Voices from the Past: A Fishing Story (1915)

This is a nifty little fishing story lifted from the pages of CUrrent Opinion for September 1915. I thought it was charming.

Fishing in the Park.
A fish story, told at a banquet in Milwaukee by Representative Bartholdt of Missouri, has been started on a successful tour of the east by the Philadelphia Bulletin. It goes further here:
"Those people," said Bartholdt, "remind me of the old man. Yes, they remind me very much of the old man.

"He had a soft, daft look, the old man I'm speaking of, and he sat on a park bench in the sun, with rod and line, as if he were fishing; but the line, with a worm on the hook, dangled over a bed of bright primroses.

"'Daft!' said a passer-by to himself. 'Daft I Bughouse! Nice-looking old fellow, too. It's a pity.'

"Then, with a gentle smile, the passer-by approached the old man and said:
"'What are you doing, uncle?'

"'Fishing, sir,' answered the old man, solemnly.

"'Fishing, eh? Well, uncle, come and have a drink.'

"The old man shouldered his rod and followed the kindly stranger to the corner saloon. There he regaled himself with a large glass of dark beer and a good fivecent cigar. His host, contemplating him in a friendly, protecting way, as he sipped and smoked, said:

"'So you were fishing, uncle? And how many have you caught this morning?'

"The old man blew a smoke cloud toward the ceiling. Then, after a pause, he said:
"'You are the seventh, sir.'"

-- Dr. Todd