3 2o ifcings of tbe 1Ro&, 1Rifle t an& Gun 



crowd, and the dust, and the clamour, he went straight 

 to the hospital. I went round the wards with him, and 

 was much interested in observing his demeanour to the 

 sailors ; he stopped at every bed, and to every man 

 he had something kind and cheery to say. At length 

 he stopped opposite a bed on which a sailor was lying, 

 who had lost his right arm close to the shoulder-joint, 

 and the following short dialogue passed between them : 

 Nelson. " Well, Jack, what's the matter with you ? " 

 Sailor. "Lost my right arm, your honour." Nelson 

 paused, looked down at his own empty sleeve, then at 

 the sailor, and said playfully, "Well, Jack, then 

 you and I are spoiled for fishermen, cheer up, 

 my brave fellow." And he passed briskly on to the 

 next bed ; but these few words had a magical effect 

 upon the poor fellow, for I saw his eyes sparkle with 

 delight as Nelson turned away and pursued his course 

 through the wards. As this was the only occasion on 

 which I saw Nelson, I may, perhaps, overrate the value 

 of the incident.' " 



Every angler knows the bitter anguish of losing a big 

 fish, and his conviction that the fish so lost was the 

 biggest he ever hooked. It is said that Swift never to 

 the end of his life forgot the pang of losing a great 

 trout when he was a boy. But it may be some 

 solace to those who have thus suffered to learn, on 

 the unimpeachable authority of Haliceus, that the fish 

 thus lost are never really as big as the chagrined 

 angler imagines. 



Physicus has been bewailing the loss of a very large 

 fish which he had hooked, and dilates mournfully on its 



