"Best fish I ever tasted, I must say."
"Cose he is. All de flaber kep' in by dat clay."
"If we had brought our guns along, we might have had some squirrels."
"Not lessen we'd fotch de dog ter tree 'em."
"Well, we might have brought the dog."
"No, fur it's bad luck ter take er dog wid you er feeshin'. Dat's de reason I driv Ole Pete back. Tuck er dog feeshin' wid me wunst an' it want mo' den er week airter dat till I tuck de dew pizen in one o' my feet."
"Not because you took the dog, Alf, but because you went in the dew."
"Dar mout be suthin in dat fack, sah, but I know dat airterwards I went feeshin' widout takin' de dog an' soon got well o' de pizen. Tell you whut we better do airter we git done eatin'. Better go 'bout er mile up de riber ter er place whar de bass will bite like er settin' hen. De water will be fallin' by dat time. Dar's er bend in the riber right up yander, an' we ken cut off er good many steps by goin' through de bottom."
They started immediately after dinner, and had gone but a short distance into the "bottom", when old Alf stopped, took off his hat, and said: