth wished to know the opinions of his companions regarding the right and wrong of baiting that hook, and being assured that he was violating no com- mandment in simply fastening a worm on a hook, providing such worm had been dug the day previous and such being the date of its capture, on it went to the secret satisfaction oi all. The rod, line and hook were in complete fish- ing order and in the hand of the first young man, who then wished to learn the opinion of the party, in relation to a number of points, for they were very moral young men, were these four and would have scorned to go a'angling on the Sabbath day. He wished to know if it would be violating the eighth commandment should he move down the stream to a shady place by yonder rock and by merely dropping the point of the rod, allow the worm to sink a little beneath the water and protect the poor RANDOM CASTS. 25 thing from the heat of the sun. Of course any- thing so charitable as that, could not be wrong. There were a great many nice points decided as satisfactorily as these on shore, but the fishes below entertained different opinions and refused to bite, so not one rose to the surface. Fearing a repetition of the bad fortune attend- ing these moral young men who went fishing on Sunday, and the majority of us being or rather inclined to be conscientiously opposed to it, we returned a verdict of served 'em right, and postponed our fishing until the proper time. There should be no question as to the proper way of spending the Sabbath day. " You three big lusty fellows," says Senior, " have you noth- ing to be thankful for ? You Grey and Gould have health and strength and manly beauty, and seriously how often do you return thanks for them ? I beg pardon Grey, for tacking you and Gould together in that manner, for I know you are incapable of disobeying the command- ment which says : " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." You Storm, have health and strength and al- though you do not handsome by the wholesale, 26 RANDOM CASTS. you have more to be thankful for than you can repay. Stay at home and " think and thank." I know there is nothing in the whole wide world half so beautiful, as a well condition- ed trout, but were it a thousand times better and more beautiful, more beautiful and blessed is the Sabbath day's rest. If angling- is the u contemplative man's recreation,'' let this be a day of contemplation and spend it u without harm to your souls or interference with the rights and enjoyments of your fellow men.'' I do not propose to sling the concluding lines of Bryant's Thanatopsis at you, but please read them the first opportunity you have and then live up to them. Even if it proves to be a tame day, none of us will have the blues while Senior is present, for he is a man who never keeps down the devil of harmless and innocent fun, but lends him a help- ing hand, and the blue devil would find little about him to warrant a long tarry. Agreeable friends are blessings and he is one of the most attractive of those blessings, of cheerful temper, good humor, good sense, a prince among good fellows. A lover of nature finds much to love RANDOM CASTS. 2? in one as fond as himself of the woods and waters. There is a marvelous free-masonry in the forests, a mystical, indefinable sympathy, drawing- men mysteriously towards each other. Sympathy is a jewel, one of the pearls of life, and perhaps that is the secret of the mutual liking existing- between Senior and Storm, for, aside from their love of the woods there is no resemblance between them. With all of Senior's pleasantries the day to Gould seamed inordinately long. He had soon exhausted the scanty library and never did a man more want to discount the next few hours. " It's all right sonny. Take an old man's ad- vice about the Sabbath day and you'll make no mistake. If you think I am old fashioned and in my dotage, next Sunday you may have your own way and not a word will I utter in opposition, and then we'll see how you like it. This evening we'll go over the creek to Wilgus, and get him to back a load to the lake and help Giles around the camp. He used to be a de- cent sort of fellow if you kept whiskey away from him, and stood over him with a club. Naturally lazy, he will bear a great deal of 28 RANDOM CASTS. watching and stands up under any amount of tongue lashing." " I do not see the sense of engaging such a man as that." "He will amuse you. His stupidity and lazyness will give employment to your cardinal virtues, which, I guess, are rather rusty." " Mr. Senior you have hitherto borne the reputation of being a level-headed man, but what can possess you to hire such a leather- headed old mummy as you say Wilgus is, beats my time." "I tell you, you will have some fun with him." 4 ' He'll be the principal attraction in a funeral procession if he runs foul of me with any of his infernal nonsense." 11 His barefaced lies will amuse you, and on that account you will shake hands with him and greet him as a brother." " Supposing I were to greet him as Cain greeted his brother Abel, would you not justify me ? At any rate, I do not purpose to have my sport interfered with by any whiskey drinking old fraud like your friend Mr. Wilgus. " After an early supper Senior and Storm called at Wilgus'. RANDOM CASTS. 29 " Good evening Mrs. Wilgus, and how have you been this many a month since I last saw you." " Why, bless me, Mr. Senior, but you are good for my poor old eyes. I am very well, and you seem to be growing shorter and stouter and red- der year by year." u Oh ! that's from leading a quiet, regular life, temperate in every respect." " Well, Mr. Senior, regularity, in one's habits, goes far towards prolonging one's life and happi- ness, There's me and Wilgus for instance. We never have got along so smooth as during the last four years, since he commenced to be regu- lar in his habits." " Seems to me, Mrs. Wilgus, that John is get- ting very irregular in his habits, in his old age." '' Why, bless you, he has never been so regu- lar since we was man and wife." "He has a mighty queer way of showing it then." " 1 don't see anything irregular about him. You can depend on him as much as you can on the rising of the sun.'' " I saw him at Morehouseville, yesterday, and he did not look that way." 30 RANDOM CASTS. " That's just where you make a mighty big mistake, young man, and don't forget it. He came home late last night, drunk as a lord, just as II expected he would, and that's the way always with him. A few years ago he would come home, sober most of the time, but occasionally a little off color. Finally he got so I could not tell how he would turn up, but now he is regu- lar as you could wish — regularly drunk you can depend on it, and that's what suits me, I always know how to find him." " Can you spare him for a few days and let him go up to the lakes with us ?" " Yes ; send Giles over for him early in the morning, and I'll have him fixed up. He ain't got back from the Ville yet, but he'll be around all right and don't whiskey him up too much when you get him in the woods. Keep him jest so, so." RANDOM CASTS. 3 1 CHAPTER III. '* Blest silent groves, oh ! may you be For ever mirth's best nursery ! May pure contents For ever pitch their tents Upon these downs, these meads, these rocks, these mountains, And peace still slumber by these purling fountains ; Which we may every year Meet when we come a fishing here." Sir Henry Walton. "Just one more cast, I yet can see That miiler's white and dainty wing. Hold ! there he comes, strike quick and hard, Oh ! don't he make that leader sing. He's doubling on you, look out, sir ! He knows the game, just see him cut ! I'll risk my rod to save that trout, Stand by now, Frank, he's got the butt." Guides — Spruce Lake — Solitude — On A Raft — First Day's Fishing. JJAVING disposed of a hearty Monday morn- ing breakfast, to the merits of which we did ample justice, we re-arranged our baggage, put- ting it into carrying shape. We are going to Spruce Lake and Giles Becraft is our guide. 32 RANDOM CASTS. Very fortunate is that person who has secured the services of a good guide, and his lump of gratitude must be undeveloped if he does not thank his lucky stars. The woods are swarming with men who call themselves guides, but few are deserving of the name. The first-class guides always designate those frauds who try to earn an odd penny, by claiming some knowledge of wood-craft, as farmers. They can chop wood, carry a moderately sized load, but as for performing any of the functions appertaining to wood-craft, one might as well engage the service of a tobacconist's sign. Their short comings in knowledge and experience they strive to neutralize by pretense and swagger. They will make any kind of state- ment and confirm it, by sticking to it, which, four times out of five is the only confirmation it ever receives. Giles is a genuine unadulterated back-woods- man, none better, few so good, and not like too many of his class who are as difficult of solution RANDOM CASTS. 33 as one of Euclid's problems would be to the average Digger Indian. Guides usually have a dark mysterious look and manner, seldom vouchsafing any of their wood-craft to outside barbarians, as though telling north from west on a cloudy day, was an imposibility save to those born and educated in the forest, while the faculty of detecting intricate and hidden trails transcends the acquirements and capacities of ordinary mortals. From what few words they condescend to address to you, you must draw your own inferences, for seldom will they enter into details. Giles is not one of that class. All his knowl- edge is like himself, at your service. Not old in years, he is old in experience ; proficient in the use of the rifle, the rod and the paddle, so familiar with every trail through the woods that he never has to put on his spectacles, and what is better than all, he has none of the vices so prevalent among men and which in a great mea- sure accounts for his strength and activity. He 34 RANDOM CASTS. is agile as a buck of the forest, tall, broad shoul- dered, ample chested, well muscled, easy temp- ered, good natured. The tramp before us to Spruce Lake is no easy one. Pedestrianism in the woods is awkward and floundering. Who can catalogue the almost inexhaustible variety of impediments that Na- ture has interposed to prevent comfortable loco- motion ? Every rod presents its specialty, and a mile would furnish a list appalling to the strength of any not a thorough devotee to the sport, offered after the difficulties in reaching it had been surmounted. Then the length of a mile according to the North Woods Guess Measure is 14 inches make 1 foot. 3 1 feet " 1 yard 6 yards " 1 rod. 400 rods " 1 mile. We fear that .the majority of American an- glers much prefer a well beaten track, even if it leads to waters too well fished to return them a Sfood dividend on their investment. Those RANDOM CASTS. 35 who follow us will have to use their legs. A man who has an aversion to climbing and turn bling and torn clothes, never comes this way but once. He never passes his plate the second time for a day's tramp. Eight hours after leaving Becraft's, and about the middle of the afternoon, our packs are nn- slung at Spruce Lake, and a welcome we receive from birds, squirrels and rabbits, for we are old acquaintances of their parents, who have brought up their children to fear us not, as we think they are very pleasant to have running around the shanty, and none of us would harm a hair of their backs or a feather of their wings. The North Woods are full of beautiful lakes and ponds. Morehouse, Big Rock, Little Bear, Pine, G, have .many attractions surrounding them, but our idea of a beautiful lake is Spruce. Larger than the others, its surroundings, its shape, its conveniences render it the pleasantest and most enjoyable in this region. T t has the finest outlet of all ; not an abrupt tumbling over 2,6 RANDOM CASTS. the shore, but a wide stream carrying its surplus waters away to the Canada Creek. The woods are never more than merely lone- some, for we hear the drumming of the part- ridge in the distance, the " who ! who ! who — who-o-o-o'' of the owl, the tapping of the woodpecker, the notes of the blue jay ; but it is by some stream or lake that one realizes, to the fullest, what is meant by solitude. The voices of the woods detract from the feeling of lone- someness, but by the lake those other voices and views, the quack of the ducks, the sight of a deer feeding in the lily-pads, the plash of an oar, and that sound, more suggestive than any other of utter loneliness, the shrill cry of the loon only serve to intensify the sense of solitude and make it more solid. Water adds to its solidity. If there was any way of transportation, this lake solitude might be cut into blocks, taken to the large cities and disposed of at remunerative prices, for no family especially where there were children would be without one ; what a blessing RANDOM CASTS. 37 to the wearied down-town man who has been in a push, rattle and jam since morning- could he, when returning home in the evening, ensconce himself in his block of solitude. " There's mil- lions in it,'' for the man who will devise some method of getting it out of the woods. When Alexander Selkirk said ; " Oh ! solitude where are the charms, That sages have seen in thy face." He must have been gazing seaward. Alexander, however, had become surfeited. He had got too many oats for a shilling. His cup of soli- tude was full to overflowing, and doubtless he would have tolerated anything for a change. One very interesting feature about these lakes is the rafts. The tortoise has been quoted as an illustration of slow travelling ever since the days of Esop, but had the great fabler ever been made to work his passage on a raft, the tortoise would not have figured in his writings. The hands of a clock can be seen moving around the dial in obedience to the mechanism within. 38 RANDOM CASTS. If your vision is very acute and your watching patient, you may see the corn growing, the hops slowly climbing up their poles, the flowers unfolding their beautiful petals, your boy grow- ing day by day, until his stature exceeds your own ; but how you can distinguish, appreciate, or be conscious that any raft you are poling or paddling is making headway, is a problem that our senses, wood-craft or water-craft, as yet fail to solve. The slang expression, " go slow old man and learn to paddle," was first spoken to a man on a raft. It was a speech totally unnecessary, for the poor man had no alternative but to go slow, and the fellow who delivered the insulting speech knew full well that if it were taken un- kindly, he could leisurely beat a retreat and be miles away before the man on the raft could effect a landing and chastise him for his inso- lence. " Hurry up," says Grey, while we are preparing our lines, flies, &c, " be out on the lake as soon as you can, for it smells trouty RANDOM CASTS. 39 enough this afternoon and make a note of what I say, we will have all the trout we want to bring to the shanty this blessed night." In the east it was clear, a slight ripple was on the water, everything indicative of good sport among the fishes below and for the fishers above, and Grey conclusively demonstrated that he was a true prophet on this occcsion, when he promised us our baskets full of the speckled beauties. No long bearded Mussle- man could have placed more implicit faith in futurity than we, after hearing Grey so confi- dently predict such luck. The ripple on Spruce is always a favorable sign. Without a breath of air stirring, when the lake lies smooth as a mirror, it is folly to try and tempt a trout to seize the most decep- tive and carefully prepared fly. They will laugh at you just as surely as fish do laugh and call their fellows to witness your devices, and then bidding you good morning, hasten grace- fully away to their homes and there remain until they hear the breezes above. 40 RANDOM CASTS. Jaded as we all were, we felt as though a trout supper we must have, so Senior and Gould, on our raft, poled across to the bay, where the Piseco trail strikes the lake, where they were ; to throw, and Grey with Storm on another raft poled towards the upper end of the lake, where the anchor was dropped just beyond reach of a large tree that had fallen into the water and made their first cast. Grey has selected a grizzly king, a grouse hackle and blue-winged coach- man, with which to allure the speckled swim- mers, and right well did he succeed ; the tempt- ing morsels were too great to be resisted. " So glistened the dire snake and into fraud Led Eve our credulous mother." No sooner had the flies gently touched the water than whiz-z-z sang the reel, the line grows longer and longer, the graceful bend of the rod its whole length, tells plainly as words, that some one of the myriads of trout that in- habit the lake, and one of more than ordinary size, had taken Monsieur fly between his jaws, RANDOM CASTS. 41 and does not think the morsel improves on ac- quaintance, for his efforts to free himself are fran- tic in the extreme. A genuine desperado is this first martyr to our sleight of hand, but a strong line and rod in skillful hands, will ere long land you my beauty and over a blazing fire we will give to your bright spots a golden brown, and hungry men will pronounce you incomparable, but not you alone, for others of your kind will grace our homely table. Whenever Grey attempts to do anything it is done secundum artem, and this was no exception, for easily he played the trout, checking him gently in his " mad career," giving and taking until the fish resigned the unequal contest and surrendered, while a gleam of joy irradiated Grey's features as he deposited him in his basket. Storm's first cast was not rewarded. He tried a bright red fly, but it was too flashy to secure the admiration of any trout that day. They are whimsical creatures and like their 42 RANDOM CASTS. food in season just as men like ice cream and sherry cobblers in July and hot whiskies in Jan- uary. Substituting flies like Grey's, pleased their dainty tastes, for soon Storm had his at- tention called to something smaller than a whale which was tugging away for dear life, trying his prettiest to rid himself of the sharp pointed steel he had so greedily taken. Come in out of the wet ; never more if my line don't part, will you glide through the bright waters, frightening the smaller fry and verdant chub that frolic in the shallow shore waters. Bigger chubs than they await your coming, smacking their lips in expectation of the treat you will afford. Your rich flavor will tickle our palates to-night, as we gather around our huge log-fire. Hallo! somebody else is knocking at the door. Well ! come in, we salute you, we are all at home this blessed day, ready to receive calls and visits from such as you. Please come in. Ex- cuse our slouched hats and heavy shoes. Do RANDOM CASTS. 43 not judge us from outward appearances. Rough our exterior, but there are kind hearts beating beneath our wood-worn coats, and we will treat you kindly, for we love you best of all swim- ming things, and yours shall be a nice warm corner of the frying pan and our ears will listen with pleasure as you sing your last song with the cracking of burning logs about you. How you will writhe and twist dear fellow, how you will writhe and twist. Still another and another. They cannot be frightened away. Oh ! poor deluded creatures, how we pity. We are the spiders, "Will you walk into my parlor, Says the spider to the fly." But never more can you return to your old homes. The tracks to our creels are like those before the lions den, all pointed in, none out. Tempus never fugited faster than he did this afternoon, but he could not distance us, and ere the katydids commenced their evening songs, we had nearly filled our baskets and returned to the shanty. 44 RANDOM CAS IS. In the frying pan was placed a portion of the afternoon's catch, and under the watchful eye and skillful hand of Giles, they underwent a complete metamorphosis, their spotted sides and graceful forms, changing to a golden brown and curling up as they hissed over the fire. Senior superintended the making of the coffee, hot, strong and plenty of it, while Gould and Grey set the table, a large piece of bark, and covered it with miscellaneous edibles. We had tin plates with us, but nice broad chips made better ones, obviated the necessity of washing, and when we were through with them, they made famous kindling wood. Everything is ready, help yourself. A smoke, a rubber of whist, and then wind- ing our blankets around us, we were soon sleep- ing and dreaming dreams that made the long night seem as bright and cheerful as the sun- shine of life. RANDOM CASTS. 45 CHAPTER IV. "The wet leaves, the morning air Are stirring at its touch, and birds are singing As if to breathe were music ; and the grass Sends up its modest odor with the dew, Like the small tribute of humility. Lovely indeed is morning. I have drunk Its fragrance and its freshness, and have felt Its delicate touch ; and 'tis a kindlier thing Than music, or a feast, or medicine.' Willis. " Then I gently shake the tackle. Till the barbed and fatal hackle In its tempered jaws shall shackle That old trout, so wary grown. Now I strike him ! joy ecstatic ! Scouring runs ! leaps acrobatic. So I angle, So I dangle, All alone." Fitz. James O'Brien. Early Rising— A Contrary Wind— The True Angler— A Trout Fight — Wilgus -yyHEN Senior calls you in the morning you must rise ; there is no rolling the blankets closer around you and courting slumber, for his " pile out'' is a fiat from which there is no appeal, so we are up with the dawn- 46 RANDOM CASTS. " Throw up the window ! 'tis a morn for life In its most subtle luxury. The air Is like a breathing from a rarer world And the south wind seems liquid — it o'ersteals My bosom and my brow so bathingly." ' Early risers can best appreciate a charming day, for they alone behold its greatest beauties, the first blush of morn, when the golden gates of the East are unlocked, and woods, vallies and hills, little ribbons of streams, lakes and rivers, are all bathed in the light. Drink in the per- fumed air ; the slightly frosted air, burst your lungs with it if you can, bolt it down, it will cause sensations of delight, clear the head, lighten the heart, sharpen the eye, plant roses on your cheeks. It is the best cosmetic in the world. Open your windows, invite its early visits, and billow after billow will come surging in until the whole room is flooded with fresh- ness and fragrance, with inspiring whiffs and invigorating breezes. Be an early riser here if you are not when in the town. Never let the birds summon you from your slumbers more than once. Be up when they are, at the dawn RANDOM CASTS. 47 of the day. Do not lose the best hours of the twenty-four in effeminate sloth, but be up if you love a charming day ere its loveliest and most charming part has disappeared. We all bear a hand towards preparing breakfast. Each has his duties assigned to him and the boss of the coffee pot has the most diffi- cult to perform if he does his task properly. JEolus, the king of the winds, eccentric as he sometimes is, has never had the reputation of being an inebriate, simply because those who know him best have sacredly kept their knowl- edge of his worst qualities from becoming a scandal to the gossiping world. But the truth must out. We know him in his gentle moods 11 breathing o'er a bank of violets," carrying un- seen the fragrance of fruits and flowers. We have seen him dallying, like a lover, with the golden locks of sweet sixteen, and acting the good Samaritan to wearied three score years and ten. He fills the spreading canvas over thousands of busy decks and the whole world welcomes his quiet coming. 4 8 RANDOM CAS1S. We know him in his angry moods, when he uproots the monarchs of the forests, when steeples, roofs and bridges are carried away as though they were paper toys. The ocean and great lakes he lashes until they are white with rage, and in their madness swallow up and de- stroy the wealth of nations and the lives of those we love. He is grand and mighty in his madness. That is his reputation with the world at large, but ask the man who has had to superin- tend the preparing of a meal in the forest, and he will tell you that if ever there was a disagree- able, drunken, dissolute, and detestable devil in the world it is Mr. Wind, especially around a camp-fire, during meal time. He is enough to drive a saint to the verge of profanity. You cannot get to windward of him, you are always in his teeth and he is incessantly blind- ing you with smoke. He is ubiquitous. We know whereof we speaketh. He has followed us in the most provoking manner, changing his direction for the most unaccountable reasons, in RANDOM CASTS. 49 fact, for no reason whatever but to be drunken- ly mean and disagreeable. He combines the treachery of a Sioux with the persistency and perversity of an empty musquito. That is the plain English of it. That is a true picture of him as he exists, in a place where of all places in the world, he should be a decent fellow and treat his visitors with at least a suspicion of consideration. But that is hardly to be ex- pected at this late day. He is beyond redemp- tion and if, when you are boiling your coffee or frying your trout, he cuts up his capers, as he undoubtedly will, you may indulge in justifiable growls, and if you have an absurd prejudice against profanity, cast it aside, just this once, no more, and wax eloquent in denunciation of the fiend wind and the demon smoke. After breakfast we paired of, as on the previ- ous day, and all started towards Balsam Lake outlet, on the east side of Spruce Lake, buoyant with hope, joyous and expectant as school-boys with an extra holiday. One can enjoy the an- 5