The story
“Freddie met ‘The Girl’ at a summer resort and they were engaged in record time. Then they had to consider the problem, ‘What will father say?’ Freddie was of a good family, and had plenty of money, but he knew nothing about fishing, and—father—well, father was one of those men who fished all the time, and had a poor opinion of men who did not. The suitor called after the girl had returned home, and made himself solid at once by announcing that he was the president of the Alaska Salmon Club. He knew that father had never been in Alaska, and it is easy to talk about salmon fishing to a man who knows nothing about it. At the outset, however, the suitor struck a snag. Father invited him to go fishing, and he could not refuse. The girl watched them off in fear and trembling, and when father returned with her loved one, who was wringing wet, she was appalled. Father, however, soon reassured her.
“’He is a wonderful young man,’ said father. ‘I must go to Alaska someday and learn to fish as he does. When we struck the stream, his first cast landed in a tree. There was a cat in the tree and he brought the animal down. Anybody knows that cats are the deadly enemies of fish, and in Alaska, if a fisherman sights a cat they always cast for him first to get him out of the way. Then the next thing he did was even more remarkable. Our butler stole the silverware, and was getting away with it. He was rowing down the stream when the Alaskan saw him, cast and got him and dragged him to shore. Except for that we would have lost our silverware. Next an automobilist tried to run me down. That brave chap punched a hole through the tire with his hook, and I had a chance to show that cheeky autoist that I know something about boxing. But the strangest thing of all was the way he caught a monster bluefish. It dragged him to the edge of the water, he jumped in and landed the fish by catching it in his hands. Says they often do that in Alaska.’
“Father looked at ‘The Girl’ fondly. ‘My dear,’ he said slowly, ‘I hope that you may learn to love this remarkable young man. It would make me very happy.’ And the girl, lifting her innocent eyes to his face, murmured: ‘Father, I will try to love him, for your sake.’”
Summary from Reel Life · 6 November 1915
