Show I COLONEL BILLS CATCH Ernest McGaffey in Chicago Tribune This Is a story of at the Idaho country I A fish story but a true one the use ulle of a true fish story you say Right enough but think of ot tho the novelty of It Colonel Bill Bm Is the hero and the villain of the story and as he told me metha methe methe the tha tale himself I vouch for It The colonel Is a well known Chicagoan and andone andone andone one of the greatest sportsmen of a city renowned for Its devotees of gun and rod He Ho also is hs a stanch friend and outdoor companion of a certain four time mayor ma or of Chicago who is an adept with either rifle rod or shotgun And between Colonel Bill and his friend why thereby hangs hang this tale taleThe taleThe taleThe The colonels hair and mustache are area a trifle gray but he is the youngest man for his days that the sun ever smiled on The years that have passed over his head have only left their springs behind His Ills eyes are as clear as crystal his carriage easy and alert and for endurance and skill he has hasman many man a man half his age absolutely outclassed Together these two with other companions went west one sum summer summer summer mer to the fastnesses of Idaho and Montana to fish for trout and grayling And here and there a lusty trout And here and there a grayling Angle ArgIe for fer Elusive Trout Now it so happened that a certain well known Chicago lawyer had a ranch In that far region of the sunset land and the destination of the party was planned for this habitation After Atter reaching this spot the party launched out into the wilderness set up their tents like the Arabs of old and began to angle for the tho trout which cut the cold and clear waters of the mountain streams These streams came plunging down from pinnacles above dashing foamily over rocky beds and andon andon andon on through echoless defiles of ot parti colored stone and out and past to the themore themore themore more level country cool with the snows of centuries clear as a pane of or glass the natural home for trout Jagged battlements of cliff embras red redgranite granite frowned down on the waters as they leaped past and elk and black tailed deer drank from the occasional sandy spots where the torrents curved In while the tracks of wildcat and puma emphasized the solitude and re remoteness remoteness remoteness of ot the surroundings And it came to pass that a certain angler who may be called Harris was also a member of ot the party and this Harris had a most killingly fatal facil facility facilIty fad ity with a fly rod He could coax a trout out of ot a hole and land him when almost every other means m ns had failed and while he was not so able with the rifle or shotgun f as his companions in inthe inthe Inthe the line of fishing he was a baby and a living JIving wonder Now between Colonel Bill BUI the may mayor or and the said Harris there existed a friendly rivalry as to who would catch the biggest and the trout The party was so large and their appetites were so 50 voracious that the three anglers were kept busy in supplying the table with fish It was the habit of these brothers of the rod and reel to keep tab on the num numbers numbers bers hers each euh one caught and the respective respective respective tive weights of or the trout so that there would be a faithful record of the ex cx exploits plaits of each fisherman for every day he fished Live Bait Strictly Barred It seems hardly necessary to say I that all fishing was done with arti art flies files In the case of the tho mayor maor he tied his own flies The use of ot any live bait the suggestion of ot a worm a grasshopper or a bit of salt porte pork would have been considered nothing short of ot a felony by either of the three The camp was finally pitched on the banks of ot a stream which after atter cavort ing around in the canyons for awhile had broadened out into quite a river in this particular valley where the en encampment encampment encampment was located Here the par ty stopped to enjoy the sport for a few days and here the colonels adventure took place as follows to wit and hitherto Now it so happened that this local ity was also aiso haunted by other various wandering disciples of Izaak Walton for the fishing was famously good and sundry scattered members of the tribe other than our party waded up and down the waters of at the swift flowing river casting the light and variegated flies files over shining ripples or into boil ing pools in search of the bull jawed and glistening trout that lurked there in And there was a camp above them where two anglers abode Now on a certain cloudless summer day the three arose and went about their tasks and it devolved upon Col Co Coli onel Bill BUl to fix up camp and get Bet things straightened i out for the day and so 80 he allowed that he would come along after atter Harris end the mayor some time later So the accommodating warrior busied himself with camp duties and ho did cUd not Dot notice one of the anglers from the upper camp who passed down the river while he was getting his tackle ready Colonel Always Calm and Collected iTh The l colonel il ne alwa always s Prided himself on his habit of not getting excited If It there was any excitement loose the colonel Join He was a man of an eminently cool disposition with plenty of lightning when necessary But he was not addicted to the fidgets He calculated he would get a good mess of fish before night even If the other boys did start before he did Anyway the river split into two cur rents a few miles down and he could cr cross ss over if he liked to a canyon a amile amile mile mUe distant and reach another fine stream so he did not worry about a place to wet his line in Poor Success at First Firs So after getting his fly hook his pipe rod creel and waders he set sail In the wake of his departed compan ions He fished leisurely and with suc sue success success cess ceas Somehow or other the old fel lows the big trout must have been a little slow about getting up that morn ing He made cast after cast into the deep pools and tumbling rapids and several lusty trout rewarded his skill before he had gone a mile One sen senatorial senatorial atonal aspirant for his fly bucked the barb so strenuously that the col colonel colonel colonel onel failed to land him and a vanished bit of gump feathers and tinsel and a line floating in the air was the sig a g nal that you cant catch them all t last the colonel waded into a line of ot rapids where it required all his cool coolness coo coolness ness and experience to keep his bal balance balance balance ance The current raged at his legs like a pack of wolves Rocks rose up In the stream at most unexpected places and he mentally resolved to take to the banks on his return trip But he managed to get through without spilling himself And as he waded on down close to the edge of a dark shaded pool his piercing eyes caught sight of something like a straw colored object partially sunk by an overhang ing tag rock He waded over and hauled up a weighty creel and adjourned to the bank for inspection and delibera deliberation deliberation tion Succumbs to Temptation In this creel he found sixteen magni trout and an examination of the creel showed him It was not noi th jar i creel nor Harris The colonel was not disposed to look a gift gUt horse in the mouth He transferred the trout still fresh and brilliant to his own creel and cached the empty creel from they had bad been taken beside the bank Then he took up the even eyen tenor of his way again and waded down the river Presently he ho met the mayor standing away out in the stream cast casting castIng castIng ing into a pool on the right What luck Bill said his honor honorO O 0 I guess Ive got about twenty remarked Bill BIU carelessly The mayor cast again without effect and rejoined If youve got gotten gotten gotten ten youre oure doing wonders Well replied Bill Ive got my creel about full to the top and Im going to hike for camp pretty Quick The mayor cast once more ho ked his trout played him brought him in inand Inand inand and him Then he waded over overto overto overto to where the colonel stood As he did so Harris appeared around the bend and the three men began to compare notes and catches Harris had land landed landed landed ed eleven fine trout The mayors last fish counted him nine all aU big fellows But the colonels catch when emptied out of the creel caused the eyes of Harris and the mayor to assume lob bulges and they were loath to believe his calm assurance Yet how was wan it Believe Their Eyes He have bought them for he buy a fish from principle Even if It he was willing to buy no one in that country would sell him a trout He must have caught them and he was too thoroughly a sportsman to use anything but flies So they talked and pleaded and protested with the colonel and e esen cn grew so the colonel declares somewhat miffed at his placid assur assurances assurances assurances ances that he caught them just the same as they t ey caught theirs The colonels sangfroid was proof against their united assaults so the th trio returned to camp the mayor and Harris still unconvinced convinced un that Col Colonel Colonel Colone onel one Bill had told the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth truthA A still sadder shock awaited them when they came to count and weigh up the fish This marvelous catch of Colonel Bills threatened to leave them so far behind that they would never get within striking distance of at athis his record during that trip They smoked and nd grumbled and spat and disputed and finally to give his story the requisite flavor of authenticity Col Colonel Colonel Colonel onel Bill assumed anger at their gibes and they were compelled to smooth over his supposed wrath and admit that he could catch that many trout in that time in order to keep peace in camp Transgression Is Revealed But the next morning just as they were about to rise from the rough plank table In lit walks an angler from the upper camp Howdy fellows said the new ar arrival arrival arrival rival with the easy sy comradeship of the angling fraternity Did any of you see a creel down the river yesterday I got tipped over in the rapids a piece below here and lost my creel Sixteen of or the finest trout you ou ever saw In It Hunted for It but never saw it again His honor was the first to speak I see any creel while I was out he said Harris took up the thread of the conversation I never saw any creels but the ones in our camp campo he asserted truthfully And they looked at Colonel Bill BUl |