The Silver .King.
By FISHER
"I'd give fifty dollars down for a
"hundred and seventy-five pounder, In
good condition!" declared the host of
the Anglers' Anchorage.
"Poof! I'd give five hundred!"
laughed the New Yorker, who owned
several electric roads and was a di
rector In one or two banks.
"On your own hook and line, sir,
amended the host, suavely.
"Of course. On my own hook."
The Bostonlan dropped a bead of
oil on the axle of a dismembered reel,
and delicately smeared It over the
teel with his finger-tip.
"I had a good one on yesterday,
but"
The New Yorker and the man who
favored an eight-ounce rod exchanged
the glance of cynical brotherhood.
"We know that one," they said,
wearily. "The one that might have
been!"
"But my reel was gummy and the
line parted," continued the Bostonlan,
with characteristic deafness. "I think
he weighed at least one hundred and
thirty. One of the Salem Kents
caught a hundred and ninety pounder
last season. But that happened at
Tamplco."
"There's no doubt that Mexican fish
run heavier," said the man who al
ways felt a desire to apologize for the
Bostonlan. "But these are big and
gamy enough for me when I get
one. Three days without a bite! "
"It's a little early," reassured the
host. "The main body hasn't struck
In yet. When they do there'll be
fishing."
The Bostonlan, tenderly assembling
the oiled bits of steel, smiled coldly.
"Yet you offered fifty dollars for a
hundred and seventy-five pounder a
minute ago."
"Sure. And I expect to pay the
money," said the host. "If I had
time, I'd go out and win the reward,
myself. I want a nice fish for the
hall mantelpiece, that's all."
As ho bustled Indoors, the New
Yorker and the man with the eight
ounce rod exchanged another glance
of understanding.
"His fifty is safe," said the New
Yorker.
"Wish I could feel as sure about
my little pile," said the other. "This
place is too far up. Only the light
scouts will ever get here. Wish I
hadn't exchanged Qld camps for new."
On the lowest step of the veranda,
Bert Christianson and Sidney James
listened reverently. The new An
glers' Anchorage had dropped like an
Aladdin's palace Into their surround
ings, and every day they came to bask
In Its atmosphere of elegant leisure.
Here were grown men from the
North, stout and florid with good liv
ing, who talked of fishing as it it were
the business of the land. It was up
setting yet fascinating, this new light
on the unfamiliar waters of the blue
lagoon.
They were fishermen themselves,
although In the surreptitious fashion
of boyhood. Seining, which is hard
work, had the family approbation,
but bait-fishing was frowned upon.
These men of the North would as
toon dynamite the lagoon as sweep
It with a net, and hero was Host
Simpson offering half a hundred dol
lars for a mere herring! Bert and
Sidney exchanged looks that recorded
a common vow.
"But where are we going to get the
tackle!" mourned Bert. "I've noth
ing that will hold one as big as that"
Neither had Sidney. As he was
considering the problem, the host re
appeared and called to him, "Here
you, Sid! Take Mr. Worthington out,
will yon? It's no use waiting for that
lazy darky he added, to the Bos
tonlan. "Like as not he won't come
round, and the boy knows where the
fish are all right,"
The man from Boston studied the
boy through his glasses. The eyes
behind them were sharp but kindly.
"Perhaps you'd like to try for that
fish of Simpson's." he suggested.
"I've several extra rods, and you may
use one."
Poor Bert! He could not help
feeling . envious as he watched the
ioyous Sidney tuck the rod under his
arm and sally forth. One by one the
other gentlemen, accompanied by
their negro boatmen, went down to
the landing. No one noticed him sit
ting ther9 on the step. The clear bluel
or the sky and the flashing water
mocked at him. " ' ' . .
, "I s'pose they think I'm too
young," he said to himself. "Sid's
two years older. That's why."
It was not much of a consolation.
It was none, In fact. He sat there
trying hard to be manly, but seeing
the little scattered flotilla of boats
through a mist.
Again the host came to the door,
and his eye rested on the rather for
lorn figure. "Hello, young man!" he
aid. "How are you pretty quick
on your pins?"
"What, sir?" asked Bert.
"Good with your legs? Can you
nse 'em? Make 'em move faster than
a darky's? I want an errand done at
the village, and I want It done quick."
, "I reckon I'm quick, sir," said Bert,
as a plan darted into his mind.
Lean and wiry from outdoor work,
he made the trip to the village and
back in less than half an hour, sur
prising Mr. Simpson exceedingly.
"What, back so quick!" he ex
claimed. "You're all ri; " I'll buve
to use you agriu."
AMES, JR.
He held out a bright quarter, but
Bert, flushing, put bis hands behind
his back.
"I'd be mighty glad to run errands
for you, sir," he said, breathlessly,
"any time, sir. But I don't want
money. If you'd let me have If
you'd "
"It I'd what?"
"If you'd lend me an old rod, I'd
try to catch that tarpon for you."
Mr. Simpson slowly pocketed the
quarter. "You think fifty dollars In
the lagoon are better than a quarter
In the hand, eh! Well, I don't know."
He eyed the boy meditatively. "Ever
used a rod?"
"Lots of times. I've caught sea
trout and cavally and kingflsh and
tarpon, too. But they were small
ones," Bert added, truthfully.
"I don't know," mused Simpson.
Well, all right. I'll let you have a
rod and fixings If you'll promise to do
more errands. A rod costs good
money,"
"I'll promise," said Bert.
After a man Is tired of trout, and
has come to be a match for the skilful
salmon, he is likely, If he Is a con
sistent angler, to turn to Southern
waters for new conquests. There he
will find among the hordes of strange
fish eager to take his bait a giant
herring, that for weight, agility and
cunning is the king of all game-fiBhes,
with the possible exception of the
huge leaping tuna. Men who have
found salmon-fishing an easy sport
have had their pride lowered when
they came to cast a tarpon line In
some placid lagoon. Here there are
no running waters or eddy-encircled
rocks to complicate the battle; noth
ing but the big fish himself to fight,
but the chances are that he will beat
you.
Bert had htsown logy bateau and
his particular friend and admirer,
Wash Lee, who stood ready to do
menial labor for him at any moment.
It never entered the youthful auto
crat's head to ask a favor of Lee. If
he planned a fishing expedition, he
merely mentioned the fact within
Lee's hearing, and it was then under
stood that the darky was to do the
rowing.
The idea of fishing for tarpon like
"de gen'men from de No'th" Inflated
Lee with an unusual sense of Im
portance. At the appointed t'rue he
appeared at the landing with a brand-
new rag round his perennially sore
toe, and the left hind foot of a rabbit
in his trousers pocket.
"She'll shore bring us luck, too," he
confided. " She's de same what Yaller
Jack bruck de las' dry spell with."
Bert sniffed. He had not much
faith In such charms, at least, when
it came to fishing. He put a pop-
eyed, slippery, one-pound mullet on
the hook and swung it overboard.
The velvet cluck of the big reel was
inspiriting music. He had never held
such a perfect rod in his hands be
fore, and his pulse stirred bravely.
There was not a ripple on the sur
face of the dead blue lagoon. The
scattered boats from the hotel lay off
to the north, as motionless as if glued
there. Bert had chosen new ground
near the narrow inlet, where the tide
runs In from the sea In long, pulsat
ing jets, like blood In an artery.
He had dropped anchor there at
slack water, but the iridescent film
that gathers on the surface at such
times was now beginning to break up
Into lines and darkening feathers
that glided slowly toward the head of
the lagoon. Soon it was all gone.
Then the Crst clean gush of sea
water came, lifting the boat a little,
and letting it sink gently as it rolled
pn.
With this green water came preda
tory fish. Few of them were visible,
but now and then a porpoise showed
a slice of fat, muddy back, or a pir
atically slanted fin ripped the surface.
In the lagoon there was plenty of
gentle prey.
When the tarpon came. It was a
descent of Norsemen. Boring their
way up the inlet, their bright backs
rising and falling, they came in rush
ing fleets eager to be the first on the
feeding grounds. They stretched
from shore to shore like the metal
plates of a steel corslet, racing so
close to the boat that they cast spray
into it, but not one noticed the
hooked mullet. He was too insignifi
cant all by himself. They wanted a
school to charg9 and devour, worry
and scatter. In a few minutes they
were gone with the Inflow that had
brought them. '
"We's too far down!" walled Lee,
In despair. "Dey's gone up to de
boats, and Sld'll catch our fish, sure.
Pull up de anchor. Mister Bert Pull
him up!"
"Pull up nothing," said Bert,
sturdily, although he was somewhat
pale. He had never seen so many of
the great fish before. , "I've watched
this place, and If you can't catch one
here, you can't anywhere."
He drew in his line and put on a
vigorous mullet from the bucket. The
"baitf scooted here and there, feeling
the danger. In every way it did its
best to draw that danger down upon
its defenseless bead; but the sun
passed the zenith and sank slowly
toward the west, and the reel hung
silent on the rod.
The fish "were not biting," as -the
annlers sfv. They were there and at
work. Patches of shadow and. patches
of foam mottling the blue of the
tycoon showrji that the mullet and
mall fry were being harried, but ad
silk line tautened. Anglers are pa
tient folk, but they have their super
stitlons, and one of them is that whea
fish show a disinclination to bite, they
cannot be made to. One after an
other, as the sun sunk, they quietly
took their rods apart and stole back
to the landing; all but Ber'. and the
Bostonlan, who had made It a princi
ple to combat all conventional con
clusions. It was high flood. Six hours had
passed. The drowsy Lee came out ot
his cat-nap suddenly, and with an in
articulate expression. Something had
surged in the water close by. The
drooping line took life and straight
ened mysteriously.
But before Bert could strike, the
water boiled and broke noisily, and a
wide dorsal fin cut it like a knife. On
the hook were the staring head and
bleeding shoulders of a tarpon, the
rest of whose body lay in the maw
of a thievish shark.
"I reckon we-all better go on
home," said Lee, shudderlngly. "I
doan' like fishing to'' sharks."
Bert put on another mullet and
cast it clear ot the cloudy spot on the
water.
"This is where we get action," he
said. "Some of 'em are going, out
hungry."
The bait had scarcely sunk below
the surface before the same uncanny;
upheaval occurred. Again the line
crept out and out, stealing away from
the boat. Then Bert struck, and with
a shower of drops the line straight
ened like a steel wire, and the rod
creaked under the dead weight. It
was a dead weight only for an In
stant. After that it was so much
alive that the reel shrieked high to
the fierceness ot its rush.
One hundred feet from the boat
the tarpon shot out of the water. Up
he went, his cheeks flaring from the
red gills till he seemed all enormous
head. Still necrose, foot on foot of
blinding silver, and at the great
length of him Lee gasped and pulled
the rabbit's foot from his pocket.
"Conjure him! Conjure him!" he
yelled, and shook the little hairy pad
at the fish as It curved in a high are
and fell back, driving foam to the1
boat.
Now he rushed ' steadily and
straight for the head of tho lagoon.
The raised tip of the rod put Its strain
upon him, but a tarpon six feet long
Is not to be turned or tired by such
tricks. Foot after foot of the line
spun from the reel. Bert had no
finger-stalls, and the thin silk ate hot
into the flesh of the thumb with
which he tried to brake the line.
Two hundred and fifty feet ran out,
and the fatness ot the reel was gone
before the tarpon swung. He came
straight for the boat. Bert reeled
frantically. It would not do to give
the fish too much slack. There was
a dreadful droop to the line when the
second leap came and the tarpon rose,
higher than before, and Blatted his
great head vigorously. When he
turned in mld-alr he bent like a steel
bow, and snapped out straight again
with a jerk that tossed the line high.
But In the heart ot the suds and
broken water the line stiffened, and
Bert knew he had the fish well-,
hooked. Well-hooked Is far from be
ing safely landed. A tarpon can per
form more acrobatic feats than almost
any other game-fish in the sea; and d
straight rush, if not stopped In time,
will inevitably end in a broken line
Not once did the tarpon sulk. It
was straight fighting every minute.
With rod and reel and bloody fingers
Bert fought back, and the hour that
passed seemed a dozen. He was
bathed In sweat, and every muscle
ached. Even his teeth..ached under
the dogged pressure of his jaws. Lee
chewed on hi precious rabbit's foot
with savage disregard of its value.
He might have ground it up it the
tarpon had not intervened.
During the first halt of the second
hour the fish seemed as fresh as ever,
but a series of huge leaps and their
smacking falls tired him. For the first
time Bert was able to gather in a
hundred feet of line, the tarpon yield
ing sullenly to the strain. Ho lay
now within a few yards ot the boat,
dorsal fin out, his six feet of silver
gleaming through the water.
"Coax him, Mister Bert! " pleaded
Lee, gaff in hand. "Lemme get jus'
one jab at him with dis yere pike."
Bert touched the reel with numbed
fingers, but gentle as the pull was, it
roused the tarpon to a last fury. Out
of the suddenly swirling water he
rose, open-mouthed, and i fore the
boys could move he was upon them
with an impact that sent Lee rnd the
oars flying, and thrust the gunwale
of the boat beneath the surface.
Bert and the tarpon and the broken
halves of the centre seat thrashed
about on the flooded bottom. The
boy's length was less than that of the
great fish, but he thrust his hands
into the wide gills and wound his legs
round the slippery body, and fought
with shut eyes. He was fighting in
his own element and the tarpon was
not. The muscular body ceased to
heave under him; and when the
streaming Lee cautiously appeared
at the gunwale, the rabbit's foot pro.
truding from his lips, the real strug
gle was over.
The tarpon, stuffed and varnished,
bangs over the hall fireplace of the
fashionable Anglers' Anchorage, and
under it is this inscription: "The
Silver King. Caught by Herbert
Christianson, June 3, 1907. Weight
204 pounds." And when the new
guest stands open-mouthed before it,
the host adds something like this:
"Yes, sir, that's a record fish for
this coast. If I'd known you were
coming, I'd have tried to arrange a
day with Bert for you. He's our best
guide, and his time is booked way
ahead." Youth's Companion.
New York City. The dress that' is
worn over a gulmpe is one of the
prettiest included in the younger
girl's wardrobe, and this season it is
being shown In an exceptional num
ber of attractive designs. This one
Is extremely charming yet perfectly
simple and can be made from challls
as illustrated, from cashmere, from
chiffon Panama cloth or any similar
simple wool fabric, or from pongee
or some material of the sort if a more
dressy frock Is wanted. In this case
the blouse Is trimmed on Its edges,
and the trimming is extended over
the centre front of the entire dress,
but whether this last shall be used or
omitted is entirely a matter for indi
vidual taste to decide.
It consists of the over blouse and
the skirt. The shoulder edges of the
over blouse aro joined for a portion
of their length, but fall apart prettily
over the sleeves, and the under-arra
edges can be seamed for their entire
length or left open a portion of the
way as liked.
The quantity of material required
for the medium size (ten years) is
three and a half yards twenty-four,
three yards thirty-two or two and a
half yards forty-four-inches wide,
with seven yards of banding.
All In the Sleeve.
In the new sleeves lie the most
novel of the waist features. Tbey
vary in length, fulness, shape and
method of trimming. They are
plain or full; tight from wrist to
boulder, or puffed, or capped, or
clashed, and filled In with net or filet.
They are extravagantly trimmed or
perfectly unadorned.
Scented Buttons.
The latest fad In buttons made
over molds is to have them scented.
Sift powder under the material be
fore making up the novel dress trim
mings, then milady's costume
breathes just the faintest whiff of
ber favorite sachet.
New Satin nun.
The latest neck ruffle Is merely a
satin pleated band with a bow and a
elnglo tulle frill at the neck.
Simplicity In Lingerie.
A superfluity ot trimming on stout
women's lingerie Is not desirable on
account of its flulflness, yet the plump
type usually likes dainty underwear
quite as much as slender women,, and
so a description ot a charming yet
suitable model for the former will be
Interesting,
, . Blouse or Slilrt Waist.
There Is no waist quite so useful as
the simple tailored one, and this model
would be charming made from linen
or soft finished pique, from the pon
gee that is so serviceable and bo
fashionable, from the thinner madras
and also from silk or from washable
flannel. It makes a most satisfactory
model whatever the material may be,
and it suits both the separate waist
and the gown. The tucks that are
stitched for their entire length give
a tapering effect and the wide box
pleat allows successful use of the or
namental buttons that make such a
feature ot the late season. In this
case white linen is trimmed with big
pearl buttons and worn with a collar
of striped lavender and white.
The waist is made with a fitted
lining, which can be used or omitted
as liked, and consists ot the fronts
and back. There are tucks over the
shoulders thnt are exceedingly be
coming, and there are narrow tucks
at both centre front and centre back.
The closing is made invisibly at the
left of the front. The sleeves are in
regulation shirt waist style, with
straight cuffs and the neck-band(
over which can be worn any style ot
collar that may be liked, finishes the
neck. 1
Tho quantity of material required
for the medium size is three and
three-quarter yards twenty-four,
three and a halt yards thirty-two or
two and seven-eighth yards forty
four Inches wide.
Waist Smartness.
Crepe de chine of heavy soft tex
ture Is, it is said, to be one of the
loading materials for fall waists for
tailor-mades. Net of the same color
as the gown is also to be used.
The Classical liandcau.
The chaste and artistic simplicity
which is the characteristic feature ot
the jewelry of tho moment is no
where Been to greater advantage than
In the classical bandeaux now so
fashionable.
SCIENCE
AND
INDUSTRY
The solar orb would appear blue
to anybody who should view it out
side of this planet's atmosphere.
Professor Itubner, of the Univer
verslty of Berlin, has just Invented a
registering apparatus which enables
one to calculate the number of noise
waves striking upon the ear In any
given period.
A petrified forest covering an ares
ot one hundred square miles has exJ
lsted for centuries In Arizona. Thou
sands and thousands of petrified logs'
strew the ground, and represent beau
tiful shades ot pink, purple, red, gray,
blue and yellow. - One of the stone
trees spans a gulf ot forty feet wide.
In accounting for the rumbling or
rolling of thunder, which has hereto
fore been explained by the echo the
ory. It Is now stated that a flash of
lightning is made up ot innumerable
smaller flashes, which go to make up
the whole. The rolling thunder is
due to the primary sounds ot succes
sive discharges or flashes.
Professor Louis Agassiz, many
years ago, first announced that the1
ice sheet, or glacial flow, at the north
west ot Maine could not have been
less than a 'mile deep; while later
geologists have confirmed his state
ment, adding the more recent con
clusion that the ice was of that thick
ness at least over the larger part of
New England.
The boring of an artesian well Is
not an easy task. The well of
Grenelle (France) required-from De
cember 24, 1833, to February 26,
1841, for completion. The one at
Passy of the same depth took only
two years to make. Our engineers
now count upon one year in which
to complete the well of Maisons
Laffltte. This well Is already at a
depth ot 460 meters. It will go to a
depth ot 550 meters.
An electric truck, its movements ab
solutely controlled by wireless elec
tric waves, has been installed in the
yards of the Union Pacific Railroad,
at Omaha, where its operations
Btartle the uninitiated. To see a
motor truck, attached to several
other trucks, heavily loaded, start
along the tracks or suddenly stop
without any apparent cause, making
Its way through the big yards unat
tended, is sufficient to startle most
people.
A rroniise Given.
Representative Longworth, at a
dinner party during the Republican
convention in Chicago, talked about
honest politics.
"Honest politics alone pay In the
end," said he. "Your dishonest poll,
tlclan comes out like Lurgan of Cin
cinnati. "Lurgan, of Cincinnati, was can
vassing for votes. He dropped in at
a grocer's.
" 'Good morning, he said. 'I may
count on your support, I hope?'
" 'Why, no, Mr. Lurgan,' said the
grocer. 'I've promised my support to
your rival.'
"Lurgan laughed easily.
'"Ah! but in politics,' said he,
'promising and performing are two
different matters,'
" 'In that case,' said the grocer
heartily, 'I shall be most happy to
give you my promise, Mr. Lurgan.' "
Washington Star.
Rural Police Desirable.
Change will come slowly under our
American system of dividing States,
cities and towns and having no gen
eral police, but it Is idle to suppose
that a country with no rural police,
and only a common courtesy uniting
its city police, can keep human Ufa
as safe or track murderers as surelj
as the enveloping dragnet an English
or European police can spread over
an entire country. Our States need
an efficient rural police, in constant
service, patrolling tho roads. Closer
relations between the police and our
cities must come if crime is to be
successfully suppressed. Philadel
phia Press.
The Feminine Wny.
His Wife "John, these shoes don't
fit me at all. You'll have to take
them back and get me another pair."
Her Husband "Why, they look
comfortable."
His Wife "Yes, that's the trouble.
I've had them on nearly an hour, and
they don't hurt in the least, bo, of
course, they are entirely too big."'
Chicago News.
A Married Man.
Station Sergeant "Are you mar-
rlod?"
Prisoner "No, sir."
Officer "Beggin' your pardon,
arge, he's wrong. When we sarched
him we found in bis pockets a clipped
receipt for curin' croup, a sample ot
Bilk, an' two unposted letters in a
woman's handwritin' a week old."
Tit-Blta. ,
A ready speaker will utter about
7500 words an hour iu making an ad
dress.