Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. "Now for it," thought I; "here is a fish at last." I made a strong

pull, and brought up a tangle of weeds. Again and again I cast out my line with aching arms and drew it back empty. I looked to my uncle appealingly.

"Try once more,"

have patience."

he said; "we fishermen must

Suddenly something tugged at my line. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun.

"Uncle!" I cried, "I've got a fish."

"Not yet," said my uncle.

As he spoke there was a splash in the water, and I caught the arrowy gleam of a scared fish shooting into the middle of the stream. My hook hung empty from the line. I had lost my prize.

8 Overcome by my great and bitter disappointment, I sat down on the nearest hassock, and for a time refused to be comforted, even by my uncle's assurance that

there were more fish in the brook. He refitted my bait, and told me to try my luck once more.

"But remember, boy," he said, with his shrewd smile, "never brag of catching a fish until he is on dry ground. I've seen older folks doing that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves. It's no use to boast of anything until it's done, nor then either, for it speaks for itself."

9 How often since I have been reminded of the fish that I did not catch! When I hear people boasting of a work as yet undone, and trying to anticipate the credit which belongs only to actual achievement, I call to mind that scene by the brookside, and the wise caution of my uncle:

"NEVER BRAG OF YOUR FISH BEFORE YOU CATCH HIM."

5

anemone (à něm' ô né), pinkish- | hepatica 5 (hẽ pǎt' ĭ kä), a spring white wild flower

bog,2 marsh, swamp

ever and anon,1 again and again

hassock 2 (hǎs' ŭk), small tuft of

bog grass

flower

haunt (hônt), a place where ani- upland 1 (ŭp' lănd), high land

mals stay

1

vista 1 (vis' tȧ), view

1. Draw on the blackboard a map of the farm as described in the first paragraph. 2. Mention the different things in the meadow and tell why Whittier liked them. 3. Why was the brook so important? 4. How was the Uncle like a Scout Master? 5. Tell about the fishing excursion. What point in the story does the picture illustrate? 6. Do you agree with the boy Whittier about snakes? Why? Are all snakes harmful? Prove your point. 7. Find a fable in the Fourth Reader that this story illustrates, and read it to the class. 8. What birds, flowers, or animals does Whittier mention? Which ones can you tell him about? 9. What things should you like to do best at

the Whittier farm?

10. Memorize section 7 as a declamation on "The Fish I Did n't Catch." II. Read Warner's "Being a Boy," Whittier's "The Barefoot Boy," or "In School-Days" (Riverside Readers V and VI). 12. Oral or written composition: (a) What I Saw when I followed a Brook, or (b) An Experience with a Snake.

1

Many years ago before they knew better the people of Northern Europe believed that dwarfs, or elves, or goblins, lived inside the mountains. They called these queer little creatures trolls. Even the Amptman, or head man of the village, was afraid of them. The following tale was told so often that it became a legend.

What trick did the trolls play in the story?

THE

HE pleasant isle of Rügen looks the Baltic water o'er,

To the silver-sanded beaches of the Pomeranian shore;

And in the town of Rambin a little boy and

maid

Plucked the meadow-flowers together and in the sea surf played.

Alike were they in beauty if not in their degree:

He was the Amptman's first-born, the miller's child was she.

2 Now of old the isle of Rügen was full of Dwarfs and Trolls,

The brown-faced little Earth-men, the people without souls;

And for every man and woman in Rügen's island found

Walking in air and sunshine, a Troll was underground.

It chanced the little maiden, one morning, strolled

away

Among the haunted Nine Hills, where the elves and goblins play.

That day, in barley fields below, the harvesters had known

Of evil voices in the air, and heard the small horns blown.

4 She came not back; the search for her in field and wood was vain:

They cried her east, they cried her west, but she came not again.

"She's down among the Brown Dwarfs," said the dream-wives wise and old,

And prayers were made, and masses said, and Rambin's church bell tolled.°

5 Five years her father mourned her; and then John Deitrich said:

"I will find my little playmate, be she alive or dead."

He watched among the Nine Hills, he heard the Brown Dwarfs sing

And saw them dance by moonlight merrily in a

ring.

And when their gay-robed leader tossed up his cap of red,

Young Deitrich caught it as it fell, and thrust it on his head.

7 The Troll came crouching at his feet and wept for lack of it.

"Oh, give me back my magic cap, for your great head unfit!"

"Nay," Deitrich said, "the Dwarf who throws his charmëd cap away,

Must serve its finder at his will, and for his folly

pay.

"You stole my pretty Lisbeth, and hid her in the earth;

And you shall ope° the door of glass and let me lead her forth."

"She will not come; she's one of us; she's mine!" the Brown Dwarf said;

"The day is set, the cake is baked, to-morrow we shall wed."

"The fell fiend° fetch thee!" Deitrich cried, “and keep thy foul tongue still.

Quick! open, to thy evil world, the glass door of

the hill!"

8 The Dwarf obeyed; and youth and Troll down the long stairway passed,

And saw in dim and sunless light a country strange and vast.

Weird, rich, and wonderful, he saw the elfin underland,