professional manner in which the Devil played out his line would have
thrilled the heart of Izaak Walton. But his efforts were unsuccessful;
the bait was invariably carried off without hooking the victim, and
the Devil finally lost his temper. "I've heard of these San Franciscans
before," he muttered; "wait till I get hold of one,--that's all!" he
added malevolently, as he rebaited his hook. A sharp tug and a wriggle
foiled his next trial, and finally, with considerable effort, he landed
a portly two-hundred-pound broker upon the church roof.

As the victim lay there gasping, it was evident that the Devil was in
no hurry to remove the hook from his gills; nor did he exhibit in this
delicate operation that courtesy of manner and graceful manipulation
which usually distinguished him.

"Come," he said, gruffly, as he grasped the broker by the waistband,
"quit that whining and grunting. Don't flatter yourself that you're a
prize either. I was certain to have had you. It was only a question of
time."

"It is not that, my lord, which troubles me," whined the unfortunate
wretch, as he painfully wriggled his head, "but that I should have been
fooled by such a paltry bait. What will they say of me down there? To
have let 'bigger things' go by, and to be taken in by this cheap trick,"
he added, as he groaned and glanced at the fly which the Devil was
carefully rearranging, "is what,--pardon me, my lord,--is what gets me!"

"Yes," said the Devil, philosophically, "I never caught anybody yet who
didn't say that; but tell me, ain't you getting somewhat fastidious
down there? Here is one of my most popular flies, the greenback," he
continued, exhibiting an emerald-looking insect, which he drew from his