106 FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



the line, or some profound recess furnish a retreat from 

 whence it might be impossible to withdraw my prize. 

 So far, however, all went well. The fish in their terror 

 had sought deep water and not touched rock at all. 

 Soon the distraction of the heavy, ceaseless strain caused 

 them to forget the glorious maxim that, " in union is 

 strength," and they began to pull different ways. Now 

 I was sure of them ! and very gradually and gently, 

 inch by inch, I coaxed them away from the dangerous 

 ground, and got them safely above the smooth bottom 

 of the plateau on the farther side of the boat, where I 

 could see their every motion and watch their brave 

 struggles for life. A prettier sight I never witnessed 

 than the curious way in which the movements of one 

 fish neutralized those of the other. If one sought the 

 bottom, his mate went for the surface ; if one rushed 

 away seawards, the other came towards the boat. They 

 literally played each other, and I was for awhile a mere 

 spectator ! After looking upon these cross-purposes for 

 some minutes, I noticed that the fish on the tail fly be- 

 came entangled with the line above his comrade on the 

 dropper, and both then began to whirl furiously round 

 and round after the usual manner of trout in a like 

 predicament. When the wildest of this flurry was over, 

 I drew them cautiously to the boat and dipped up both 

 at once with my landing net. An immediate applica- 

 tion of my pocket scale proved their weight to be twen- 

 ty-nine and thirty-three ounces respectively, the heav- 

 iest trout being that on the drop or upper fly. They 



