Days in the OpenCrandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
General
Days in the Open
Crandall, Lathan A. (Lathan Augustus)
Fishing
Did you ever notice with what reluctance the average vehicle of
transportation moves when it has a fisherman on board? If you use a
horse, he’ll go to sleep; an auto is sure to throw a fit, and a railway
train almost invariably stops and goes backward for a good share of the
time. It looks as if there existed some sort of a “combine” to prevent
the fisherman from making connections with the place where he knows
bliss is waiting for him. It took the train six hours to go fifty miles!
They called it an “accommodation”; but by the way that fisherman growled
you could see that he did not realize that he was being accommodated.
He did finally get to Doaktown, where his guide lived, and found the
aforesaid gentleman waiting for him at the station in response to a
telegram sent the night before. His name was George--at least it ought
to have been--and he was a clean-looking, husky fellow about thirty-five
years of age. Close at hand was Bucephalus adjusted to a buckboard.
(Bucephalus was the prancing steed which had consented to haul us to
Caine River.) He was not handsome except in behaviour; in that he was a
beauty. Habakkuk had evidently not seen Bucephalus when he wrote: “Their
horses are swifter than the leopard.” The duffle was piled on behind the
seat, a bag of oats was given the place of honour on top of the duffie,
and Bucephalus, gently and with infinite caution, began to move. A sense
of security took possession of the Preacher’s soul with the first step
that that horse took. There was something dignified and assuring about
his movements that left the mind absolutely free to reflect upon the
beauties of nature, untroubled by any fear of personal injury. About
a mile out of Doaktown on the road to Caine River was a little hill.
Bravely Bucephalus tackled it, stopping not more than twice each rod to
give his passengers time to drink in the beauties of the scenery. It was
during this period of hill-climbing, with its attendant spaces of quiet,
that George began his wary approach towards getting acquainted with the
Preacher.
George: “Where do you live?”
Preacher: “Chicago.”
George: “What might your business be?”
Preacher: “I’m a Preacher.”
Thereupon George’s lower jaw dropped until it almost seemed to rest upon
the dashboard, while he rolled a skeptical eye towards his seat-mate.
Being convinced after prolonged scrutiny that the truth had been told,
he relapsed into silence, broken at last by the remark, “I’ll bet you
ain’t a Baptist Preacher.”
When his bet was promptly taken, he brought the interview to a close by
saying, “You must git a mighty sight more pay than our preacher or you’d
never got so far from home.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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