A DEEP WOODS FISHING PARTY
AN ADVENTURE WITH MR. DOG AND A VERY LARGE FISH
ONE warm, still June morning (this, of course, was before the HollowTree Inn started) Mr. Jack Rabbit looked out of the window while he wasdressing and thought to himself that it would be just the very morningfor fish to bite.
Jack Rabbit liked to fish better than anything, almost, so right afterbreakfast he took an empty tomato can and went out in the back yard andturned over boards till he had the can about half full of bait, with alittle dirt thrown on top. Then he reached up under the eaves of thesmoke-house and pulled out a long cane pole with a line and hook andfloater on it, all rigged up ready, and flung it over his shoulder andstarted.
Mr. Rabbit walked pretty fast--even lazy folks do that when they gofishing, and Mr. Jack Rabbit wasn't lazy, by a good deal. So pretty soonhe came to the Hollow Tree, and there, looking out of an up-stairswindow, he saw the 'Coon, the 'Possum, and the Old Black Crow.
"Hello, up there!" he said. "Don't you fellows want to go fishing?"
Mr. 'Possum said he thought fish would bite well on such a morning, andthat he'd like to go first rate. Mr. 'Coon said he knew a place whereyou could pull them out as fast as you could throw in your hook, and hewent on and told how he caught a fish there last year that would weighmore than four pounds, and lost him just as he got him to the top of thewater. Mr. Crow said he'd always noticed that Mr. 'Coon's four-poundfish never got any nearer to him than the top of the water, and that forhis part he didn't care much about fishing. He said, though, that ifthe 'Coon and the 'Possum wanted to go he'd stay at home and get dinnerwhile they were gone, so's to have it ready when they all came homehungry. He told them that he had some nice canned salmon in the cupboardthat he could catch 'most any time, and that if they really wanted fishfor dinner he s'posed he might as well open it. Then they all laughed,and in about a minute down came Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum with theirfishing things. Jack Rabbit said he had plenty of bait, so away theywent. Mr. Crow sat up in the window and watched them off, and Mr. Robin,who happened along just then, laughed and called after them that he'dtake a few pounds of nice bass when they got home. The Robin just saidthat to plague them, of course, and Mr. 'Coon called back that they'dfool him this time, and then he went on to remark that he'd never in hislife seen a finer day for fishing.
Jack Rabbit said yes, that it was fine, and that it was a fine day forMr. Dog to be out gallivanting over the country, too, and that they'dbetter hurry up and get to the lake and out in his boat before anythinghappened. That made Mr. 'Possum take a good deal livelier step, thoughhe commenced to whistle and said he wasn't afraid of Mr. Dog, anyway.Mr. 'Coon said he'd always noticed that a fellow mostly whistled when hewasn't afraid, but for his part he couldn't get to that boat any toosoon. And pretty soon they did get to it, and Mr. 'Possum was the firstone to pile in, though Mr. Dog wasn't anywhere in sight.
WHEN THEY GOT OUT TO WHERE MR. 'COON SAID THE GOOD PLACEWAS, THEY ALL WENT TO FISHING]
Well, they pushed off, and Jack Rabbit took one oar and Mr. 'Coon theother, while the 'Possum sat on the back seat and baited his hook so'sto catch the first fish. Then, when they got out to where Mr. 'Coon saidthe good place was, they all went to fishing, and Mr. 'Possum did getthe first bite, but he didn't get anything else when he pulled. Mr.'Coon told him he pulled too quick, and Jack Rabbit told him he didn'tpull quick enough, and asked him if he expected the fish to climb out onhis pole. Then Mr. Rabbit had a bite himself, and pulled and didn't getanything, either. Of course, that made Mr. 'Possum laugh, and then, allat once, the 'Coon had a great big bite that took his float away downout of sight the first grab.
Mr. 'Coon let him go for a minute and then gave a hard pull andcommenced to call out that he had him this time and that he'd show Mr.Crow now about only getting fish to the top of the water and havingcanned salmon for dinner. Then he stood up in the boat and pulled ashard as ever he could till all of a sudden his line broke, and down hewent backward, right on top of Mr. 'Possum, while the Rabbit swung hishook over where the 'Coon's hook had been and the big fish grabbed itbefore you could say Jack Robinson.
That was too bad for the 'Coon and the 'Possum, of course, and it wasn'tas much fun for Jack Rabbit as you might suppose, for he couldn't getthe big fish out to save his life, and he had to hold on to the boat tokeep from being pulled into the lake. Then he called to the others tohelp him, and they both got up and took hold of the pole and hauled itin hand over hand till they got to the line, and that was as far as theycould get. So Mr. Rabbit gave the line a twist or two around the ironring in the front of his boat, and the big fish started straight forshore, dragging the boat and everybody in it behind him, just as hard asever he could go. Then Mr. 'Coon and Jack Rabbit commenced to quarrelabout whose fish it was, and Mr. 'Possum said he didn't care whose itwas, he was getting a free ride, and he laid back and laughed and lookedat the shore, when all of a sudden he happened to spy there, sitting onthe end of a log, fishing and waiting for them, nobody but Mr. Doghimself.
That wasn't very much, of course, but it was plenty for Mr. 'Possum. Hequit laughing and tumbled down in the bottom of the boat and laid therecalling for Jack Rabbit to cut that fish line or they'd all be chops andsteaks and carried home in a basket in less than five minutes. JackRabbit did try to cut the line, too, but he was so excited he droppedhis knife overboard, and Mr. 'Coon couldn't find his, and Mr. 'Possumdidn't have any. So there they were, and there was Mr. Dog! Then Mr.Rabbit tried to bite the line off with his teeth, but he couldn't dothat, either, for it was a big, strong line that he'd made himself,specially for large fish.
And all the time they were getting closer and closer to the shore, andMr. Dog had lifted his line out of the water so it wouldn't be in hisway, and was sitting there waiting, and smiling to see them come.
Then Jack Rabbit knew that something had to be done, and there was notime to lose. He was just about as scared as he could be, but he knew itwouldn't do any good to let on, so he sat up straight and smiled some,too, and looked at Mr. Dog and called out, big and friendly like:--
"Hello, Mr. Dog! Here we come! Here we come with a nice dinner, Mr.Dog!"
Then Mr. Dog laughed and called back:--
"That's right, Mr. Rabbit. There's a sure enough nice dinner coming thistime! Fish for the first course, Mr. Rabbit!"
When Mr. 'Possum heard that he began to groan, and Jack Rabbit and Mr.'Coon began to shiver, for each thought he knew pretty well what thenext courses of Mr. Dog's dinner would be. But Mr. Rabbit didn't stopsmiling or let on that he knew, and he called out again to Mr. Dog,quick:--
"You'll have to help us if we have fish, Mr. Dog! He's a big one andyou'll have to help us catch him!"
And Mr. Dog called back again:--
"Don't worry, Mr. Rabbit! I won't leave! I'll be on hand when you gethere, Mr. Rabbit!"
Then he rolled up his trousers a little and waded out into the shallowwater, thinking he would nab Mr. Fish first and drag him out on shore,and then pull the boat right in after him.
Of course, that was a pretty good plan for Mr. Dog, only like some othergood plans, it didn't work just as he expected it to. You see, he didn'tquite know how big the fish was, nor how hard a big fish is to handle inshallow water. He made a quick grab at it when it got to him and then,right away, he had his hands full of business. That fish gave a flopwith his tail that laid Mr. Dog over on his back and then another flopthat set him on his feet again, and a side flop that smacked him againstthe water first one way and then the other, and made him breathe hardand choke and try to let go.
But Mr. Dog couldn't let go, for he'd got the fish line some way tangledin his teeth. So he began to snap and paw and swallow water, and falldown and get up again, and sprawl about in the swamp grass, trying toget back to shore.
THE FIGHT BETWEEN MR. DOG AND THE BIG FISH]
And while all this was going on Jack Rabbit and his friends had jumpedout into the shallow water and took a little roundin's to sho
re, keepingout of Mr. Dog's way, and made tracks for the top of a hill, where theywould be out of danger and see the fun at the same time. Then they allstood up there and watched the fight between Mr. Dog and the big fish,and Jack Rabbit sang out, as loud as ever he could:--
"Don't leave, Mr. Dog! Stay with him, Mr. Dog! Hold him to it, Mr. Dog;you've got him! First course, Mr. Dog!"
And Mr. Dog heard Jack Rabbit and got madder and madder every minute,till all of a sudden he got a lick on the side of the head from Mr.Fish's tail that made him see stars and broke the line. And away wentthe big fish out into deep water, while Mr. Dog crawled back to shore,wet and bruised from head to foot, and 'most dead.
Then Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum and Jack Rabbit, standing on top of thehill, gave a great big laugh, all together, and Mr. Rabbit calledout:--
"How did you like the first course, Mr. Dog?"
That made them all laugh again, and then Mr. 'Coon called out:--
"Are you ready for the second course, Mr. Dog?"
And pretty soon Mr. 'Possum he called out:--
"Are you ready for a nice roast now, Mr. Dog?"
And that, of course, made them all laugh very loud, for Mr. 'Possum usedslang now and then and meant by a "roast" that people would all make funof Mr. Dog wherever he went; which they did, for a long time.
Even Mr. Robin, who was good friends with Mr. Dog, couldn't help callingout to him, now and then, as he went by:--
"Are you ready for the next course, Mr. Dog?"
And Mr. Dog would pretend not to hear and go hurrying by very fast, asif he were out on special and important business for Mr. Man.
LEANING OVER TO LIGHT HIS PIPE FROM MR. 'POSSUM'S]