WITH SILVER TAILS.
as a hare; what a life they led him! They made him troll up the stream for miles; then, just as he thought his chase was at an end, and he was sure of them, they would leap quite out of the water, and dart down the stream again like little silver arrows. Miles and miles he went, tired, and wet, and hungry. He came home late in the evening, completely wearied and footsore, with only three minnows in his pocket, each with a silver tail.
'But at any rate,' he said to himself, as he lay down in his bed, 'though they lead me a pretty life, and I have to work harder than ever, yet I certainly am free; no man can order me about now.'
This went on for a whole week; he worked very hard; but on Saturday afternoon he had only caught fourteen minnows.
'If it wasn't for the pride of the thing,' he said to himself, 'I'd have no more to do with fishing for minnows. This is the hardest work I ever did. I am quite a slave to them. I rush up and down, I dodge in and out, I splash myself, and fret myself, and broil myself in the sun, and all for the sake of a dumb thing, that gets the better of me with a wag of its fins. But it's no use standing here talking; I must set off to the town and sell them, or Sally will wonder why I don't bring her the week's money.' So he walked to the town, and offered his fish for sale as great curiosities.
'Very pretty,' said the first people he showed them to; but 'they never bought anything that was not useful.'
'Were they good to eat?' asked the woman at the
