I reeled it in, and in
time landed the thing--a splendid large trout! My very first thought
was of those disagreeable people who had laughed at me--Faye first of
all. So after them I went, carrying the fish, which gained in weight
with every step. Their surprise was great, and I could see that Faye
was delighted. He carried the trout to camp for me, and I went with
him, for I was very tired.
The next morning I went to that stream again, taking with me a book of
all sorts of flies and some grasshoppers. The department commander
went over also. He asked me to show him where I had lost the hooks,
but I said, "If you fish in those places you will be laughed at more
than I was yesterday." He understood, and went farther down. The water
was much more clear, but still flies could not be seen, so I used the
scorned grasshopper. In about two hours I caught sixteen beautiful
trout, which weighed, en masse, a little over twenty-five pounds! I
cast in the very places where I had lost hooks, and almost every time
caught a fish. I left them in the shade in various places along the
stream, and Faye and a soldier brought them to camp. A fine display
they made, spread out on the grass, for they seemed precisely the same
size.
The general caught two large and several small trout--those were all
that day. It was most remarkable that I should have found the only
good places in the stream at a time when the water was not clear.
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