AN AMUSING STORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1852, 20 May 1887, Page 27

AN AMUSING STORY.

The English Fishing Gazette quotes from an exchange the following extraordinary and amusing combination of business with pleasure :—: — , ' "An amusing 1 , not to say edifying, spectacle was witnessed at Llanbadarn a few Sundays ago during the progress of the ceremony of baptism by immersion. It sounds more likp fiction than the truth ; but as the latter is always. credited with being the stranger of the two, we vouch for the accuracy of the following :-rThe ceremony of baptis'm'in the river has been proceeding in a quiet and businesslike manner for some time, and all but one had been dipped. Having place*! himself in the orthodox position, he .was plunged into the water by the officiating minister ; but what was the astonishment, of the spectators, to see their newly-made brother suddenly release himself from r the grasp of the minister and flounder about in the most erratic fashion in the water, making sundry grabs at something and shouting, " I've got him 1 " It was thought by many at first that he had got 'cm — the, initials of a leading morning newspaper. However, the cause for this sudden outbreak on the part of the individual in question was soon apparent. " It was no less a cause than a fine salmon that he caught sight of as he was being ducked, and he at once made tracks for it, and the stream being shallow at that' point, he thought he had a chance of a capture. • "The excitement was intense as he dodged his finny Companion of the Bath up and down the stream. The love of a Radnorshire man for a salmon is proverbial, and the ti;uth of it was soon proved on this occasion. v Ohe by one the congregation, joined in the fray, the minister could not keep his hands off, the deacons were already hard at it, but still the' sermon t had the best of it through a very lively time. , " We blush for the sex, but, nevertheless, notwithstanding, it is true. The excitement was so catching that even some of the ladies present jumped in and joined in the sport. In the . end Mr Salmon was captured and borne home in triumph, and in years to come the event will be femembe,red as 6ne,of the leading incidents in the history of Llanbadarn."