A Suspicious Circumstance

From The Birmingham Age Herald, June 12, 1913.
 

 I met a happy fisherman
     Exhibiting his catch;
 He seemed to think his finny spoils
     Were very hard to match.
 
 I did not see him pull them out
     Of any lake or brook;
 I did not see him drop his line
     Nor lightly bait his hook.
 
 I did not even see him go
     And come back laden down;
 But simply met him as he strolled
     Quite chestily through town.
 
 I do not seek a method of
     Discrediting his tale,
 But he was near a market place
     Where there were fish for sale.
 
 And as I poked a finger out
     Remarking, “This one’s nice,”
 It felt so cold I could have sworn
     That fish had been on ice.