All these knew
and loved the old man. And there were others who had wandered by
that sea of Galilee, and fished in the waters of the Holy Land, and
with them Fishin' Jimmy dearly loved to talk. But his wonder was
never-ending that, in the scheme of evangelizing the world, more
use was not made of the "fishin' side" of the story. "Haint they
ever tried it on them poor heathen?" he would ask earnestly of some
clerical angler casting a fly upon the clear water of pond or
brook. "I should think 't would 'a' ben the fust thing they 'd
done. Fishin' fust, an' r'liging 's sure to foller. An' it 's so
easy; fur heath'n mostly r'sides on islands, don't they? So ther
's plenty o' water, an' o' course ther 's fishin'; an' oncet gin
'em poles an' git 'em to work, an' they 're out o' mischief fur
that day. They 'd like it better 'n cannib'ling, or cuttin' out
idles, or scratchin' picters all over theirselves, an' bimeby--not
too suddent, ye know, to scare 'em--ye could begin on that story,
an' they could n't stan' that, not a heath'n on 'em.
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