So it went on every morning. The minnows had learned what the bell
meant, and though usually defeated in the fight, they in reality had
their betters as servants to ring the bell and call them to meals.
Finally, they succeeded, by force of great numbers, in driving away
their pugnacious little rivals, and the bell hung silent; for, strange
to say, they knew what the sound meant, but I could never teach them
to ring it, when they could rise and steal the worm from my hand
without. But I am inclined to think it was more laziness than
inability to learn, as they afterward picked up readily some much more
difficult tricks. I taught them to leap from the water into my hand,
and lie as if dead; and having arranged a slide of polished wood upon
the bank, by placing worms upon it I soon had them leaping out and
sliding down like so many boys coasting in the winter. That they
afterward did it for amusement I know, as I often watched them
unobserved when there was nothing to attract but the fun of sliding.
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