Another Brownie Book

<h2 style="page-break-before: avoid;"><SPAN name="THE_BROWNIES_FISHING" id="THE_BROWNIES_FISHING"></SPAN>THE BROWNIES FISHING.</h2> <div class="container"> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i030b.jpg" width-obs="99" height-obs="120" alt="W" class="alignlefta" /> </span> <div class="i6a"><span class="smcapa">HEN</span> glassy lakes and streams about</div> <div class="i7">Gave up their bass and speckled trout,</div> <div class="i7">The Brownies stood by water clear</div> <div class="i7">As shades of evening gathered near.</div> </div></div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i030c.jpg" width-obs="451" height-obs="450" alt="" /></div> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="container"> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i031a.jpg" width-obs="200" height-obs="184" alt="" class="alignleft" /> </span> <div class="i13">Said one: "Now country lads begin</div> <div class="i13">To trim the rod and bend the pin</div> <div class="i13">To catch the frogs and minnows spry</div> <div class="i13">That in the brooks and ditches lie.</div> <div class="i13">While city chaps with reels come down,</div> <div class="i13">And line enough to gird the town,</div> <div class="i13">And flies of stranger shape and hue</div> <div class="i13">Than ever Mother Nature knew&mdash;</div> <div class="i13">With horns like crickets, tails like mice,</div> <div class="i13">And plumes like birds of Paradise.</div> <div class="i13">Thus well prepared for sunny sky</div> <div class="i4">Or cloudy weather, wet or dry,</div> <div class="i4">They take the fish from stream and pool</div> <div class="i4">By native art and printed rule."</div> <div class="i4">Another said: "With peeping eyes</div> <div class="i4">I've watched an angler fighting flies,</div> <div class="i4">And thought, when thus he stood to bear</div> <div class="i4">The torture from those pests of air,</div> <div class="i4">There must indeed be pleasure fine</div> <div class="i4">Behind the baited hook and line.</div> <div class="i0">Now, off like arrows from the bow</div> <div class="i0">In search of tackle some must go;</div> <span class="figpoemr"> <ANTIMG src="images/i031b.jpg" width-obs="200" height-obs="171" alt="" class="alignright" /> </span> <div class="i0">While others stay to dig supplies</div> <div class="i0">Of bait that anglers highly prize,&mdash;</div> <div class="i0">Such kind as best will bring the pout</div> <div class="i0">The dace, the chub, and 'shiner' out;</div> <div class="i0">While locusts gathered from the grass</div> <div class="i0">Will answer well for thorny bass."</div> <div class="i0">Then some with speed for tackle start,</div> <div class="i0">And some to sandy banks depart,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</SPAN></span> <div class="i0">And some uplift a stone or rail</div> <div class="i0">In search of cricket, grub, or snail;</div> <ANTIMG src="images/i032a.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="309" alt="" class="aligncenter" /> <div class="i0">While more in dewy meadows draw</div> <div class="i0">The drowsy locust from the straw.</div> <div class="i0">Nor is it long before the band</div> <div class="i0">Stands ready for the sport in hand.</div> <div class="i0">It seemed the time of all the year</div> <div class="i0">When fish the starving stage were near:</div> <div class="i4">They rose to straws and bits of bark,</div> <div class="i4">To bubbles bright and shadows dark,</div> <div class="i4">And jumped at hooks, concealed or bare,</div> <div class="i4">While yet they dangled in the air.</div> <div class="i4">Some Brownies many trials met</div> <div class="i4">Almost before their lines were wet;</div> <div class="i4">For stones below would hold them fast,</div> <span class="figpoemr"> <ANTIMG src="images/i032b.jpg" width-obs="200" height-obs="200" alt="" class="alignright" /> </span> <div class="i0">And limbs above would stop the cast,</div> <div class="i0">And hands be forced to take a rest,</div> <div class="i0">At times when fish were biting best.</div> <div class="i0">Some stumbled in above their boots,</div> <div class="i0">And others spoiled their finest suits;</div> <div class="i0">But fun went on; for many there</div> <div class="i0">Had hooks that seemed a charm to bear,</div> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</SPAN></span> <div class="i0">And fish of various scale and fin</div> <div class="i0">On every side were gathered in.</div> <ANTIMG src="images/i033.jpg" width-obs="377" height-obs="480" alt="" class="aligncenter" /> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</SPAN></span> <span class="figpoeml"> <ANTIMG src="images/i034.jpg" width-obs="88" height-obs="120" alt="" class="alignleft" /> </span> <div class="i8">The catfish left his bed below,</div> <div class="i8">With croaks and protests from the go;</div> <div class="i8">And nerve as well as time it took</div> <div class="i8">From such a maw to win the hook.</div> <div class="i8">With horns that pointed every way,</div> <div class="i8">And life that seemed to stick and stay,</div> <div class="i8">Like antlered stag that stands at bay,</div> <div class="i8">He lay and eyed the Brownie band,</div> <div class="i8">And threatened every reaching hand.</div> <ANTIMG src="images/i034d.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="283" alt="" class="aligncenter" /> <div class="i8">The gamy bass, when playing fine,</div> <div class="i8">Oft tried the strength of hook and line,</div> <div class="i8">And strove an hour before his mind</div> <div class="i8">To changing quarters was resigned.</div> <div class="i8">Some eels proved more than even match</div> <div class="i8">For those who made the wondrous catch,</div> <div class="i8">And, like a fortune won with ease,</div> <div class="i8">They slipped through fingers by degrees,</div> <div class="i8">And bade good-bye to margin sands,</div> <div class="i8">In spite of half a dozen hands.</div> <div class="i8">The hungry, wakeful birds of air</div> <div class="i8">Soon gathered 'round to claim their share,</div> <div class="i8">And did for days themselves regale</div> <span class="figpoemr"> <ANTIMG src="images/i034c.jpg" width-obs="154" height-obs="150" alt="" class="alignright" /> </span> <div class="i2">On fish of every stripe and scale.</div> <div class="i2">Thus sport went on with laugh and shout,</div> <div class="i2">As hooks went in and fish came out,</div> <div class="i2">While more escaped with wounded gill,</div> <div class="i2">And yards of line they're trailing still;</div> <div class="i2">But day at length began to break,</div> <div class="i2">And forced the Brownies from the lake.</div> </div></div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</SPAN></span></p> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i035.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="115" alt="" /></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />