he manetime, I'd just be givin' it twinty off me dandy little
reel, and away goes me with Mr. Bass," said Jimmy. "I must take it to
town and have its picture took to sind the Thrid Man."

And that was the last straw. Dannie had given up being allowed to touch
the rod, and was on his way to unhitch his team and do the evening
work. The day had been trying and just for the moment he forgot
everything save that his longing fingers had not touched that beautiful
little fishing rod.

"The Boston man forgot another thing," he said. "The Dude who shindys
'round with those things in pictures, wears a damn, dinky, little
pleated coat!"

Chapter VIII

WHEN THE BLACK BASS STRUCK

"Lots of fish down in the brook,
All you need is a rod, and a line, and a hook,"

hummed Jimmy, still lovingly fingering his possessions.

"Did Dannie iver say a thing like that to you before?" asked Mary.

"Oh, he's dead sore," explained Jimmy. "He thinks he should have had a
jinted rod, too."

"And so he had," replied Mary. "You said yoursilf that you might have
killed that man if Dannie hadn't showed you that you were wrong."

"You must think stuff like this is got at the tin-cint store," said
Jimmy.

"Oh, no I don't!" said Mary. "I expect it cost three or four dollars."

"Three or four dollars," sneered Jimmy. "All the sinse a woman has!
Feast your eyes on this book and rade that just this little reel alone
cost fifteen, and there's no telling what the rod is worth. Why it's
turned right out of pure steel, same as if it were wood. Look for
yoursilf."

"Thanks, no! I'm afraid to touch it," said Mary.

"Oh, you are sore too!" laughed Jimmy. "With all that money in it, I
should think you could see why I wouldn't want it broke."

"You've sat there and whipped it around for an hour. Would it break it
for me or Dannie to do the same thing? If it had been his, you'd have
had a worm on it and been down to the river trying it for him by now."

"Worm!" scoffed Jimmy. "A worm! That's a good one! Idjit! You don't
fish with worms with a jinted rod."

"Well what do you fish with? Humming birds?"

"No. You fish with--" Jimmy stopped and eyed Mary dubiously. "You fish
with a lot of things," he continued. "Some of thim come in little books
and they look like moths, and some like snake-faders, and some of them
are buck-tail and bits of tin, painted to look shiny. Once there was a
man in town who had a minnie made of rubber and all painted