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the harmonious symphony of the stream. With a stringer full of nice channel catfish, I pushed my bi- cycle back to the levee and started the long ride home. That's when the work began. First, all the fish had to be cleaned and the heads cut off, then I carefully wrapped them in the cleanest material that I could find. Now that the fish were cleaned I looked to my own appearance. I had to look as good as I could because I was headed to town-Vernal-about fifteen miles up the high- way. Gas was being rationed because of World War II. But every- one was well known in Jensen and there was a feeling of patrio- tism and unity. Everyone pulled together for a common cause. Getting to town was easy. All I had to do was stand on US High- way 40 and stick out my hand with the thumb pointing up. Usu- ally the first car that came by would stop for anyone needing a ride. Upon arriving at Vernal, my fish securely under my arm, I walked the two blocks to Doc Hurst's Tourist Home. Earlier in the summer I had been informed that Doc Hurst loved fish and would pay good money for some. I never knew if he would be at home, so it was with great anticipation that I knocked on his shop door. He was there. At the invitation to enter, I went in and presented the fish. Doc Hurst was an imposing man to a young boy like me. He was middle-aged, short and stocky, always had a week's growth of beard, wore a dirty hat and small horn-rimmed glasses, which he peered over. His speech was punctuated with short grunts. "Are these fish fresh?" he asked, as he poked them suspiciously with his finger and then, "When did you catch them?" Satisfied with my answers, he reached into his pocket and handed me fifty cents for my morning's work, regardless of how many or how few fish there were. That was the routine I constantly endured. Until I had that fifty cents in hand, I was not certain of the sale. With all that money in my pocket, I carefully thought about the best way to spend it and get the most out of it. The thought of never occurred to me. Most of the time I would 10