A Summer Idyl 115 



keeper, who was coming along with his gun, and asked 

 him what it was. 



' Bless you, sir,' he answered, ' it's but an ugly pike. 

 That is his hole ; you may see him any day, and if it 

 warn't for the tree roots and the weeds and the bad 

 landing-place, I would quick shift him with a net. I 

 killed over a hundred in the early part of the summer. 

 They had fairly destroyed the trout-fishing.' 



The keeper, whose acquaintance with me was of 

 long standing, sat down and told me a number of 

 extraordinary stories about pike. I was interested, 

 but not moved. To hear about the pike was pleasant 

 enough, but to fish for him would have demanded 

 too much exertion in hot weather. So I smoked 

 and listened in a very calm and dispassionate state 

 of mind. 



The evening after, as I was walking on the river- 

 side with Mary Burton, I happened in an evil hour to 

 relate to her this incident of the pike enlarging for 

 dramatic effect on his ferocity and appetite. 



My relations with Mary need explanation. I 

 had been her lover for several years, but it was one of 

 her peculiarities to believe that this was a secret. As 

 well as being the prettiest, she was the shyest girl in 

 the district. Although there was no barrier to our 

 union, she always put me off when I asked her to 

 allow me to ask her father's consent to its taking 

 place. That night, under the orchard trees, before 

 parting with her I was urging my suit with more than 



