202 AUTUMN ANGLING 



quoth I, " and clip him true the first trial." Judge 

 my horror when the urchin seized the instrument 

 in both hands, and came down upon the salmon's 

 body as if he meant to fell an ox ! Of course 

 the fish sweltered into the stream again, and the 

 wonder was that Danie's savage onslaught had not 

 snapped the line. Soon, however, the monster 

 came floating in sideways again, when, disarming 

 my ally of his weapon, I gaffed it myself. The 

 monkey came grinning up, without apology or 

 shame, shouting merrily, " I never see'd the like 

 o' that afore." The fish weighed 13 lb., and was 

 so quickly overcome from having, in the first 

 struggle, twisted the gut round its gills, and thus 

 drowned itself. 



My two last angling-days of the Lyon having 

 now really come, I determined, by being early at 

 the lowest pool, to make the most of them. It 

 was forestalled, however ; and a precautionary sur- 

 vey disclosed a brother of the craft, who had come 

 to grief by breaking his line. He was seated 

 mending his tackle, totally unconscious of iny 

 discovery, and most likely before he was set up 

 again his rival was out of sight with a clear lead 



