close within an inch of the minnow, and he swam after it for a
yard, as Jimmy slowly reeled in. Dannie waited a second, and then
softly dropped his grubs on the water just before where he
figured the Bass would be. He could hear Jimmy smothering oaths.
Dannie said something himself as his
untouched bait neared the
bank. He lifted it, swung it out, and slowly trailed it in again.
"Spat!" came Jimmy's minnow almost at his feet, and again the
Bass leaped for it. Again he missed. As the minnow reeled away
the second time, Dannie swung his grubs higher, and struck the
water "Spat," as the minnow had done. "Snap," went the Bass. One
instant the line strained, the next the hook came up stripped
clean of bait.
Then Dannie and Jimmy really went at it, and they were strangers.
Not a word of friendly banter crossed the river. They cast until
the Bass grew
suspicious, and would not rise to the bait; then
they fished deep. Then they cast again. If Jimmy fell into
trouble with his reel, Dannie had the
honesty to stop fishing
until it worked again, but he spent the time burrowing for grubs
until his hands resembled the claws of an animal. Sometimes they
sat, and still- fished. Sometimes, they warily slipped along the
bank, trailing bait a few inches under water. Then they would
cast and skitter by turns.
The Kingfisher struck his stump, and tilted on again. His mate,
and their family of six followed in his lead, so that their
rattle was almost
constant. A fussy little red-eyed vireo asked
questions, first of Jimmy, and then crossing the river besieged
Dannie, but neither of the stern-faced fishermen paid it any
heed. The blackbirds swung on the rushes, and talked over the
season. As always, a few crows cawed above the deep woods, and
the chewinks threshed about among the dry leaves. A band of larks
were
gathering for
migration, and the
frosty air was vibrant with
their calls to each other.
Killdeers were circling above them in flocks. A half dozen robins
gathered over a wild grapevine, and chirped
cheerfully, as they
pecked at the frosted fruit. At times, the
pointed nose of a
muskrat wove its way across the river, leaving a shining ripple
in its wake. In the deep woods squirrels barked and chattered.
Frost-loosened
crimson leaves came whirling down, settling in a
bright blanket that covered the water several feet from the bank,
and
unfortunate bees that had fallen into the river struggled
frantically to gain a
footing on them. Water beetles shot over
the surface in small shining parties, and schools of tiny minnows
played along the banks. Once a black ant assassinated an enemy on
Dannie's shoe, by creeping up behind it and puncturing its
abdomen.
Noon came, and neither of the fishermen spoke or moved from their
work. The lunch Mary had prepared with such care they had
forgotten. A little after noon, Dannie got another strike, deep
fishing. Mid-afternoon found them still even, and patiently
fishing. Then it was not so long until supper time, and the air
was
steadily growing colder. The south wind had veered to the
west, and signs of a black frost were in the air. About this time
the larks arose as with one
accord, and with a whirr of wings
that proved how large the flock was, they sailed straight south.
Jimmy hauled his minnow
bucket from the river, poured the water
from it, and picked his last minnow, a dead one, from the grass.
Dannie was watching him, and
rightly guessed that he would fish
deep. So Dannie scooped the remaining dirt from his pockets, and
found three grubs. He placed them on his hook, lightened his
sinker, and prepared to skitter once more.
Jimmy dropped his minnow beside the Kingfisher stump, and let it
sink. Dannie hit the water at the base of the stump, where it had
not been disturbed for a long time, a sharp "Spat," with his
worms. Something seized his bait, and was gone. Dannie planted
his feet
firmly, squared his jaws, gripped his rod, and loosened
his line. As his eye followed it, he saw to his
amazement that
Jimmy's line was sailing off down the river beside his, and heard
the reel singing.
Dannie was soon close to the end of his line. He threw his weight
into a jerk enough to have torn the head from a fish, and down
the river the Black Bass leaped clear of the water, doubled, and
with a
mighty shake tried to throw the hook from his mouth.
"Got him fast, by God!" screamed Jimmy in triumph.
Straight toward them rushed the fish. Jimmy reeled wildly; Dannie
gathered in his line by yard lengths, and grasped it with the
hand that held the rod. Near them the Bass leaped again, and sped
back down the river. Jimmy's reel sang, and Dannie's line jerked
through his fingers. Back came the fish. Again Dannie gathered in
line, and Jimmy reeled
frantically. Then Dannie, relying on the
strength of his line thought he could land the fish, and
steadilydrew it toward him. Jimmy's reel began to sing louder, and his
line followed Dannie's. Instantly Jimmy went wild.
"Stop pullin' me little silk thrid!" he yelled. "I've got the
Black Bass
hooked fast as a rock, and your domn clothes line is
sawin' across me. Cut there! Cut that domn rope! Quick!"
"He's mine, and I'll land him!" roared Dannie. "Cut yoursel', and
let me get my fish!"
So it happened, that when Mary Malone, tired of
waiting for the
boys to come, and
anxious as to the day's
outcome, slipped down
to the Wabash to see what they were doing, she heard sounds that
almost paralyzed her. Shaking with fear, she ran toward the
river, and paused at a little
thicket behind Dannie.
Jimmy danced and raged on the opposite bank. "Cut!" he yelled.
"Cut that domn cable, and let me Bass loose! Cut your line, I
say!"
Dannie stood with his feet planted wide apart, and his jaws set.
He drew his line
steadily toward him, and Jimmy's followed. "Ye
see!" exulted Dannie. "Ye're across me. The Bass is mine! Reel
out your line till I land him, if ye dinna want it broken."
"If you don't cut your domn line, I will!" raved Jimmy.
"Cut nothin'!" cried Dannie. "Let's see ye try to touch it!"
Into the river went Jimmy;
splash went Dannie from his bank. He
was nearer the tangled lines, but the water was deepest on his
side, and the mud of the bed held his feet. Jimmy reached the
crossed lines, knife in hand, by the time Dannie was there.
"Will you cut?" cried Jimmy.
"Na!" bellowed Dannie. "I've give up every damn thing to ye all
my life, but I'll no give up the Black Bass. He's mine, and I'll
land him!"
Jimmy made a lunge for the lines. Dannie swung his pole backward
drawing them his way. Jimmy slashed again. Dannie dropped his
pole, and with a sweep, caught the twisted lines in his fingers.
"Noo, let's see ye cut my line! Babby!" he jeered.
Jimmy's fist flew straight, and the blood streamed from Dannie's
nose. Dannie dropped the lines, and straightened. "You--" he
panted. "You--" And no other words came.
If Jimmy had been possessed of any small
particle of reason, he
lost it at the sight of blood on Dannie's face.
"You're a domn fish thief!" he screamed.
"Ye lie!"
breathed Dannie, but his hand did not lift.
"You are a coward! You're afraid to strike like a man! Hit me!
You don't dare hit me!"
"Ye lie!"
repeated Dannie.
"You're a dog!" panted Jimmy. "I've used you to wait on me all me
life!"
"THAT'S the God's truth!" cried Dannie. But he made no movement
to strike. Jimmy leaned forward with a distorted,
insane face.
"That time you sint me to Mary for you, I lied to her, and
married her meself. NOW, will you fight like a man?"
Dannie made a spring, and Jimmy crumpled up in his grasp.
"Noo, I will choke the
miserable tongue out of your heid, and
twist the heid off your body, and tear the body to mince-meat,"
raved Dannie, and he
promptly began the job.
With one awful effort Jimmy tore the gripping hands from his
throat a little. "Lie!" he gasped. "It's all a lie!"
"It's the truth! Before God it's the truth!" Mary Malone tried to
scream behind them. "It's the truth! It's the truth!" And her
ears told her that she was making no sound as with dry lips she
mouthed it over and over. And then she fainted, and sank down in
the bushes.
Dannie's hands relaxed a little, he lifted the weight of Jimmy's
body by his
throat, and set him on his feet. "I'll give ye juist
ane chance," he said. "IS THAT THE TRUTH?"
Jimmy's awful eyes were bulging from his head, his hands were
clawing at Dannie's on his
throat, and his
swollen lips
repeatedit over and over as
breath came, "It's a lie! It's a lie!"
"I think so myself," said Dannie. "Ye never would have dared.
Ye'd have known that I'd find out some day, and on that day, I'd
kill ye as I would a copperhead."
"A lie!" panted Jimmy.
"Then WHY did ye tell it?" And Dannie's fingers threatened to
renew their grip.
"I thought if I could make you strike back," gasped Jimmy, "my
hittin' you wouldn't same so bad."
Then Dannie's hands relaxed. "Oh, Jimmy! Jimmy!" he cried. "Was
there ever any other mon like ye?"
Then he remembered the cause of their trouble.
"But, I'm everlastingly
damned," Dannie went on, "if I'll gi'e up
the Black Bass to ye, unless it's on your line. Get yourself up
there on your bank!"
The shove he gave Jimmy almost upset him, and Jimmy waded back,
and as he climbed the bank, Dannie was behind him. After him he
dragged a tangled mass of lines and poles, and at the last up the
bank, and on the grass, two big fish; one, the great Black Bass
of Horseshoe Bend; and the other nearly as large, a channel
catfish;
undoubtedly, one of those which had escaped into the
Wabash in an
overflow of the Celina
reservoir that spring.
"NOO, I'll cut," said Dannie. "Keep your eye on me sharp. See me
cut my line at the end o' my pole." He snipped the line in two.
"Noo watch," he cautioned, "I dinna want contra deection about
this!"
He picked up the Bass, and
taking the line by which it was fast
at its mouth, he slowly drew it through his fingers. The wiry
silk line slipped away, and the heavy cord whipped out free.
"Is this my line?" asked Dannie,
holding it up.
Jimmy nodded.
"Is the Black Bass my fish? Speak up!" cried Dannie, dangling the
fish from the line.
"It's yours," admitted Jimmy.
"Then I'll be
damned if I dinna do what I please wi' my own!"
cried Dannie. With trembling fingers he extracted the hook, and
dropped it. He took the gasping big fish in both hands, and
tested its weight. "Almost seex," he said. "Michty near seex!"
And he tossed the Black Bass back into the Wabash.
Then he stooped, and gathered up his pole and line.
With one foot he kicked the catfish, the tangled silk line, and
the jointed rod, toward Jimmy. "Take your fish!" he said. He
turned and plunged into the river, recrossed it as he came,
gathered up the dinner pail and
shovel, passed Mary Malone, a
tumbled heap in the bushes, and started toward his cabin.
The Black Bass struck the water with a
splash, and sank to the
mud of the bottom, where he lay
joyfully soaking his dry gills,
parched tongue, and glazed eyes. He scooped water with his tail,
and poured it over his torn jaw. And then he said to his progeny,
"Children, let this be a
warning to you. Never rise to but one
grub at a time. Three is too good to be true! There is always a
stinger in their midst." And the Black Bass ruefully shook his
sore head and scooped more water.
Chapter IX
WHEN JIMMY MALONE CAME TO CONFESSION
Dannie never before had known such anger as possessed him when he