FISHING WITH A WORM

by

BLISS PERRY

Boston and New York
Houghton Mifflin Company

MDCCCCXVI






FISHING WITH A WORM

"The last fish I caught was with a worm."--IZAAK WALTON.

A defective logic is the born fisherman's portion. He is a pattern of
inconsistency. He does the things which he ought not to do, and he
leaves undone the things which other people think he ought to do. He
observes the wind when he should be sowing, and he regards the clouds,
with temptation tugging familiarly at his heartstrings, when he might
be grasping the useful sickle. It is a wonder that there is so much
health in him. A sorrowing political economist remarked to me in early
boyhood, as a jolly red-bearded neighbor, followed by an abnormally fat
dog, sauntered past us for his nooning: "That man is the best carpenter
in town, but he will leave the most important job whenever he wants to