Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 28 THE YARN WAL! it happened up at Moosehead, This here yarn I'm 'bout to spin, But perhaps you're incredoolus, Not the kind to take it in. All right, stranger, which is meanin', No offense need here be took, At the spinnin' of this fish yarn, Written in this little book. It war on the dam at Wilson's, Or to make it still more plain The East Outlet of Old Moosehead, Which is way up North in Maine, Whar the lake from out the darkness, An' the mists o' airly morn, Goes a shootin' through the sluices An' the Kennebec is born. We war on the dam at Wilson's, Ole Jim Jackman, him and I, And war sittin' thar a fishin', Sort o' castin' of a fly Towards the rock—perhaps you know it! Wal, 'bout sixty feet away From the apron 'neath the sluices What the great big squar' tails lay, I had on a Silver Doctor, An' a Parmachenee Belle, An' our luck 'twan't very likely, I'd been castin' for a spell An' war kinder leanin' over When I saw a dorsal fin, An' a squar' tail took my Doctor, Gave one strike, an' yanked me in. Down I went into the rapids, And I heard one yell from Jim, Jim war nachurly excited Fer he knew I couldn't swim. An' the place, p'raps you know it, Seen the rips from the big sluice, You'll agree, I'm kinder thinkin', Thet for swimmin' 'tain't much use. Past the rock I went a rushin', In my ears a roar an' hum, An' I dimly sort o' reckoned My last day had shorely come. Wal, it didn't, strange to tell it! An' this here's the reason why, That's presoomin' thar's a difference 'Twixt a fish yarn an' a lie. Wal, you see as I went over, An' went plungin' down below, I held on to that air fish rod, And I never let it go. So it war that on a sudden, 'Fore I knew what 'twar about, Thet I felt that fish line tighten, An' my head come bobbin' out, And then—say! will you believe i...