FISH ESCAPE. 27 



a dash he made ! He carried off my fly by 

 main force. 



Hal. — You should have allowed your 

 reel to play and your line to run : you held 

 him too tight. 



PoiET. — He was too powerful a fish for 

 my tackle ; and even if I had done so, would 

 probably have broken me by running amongst 

 the weeds. 



Hal. — Let me tell you, my friend, you 

 should never allow a fish to run to the weeds, 

 or to strike across the stream ; you should 

 carry him always down stream, keeping his 

 head high, and in the current. If in a w^eedy 

 river you allow a large fish to run up stream, 

 you are almost sure to lose him. Tliere, I 

 have hooked the companion of your lost fish 

 on the other side of the stream, — a powerful 

 creature : he tries, you see, to make way to 

 the weeds, but I hold him tight. 



PoiET. — I see you are obliged to run with 

 him, and have carried him safely through the 

 weeds. 



Hal. — I have him now in the rapids on 

 the shallow, and I have no fear of losing him, 

 unless he strikes the hook out of his mouth. 



