DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 203 



Two netsmen pushed us off and a chorus of voices 

 sang out, 'More luck to yer honours.' The luck came 

 to us while still in sight of them, and they watched 

 the bending rod until it killed its fish. This proved to 

 be the only one inchned to taste what we offered 

 until we were leaving the bay to round ]\Ioyteoge 

 Head, and there a strange thing happened. We had 

 caught two, and I was bringing one of some twelve 

 pounds to the gaff, at the sight of which it made a 

 feeble plunge just down out of sight, and as I began 

 to draw it up my winch spun as never a winch of 

 mine had spun before, and for such time that I had 

 no hopes of its stopping while there was any hne left 

 on it. The first 100 yards were gone before I could 

 call out, 'Back the boat'; at last, when nearly all was 

 gone, the speed lessened and then stopped. I was 

 lifting my top to learn my whereabouts, when Brian's 

 voice, in quite a low key, said, 'The divil, it's the gray- 

 headed beast,' and he pointed towards a rock near 

 the shore, some 180 yards away, judging by my line, 

 and there wsls my pollack held in the huge beast's 

 jaw by the middle of its belly. 'Turn the boat, men, 

 and row towards it, and perhaps it will drop the fish,' 

 I said, and by this means I wound in about 100 

 yards, the beast looking straight at us the while, 

 and holding the fish as a dog would that wished to 

 carry it. He was so holding it when he disappeared 

 again, to make my winch rattle, but not quite to the 

 same tune, as the men rowed with all their might that 

 the line might not all be lost when the break should 

 come. The next appearance of the animal w-as not 

 more than fifty yaxds away, so he must have made 

 a turn towards us, or where was the 150 yards of line ? 

 His big eyes seemed to say : 'I know I have stolen 

 the fish and I intend to keep it; so row along and leave 

 me undisturbed,' and there he waited for our decision 

 w'hile I was busy winding in the slack. There must 

 have been some little pull upon his jaws from this. 



